Did Michael Jackson’s death bring an end to the era of superstardom? I sure hope not. In my opinion, the time of the superstar has just begun. Now, everyone can be a superstar (for a time). Whip out the garage band, click on an instrument, make a beat, sing a little and voila! A song. There are a lot of talented people out there, and now, with the technology available, people can produce more music, faster. (Granted, there are those who lack talent, but with the help of computers and a tweek here and there, everyone sounds good!) Superstardom is not a thing of the past, as a matter of fact, I believe more people with experience it now than ever before, but for a shorter period of time. People’s short attention spans and the quantity of artists out there make it so no one person will have the spotlight for long. Is this fragmentation a bad thing? I don’t think so. In the past, a rare few were able to get their songs out to the masses, now anyone who is creative and innovative can make it in the music world. Audience diversification also provides initiative for popular and in-coming artists to continually write new and different songs, because rarely does a song stay at the top of the charts for more than 3 weeks. (In 1982, MJ’s Thriller spent 31 weeks at the top of Billboard music charts.)
There will never be another artist like Michael Jackson. He was a gifted musician, singer, songwriter, and dancer who impacted the music industry like no one else. He had a talent and passion that cannot be replicated by any artist. In my book, MJ is surpasses the title of “superstar”, falling into the category of überstar—a very technical term applied to only a handful of the most talented people. The day of the überstar has come to an end, for Michael Jackson was raw talent. Nowadays, artists are large in number and rely on bashing beats or computer tweeks to top the billboards. Michael Jackson did that and more with his love of music and passion for song. There will only be one king of pop, but the days of Superstardom have only begun.
I think it's going to be very hard to find a superstar because there are too many talented people. Superstar has to be much better than anybody else, but it is very hard to be much better than many other talented stars. If there is another super star, he or she is going to be much greater superstar than Michael Jackson was, it's just hard to find one.
ReplyDeleteMichael was a pure artist. He didn't need any tweaking or fine-tuning. I truly hope that the era of superstardom has not ended, but I do think that it will be a real challenge to find anyone who can rely on talent alone. Hopefully we will be surprised at some point in the near future, but for now, I guess we will have to learn to be satisfied with our own personal forms of stars, ourselves. :]
ReplyDeleteI agree superstardom is much easier to obtain, but quality is becoming harder to find! My hope is that if someone is truly an extraordinary singer/actor/dancer/writer/etc they will be able to get their talent out there. It seems like more and more people are just getting 15 seconds of fame.
ReplyDeleteI think that superstars have died. Because there are so many more ways to get music out, no one can have the staying power that a superstar like Michael Jackson had. The closest thing we have today is U2 or Green Day, but they haven't even scratched the surface of Michael Jackson's fame. There are not going to be anymore superstars.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mike in that superstars in music no longer exist. However, I feel that there are superstars through other platforms. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are superstars. Kobe and LeBron are as well. The days of the musical icon, though, are finished. With every artist simply recycling sounds and beats from older artists, it is impossible for just one to stand out...
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