I am a 40 year old man, so obviously, I am totally out of touch and lame, but I have not heard of any of those groups except Poppy, who I haven't listened to since ~2016. The algorithm on YouTube stopped recommending her and she completely disappeared from my life.
However, I find it impossible to believe that my dad at age 40 would not have heard of Madonna, Salt 'N' Peppa, Ace of Base, Milli Vanilli , etc. Even my dad in his peak lame years would have been aware of the Milli Vanilli scandal as it was happening.
Oh, well check out poppy. She does metal and grunge now. And unlike her earlier stuff, is just unironically good. Still does weird videos every now and then.
My point is more so that these artists are better without striving for mass appeal. It’s ok that they’re not mega stars. They’re doing just fine.
> It’s ok that they’re not mega stars. They’re doing just fine.
But are they really doing fine?
My "go to" example for this kind of thing was the lead singer from one of the metal groups based in Southern California. They had just done a West Coast tour and then did the festival circuit. The interviewer asked him when he was going to tour again. His response: "Well, I think we maybe came out about even from the touring. And now my tattoo business is now pretty much booked up for the next 12 months. So, probably not for at least a year. Maybe we'll probably play some local shows every now and then."
That doesn't sound like an industry doing "just fine" to me.
However, I find it impossible to believe that my dad at age 40 would not have heard of Madonna, Salt 'N' Peppa, Ace of Base, Milli Vanilli , etc. Even my dad in his peak lame years would have been aware of the Milli Vanilli scandal as it was happening.