Is Miley Cyrus' Naked Body Really Her Key To Success?

The sight of Miley Cyrus naked isn't anything new, and unfortunately for her, it's also not anything lucrative. The starlet's hyper-sexualized new image has helped her comeback, but it also hasn't helped as much as she nor her team probably hoped.

When Cyrus first attempted a "sexy" new image with Can't Be Tamed in 2010, it was her worst-selling record to date, moving only 351,000 copies -- her only record to not pass the Platinum mark. Bangerz did significantly better, moving a little over 1 million units ... but still less than her previous releases when she was still under Disney's wing.

Further, after "Wrecking Ball" hit No. 1, when Cyrus released her borderline female masturbation video for "Adore You," a sweet ballad, the single underperformed, peaking at No. 21 and promptly fizzling out.

Though Cyrus has been a sensation on social media and made YouTube history with her "Wrecking Ball" video, it hasn't reflected as well as she may like in her wallet. Why? Musicians make the bulk of their money from touring and licensing fees for merchandise, and Cyrus' ticket sales for her Bangerz tour have been pretty rough. Forbes reports that there have been a lot of empty seats at her shows, as well as a lot of steep discounts for tickets from secondary sellers, with brokers being forced to sell seats at less than face value.

The bulk of Cyrus' fanbase remains her Hannah Montana, Disney base that she so desperately wants to shake. But she shook (or twerked, as the case may be) them too much ... so her fans and their parents have stopped buying tickets to see her feeble attempts at being provocative and edgy.

The implications from this phenomenon are pretty clear: When all you can sell is shock, eventually you won't sell anymore. (See Lady Gaga's ARTPOP if you need more proof.) The only way Cyrus can really shock anymore would be to get dressed, keep her tongue in her mouth and just sing.