Elton John’s biopic Rocketman was supposed to be the next Bohemian Rhapsody, but it took a dive at the box office falling below expectations. In a ten day period – Rocketman only brought it $47.5 million whereas Bohemian Rhapsody clocked over $100 million with half the promotion. Rocketman received better reviews and Elton John was even bigger than Freddie Mercury. So what happened with Rocketman?

Rocketman and Bohemian Rhapsody are vastly different in how they portray the iconic frontman. Bohemian Rhapsody focused on Freddie Mercurys life as an artist and his talent. Rocketman explores Elton John’s sexuality and his drug issues painting him as a sex-crazed junkie. The members of Queen were deeply involved in the making of Bohemian Rhapsody and made sure that Freddie Mercury was defined by his talent and showmanship and nothing else.

As of now Rocketman has generated $72 million while Bohemian Rhapsody has pulled in $900+ million worldwide

You’re a songwriter in the music business and may have number one hits, but outside of a small inner circle, nobody knows who you are. Music producers are even more anonymous. The good news is that Billboard will launch a weekly top songwriters and producers chart onJune 15th. Billboard will rollout the top 10 charts for Hot 100 songwriters and producers that will coincide with charts from genres including R&B/hip-hop, rap, R&B, country, rock, dance/electronic, Latin, Christian and gospel. The songwriters and producers will finally have a ‘look at me’ moment outside a yearly award ceremony

Apple will finally shut down iTunes.  Apple will rollout new software for Mac this fall and iTunes will cease to exist. Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, and Apple TV will replace iTunes.  For those who have an iTunes library full of songs – no need to worry. Your iTunes library will exported into a new app, which includes your downloaded songs, purchased songs, or songs ripped from a CD.

Both Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry are back with new music. Miley dropped the first of three six-song EPs while Katy Perry released a Ariana-Grande style single “Never Really Over.” Perry is aiming for the radio charts and Miley is taking chances again. In fact, Miley hasn’t made a radio album since Bangerz which was released 2013. There has been a lot of talk if Miley and Katy can still move tracks and and sell tickets. While Miley and Katy focused on outside endeavors new pop stars dominated like Post Malone, Ariana Grande, Cardi B, and Billie Eilish.

Most pop stars rarely last more than 5 years, nobody survives the changing trends. That still doesn’t mean business is over.  They can still generate lots of money, even though they can’t pack the same size venues. When the pop stars of yore like Katy and Miley discover the fact they will no longer be trending topics, they will actually start writing great music again – the type of songs that broke them in the first place. Creativity is the highest when their are no strings attached.

Taylor Swift promises to get political on her new album. Even though politics has done little to bolster her career, Swift told Elle Mag, “I definitely think there are political undertones in the new music I made,” “I’m not planning to stop encouraging young people to vote and to try to get them to talk about what’s going on in our country. I think that’s one of the most important things I could do.”

While some artists-turned- activists, have used their platform to influence people, many stay away from such controversy. Dolly Parton says, “I learned a long time ago to keep your damn mouth shut if you want to stay in show business.” Parton told Nightline, “I don’t do politics. I’m not getting into any of that. I have a lot of fans out there and I don’t want to offend anybody. Besides, I just don’t get into that. If you are deciding you may want to ask me something more serious, don’t, because I’m not going to answer it.”