5 Ways Justin Bieber Can Go From Pop's Boy Wonder To The Man (Pg. 2)

5. → DON'T OVER-ESTIMATE BIEBER FEVER

Sure, you are raking in the type of ridiculous revenue that could fund a third-world country. And you boast more than 6.5 million rabid followers on Twitter, a figure that’s only topped by Lady Gaga.  But if you talked to any of the members of the Backstreet Boys and N’Sync during their boy band heyday of sold-out arena tours, multi-million dollar merchandising deals and record-breaking album sales, the lads probably would have proclaimed that their reign would last beyond their teen-driven fanbase. And they would have been as dead wrong as Sarah Palin attending a PETA rally.

“You can’t rely only just on the mania of teen girls,” says NY Magazine’s Barshad of Bieber’s notorious, passionate and outspoken army of followers. This is an overtly dedicated bunch that once sent death threats to Kim Kardashian in 2010 after Bieber playfully referred to the reality-show star as his “girlfriend” and hacked the Wikipedia page of jazz darling Esperanza Spalding following her Best New Artist Grammy win over the “Baby” singer. Yikes.

“Those type of record buyers go through phases,” Barshad continues. “I think Bieber’s best move would be to go away for a while; just come back a couple of years later with some more evolved music. By then his fans would have grown into an older demographic. I don’t know if he could exactly transition immediately into that demographic of listeners, but he should try to space it out right.” 

EW’s Brad Wete, however, believes that if harnessed properly, such uninhibited, over-the-top fandom could allow Bieber to have a smoother transition to the next phase of his career. “Bieber’s fans are really dedicated,” he says. “It’s really the type of thing we haven’t seen since the days of Michael Jackson. He has the type of fans that even if he releases a terrible album they are still going to buy it off their love and appreciation of him. But it’s going to be up to him and his people if he really wants to take it to the next level as a serious adult artist. That will take [true] dedication to his music.”