I feel like people on here (and in many other places) focus too much on the success and not the music. Music is supposed to be about expression, not money and sales. I'm just wondering why people worry about flops or whatever, because it shouldn't matter imo.

Because that's what matters.

Without the success, there would be no music.

And everyone has different opinions/taste in music, so it is impossible to compare, and say which one is best.

Success/figures are black and white, so people can compete with them more easily.

Did Who You Are go silver yet?

This

Umm no it went 3x platinum

This tbh.
When you can't stan for your faves vocal ability, I guess you have to hold on to their sales. What people forget is that even the most basic tune can go #1.

So untrue. Everyone on here milks Metacritic but reviews are bias etc, so one really crap score from a horribly bias reviewer can bring someones average plummeting down.

Sells are more solid than review scores though, but still irrelevant. The list of unappreciated artists is unreal. There are albums and singles that have the potential slay even the biggest of hits, but they have no promotion and no money behind them, thousands of people never get a big break but their music and talent far outdoes many popular artists.

I don't like Jessie J, but I appreciate her amazing vocal talent, imagine if she had made her album (which has had huge success) but it had no promotion and just lay with 5 copies on a shelf in a Tesco Express behind some old copies of The Fame.

Figures do not reflect talent.

That's cute darling

+1

I never said figures reflect talent, I was simply stating that figures (especially sales/certifications) are a way of stans competing, and at the end of the day everyone likes a bit of competition.

I agree but one of the reasons I joined was to talk about charts & sales.

It's because people want to validate their preferences, they need to feel like it matters. They don't want to be put to shame by stanning for someone with dirt-poor receipts, so they exaggerate them. They don't want to feel like their music taste is worse because less people have the same taste. But of course, whether you like someone's music should always be the #1 factor in whether you are a fan of them.

Because talent isn't relevant here. Isn't that clear judging by the avatars?

But you still said they are black and white, but they're not always. Like I said, sells are quite solid but Metacritic reviews are a mess.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's a chart forum. People are obviously gonna be competitive if the topic is constantly being discussed.