@ thatboyluke...

and do you realize that you're comparing obtaining music by today's technology (much of the time illegally) to the way it was obtained in 1999 thru the early 2000s when if you didn't buy it , you might not get it.

if big sellers like adele, taylor swiftt, and gaga can sell multiple millions (some in just one week) in this climate, think how huge their record sales would be without all the looting. as big as britney's were, maybe?

my comment was in response to the claim that all these artists who are now more successful than britney, "want a piece of her".

i found an interesting site that asks the question "why do britney spears fans accept her mediocrity?" they suggest that fans are still so in love with the 'britney of old' they just can't let her go even though her performances are "lackluster".

i agree. the fans, assisted by the media, find it impossible to shut down the vision of the little blonde girl in pigtails, her blouse tied at the waist and wearing a teeny tiny plaid skirt while arguably dancing up a storm and then selling record millions of albums for a female artist. all of this praise britney is now getting is solely for her accomplishments made in her teen years.

mj (whose 'thiller' album sold more than nearly all of britney's combined ) probably wouldn't have continued to get media hype for his sales had they not continued to be off the chain high. even after child abuse charges his sales way out did britney's.