Professional Documents
Culture Documents
17 July 2020
As the years went on, advances in technology were not the only advances that were made
in order for more profitable gains for lots of music companies. With the emergence of Napster
coming into the limelight, the music industry was forced to innovate new ideas and strategies to
utilize this new distribution platform and ultimately use it to their advantage. Luckily, it wasn't
until the “teen pop bubble” that the music industry saw a boom in record sales and an influx in
listeners and fans. The two events were impactful in a way that the music industry forever
changed the way it operated for lots of producers and publishers. While the new “Napster”
brought more accessibility to fans across the world, the “teen pop bubble” brought a new fan
base that would amplify sales and revenue across all boards. These two events are similar and
bring a connection to each other because of their commonality of reaching out to new fans and
In Appetite for Self-Destruction, Ralph Simon and Clive Calder, the co-founders of the
Zomba Group, found that the “publishing--the part of the music business that takes a tiny
songwriter’s cut for every song sold via album and single--was where the money was” (Knopper
85). This was widely how a lot of producers and publishers sought out the “teen pop bubble” era,
and exactly how many of them were thriving and sitting on thousands--if not--millions of dollars.
The idea that publishing music initially seemed easy to Simon and Calder, just like a lot of other
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music producers, however, the task would require finding talent that would intake a huge
fanbase. This is where the “teen pop bubble” began to form. Talent like the Backstreet Boys,
New Kids on the Block, and ‘Nsync, were boy bands that generated sales in a demographic that
was able to thrive in the benefit of the music industry. These boy bands, “unlike rock bands, ...
eighteen to twenty-five year old, the female demo” (Knopper 94). This idea of selling and
tailoring music to a certain genre in benefit of a boost in music sale and revenue is very similar
to the emergence of why many of other producers believed Napster to be the next big thing for
While Napster did find itself a bad reputation among artists like Metallica, the music
distribution platform did seem to allow for more accessibility and ways to amplify new talent.
Therefore during this new talent era of the Backstreet Boys and ‘Nsync, the targeted
demographic was the perfect candidates for using streaming services like Napster. Even though
the biggest argument made by Metallica towards Napster was the lack of the artists receiving any
sort of revenue and profit anytime a song or album were to be played or downloaded, the “teen
pop bubble” seemed to debunk this theory against Metallica. Because it was clear that even with
the existence of Napster being available to the public, or those who pay the subscription, sales of
physical records and singles were still being made and artists were still being profited; And
thanks to Sony Music, Ralph Simon and Clive Calder and their emphasis towards music
publishing, it was clear that “The Backstreet Boys became more successful off of Jive Record’s
mechanisms” (Knopper, 96). These mechanisms were clearly ones that put emphasis upon
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promotional content and sales. Artists were benefited by radio shows that put them on specials
for different holidays and themes to boost audience engagement and, but of course, the sales!
Therefore, my point lies within the fact that Napster brought more accessibility and
coverage of music and artistry which parallels the “teen pop bubble” that utilized a specific
demographic to boost sales and promote new artists. Without services like Napster, it would've
been harder for these teen pop-bands to have made it into the limelight like they did because they
didn't exactly quickly sign into an agency the second they formed their group. Napster ultimately
benefited the “teen pop bubble” while the “teen pop bubble” ultimately benefited Napster in a
way. The two events correlated and worked hand and hand with one another in a way that was
very similar to each other’s controversial upbringing, and the hype did even last very long. While
the teen-pop bubble and Napster were of much excitement and hype upon initial emergence, it
began to slowly die down as more and more fans began to grow up and sort of--move on. Fans of
the boybands during the teen pop bubble found themselves growing up and “the next generation
of kids just didn't have the emotional connection to the superstar acts” (Knopper 107). Just like
the industry and just like time, the world keeps moving and progressing. While all of this is
happening, someone is conjuring up the next idea that will be profitable and ultimately be the
next “latest greatest” advancement for the music industry. Just like Napster and the “teen pop
bubble”, there was plenty and still will be plenty more musical advancements that will forever
Works Cited
“Chapter 3: 1998-2001; The Teen Pop Bubble: Boy Bands and Britney Make the Business
Bigger Than Ever--But Not for Long.” Appetite for Self-Destruction: the
Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age, by Steve Knopper,