Music analysis: Why is Madison Beer still not considered a ‘Main Pop Girl’?
After over a decade in the industry, Madison Beer is heading out on her fourth solo album tour this May following the release of her third studio album, “Locket”.
She was discovered by Justin Bieber at age 13, after he tweeted a link to her YouTube video of her singing a cover of ‘At Last’ by Etta James.
It was following this that she was signed by Justin Bieber to Island Records and was set on the trajectory of a true pop star, writes Music News Blitz’s Darshan Kaur Gill.
Within the same year of being signed, Beer went on to record a multitude of songs, building on the momentum of being newly discovered.
An image of the “female Justin Bieber” was curated for her by her label, in hopes of propelling her into stardom.
Debut single released
Made to sing bubblegum pop, she released her debut single, "Melodies” in 2013, with the music video featuring Justin Bieber.
She began working on her debut album, describing it as having an R&B pop vibe; in a 2013 interview with Teen Vogue, Beer said: “There will be slow songs, sad songs, happy songs, songs about boys, and songs about being who you are.”
The album remains unreleased as a product of explicit leaked photos of a 15-year-old Beer, leaked songs, and then subsequently being dropped by her label, Island Records, her manager, Scooter Braun, and her lawyer within 12 hours when she was 16.
She recently told Cosmopolitan that she believes she was dropped because she “hadn’t been successful enough”.
Signed for Epic Records
Despite this, Beer went on to release her first EP, “As She Pleases”, in 2018 through Access Records and later signed with Epic Records in 2019.
She has since released three studio albums through Epic Records: “Life Support” in 2021, “Silence Between Songs” in 2023, and “Locket” in 2026, resulting in her receiving two Grammy nominations in the past three years.
Herein lies the problem.
Despite all the success Madison Beer has achieved throughout her almost-14-year-long career, she is unable to break the glass ceiling that has been placed there for her.
Instead of being seen as a serious artist who creates music that is true to her, highlighting her history with depression, self-harm and OCD, she is instead unable to break free from the label of a “bratty influencer”.
Due to her teenage years being shown off in the public eye, such as out-of-context clips of the star as a teen, this perception of Beer has been thrust upon her that she is unable to shake.
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Similar sound
With similar sounds to artists like Sabrina Carpenter, Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo, it begs the question of why Madison Beer hasn’t ever claimed the title of “Main Pop Girl”.
Some social media users claim it's due to a lack of personal brand or her proximity to the world of social media influencers, but the discourse surrounding Beer’s career is also a result of “pretty privilege”, or in Beer’s case, the reverse of it.
Often made the butt of jokes online, Beer’s looks are a topic that comes up constantly when discussing why she hasn't reached the star status she deserves.
It seems to come down to people believing that she’s “too perfect” and “spoiled” to understand real struggle and, therefore, is often judged before they've even sat down and listened to a single piece of art she’s released.
Ahead of the Locket tour starting May 11, Madison spoke in an interview about how she no longer cares so much about her place in the industry being taken by other artists.
She said, "This isn’t everything to me, I have a lot more in my life that I think I value that isn’t just my career and this persona.”
She then further elaborated, saying: “It’s obviously really exciting, but as I grow I realise I don’t need to tether all my self-worth to that stuff.”
Beer essentially shut down any rumours that she needs a big breakthrough moment to establish herself because she feels fulfilled doing what she’s doing.
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