Why Do Pop Divas Rule The Music Industry??

I've preached this equation for the past 5 years to artists looking to either expand their brand, or get into the business. Most would call going pop, "selling out", but who are you selling out to? Your fans, self, or those folks around you that want you to play the "keep it real" game, and stay behind with them? Keep it real with self, and your fans will link into your authenticity!! Everyone else may just be playing the "crabs in a bucket game", and don't want you to expand!

Fans are getting tired of the same old songs, the same old artists, the same old vibe. Songs come out today, a producer capitalizes off a certain sound, and here comes the 40 other producers copying off their sound, tricks they use, etc., I.e. the "autotune" craze now prevalent in a lot of urban records. I give T-Pain his propers for reintroducing the Zapp ftg. Roger sound. But the 50 million other folks now using it in every single one of their songs, come on already!!

Numerous artists have made the jump and it's not only the divas, but look at Snoop Dogg, Diddy, The Neptunes, Cee-Lo Green, B.O.B., Bruno Mars, Theophilus London, Travie McCoy, etc. These artists remain relevant, and some after many years in the business, because they continue to expand their brand, sound and stay on top of what is current in the business, from music, fashion, to social media, etc..

Stepping out of your or in this case, someone else's comfort zone, is the key to bringing new fans to your brand. Being afraid to expand your musical catalog may equate to instant death these days. In the case of Jonell Monae however that hasn't caught on yet, because fickle urban fans still want all the negative overtones in their music. Her team needs to get her touring specifically overseas where her style of music is appreciated or change her sound. Which brings me to Beyonce, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and yes even Britney Spears now. They all have benefited from stepping out of their comfort zones and expanding their brand with a new sound, style of dress, etc. I can even throw Taylor Swift and Nicki Minaj in as well, but the aforementioned I must talk about because they are the artists that are the epitome of this entire posting.

Why are these pop divas ruling the charts? One answer is social media. Social media now can make something viral in seconds on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace (are they still relevant?), YouTube, Reverbnation, SoundCloud, etc. Another answer is promotions, promotions, promotions! These divas have teams that know how to place them in the market, in front of fans, and lifestyle companies so that their brand is fully exploited. They also pay attention to what their teams have to say and the advice that they give them, and they are involved in every step of the process. Without calling names, but there were some alternate examples of this on some reality shows recently, and that is why those artists continue to struggle in the business.