Having a discussion with my girlfriend about this.

She’s saying that if someone is popular enough within their genre, then that makes them a mainstream artist. She gave the example Ava Max. I said I’d never heard of her and I feel like most people would have never heard of her being that she only has 1 song ever to make the Hot 100, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a solid fanbase and isn’t popular within her own genre. She’s saying that someone can be a mainstream artist even if they aren’t that well known outside of their genre.

My argument is that an artist is only mainstream if they are known well enough by a solid number of people, inside and outside of their genre, even if they only know them by name recognition alone and don’t actually listen to their music. Using her definition, I asked her if Danny Brown was a mainstream artist being that he is well known within the hip hop community. She responded that he is.

So, two questions:

1. Have you ever heard of Ava Max?

And 2. What makes an artist mainstream to you?

No

Top 40 hits, billions of streams, a lot of searches/trends on social media

I understand that she has one very popular song, but I don’t think that one song makes an artist mainstream. There are some instances where the actual song is more well known than the artist who created it.

For example, Roses by Saint JHN is one of the biggest hits of the year, but most people probably wouldn’t know who the artist is being that he’s not that well established as an artist in his own right yet.

making s***ty music

600m is crazy lol

mainstream means ppl on the street know who u mean.

like u could go up and ask random ppl on the street is they know insert artist and if like 50+ percent know who u talmbout they mainstream

prob has more to do with internet making niche subcultures/music more accessible so songs have to be wayyyyy bigger to take over nowadays

• if u havent heard it ur prob not the target demographic , its not for u

mainstream would mean being on mainstream platforms i guess, like major labels, billboard charts, publications & mainstream content outlets in general

also stfu

i never heard of ava max but it doesnt mean she isnt mainstream

Well the term is broad, but if you're talking about the overall music industry it's a combination of:

Online presence, touring audience, genre diversity of listeners, industry acknowledgement, and commercial success.

I agree with your girl, a one hit wonder is still a mainstream artist

Let’s say Aqua - Barbie Girl, Not a soul will know another song of them, but they are a mainstream band off the strength of Barbie Girl alone

But if an artist is well known and well established but never broke out of their genre, is only known to people who are not casual listeners, like say JPEGMAFIA, he is not mainstream

The difference being everyone knows aqua & no one knows Ava max

I have a better example for you

Walk the Moon - Shut Up and Dance

No one knows who is Walk The Moon but they have a huge mainstream hit, imo they’re mainstream

Ig what you’re saying idk the answer really just seems like one of those things everyone has a different definition of since it’s not clear cut

#1 albums

Yeah usually it’s obvious like Dua Lipa is mainstream and 100gecs are not and then there’s a grey area like in everything

having mainstream music is different from ^being^ mainstream imo

That's a mainstream song not a main stream artist

i agree with your arguement bro..