While I've never been a Lady Gaga fan and largely think she was just all hype wrapped up in various strange and curious packages when she was at her peak, her collab album with Tony Bennett has gotten me to thinking about her for a bit now and I think the most interesting thing about her is not her music, it's not her outlandish wardrobe, or erratic randomness but her surprisingly quiet nosedive in popularity.

The woman EXPLODED onto the music scene back in 2009 (her first album was released in 2008 but the craze didn't hit until her second in 2009) and was almost inescapable. One day it was business as usual, the next there was the lunatic of a woman who wore meat and made cryptic but upbeat music and sang in a strange way that was getting massive mainstream coverage, selling many albums, as well as selling out many shows. LG blew up overnight and practically dominated 2010, looking to be the defining star of the new decade.

In 2011, the near-hysteria over her had disappeared and Gaga went from red hot to simply hot and though she did good business that year, it all changed come 2012 and we all know what happened from there. She tried to regain an audience last year with "ARTPOP" but failed miserably and reportedly can't even get people to attend her shows now with free tickets. The woman who set the music scene ablaze out of nowhere at the start of her career is now an afterthought who can't sell an album much less sell out a show just 5 years later. Truly miserable.

What do you think are the key components in the collapse of Lady Gaga's popularity?

There is no where to go but down from the massive popularity she had. Now I still consider myself a stan, but I don't know with her. When she started getting rid of the people that help her get here, thinking she could do everything on her own and overhyping herself up she started to fall off. Also the general public is fickle. I think she can still put out a huge album, but she is going to have to be serious and revaluate some things. I'm not really interested in this jazz album, but may check it out just because.

She made uptempo party music when she first became popular. Her image was that of a rather regular-looking girl dressing up and being fabulous. She was doing the type of a thing women in her own age bracket could relate to and many of them just wanted real party music after almost a decade of tuneless hiphop and hiphop-influenced R&B dominating the airwaves and video channels. Her melodies were catchy and the music had a lot of energy. If you went to a club back then it stood out from the rest.

After that she wanted to present herself as an artist, do more daring things than just wear colourful outfits, showcase the world her taste in 80s music and all that. In many ways, her music and image improved, but that's not what guarentees popularity. The whole point is that the younger audience can "connect with" the product. That's not the way they'll feel anymore if you make them too confused about what you're doing. Just take a look at her image from the last 2-3 years and compare that to the way she's presented on the cover of the "Fame" album (original version)

Oh yeah, and maybe it's not the wisest thing to put the word "art" on the title of your latest album.

She had like 4 big hits combined with a quirky image that was a refreshment for the music fans tired of the run-of-the-mill manufactored pop starlets. But then the bubble bursted and she was revealed to be a one trick pony, simple as that. It started with Alejandro that completely ripped off 1990s eurodance (Ace of Base & Mr. President) and in the video she recreated a Madonna scene, not to mention the video itself was alienating and a mess and only the "OMG ART" people could relate.

Born This Way was basically 1980s music redone for the 2010s, we all know about the title track but it had inspirations by a lot of other artists, Fashion Of His Love is almost a note-by-note remake of Whitney Houston's I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me), not to mention she was now exclusively catering to the gay fanbase that alienated the general public, hence the big flops of Judas & Marry The Night.

Then ARTPOP was just as hyped as Born This Way and everyone thought she'd do something great or different and when it came out it revealed to be still the same kinda music she's been making for 5 years already, with a slight exaggeration it's 15 same tracks repeated for an hour. Applause sounded as dated as Madonna's Girl Gone Wild 1.5 years prior. Radio played the hell out of it and also Do What U Want but the people were just not interested in anymore. It's been said many times but her career path has been very similar to Cyndi Lauper's, her 3rd album had 1 big hit but it failed to make any impact.

It's unlikely that she can still rebound because she put herself in a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" position, she's already proven that doing the same thing over again will not give her attention but if she makes a radical change then even the hardcore fans will abandon her for "not being her anymore". But she can still continue to make music for the fans, several female artists, who only had one big project, like Cyndi Lauper, Alanis Morissette, Jewel still continue to make music up to today and they did not leave the industry only because they don't move a million records worldwide anymore...

She got more concerned with everything she did being considered 'art' as opposed to making good music.

The Madonna comparisons/rip-off accusations won't have helped.

The past year she seems to have had a 'woe is me' attitude and sees herself as a martyr.

I think her personality and constant attention seeking has turned people off in droves.

I liked her 'Fame Monster' album but she hasn't released anything anywhere near as good as that since.

Flash in the pan.

LiveToTell86 said:

She had like 4 big hits combined with a quirky image that was a refreshment for the music fans tired of the run-of-the-mill manufactored pop starlets. But then the bubble bursted and she was revealed to be a one trick pony, simple as that. It started with Alejandro that completely ripped off 1990s eurodance (Ace of Base & Mr. President) and in the video she recreated a Madonna scene, not to mention the video itself was alienating and a mess and only the "OMG ART" people could relate.

Born This Way was basically 1980s music redone for the 2010s, we all know about the title track but it had inspirations by a lot of other artists, Fashion Of His Love is almost a note-by-note remake of Whitney Houston's I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me), not to mention she was now exclusively catering to the gay fanbase that alienated the general public, hence the big flops of Judas & Marry The Night.

Then ARTPOP was just as hyped as Born This Way and everyone thought she'd do something great or different and when it came out it revealed to be still the same kinda music she's been making for 5 years already, with a slight exaggeration it's 15 same tracks repeated for an hour. Applause sounded as dated as Madonna's Girl Gone Wild 1.5 years prior. Radio played the hell out of it and also Do What U Want but the people were just not interested in anymore. It's been said many times but her career path has been very similar to Cyndi Lauper's, her 3rd album had 1 big hit but it failed to make any impact.

It's unlikely that she can still rebound because she put herself in a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" position, she's already proven that doing the same thing over again will not give her attention but if she makes a radical change then even the hardcore fans will abandon her for "not being her anymore". But she can still continue to make music for the fans, several female artists, who only had one big project, like Cyndi Lauper, Alanis Morissette, Jewel still continue to make music up to today and they did not leave the industry only because they don't move a million records worldwide anymore...

Whoa! She does seem to parallel Cyndi's career:

- Wacky dress sense

- Powerful voice and arguably talented - but behaviour overshadows this

- ordinary looking

- huge first album

- A few big singles after

cuz she wack.

An average album?

She'll be back. She got the talent, songwriting ability, the guts and the voice. Not many pop stars can claim that combo.

.

I'd ask the question.................how did she get big in the 1st place?

There isn't much there, if you ask me.

Well, I consider "Fame Monster" to be a damn near perfect pop record.

What happened after that is simply that her music stopped being as good. There were maybe 3 good songs on "Born This Way".

ArtPop was a slight improvement - "Aura", "Do What U Want" and "Applause" are some of the best songs she's ever done. But as a whole the album was still quite average.

r. kelly.

She focused too much on the performance "art" side of things. (Frankly, its the easy way out). Rather than on songwriting. The girl can certainly write a good tune but Art Pop had too few of them. (I really liked Swine but thats about it).

She should be able to turn it around and stop trying to hard to be avant garde.

[Edited 9/3/14 8:59am]

Edge of Glory had several catchy tracks but that album and the others since sounded too overproduced to really enjoy on the radio or to dance to. Somewhere in there, the melodies got lost, and that's what drew people to Fame Monster in the first place. Art pop was just ironic. Cyndi Lauper is a good comparison though I doubt Just Dance will be remembered in the same esteem as Girls Just Wanna Have Fun or Time After Time 30 years from now.

Tell me about free concert tickets offerings that didn't work.

I don't know about this.

Thanks

MotownSubdivision said:

These is all good input. I'd also like to add that with her blowing up like she did, she subtly influenced several acts. 2009-2010 in addition to Gaga saw the mainstream debut of Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj who owe their images at the time and for the next few years to LG. Then of course there was Miley who was desperate to shed her Hannah Montana image and prove that she's all grown up and Rihanna who segued her way into her ratchet girl phase fresh off the fists of Chris Brown and also took a page out of Gaga's book. Despite that these acts were clearly taking bits and pieces of Gaga's image and augmented them to make their own, they essentially took most of the attention off the originator which they each used as a vehicle to kick their careers into gear. By 2011, Nicki, Katy, and Rihanna were splitting Gaga's popularity amongst themselves and while LG was still popular, she was in the midst of being phased out. It also doesn't help that she was a one trick pony who's garish image didn't take long to get old on its own never mind all the other wacky, colorful female pop acts who were in the spotlight Gaga was being shifted out of. When someone's entire persona is based on randomness, it effectively kills the it element of surprise. The "what" becomes "when" and whatever antic came next was expected so LG became old news almost as quickly as her rocketing to the top of the pop music mountain.

So in other words, her biggest accomplishment is telling people it's okay to be a little tacky and quirky, they suddenly incorporate it and voila! She took a page out of madonna's book if you ask me, and those acts will compliment madonna, not gaga.

alphastreet said:

alphastreet said:

Edge of Glory had several catchy tracks but that album and the others since sounded too overproduced to really enjoy on the radio or to dance to. Somewhere in there, the melodies got lost, and that's what drew people to Fame Monster in the first place. Art pop was just ironic. Cyndi Lauper is a good comparison though I doubt Just Dance will be remembered in the same esteem as Girls Just Wanna Have Fun or Time After Time 30 years from now.

You mean the Born This Way album! But yeah, The Edge of Glory was one of the better tracks and I personally like You & I, that didn't have the forced "electro-club" sound many of her tracks have.

I'd say Poker Face & Bad Romance will be her legacy, maybe not as influential as Girls Just Wanna Have Fun or Time After Time but these two will be played in the future.

I think the industry sabatage Gaga as crazy as it sounds. The industry for some strange reason only wants to promote 5 singers and when Gaga blew up that really change things as far as the competition. Even when she was popular, the media would write negative things about her. There are tons of artists that have ripped off others Usher, JT etc but when Gaga rips off Madonna its treated as if she is the ONLY one that has copied another artist. I am not her fan but I do believe her decline in popularity was a inside industry agenda. We have agenda's now. Nobody does not become popular or decline in popularity because of the public, its all the industry's doing.

[Edited 9/3/14 11:54am]

mjscarousal said:

I think the industry sabatage Gaga as crazy as it sounds. The industry for some strange reason only wants to promote 5 singers and when Gaga blew up that really change things as far as the competition. Even when she was popular, the media would write negative things about her. There are tons of artists that have ripped off others Usher, JT etc but when Gaga rips off Madonna its treated as if she is the ONLY one that has copied another artist. I am not her fan but I do believe her decline in popularity was a inside industry agenda. We have agenda's now. Nobody does not become popular or decline in popularity because of the public, its all the industry's doing.

[Edited 9/3/14 11:54am]

^^^Interesting take and not at all far fetched. The industry made her and the industry brought her down. But I also think hubris brought her down. She believed her hype that she was this genius, as if she believed all the nonsense her lyrics embody. Her "Born This Way" project was totally rushed. A good trimming of 6 or seven songs and a release date about a year later I think would've spelled success. Then she goes and fires everybody that got her to where she was, as if she went from piano bars to stadiums and 60 Minutes interviews all by herself. I think an industry and a public hungry for the next Madonna made her blow up way too fast. Now that she's finally past the up-and-comer stage she needs to shake off the half-a$$ed, Jeff Koons inspired nonsense and get back to basics. Better yet hire her people back if she hasn't burned every bridge.

LiveToTell86 said:

alphastreet said:

Edge of Glory had several catchy tracks but that album and the others since sounded too overproduced to really enjoy on the radio or to dance to. Somewhere in there, the melodies got lost, and that's what drew people to Fame Monster in the first place. Art pop was just ironic. Cyndi Lauper is a good comparison though I doubt Just Dance will be remembered in the same esteem as Girls Just Wanna Have Fun or Time After Time 30 years from now.

You mean the Born This Way album! But yeah, The Edge of Glory was one of the better tracks and I personally like You & I, that didn't have the forced "electro-club" sound many of her tracks have.

I'd say Poker Face & Bad Romance will be her legacy, maybe not as influential as Girls Just Wanna Have Fun or Time After Time but these two will be played in the future.

Sorry yeah that's what I meant, I knew it didn't feel quite right writing that

I liked Marry the Night, and the fashion themed songs though the names escape me right now.

I loooved poker face and once it grew on me, bad romance.

I don't buy that theory, since radio kept playing her a LOT with both Applause and Do What U Want and ARTPOP was not as negatively reviewed as something like American Life for example. What happened is primarily her own doing with acting like the second coming. Remember the "album of the decade" stuff? I don't know any act who has hyped themselves up like that...

mjscarousal said:

I think the industry sabatage Gaga as crazy as it sounds. The industry for some strange reason only wants to promote 5 singers and when Gaga blew up that really change things as far as the competition. Even when she was popular, the media would write negative things about her. There are tons of artists that have ripped off others Usher, JT etc but when Gaga rips off Madonna its treated as if she is the ONLY one that has copied another artist. I am not her fan but I do believe her decline in popularity was a inside industry agenda. We have agenda's now. Nobody does not become popular or decline in popularity because of the public, its all the industry's doing.

[Edited 9/3/14 11:54am]

She was everywhere in all fairness though with monstrous numbers and didn't stop touring between albums, I can see why the public got sick of her quickly when she stepped out of the formula the public got comfortable with though it was an interesting direction. At one point there was talk that the next lady gaga album would be standard with some new version of a PC coming out and it would count towards sales and stuff like that, but that was hype talking.

So when Usher and Beyonce insisted they were going to create a new musical genre why didn't nobody call them out for being prestigious? I am not denying that Gaga was prestigious but I see a double standard with some of these pop acts. Its okay to bash Gaga for doing the same thing the rest of these pop acts do but not okay to bash the others?

I'm not that into her music so I can't comment on the varying quality of her LPs. As someone who mainly just reads about her in the paper, I have to say the overal forced artsyness of this new project is kind of off-putting, and I like art. But when I listen to King Crimson, or Kate Bush, I don't need to be told "this is their art album", as opposed to their commercial sellout album I guess. When I go the Dali exhibit at LACMA, they don't say "these are his art paintings."

I think it may have made her casual fans decide "oh this is going to be difficult and snobby" before they really heard it. It doesn't seem like a big change from the other stuff - from the little I've heard, it's not the kind of thing I would usually put the word "art" in front of.

That, plus, her novelty is no longer novel. She definitely sold herself as an image, a whole package, and maybe that gets stale for people more quickly than someone like Katy Perry whose image is just that of a traditional entertainer. Gaga conjures up a real specific look and sound that feels a little four-years-ago. That was music we listened to on our BLACKBERRIES for cryin out loud, get with the times!

Let's also admit that Lady Gaga's still a much bigger success than most artists will ever dream of being. The fall from grace is just relative to previous sales numbers.

^They were never "in your face" like that when it came to their involvement in music, being everywhere and having many hits does not equal hyping yourself. The closest thing to Gaga I could think of is MJ's statues during the HIStory era, since then everyone was humble, in my opinion...

68686 said:

Tell me about free concert tickets offerings that didn't work.

I don't know about this.

Thanks

According to Pollstar, 22 of her 23 US shows last year were sellouts and she had the #22 tour of the year with only those 23 shows.

Total Gross: $46,957,070
Total Attendance: 544,333
Total Capacity: 550,122
No. of Shows: 23
No. of Sellouts: 22

I'd like to fall that far from grace one day.

CynicKill said:

mjscarousal said:

I think the industry sabatage Gaga as crazy as it sounds. The industry for some strange reason only wants to promote 5 singers and when Gaga blew up that really change things as far as the competition. Even when she was popular, the media would write negative things about her. There are tons of artists that have ripped off others Usher, JT etc but when Gaga rips off Madonna its treated as if she is the ONLY one that has copied another artist. I am not her fan but I do believe her decline in popularity was a inside industry agenda. We have agenda's now. Nobody does not become popular or decline in popularity because of the public, its all the industry's doing.

[Edited 9/3/14 11:54am]

^^^Interesting take and not at all far fetched. The industry made her and the industry brought her down. But I also think hubris brought her down. She believed her hype that she was this genius, as if she believed all the nonsense her lyrics embody. Her "Born This Way" project was totally rushed. A good trimming of 6 or seven songs and a release date about a year later I think would've spelled success. Then she goes and fires everybody that got her to where she was, as if she went from piano bars to stadiums and 60 Minutes interviews all by herself. I think an industry and a public hungry for the next Madonna made her blow up way too fast. Now that she's finally past the up-and-comer stage she needs to shake off the half-a$$ed, Jeff Koons inspired nonsense and get back to basics. Better yet hire her people back if she hasn't burned every bridge.

Great points!

I definitly agree to an extent she also played a role but I wouldn't say that was solely the factor when their are plenty of overexposed pop acts who buy into their hype but are still relevant in current pop scene today. I think the industry was what brought her down.

bobzilla77 said:

68686 said:

Tell me about free concert tickets offerings that didn't work.

I don't know about this.

Thanks

According to Pollstar, 22 of her 23 US shows last year were sellouts and she had the #22 tour of the year with only those 23 shows.

Total Gross: $46,957,070
Total Attendance: 544,333
Total Capacity: 550,122
No. of Shows: 23
No. of Sellouts: 22

I'd like to fall that far from grace one day.

mjscarousal said:

So when Usher and Beyonce insisted they were going to create a new musical genre why didn't nobody call them out for being prestigious? I am not denying that Gaga was prestigious but I see a double standard with some of these pop acts. Its okay to bash Gaga for doing the same thing the rest of these pop acts do but not okay to bash the others?

I think anybody talking like that can lead to self-sabotage or creating more pressure to do well.