Cyclical Pop Culture Needs Novelty

The Miami Herald profiled the new wave of Latin pop artists that include Luis Fonsi, Paulina Rubio, MSM, and Thalia, which has many wondering if these new acts are on a bubble that’s ready to burst, especially considering the drop in teen pop sales. Maribel Schumacher, a respected Latin-music industry veteran commented, “Pop culture needs novelty all the time; that’s just the nature of a capitalist society. You go to the Gap, and if you don’t see new pants every two weeks you stop going to the Gap. Ricky Martin or Enrique Iglesias or Shakira or Marc Anthony first hit in Spanish, and went from there to the mainstream. And now the mainstream is looking for something new. It’s all cyclical. The pop model is going to swing back down, and a more urban model is going to rise.”