Why is Linkin Park considered "mainstream"?

Linkin Park is "mainstream" by the very definition, they're on a major label, every time their albums drop, they enter no. 1 and radio play. However, though they are mainstream but, they're not lady gaga-bieber-kanye mainstream. You don't see them at every award show. The causal Listener might not consider them mainstream. Speaking of the casual listener, maybe that casual listener, listend to LP during the Hybrid Theory days but stop listening to them and nowadays when they come across a LP song, what reaction they might have? "I remember them." If a LP fan says "they need to go back to their old sound." Why would a causal listener say any different? However, at the same time Linkin Park has ties wit the underground. reffering to mike shinoda. He's worked wit styles of beyond, apathy and celph titled. (Who are rappers that I listen to) I guess what I'm saying is there are certain levels of mainstream.

 

They're on mainstream radio. Ergo, mainstream band.

 

They have more facebook fans than Justin Bieber and One Direction.

That is all.

 

61 million>58 million, if I remember correctly.

 

Never mind.

They had more likes than Justin Bieber. I remember he had only 56 million likes a few months ago.

 

I know what you meant, but the word only made me laugh.

 

Linkin Park is considered mainstream because Linkin Park is mainstream.

 

(not being sarcastic)

 

I'm not sure that this answers my question but this thread has given me a much better understanding as to why the band is called mainstream. I was previously under the impression that formulaic structures alone weren't enough to label LP mainstream but did not consider popularity through social media. In my opinion, the band deserves the attention and success it has achieved over the years due to its talent and unique sound that always sounds fresh each album.

 

Many people have different defintions of "mainstream" You can take the meme approach and look at it as popular enough to the majority knows what you are talking about.

An other definition is if it simply hits the radio, some may say it has become mainstream.

If it has a huge record label, some may say it can also mean it is mainstream.

Mainstream can just be a copout to something that just doesn't fit your taste for various reasons and so for the rest of your life, it will just be an ongoing argument on what is mainstream and what isn't. Just like politics and abortion.

 

If it has no hipster cred, it's mainstream. LP can sing Justin Bieber songs or play neo-prog-post-trip-hop-not-a-real-genre, it really doesn't matter.

Don't bother. Labels are for pretentious wanksters.

 

Why is Justin Bieber considered "mainstream"?

 

^Not hipster material.

 

Come on. Do you really think that the only way something is considered mainstream is if the hipsters (and I don't even know what that word means anymore to be honest) don't like it? That's ridiculous. Something is mainstream if it is hugely popular. Well-known, of-the-norm type stuff. Linkin Park clearly falls into that category. So does Justin Bieber. So does Eminem.

 

So death metal is hipster material? Not my definition of hipster.

 

Because they are rocking at 'tours' and are owned by a record label.