There is a musical guru who has become quite popular on YouTube, whose name is Rick Beato. Seriously, if you are a music buff, you NEED to become familiar with his videos (which often go far beyond my understanding of music), but regardless...
The other day he posted a video interview with a music promoter, and they discussed the evolution of popular music from universally known and loved musical stars of the past to the present day, where we have people who are extraordinarily successful "in a silo." That is to say, they are overwhelmingly popular, but only to a targeted demographic or cultural segment. There are many people with hundreds of millions of, say, Spotify music downloads, who are totally unknown to the general public. Contrast this to the musical stars of yesteryear - The Rolling Stones, Linda Ronstadt, the Eagles, the Temptations - who were universally known, and if not loved by all, at least known by all.
Taylor Swift is, of course, Exhibit A. She sells out literally as many venues over as many days as she chooses to perform, and yet I have never knowingly or intentionally listened to a single song that she plays. Same for many Hip-Hop artists. And who know who else? Interestingly to me, my grand-daughters, aged 13 and 11, have no interest in Taylor Swift because she appeals to "old people."
So the question becomes, in this era of stratospheric popularity within limited "silos," Who you gonna have appearing on your Super Bowl Halftime show? No matter whom you pick, unless you pick someone that Boomers like, at least 60% of the audience will be bored, uninterested, or overtly pissed off.
It's a whole new world, music-wise.
The other day he posted a video interview with a music promoter, and they discussed the evolution of popular music from universally known and loved musical stars of the past to the present day, where we have people who are extraordinarily successful "in a silo." That is to say, they are overwhelmingly popular, but only to a targeted demographic or cultural segment. There are many people with hundreds of millions of, say, Spotify music downloads, who are totally unknown to the general public. Contrast this to the musical stars of yesteryear - The Rolling Stones, Linda Ronstadt, the Eagles, the Temptations - who were universally known, and if not loved by all, at least known by all.
Taylor Swift is, of course, Exhibit A. She sells out literally as many venues over as many days as she chooses to perform, and yet I have never knowingly or intentionally listened to a single song that she plays. Same for many Hip-Hop artists. And who know who else? Interestingly to me, my grand-daughters, aged 13 and 11, have no interest in Taylor Swift because she appeals to "old people."
So the question becomes, in this era of stratospheric popularity within limited "silos," Who you gonna have appearing on your Super Bowl Halftime show? No matter whom you pick, unless you pick someone that Boomers like, at least 60% of the audience will be bored, uninterested, or overtly pissed off.
It's a whole new world, music-wise.
