Artists who created copycats when they came out

[Groovy]

In the music industry, it is not uncommon for artists to copy other artists sounds and styles but who are some artists that inspired labels to try and find the next big thing?

An example, Billie Eilish created her own sound and now we're seeing new artists use that same sound such as Tate McRae, Conan Gray and Olivia Rodrigo. 

Ironically, Billie was a clone of Lorde and Lorde had clones such as Alessia Cara and Halsey. 

Who do you guys think?

[Caviar]

This thread is going to be a mess.

Good luck

[Devil Marlena Nylund]

Michelle Branch and/or Vanessa Carlton

Alanis Morissette


And I’ll take all of them AND their copycats. Idec

[Fat Ass Kelly Price]

Britney is the obvious response.

[Groovy]

Sept 2, 2021 14:14:58 GMT -5 Caviar said:

This thread is going to be a mess.

Good luck

Hopefully it's the good mess and not the mess that'll force me to close this thread. 

[🇯🇲 lucy88 🇯🇲]

I would say Madonna, most definitely.

[Groovy]

Sept 2, 2021 14:30:40 GMT -5 Fat Ass Kelly Price said:

Britney is the obvious response.

Britney's a great example, when she came out, everyone and their mother were searching trying to find the next Britney which is how we got blonde singers like Jessica Simpson and Mandy Moore. 

[back2blk]

Keyshia Cole wanted so badly to be the next Mary J.

Ariana, the next Mariah.

Trey Songz, the next Kells

[Fat Ass Kelly Price]

I read “Kelis” and suddenly had vertigo

[Koochie]

PCD in the States, Girls Aloud internationally. Both had a ton of knockoffs like The Cheetah Girls, Danity Kane, and The Paradiso Girls cropping up out of nowhere trying to accomplish what these girls were doing.

You could maybe argue that all of these were trying to be Destiny's Child or the Spice Girls, but the gap between those groups' debuts and the gap between the groups that came after PCD/Girls Aloud is much shorter. For whatever reason PCD and GA put blood in the water for labels.

Absolutely nobody changed the landscape of pop in the way Britney did though. Madonna comes close, but I don't think nearly as many people were trying to be the next Madonna (like off the top of my head I can think of Cyndi Lauper, but maybe the rest are just that forgettable). Almost any solo female artist post-Baby One More Time was dying their hair blonde and trying to dance to Max Martin's soundboard. 

Sept 2, 2021 14:30:40 GMT -5 Fat Ass Kelly Price said:

Britney is the obvious response.

So true. She did what Paula Abdul and Janet Jackson couldn't.

[chanman]

They are many examples in pop music with popstars, boy bands and girl bands but I'll just mention these two for now -

1. Migos - Although they didn't actually start mumble rap music, their "Bad and Boujee" song in 2017 came out of nowhere and caused the genre to rise further. Later that same year Cardi B song prospered because of that sound.
2. Boyz II Men - Although they weren't the first accapella band, at the height of their career their R&B styles caused other bands to jump in like All 4 One, Shai, Silk, Jodeci etc.

[Groovy]

Another artist that comes to mind is Post Malone, he came out and then he spawned clones like Juice WRLD, The Kid Laroi, Arizona Zervas and Trevor Daniel

[Glove Slap]

Drake

[Ling-Ling]

Sept 2, 2021 19:37:17 GMT -5 Koochie said:

So true. She did what Paula Abdul and Janet Jackson couldn't.

I don't agree with this at all. Janet was actually the first artist that came to mind. After Control, a slew of female artists with hard hitting R&B/pop production came out trying to recreate her magic. Jody Watley, Karyn White, Pebbles, Paula Abdul, Vanessa Williams, etc. She completely changed the landscape of R&B/pop crossover. She even got her brother, inarguably the bigger star to change up his sound.

Not to mention the massive influence she had on later generations of female performers. Britney as a performer literally wouldn't exist. Beyonce, Ciara, Aaliyah down to the new crop like Tinashe, Normani, etc.

[Koochie]

Sept 3, 2021 7:41:35 GMT -5 Ling-Ling said:

Sept 2, 2021 19:37:17 GMT -5 Koochie said:

So true. She did what Paula Abdul and Janet Jackson couldn't.

I don't agree with this at all. Janet was actually the first artist that came to mind. After Control, a slew of female artists with hard hitting R&B/pop production came out trying to recreate her magic. Jody Watley, Karyn White, Pebbles, Paula Abdul, Vanessa Williams, etc. She completely changed the landscape of R&B/pop crossover. She even got her brother, inarguably the bigger star to change up his sound.

Not to mention the massive influence she had on later generations of female performers. Britney as a performer literally wouldn't exist. Beyonce, Ciara, Aaliyah down to the new crop like Tinashe, Normani, etc.

Ok and? Britney still wins be mad in someone else’s quotes 🙄

[disman00911]

I agree with the Madonna and Britney Spears answers.  You forgot Christina Aguliera when it came to the rise of teen female pop stars from the late 90s after Britney Spears got popular.  

No one mentioned the Backstreet Boys yet?  There were so many boy bands and Britney-like female teen stars during the late 1990s and early 2000s.  N'Sync, 98 Degrees, Five (or was it 5ive?), Boy Zone, O-Town, BB Mack, LFO, Soul Decision, Vi3, and so on.  There was also Hanson but most of the those boy bands followed the Backstreet Boys/N'Sync formula.

Not too many girl groups after the Spice Girls got popular in comparison to the boy bands.  There was All-Saints, Dream, and Eden's Crush.  And there was S Club 7, which had both male and female members.

[Private Dancer]

Britney did what Janet and Paula couldn't do...huh...not when Britney literally took inspiration from a lot of Janet's work...but some people not ready for that conservation.

[Carlitoz]

Sept 2, 2021 19:37:17 GMT -5 Koochie said:

Absolutely nobody changed the landscape of pop in the way Britney did though. Madonna comes close, but I don't think nearly as many people were trying to be the next Madonna (like off the top of my head I can think of Cyndi Lauper, but maybe the rest are just that forgettable). Almost any solo female artist post-Baby One More Time was dying their hair blonde and trying to dance to Max Martin's soundboard. 

Sept 2, 2021 14:30:40 GMT -5 Fat Ass Kelly Price said:

Britney is the obvious response.

So true. She did what Paula Abdul and Janet Jackson couldn't.

So I can talk about the "absolutely nobody" part and the "Madonna comes close" part, but I don't think we're going to get anywhere with a discussion. You seem like a pretty hardcore Britney adoring fan. And don't get me wrong, I like Britney.... And I am not denying the impact she's had in the world of pop.

I DO have to comment on the Cyndi part. And take this as knowledge from somebody who LIVED those years 1983-85 and was a huge Madonna and Cyndi fan. Both their first albums came out in 1983. Cyndi became huge before Madonna. Both were very original and extravagant and fun with their looks. But Cyndi was never trying to be Madonna. Yes they both were wearing lace and fishnet gloves and tons of earing and necklaces, but that was about it. Cyndi has always been very committed and serious and I would say independent with her music. I respect both tremendously. Both had great music and great videos those days, but they were totally different entities. The serious competition by 1987 had already significantly slowed down.

[when the pawn...]

Including some that people have already mentioned

Janet Jackson
Boyz II Men
Alanis Morissette
Backstreet Boys
Britney Spears
Kanye West
Amy Winehouse
Lady Gaga
Justin Bieber
Adele
Lorde

[Soas]

Linkin Park
The Strokes
blink-182
Coldplay

[Trilogy]

🇸🇪🏠🕴

[dkampy]

Michelle Branch for sure….I remember people saying she was the anti Britney since she played instruments and wrote her own songs and was more pop rock then just pop…and soon everyone was looking for their own “anti-Britney

[mcsteamy]

Sept 11, 2021 20:04:53 GMT -5 dkampy said:

Michelle Branch for sure….I remember people saying she was the anti Britney since she played instruments and wrote her own songs and was more pop rock then just pop…and soon everyone was looking for their own “anti-Britney

Britney was so huge she not only created copycats she also created the anti britneys, first and foremost, Avril Lavigne was marketed as the ultimate anti britney

[Enigma.]

Sept 2, 2021 19:37:17 GMT -5 Koochie said:

PCD in the States, Girls Aloud internationally. Both had a ton of knockoffs like The Cheetah Girls, Danity Kane, and The Paradiso Girls cropping up out of nowhere trying to accomplish what these girls were doing.

Umm weren't Girls Aloud basically the talent show response to Sugababes? I love both though so this is not a negative thing by any means.

[#LisaRinna]

Lady Gaga

[spiritboy]

Madonna of course. Literally all the main pop girls that came after her were copycats (or at least inspired by her). She's the blueprint of female pop artists to come, strong independent, controversial, sexual, whatever you name Madonna was that girl. She's 63 and still makes people mad and seethe.

[dremolus - solarpunk]

Surprised no one's said Usher yet. Nearly every male R&B act in the 2000s tried to capture his magic and success of Confessions.

[taylor]

Taylor Swift. She's the one who influenced/inspired Conan Gray and Olivia Rodrigo, not Billie Eilish.  

She's also inspired countless other people, such as Clairo, Gracie Abrams, Maisie Peters...I could go on and on.

(PS. I wouldn't go quite as far as to call these people "copycats." Conan & Olivia for instance might draw a lot of comparisons, particularly in songwriting, to Taylor, but all three are in lanes of their own. The fact that Taylor never came up with Conan songs like "The Cut That Always Bleeds," "Lookalike," or "Astronomy" or Olivia songs like "traitor" and "favorite crime" while neither Conan or Olivia have ever come up with anything that touches "champagne problems," "cardigan," "Cornelia Street," "Back to December," etc. says it all tbh)

[Dielawn]

Sept 3, 2021 7:41:35 GMT -5 Ling-Ling said:

Sept 2, 2021 19:37:17 GMT -5 Koochie said:

So true. She did what Paula Abdul and Janet Jackson couldn't.

I don't agree with this at all. Janet was actually the first artist that came to mind. After Control, a slew of female artists with hard hitting R&B/pop production came out trying to recreate her magic. Jody Watley, Karyn White, Pebbles, Paula Abdul, Vanessa Williams, etc. She completely changed the landscape of R&B/pop crossover. She even got her brother, inarguably the bigger star to change up his sound.

This. Janet Jackson completely set the tone for the late '80s. Like Lady Gaga setting the tone for 2009-12 but even more so, there hadn't been anything that sounded like Control when it came out.

I would say it was more Max Martin who set the tone for the 90's/early 00's teen pop era. ...Baby One More Time was following the sound of the Backstreet Boys and N'sync

[Deleted]

Sept 30, 2021 8:37:51 GMT -5 dremolus - solarpunk said:

Surprised no one's said Usher yet. Nearly every male R&B act in the 2000s tried to capture his magic and success of Confessions.

Just look at Chris Brown, Jeremih, Trey Songz and Jason Derulo.