Quote:
Originally Posted by Toy Santa
The Beatles were as popular as they were because they were trailblazers in doing something a bit “different” to the other music that was available at the time, and because access to music relied entirely upon radio play on a small number of radio stations or purchasing physical media.
The musical landscape is entirely different now with countless recording artists from countless musical genres pushing musical boundaries and experimenting, usually with solid but fairly niche followings, some with larger followings, but you’re not going to get something like The Beatles simply because of the easy, free and immediate access to any variety of music you can think of. It’s not reliant on media exposure or radio play in the same way.
I’m not saying The Beatles didn’t write some good music. I am however saying that The Beatles today would not be the cultural phenomenon they were in their day. Their following would smaller and more focussed.
You have to put everything in historical context really and you can’t compare a band from the middle of the 20th century to any recording artist in 2022 - in the world of digital streaming and almost infinite variety.
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But they were a cultural phenomenon at their time of composing music. I wouldn't call anyone today a cultural phenomenon. Adele is a good caberet singer and Ed Sheeran is a decent busker. Nobody out there now is producing anything groundbreaking or seminal.