I didn't say you were treating her like a goddess. I never said ANYTHING about you. A lot of artists' fans treat them like that. Those were the people I was talking about.
And I do consider "success" in the music industry to be selling a lot of albums. You wouldn't consider someone to be successful in a business if they made decisions that made them happy but did nothing for the company, would you?
Sorry, I didn't mean to put words in your mouth, I just misinterpreted you.
As far as your question about whether I would consider a legitimate artist a success even it they only had a small niche in the market and couldn't even stick with a big label- quite frankly, YES. Some musicians merely make music to make money, but others (like Vanessa or Michelle, I believe) make music because they are naturally artistic and they want to share their ability to convey emotion with the world. They, as individuals, have nothing to do with the business side of things. Or at least they shouldn't in my opinion.
Hlary Duff, Kelly Clarkson, Britney Spears, etc. are business successes. But those props go to their labels and managers, not them. They are relatively talentless, (sorry to Clarkson fans, but all she has is a nice voice and that alone doesn't seperate her from thousands of other people in the world) but they are highly marketable.
Someone like Vanessa Carlton, however, no matter what kind of sales numbers she has is a success because she is talented.
When I'm on a MB for a musician, I assume when people say "success," they mean it in terms of quality of music, not sales numbers. If I was on a BMG MB, if one exists, I would assume people were thinking in terms of dollars and cents because that is a company and that is their job.
It isn't an artist's job to make money, it's their job to create art; therefore they are a success if they make quality art. Sales numbers have nothing to do with whether they are a success in my mind. Sometimes the artist's goal and the label's goal have contradictions and that is when you get situations like Michelle Branch's.
I realize my way of thinking is going to put me in the minority in a medium like this, but I like to understand the other point of view too. It helps make me a more well rounded person. (I hope)
Thanks for hearing me out and offering your own opinions. Even though I still don't understand what making money has to do with the art of creating music, you've helped me to better understand how the majority comes to this conclusion at least.
Thanks!
