I agree with Al that it boils down to units to move. There was a time that a quality artist didn't have to move a lot of units to be highly regarded. Laura Nyro didn't sell a lot of albums but she was highly regarded as a great songwriter and performer.

Today, it is nothing but how many units you can move. It doesn't matter how crappy it is, if it sells then it's highly regarded. That's why someone like Justin Bieber or Katy Perry are regarded as "serious" recording artists. Stupid teenaged girls raised on vapid, pointless crap pop culture are the ones buying this shit and in two years they'll be too embarrassed to admit that they did. But once it sells, it's too late. It brought in money so it's better than whatever doesn't.

Once in a while a Carolina Chocolate Drops or an Esperanza Spalding sneak in and make you hope that perhaps all is not lost. But sometimes I think they just prolong the inevitable.