Why is sales the mark for artistic excellence?

"Why is sales the mark for artistic excellence?"
- KRS-One

I'm tired of getting into a conversation with someone about an artist or musician and it ending in "well so many people like them" or "they sold xxxxxxx albums".

How and why is sales of an album or a piece of art mark for artistic excellence?

I'd rather sell 500,000 albums for 10 dollars a piece and have it played for a few years than sell 100,000 singless for 5 dollars a piece and have it played for a month until everyone's bored of it.

How should artistic excellence be marketed and what qualifies as artistic excellence?

This isn't a my band/genre is better than yours thread. Please take this seriously.

 

Money talks. The more people buy it the more people like it. That's not to say what doesn't sell as much isn't better, just that it's better by average opinions.

 

I have to agree that the "classics" are more truly art, as they have proven their ability to translate meaning to other generations, and presumably to impact other artists. In the present, a song can be 'good' at best. It is only in retrospect that a song can be deemed truly great in the public eye.

Then again, I thoroughly despite teen pop music, and cringe to consider horrendous songs like Britney Spear's 'Toxic' as anything worthy of recognition in the first place - especially when it wasn't she who wrote it, and probably a computer singing it. Clearly, popularity and talent are disjoint concepts, and let's face it, art can't exist without talent.

 

how much YOU enjoy them.

 

I don't understand why so many people's enjoyment is based on how many times it's played on the radio.