OK, I understand and respect that.
But it still existed, however problematic at the time. It would have an effect.
So it's a factor to be considered - as it's flogging your album the week it's release for 1$.


AND IMMA JUST SAY THIS:
Gaga is loved for her music, YES. I love Gaga's music.
But her "legacy" and "iconic value" will be judged by her crazy outfits and "everybody should love gay people" ~ not her musical contribution. She's not actually doing anything innovative musically for the industry. SO in terms of impact, going by those standards, where Britney didn't need to do anything outrageous for public adoration ...

Britney > Gaga. Okurr.

I'm glad you realize who's in charge.

Piracy was around in the nineties before most people even had computers. Stawp. People were in the streets bootlegging.

To be fair, if sales were like they were in 2000-2002 right now, Adele would be at almost 50 million WW & 15-18 million in the US alone, which would have been phenomenal even then & I believe it would've outsold all of Britney's albums individual sales easily, just like Adele is eclipsing TF's sales.

In summary : Adele is unstoppable & outselling everyone everywhere in any way.

/thread.

Bootlegging in the streets=/= illegal downloading & file sharing.

Obviously not enough to keep the biggest albums from selling 20-30m copies WW.

But you can't use album sales in your assessment because albums used to sell way moore. The Fame would have probably sold around 25+ million if the market was as big as it was in the 90s. Her selling 13 million in this day and age is incredible. Gaga was EVERYWHERE. Just as Britney was. I agree that Britney has the advantage here (as you said - two different times) But Gaga is dangerously close to matching Britney's impact on pop culture. If she manages to redefine her legacy it could easily overcome Britney's impact.

No.

This argument will never end. Our little hearts however know that Britney Spears's impact was simply bigger.

You do realize that there is no proof the online file sharing damages the music industry enough for them to build a strong enough case for it to banned in the US, unlike movies, where you are 100x more likely to get fined for illegally downloading because they've proven that it is hurting that industry.

You should research the SOPA law that they are trying to put in place. It has less to do with music than anything else... Why? Because no one can prove that illegal downloading is hurting sales any more than digital singles.

No.

Not by a substantial margin. If Gaga is smart she can easily become the next major pop icon and dethrone Britney.

No
Gaga is definitely the biggest thing since her though

This still means Adele is out pacing Gaga though. The only artist that out paced Britney during the late 90's/early 00's was the Backstreet Boys and they had a three year head start in terms of album sales. What does it say that Adele who has sold nearly 20 million albums this last year has out sold Gaga in the "best selling album since 2002?" I'm not trying to troll I think it's a valid question this is why I question her impact. Gaga was a digital seller who got big enough to transition to an album seller because she finally caught on with a video clip (Bad Romance), while Adele seems to have stolen her thunder very quickly after Gaga was crowned. Britney never had that happen so early in her career.

A lot of Folk singers were labeled anti-Britney's after the 00's saw a tremendous amount of Britney wannabe clones. If you know anything about Norah Jones personality, music and image you know it's the exact opposite of Britney's. Regardless Avril and Norah had the same amount of impact anyway so I don't get why your arguing me with this. As to the late 90's being a teen pop movement I'm not even talking about that. I'm talking about teen pop females which Britney was the cornerstone of in the late 90's. She was the first one and the one everyone was being molded after or against.

Yes, they are both great and iconic.

Graph the gradual decline of album sales yourself, sis! Numbers don't lie.

Albums still sell plenty. Look at Adele. Look at Duffy two years ago. Drake sells pretty well. Even Rihanna and Katy go multi-platinum.

Y'all act like everybody was going diamond back then. They weren't. Britney just managed to pull two certifications out in the end. You know the RIAA changed certification standards once... and they haven't found a reason to since? Oop. There goes that argument.