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Is this the end of the superstar era?
Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 22/02/2007Page 1 of 3




Britney and Robbie may have problems, but it's the music business that's facing meltdown. Neil McCormick asks where the stars went, while insiders predict the future of music

Last weekend, Britney Spears, once American pop's cheerleading sweetheart, burst into a hairdresser, grabbed a razor and brutally shaved her head, muttering about people wanting to touch her.

Last week, Robbie Williams, the biggest-selling solo artist in UK music history, missed the Brit awards because he had entered rehab for addiction to prescription anti-depressants.

It is hard to imagine more graphic demonstrations of the toxic dangers of the modern fame game.

Yet, for the music business itself, the spectacle of pop stars on the verge of a nervous breakdown is just a sideshow, as the whole superstar system on which the industry has been constructed goes into meltdown.

From Elvis to Eminen, for 50 years the music business has brought us iconic figures whose worldwide impact has resonated far beyond the confines of pop radio, their music, imagery, fashions and personalities helping to define the times we live in. Bob Dylan, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Led Zeppelin, Bob Marley, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Michael Jackson, Madonna - these were musical artists who achieved a kind of global cultural omnipresence.


You did not have to like their music to know who they were, or feel its effect.

But as the music industry struggles to come to terms with collapsing sales, diverging international markets and the internet-fuelled emergence of highly personalised and parochial buying patterns, is the era of the global musical superstar drawing to an end?

Mergers, profit warnings and cost-cutting at the ever-shrinking number of major labels (currently down to four: Universal, SonyBMG, Warners and EMI) have demonstrated that the music business is struggling to come to terms with the challenges of download distribution.

But there is more than just new musical delivery systems and the problems of piracy at play - there is a change in the whole culture of how music is consumed.

Last year, the BBC cancelled Top of the Pops due to a collapse in viewing figures. There is no centralisation of pop culture any more, no radio station, music magazine or TV programme that reflects and shapes the tastes of music lovers.

The internet has opened up a vast catalogue catering to all tastes and every age group. This encourages a highly personal soundtrack model of consumption, where you can load your iPod with everything you already like and never have to listen to anything you don't want to ever again.

It is the enemy of universality.

Consider the case of Arctic Monkeys. Last year was widely deemed to be "their" year. They had the fastest-selling British debut album of all time, won two Brit awards and will be headlining the Glastonbury festival this year.

But would you recognize them on the street? They had a peculiarly anonymous kind of success that did not overrun into wider popular culture in the way Oasis and Robbie Williams did in the UK in the 1990s.

Rising up through fan forums, they are only really popular with their own following. It seems to suit the band, but they are anti-stars, an invisible phenomenon. How do you sell that to the world?

The major record companies that have grown to dominate sales across the planet are high-overhead businesses built on a model where only one in 10 artists is successful, but a tiny minority sell in such vast quantities that they pay for everything else.

That model is now failing. Of the 100 best-selling albums of all time, only three have been released in the 21st century (and one was a compilation by the Beatles, the others being by Eminem and Norah Jones).

With the exception of Eminem, the biggest stars of the decade have been either US solo artists emerging from uber-glossy '90s manufactured pop (Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé) or tasteful, sensitive (and often British) melodic pop-rock (Coldplay, Dido, James Blunt, Norah Jones). It is the rise of the middle-of-the-road.

In troubled times, these are the artists companies consider it safe to spend their marketing budgets on.

But while they can still sell in big (if diminishing) quantities, they lack the kind of challenging uniqueness that could send shockwaves rippling through the world at large. They lack superstar-sized charisma.

Perhaps as an intentional rejection of the superficial values of traditional showbusiness, much of modern pop culture (certainly in the UK) seems to have developed a strange kind of humility.

James Blunt, who had one of the biggest albums in the world in 2005, could probably travel on the Tube unmolested.

And while a non-rock fan might recognise Chris Martin, it would only be because he is married to a movie star. Identifying another member of Coldplay would be a stretch.

As for James Morrison, or the members of Keane, Snow Patrol and the Kooks, who are these people? It is an Everyman model of fame, the star next door. It is music without edges.

Yet the UK scene is as edgy, exciting and flamboyant as it has ever been, frothing over with exceptional talents from Amy Winehouse to the Guillemots.

People feared that the web would make everything homogeneous, but it seems to be doing the opposite. Attempts earlier this decade to promote American stars at the expense of local talent have foundered: there were only four US acts in the top 20 UK albums last year.

American idols (Justin, Christina and Beyoncé) failed to gain international sales to match their profiles.

Which is an interesting reversal, given that Britain's biggest stars of the past 15 years (Oasis and Robbie) proved unwelcome in America.

By promoting interactivity between audience and artist and making available music that corresponds to the particular interests of different types of people, the internet is actually making music more parochial.

The problems facing the international music business may, in fact, be an indication of the rude health of grassroots music. Lower recording costs and new distribution models mean more access for musicians and more choice for consumers, which means we are less dependent on the choices record labels make for us.

Declining CD revenues focus attention on other ways of making money, feeding into a boom in live music.

With lots of great music to choose from and many more musicians making a living through performance and independent sales, the old model, where only a tiny minority of musicians (as few as two per cent) enjoyed the benefits of fame and fortune, hardly seems worth defending.

Maybe, with hindsight, the first flourishing of the international music business from the '50s to the '90s will be seen as an aberration: the superstar era. Given the treatment meted out to the likes of Britney and Robbie, perhaps we should be glad it's over.

advertisementWhat those in the know say...

"In virtually every market in the world people have a desire to connect more with their own culture, and that has come at the expense of international stars. People got fed up being sold fluff. The barriers to entry are now collapsing all around, so it's easy for any artist to make their product available.

" The live sector is vibrant. It's cheap for an artist to record a few tracks, sell music at gigs, develop a fan base and promote themselves that way. Ten or 20 years ago, you had to go with a major label to have success but not any more. If there is another Bruce Springsteen out there, maybe he is doing it himself."

Paul Burger Founder of Soho Artists, artist management company focusing on world music. Formerly chairman of Sony Music UK and Ireland

"People listen to a greater variety of music than ever before, and are more demanding consumers. There have only ever been a few artists who made good albums. All too often albums got sold off the back of one killer single plus a lot of filler, but this is not possible any more, now that the consumer can choose individual tracks. It's all good for the music consumer, and for musicians it's a good time, too, because they can take charge of their music, distribute and promote it themselves for little or no cost.

"Musicians have traditionally made money by playing live, and that's not going to change. You cannot download the live experience. It's the real hard currency of the music business."

Martin Stiksel Founder of Last FM, an internet radio station and recommendation engine that tailors itself to the personal tastes of individuals

"While everyone is questioning the future of the music business, nobody questions the power of music. It is used to promote and sell just about every type of commodity and service, constantly. So it is just a question of how music is going to be distributed, consumed and paid for.

"Music publishers have had to spend decades remodelling and reshaping their businesses. They started off selling piano rolls, then sheet music, then recorded music took over and publishers had to learn how to license and monetise their rights. Record companies will have to acquire the same mind set, monetising and licensing their recorded music. Licensing, which the industry has long considered secondary income, will become the primary income."

Fran Nevrkla Chairman of PPL (Phonographic Performance Limited) & VPL (Video Performance Limited), non-profit music licensing bodies who collect performance royalties for musicians

"We have a generation coming through who don't think that music is something you pay for. It may not be good for the corporations, but, if you believe that the internet is a more democratic trading environment, there is a very healthy future for the music industry. New independents are forming all the time from the remnants of old corporate business, new shoots springing up from old wood."

Alison Wenham Chief executive of AIM, the Association of Independent Music

"Will the old corporations be here as we know them in five years time? No chance. Will music still be something people are making money out of in five years time? Absolutely. I think we're going back to the 70s again. Its all about being as entrepreneurial and independent as possible. The future is small. There are four big corporations at the moment, and there might be three in a year's time. But for music lovers it's never looked better. Roll on the '70s!"

Christian Tattersfield MD of 14th Floor Records (a joint venture deal with Warner Records, artists include David Gray, Damien Rice, Ray LaMontagne and Nerina Pallot) NMC