Lady Gaga Sales Down by a whopping 75%

a queen no more

Admittedly, Born To Run had that Amazon inspired 99 cent sale when Born THis Way was released in 2011 which pushed sales to the million mark, in 2013 not only have Billboard changed the rules (an album has to cost at least $3.99) but sales are way off everywhere, but still 260,000 units shifted, which is what Billboard is projected is not so hot at all.

Wa’ppen?

“Applause” got trampled by Miley and Katy, which sure didn’t help,  and also sales are down industry wide over two years ago, and with “Dope” breaking pop sales won’t have a nightmare drop off, but still, that is scary and you have to wonder why. Let me go on record as saying, I don’t believe it is the music and not for one second do I believe the music is killing Gaga; I love ARTPOP -more than I ever did Born This Way.

But the aura (to name a song) isn’t quite there any more and no amount of Howard Stern interviews, however well she manages to be both revealing and self serving, are gonna help her, someone along the way she lost her Gaganess; now she is just another boxer in the ring and she was the heavy weight champion of the world and it isn’t the music but the hype she can’t seem to maintain.

In 2009, I couldn’t get within a million miles of a ticket to Radio City Music Hall. She played and played and sold out and sold out. The last time she played SNL people CAMPED OVER NIGHT for the stand by tickets! Yesterday the Little Monsters were not there any more: you can’t maintain such high intensity identification, it has to be based on something and what is left? As an act, Gaga became the most mainstream of artists, if her fans embraced the outside, they couldn’t embrace Gaga, she wasn’t there any more.

At her very worst when discussing the music business, Gaga’s remarks about being a naive 18 year old slutting with older music execs had the stench of bullshit. For one thing, when, at what age, is anyone responsible for their own sexuality? Read her remarks from another direction and you see a girl who fucked her way to the top and, don’t get me wrong, so what is my attitude, but she projects her guilt as a warning. Warning to whom? Who is she angry at? Men fuck girls, get over it. Really, sexually commerce is upsetting?

ARTPOP is a very good album, it will eventually go platinum and it will perform its primary responsibility: it will maintain her career. But the days of Lady Gaga as the Queen of pop are now over.