So, /mu/, I was thinking earlier. Blackstar came out last week, and while I'm sure that the album would've sold well even if Bowie didn't die, there's no denying that that album's sales got a huge boost due to his passing. Millions of fans flocked to the nearest record store to pick up a Bowie album or two, and the one most prominently on display was his newest release, Blackstar. The official numbers don't come out tomorrow, but it's estimated that the album sold 150,000 copies in the US first week. I'm willing to bet that a sizeable percentage of those people are only familiar with his most popular songs (Space Oddity, Heroes, Changes, etc.), and wouldn't have bothered to listen to Blackstar if it weren't for Bowie's death. The youtube videos for the singles from Blackstar got a similar boost: Lazarus sits at almost 20 million views right now, and the song Blackstar is around 15 million. There's no doubt that many of these views came after his death.
Here's what Im curious about. With the added popularity that Blackstar is getting due to Bowie's death, will this album get more people into experimental music? Some people will be immediately be turned off by the experimentation, sure. But it will certainly capture the interests of many listeners who aren't that into experimental music, and haven't heard anything like this before. Will it push forward the boundaries of mainstream music, and perhaps even make the top 40 pop singles a little bit weirder? Obviously there are more experimental albums out there, but none of them sold 150,000 copies first week and got 20 million youtube views. But Blackstar did, and I'm curious as to what the impact will be
Hopefully not. One of the great parts about liking experimental music is that it's obscure.
>>61752496
b8.
Where did this "Blackstar is experimental" meme come from? It's a little unusual by Bowie's standards, but it's hardly experimental. Suburban dads could listen to it and not blink an eye.
>>61752496
you're an idiot
>>61752568
Blackstar is pretty experimental compared to Bowie's mainstream stuff
>>61752568
I really don't think that's true. Sue and Girl Loves Me alone will put off many listeners.
>>61752459
It's an interesting question. I don't think the impact will be that great. Most people who say they like Bowie (and have only heard his popular work) will either buy the record and feel jipped that the record isn't traditional Bowie and react negatively, or they'll say they enjoyed it and let it collect dust from then on. People who don't like Bowie will be turned off completely.
A certain subset of both will love the record, but I don't think it'll have the impact you think it should.
>>61754108
The title track alone is enough to weird people out and disturb them. Yeah, there are some accessible tracks on the album (Dollar Days, I Can't Give Everything Away, sorta Lazarus), but there are also some songs that will be outside of the average listener's taste
>>61752459
I can seethis going one of two ways. Either more people get into experimental music like you said, or the direction of experimentation on Blackstar gets mimicked to death, becoming the new hip thing in pop that people flock to.
>>61754227
It's not any more experimental or offputting than, say, Stairway to Heaven. My pleb dad liked it.
Blackstar was at 5 million on Sunday
It's been out since October
>>61754253
>It's not any more experimental or offputting than, say, Stairway to Heaven
Gregorian chants on the title track alone will put people off, like>>61754227 said.
Stairway is nowhere near experimental territory because all it did was synthesize folk with hard rock, which was done in every Led Zeppelin song on and after IV anyway.
Your dad is not a pleb though, so that's good news.
Like I said, a small section of people will enter into it, but most people will buy the record blind and lose interest by Girl Loves Me. If they're smart, they'll only buy it if they liked the Blackstar video, but I have a feeling a lot of people who say they liked it really didn't.
>>61754253
That's like saying Bohemian Rhapsody is experimental because it's a slow pop songs, a fast pop song, and a fast rock song meshed into one song. It's not common, sure, but it's hardly EXPERIMENTAL
>>61752459
I was actually wondering the same thing. Will his death and subsequent interest in his catalog spark some kind of artistic movement, renaissance or at least better music or something? I hope so.
>>61754385
Blackstar was created by EXPERIencing death at the door and it turned out fucking MENTAL.
What more do you want?
>>61754859
I think you got confused anon. Read through the posts again
>>61754915
I think you should read my post again
