# "She must be talanted. She's popular, right?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 11, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-must-be-talanted-shes-popular-right/316635 "2005-08-11T20:32:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-must-be-talanted-shes-popular-right/316635/1 "2005-08-11T20:32:58Z")
Most of us have heard this before. Some gum-snapping airhead expresses how great Britney Agulara and the Back Street Spices are, and you scoff. “They suck ass”, you say. And the airhead replies “They can’t suck. They’re popular! If they’re popular, they must be good!” How do you reply to that? The best response I’ve heard is that popular doesn’t equte to good. And it ain’t much of a response. What’s a better comeback? ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-must-be-talanted-shes-popular-right/316635/2 "2005-08-11T20:33:52Z")
If becoming popular required no talent at all, would Jessica Simpson be second tier to Christina and Britney? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-must-be-talanted-shes-popular-right/316635/3 "2005-08-11T20:34:20Z")
Coool, the McDonalds of music! ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-must-be-talanted-shes-popular-right/316635/4 "2005-08-11T20:35:50Z")
Actually, I’ve never had a conversation such as you describe in the OP. Perhaps you need to seek out a better caliber of friends? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-must-be-talanted-shes-popular-right/316635/5 "2005-08-11T20:36:45Z")
Well, there is a certain amount of talent involved in shaking your ass. Most of today’s chart-topping bimbos and himbos seem to be good at that. Doesn’t mean they can sing worth a hoot, but I don’t doubt that many sows’ ears have been recrafted into silk purses with electronic manipulation of voices. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-must-be-talanted-shes-popular-right/316635/6 "2005-08-11T20:37:43Z")
My mom’s husband said the same thing, literally. “Britney Spears sold a lot of albums. Therefore, she’s immensely talented.” That just about made my metalhead brain implode. ---
**Author:** ![dare\_devil007](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@dare\_devil007](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dare_devil007)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-must-be-talanted-shes-popular-right/316635/7 "2005-08-11T20:41:34Z")
“If popular equates talent, it’s no wonder you’re not famous…” ---
**Author:** ![Future\_days](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/cab0a1/32.png) [@Future\_days](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Future_days)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-must-be-talanted-shes-popular-right/316635/8 "2005-08-11T20:46:28Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > If becoming popular required no talent at all, would Jessica Simpson be second tier to Christina and Britney? What talent does Britney have, pray tell? Absolutely zero as far as I can tell. Her voice is so computer-affected it makes me want to throw up. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-must-be-talanted-shes-popular-right/316635/9 "2005-08-11T20:49:11Z")
> [@Future days](#): > > What talent does Britney have, pray tell? Absolutely zero as far as I can tell. Her voice is so computer-affected it makes me want to throw up. So why do you think that her albums consistently outsell those of Jessica Simpson? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-must-be-talanted-shes-popular-right/316635/10 "2005-08-11T20:52:01Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > So why do you think that her albums consistently outsell those of Jessica Simpson? Marketing? ---
**Author:** ![AveDementia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@AveDementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AveDementia)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-must-be-talanted-shes-popular-right/316635/11 "2005-08-11T20:52:31Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > What’s a better comeback? [Ever heard of “payola”?](http://www.internetdj.com/article.php?storyid=653) ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-must-be-talanted-shes-popular-right/316635/12 "2005-08-11T20:53:11Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > So why do you think that her albums consistently outsell those of Jessica Simpson? She’s sluttier. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-must-be-talanted-shes-popular-right/316635/13 "2005-08-11T20:54:37Z")
> [@Sage Rat](#): > > Coool, the McDonalds of music! That’s a good one. I also might point out that Shawn Cassidy is no longer popular. Did his talent wane at the exact rate that his popularity did? How does that happen? Or that pop stars must have short-lived talent, equal to that of their short-lived careers. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-must-be-talanted-shes-popular-right/316635/14 "2005-08-11T20:54:47Z")
Their popularity is not proof that they have talent, but that there is no God. ---
**Author:** ![DVsickgirlDV](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@DVsickgirlDV](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DVsickgirlDV)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-must-be-talanted-shes-popular-right/316635/15 "2005-08-11T20:54:59Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > So why do you think that her albums consistently outsell those of Jessica Simpson? Not because of talent, but because she knows how to market herself and she knows how to do things to stay in the spotlight that are have nothing to do with talent, such as marry her little friend from LA for 24 hours. When Britney was at her prime, you couldn’t avoid her. She was all over magazines, commercials, etc. Finally Jessica Simpson is learning how to market herself, such as her reality show, and I wouldn’t be surprised if her albums will sell much more than Britney’s in the near future. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-must-be-talanted-shes-popular-right/316635/16 "2005-08-11T20:55:43Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > So why do you think that her albums consistently outsell those of Jessica Simpson? Better marketing. Britney has something like four albums and a greatest hits compilation, and each one released several radio singles and music videos. She has been around since 1998 or so, so she’s had several years to become popular. Jessica started out singing Christian contemporary music, if I’m not mistaken, and transitioned to pop around the same time Britney and Christina Aguilera were becoming huge. Jessica had a few singles (including a horrible song that sampled the music from John Mellencamp’s “Jack and Diane”), but was never as big as the other two – she and Mandy Moore always seemed to be distant third and fourth. Jessica also wasn’t as openly sexy as Britney or Christina, and her videos were more demure and less provocative. That all changed when she became the reality show darling, sexed up her public image and played the part of the “dumb blonde,” and was all over the media all of a sudden. But that phenomenon is only a couple years old, long after Britney was a household name. ---
**Author:** ![Future\_days](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/cab0a1/32.png) [@Future\_days](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Future_days)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-must-be-talanted-shes-popular-right/316635/17 "2005-08-11T20:56:22Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > So why do you think that her albums consistently outsell those of Jessica Simpson? She’s had an ace marketing team behind her since day one. In pop, marketing is everything. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-must-be-talanted-shes-popular-right/316635/18 "2005-08-11T20:59:23Z")
Yes - there good at doing the things that lead to sales; that doesn’t translate to musical quality McDonald’s does things that lead to sales - e.g., marketing, consistent operations in every store, highly replicatable foods - but that doesn’t translate in to cuisine quality. “Built for broad consumption” rarely equates with “quality art” ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-must-be-talanted-shes-popular-right/316635/19 "2005-08-11T21:05:34Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Most of us have heard this before. Some gum-snapping airhead expresses how great Britney Agulara and the Back Street Spices are, and you scoff. “They suck ass”, you say. And the airhead replies “They can’t suck. They’re popular! If they’re popular, they must be good!” > > How do you reply to that? The best response I’ve heard is that popular doesn’t equte to good. And it ain’t much of a response. What’s a better comeback? “Only among the shallow. Everyone else looks for actual talent” ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-must-be-talanted-shes-popular-right/316635/20 "2005-08-11T21:06:04Z")
> [@DVsickgirlDV](#): > > Not because of talent, but because she knows how to market herself and she knows how to do things to stay in the spotlight that are have nothing to do with talent, such as marry her little friend from LA for 24 hours. Isn’t knowing how to do things the definition of talent? I’m not saying that Britney has musical talent, but she must have _something_ going for her if she’s consistently the top seller. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/she-must-be-talanted-shes-popular-right/316635.md?page=2)