ABBA and the rise of the work-from-home rock star

Ah, then try to never, ever watch Mamma Mia to keep it that way. It uses almost only ABBA music.

This movie has etched the song with the same name so deep into my brain that the moment I hear the first "Mamma Mia", I drop any thought and internally starts to hum "here I go again, my my...". I don't know why, I didn't even like the movie! :D

Only three hours? I had to listen to them a bit too often, so no fond memories here, but they've got 8 albums (not counting the last one), and I'm sure most are longer than 20 minutes. Do the albums repeat songs?

The market is way too fractured for new artists to reach a level like ABBA or U2 or the likes anymore (with few exceptions). Modern artists seem to build their "brand" on the "1000 true fans"-idea where musicians or authors only get deals once they have a build in audience. That's the reason most artists take to social media in one way or another

Before the internet there was a handful of major music labels and a dozen music magazines for example and those made it possible for relatively few artists to build lengthy careers and people seem to love the idea to stand with 20.000 other people in a arena and listen to the same music.

I am too old to decide if todays artists have it better or worse but one thing is sure: A lot more people can live off their art today than thirty years ago. But with that goes another thought: That back in the day only the cream made it to the top and had a chance to stay there.

This reminds me of how much better the viewing experience is for an American Football game at home vs at the game. I love going to games, for the crowd, the weather, the concessions, and just the full experience.

But if you really want to see the details of every play, you can't beat the quality camera work displayed on a large television in your own living room.

I went to see Hatsune Miku "live" and the most remarkable thing was how completely normal the experience felt. The crowd had the same joy as any other gig. Her callouts to the crowd felt the same as any other rock star. I laughed at her putting one foot on the monitor to get a better look at the crowd (have you forgotten what you are?) but it's part of the gig experience and it worked. It was... fun.

> And without the "magic" of bringing a fictional character to life or the highly collaborative nature of highlighting songs by tons of independent producers...

Yes, it is something completely different isn't it. New performances by artists as the audience remembers them from 50 years ago, seems we have skipped over the uncanny valley completely. Fictional artists like Hatsune Miku or Gorillaz are a different fork in the road, and not catering to nostalgia (yet).

IMO, there is very high chance that someday, some record label will create "new" songs or remaster existing songs for bands that are unable to perform themselves anymore, be it due to illness, age or death, using some kind of artifical (ML) voice generation. It would probably never be sold to the public like Cryptons products, though, to protect the brand.

And then we have come full circle. Imagine four ABBA Vocaloid, milking out one song after the other for Universal, for the rest of our lives. It would be kinda funny, IMO. :D

To be fair, Chas n Dave, while they had mainstream success, were born to play in pubs and could get even the most ardent non-Cockneys to join in a singalong.

Good luck getting the Beatles reunion going.