That’s right, something DEFINITELY happened about 2009 or 2010 in the music industry. I’ve always blamed it on the rise of social media, and the preponderance of streaming, that resulted in charts being based not on sales, but on non-existent (sometimes) plays by people who would never have bought the music in the old system, but who merely flick a play button on YouTube, Spotify, et al, and shazam, the song is then deemed “popular”.
And many bands – as in a group of people, usually men, who do something like “play” something called “musical instruments” and write, something called “songs” that are then bought, with something called “money” and then enter the charts – are simply no longer around.
Yes, they dominate with miniscule sales nowadays, the album charts, and they completely can make a killing in concerts; which in my opinion are actually “popular” music nowadays; as there is simply NO comparison between a zoomer who clicks a play button and someone who spends their 30 quid to go and watch live music, but I digress.
This trend also happened to U2, whose first hit was the above “Fire” in 1981, hitting in at #35 in the UK, whilst their last, incidentally in 2009, was “I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight“, only in at #32.
CB
Curious Bystander 