The Latin Twist

everybodyssgotadarkside:

whospaul:

guys I LITERALLY choked whenever I read that P!nk confirmed two duets on the album and one is doing really well on the charts

remember when Kelly said she was trying to work on a duet with a pop artist a couple months ago DO YOU RE MEMBER THAT

WAHT IF

I’m gonna cry

I need a moment

It’s clear to see I’m a massive Kelly Clarkson fan, however I do own all of Carrie Underwood’s albums (which is no easy feat for someone in Europe). But all of this comparison has to stop. They are different artists in different genres.

Yes there has been some cross over by both artists. Kelly has been doing collaborations in the country music genre for a few years, and released an alternative version of Mr. Know It All. However, she has been very respectful of country music and been present at many events. Moreover, if you listen to some of her songs, Breaking Your Own Heart and Cry, for example, it’s hard not to hear a very strong country vibe. So for anyone to get arsey at her being on country radio needs to suck it. As for Carrie, in her most recent album, it is possible to detect a desire for a cross-over. The mere fact that she really promoted its release in the UK says a lot. I still see adverts for her album. The mere fact that they have the vocal ability to crossover should be rewarded to both and not an excuse to condemn.

Anyways, the comparison really needs to stop in the manner that is being done so at the moment. It is virtually impossible to compare artists who are pigeon-holed into one genre by naive music “enthusiasts”. That being said, as far as I’m concerned the awards argument with regards to country music is an argument that does hold a bit of weight; it’s a niche genre. That said, the fact that Don’t You Wanna Stay didn’t win the Grammy (which still sickens me to the core) shows just how hard it can be to win a country award. Comparing positions in charts doesn’t really work either as the Billboard Country Chart is comprised of radio impacts and roughly half of the Billboard Hot 100 is comprised of radio impacts. Single sales and album sales can’t be used definitively to show success as the respective genres drive opposing sales intakes. One could argue that Carrie Underwood has the highest selling album in the US and had the highest selling digital single there too until recently, but everyone (media included) forgets the most of the singles from Breakaway were mainly CD format and didn’t include those figures in their reports.

Personally, I believe the only proper way of measuring an artist’s success in terms of sales is by doing the “album equivalent strategy”. This means that every 10 singles sold equates to an album. If one was to fully carry out this equation Kelly would be considered more successful in terms of sales worldwide and in the USA. However, in terms of prestige, you can’t argue with Carrie having sold so many albums in a genre that is almost exclusive to The States and having won so many awards for that genre is more successful. It all depends on your definition of success. They are both hugely talented artists and this fruitless comparison needs to stop. Why are fans of true artists being drawn against each other just because they had the same introduction to the music industry when there is so much crap out there that together they could remove from our charts.

say-you-will-28: