The “Taylor Swift phenomenon” I can understand. Justin Bieber’s “Beliebers”, well not so much…
Well, hell. @slicedalone claimed he could explain the appeal of Frank Zappa, and I was tempted…although I’ve pretty much determined that I don’t get it, and I’m not willing to listen any further. It still bugs me.
You can’t explain these things.
People like what they like.
Young listeners may have a peer pressure motive.
The hearts wants what the heart wants. (As I said in the Swift thread)
Teen charisma (sex appeal) + pop music + angsty lyrics. Compare Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Justin Timberlake, etc. See also, teenybopper.
~Max
Doesn’t that belong in the “Can someone explain the Selena Gomez phenomenon to me?” thread?
I agree, especially the way Bieber has kept it going. I suspect a good PR firm has a lot to do with it.
I think in addition to the very successful career Bieber has already had, he also has the potential to have a “second act” later in life if he takes up some radically different style of music, or gets into acting and winds up being cast in a serious role, precisely because it would just be such an unexpected departure from his image. People love that kind of comeback - the entertainer who “serious people” did not take seriously, finally doing something “serious”.
It probably helps that he started as just a kid releasing himself singing (and playing drums) on YouTube. He then became a teen hearthrob, ala boy bands and such. But he started as “one of us.”
Beatlemania, Lisztomania…
I assume it’s 50% musical talent and 50% seeing your peers react the same way.
What the head wants, the stomach gets.*
*Jackmannii’s First Law of Dieting.
Exactly this. Every 3-5 years some new teen heart-throb somehow “hits” and the marketers are all over it - it’s a way to make a guaranteed buck. Justin Bieber was the hit - the right place at the right time, and he’ll be replaced (if not already) by some new meat (I would not know since I don’t follow pop music so much). I guess teenage girls with some money in their pockets are easy marks for clean but a little dangerous-looking teen boys who sing.
Same with boy bands like Menudo, NKOTB, Etc. You wanna see how the machine of music commerce churns out entertainment bands and chews-up lives, check out the whole K-Pop phenomena.
And this is the main reason why I didn’t find this question/thread nearly as interesting as the “explain the Taylor Swift phenomenon” one: I could easily (whether or not accurately—I’m not familiar enough with him to know if I’m being fair) see him as just another example of a particular type.
This is actually pretty easy–the explaining of FZ’s appeal to me, not the “getting it” part. He has a very distinct and unusual appeal–he’s a uniquely demanding musician, known for rehearsing his band of well-trained musical talents, more like a classical orchestra than like a rock n roll band, and he has a very weird sensibility for addressing sexually and politically charged issues in his lyrics, and he articulates his thoughts (in interviews and such) in a very serious and thoughtful way, and he combines this (and more) in a way that seems like he’s having great fun with it. All these unusual qualities don’t appeal to everyone, but that’s OK with Frank–he’s deliberately abrasive and off-putting, which some find annoying and others find amusing. He’s a strange collection of quirks–he writes some of the best mock-1950s Doo Wop stuff I’ve ever heard, for one thing, which he seems drawn to because that (and nutty classical music) were big influences on him growing up. He makes fun of it, while writing some lovely examples of it at the same time (his song “The Closer You Are” is a beautiful example of a great Doo Wop tune, and a hilarious example of the genre’s excesses.) He’s very talented but obviously not everyone’s cup of meat.
Thanks for indulging me. I will never get it, but so many people I respect see value in his output that there must be something there.
He is talented, but he REALLY became “all that” because he was so good looking. It seemed like the entire female teenaged world had a mad crush on him. Personally, I think it all went straight to his head, and the result was that he acted like a complete asshole until either he or his advisors realized that it was starting to backfire on him. He toned things down after a couple of brushes with the law.
Glad to help. It’s like explaining a sense of humor–you can say what you find funny, but you can’t make someone laugh,