The Do What U Want Effect?

[Quark 7,016]

​it was a big hit but not a mega hit... now sure, artists pay attention to Gaga... but the hit wasnt massive enough or impactful for artists to wanna purposely copy i dont think

 

What was it about it that would make artists think it was like a new trend? Gaga has released a wide variety of styles and tempos, the odds that at least 1 of those styles would by coincidence pick up is not that low, it doesnt mean she caused it

 

Fans like to overthink... its like in TF era... they like to say she started electro-pop... i say yes and no...

 

I think she solidified it cause her impact was huge and she had an influence... but based on hits that came out shortly before Gaga, like hits from Cascada, William, Britney Spears etc... radio was already beggining a transition to more dancy upbeat and electronic type music even before Gaga came out... the only thing Gaga did was speed up the evolution

 

In this case with DWYW the impact was not half as large aas she was during TF era, it was just 1 song, and i see no real reason to assume its impact was that big tbh

Except you don't know how massive a song needs to be in order to impact people. All I know is that DWUW was popular enough to be noticed by other artists.

[Emvee 7,080]

I did a paranoid side-eye when I saw Dr. Luke compliment DWUW upon its release. 

Maybe DWUW didn't have impact, but it was forward-thinking and ahead of the rest. Take that as you will. The industry takes notes when any high profile artist releases something. Anybody who's in any sort of commercial market would be a fool to not look at what others are doing. For competition AND inspiration.

That 80's baseline was literally nowhere to be seen in 2013 and really the only thing that many critics could compare it to was Tina Turner. 

[LoveandMagic 1,731]

I think it's more like how it was with The Fame; Gaga saw where the natural progression of pop music was going and used it for DWUW. She has a good ear for new (or trending) sound.

[Economy 44,040]

Except you don't know how massive a song needs to be in order to impact people. All I know is that DWUW was popular enough to be noticed by other artists.

​no i dont know how big it needs to be because as i said, many factors will influence trends and it will be different in each case

 

u cannot say it was noticed by other artists in any special form

 

if some other artists tweeted about it, thats not something thats that rare...

and if other songs came out after it with some simmilarities that too isnt proof of anything

 

Again, theres not reason to assume that 1 average hit caused anything. It may have had some influence it may not... theres no way to know, its pure speculation... i myself find it unlikely tbh

 

Also radio has been dancy and electronic and relatively upbeat for a long time already... for a few years (especially 2009 to 2011) thats practically all ud hear, but even after that it largely continued...

 

genres and styles dont typically last very long. EDM and styles simmilar to it have already been popular longer than most fad genres usually were, its life span has already lasted longer than 1 would have expected... its not unthinkable to think that different tempos and styles are emerging and the general public begins to tire of a style of music thats been out for 7 year+

[ARTPOPdidntflop 3,987]

It had a big impact because she didnt even release a video for it and it already has 44 million views 

[Economy 44,040]

I think it's more like how it was with The Fame; Gaga saw where the natural progression of pop music was going and used it for DWUW. She has a good ear for new (or trending) sound.

​i dunno if that was teh case with DWYW or not. Gaga also released other songs that were different from common music like "you and I" or "Judas". As i said, when u release variety, its not that unlikely that by coincidence at least 1 style of music uve released will become more common later even if it had nothing to do with you

 

im unsure as to the impact DWYW had but i seriously suspect it wasnt THAT massive

 

As for TF i think i agree with you. Gaga may have seen where music was headed and jumped on it... and she helped solidify the trend...

 

again as i said on the post before tho, i dont think she was the cause of EDM catching on cause before Gaga came out, for almost a full year before hear as early as 2007 there were already other hits beggining to resemble more dancy electronic music (EX: Cascada, WILLIAM, Britney Spears etc) suggesting the sift in radio had already commenced before Gaga was ever heard of... Gaga simply speed up the evolution that had already started before her

[Jjang 2,262]

Where is the 80s baseline I am talking about.

​Everywhere in that song. And its not even an 80's baseline. 

Both songs are mid tempo R&B / Synthpop. If anyone is going to be credited for reviving this sound to the mainstream its going to be Drake, his entire album follows that vein. Gaga on the other hand, followed an already existing trend (just like the rest of the ARTPOP era).

[LoveandMagic 1,731]

​i dunno if that was teh case with DWYW or not. Gaga also released other songs that were different from common music like "you and I" or "Judas". As i said, when u release variety, its not that unlikely that by coincidence at least 1 style of music uve released will become more common later even if it had nothing to do with you

 

im unsure as to the impact DWYW had but i seriously suspect it wasnt THAT massive

 

As for TF i think i agree with you. Gaga may have seen where music was headed and jumped on it... and she helped solidify the trend...

 

again as i said on the post before tho, i dont think she was the cause of EDM catching on cause before Gaga came out, for almost a full year before hear as early as 2007 there were already other hits beggining to resemble more dancy electronic music (EX: Cascada, WILLIAM, Britney Spears etc) suggesting the sift in radio had already commenced before Gaga was ever heard of... Gaga simply speed up the evolution that had already started before her

​I actually agree with you in that I don't think that DWUW had that much of an influence, maybe if the whole album had been like that there would be more of a case, but I agree that she was kind of diverse with that album. I just think she saw that that was a sound making a bit of headway and decided to use that style for a song of her own. Probably the same with other tracks as well. Of course it could have also had to do with the producer she was with. 

[Gianni Versace 2,987]

​Everywhere in that song. And its not even an 80's baseline. 

Both songs are mid tempo R&B / Synthpop. If anyone is going to be credited for reviving this sound to the mainstream its going to be Drake, his entire album follows that vein. Just like the rest of the ARTPOP album singles, Gaga released what was already out there.

​This. 

And to be quite honest, threads like these are why our fanbase is labeled and looked down upon as "delusional" by other fan bases and some of the GP. I doubt ANYONE consciously made the decision to create a song that resembles DWUW.

[Quark 7,016]

​I actually agree with you in that I don't think that DWUW had that much of an influence, maybe if the whole album had been like that there would be more of a case, but I agree that she was kind of diverse with that album. I just think she saw that that was a sound making a bit of headway and decided to use that style for a song of her own. Probably the same with other tracks as well. Of course it could have also had to do with the producer she was with. 

Then you don't know what I am talking about.  The synth that I am talking about is not present in Drake's song. And that synth is the one trendy now. Also a lot of ARTPOP sounds nothing like whats on the radio other than it is alao under the category of EDM. 

[Benji 20,113]

Do What U Want is a great song but I have no idea where you're going with this thread. It's just an R&B / Pop crossover that features typical R&B production mixed in with some electronic influences (that you can hear in a lot of crossover tracks in the last five years) that were lifted from another track. I love the song but it didn't revolutionise anything to be honest.

[Economy 44,040]

Then you don't know what I am talking about.  The synth that I am talking about is not present in Drake's song. And that synth is the one trendy now. Also a lot of ARTPOP sounds nothing like whats on the radio other than it is alao under the category of EDM. 

Theres tones of music released often... If u wanna find something, ull find it

 

if ur gonna search a specific "synth", or specific "tempo", or specific "structure", or specific "lyrical style"... If ur gonna go that specific, then any song u wanna label as influential ull easily come up with examples of songs that followed its suit. Only if a song is really weird or unusual would you not find something...

Who knows, maybe i did influence some music writting that came after... I cant prove otherwise. All i can say is that in my opinion i dont see enough evidence that cant be attributed to anything but purely coincidence to suggest DWYW really was the big mover here

 

id need to see a greater quantity of songs, with a more simmilar over-all sound (not just a specific component of it) to really be convinced the song was that influential. Especially since the song wasnt even that massive

 

the song was neither massive success, nor big cultural impact nor anything that was that moving about it lyrically. So why would other artists take interest in emulating it? Just "being Gaga" is not a good enough answer, especially since shes not even half as big as she once was  

 

[Quark 7,016]

Do What U Want is a great song but I have no idea where you're going with this thread. It's just an R&B / Pop crossover that features typical R&B production mixed in with some electronic influences (that you can hear in a lot of crossover tracks in the last five years) that were lifted from another track. I love the song but it didn't revolutionise anything to be honest.

Never said the song was revolutionary. I am simply seeing a trend with the type of 80s styled synth that Gaga used in DWUW.

[Benji 20,113]

Never said the song was revolutionary. I am simply seeing a trend with the type of 80s styled synth that Gaga used in DWUW.

There's been 80s and 90s throwback tracks for years bud... This isn't a new trend?

[Quark 7,016]

Theres tones of music released often... If u wanna find something, ull find it

 

if ur gonna search a specific "synth", or specific "tempo", or specific "structure", or specific "lyrical style"... If ur gonna go that specific, then any song u wanna label as influential ull easily come up with examples of songs that followed its suit. Only if a song is really weird or unusual would you not find something...

Who knows, maybe i did influence some music writting that came after... I cant prove otherwise. All i can say is that in my opinion i dont see enough evidence that cant be attributed to anything but purely coincidence to suggest DWYW really was the big mover here

 

id need to see a greater quantity of songs, with a more simmilar over-all sound (not just a specific component of it) to really be convinced the song was that influential. Especially since the song wasnt even that massive

 

the song was neither massive success, nor big cultural impact nor anything that was that moving about it lyrically. So why would other artists take interest in emulating it? Just "being Gaga" is not a good enough answer, especially since shes not even half as big as she once was  

 

And I agree with you in that DWUW may not have been impactful. But I basically made this thread because  I realized that DWUW was the first song in a long time that has a type is synth that I have been hearing in several songs recently (At least 5 songs).