What does a charting album/single prove?

That an artist is popular?

Is a man currently selling out 15,000 seat arena's not popular? Michael Jackson's "Invincible" was # 1 and he was deemed a failure by the press (and some fans.) If "Musicology" doesn't hit the top 10 is it a failure? It doesn't sound like a failure when I play it in my car.

Does an album in the charts prove that an artist is rich/making money?

TLC anyone? They were # 1 and broke at the same time

So why are the charts important?

Bragging rights? Validation for the record label?

Question: If Picasso had not sold one piece of his art would he be a "failure?" If the Beatles had never hit # 1 would their music be considerably worse? Wasn't Mozart buried in a pauper's grave?

Just wondering what all of you all thought.....

Well, this is a bit of a rhetorical question but it's all about commercial success.

But yeah, it proves relative commercial success. It may sound good in your car but that's got nowt to do with whether or not it's a commercial success. Invincible might be considered a failure (a) musically, and/or (b) commercially relatively because of the amount of cash spent on it and the expectation that surrounds MJ and his previous sales.

But you know all this, man.

Picasso - commercially, yes.
Beatles - no, of course. Just a commercial failure.
Mozart - yes. Doesn't change the fact that he had commercial success in his life and has commercial success now.
[This message was edited Thu Apr 1 8:55:07 2004 by TheFrog]

It proves the PR person is doing their job.

skywalker said:

bragging rights and vindication/validation for the fans who actually care about crap like chart placings n'such, more like.

skywalker said:

i don't get the point of your post.

i assume you want to know prince's reason for trying it commercially again.

i'd say for the recognition of the popmusic consumer and for the money.

times change; the frase "i don't care to win awards" doesn't suit prince anymore.

how is this not clear to you?

...
[This message was edited Thu Apr 1 9:26:49 2004 by purpleone]

purpleone said:

The point of my post is this-IF Prince hits #1 with Musicology what does is change? Is he going to be "better" in the eyes of his fans? Music fans in general? Will he make a considerable amount more money? Does Diamonds and Pearls being a #1 album make it his best ever? Is #1 on the charts a good indicator of success if you can be #1 and broke at the same time? Is it a good indicator of success if you can be #1 and still be labeled a "failure"?

By the way do you really believe that Prince ever didn't care to win awards? I say no. Have you seen the display case at Paisley PArk? Full of awards some dating back to before that phrase "i don't care to win awards" was ever uttered on record.

Prince said that he didn't care to win awards, that doesn't mean that he won't except them. He doesn't make a song to get an award for it, he makes songs because thats what he does. MJ makes albums to get awards, and many other pop artists for that matter. Thats why they call that crap pop music.

What does it prove? The Process of generating Revenue.

Sdldawn said:

Yeah, but Prince is generating a ton of revenue by touring. How much of the pie does say Justin Timberlake see from his album being #1?

Also, I totally agree that PRince desn't make music for awards. I am just saying that he once quoted as saying he used to not care about winning awards "because (he) hadn't won any."

Well, I've never cared about charts...actually the artists I like don't spend much dayz on the charts lately (Prince, R.E.M., Pearl Jam, etc)...but I know that when an album goes top 10 it creates that effect called "Million of flies cannot be wrong, come on ya'll, let's eat shit". an over-hype!

the importance of chart success = more Prince coverage

the more popular Prince is the more we see him and just doesnt disappear 2 weeks after releasing an album

Mazerati said:

I think that theory is flawed though because he hasn't sold one album of "musicology" in the stores yet and how many weeks has it been since the Grammy's. Prince get's coverage when he wants it-ie "sells himself",n ot because his album is #1.

i personally hope it goes to #1 - because P obviously wants a #1 record, for whatever reason, and i think he's earned the right certainly.

that being said, it has no prayer of being a #1 album. Top 10 - yes. Highly possible.


and let's face it, P has always cared about commercial success.

Actually it proves nothing. As I recall, MilliVanilli went #1, didn't they?

Yes, it means nothing except that the artist is relatively popular. Hitler was very popular in Germany at one time too.

Damn, you went there.