Many reasons to answer your question

That's a pretty good question.

If Weeknd, Chris Brown, and Bruno Mars are big because they can sound an artist from a bygone era (that isn't at all why they are big but that's a discussion for another day), then why can't actual artists that are *actually* from bygone eras do well?

For these legacy artists, their back catalog gets a steady flow of minor attention that could add up over time. But when they release music (such as Paul McCartney and Mariah Carey right now) they might not even have enough attention to get a song into the top 100.

I think another aspect has a lot to do with the cost/risk dynamic in the film industry. Movies like Jurassic World or Beauty and the Beast are monsterously expensive. So the studios have to drown the public in marketing in order to get the ball rolling. If Mariah Carey's album "flops" and she can't get a single onto the Hot 100, then that's not really a huge loss for the studios. They make most of their money on touring anyways.

Mariah is the most listened to artist of the 1990s, and anybody old enough to have memories of the 1990s likely has memories of her music being played during the time. But very few people are probably aware at all that Mariah even has a new album out.

Which brings me to my last point: the music industry is a young person's game right now. The film industry, not quite as much. The ball is in the court of Apple Music and Spotify, which are still college aged on average. People whose idea of oldies is "Yeah!" by Usher.

Artists like Mariah and McCartney do a lot better in dying formats like radio and sales, because these are formats dominated by people old enough to remember when they were big.

That's a pretty good question.

If Weeknd, Chris Brown, and Bruno Mars are big because they can sound an artist from a bygone era (that isn't at all why they are big but that's a discussion for another day), then why can't actual artists that are *actually* from bygone eras do well?

For these legacy artists, their back catalog gets a steady flow of minor attention that could add up over time. But when they release music (such as Paul McCartney and Mariah Carey right now) they might not even have enough attention to get a song into the top 100.

I think another aspect has a lot to do with the cost/risk dynamic in the film industry. Movies like Jurassic World or Beauty and the Beast are monsterously expensive. So the studios have to drown the public in marketing in order to get the ball rolling. If Mariah Carey's album "flops" and she can't get a single onto the Hot 100, then that's not really a huge loss for the studios. They make most of their money on touring anyways.

Mariah is the most listened to artist of the 1990s, and anybody old enough to have memories of the 1990s likely has memories of her music being played during the time. But very few people are probably aware at all that Mariah even has a new album out.

Which brings me to my last point: the music industry is a young person's game right now. The film industry, not quite as much. The ball is in the court of Apple Music and Spotify, which are still college aged on average. People whose idea of oldies is "Yeah!" by Usher.

Artists like Mariah and McCartney do a lot better in dying formats like radio and sales, because these are formats dominated by people old enough to remember when they were big.