How Popular Do You Think Linkin Park Is?

Whether or not it matters (it really doesn't much), it's an interesting question. As we all know the sales for A Thousand Suns hasn't come close to the success that the band's first three albums had. But at the same time Linkin Park has the most Facebook fans out of any band and they've cracked the top 10 in the weekly last.fm charts as recently as last week. They also still have the ability to tour all across the world and seemingly sell out every show.

So what do you think? What bands/artists would you put ahead/behind Linkin Park in overall popularity? Let's get this psychologically interesting conversation on an academic level started.

 

Linkin Park seems to be one of those bands that aren't "cool" to listen to anymore. However, in my experiences with talking amongst friends and groups, it seems like everyone still listens to the band and enjoys every song immensely, they just don't like to admit it for fear of being deemed "uncool".

For example I've got a friend who ONLY listens to 60's/70's classic rock, and calls everything released afterwards garbage. But last I checked, he had Numb on a USB he was recently lugging around.

Another example: I was at another friend's get-together and we were all sitting around in a hot tub listening to music - mostly pop/hip-hop stuff, not my cup of tea. Suddenly New Divide came on and I said "Oh man I love this song!" and everyone around me slowly perked up and said "Oh yeah me too man! I love Linkin Park!". We even talked a bit about the band for a few minutes. Great stuff.

 

They're substantially less popular now than they were, but given to how gigantic they once were that's perfectly understandable.

 

Despite the ATS sales, I still think the very MENTION of Linkin Park will get people to react. Many people here in Vegas still love Linkin Park with a passion (although the "old vs. new" label is relevant here), and I think it's very rare to meet someone who hasn't heard of LP, in my opinion. And plus, the whole Facebook fan numbers don't lie: Over 34 million and counting. Not many bands have had a number quite that large.

As far as which other bands surpass the guys in popularity, the only few I can name off the top of my head would be Muse, Coldplay, Paramore, Foo Fighters, and of course The Beatles.

 

I can only agree with you on the beatles on that. Foo's have got to be semi close though. Muse as well.

But I think They are the most popular rock band in the world. Despite having lost a good portion of HT and meteora fans. I mean the number of record sales, youtube hits, and facebook fans are ridunkulous. And they've been exposed to a huge audience through transformers. The point on transformers also brings me to the point though, that alot of these people on facebook are only liking them for their transformer songs. A lot of those fans may not necessarily "true" or "dedicated" fans.

 

Again I can't agree with you that any of those band sare more popular than LP. Especially not paramore and a day to remember. A day to remember is still doing the full warped tour cycle. Which generally means they're still trying to generate a larger fan base. Bigger bands only stay on for a week or so as far as I know. And theres a huge disparity in FB and youtube numbers

 

I think it's important to note that ATS held #7 position for best selling rock album in 2010, according to Billboard. The sales themselves are more a reflectance of people's desires for purchasing singles, using streaming services, and pirating rather than buying albums.
I think their rating on last.fm and their facebook likes status is a better measure of their popularity among people. After all, it doesn't cost someone money to press the like button so it's a good measure of the size of LP's casual fanbase. And LP is very very high up on the top-liked Facebook brands. That ranking should also say something.


Personally, I don't have the ability to gauge how the band fares in my local area. I quit listening to FM radio because it's so friggin irritating with the repetition of songs I don't like and the extremely mistargeted ads giving me mood whiplash (ie, Hip Pop McDonalds ad on a Metal station. ooook). . The one time I listened to the radio in july i heard a diss from a DJ talking about the secret show, but we all know radio DJ's, at least in my area, have the mental capacity of a thimble. And among my friends, I have the special ability to create a Linkin Park vortex aura surrounding me. If someone doesn't like LP, they've obviously been waiting for me to leave the room before saying anything. Besides, the most important thing I've learned is that anecdotal evidence isn't evidence. The numbers above are what shows what's really going on.

 

I'd say they're pretty popular, but much more popular for their old music rather than their new.

 

It's over 9000.

 

I always believe that as long as they please those handfull of fans, they will be around for a long time.

 

You mean us, right?

 

with the rapid decline of record sales in general (duer to sites like youtube, and spotify) its a suprise if anyone ever sells the same amount that they used to again. Also chart positions are very depedent on how much airplay that song receives, the more a song is on the radio, the more its likely to sell. And with the recent over-saturation of pop music (espiecially in the UK) its a given that alot of younger music listeners may not really know who Linkin Park are which is reflected in album and single sales

But still, the facebook likes are impressive

 

Linkin Park is popular as hell, but they aren't considered "cool" or "heavy" by some people anymore, after the Meteora days ended.

 

Linkin Park? Who the fuck is that?

--RS

 

Linkin Park? No I've never been to Chicago.