Shakespeare had a head start, so gross sales in an unfare comparison. But new publication sales is a fair comparison. The next book King publishes will sell around 7 million copies, the next Shakespeare book published will not. Thus we know, as a patently obvious FACT that King is more popular, period.
Music students aren’t necessarily voluntary. I knew a lot of kids growing up taking various classes because mommy and daddy said so, and that’s a situation that hasn’t changed any. You know why the classical concerts in the park are free? Because people won’t pay to see them. Even dive bar bands can get people to fork over a couple bucks to see them. It’s no illusion, selling out a hall isn’t that hard, selling out tour after tour after tour is. The Moody Blues are going to get a bigger audience next month in Tucson than Tchaikovsky, and nobody listens to the Moody Blues anymore.
It’s not just a Lit term it’s for all the Arts. Serious Music and Visual Art people would use it to. It’s a general aesthetic designation. Shakespeare doesn’t produce anything anymore so obviously new material will outsell a reprint of something that many people already own. But I bet that Hamlet sells more copies yearly than a 1970s King novel like ‘Salem’s Lot’. And there are a lot more books ABOUT Hamlet than there ever will be about any King work new or old.
I’m talking about older music students. Teens and up. It’s still a lot. Star Classical instrumentalists like Evgeny Kissin and Lang Lang DO sell out tour after tour. And they are more popular worldwide than ANY pop band.