Madonna was Queen of the Charts between 1984-2009 since 2009 she has not had a top 10 hit with only one song since 2010 reaching the top 40.

Is it a fact that having a top 10 hit is now irrelevant?

For the length of career she has had and for her fans, then yes the charts should be totally irrelevant. Sadly some people only look at chart positions as a measure of an artist.

The charts are pretty irrelevant these days.

You wouldn't think so on DS music forum

Longevity is what is relevant imo

Not sales and chart positions. But many think they are.

Just look at her touring data, she's still pretty much untouchable among pop acts.

Imo Madonna has proved her worth and earned her QoP crown so it's not essential, for me anyway, that she ever has another chart topper just as long as I like the music she's releasing!

Yep, it's touring and merchandise where these acts get their biggest amount of revenue.

A bit like The Rolling Stones and Cher who continue to have sell out tours all over the world (most of them tend to be America I think?) but they've not had a hit in the charts for years. They've built up a legacy, and Madonna is following suit.

Music consumption has changed dramatically over the last 30 years. With streaming now becoming the norm rather than downloading, this is only to further change the way people get their music.

i think it means she has become a 'heritage' act - much like the Rolling Stones and Cher. Not relevant in todays music world - but still very popular in terms of greatest hits.

She may not have #1 hits anymore, but quite a few people are interested in her new songs and new album, certainly more than the Rolling Stones and Cher. There's been quite a lot of discussion of her 6 new songs on various blogs and articles and also of the demos that leaked. The fact that someone bothered to leak the demos shows that people are still interested in what she will do next. No one leaks Rolling Stones or Cher demos because no one cares.

That's mighty presumptuous of you....maybe the don't leak anything, because they are not bothered about trying to keep relevant and don't need to prove anything to anyone, whereas some artists are just media whores and are afraid of becoming irrelevant.

She's the most successful female artist of all time globally, she still provokes discussion so she is relevant. Whatever happens in the future she will be remembered as a massive part of the history of pop music. I have mixed opinions on her music but I think she's handled the fame and her career well, when you consider how many of her contemporaries have fallen or had personal problems she has kept herself together. I think she's definitely a tough and ruthless woman, but she's never really tried to hide it.

Madonna didn't leak the demos. Someone got access to them and leaked them. But they wouldn't have done that, if they didn't think people were interested. I don't understand the term "media whore". If you are in the entertainment business, it is part of your job to do publicity and speak to the media, to promote your work. The Rolling Stones and Cher do interviews all the time. Everyone in the music business likes attention to a certain extent. If you are working hard to do something, why wouldn't you want people to know about it? Maybe Madonna likes creating new material. It keeps her interested in life and vibrant. I don't think it's about proving anything to anyone. I like hearing some older songs but I find artists that do endless greatest hits tours with no new material quite boring. Most of them are bored by doing that too, and it always comes across in their performances. It's not pleasant to attend. I would rather hear an artist perform some new material if it makes them more excited to be on stage.
I think there's a middle ground. Yes, Madonna may not be having Top 10 singles, but there is interest in her albums and hearing some new material from her.

Shouldn't the title 'Queen of Pop' be very subjective based on who's at the very top of their game at the minute? After all pop music is very transient and the height of pop is what's right now.

Right now I would say Queen of Pop would have to go to Taylor Swift but next month or year that could and probably will change.

Look at my first post on this thread and you will see I agree with you...but you can't say that if The Rolling Stones or Cher leaked music that no one cares, as the fans of those artists will....what they may not be interested in is new material, but older unheard songs will certainly get fans excited.

Celebrity Networth.com says Cher is worth $320 million! I wouldn't of guessed even close to that. I guess it does pay to tour.

She has lots of fingers in many pies most likely and knows the right people

Whilst Madonna is alive and releasing music she remains the Queen of Pop due to the fact she is the biggest selling female artist of all time worldwide. That doesn't mean she is currently top of the charts, otherwise you would be so called Queen, King etc would change on a weekly basis. Unlike Michael Jackson who self proclaimed himself "King of Pop". Madonna is generally referred to as the Queen of Pop due having the biggest global physical record sales for a female artist. The record will now never be broken as you can't really compare streaming music and downloads to physical sales. So it now makes it virtually impossible to compare artists careers from pre to post the download era. Hence media looks at touring sales and demand to the current success of an artist.

Queen of Charts?

I don't think anyone is King or Queen of charts currently. So many established artists/acts are having singles and albums that flop in the last 3 years. E.g. Nelly Furtado, No Doubt, Kellis,

With reference to Madonna, her last album MDNA (that was released in the time span since 2099 ) was number 1 in many countries and grossed the largest tour by a female since 2009. So her legacy continues. However, the lead single GMAYL, in the UK suffered from a chart non count regulation and while sales should have ensure a top 10 hit, many sales were deemed ineligible due to chart rules. It was the second and third single release that perhaps was more alarming as they didn't chart high or even top 40. This is similar to many other established artists in the current climate e.g. Kylie , Lady Gaga (GUY - 3rd single).

These are all artists who have good early week album sales and early demand. It seems single sales for album selling artists are clearly affected. Especially when they are established an ignored by radio stations playlists. It is currently a challenging place for established artists. Longevity of an artist may be harder to achieve among a download generation of albums and selective radio playlists.

However, the real money in music is no longer in the release of singles and albums. It is in touring.

Have a look at the highest grossing tours - makes for very interesting reading

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._concert_tours


It would seem the kings of the charts currently, are One Direction. As their last tour has a huge money gross and they have had album and singles success world wide in the last 3 years too. Quite a surprise.

The Rolling Stones and Cher have got twenty years on Madonna; if people are still leaking her demos in 2035 then you'll have a point.

to put it mildly. She's not had a top 30 hit in Britain in half a decade.

How many artists who are 30 or more years into their career do these days? You could count it on one hand.

Not really a fair comment though because she's only released a handful of singles in that time. She released 18 singles from 2000-2009. All but 3 made top 10.

She only released 4 in the years since. And although not a massive seller, Give Me All Your Loving only charted as it did because loads of downloads were not chart eligible.

Cher hasn't had a top ten in the UK since 2001, her days of commercial success in the charts are long over too. Technically Cher has 17 years on Madonna because because their first records were released in 1965 and 1982 respectively. I think Madonna has made a bigger impact than Cher in a shorter space of time anyway.

The Rolling Stones are part of "the big three" when it comes to touring along with U2 and of course Madonna, no female artist comes close to her when it comes to touring.

Yes it did but to be fair it was utter shite, easily her worst single ever.