Quote:
Originally posted by Jennifer
Thanks for posting this! This is interesting and basically confirms what we already knew when it came to albums atleast.
There are so many more options out there now and that's why even though the market of today is similar to the late 70s, there are no albums selling like Thriller or all those mega sellers of the past. Makes 21's slaughter even more impressive.
On the flip side, it's another reason why the "stars" of today feel so blah and useless. They aren't as powerful or dominating as they used to be aside from a select few obviously.
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Centralized mass media hit its peak 1975-1985. That 10-year time frame boasts a disproportionately high amount of the biggest albums/movies/TV shows of all-time... before the advent of home video, cable TV, and (eventually) the internet systematically eroded the whole system into a husk of its former self.
The upside of modern technology is having convenient access to an increasingly wide array of entertainment options. The downside is that true "cultural events" (shared collective experiences) are much harder to come by because the landscape has become so decentralized/fragmented.
