Lol I unfortunately have a lot of white theaters kid friends so I get exposed to A LOT and am just like “nah, y’all have fun tho” lol I have the same feelings on Billie Eilish. Never got into her but are happy for everyone else who heard bad guy during everything on tv for like a year

Availability and popularity are definitely influential on how things are received. For ex. The marvel films have grown into these massive cultural moments with things like end game and just due to hype and being caught up in these social aspects of the events, people definitely found themselves more invested in the experience as a whole. A lot of this is due to the marketing and hype machine built up around the films. I’d argue that marketing can be done to influence the masses into liking things. The k-pop industry is notorious for these borderline manipulative tactics in which they make fans feel like they’re apart of a greater pursuit when supporting their groups in a near-cult like way.

Tldr: marketing is psychological warfare and can make people like something more than they would without the hype machine behind it

You can sell off how big your name is alone

the biggest sales come from the first week, literally when people

HAVEN’T HEARD THE ALBUM!

pretty simple, sales don’t equal quality

I don’t doubt this to some degree although I’d need to read more to believe marketing can make me like something that has no aspects of anything I would foreseeably like, but in the case of Marvel, I don’t think it’s wrong to make the experience part of the package of the art. An opportunity to cos-play, etc. is just fun and adds to the fun-ness of seeing the movie. As a package of art, I guess I don’t see this as sneaky or gimmicky.

K-pop stuff idk about, but I fux with my niggas BTS 😂

Thanks for giving me more to look into tho. This does sound really interesting

Because it’s just one metric of measuring and can be flawed.

Like a lot of people have said, there’s things that are popular at the moment that are terrible or at least worse when looked back on later.

If there are consistently high sales over a long period of time and/or if the older songs/albums sold well and still get listened to though then the argument “sales doesn’t equal quality!” Falls just as flat as “it sold a lot so it must be good!” But no one ever wants to acknowledge that.

I think the streaming era makes up for a lot of it cuz you’re still not getting high numbers if people aren’t repeatedly going back to the project. Also, I should’ve put in more context tho, I’m talking about high selling-long running art in general. An example I’ve put itt is Taylor Swift. I don’t like her but itd be arrogant to say she ain’t one of the best in her lane.

Sales, now more than ever, represent what people are listening to. Streams are incorporated into sales.

If a project is doing crazy numbers, even outside the first week, obviously people want to listen to it.

And if it wasn't good, why would people listen?

There's definitley a correlation

oh yeah for sure to be a consistent draw and seller you have to be making quality music (to a big group of people), the debate about quality is interesting because it’s music not building a house or car so it’s all just our opinions, does a big group of ppl think it sounds good? Yeah? Then it’s quality I suppose.

Started out rough but it turned into really thoughtful conversations lol. Thank y’all for sharing your insight with a nigga ✊🏾

loads of things in this world, including sell a lot despite being mid or worse quality. Look at pop music, lil pump, any soundcloud tier rapper. Streams simply equal popularity and catchiness.

look at fast food and fast fashion

ppl also become biased to things and will consume it simply cause they already like the brand, artist, etc regardless of quality. stans being a good example

why did this stupid ass question need to be asked if you aren't a teenager

Yup, you're right. Nsync and backstreet boys were the best artists of the late 90s because they sold the most

But if it’s catchy I would argue that that’s a good quality compliment. Some music is just supposed to be fun and that’s okay.

Also, as someone pointed out, fast fashion/fast food arent the same as music because the cost isn’t equal across the board.

Lol I never said sales can determine who’s better, but I definitely think sales have artistic merit and can be a reflection of whether or not that artist achieved what they set out to do. I also said repeatedly that low sales can simply mean made for a smaller audience or just simply less available. You’re assuming more than I said homie. ✊🏾

i think most normal people just discuss sales for what they are.

you cant introduce something objective like sales into a discussion which is completely subjective like music.

doesn't matter if cost isn't equal, you can pick the cheap ones like h&m and they still sell.

supreme bogos aint high quality. sales are not the main metric for quality, esp under capitalism lol. basic econ course wiill tell you that, it's s&d and the enjoyment ppl get from consumption

how does catchy = quality, you gonna say meme songs are high quality audio now?

no mans sky was a buggy pos and it sold for millions out the gate. sports games, call of duty. consumer base and popularity tend to be stronger than quality for sales

Yeah

ppl use sales as a way to brag is all, that's their biggest merit after generated revenue

Idk, sales are always being manipulated so it's hard to trust them as an accurate gage. Same for the Grammy's.

Lol if I’m at the club or at a party or the roller rink, I wanna hear some catchy s*** to dance to, so yea I think catchiness is a compliment that speaks to quality 🤷🏾‍♂️

ITT: twilight, harry potter and avengers higher quality than most oscar winning films

i like the competitive aspect of a sales discussion seeing kanye go toe to toe with drake was exciting even though he was always going to lose

i dont know why people would brag about it though. i dont know whats there to be gained for the listener other than some weird sense that you contributed to that artist’s success in some way lol

you're speaking purely out of subjectivity

what you like does not deem quality

bc sales are just one metric