To Boldly Go Where No Pop Star Has Gone Before

I'll admit I'm not a Star Trek fan. Since the title of this essay references the show/movies, you might think I am. I'm not. Sure, I could name some of the characters (Scottie, Dr. Spock, Capt. Picard), but I'm no Trekkie (or Trekker or whatever Star Trek fans call themselves).
I used the quote to illustrate what Britney Spears needs to do on her 9th album. She needs to boldly go where no pop star has gone before. In 2014, if you aren't breaking new ground, you might as well not even bother.
This means no Femme Fatale, no Blackout, no Circus, and no Britney Jean. That's right, no 2.0s. The next album has to be a 1.0, meaning it has to be new, fresh and innovative. Britney has to seek out producers who are daring and trying new things. She can't rely on the old stand-byes - Max Martin, Dr. Luke, Will.i.am, etc. Those guys are great and have produced some of her best work; however, pop stars can't live in the past.
Regardless of what you think about Taylor Swift (I think she's amazing) you have to give her credit for stepping outside her comfort zone. Sure, she was never really pure country, but now she's thrown the country out of the window. She's reinvented herself as a sexy pop star. She's showing a lot more skin, she's ditched the guitar and she's dancing (sort of). She's doing something new, fresh and innovative.
I don't expect Britney to become a country singer, but id she wants success on her 9th album she'll need that same kind of reinvention. Doing the same thing is akin to moving backward. That was Britney Jean's biggest problem. By giving us the same sounds she basically brought to the mainstream, Britney was actually taking a step backwards. Lyrically it was a step forward from Femme Fatale, but pop music doesn't concern itself with lyrics.
There's no doubt she can do it. Look at Blackout and Femme Fatale for proof. Both albums featured sounds that weren't on the radio. She took a gamble that the underground beats she featured would be popular. Thanks to four top 10 singles, she was dead-on. There's no reason she can't do it again.