The Popstar Factory: Manufactured by Disney

Disney has had a factory-esque workflow of making children turn into mega famous popstars. But did you know they missed an opportunity with Britney Spears? Justin Timberlake? We all know the golden era: Miley, Selena, Demi.. but then we didn't get any stars for a long time. Now Olivia Rodrigo is the biggest new artist of 2021.. did Disney invest back in their Popstar line?

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[LLusion]

even though we were all aware of this, i’ve never realized how black and white their strategy was and the fact it was right in front of our faces lol. great vid brotha

[linaaviles]

You forgot that Ryan Goslin was also with Britney, Justin and Christina. Even if he doesn’t have a music career. The casting directing struck gold.

[eee]

Meanwhile at Nickelodeon: ignores the potential of a particular supporting actress who eventually becomes bigger than anyone Disney has produced

[benplsek]

Not to mention Ryan Gosling was also in that season with Justin, Britney, and Christina... INSANE

[Cupofkorea]

I think Olivia owes a lot of her success to TikTok. You can reach millions of people worldwide in a matter of days. And all being forced to listen to the music of their fyp. Where I was listening to Disney music my brothers in their teens weren’t. But now a days with TikTok people of all ages are listening to the same song in multiple videos catered to their taste

[naylani]

Also, can we talk about how the Cheetah Girls were basically a catalyst for all of the other Disney channel original movie musicals?

[lorepeeters]

The fact that Disney tried SO HARD after Miley, Demi and Selena but somehow never made it even though the next generation was talented af is still beyond me. Bridget Mendler, Zendaya, Ross Lynch, Olivia Holt, Dove Cameron, Sabrina Carpenter, …. they made good music even outside their shows but somehow never really broke out like the other girlies. The fact that Olivia did proves that it’s better for them to go outside of Disney from the get go when it comes to music and take creative control straight away, instead of being held down by the picture perfect Disney girl image and the Disney approved songs that go with that

[talkingwithkayla]

I think it would’ve been good if you also mentioned Raven Symone. She set the standards for most Disney girls alongside Hilary Duff. Before HSM, you had The Cheetah Girls franchise which was wildly successful in the early to mid 2000s. Also China Ann Mcclain, Dove Cameron with Descendants, and Coco Jones

[taraphipps]

Had Disney kept Britney, Christina, and Justin, their careers wouldn't have went as far as they had. You think Britney, you think of toxic, baby one more time, oops i did it again, etc. Justin had sexyback, what goes around comes around, rock your body, etc. Christina had a more "tame" discography, but she still had dirrty, lady marmalade, burlesque, etc. Those are the songs that shaped them as artists and boosted their careers. Disney would have NEVER given them the chance to release those songs. Disney could have made them stars, but they could not have made them the global icons they were and are today. I think of Demi, Miley, Selena, Ariana, etc. and I don't associate them with disney or nickelodeon anymore. In their case, their shows are what started and catapulted their careers, but I associate them with their more mature bodies of work they released later on, and think of Disney/Nick as being just a little rough bump they had to go through to get where they are today.

[lauraryan]

RIP to Ryan Gosling, he’s not dead, he’s just not a singer

[TheBabouc]

Although he's not a musician, Ryan Gosling was also in the Mickey Mouse Club, he's the one next to Britney and he also became mega successful, coincidence? I think not! I see you Mouse! I know what you are!

[withrihem]

i believe Disney missed on Olivia just like they did with Brittany
i remember when Olivia's show was airing Disney had the worst views ever literally nobody was watching the channel
and i think they realized that and turned thier focus to Disney plus, which gave Olivia a chance to get a deal with a real company.
also we can't forget the TikTok impact on her music

sorry for any mistakes English isn't my first language

[victoriab]

Making kid-friendly pop music isn't really as "cool" or profitable as it once was. This conflicts with the Disney Channel's values as a company. They had to stop because it doesn't work anymore.

[Cla]

"You can role play as a teen for so long" unless you are Jason Earles, he is inmortal.

[Swirlingflame]

Fun fact: Jessie J, the British popstar, actually wrote "Party In the USA", and she says that song alone paid for her house >.< talk about a songwriter's ultimate daydream lol

[pirate_bassist]

I would say an honorable mention is Ross Lynch from Austin and Ally. Honestly that show helped launch R5 (the band he was in, , 2 of their songs were on the 1st season soundtrack) and even though they broke up in 2018 and split from Hollywood Records due to creative and image differences, he's still making music as The Driver Era with his brother and he's still acting.

[justdance]

Tbh Zendaya could’ve gotten just as big, just look at her single ‘Replay.’ But she knew to distance herself from Disney, and pursued her own thing… and today she’s making movies with Marvel, etc., she’s pretty damn well-off. And at no loss of mental health and exploitation many female stars faced under large corporations. Her team knew damn well what they were doing. I’m biased for sure, but all those stars (female ones specifically) had some sort of mental break trying to break free of their roles from Disney…

[jdmga]

Radio Disney was huge in keeping the songs in kid's heads. They didn't need traditional means of promotion for their own content. Wild stuff.

[sarahroddey]

Calling it a factory is so painfully accurate because in Demi Lovato's newest documentary they were saying that they literally filmed the camp rock movie and then immediately went on your to promote it, got home and started recording an album, then went on tour for that album, got home and immediately started filming Sonny the TV show, then went on tour for that album, etc.

[byerage]

I remember when Miley's Cant Be Tamed album came out. Loved the song and my grandmother hated it so much! I didnt even realize that album coincided with Miley's desire to distance herself from Disney, (i was literally 9 when all this happened lol) but it makes soooo much sense!! Good for her!!!