Suedehead puts it perfectly. The modern market is agressive. Record companies are already looking for the next GaGa, just the way the market goes these days.

 

There are always exceptions to the rules though. Although notice mainly how a lot of these artists don't set the world on fire with their first releases - Rihanna, Adele, Black Eyed Peas etc.

And one last thing. All artists (old and new) try to COPY success. They rip off other singer's hits... Well they won't live a second life as a hit! We've already listened to them, it is more about momentum. For example, almost every dance-pop singer tried to rip off Gaga, her crazy style and the beat of her songs :puke2: . I am fed up with it.

 

:rofl: Oh, not this again. Who's copied Gaga, exactly? Um, Jason Derulo and Nicole Scherzinger? That's pretty much it.

 

She's been copied less times than she's copied others tbh.

Gaga in some ways is a bad example becuase her first era is almost impossible to top, no matter what she did for the 2nd era would always struggle to top the first, i know gaga's second era isnt doing aswell as expected but born this way has pretty much been a big global hit and has done very well in america, i know it didnt get number 1 in the UK but it will easily sell 400,000 which isnt bad numbers at all, likewise judas has gone top 10 already and will manage to sell in decent numbers regardless if goes number 1 or not, while the album may not open on as big numbers as expected i would still be surprised if it doesnt overall manage at least 1 million UK sales and i can also see the album doing quite well accross the globe.

 

Rihanna is a good example, for rihanna its like every 2nd era is big and the others arent as big, rated r although quite successful was deeemed quite disapointing especially as good girl gone bad had sold so well, and look how she bounced back with loud, for rihanna the next era will find it very hard to beat loud no matter how good the material is.

 

Sometimes artists come in waves and die away a bit and bounce back again, Kylie is a pretty good example of this and thats probably why she has been around so long. Bands like Take That and Coldplay have been quiet lucky in that they have had consecutive huge album sellers regardless of the singles performances. I think females like mentioned above depend on the singles doing well to sell the album where acts like take that and coldplay can just sell albums regardless.

rihanna didn't have as good as chart performance with rated r and it's singles compared with good girl gone bad but that was her 3rd or 4th album

 

Fair point.

 

And that's something else that hasn't been mentioned a lot of successful artists who have stood the test of time have had peaks and valleys i.e. have had a huge album, followed it with a not so successful one(e.g. rated r), and then came back another more successful record(loud).

 

So if we take Leona Lewis as an example, just because Echo did poorly in comparison to Spirit... how do we know that she won't comeback with a huge selling album?

 

I guess what im trying to say that every artist has a slump, it doesn't always negate the end of their career(a lot of the time it does of course). Most artists go through slumps its natural career progression, some ideas work some don't.

Edited April 25, 201114 yr by matt82

The real artists or the test for real artits is the ability to bounce back from a not so successful era, all the long serving artists with long established careers have suffered highs and lows which is the reason they are here, poor era'a are often a blessing in disguise as artists return more eager and hungier for fame and success again.

Fair point.

 

And that's something else that hasn't been mentioned a lot of successful artists who have stood the test of time have had peaks and valleys i.e. have had a huge album, followed it with a not so successful one(e.g. rated r), and then came back another more successful record(loud).

 

So if we take Leona Lewis as an example, just because Echo did poorly in comparison to Spirit... how do we know that she won't comeback with a huge selling album?

 

I guess what im trying to say that every artist has a slump, it doesn't always negate the end of their career(a lot of the time it does of course). Most artists go through slumps its natural career progression, some ideas work some don't.

 

Well a lot of it is down to lead singles. It really does seem that the lead single makes of breaks the era, or in most cases now - the career. Gone are the days really when a 4th single picks up heat and propels you into starlight save for reality TV exposure (see Adele). Russian Roulette was a very poor lead single in hindsight and it affected the sales of the album. Luckily she had a few great club singles, which probably saved her era. But for Loud her record company play it safe with Only Girl. Nice, easy on the ears club song - so certainty for success.

 

I don't like how a lot of big artists are doing this new strategy of releasing a big 'buzz' single, and then releasing the single before the album. I don't think it works aswell as it should in theory. I think GaGa and Britney for example would have benefited much better if they had just had the single release and then the album - both their follow-ups have been pretty poorly recieved compared to the former singles. Just proves really imo that the lead single sells on the name of the artist.

Some good input thus far, but one thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is timing. You don't want to push a new album very shortly after you finish promoting the first because people get burned out. But at the same time, waiting too long in between albums is equally risky. The perfect amount of time isn't always the same for each artist...

'Rated R' still went on to sell over 600k, did it not? Despite the low peak and sales period. I think that's extremely impressive coming off the back of an album as big as 'Good Girl Gone Bad' was. I expect a similar performing album in her next era, before BAM another million seller.

We all know that the 2nd album has a sort of 'curse' where the artist has a huge dip in sales/popularity/airplay/public attention compared to their first album, and it's very rarely that they actually have more success than the first. Why?

 

Katy Perry and Adele were both pretty big already in their first eras, but have now completely blown up with their new albums and have dominated the singles (Katy) and albums (Adele) charts worldwide since their releases.

 

They're the only two mainstream acts I can think of that haven't flopped/underperformed with their new albums.

 

How about Dido?

 

Her 2nd album was as big as her first, it was her 3rd that flopped...

Some good input thus far, but one thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is timing. You don't want to push a new album very shortly after you finish promoting the first because people get burned out. But at the same time, waiting too long in between albums is equally risky. The perfect amount of time isn't always the same for each artist...

You're right about the timing being different depending on the artist. In general, older music fans are likely to be more patient in waiting for the next album. That leads on to another issue.

 

An artist aiming at a younger market needs a different strategy from an artist with an older fanbase. For many people, the music they listen to at 17 is very different from what they listened to when they were 12. There is less difference in taste between the ages of 22 and 27. So, an artist whose first album sold a lot of copies to 12-year-olds either needs to develop in line with their fans' changing tastes or start again and appeal to a new lot of 12-year-olds. Getting that right isn't easy.

Also if your old album came out 2 years ago, for most pop artists, not only is it a case of making sure the next album doesn't sound the same i.e. 2 years old and therefore dated , but making sure that if you are aiming for the current sound that you don't alienate the fans that bought your last record 2 years ago, again this is why album no.2 is so tricky.

Edited April 26, 201114 yr by matt82

Lady Gaga's second era was The Fame Monster, wasn't it?

Lady Gaga's second era was The Fame Monster, wasn't it?

 

TFM was a re-release of The Fame, not a new album/era :P

TFM was a re-release of The Fame, not a new album/era :P

Well it was a new album, then her management had the genius idea of slapping it onto The Fame to get more sales and make her look like she was this massively successful album seller.

Well it was a new album, then her management had the genius idea of slapping it onto The Fame to get more sales and make her look like she was this massively successful album seller.

 

She was a massively successful album seller even before TFM. TF had sold almost a million before its 're-release' and is almost certainly now quite a bit over a million of its own accord, especially as I think sales of the original were higher than sales of TF+TFM for a while last year? Plus it had already spent 4 weeks at #1 and 30 weeks top 10 before it was re-released. Obviously its sales are inflated due to TFM being lumped in with TF but TF was still a huge seller without it...

Edited April 26, 201114 yr by Bray

:rofl: Oh, not this again. Who's copied Gaga, exactly? Um, Jason Derulo and Nicole Scherzinger? That's pretty much it.

 

She's been copied less times than she's copied others tbh.

 

You are so wrong here! Even though I hate to admit it almost everyone did. Derulo's + Scherzingers were rip off's but I am talking about copying in general. Haven't you noticed the video clip's? (even Rihanna and Beyonce). Even some appearences here and there with the crayziest outfits surged from Gaga's style. Obviously I am not talking about KOL or HIM I am talking about popstars! It is not random that Gaga was found to be the most influential person of 2010!

 

Gaga has copied a lot of things from the past, but in a modern and updated way. Copying somebody who is huge now is completely different. This will hopefully end up now, I don't think a lot will follow now she has gone too deep into religion (and not only :lol: ).

I would say TFM was Gaga's second era, even if it was a re-release. An era doesn't mean a new release. Anyway, if you think Born this Way is Gaga's second or third era, how can you say its a flop if its only just started? BTW (single) was a success (so what if it wasn't a number one, Paparrazi was a number 4 but that was still massive), and Judas has only just started to chart so you can't say its a flop.

I would say TFM was Gaga's second era, even if it was a re-release. An era doesn't mean a new release. Anyway, if you think Born this Way is Gaga's second or third era, how can you say its a flop if its only just started? BTW (single) was a success (so what if it wasn't a number one, Paparrazi was a number 4 but that was still massive), and Judas has only just started to chart so you can't say its a flop.

 

A better example would be Alejandro which only reached number 7 but had massive airplay and spent lots of weeks in the chart. GaGa is a bit stupid for not releasing the video on Easter week but it will all be fine and 'Judas' will go top 5 but number one is out of the question now

A better example would be Alejandro which only reached number 7 but had massive airplay and spent lots of weeks in the chart. GaGa is a bit stupid for not releasing the video on Easter week but it will all be fine and 'Judas' will go top 5 but number one is out of the question now

Reminds me of when Spice Girls' Stop reached number 2, breaking their consecutive run of number ones, everyone called that a flop just because it didn't follow the same success as the other singles. Still went on to spend 18 weeks in the Top 75 and sell over 300k

I think to become successful for pop acts in future albums, they should try to reinvent themselves. This is because it's a new image or sound for the public to eat up or media to report about. Take Rihanna for example... Her tracks got bigger with GGGB, then she had the 'dark' RR era which didn't do that well for her, but it was good enough... Then the Loud era which Rihanna changed her hair and clothes and put out loud positive records. I don't think artists should be worried about experimenting with their sounds or changing their looks in the pop section. I'd argue that Adele's success can be explained as the tracks sound bigger and that she's vocally developed between albums, and also massive airplay for RITD and obviously the BRITS helped her gain overwhelming success. Katy Perry's album is similar to Rihanna... California Gurls and the kind of 'chilled' Teenage Dream helped to get this era off to a great start but I don't know if she writes her own songs or not.