Did Britney ever care about her career?

[derriereondisplay]

I think she only cared about her career was between 2005 and 2006. At the time she did some interviews and said she wanted to do another type of music like jazz and blues but after the breakdown she had to do what people told her what to do. 

[Guest]

Britney cared her career since the beginning, even since she was in start search and the MMC, of course she grown up n the business  but for someone succeed must be more than just care  , so check your facts sis 

[Seanzy]

Y'all are doing the most right now.

[BKSTYL3]

[glitterfalls]

On 6/6/2017 at 3:41 PM, britneyausfan said:

Okay don't drag me right away but let me explain (and I am asking, i'm not stating).

She has been a performer her whole life. Lynne is a self-proclaimed stage mom. Britney is a manufactured pop artist - her music is written, given to her and she has an entire team that has created her image. To start with , she was drained, she was pushed to the brink and just churned out hit after hit. Yes she sang live, she gave insane performances - but she did exactly what was expected of her. The whole time, we can assume, she had Justin, wanted a family etc. That ends and she starts to go off the rails a bit - she probably see's her life will have to continue being pushed to extremes to keep everyone happy.

 

She eventually meets Kevin, has kids and tries to go out of the limelight. But the public won't let her. She finally releases Blackout which is insanely good - but is almost an F U to the media/public (feels like the crowd is saying gimme gimme more).

 

She has her breakdown and then after her conservatorship she is immediately pushed back into the spotlight (arguably too soon). She goes on a world tour, churns out more albums, we see her looking dead in femme fatale, people keep criticizing, keep wanting more etc. Britney Jean is pushed out way too quick, it is a critical and commercial flop. But by this stage at her life, all she knows is work, she is under a conservatorship and has to do what they say. SO many people are relying on her releasing music for their own survival... and so she does Piece Of Me... and it is here she realizes she can put in minimal effort, still make a TON of money and people will keep seeing her.

 

Glory was amazing and finally feels like something she wanted to do - but career wise was it a good move for her? If she cared about her career wouldn't she have put in more effort.

 

I am just asking all your opinion's here - don't drag me.

 

Not gonna drag you. It's an interesting question. I also think it's going to be a hard one to answer. A part of me feels like the difference between the two Britneys (pre and post breakdown) in terms of her career, a part of me wants to say it all boils down to something like 'killing the goose that laid the golden egg'. I think that term might fit Britney perfectly. Think of some of the other musicians you like and how they act about their music. Don't you see a lot of passion with how they feel about their music? Whether it's talking about the music, performing the music, etc? I just think a lot of that flame has been blown out for Britney. So the position I'm in, I'd say she did care to start with. I word it that way because I think stuff like that's more for the people close to her that actually listens to her, IF she has anybody that fits into that file. I'd hate for it to be what amounts to an opposite game. She says one thing and the people around her hear something completely different. 

 

 

[glitterfalls]

On 6/6/2017 at 5:14 PM, fucknfurter said:

 To a certain degree, yes, but it's a little different in respect to her not being as manufactured as she once was. She was still out there kicking *** and taking names (maybe even a little more so given how she was pushed by her team during that era), but Britney was fighting for control back then. You can see little glimpses of her even discussing it in things like the ABC In The Zone Special, where she discusses taking more control of her career, and where Larry is going on about marketing and sales and she interjects with, "It's not about marketing, it's about just being cool and real!" It's also different with the way people were starting to want to see her fall by then.  She'd already proven herself many times, so it was no longer really her prime, per se.

I think that's the most painful part about being a musician when you want to go in another direction and you're being pulled back or pushed in a direction that you might not go in if you had the choice in the matter. I can only imagine the laughing reaction Britney would get if she said she wanted to do a country album. "You want to do what? Oh no, that's not going to work. People don't want a Britney Spears country album. It won't sell and you might turn off  a lot of your fan base that doesn't give a **** about country music!" 

[brit4u1998]

To me, she cared a lot from 1998 to 2004.  

[sarahbbyy]

God, I have been studying psychology my entire life, before I was even in college. There are a lot of false assumptions made in your forum. It does make sense in some ways but when you really look at Britney's background, things will make a lot more sense to you. First of all, Britney comes from a very poor upbringing No one in her family has a history of the music industry. Her small town of Kentwood, Louisiana is extremely religious, which helped shape in her in a lot of ways. She wrote a letter to her fans explaining how her mom was different from all the other moms. The women in her church were extremely judgmental and "obsessed with their husbands." She always talked about how her mom never said anything bad about anyone and was a far more liberated woman than the rest of the town. Her mom is her BEST friend! Her dad however is an alcoholic. He was known for being neglectful of his children. Her mom and dad fought throughout their entire childhood and there have been comments made by personal family members that it turned violent a million times over. Some of the things I think about Britney are mainly theories but they feel VERY true. Everyone is always claiming that she wants to be at home, raise kids and go back to her hometown in Louisiana. I think that is the farthest thing from the truth. People are either blaming the industry, her mother, or some other factor that made Britney either lose it or stay in this career for as long she has. I personally think Britney has been running her entire life. She shows all the signs of getting scared when things are not going perfectly. When things were not fairytale-esq with Justin, she somehow did something to mess it up. Once things started to boil over with Kevin, she divorced him on the spot. She even said on For The Record, "I did not even want to think about the reality of it. I was just like I'll be okay; I can do this. I never really faced it and I just ran!" "I had that nature in me that wanted to rebel out. I never wanted to become one of those prisoner people. I wanted to be able leave my house, get in my car and go and not let people make me feel I had to stay at my home." When Britney came from home after Mickey Mouse Club ended, she spent one year in high school and said she got bored. She had the desire to work and perform again. Even though she says she was bored, I think the real reason she did not want to be in Louisiana is that it is the place that is representative of bad times. She had somewhat of a good childhood in a sense that because her family was dirt poor, it made life far more simple, she was far more appreciative of everything, and living in a small town probably felt like a family environment. However, her Dad is someone I think till this day is someone she is angry at and the one person that made her the Britney Spears she became from everything to do with her breakdown, controversy, all the way to her lack of control in aspects of her career, etc. Now, he is her conservator. She has to be with the man that made her have a hole in her that has never went away no matter what high she chases from her job or her love life. Either way though, performing is a whole lot better than being home. Home has never been kind to her. She does not perform because it is just a "job" nor is she forced. She forces herself to put up with all of the garbage that the industry throws at her because either way, it is better than her miserable childhood. Until Britney completely comes to terms with all of her baggage, she will never be free from it. She is slowly figuring out her life now and even made an album she is proud of, so I think she is slowly finding her way but she will never be a 100% happy until she is free from the sadness her father left inside of her. 

[fnfurter]

1 hour ago, glitterfalls said:

I think that's the most painful part about being a musician when you want to go in another direction and you're being pulled back or pushed in a direction that you might not go in if you had the choice in the matter. I can only imagine the laughing reaction Britney would get if she said she wanted to do a country album. "You want to do what? Oh no, that's not going to work. People don't want a Britney Spears country album. It won't sell and you might turn off  a lot of your fan base that doesn't give a **** about country music!" 

Oh, I definitely agree. Especially in Britney's case; they were changing her vision and what she originally wanted to do from the get-go, because it was all about what was marketable and would make the most $$$. (Not that I personally am unhappy with the result, but who knows? If she was allowed to take a more Sheryl Crow approach, it might have been interesting to see.) I mean, they even base the color of her hair on album sales, so....

[LostInAnImage]

On 6/6/2017 at 7:14 PM, fucknfurter said:

 To a certain degree, yes, but it's a little different in respect to her not being as manufactured as she once was. She was still out there kicking *** and taking names (maybe even a little more so given how she was pushed by her team during that era), but Britney was fighting for control back then. You can see little glimpses of her even discussing it in things like the ABC In The Zone Special, where she discusses taking more control of her career, and where Larry is going on about marketing and sales and she interjects with, "It's not about marketing, it's about just being cool and real!" It's also different with the way people were starting to want to see her fall by then.  She'd already proven herself many times, so it was no longer really her prime, per se.

Agreed. Her prime is discussed here in terms of when her fans believe she was at her most creative and artistic, but in reality, the prime of someone's career depends on public perception and overall popularity (and although Britney remained astronomically famous during ITZ,  having massive popularity is far different from being a massive celebrity; this is best exemplified by the Kardashians, who clearly fall into the latter of the two categories).

Thus, Britney's "prime" cannot really be accurately defined by what her dancing abilities were, or what the quality of her music was, at any given time, but rather what she and her brand represented to the world (otherwise, one could label "Blackout" as Britney's prime, given it is arguably her best album).

In reality, Britney's prime existed during her first three eras, and began fading toward the end of her third album, when the public and media first began turning on her. For her first several eras she was America's sweetheart and ubiquitously loved. She was pretty yet humble, innocent yet sweet, shy yet personable. She refrained from consistently utilizing her *** appeal so as not to overwhelm or alienate her viewers, while also using her sexuality frequently and artfully enough to generate perpetual interest and controversy. During her first several eras everybody loved her because she was "perfect." And the reason she was perfect was because her record label made her that way.

With regard to the original question posed by the OP,  I don't know if that's something even Britney herself could answer. After all, as she stated in For The Record, "it's all I know."

ETA: Before someone misconstrues my posts, I am in no way saying Britney is analogous to a Kardashian, or that her incredible impact on pop music was solely due to her management. I don't think Britney just got lucky and landed a record deal; she had an incredible amount of natural charisma, beauty and talent. Nevertheless, a 17-year-old doesn't become the most famous person on the entire planet without one hell of a marketing team behind them.

[GirlOnTheMoon]

Just because her priorities have changed doesn't mean she doesn't care about her career. She finally is at a place where she's putting herself and her kids first. This is what she always wanted and as much as most of Exhale hates it, this is the only healthy way to live your life. 

[IconicShow]

The fire and passion in this performance is amazing, shes never reached this point of return yet.

[fnfurter]

32 minutes ago, LostInAnImage said:

Agreed. Her prime is discussed here in terms of when her fans believe she was at her most creative and artistic, but in reality, the prime of someone's career depends on public perception and overall popularity (and although Britney remained astronomically famous during ITZ,  having massive popularity is far different from being a massive celebrity; this is best exemplified by the Kardashians, who clearly fall into the latter of the two categories).

Thus, Britney's "prime" cannot really be accurately defined by what her dancing abilities were, or what the quality of her music was, at any given time, but rather what she and her brand represented to the world (otherwise, one could label "Blackout" as Britney's prime, given it is arguably her best album).

In reality, Britney's prime existed during her first three eras, and began fading toward the end of her third album, when the public and media first began turning on her. For her first several eras she was America's sweetheart and ubiquitously loved. She was pretty yet humble, innocent yet sweet, shy yet personable. She refrained from consistently utilizing her *** appeal so as not to overwhelm or alienate her viewers, while also using her sexuality frequently and artfully enough to generate perpetual interest and controversy. During her first several eras everybody loved her because she was "perfect." And the reason she was perfect was because her record label made her that way.

With regard to the original question as poised by the OP,  I don't know if that's something even Britney herself could answer. After all, as she stated in For The Record, "it's all I know."

Yes, exactly, and for exactly those reasons. When someone says Primeney, I think only of Britney during albums one through three. I think of the beginning of a career, when the artist is in the process of putting themselves out there and proving what their capabilities are. Even by Britney, she'd proven herself many times. So when I say "Primeney", it's different for me than most here, I suppose. I mean up until Britney: and then there's ITZney, which is its own separate time/era.