King of Pop Eternal?

The video below is ten minutes long, but I promise you will be glad to have watched it.



Will anybody else ever be able to do this again?

Let's set aside the technical aspects of the question, because in this case, the answer is an unambiguous and resounding NO. The singing, dancing, presence on stage, and the extent to which he has captivated the audience are basically unmatched. All of this is especially impressive when you consider how minimal the set and light show are compared to modern acts. It's just him out there.

What I am trying to get at is that it seems unlikely that anybody today can have the kind of universal, cross-cultural, cross-demographic appeal or commercial success that Michael Jackson enjoyed in his heyday.

Commercially: MJ has sold literally hundreds of millions of records. Given the way that the music industry has transformed, and given how music sales have been steadily declining, how will anybody even come close to this?

More to the point, the social landscape has changed. As media channels have grown in number and diversity, the notion of 'popular music' has become increasingly fragmented. Simply put, there is more music out there, and no 'common music' that we share as a society. While MTV may dictate what many people listen to, people are also finding new music through independent radio and blogs, through online sharing, through services like pandora, and any number of alternative channels.

On the one hand, this seems to be a positive development, as far creating a broader, more diverse creative public space. It is nice that there are more avenues for performance and distribution of work that may not have wide, mainstream popularity. On the other hand, it's hard to shake the notion that we're missing out without these massive communal experiences. We don't have MJ to bring us together. The energy in the video above is vivid and exciting. As liberating as it is to have ready access to the kind of music that speaks to us, it is just a little more lonely now.

A thought: I think the closest thing I've experienced has been the shared sense of hope and excitement over the election of Barack Obama. I can't help but think that the video above reminds me more of being at the inauguration than it does of any concert that I've been to.

Anyway, Michael Jackson: King of Pop.
Good God, what a performer.