Is Million Reasons the biggest commercial failure of 2016/17?

[LateToCult 36,561]

I already know this is gonna get a bunch of "excuse me nos" but I'm asking the level headed people on this site.

Is Million Reasons the biggest commercial failure of 2016/17? Or does Formation take the cake on that one (for 2016 at least). 

I know MR has finally crossed the 1M mark in sales (US) not too long ago and a lot of you seem to think that's a huge accomplishment and blah blah blah, but when you really look at the song and how much it was pushed by Gaga, 1M is a joke. 

MR was performed at the VS Fashion Show, American Music Awards, Saturday Night Live, UK X Factor, Coachella, and of course was a focal point of the Super Bowl Halftime show (I'm sure there are artists who would kill for a fraction of the amount exposure MR and Joanne got). On top of this the song was discounted for days (maybe weeks, can't remember) and was covered by a contestant on The Voice. 

I'm willing to bet no song in recent years has been shoved down the GP's throat as much as Million Reasons (although Taylor is giving Gaga a run for her money with LWYMMD). So you would think the song would have sold much more by now and would have hit #1 at some point in its (very) long life. We know it's not a lack of sales in the Industry or that it's a ballad that caused MR do so poorly (all things could considered) because Taylor practically sold over half of MR's Total sales in 1 week and Adela had tremendous success with Hello and  SMLTYNL. 

So is Million Reasons the biggest commercial failure in the music industry for 2016/17?

p.s. I brought up Formation because it also got huge publicity when it was performed at the Super Bowl, was the lead of one of the biggest albums released in 2016, had a kick *ss music video, and was performed at the VMAs but didn't do so hot on the charts or in sales. 

[Edonis 26,105]

No. MR hit 1 million PURE sales which is an accomplishment in and of itself in an era where streaming has taken over and artists struggle in pure sales. It is by no means a commercial failure. Rather, it was pretty successful for a song that was not trendy or released by an artist at the top of their "peak". 

[Quark 7,018]

It wasn't a huge hit, specially around the world. But in no way was it a failure much less the biggest failure. You have to consider that Gaga is the not the most popular popstar anymore and that the song was not trendy at all. So her selling that much in pure sales is actually an accomplishment. 

[Arturo 40,746]

No. Gaga has a few commercial failures under her belt like G.U.Y and Perfect Illusion.

If a Million Reasons was watched by every single one of the 7 billion people on this earth it would still not be a commercial failure with its current stats.

There's no magic promotion to success ratio that a song has to meet. Some songs get tons of promotion and flop. Some get no promo and become a hit. Some get promo and become a success. Some get no promo and flop.

None of that matters a flop is a flop and a hit is a hit

Million Reasons is one of the only songs in 2017 to cross 1 million in the US. That is an amazing feat no matter what. No matter if 0 people saw her perform it or 100 million people. It had the best super bowl effect ANY song has ever seen. It literally did not get better for any song that it did for Million Reasons. No Beyoncé song, Bruno song, Coldplay song, Madonna etc were able to get a boost as massive as MR. 

A song that goes Top 5 is a commercial success. I disagree with the term "Top 40 hit" because I do not believe a song that goes Top 40 or even Top 10 (see Dope) is a hit but MR has literally every thing it has to call it a hit.

I don't see how you can disqualify it as a commercial success. In all honesty do you even follow charts?

[Bette Davis 12,742]

LOL you forgot the funny tag 

[LateToCult 36,561]

2 minutes ago, Edonis said:

No. MR hit 1 million PURE sales which is an accomplishment in and of itself in an era where streaming has taken over and artists struggle in pure sales. It is by no means a commercial failure. Rather, it was pretty successful for a song that was not trendy or released by an artist at the top of their "peak". 

I mean you can use that line over and over but the truth is that Gaga is still a huge name in music, had a huge amount of publicity for the song and did a lot of discounting. And Adele and Taylor are selling just fine so if they can do it so can she.

[Arizona Sky 10,913]

Would've, should've, could've. Not matter how you try to spin it, the song peaked at #4 and sold 1M+ pure sales in the US. It was a success. End of story.

[Blahwhatever22 7,991]

No. Million Reasons had everything going against it, Radio shafting her, Gaga not being A streaming force and to top it off A basic music video. Yet it still wound up going platinum, Topping Itunes multiple times and hitting the top 5 on Billboard Hot 100. Receipts don't lie.

[skaxboy 3,540]

No. Anything Katy has done in this year has been a big commercial failure. A few simple TV performances and MR sold well. Other artists have come off of big eras, heavily promoted with big budget videos, big budget performances, and hosting award shows.

 

 

 

 

Gaga has been known as a visual artist. She is also associated with dance and pop music. And on top of that, people will pay more than the price of a song to go and see her. Both shows I've been to, everyone has stayed and sang along to Million Reasons. 

[Quark 7,018]

1 minute ago, LateToCult2k17 said:

I mean you can use that line over and over but the truth is that Gaga is still a huge name in music, had a huge amount of publicity for the song and did a lot of discounting. And Adele and Taylor are selling just fine so if they can do it so can she.

But Adele and Taylor are very popular. Gaga is a huge and respected name but not very popular anymore. Radios just don't play her music as much and most of the younger generation are not into the type of music she is making. 

[Edonis 26,105]

3 minutes ago, LateToCult2k17 said:

I mean you can use that line over and over but the truth is that Gaga is still a huge name in music, had a huge amount of publicity for the song and did a lot of discounting. And Adele and Taylor are selling just fine so if they can do it so can she.

Gaga is no where near the sales/streaming power of Adele or Taylor in 2016/2017. It's delusional to actually think that she is in the same league (commercially speaking) since her demographic is very different. Adele is usually enjoyed by people of all ages, Taylor by younger people. Gaga is way more niche than both of those artists. Her sales and streams are not going to be as big. 

[Arturo 40,746]

I'm just trying to gauge your understanding of charts at this moment and see where your head is.

You consider MR a failure. I 100% disagree and feel like its success is objective but I'll hear you out if you give me your opinions on these other songs.

MR peaked at #4 and has sold approximately 1.04m 

Which of these next few songs do you consider hits and which do you consider failures?

Scars To Your Beautiful (#8) ~750k sales

It Ain't Me (#7) ~800k sales

Issues (#11) 950k sales

HUMBLE. (#1) 850k sales

Malibu (#10) 550k sales

[LateToCult 36,561]

Just now, Edonis said:

Gaga is no where near the sales/streaming power of Adele or Taylor in 2016/2017. It's delusional to actually think that she is in the same league (commercially speaking) since her demographic is very different. Adele is usually enjoyed by people of all ages, Taylor by younger people. Gaga is way more niche than either of those artists. 

Well I also think it's delusional to not consider MR as a commercial failure given how much it was pushed on huge platforms and discounted. 

[Edonis 26,105]

1 minute ago, Arturo said:

I'm just trying to gauge your understanding of charts at this moment and see where your head is.

You consider MR a failure. I 100% disagree and feel like its success is objective but I'll hear you out if you give me your opinions on these other songs.

MR peaked at #4 and has sold approximately 1.04m 

Which of these next few songs do you consider hits and which do you consider failures?

Scars To Your Beautiful (#8) ~750k sales

It Ain't Me (#7) ~800k sales

Issues (#11) 950k sales

HUMBLE. (#1) 850k sales

Malibu (#10) 550k sales

Thank you 

[Arturo 40,746]

5 minutes ago, LateToCult2k17 said:

I mean you can use that line over and over but the truth is that Gaga is still a huge name in music, had a huge amount of publicity for the song and did a lot of discounting. And Adele and Taylor are selling just fine so if they can do it so can she.

HA. A lot of discounting? Songs like Issues, Redbone, Weak, etc were pushing 20 weeks of a discount. MR had a measly 8. The ENTIRE top 10 on iTunes right now minus Taylor is discounted. The discount argument is no longer an argument. It's not 2010.