HI there,

Prince dominated 1984 with Purple Rain, as did Michael Jackson with Thriller the year before. Both albums sound fresh to my ears even today...

So, who is the Prince or MJ of today? I know industry has changed and is quite fragmented, but who really fascinates the Kids in 2014? Is there one major artist who makes all teenagers crazy and has artisitc merrit all the same (I know this is in the eye of the beholder)?

What is your 5 cents on this?

The fact that there can even be a dbate means there isn't one. At all. There are some good people with talent and some success, but all of it is arguable.

Why does nobody write "or george michael" he wrote his own stuff, he produced the majority of his entire discography with hardly any filler. Is it because he can't dance and was generally a recluse after the 90's?

Dilan said:

Why does nobody write "or george michael" he wrote his own stuff, he produced the majority of his entire discography with hardly any filler. Is it because he can't dance and was generally a recluse after the 90's?

i think the general consensus is...he wasn't as good? Also, being caught in the bathroom...shadiness on his sexuality...he was never a badass motherfucker, like the other two...i could probably go on...

If the question is Is there a popstar with the quantities of Michael or Prince, I say Bruno Mars has the fans, has the promoting machine, his records are anticipated, and he sells good enough for a 2010's popstar... As of the qualities, I say not yet... You just can't have someone like Prince artistry speaking, or Michael in a way nobody can ever match his global success. As previously discussed, these guys are once-in-a-lifetime phenomens.. They won't like repeat or reincarnate

The industry is about to reach a very bad climax, the album sales are literally decreasing and everyone seems to only care about the top 10 hits in each country, radio overplays those 10 songs... The alternative rock stations are playing typical pop rock songs, same goes for country stations who tend to play country pop... It's all gravitating toward who's got the poppiest sound, the catchiest hook, artists like Bruno Mars and Adele who can produce musical masterpieces will have to STICK to that criteria to satisfy the label & the public...

The 80's were way different, Michael sold a million a week, Prince was everywhere with Purple Rain... and compare all the promotion at the time, they barely did anything, their albums were national events covered by the media and everything while the only thing they did was releasing the records and filming the videos. Today, you have everyone doing 12 TV shows a week, doing a music video for each single, force-expanding their era... It's all different in a bad way. Plus, look at the number of female popstars, Ariana had one era and suddenly became as huge as anyone else... Nevermind the cultural influence, these guys care about the present moment and the sales....

Real music is barely taken care of comercially... Bands like Vampire Weekend, The xx, Beach House...etc don't get invited to worldwide festivals where they belong (Instead, they bring dated bands like Maroon 5 and Coldplay, not that Coldplay sucks...). The VMAs and even Grammys give awards to the mainstream that happens to be bad musically... What else is going on anyway... The whole state of music industry is about to collapse once another female pops up and another REAL alternative indie rock band sells 3 copies a week... This is not what the state is supposed to be.

Shawy89 said:

If the question is Is there a popstar with the quantities of Michael or Prince, I say Bruno Mars has the fans, has the promoting machine, his records are anticipated, and he sells good enough for a 2010's popstar... As of the qualities, I say not yet... You just can't have someone like Prince artistry speaking, or Michael in a way nobody can ever match his global success. As previously discussed, these guys are once-in-a-lifetime phenomens.. They won't like repeat or reincarnate

The industry is about to reach a very bad climax, the album sales are literally decreasing and everyone seems to only care about the top 10 hits in each country, radio overplays those 10 songs... The alternative rock stations are playing typical pop rock songs, same goes for country stations who tend to play country pop... It's all gravitating toward who's got the poppiest sound, the catchiest hook, artists like Bruno Mars and Adele who can produce musical masterpieces will have to STICK to that criteria to satisfy the label & the public...

The 80's were way different, Michael sold a million a week, Prince was everywhere with Purple Rain... and compare all the promotion at the time, they barely did anything, their albums were national events covered by the media and everything while the only thing they did was releasing the records and filming the videos. Today, you have everyone doing 12 TV shows a week, doing a music video for each single, force-expanding their era... It's all different in a bad way. Plus, look at the number of female popstars, Ariana had one era and suddenly became as huge as anyone else... Nevermind the cultural influence, these guys care about the present moment and the sales....

Real music is barely taken care of comercially... Bands like Vampire Weekend, The xx, Beach House...etc don't get invited to worldwide festivals where they belong (Instead, they bring dated bands like Maroon 5 and Coldplay, not that Coldplay sucks...). The VMAs and even Grammys give awards to the mainstream that happens to be bad musically... What else is going on anyway... The whole state of music industry is about to collapse once another female pops up and another REAL alternative indie rock band sells 3 copies a week... This is not what the state is supposed to be.

good stuff man

Krid said:

HI there,

Prince dominated 1984 with Purple Rain, as did Michael Jackson with Thriller the year before. Both albums sound fresh to my ears even today...

So, who is the Prince or MJ of today? I know industry has changed and is quite fragmented, but who really fascinates the Kids in 2014? Is there one major artist who makes all teenagers crazy and has artisitc merrit all the same (I know this is in the eye of the beholder)?

What is your 5 cents on this?

ANSWER: No one.

And besides, clones are not good enough to replace the originals.

Shawy89 said:

If the question is Is there a popstar with the quantities of Michael or Prince, I say Bruno Mars has the fans, has the promoting machine, his records are anticipated, and he sells good enough for a 2010's popstar... As of the qualities, I say not yet... You just can't have someone like Prince artistry speaking, or Michael in a way nobody can ever match his global success. As previously discussed, these guys are once-in-a-lifetime phenomens.. They won't like repeat or reincarnate

The industry is about to reach a very bad climax, the album sales are literally decreasing and everyone seems to only care about the top 10 hits in each country, radio overplays those 10 songs... The alternative rock stations are playing typical pop rock songs, same goes for country stations who tend to play country pop... It's all gravitating toward who's got the poppiest sound, the catchiest hook, artists like Bruno Mars and Adele who can produce musical masterpieces will have to STICK to that criteria to satisfy the label & the public...

The 80's were way different, Michael sold a million a week, Prince was everywhere with Purple Rain... and compare all the promotion at the time, they barely did anything, their albums were national events covered by the media and everything while the only thing they did was releasing the records and filming the videos. Today, you have everyone doing 12 TV shows a week, doing a music video for each single, force-expanding their era... It's all different in a bad way. Plus, look at the number of female popstars, Ariana had one era and suddenly became as huge as anyone else... Nevermind the cultural influence, these guys care about the present moment and the sales....

Real music is barely taken care of comercially... Bands like Vampire Weekend, The xx, Beach House...etc don't get invited to worldwide festivals where they belong (Instead, they bring dated bands like Maroon 5 and Coldplay, not that Coldplay sucks...). The VMAs and even Grammys give awards to the mainstream that happens to be bad musically... What else is going on anyway... The whole state of music industry is about to collapse once another female pops up and another REAL alternative indie rock band sells 3 copies a week... This is not what the state is supposed to be.

I'm glad to see somebody else pointing this out. 95%+ of today's stars are roughly equal in terms of star power (which isn't that high to begin with) even if some are more famous or promoted than others. Imagine if these "stars" were around in the 80s when Jacksonmania and Purplemania were running wild, they'd be lucky to be opening acts for the lesser known acts of the time, assuming they'd have careers in the first place.

[Edited 10/7/14 4:56am]

In a word....no one.

Not even close.

the annoying industry known as now cant compare 2 michael or prince. it take somenody ignorant as hell to ball beyonce,bruno mars justin bieber or any these wack artist of today anything labaled as next.u take all of em at each of their respective age beyonce is what 39?,justin timberlake and bieber 35/20, bruno mars 29 and reflect back on michael at each of em age and none of have came close 2 accomplishing the things he did at those ages,beyonce is a rip off queen, justins both wanna be michael no matter how much people say he wanna be white he has done more than any artist black or white so he still kicks ass.u can sel 30 records in todays markey and be considered a king so damn em all

There can't be.

And that's a good thing.

Their talents were not only supremely different; their times were as well. They were allowed to grow and develop over the long term. There were so many great influences and trends in music for them to draw from. They came into their primes during the MTV Age became superstars of the video age.

If they had to come up now, could THEY have even been Prince or Micharl Jackson, as we know them?

Anyways, there are a lot of great artists brimming underneath the surface that have great talent. They shouldn't be forced to strive for "next" anything. We need to support them on their own terms.

cbarnes3121 said:

the annoying industry known as now cant compare 2 michael or prince. it take somenody ignorant as hell to ball beyonce,bruno mars justin bieber or any these wack artist of today anything labaled as next.u take all of em at each of their respective age beyonce is what 39?,justin timberlake and bieber 35/20, bruno mars 29 and reflect back on michael at each of em age and none of have came close 2 accomplishing the things he did at those ages,beyonce is a rip off queen, justins both wanna be michael no matter how much people say he wanna be white he has done more than any artist black or white so he still kicks ass.u can sel 30 records in todays markey and be considered a king so damn em all

Yeah, by the time Prince was 29 he was releasing Lovesexy. Just think of the wide range of work from For You to Lovesexy including the albums for the Time, Vanity 6, Sheila E, Madhouse, and the Family.

Michael and Prince had a tremendous amount of talent, drive, and vision. Most of today's artist have some of those qualities in varying amounts.

There is no today's Prince or Michael Jackson, and from the looks of things music wise, there never will be.

Justin Timberlake is the "new" Michael Jackson.

Bruno Mars is the "new" Prince.

End of story

I'm joking but you see how ridiculous this is? No artist should EVER aim to be the "new" anybody!

SoulAlive said:

I'm joking but you see how ridiculous this is? No artist should EVER aim to be the "new" anybody!

I don't think anyone is looking for a new Prince or Michael. What artist today occupies that same space of creativity, talent, charisma, and growth?

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I don't even think Prince and MJ are very comparable in terms of what kind of artist they were at the apex of their fame.

Prince is an innovator, a multi-instrumentalist songwriter, who is and was walking his own path in spite of any critics of nay-sayers.

Michael was primarily an entertainer, an excellent singer and dancer, who had a good sense of what his audience wanted out of him, but was also backed by a competent production/marketing team.

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They represent two very different sides of combining talent, showmanship, and commercial savvy.

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At the risk of stirring controversy, I would say that in the present day, examples of artists who on a similar level possess the talent, work ethic, and charisma to keep the masses interested (even if they also may go through lulls), are Beyoncé and Lady Gaga. Hate or love either of them, but they're on fire when they're on stage, and at this point everybody knows their name, and have done so for 10 years and 5 years respectively.

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Props to Justin Timberlake for being able to return to the music scene after not having released a solo single since 2007 before 20/20. For a while there, I thought he'd never be relevant again in music, instead choosing film and entrepeneurship.

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My, my, my...people certainly do get "touchy" when it comes to MJ & Prince it seems.

I think that if people get past the names mentioned by the O.P. and focused on the substance of the question, it's a legitimate topic.

Krid asked: who really fascinates the Kids in 2014? Is there one major artist who makes all teenagers crazy and has artisitc merrit all the same (I know this is in the eye of the beholder)?

Since MJ & Prince were mentioned, then I assume that we're looking for a male pop/funk/r&b artist. So that means that Katy Perry & Lady Gaga are out (we'll leave that to the "today's Madonna" thread).

Usher is a good candidate for "today's MJ". He has the dancing skills and pop appeal. So does Bruno of course, but IMO Usher is more established and has a bigger star factor. No?

I can't really say who could be comparable to what Prince represented in his heyday (1982-1988?).
He was unique. A multi-talented artist who sold a gazillion records while pushing all sorts of boundaries.

I can't think of anyone in particular.

It's just a generational thing.

30 years ago, people/ critics were asking, 'Who are today's Elvis or Beatles?' and bemoaning the state of the current pop scene, not believing that Prince and MJ were two of the modern contenders to such titles.

20 years before that, a lot of older folks were saying, 'Who are today's Frank Sinatra or Louis Armstrong? All this rock, pop and soul music is trash compared to the jazz and swing era'.

I'd hazard a guess that the majority of the people on here are aged between 30 and 50, so the older ones at least would be from the Prince/ MJ/ Madonna 80s generation, so they/ we would feel that they are among the last great rock stars and the newer artists are mostly unoriginal and generic.

By 2034, the kids of today who are into today's pop and rock will be similar in age to many of us now, and they will regard some of the modern popstars and bands of the present decade as the bees knees and most stuff before and after as 'just not the same'. They will probably regard Prince and MJ as just 'old time stars, who were ok in their time and did a couple of good songs', but that's about it .

An historical perspective often comes in useful in assessing the wider picture.

Jacko: P.Williams

Prince: NOBODY

[Edited 10/11/14 14:14pm]

Miles said:

air said:

Generally you won't find super exciting music and personalities on top 40 radio, turn it off. Are you really ready to go deep into someone beside Prince's catalog of creativity? If so let me recommend... FKA Twigs Flying Lotus Pharrell St. Vincent Van Hunt Tune-Yards J*Davey Twin Shadow Chromeo

Cool - some names I know and like, and the others' I will now check - thx

Miles said:

It's just a generational thing.

30 years ago, people/ critics were asking, 'Who are today's Elvis or Beatles?' and bemoaning the state of the current pop scene, not believing that Prince and MJ were two of the modern contenders to such titles.

20 years before that, a lot of older folks were saying, 'Who are today's Frank Sinatra or Louis Armstrong? All this rock, pop and soul music is trash compared to the jazz and swing era'.

I'd hazard a guess that the majority of the people on here are aged between 30 and 50, so the older ones at least would be from the Prince/ MJ/ Madonna 80s generation, so they/ we would feel that they are among the last great rock stars and the newer artists are mostly unoriginal and generic.

By 2034, the kids of today who are into today's pop and rock will be similar in age to many of us now, and they will regard some of the modern popstars and bands of the present decade as the bees knees and most stuff before and after as 'just not the same'. They will probably regard Prince and MJ as just 'old time stars, who were ok in their time and did a couple of good songs', but that's about it .

An historical perspective often comes in useful in assessing the wider picture.

Except those of us in our 40's might just have the benefit of hearing our parents era too. Some of us might have gone back as far as hearing Bill Hailey, Little Richard, The Beatles or Motown. We might have gone through the seventies with Stevie, Bowie and Queen. Obviously we were there for the holy trinity of P, MJ and Madonna in the 80s, we may have even paid a passing interest in Britpop or grunge in the 90's. That's a huge amount of time, lot's of eras.

.

Then shit happened, and continues. There's a severe lack of innovation. Maybe everything has been done already or just can't be improved upon. That's me being honest, not old.

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Pull up any billboard hot 100 from say, the seventies or eighties, then pull one up from the last ten years. No comparison. A historical perspective there indeed.

[Edited 10/14/14 16:28pm]

thedoorkeeper said:

One name towers above all others in todays music scene: .JUSTIN BIEBER.

You must be kidding, right? Besides his last concert/movie was a complete flop. His career is on fumes. If his next album tanks it's over.

The answer is no one.
But the big stars of the area seem to be Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, and Justin Timberlake. Perhaps Lady Gaga, Maroon 5 and P. Williams, but time will tell.