from Hacker News

Too Many Songs, Not Enough Hits

by mosiuerbarso on 10/29/22, 4:28 AM with 1 comments

• by clouddrover on 10/29/22, 5:02 AM

  > Want an example? Beyonce’s new album. It was hosannas all around. Queen Bey has come down from her throne with her miraculous creations which all the “tastemakers” have frothed at the mouth over. This is what we’ve been waiting for, a glorified superstar firing on all cylinders. Check the Spotify Top 50, there’s not a SINGLE Beyonce song! Not one!

  A lot of critically acclaimed albums, books, movies, etc. don't do well commercially. I think Ben Howard is a really good musician:

  - End of the Affair: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4yh2NZ0kJw

  - Cover of Hideaway: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCHMzYYYKiU

  - Cover of Call Me Maybe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPU8V-nvUEk

  He is critically acclaimed but he's never had massive commercial success.

  On top of that, it's always difficult to repeat past success in creative work. You have to have the right sound and the right look at the right time. Mariah Carey, for example, had her best album sales in 1993 and never reached that height again:

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariah_Carey_albums_discograph...

  Audiences are fickle and tastes change. It's always been that way.