List of albums that will still be popular 50 years from now...

My Son The Folk Singer - Allan Sherman (Hello Mudda, Hello Fadda)

If we use art as an example, rather than the early days of recorded music, I think we can safely assume that many of today's popular artists will be forgotten, and some artists who die in relative obscurity will be resurrected and popularized. 

This might happen in many ways, including the use of their music in films and the recycling of their music by future contemporary artists as homages, leading to the re-exploration of the original. 

I would also assume that this will happen genre by genre, since it's not likely that we will ever return to formats where music can be popular across wide spectrums of society. 

So the questions we should be asking are 1)which pieces will remain or become popular within a genre and 2) what genres will exist 50 years from now?

Interesting, dragunski. I've recently listened to a few Swing and Big Band pieces from the '40s and '50s. I think future generations who compare that music to Rock & Roll may think that the former is much more avant guard and extreme.

Because he went through so many phases on his musical journey during his 40 plus years in music I'm going to go with David Bowie.
He was also in films making  him an icon of two mediums,he is the kind of artist who will always be relevant.
Two more that have been around for over 50 years already The Doors and Jimi Hendrix whose catalogs are always big sellers year in and year out.