Wayne
09-21-2010, 07:16 PM
This obviously applies to those artists that are just not able to breach the language barrier, for whatever reason, most notably J and K Pop artists, such as Ayumi Hamasaki. The lady has sold over 30m albums worldwide, but only a tiny fraction of that comes from outside of Asia. This is obviously due to the Japanese language not being as accessible as that of the French, Spanish, Italian or German languages, for example. However, these obvious examples are not those i personally wish to consider for this topic, I'm talking more of mainstream pop artists and bands that have hit it big in certain countries, but for whatever reason, they simply cannot sustain a career in other countries.
I think the biggest example that comes to mind off the top of ones head is Kylie Minogue, who has never hit her stride in the USA of all places! Kylie has sold some 60m records worldwide, but less than 5m in the USA, and nowadays, despite scoring a top 20 album there, she drops off the chart quicker than she did years ago. Some people are under the illusion that Kylie is only a superstar in the UK and Australia; however that would be an incorrect assumption, and couldn't be further from the truth. Kylie has forged a huge career, hitting it big across most of Europe, and even in Asia, where she has maintained a moderately successful career, surprisingly. Her sound is deemed to be 'to gay' for the more conservative US market, and thus she registers no airplay, in a country that has its main chart built on airplay, and where album sales are generally formed off the back of huge hits
Robbie Williams - the #3 selling male soloist in Britain, of all time. In Australia, he has sold millions of records, in Latin America, he has sold hundreds of thousands of records, and is the biggest British star since the heyday of Elton John. So why, oh why, has he not hit it big in the USA? Some fans and critics blame his nonsensical and arrogant attitude towards breaking the biggest market in the world, and to quote one of his hit albums, 'The Ego Has Landed'. Is his arrogance the right reason?
Other such cases include those of Anastacia, who has sold over 20m records worldwide, yet never come close to her European heights from last decade, in the USA, despite being very marketable, and at least hailing from the USA. Flamboyant rock outfit the Scissor Sisters are another such modern day example.
That obviously just concerns itself with the USA. What about the UK? The most notable examples in my mind here concern country music stars. Few people know this, but Garth Brooks is probably the most successful international act in Irish chart history, having sold hundreds of thousands of records. On top of this, he has performed moderately on some European charts, and in Australia. So why has he never scored big in the UK? The man has sold over 100m albums around the world - during the 90s, only Celine Dion and Mariah Carey sold more albums than he did worldwide. This should give you an indication of just how successful he was. So why wouldn't the UK embrace him? We haven't always been phobic of country music - Bob Dylan, Dolly Parton, Elvis, Roy Orbison and more have all at some point dabbled in Country music and been successful in the UK, yet the likes of Garth cannot sustain a career here. Not just Garth though - Reba McEntire, George Strait, Willie Nelson, Martina McBride, Keith Urban have all sold tens of millions of albums inside of the USA but they can't sell a dime outside of the nation. Critics point towards the 'hokey' stereotype that surrounds country music
Anyway, enough of my inane rambling. What artists can you think of?
I think the biggest example that comes to mind off the top of ones head is Kylie Minogue, who has never hit her stride in the USA of all places! Kylie has sold some 60m records worldwide, but less than 5m in the USA, and nowadays, despite scoring a top 20 album there, she drops off the chart quicker than she did years ago. Some people are under the illusion that Kylie is only a superstar in the UK and Australia; however that would be an incorrect assumption, and couldn't be further from the truth. Kylie has forged a huge career, hitting it big across most of Europe, and even in Asia, where she has maintained a moderately successful career, surprisingly. Her sound is deemed to be 'to gay' for the more conservative US market, and thus she registers no airplay, in a country that has its main chart built on airplay, and where album sales are generally formed off the back of huge hits
Robbie Williams - the #3 selling male soloist in Britain, of all time. In Australia, he has sold millions of records, in Latin America, he has sold hundreds of thousands of records, and is the biggest British star since the heyday of Elton John. So why, oh why, has he not hit it big in the USA? Some fans and critics blame his nonsensical and arrogant attitude towards breaking the biggest market in the world, and to quote one of his hit albums, 'The Ego Has Landed'. Is his arrogance the right reason?
Other such cases include those of Anastacia, who has sold over 20m records worldwide, yet never come close to her European heights from last decade, in the USA, despite being very marketable, and at least hailing from the USA. Flamboyant rock outfit the Scissor Sisters are another such modern day example.
That obviously just concerns itself with the USA. What about the UK? The most notable examples in my mind here concern country music stars. Few people know this, but Garth Brooks is probably the most successful international act in Irish chart history, having sold hundreds of thousands of records. On top of this, he has performed moderately on some European charts, and in Australia. So why has he never scored big in the UK? The man has sold over 100m albums around the world - during the 90s, only Celine Dion and Mariah Carey sold more albums than he did worldwide. This should give you an indication of just how successful he was. So why wouldn't the UK embrace him? We haven't always been phobic of country music - Bob Dylan, Dolly Parton, Elvis, Roy Orbison and more have all at some point dabbled in Country music and been successful in the UK, yet the likes of Garth cannot sustain a career here. Not just Garth though - Reba McEntire, George Strait, Willie Nelson, Martina McBride, Keith Urban have all sold tens of millions of albums inside of the USA but they can't sell a dime outside of the nation. Critics point towards the 'hokey' stereotype that surrounds country music
Anyway, enough of my inane rambling. What artists can you think of?