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 era seem to be Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, and Justin Timberlake. Perhaps Lady Gaga, Maroon 5 and P. Williams, but time will tell.

[Edited 10/19/14 20:16pm]

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.

I've said the same thing many times, but don't think I've said it better.

Kids who weren't even born when The Gold Experience came out probably see Prince and Michael Jackson almost like Chuck Berry and Little Richard. Stevie Wonder is to them what "Sir Duke" is to us.