Republic Record exec. shares Ariana's hit-making strategy

[Paper Planes 340]

Ariana Grande keeps collecting hits from her sophomore album, My Everything, as "One Last Time" pushes to a new peak, No. 13, on the Billboard Hot 100 dated May 2. The song is the fifth single – and fifth smash – from the set, following "Problem" (featuring Iggy Azalea), which hit No. 2 last June; "Break Free" (featuring Zedd) (No. 4, August); "Bang Bang," with Jessie J and Nicki Minaj (No. 3, October); and "Love Me Harder," with The Weeknd (No. 7, November).

If it sounds like "Time," with its easy hook and mass-appeal dance/pop vibe, is strong enough to be a lead single from an album, Republic Records executive VP Charlie Walk says that the label strongly considered it as the first offering from My Everything. But, the sassy "Problem" – released a year ago today – was a "disruptor," as Walk calls it, best "setting the tone for the project."

From there, Republic continued to strategically sequence the set's singles. "'Break Free' felt like summer," Walk says, while "Bang Bang" helped usher in Jessie J's album Sweet Talker. Then, "Fall/winter felt like the best time for 'Love Me Harder,' since it's a heavier, darker record."

Read more: http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6546185/five-hits-one-album-the-strategy-behind-ariana-grandes-singles

It's promising to see a record executive have such a hands-on approach to making the label's most promising acts profitable. Even the Grammy Awards performance choice was part of the master plan!

Pretty sure Gaga needs to take that closing quote to heart

[venusian 4,686]

and she has a lot of fans from victorius and sam and cat thats pretty much it lmao

[Serendipity 7,821]

King Bobby, better be taking notes

[MANiCURE1295 8,673]

It's really sad to see the state of the music industry and where it's at. Like look at all these hits her album has had and look....only 600K in the US...it's just so depressing to see stuff like this. If Ariana had released her album years ago and she had blown up earlier (like 2012) she could've at least reached platinum by now.

[Jjang 2,262]

Coming for her first #1 next era.

 

[JustPokeHerFace 2,564]

It's really sad to see the state of the music industry and where it's at. Like look at all these hits her album has had and look....only 600K in the US...it's just so depressing to see stuff like this. If Ariana had released her album years ago and she had blown up earlier (like 2012) she could've at least reached platinum by now.

​Agreed. They're calling songs that barely hit platinum smashes. The industry needs to come up with a solution to this problem (and Tidal ain't it).

I love how the article skipped mentioning Dark Horse from Prism even though that was arguably the album's biggest hit. And a song being successful isn't dependent on how  a song sounds for a season. For instance, Just Dance hit #1 in the winter when it doesn't necessarily sound like a winter song. 

 

[Paper Planes 340]

It's really sad to see the state of the music industry and where it's at. Like look at all these hits her album has had and look....only 600K in the US...it's just so depressing to see stuff like this. If Ariana had released her album years ago and she had blown up earlier (like 2012) she could've at least reached platinum by now.

​But that's why streaming is calculated into certifications now. It technically is considered Platinum by the RIAA because of its mass amounts of streaming.

[MANiCURE1295 8,673]

​But that's why streaming is calculated into certifications now. It technically is considered Platinum by the RIAA because of its mass amounts of streaming.

​I was really just talking about sales though....SPS thing is really lame in my opinion. Like I understand that certifications and such have to change with the times but I remember in 2011 the whole top ten albums on billboard were all selling 100k plus WEEKLY. Now people can hit #1 with 50k...it's just sad to see that physical album sales have fallen so hard.

[MANiCURE1295 8,673]

​Agreed. They're calling songs that barely hit platinum smashes. The industry needs to come up with a solution to this problem (and Tidal ain't it).

I love how the article skipped mentioning Dark Horse from Prism even though that was arguably the album's biggest hit. And a song being successful isn't dependent on how  a song sounds for a season. For instance, Just Dance hit #1 in the winter when it doesn't necessarily sound like a winter song. 

 

​Apparently counting "streams" is the industry's way of dealing with the problem. 

[Serendipity 7,821]

​Agreed. They're calling songs that barely hit platinum smashes. The industry needs to come up with a solution to this problem (and Tidal ain't it).

I love how the article skipped mentioning Dark Horse from Prism even though that was arguably the album's biggest hit. And a song being successful isn't dependent on how  a song sounds for a season. For instance, Just Dance hit #1 in the winter when it doesn't necessarily sound like a winter song. 

 

​Yeah, I remember The Fame's singles, they took like forever to take off

Bad Romance smashed in winter

Do What u Want in winter

Even Firework smashed in winter

 

So, if a song is legendary, it's gonna smash regardless

[Paper Planes 340]

​I was really just talking about sales though....SPS thing is really lame in my opinion. Like I understand that certifications and such have to change with the times but I remember in 2011 the whole top ten albums on billboard were all selling 100k plus WEEKLY. Now people can hit #1 with 50k...it's just sad to see that physical album sales have fallen so hard.

​I definitely agree - it's sad to see the fall of album sales. I personally still buy all of my albums. But the resurgence of vinyl records sure are promising, if nothing else!

[Cody Draco 2,531]

​I definitely agree - it's sad to see the fall of album sales. I personally still buy all of my albums. But the resurgence of vinyl records sure are promising, if nothing else!

​Yeah I'm happy vinyls are resurging which means music stores will stay around.

I buy albums physically too, it's so much more personal than a digital copy.

[Fizzy 2,217]

​But that's why streaming is calculated into certifications now. It technically is considered Platinum by the RIAA because of its mass amounts of streaming.

The album certification doesn't include streaming. It's platinum because of shipments.

[Oscar 1,031]

Gaga doesn't need dis she got us 

[Cpeer 4,781]

This remembers me why I love Gaga , she doesn't give's a single f*** is it winter or summer  , she changes the game everytime