Which artists live forever? An analysis of Michael and his peers

[KatrinaXP]

In debates online and in person we often hear statements like ‘so and so is bigger/more global/timeless/forgotten’ without any evidence presented and I’ve seen such things said both in favour of and against Michael. So I wanted to collect some objective facts on this subject using Youtube music insights. Obviously Youtube is not the only music outlet and there’s iTunes, Spotify, etc but I think there’s a good argument that Youtube is the best measuring stick. It’s the most popular and widely used, and the most global. Usage rates vary between regions and it seems to be particularly popular in Latin countries (so there’s quite a few Latin artists among the most highly viewed) but that in itself demonstrates that Youtube is truly global and takes into account the large populations in these developing countries. The fact that there are often Japanese/Korean/Indian artists in the Youtube music chart top 100 shows that Youtube is a true reflection of the international landscape as opposed to the solely Anglo-American viewpoint that we usually get through billboard charts, sales, etc.

Youtube music insights gives the total number of views of all videos (official and fan uploaded videos) of an artist since Sept 2014 (so 2 years 3 months worth of data). Of course Michael has not released any new music since then while a lot of current artists have. Based on this data, I’ve created an artist ranking. The following had more than 4 billion views (numbers are in billions):

1. Romeo Santos - 10.95
2. Justin Bieber - 10.78
3. Taylor Swift - 9.04
4. Rihanna - 8.72
5. Maroon 5 - 7.88
6. Beyoncé - 7.22
7. Eminem - 7.20
8. One Direction - 7.14
9. Enrique Iglesias - 7.00
10. Aventura - 6.87
11. Katy Perry - 6.86
12. Ariana Grande - 6.59
13. Coldplay - 6.43
14. Vicente Fernandez - 6.30
15. Adele - 6.27
16. Wiz Khalifa - 6.24
17. Calvin Harris - 6.23
18. Joan Sebastian- 6.03
19. Linkin Park - 5.98
20. Ed Sheeran - 5.81
21. Sia - 5.79
22. Shakira - 5.73
23. Pitbull - 5.40
24. Bruno Mars - 5.23
25. Major Lazer - 5.22
    [*]Michael Jackson - 5.18
26. David Guetta - 5.12
27. Banda Sinaloense MS de Sergio Lizarraga - 4.99
28. Fifth Harmony - 4.65
29. Meghan Trainor - 4.64
30. Juan Gabriel - 4.56
31. Marco Antonio Solis - 4.40
32. J Balvin - 4.39
33. PSY - 4.37
34. Maluma - 4.34
35. Arijit Singh - 4.29
36. The Weeknd - 4.11
37. Skrillex - 4.08
38. Chris Brown - 4.06
39. Avicii - 4.06
40. Mana - 4.03

Other notable current artists with lower views are:

The Chainsmokers - 3.78
Ellie Goulding - 3.73
Drake - 3.68
Twenty One Pilots - 3.58
Nicki Minaj - 3.58
Britney Spears - 3.42
Mark Ronson - 3.11
Selena Gomez - 3.07
Ricky Martin - 2.70
Jennifer Lopez - 2.49
Shawn Mendes - 2.47
Lady Gaga - 2.42
Jessie J - 2.35
Miley Cyrus - 2.14
Justin Timberlake - 1.99
Usher - 1.94
Kanye West - 1.87

And here are the figures for ‘classic’ artists. All those with no Vevo or other official Youtube channel are marked, and ‘still active’ refers to those who have released new music since Sept 2014. There are notables not on Youtube (like Prince) but the vast majority are.

Metallica - 3.54 (still active)
Celine Dion - 3.38 (still active)
Bob Marley - 3.17 (no official channel)
Guns N’Roses - 2.66
Bee Gees - 2.56
AC/DC - 2.44
Pink Floyd - 2.43
Red Hot Chili Peppers - 2.29 (still active)
Mariah Carey - 2.21
Bon Jovi - 2.04 (still active)
Elvis Presley - 1.98
Nirvana - 1.92
Queen - 1.91
Green Day - 1.86
Whitney Houston - 1.85
Beatles - 1.68
The Rolling Stones - 1.52 (still active)
Phil Collins - 1.47
Madonna - 1.42 (still active)
David Bowie - 1.29
U2 - 1.19
ABBA - 1.16
Rod Stewart - 1.03
Frank Sinatra - 0.77 (no official channel)
Elton John - 0.75
Led Zeppelin - 0.74
Cyndi Lauper - 0.72
Eric Clapton - 0.70 (no official channel)
KISS - 0.63
Stevie Wonder - 0.55 (no official channel)
Johnny Cash - 0.53
Bruce Springsteen - 0.53
Sting - 0.50 (still active)
Eagles - 0.49 (no official channel)
Leonard Cohen - 0.48
Earth, Wind & Fire - 0.44
The Who - 0.28
Rush - 0.28
Miles Davis - 0.24 (no official channel)
Janet Jackson - 0.19
Jimi Hendrix - 0.16
Bob Dylan - 0.14

There are so many interesting observations here that could be discussed but I think the major ones, which I would love people’s opinions on are:

1. Michael does phenomenally well even amongst current artists and is the most popular classic artist by a huge margin. The large majority of other classic artists also have official channels and in many cases as many/more videos than Michael on those channels. Why do we think Michael uniquely has stood the test of time so well?
2. Among classic artists, Bob Marley does really well (even with no official channel which suggests that isn’t a huge factor), and generally the highest seem to be rock bands. It’s surprising how low legends like Madonna (even though she’s still active), Bruce Springsteen, Elton John are, and Madonna is outstripped by Celine Dion and Mariah Carey. What potential explanations are there?
3. Among current artists, some big names such as Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Usher, Kanye West are pretty low - why might that be?

 

[HIStory]

I am glad to say Michael has so much staying power because it is important in preserving someone's legacy. He does well on Spotify too. He has been the #62 most listened to artist there this year. While it doesn't seem as good as on YT (where he is at #26), but it is great considering he is the highest ranked non-current, classic artist on Spotify as well. And on top of that his albums sell well too. He regularly has 3-4 albums on the Billboard 200. So yes, he really has staying power which is great.

I would say the other classic acts who do well are Bob Marley (he seems to stream and sell well especially during summer time which suggests his music is the go-to summer music for many), Queen, The Bee Gees, The Beatles.

Why do we think Michael uniquely has stood the test of time so well?

Because his videos are still fresh, mostly do not look dated but are still enjoyable for today's generations. But let's not put it all on videos, because I like I pointed out he is actually the #1 non-current act on Spotify too.

2. Among classic artists, Bob Marley does really well (even with no official channel which suggests that isn’t a huge factor), and generally the highest seem to be rock bands. It’s surprising how low legends like Madonna (even though she’s still active), Bruce Springsteen, Elton John are, and Madonna is outstripped by Celine Dion and Mariah Carey. What potential explanations are there?

The Bee Gees too. You rarely hear them be mentioned in the media - they definitely do not get as much hype from the media as the Beatles, for example, but on YouTube they are regularly in the Top 100, while I am yet to see the Beatles there. Mariah is mainly pushed by the Christmas season (due to her Christmas hits) - that's the period when she gets into the Top 100.

Among current artists, some big names such as Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Usher, Kanye West are pretty low - why might that be?

Kanye and Timberlake are doing relatively well on Spotify though (although JT was behind MJ until his current summer hit). Drake is another interesting one. He was #1 on Spotify this year, but down at #48 on YouTube.

 

[Ms. BlueGangsta]

I am glad to say Michael has so much staying power because it is important in preserving someone's legacy. He does well on Spotify too. He has been the #62 most listened to artist there this year. While it doesn't seem as good as on YT (where he is at #26), but it is great considering he is the highest ranked non-current, classic artist on Spotify as well. And on top of that his albums sell well too. He regularly has 3-4 albums on the Billboard 200. So yes, he really has staying power which is great.

I would say the other classic acts who do well are Bob Marley (he seems to stream and sell well especially during summer time which suggests his music is the go-to summer music for many), Queen, The Bee Gees, The Beatles.



Because his videos are still fresh, mostly do not look dated but are still enjoyable for today's generations. But let's not put it all on videos, because I like I pointed out he is actually the #1 non-current act on Spotify too.



The Bee Gees too. You rarely hear them be mentioned in the media - they definitely do not get as much hype from the media as the Beatles, for example, but on YouTube they are regularly in the Top 100,while I am yet to see the Beatles there. Mariah is mainly pushed by the Christmas season (due to her Christmas hits) - that's the period when she gets into the Top 100.



Kanye and Timberlake are doing relatively well on Spotify though (although JT was behind MJ until his current summer hit). Drake is another interesting one. He was #1 on Spotify this year, but down at #48 on YouTube.

Speaking of media hype.
I find it funny how despite being far from a media favorite that out of all the classic acts Michael is doing the best overall.
They tried so hard, and are still trying to destroy/tarnish his legacy but they'll always fail.

 

[DuranDuran]

14. Vicente Fernandez

There are so many interesting observations here that could be discussed but I think the major ones, which I would love people’s opinions on are:

1. Michael does phenomenally well even amongst current artists and is the most popular classic artist by a huge margin. The large majority of other classic artists also have official channels and in many cases as many/more videos than Michael on those channels. Why do we think Michael uniquely has stood the test of time so well?
2. Among classic artists, Bob Marley does really well (even with no official channel which suggests that isn’t a huge factor), and generally the highest seem to be rock bands. It’s surprising how low legends like Madonna (even though she’s still active), Bruce Springsteen, Elton John are, and Madonna is outstripped by Celine Dion and Mariah Carey. What potential explanations are there?

I don't know if you're familiar with him, but Vicente Fernandez is also a classic act. He's been around since the 1960s at least.

As far as The Beatles go, most of their official stuff was taken off of Youtube (like fan uploaded videos) awhile back and is now blocked from being uploaded. I think those fan videos disappeared when they finally let their music be on download sites. There's still some unreleased and alternate version bootleg Beatles songs up though, TV show appearances & interviews, and music videos on their official Youtube channels.

 

[mjprince1976]

Youtube viewers must be mouthbreeders, some of those names are laughable to say the least. 15 year olds are not every music fan. Michael should be number one and Prince who is not even listed should be number two.

The fact Prince had gagged Youtube from playing his videos and employed a crack staff of take downers ensure he has haunted the youtube arena until his death and then a flood of Prince items hit the youtube lists, but now the Paisley Po Po have managed to have them taken down again. Justin Bieber and Taytay suck ass and who is Romeo Santos, some Mexican dude that us English speakers have never heard of?

Rhianna, Maroon 5, Meghan fat ass "No" Trainor - you are kidding me :cheeky::hysterical:

 

[HIStoric]

they definitely do not get as much hype from the media as the Beatles, for example, but on YouTube they are regularly in the Top 100, while I am yet to see the Beatles there.

That's because there's (deliberately) not a lot of Beatles material on YouTube. Just before they arrived on Spotify this time last year, all their music was being taken down by copyright claims. Now it's hard to find their actual music on there, unless it's officially uploaded. Michael Jackson material, on the other hand, is allowed up there and adds to the number.

The videos that are officially uploaded have actually done exceptionally well for their age. In the single year they've been up, the Top 6 videos have all gained about 182 million views, 2 of these are at ~40 million views, another at 30 million, the other 3 over 20 million views.

I'm not saying they would be owning everyone if their music was allowed up there (because Michael would still be dominating, of course), but these are factors that have to be considered if comparing them.

As far as The Beatles go, most of their official stuff was taken off of Youtube (like fan uploaded videos) awhile back and is now blocked from being uploaded. I think those fan videos disappeared when they finally let their music be on download sites. There's still some unreleased and alternate version bootleg Beatles songs up though, TV show appearances & interviews, and music videos on their official Youtube channels.

Yup and any fan videos that skip past YouTube's Content ID system (such as performances, bootlegs etc) aren't officially labelled as Beatles music by YouTube, therefore excluding these numbers from The Beatles on the above website. If they were counted, they'd be taken down as requested by their label.

Among classic artists... ...Mariah Carey. What potential explanations are there?

Here's part of it: All I Want For Christmas... Is Yoooooou.

Because his videos are still fresh, mostly do not look dated but are still enjoyable for today's generations.

That's a really great point, Respect, one I haven't thought about! Some time ago I spent an hour or so showing my then-girlfriend a bunch of Michael Jackson videos and not once did I worry, let alone think "Shit, hope this doesn't appear too dated to her". I spent that whole hour showing him off, giving trivia here and there :lol: Got her into his music actually, even if she's only a casual fan. Better than nothing!

 

[KatrinaXP]

Kanye and Timberlake are doing relatively well on Spotify though (although JT was behind MJ until his current summer hit). Drake is another interesting one. He was #1 on Spotify this year, but down at #48 on YouTube.

It is interesting the discrepancy between Youtube and Spotify. I tend to think the main reason is the scale of Youtube, it being so much bigger than Spotify. Latest figures suggest Youtube has 1 billion users and Spotify 100 million (30 million paid), and international coverage of Youtube and use outside Western countries is greater. That may be why mainstream pop artists do better than rap artists (like Kanye West) because they have broader international appeal.

Because his videos are still fresh, mostly do not look dated but are still enjoyable for today's generations.

Yes probably Michael’s awesome videos are a factor. That said lots of artists, especially more recent ones (like Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake), have high quality videos and Michael still does better than them. Great case in point is Madonna who is credited as a great and pioneering visual artist and in fact I’ve seen people arguing she’s a better visual artist than Michael (let’s not get into that debate) but her longevity is clearly poor in comparison to Michael. So I think the main reason is the quality and uniqueness of the music - something about Michael’s music just makes people connect and keep connecting to it.

That's because there's (deliberately) not a lot of Beatles material on YouTube. Just before they arrived on Spotify this time last year, all their music was being taken down by copyright claims. Now it's hard to find their actual music on there, unless it's officially uploaded. Michael Jackson material, on the other hand, is allowed up there and adds to the number.

The Beatles do have a Vevo channel although there isn’t much on it. I agree if all their music where there they would be higher. You can see from the graph that Youtube provides the massive dropoff in their views in Dec 2015 corresponding to when a lot of music was taken down. So for a fairer comparison we can look at views Sep 2014 - Dec 2015 and the ranking would be like this:

Michael Jackson - 2.45
Bob Marley - 2.16
Celine Dion - 1.71
Metallica - 1.61
Guns N’Roses - 1.41
Pink Floyd - 1.29
Beatles - 1.27
Red Hot Chili Peppers - 1.15
Bon Jovi - 1.10
AC/DC - 1.09
Bee Gees - 1.09
Mariah Carey - 1.09
Elvis Presley - 1.07
Nirvana - 1.00
Queen - 0.92

So the Beatles are pretty high but Michael and Bob Marley are a cut above everyone else.

Mariah is mainly pushed by the Christmas season (due to her Christmas hits) - that's the period when she gets into the Top 100.

Yeah there is seasonal variation for some artists like Mariah. But I don’t think that’s the only reason: she’s regularly around the 2.5 million (daily) mark while Madonna is around 1.6 million, and Celine around 4 million, so there’s clearly a difference there. Bob Marley is pretty constant year round (I don’t think he’s higher in summer). What is impressive is how consistent Michael is throughout the year (around 8 million constantly) and really the Halloween boost isn’t hugely significant.

The fact Prince had gagged Youtube from playing his videos and employed a crack staff of take downers ensure he has haunted the youtube arena until his death and then a flood of Prince items hit the youtube lists, but now the Paisley Po Po have managed to have them taken down again. Justin Bieber and Taytay suck ass and who is Romeo Santos, some Mexican dude that us English speakers have never heard of?

But you can’t just fall into the trap of the Western/Anglo-American viewpoint which is only a small part of the world. Romeo Santos is clearly popular amongst a huge population (population of Mexico is 122 million, Brazil 200 million). I appreciate that fans have subjective views and some popular artists don’t appeal to everyone but for an objective assessment on global popularity and longevity we have to look at facts and stats.

And that’s the key point. Some music critics/establishment media/music snobs like to denigrate Michael’s music and achievements but that’s just the subjective opinion of a tiny minority of people. When we look at the whole world, it’s clear that Michael is one of the most universally transcendent and enduringly beloved artists and his legacy has pretty much outstripped all others of the last half century.

 

[Bad7]

2. Among classic artists, Bob Marley does really well (even with no official channel which suggests that isn’t a huge factor), and generally the highest seem to be rock bands. It’s surprising how low legends like Madonna (even though she’s still active), Bruce Springsteen, Elton John are, and Madonna is outstripped by Celine Dion and Mariah Carey. What potential explanations are there?

It's probably because Celine Dion and Mariah Carey started their careers later than the three you mention. Celine and Mariah began in the 90's (well, Celine began in the 80's but those albums were French).

Elton John's career took off in the 70's. Bruce Springsteen started in the 70's. Madonna began in the 80's.

Celine is also aided by the Titanic being a gigantic film which made 'My Heart Will Go On' become huge. Also, Mariah has her Christmas song that's heard every year.

Also, this seems to be Bob Marley's Official Channel - https://www.youtube.com/user/bobmarley/featured Although most of the views appear to come from outside that channel.

Elvis has released new music since September 2014, by the way. Obviously not him himself but there's been new releases.

Edit: I was just reading as despite what I said I thought Madonna's views would be higher. It seems her videos were blocked in several countries (I don't know if this is still the case) and her highest viewed video '4 Minutes' was removed by Warner Bros. (MJ also had some removed lately for some reason).

 

[KatrinaXP]

It's probably because Celine Dion and Mariah Carey started their careers later than the three you mention. Celine and Mariah began in the 90's (well, Celine began in the 80's but those albums were French).

Elton John's career took off in the 70's. Bruce Springsteen started in the 70's. Madonna began in the 80's.

Celine is also aided by the Titanic being a gigantic film which made 'My Heart Will Go On' become huge. Also, Mariah has her Christmas song that's heard every year.

Also, this seems to be Bob Marley's Official Channel - https://www.youtube.com/user/bobmarley/featured Although most of the views appear to come from outside that channel.

Elvis has released new music since September 2014, by the way. Obviously not him himself but there's been new releases.

Edit: I was just reading as despite what I said I thought Madonna's views would be higher. It seems her videos are blocked in several countries (I don't know if this is still the case) and her highest viewed video '4 Minutes' was removed by Warner Bros. (MJ also had some removed lately for some reason).

I'm not sure that starting their careers in the 90s would have made a huge difference to Mariah or Celine compared to the others because after all, the 90s was still way before the advent of Youtube and streaming and both had their career peaks before Youtube.

Yeah sorry forgot Elvis has released new music - looking at the graph it seems that that may have had a modestimpact on his viewing figures.

Regarding Madonna I don't think 4 minutes has been removed (at least I can see it). The official video has 29,159,099 views and it has total views of 27,788,208 since Sept 2014 and is only her 14th most viewed video in that time.

 

[Bad7]

I'm not sure that starting their careers in the 90s would have made a huge difference to Mariah or Celine compared to the others because after all, the 90s was still way before the advent of Youtube and streaming and both had their career peaks before Youtube.

Yeah sorry forgot Elvis has released new music - looking at the graph it seems that that may have had a modestimpact on his viewing figures.

Regarding Madonna I don't think 4 minutes has been removed (at least I can see it). The official video has 29,159,099 views and it has total views of 27,788,208 since Sept 2014 and is only her 14th most viewed video in that time.

The biggest thing for Celine and Mariah is probably 'My Heart Will Go On' featuring in a gigantic film and 'All I Want For Christmas' being relevant every Christmas time. Still, though, Madonna has been around longer will probably plays some part.

With that said, artists do better in some areas than others and vice versa. It seems Madonna is a better album seller than Mariah going by recent times.

The 4 Minutes video was removed back in 2013 I think. I forgot about you referring to 'since September 2014'. My bad.

 

[HIStory]

That's because there's (deliberately) not a lot of Beatles material on YouTube. Just before they arrived on Spotify this time last year, all their music was being taken down by copyright claims. Now it's hard to find their actual music on there, unless it's officially uploaded. Michael Jackson material, on the other hand, is allowed up there and adds to the number.

The videos that are officially uploaded have actually done exceptionally well for their age. In the single year they've been up, the Top 6 videos have all gained about 182 million views, 2 of these are at ~40 million views, another at 30 million, the other 3 over 20 million views.

I'm not saying they would be owning everyone if their music was allowed up there (because Michael would still be dominating, of course), but these are factors that have to be considered if comparing them.

Fair enough. While the Beatles do have a YouTube count (unlike Prince who REALLY is non-present on YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/yt/artists/insights-artist.html?artist=/m/07c0j&name=The Beatles you can see a big break down in their numbers around December 2015 - probably when their videos were pulled.

The Beatles do have a Vevo channel although there isn’t much on it. I agree if all their music where there they would be higher. You can see from the graph that Youtube provides the massive dropoff in their views in Dec 2015 corresponding to when a lot of music was taken down. So for a fairer comparison we can look at views Sep 2014 - Dec 2015 and the ranking would be like this:

Michael Jackson - 2.45
Bob Marley - 2.16
Celine Dion - 1.71
Metallica - 1.61
Guns N’Roses - 1.41
Pink Floyd - 1.29
Beatles - 1.27
Red Hot Chili Peppers - 1.15
Bon Jovi - 1.10
AC/DC - 1.09
Bee Gees - 1.09
Mariah Carey - 1.09
Elvis Presley - 1.07
Nirvana - 1.00
Queen - 0.92

So the Beatles are pretty high but Michael and Bob Marley are a cut above everyone else.

Yep, thanks.

Youtube viewers must be mouthbreeders, some of those names are laughable to say the least. 15 year olds are not every music fan. Michael should be number one and Prince who is not even listed should be number two.

The fact Prince had gagged Youtube from playing his videos and employed a crack staff of take downers ensure he has haunted the youtube arena until his death and then a flood of Prince items hit the youtube lists, but now the Paisley Po Po have managed to have them taken down again. Justin Bieber and Taytay suck ass and who is Romeo Santos, some Mexican dude that us English speakers have never heard of?

Rhianna, Maroon 5, Meghan fat ass "No" Trainor - you are kidding me :cheeky::hysterical:

It is natural that current artists are higher than older acts, no need to be angry about that. After all they get the most publicity. That doesn't mean they will have better longevity than the classic acts. In fact, most probably won't. What is so impressive in MJ's numbers that he is often up there and ahead of a number of very popular current artists, but that's not the norm for a classic artist and I don't compare him to the streaming numbers of the likes of Beyoncé, Rihanna or Justin Bieber - although he is not that far off from some - because it is natural that they are ahead. On Spotify there is hardly any classic artist that breaks into the Top 100. In fact, it is only MJ and Queen who do that.

Also, while I am sure that young people mostly stream their music, it is not necessarily true that it is 15 year olds who make YouTube's numbers. I agree with Katerina that in fact, it is probably the streaming platform with the most diverse audience - and I find it interesting how many non-American/English artists make the Top 100 there. Because pop culture is so dominated by the US and England we sometimes forget that there is a whole world outside of these countries as well with their own tastes. The same with age groups. While I am sure that Bieber's audience are mainly young people, but then you often see artists like the Bee Gees and Pink Floyd in the Top 100 or Céline Dion or - if we look outside the US - people like Vicente Fernandez.

That doesn't speak of an audience made up of only 15-year-olds. But then what's wrong with 15-year-olds? Back in the 80s it were mainly kids too who were fans of the artists popular then. It's always young people who drive popular culture.

But I find it very interesting to browse YT's stats, not only the overall stats but also the country by country stats, because it does tell a lot also about how global an artist is. As I see it MJ is one of the most global artists, popular all over the world.

 

[Tony R]

Meghan fat ass "No" Trainor - you are kidding me :cheeky::hysterical:

Charming, really charming. You know for an intelligent guy, this is a real crass, mysogynistic comment to make.

Always amazes me especially when an MJ fan starts criticising other artists for their looks.

 

[HIStory]

It is interesting the discrepancy between Youtube and Spotify. I tend to think the main reason is the scale of Youtube, it being so much bigger than Spotify. Latest figures suggest Youtube has 1 billion users and Spotify 100 million (30 million paid), and international coverage of Youtube and use outside Western countries is greater. That may be why mainstream pop artists do better than rap artists (like Kanye West) because they have broader international appeal.

Yes, YouTube is definitely the biggest and most diverse streaming platform. Spotify is actually more "young" and current in taste (more "15-year-olds" IMO, LOL), ie. it is mainly current chart music that is the most popular there. Not to mention the numbers. Spotify's top artist this year Drake streamed 390 million, while YouTube's top artist, Justin Bieber streamed 5.3 billion since February (that's when YT started to publish their weekly charts). MJ streamed 110 million on Spotify and 2.1 billion on YouTube. So YouTube is much bigger, definitely. Also on Spotify you do not see all these non-English/non-American artists moving big numbers, like you do on YouTube. So YouTube is definitely more diverse and more global in audience too.

Yes probably Michael’s awesome videos are a factor. That said lots of artists, especially more recent ones (like Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake), have high quality videos and Michael still does better than them. Great case in point is Madonna who is credited as a great and pioneering visual artist and in fact I’ve seen people arguing she’s a better visual artist than Michael (let’s not get into that debate) but her longevity is clearly poor in comparison to Michael. So I think the main reason is the quality and uniqueness of the music - something about Michael’s music just makes people connect and keep connecting to it.

It's a combination of several factors. MJ has both great music and great videos, so he is doing well on both visual and audio only streaming platforms.

As for Madonna, I don't know if her music and videos will have the kind of longevity, we will see. I am also surprised how much Janet has fallen down. She was mighty popular in the 90s and now she can hardly sell out theaters. At least Madonna doesn't struggle with concert ticket sales. If Madonna died I would say that probably would boost the interest in her catalog. How long that would last is a good question.

Yeah there is seasonal variation for some artists like Mariah. But I don’t think that’s the only reason: she’s regularly around the 2.5 million (daily) mark while Madonna is around 1.6 million, and Celine around 4 million, so there’s clearly a difference there.

Maybe among females powerhouse vocalists do better on the long term.

 

[KOPV]

Well according to Madonna's awkward and distasteful acceptance speech... She's all that still lives

 

[Ms. BlueGangsta]

Meghan fat ass "No" Trainor - you are kidding me :cheeky::hysterical:

Well that's a horribly unkind statement.
There's no need to be so mean about an artist that hasn't said anything bad about MJ.
I've seen you make some off comments about MJ too though....

Well according to Madonna's awkward and distasteful acceptance speech... She's all that still lives

I think that was taken very out of context by many.
Overall, I don't think she mean't any harm.

 

[barbee0715]

Well according to Madonna's awkward and distasteful acceptance speech... She's all that still lives

I do not believe that Madonna meant those words that way at all-she was quite misinterpreted.

 

[Tony R]

Well according to Madonna's awkward and distasteful acceptance speech... She's all that still lives

There was nothing distasteful about what she said. She simply said she was thankful she was still going when so many of her peers had passed.

 

[Nite Line]

Youtube viewers must be mouthbreeders, some of those names are laughable to say the least. 15 year olds are not every music fan. Michael should be number one and Prince who is not even listed should be number two.

The fact Prince had gagged Youtube from playing his videos and employed a crack staff of take downers ensure he has haunted the youtube arena until his death and then a flood of Prince items hit the youtube lists, but now the Paisley Po Po have managed to have them taken down again. Justin Bieber and Taytay suck ass and who is Romeo Santos, some Mexican dude that us English speakers have never heard of?

Rhianna, Maroon 5, Meghan fat ass "No" Trainor - you are kidding me :cheeky::hysterical:

Just a pathetic post from start to finish. And to make fun of another artist for their appearance, that's very low. Michael was mocked for his appearance all the time so you should know better as his fan but looking at your post history, I'm not surprised by this poor quality post from you.

 

[DuranDuran]

Janet

I am also surprised how much Janet has fallen down. She was mighty popular in the 90s and now she can hardly sell out theaters.

The Superbowl performance pretty much killed her career, at least in the US. She never really recovered, and there were lawsuits to the TV network that broadcast the halftime show for several years afterwards. Many radio stations stopped playing her new music after that, the same way country radio stations banned the Dixie Chicks after the George W. Bush comments. A lot of the public turned on her too. It's been said that Janet had been blacklisted.

 

[Ms. BlueGangsta]

Yes, YouTube is definitely the biggest and most diverse streaming platform. Spotify is actually more "young" and current in taste (more "15-year-olds" IMO, LOL), ie. it is mainly current chart music that is the most popular there. Not to mention the numbers. Spotify's top artist this year Drake streamed 390 million, while YouTube's top artist, Justin Bieber streamed 5.3 billion since February (that's when YT started to publish their weekly charts). MJ streamed 110 million on Spotify and 2.1 billion on YouTube. So YouTube is much bigger, definitely. Also on Spotify you do not see all these non-English/non-American artists moving big numbers, like you do on YouTube. So YouTube is definitely more diverse and more global in audience too.



It's a combination of several factors. MJ has both great music and great videos, so he is doing well on both visual and audio only streaming platforms.

As for Madonna, I don't know if her music and videos will have the kind of longevity, we will see. I am also surprised how much Janet has fallen down.She was mighty popular in the 90s and now she can hardly sell out theaters. At least Madonna doesn't struggle with concert ticket sales. If Madonna died I would say that probably would boost the interest in her catalog. How long that would last is a good question.



Maybe among females powerhouse vocalists do better on the long term.

Two words.
Super Bowl

She never recovered from that while Justin Timberlake got off without so much as a proverbial slap on the wrist, and AFAIK didn't say or do shit to help Janet out/defend her.
That's why I don't like him, and never will.
He obviously tries/tried extra hard (and failed/fails) to be like Michael, and wants to be as successful as Michael while messing over Janet.
Nah, he can miss me with that shit.:lol:

 

[DuranDuran]

Janet

^^I'm not sure that Justin Timberlake saying anything or not would have made much of a difference. He doesn't control the radio stations & TV networks, nor public opinion. Justin has no power to blacklist anybody. He got little blame and the public didn't turn on him, they turned on Janet. Before the Superbowl, Janet was often called "the normal Jackson" in the media. That mostly stopped afterward. Maybe it has to do with more with Janet being a woman, same with the Dixie Chicks. People like Ted Nugent and Gene Simmons have said all kinds of things during their careers and they have never been banned from radio like the Dixie Chicks. Kanye West even said Bush doesn't like black people on live TV during a highly viewed telethon. But a lot of the country music audience is different from Kanye's audience. Red Hot Chili Peppers have done concerts only wearing socks and Flea was totally nude at Woodstock 99. It's on Youtube and nothing is blurred out. David Lee Roth & Prince have been on TV with bare butts showing and Prince used to perform in bikini underwear early in his career. The Prince MTV performance got some media attention, but more as jokes, not the really negative response Janet got. Janet is one of the nominees for the 2017 Rock n Roll Hall Of Fame. The winners have been announced today and Janet got turned down again. But her co-star in Poetic Justice won.

 

[Annita]

Re: Janet

The Superbowl performance pretty much killed her career, at least in the US. She never really recovered, and there were lawsuits to the TV network that broadcast the halftime show for several years afterwards. Many radio stations stopped playing her new music after that, the same way country radio stations banned the Dixie Chicks after the George W. Bush comments. A lot of the public turned on her too. It's been said that Janet had been blacklisted.

The US is the only country where she still has a audience and can sell tickets or a new record is a getting a chart-success at leat for a 2-3 weeks.

 

[KOPV]

It's not my opinion that it was the Super Bowl that effected her career.. to me it was another two words.. Jermaine Dupree! Even though 20 YO is when he really took over, if you know Duprees work you can hear his influence Damita Jo! She wasn't able to rebound (nor has she put much effort to) after that.. She's had some hit songs and some good stuff but doesn't get picked up..

I do think ageism does play a roll too

 

[Nite Line]

Janet's career was over after the Superbowl. And the fact that after All For You, she released 3 below par albums for her high standards. If she had released Unbreakable around the Superbowl controversy time, I reckon she would still be somewhat relevant like Madonna.

 

[DuranDuran]

Janet's career was over after the Superbowl. And the fact that after All For You, she released 3 below par albums for her high standards. If she had released Unbreakable around the Superbowl controversy time, I reckon she would still be somewhat relevant like Madonna.

A record doesn't have to be of a high standard to become a hit or sell a lot.

 

[Nite Line]

A record doesn't have to be of a high standard to become a hit or sell a lot.

I know but Damita Jo, 20Yo and Discipline were very very average albums. Obviously Janet getting old and the fact that she was no Michael in terms of popularity didn't help her after the controversy.