which 5 music artists will be remembered in 200+ years?

[sp4cetiger]

So... my first thought when I saw this thread was, "How the hell should I know?" However, the question has been stirring around in the back of my head for a while, so I'll share some of my thoughts (and maybe actually answer the question posed by the OP, if I have time).

I think the "test of time" is often viewed as the ultimate stamp of quality. After all, why would we still listen to Mozart and Bach if there wasn't something inherently great about them, if they hadn't captured some universally appealing quality in their music? While there may be some truth to this idea, there are more than a few reasons why I think that it breaks down under careful scrutiny.

First of all, Mozart, Chopin, and Bach have some things in common aside from their aesthetic intangibles, the most obvious being that they're part of Western classical tradition. This is a key point -- not only are Eastern musicians notably absent from the lexicon of the English-speaking plebian, but it's also not even obvious to me that your average Indian or Chinese person really is familiar with Mozart et al. This means that political history matters, too. The "test of time" has a lot to do with where we came from.

Even within Western classical tradition, there are some things aside from quality that may help an artist survive the test of time. Europeans have been writing down music since around the turn of the first century, so why is it that all of the well-known "greats" are from after ~1700? As it turns out, it was around this time that classical music transitioned from being primarily based on polyphony, in which multiple melodic lines occur simultaneously, to being based on harmony. Even Bach, who slightly predates this transition, foreshadowed it with his use of arpeggios to imply chordal structures. Listening to classical music from well before this period is a skill in its own right, as virtually everything we hear nowadays is based on harmony.

So what does this mean for survivability? Well, most people, even self-proclaimed sophisticates, aren't going to go out of their way to adapt to music that uses an entirely unfamiliar framework. If another transition in musical compositions occurs over the next 200 years, the answer to the OP's question, which of today's artists will be well known in the future, could be none. In fact, there is some evidence that such a transition has already occurred in modern classical music (link). If the changes work their way into pop music, the Beatles, Miles Davis, Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, and their peers could all be nobodies before long.

Okay, this is getting long, so it looks like I might have to finish later. Sorry.

[Mercury]

Why are you so smart!?!?
_________________
-Ryan

ONLY 4% of people can understand this chart! Come try!

My Fave Metal - you won't believe #5!!!

[Nothingman94]

1) The Beatles
2) The Stones
3) Hendrix
4) Pink Floyd
5) Radiohead

[Kiki]

Wow, Spacetiger don't you dare imply Rock N Roll could ever die.

[Precedent]

Not including The Beatles or The Rolling Stones:

1. John Coltrane
2. Radiohead
3. U2
4. Michael Jackson
5. Kanye West

[brun027]

[Happymeal]

[sp4cetiger]

[Jjjoniee]

I'm gonna make everything after 1990, because the Beatles, while they may be remembered in 200 years, aren't really recent.

Nas - he influenced a whole genre. Very few hip hop artists say Nas didn't influence them.

Radiohead - #1 album and almost #1 artist

Arcade Fire - I wonder if people will know what arcades are

Katy Perry - she's had a million hits and she could have a million more

I guess Coldplay? everyone knows coldplay


I think Justin Beiber will not be remembered much longer. I know that 3 years ago, I said that he'd be forgotten in a year, and that prediction obviously wasn't true. However, the reason I'm saying he won't be remembered is that his most recent movie made 10% of the profit that his first one (2 years ago) made. He's done making music AFAIK and I don't think I know anybody who still listens to him. He's going downhill. Unless he revitalizes his career, I think he'll be totally forgotten in 10 years, let alone 200.