Not Allowed To Age

There's a singer, who I won't name because this post is generalized and isn't about them specifically.  This singer had many hits in decades past but hasn't been able to maintain their success as they once did.  It is a consequence of our physicality that our voices change as we age, they get deeper and the range that we can reach becomes narrower.  You can stave this off to an extent but you cannot restore the vocal chords once damaged.  This is a part of life we just have to live with.

This singer in particular has recently been revisiting their old work, performing their classic hits for modern audiences.  This isn't going well for them and some are saying it is because a modern audience just doesn't have the taste or the desire to consume that type of music anymore.  Whilst I admit that plays a factor, I think the greater impact on their success or lack thereof, is the fact that they can't perform it the way they did decades ago.  They sound nothing like they did when they originally recorded them.

Whenever you are a singer, and a performer, there are two main classifications that are applied, and it is rare that an artist will exceed expectations in both.  The first is as a recording artist, and the second is as a performing artist.  The former is an artist who records their work and it is primarily consumed as such, and the latter is an artist who performs their work, either live or lip syncing.  The latter leads to a slew of criticism in itself which another prominent artist from their era gets a lot of flack for but that's another topic of discussion.

There was a time when an artist could be one, or the other, and be successful without having to do both.  That is no longer the case.  Revenue from music sales declined over the years, in part due to the fact the industry got so greedy and put extortionate profit margins on their products which encouraged people to pirate them.  We can debate that another time but suffice is to say that legitimate streaming services have led to a decline in music piracy which in itself demonstrates when music is affordable, people will pay for it.  Moving on.  As revenue from sales has declined, the main source of income for most artists now is their tours, which arguably are doing the same thing again, maximizing price to a level of extortion and I believe like all industries that pursue this business model a crash will inevitably ensue when consumers are exhausted by it.

If you can't perform live or create a production on stage that is entertaining enough for people to pay to watch it, then you won't succeed as an artist anymore.  This artist in particular is one that was known for being a recording artist, they did tour, but it was their record sales at the time which made them famous.  Being treated as a recording artist your first stop to experience their work was to listen to the recording.  In a modern world where the first stop to experience their work is a live performance, there is an obvious disparity.  They can't perform as well as they did when they recorded - partly because you can redo a recording as many times as you want until you get it right and release the best version, whereas performing you only get once shot at it.  The other part is down to the fact that the best recording was likely the one it took the most effort to achieve, an effort that cannot be consistently recreated.

For this artist in particular, decades have passed since they first recorded their hits.  In the decades that passed, they have changed quite a bit, both in appearance, and vocal style.  Asking them to perform their hits from decades past and holding them to the same standard as they did is like asking you to put on your jeans that you had when you were 16 and expecting them to fit you - good luck with that, at 16 I was about a 26 inch waist, I've added about 12 inches to my waist since then on a bad day and about 10 inches on a good day.

I don't think age is really a factor in and of itself in this judgement, it's not the fact they are older that is the problem, if another artist could perform the songs they recorded for them instead with the same vocal performance as they once did, they would likely do very well from it.  The real factor here I think is the fact the person has aged.  People don't want to see the people they idolized when they were younger grow old because it is a reminder that they too have grown older.  People want the idols from their youth to remain timeless and ageless, so they can pretend they are still that age.  I feel this is why some people don't like to see live performances at all even those they watch recordings of as opposed to going to see them in person.  It's a reminder of how old they have become.