You'd be surprised. We asked 22 executives to rank the artists they think will sell the most records in the next seven years. Each first-place mention got 10 points, second place got nine, and so on. Industry titans were equally forward-looking in 1993 and 1995 when two more Calendar polls found U2, Pearl Jam and R.E.M. to be the most prized properties.
Nobody has real shelf-life anymore.
If you get past two hit albums, three at the outside, it doesn't matter how much integrity or credibility you have built up, your sales are going to fall. It's like predicting where the bottom of the Nasdaq will be. For the survey, Calendar asked the executives to pretend that all recording contracts were voided and that they could have their pick of any 10 acts. They were asked to name in order the ones they think will sell the most records over the next seven years, the life of a standard contract. Each panelist was given a ballot with 75 current best-sellers.