Popdirt.com - Why Mariah Carey's Popularity Fell Outside America (#46132)

Ses writes "Both Mariah Carey’s ‘Daydream’ & ‘Music Box’ albums sold over 15 million outside the U.S. Even her moderate album hit ‘Butterfly’ sold almost 10 million outside America. ‘Butterfly’ sold 5 million copies in the U.S. – fewer than the 5.4 million of ‘The Emancipation Of Mimi’. But why did ‘The Emancipation’ sell only 4 million outside America compared to the 9.5 million of 'Rainbow' (her last international success)? Since 2000 only 4 female artists were phenomenal by selling 10 million plus globally: Madonna (Music –10 million), Celine (A New Day Has Come – 10 million), Britney (Oops…I Did It Again -10 million) & Norah Jones (Come Away With Me – 11 million) -These figures doesn't include U.S. sales.

Mariah’s international fame peaked in the early to mid 90s then began to slip. Her ‘Glitter’ & ‘Charmbracelet’ albums have only sold more than 2 million outside America. Mariah made a moderate gain when ‘Emancipation’ sold 4 million copies outside the U.S. but seeing that this was the ‘Best Selling Album’ in America…we can say that ‘Emancipation’ disappointed globally. Don’t get me wrong Mariah still produces good songs like ‘It’s Like That’ or ‘Through The Rain’ but why did her international popularity dip unlike Madonna, Britney, Kelly Clarkson, or Celine Dion? In Europe alone ‘Emancipation’ sold only 1 million copies in 10 months - very low by a superstar's standards.

The only reason I can pinpoint why Mariah’s global popularity is declining happened when she had her famous breakdown. Mariah was apparently quoted “I dream that I was a bigger star than Britney & Madonna combined” & other egotistic remarks that apparently turned-off some of her earlier fans. This remarks led to a downfall of sales outside America & its important to note that sales outside the U.S. are bigger. It’s generally better to have big popularity globally than just one confined in America. Will Mariah sell more than 10 million (or even 5 million) outside America again & did ‘The Emancipation’ rekindle her popularity outside America? – It will be an uphill climb for Mariah to regain global appeal so let’s wait & see."


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