Madonna… wtf??

[Teenyliving]

Madonnas Instagram just popped up on my feed.

erm.

is it genuine? She has had so much work done that she looks about 25 - in the pics - I imagine in real life it looks kinda weird.

and it all seems to be some kind of weird porn inspired vibe - but in a very clunky and unsubtle way.

I am genuinely shocked. I haven’t really seen anything of her for quite a while.

is this a surprise to anyone else or have I been totally out of the loop??

They are much less likely to go through parents old cd and record collections, their listening is more driven by Spotify algorithms and also a lot by tiktok

My 16 year old is always playing me (dreary) songs from Spotify by artists who uploaded to YouTube, got lots of likes and then a contract. How young people find music and how artists become popular has changed. I don’t think Madonna is on their radar.

Who cares about 16 year olds music taste, Madonna has been on tour the last decade filling stadiums that only obscure bands on Spotify would dream about.

My 16 year old is always playing me (dreary) songs from Spotify by artists who uploaded to YouTube, got lots of likes and then a contract. How young people find music and how artists become popular has changed. I don’t think Madonna is on their radar.
Depends on the 16 year old, surely - bit 🙄 to generalise!
Mine has as a Spotify playlist (funnily enough was listening to it tonight as we wanted some music on and so he got it playing 😁 It was stuff like Oasis, Arctic Monkeys and Linkin Park songs.
Was impressed lol

Well he's 15 so 16 next but same diff

Do you think her audience was new fans though, or made up of her established fan base?

Im not denying that she has been massively famous, I just don’t think she necessarily appeals to young people now. As I pointed out upthread, she “only” has 18 million followers on Instagram, cf 225 for Taylor Swift and 108 for Billy Eilish.

Her instagram, TikTok etc do seem to be trying to appeal to a new market so it looks like she’s trying to reinvent herself again.

she has had a remarkable career and, at her (multiple) peaks her popularity was unrivalled, but this generation seem to be listening to other things.

I am more amazed how she has clung on to a career in music for so long with so little actual talent for singing.

Matter of personal taste, surely - the fact she's still going strong since the early 80s and lots of people still love her music, says a lot and is neither here nor there whether you think she has talent or not.

Well look at Bob Dylan. Not famous for his tuneful vocals. And yet he's one of the most influential artists.

there have been many technically proficient singers who have sunk without trace. Madonna has that x factor and that star appeal that has resulted in her decades long career. I'm not even a fan and I can see that.

Until recently, she’s been phenomenal at both predicting and creating trends in music and fashion.

Except now, she’s got it wrong. The blingy, hanging out in the back of limousines, simulated sex and corsets persona doesn’t seem to be bringing in new fans.

Swift’s Instagram has pics of her on stage, and of her kitten. Eilish has pics of her on stage, and digging a hole on a beach.

Does Madonna even care? I mean, she’s Madonna, she’s got nothing to prove, but the fillers and the filters and the provocative simulated sex acts and the work on her face suggests that yes, she still wants to be relevant.

She's had a 40 year career.
That wouldn't be possible with shock value alone.

She's no Mariah Carey but she doesn't need to be.
Her voice is suited to many genres.
And I'd say listen to her ballads.
They are gorgeous

I think she is obbsessed with her son David. Yes he is talented and there is nothing he cant do but blooming heck he certainly seems to be the favourite😃

Completely agree with this. All the references to sex on her Insta, kissing women 40 years younger than her, she’s trying too hard to be edgy and cool and I don’t think it’s working for her. I feel a bit sorry for her because it reeks of desperation, like she’s trying to recapture what she used to be.

Does she have to appeal to "the youth" to be successful? She's already successful. She's been successful for 40 years, the most successful artist of her kind of all time. Obviously she isn't going to have as much time in front of her now as Swift, Eilish et al, but that's future potential, not actual success to date. Young people aren't the only market for music and how you're doing with the under 25s right this minute isn't the only measure of success.

I don't think he's the favourite,it's because he's more like her I think ambition wise.
He definitely has the flamboyant gene.

Provocative and shocking isn’t really provocative and shocking anymore is it, it’s rather passé.

Unless an older woman does it...

Does she have to appeal to "the youth" to be successful? She's already successful

Of course she’s successful, but she’s still trying to reinvent herself - tracksuits and bling and sex simulation - so seems important to HER to stay relevant. “The Youth” are still the biggest consumers of pop music. Who on here bought Madame X?

I find her voice quite thin, lacking in range or richness, unremarkable really. On the other hand, she can sing in tune. Her visual performances are innovative, well choreographed, works of art in some ways. Could be interesting if she took to photography or film making, as I think that may be where her artistic flair lies. There are singers who don't have a stereotypical voice, but they usually have a distinctive quality or they write poetic lyrics. I don't think Madonna does either of those things.

Her voice isn't her selling point and never has been. She's not much of a singer.

I think it's why I find her interesting, though I'm not a fan of her music. The drive she must have to make it without a great voice, or I would say stereotypical attractiveness.

She was huge back in the day. That package thing where the whole concept was more than the songs

She seemed to break some sort of mould

I guess she’s still trying but the effects are strange

Yes, I think I feel the same way. I've never liked a song of hers enough to buy it and she isn't much of a singer. But there is undeniably something hugely creative and driven about her. She is a pop culture icon. You never know what she's going to do next.

I wonder if her children's books/Kabbalah phase might not have suited this stage of her career more.

@ReneBumsWombats I think she could explore opportunities outside popular music and still be expressive. She's always been an interesting character and I rather hope she finds a new creative outlet and recovers a bit of dignity.

Madonna has been courting ‘what is Madonna thinking?’ headlines since the 1980s. For every Evita, Ray Of Light or Live To Tell there’s been a Hanky Panky, cone bra, Sex book or fellating a black Jesus. It’s just what she does.

The thing I like about her is when she fucks it up, she fucks it up on her own terms. Moves on, tries something else.

I'm a year younger than Madonna. She has never been of any interest to me (yes, I know why am I posting here?) other than I've always been impressed by her exemplary marketing skills- for which she certainly has a talent.

Apart from the 2 songs I mentioned I genuinely can't think of any Madonna songs and one of them is a cover.

What a 63 year old woman looks like (beyond has she washed and is she wearing clothes- good she's fine) should be irrelevant, but having said that my friends are all around Madonna's age and frankly they all look better than Madonna does in these weird pictures.