Porn for BYH

90 pct (if not more) of those bands didn't sell as much in their entire career as U2 did with one record, or as much as REM did with any two. Those metal/hip-hop bands (most of which roooooled, but I won't argue that with you here ) continue to tour and record today, to absolutely zero fanfare.

Even the non-U2/REMs of the indie/alternative world continue to tour and record to some attention. They may not be selling many records, but they've still got a legitimacy about them that the metal/hip hoppers traded in exchange for many miilions in sales. Considering how even most million-selling bands are broke thanks to terribly shady deals, I imagine they'd trade the platinum records for some respect.

 

Didn't Steelheart have a No. 1 album?

 

Yeah.

He should be sending me a copy of steelheart anyday now.

 

I like a lot of this junk...

 

Record companies were forced to go paint by numbers as technology changed. With the advent of MP3s and MP3 players, the focus shifted from albums to individual songs. In the pre-MP3 days, everything was focused on which single/45 sold best, but people stlil bought albums. With the advent of MP3s the focus shifted to just buying (or downloading for free) an individual song instead of exploring the entire album of an artist.

 

In effect, then, the music industry has gone back to the way it was, before the Beatles and other artists turned the album into something more than a hit single or two surrounded by filler.