This week, Taylor Swift and Madonna, each the biggest female stars of their respective generations, dropped new, expensive videos to promote new singles.
Swift has a duet with Brendan Urie of Panic at the Disco called “Me!” It’s about…her.
Madonna has a duet with Maluma, the Colombia pop star, called “Medellin.” It’s about…her.
With a 30 year span between them, Madonna and Taylor are linked. Their main differences: Swift does actually write her own songs, plays instruments, and can sing without much help. But then Madonna is the bad girl to Swift’s goodie two shoes. And Madonna has challenged the culture on every level.
Nonetheless, it’s 2019. Swift’s young voice is what radio listeners of her generation want to hear. Since Thursday night, Swift has scored 71 million views on YouTube. The single is number 1 on iTunes.
Madonna’s single is not on the iTunes top 100. And the video has been 9 million times. Swift has taken the “Me” out of “Medellin.” All that’s left is Dellin, whatever that is.
Madonna isn’t the only older artist who’s suffering. Bruce Springsteen released a single Thursday night. It’s number 18 on iTunes. Plenty more have released music that’s made a brief appearance on the charts, then vanished. That’s the way it is now. Mariah Carey, for example, is still trying to revive her “Caution” album with remixes of the songs. Unfortunately, that’s over.
