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Superstardom in the U.S. Popular Music Industry Revisited

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Abstract

We provide empirical tests of the hypothesis that there were ‘superstars’ in the U.S. popular music industry between 1955 and 2003. Using different measures of artists’ successes, we reject a particular version of the superstar hypothesis. This contradicts earlier findings and indicates the sensitivity of the conclusions to the choice of ‘stardom’ measure.

Suggested Citation

  • David E. Giles, 2005. "Superstardom in the U.S. Popular Music Industry Revisited," Econometrics Working Papers 0511, Department of Economics, University of Victoria.
    • Handle: RePEc:vic:vicewp:0511
    Note: ISSN 1485-6441
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    Cited by:

    1. Eric Hogue, 2024. "Promotional Effects of Recorded Music and Superstars on Concert Financial Outcomes," Journal of Interdisciplinary Economics, , vol. 36(2), pages 166-203, July.
    2. Ian C. Strachan, 2014. "Female Artists and the Digitization of Labor in the Music Industry," Business and Management Research, Business and Management Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 3(4), pages 51-60, December.
    3. Nela Filimon & Jordi López-Sintas & Carlos Padrós-Reig, 2011. "A test of Rosen’s and Adler’s theories of superstars," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 35(2), pages 137-161, May.
    4. Beck, Jonathan, 2008. "Diderot´s rule," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Competition and Innovation SP II 2008-13, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    5. Budzinski, Oliver & Kohlschreiber, Marie & Kuchinke, Björn & Pannicke, Julia, 2019. "Does music quality matter for audience voters in a music contest?," Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers 122, Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics.
    6. Wenli Deng & Jinglong Wang & Xianyi Wu & Huan Xi, 2025. "A novel goodness of fit test for the truncated and non-truncated Yule distributions," Statistical Papers, Springer, vol. 66(4), pages 1-18, June.
    7. Aloys Prinz, 2017. "Rankings as coordination games: the Dutch Top 2000 pop song ranking," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 41(4), pages 379-401, November.
    8. Hofmann, Julian & Schnittka, Oliver & Johnen, Marius & Kottemann, Pascal, 2021. "Talent or popularity: What drives market value and brand image for human brands?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 748-758.
    9. Marc Bourreau & Michel Gensollen & François Moreau & Patrick Waelbroeck, 2013. "“Selling less of more?” The impact of digitization on record companies," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 37(3), pages 327-346, August.
    10. Laura Spierdijk & Mark Voorneveld, 2009. "Superstars without Talent? The Yule Distribution Controversy," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 91(3), pages 648-652, August.
    11. Samuel Cameron, 2016. "Past, present and future: music economics at the crossroads," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 40(1), pages 1-12, February.
    12. Brinja Meiseberg, 2014. "Trust the artist versus trust the tale: performance implications of talent and self-marketing in folk music," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 38(1), pages 9-42, February.
    13. Andrés González-Moralejo, S & Compés López, R, 2009. "Problemas contractuales y acuerdos de subcontratación: El caso de la logística frigorífica en la industria alimentaria valenciana/," Estudios de Economia Aplicada, Estudios de Economia Aplicada, vol. 27, pages 279(30á)-27, Abril.
    14. Egon Franck & Stephan Nüesch, 2012. "Talent And/Or Popularity: What Does It Take To Be A Superstar?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 50(1), pages 202-216, January.
    15. Luc Champarnaud, 2014. "Prices for superstars can flatten out," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 38(4), pages 369-384, November.
    16. Mehrafshan, Nima & Goerke, Björn & Clement, Michel, 2016. "The Effect of Unexpected Chart Positions on the Firm Value of Music Labels. An Event Study of Album Success," EconStor Preprints 142161, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    17. Joel Hellier, 2023. "Asymmetric Globalization, Top Performers’ Income and Inequality," Working Papers 634, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    18. Martínez-Rodríguez, A.M. & Sáez-Castillo, A.J. & Conde-Sánchez, A., 2011. "Modelling using an extended Yule distribution," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 863-873, January.
    19. Sophia Gaenssle, 2024. "Income distribution and nudity on social media: Attention economics of Instagram stars," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 77(1), pages 184-212, February.
    20. Elmer Sterken, 2014. "Collective Memory and Nostalgia in The Dutch Radio2 Top2000 Chart 1999-2013," CESifo Working Paper Series 4632, CESifo.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • L82 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Entertainment; Media
    • Z11 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economics of the Arts and Literature

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