Is "Thank U, Next" Shaping up to be Ariana Grandes "Teenage Dream" era?

[StrawberryBlond 15,023]

I honestly think this era will struggle to be remembered well once the year is passed. It exists to be current. It's rare to see someone break up and then immediately put out a song about that break up a short while after and put out a whole new album a few months after the last. Obviously, she was inspired to start a new era because Sweetener wasn't the massive success she hoped for and it was all about the guy she'd just broken up with so she wanted to start over and didn't want to spend months promoting a new album that she had no connection with. As such, for those who follow her, this new era exists purely in context. Once the year's over, this whole idea will be old news and she definitely won't do this again. I don't think even the fans will have much reason to buy any follow up singles from here on out. Ariana has a knack for not doing too well once the actual album's out. The only exception to this was Side To Side, when Dangerous Woman was going through a second wind. I feel like fan support can only go so far on this one and she's reached a level of overexposure that's starting to be negative now. From going from an underperformance to overperforming too fast too soon is a bit much for the public to handle. Teenage Dream came out before the streaming age, when radio was a far bigger dictator of the public's taste and she released rent-a-rapper remixes to push sales of singles post-album release. She also did a lot more promo. I don't think we're going to get another album with 5 (technically 6) #1's on it again. I just don't think the public would go as far as to buy that many songs from one album now that you can stream a whole album for free. The closest albums that came to achieving that feat was Taylor Swift's 1989, which had 3 #1's and 2 top tens, Justin Bieber's Purpose which had 3 #1's and Drake's Scorpion which had 3 #1's and 3 top tens. I just don't know if a big singles jaggernaut like Teenage Dream can ever be possible again.

On 1/30/2019 at 12:22 AM, Earthling said:

Are you trying to say Thank U Next has had no cultural impact because I can't seem to escape people referencing it in real life or online.  

At the moment, it does have the impact. "At the time impact" is hard to deny. But I don't think it'll be remembered years from now because it relies on Ariana's current situation to get sales. That stuff won't be relevant by this time next year. Anyone years from now looking up her discography is going to wonder why there was such a tiny gap between Sweetener and Thank U Next and even when they discover why, the feeling of it being current won't hit them like it did us. Experiencing the fallout from a breakup through music in real time is different to discovering it 5 years later. Teenage Dream, love it or hate it, is still remembered, still referred to and still played 8.5 years after its release and this was a bubblegum pop album that was doing well in 2010/11, when the charts were full of dance pop and some urban, which is really something. I somehow don't think Ariana's current attitude of super relevant genre and theme are going to age that well. A lot of music from mainstream acts is just so disposible now, unfortunately.

[Battle 4 Ur Life 6,734]

probably yes. 

I love how you started the thread with common sense because the music is actually been her absolute worst.

[FentyGa 14,340]

I was thinking this recently
I think she'll get 3 number ones from tu,n (counting tu,n and 7R so one more)

[Gypsy Life 118,907]

Were TD's singles frontloaded and local? If not, then no.

[LateToCult 40,976]

Radio adores her and she's the strongest streaming force out there so yes. It's certainly gonna be a massive era.

[FentyGa 14,340]

22 hours ago, StrawberryBlond said:

At the moment, it does have the impact. "At the time impact" is hard to deny. But I don't think it'll be remembered years from now because it relies on Ariana's current situation to get sales. That stuff won't be relevant by this time next year. Anyone years from now looking up her discography is going to wonder why there was such a tiny gap between Sweetener and Thank U Next and even when they discover why, the feeling of it being current won't hit them like it did us. Experiencing the fallout from a breakup through music in real time is different to discovering it 5 years later. Teenage Dream, love it or hate it, is still remembered, still referred to and still played 8.5 years after its release and this was a bubblegum pop album that was doing well in 2010/11, when the charts were full of dance pop and some urban, which is really something. I somehow don't think Ariana's current attitude of super relevant genre and theme are going to age that well. A lot of music from mainstream acts is just so disposible now, unfortunately.

 

I think it might be generational.
I'm a teenager and everyone loves Ari's new music, particularly tu,n onwards. These songs are bringing us together and they're so special to us, the way song like California Gurls and Poker Face were (not to say they're on the same level, but they have the same magical connection).
I don't know about older generations, but they'll definitely be remembered by us.

[Bio 23,538]

No because Teenage Dream is one of the most iconic eras of the 2010s and although Ariana is a great singer she hasn’t done anything iconic as of now.

[Harris Walz 2024 1,451]

It's all fast food, consumable, manufactured to be #1 music and not dependent on an era. If I had to pick my poison it would be that Katy left more than a trail of #1 hits. The mark of a great artist is someone who can go against the grain and create something unique that influences the pop music culture and right now Ari isn't making that kind of mark.

[StrawberryBlond 15,023]

4 minutes ago, FentyGa said:

I think it might be generational.
I'm a teenager and everyone loves Ari's new music, particularly tu,n onwards. These songs are bringing us together and they're so special to us, the way song like California Gurls and Poker Face were (not to say they're on the same level, but they have the same magical connection).
I don't know about older generations, but they'll definitely be remembered by us.

But that's the thing - young generations really move on and they do forget stuff that was released when they were young as well. I remember hearing a young person say that a song was "so old" despite it only being released 2 years ago. The youth market view the age of material very differently to everyone else, they're quick to label something as old and therefore, uncool, very quickly, especially when someone comes along doing the same thing but better. That's why so many boybands get replaced as soon as the next one comes along, the same with other teen sensations. And all it takes is one flop album to make them forever uncool in the eyes of the young and therefore, not worth supporting anymore. I'm 29 and I listen to and review all music and I can tell that there is an expiry date on this album, it'll only really be relevant for a year and then people will move on. Any music that relies on a current trend and current situation to sell will inevitably be dated one day. It's the big downside to creating a current-sounding album: you may get the sales at the time, but not the impact years later. The Black Eyed Peas released a mega-current album when they did The E.N.D and now it sounds so dated when you hear it back and you realise these songs couldn't be hits today and I'm not the first to say that. This is an all-round problem will.i.am's had ever since he hit the big time - engineers all albums to sound very "of the time" but that means they'll sound tragically dated in years to come when trends move on. "By making it more modern, you make it more dated," essentially.

[FentyGa 14,340]

7 minutes ago, StrawberryBlond said:

But that's the thing - young generations really move on and they do forget stuff that was released when they were young as well. I remember hearing a young person say that a song was "so old" despite it only being released 2 years ago. The youth market view the age of material very differently to everyone else, they're quick to label something as old and therefore, uncool, very quickly, especially when someone comes along doing the same thing but better. That's why so many boybands get replaced as soon as the next one comes along, the same with other teen sensations. And all it takes is one flop album to make them forever uncool in the eyes of the young and therefore, not worth supporting anymore. I'm 29 and I listen to and review all music and I can tell that there is an expiry date on this album, it'll only really be relevant for a year and then people will move on. Any music that relies on a current trend and current situation to sell will inevitably be dated one day. It's the big downside to creating a current-sounding album: you may get the sales at the time, but not the impact years later. The Black Eyed Peas released a mega-current album when they did The E.N.D and now it sounds so dated when you hear it back and you realise these songs couldn't be hits today and I'm not the first to say that. This is an all-round problem will.i.am's had ever since he hit the big time - engineers all albums to sound very "of the time" but that means they'll sound tragically dated in years to come when trends move on. "By making it more modern, you make it more dated," essentially.

That's fair
That being said, something sounded dated doesn't make it less mpactful or memorable. The Fame was an important album for pop music and for many people, but it has a clear 2008-2010 timestamp.
And while teenagers definitely short attention spans for music,the truly smash hits/important songs stay with us. See this article:

"For men, the most important period for forming musical taste is between the ages of 13 to 16. Men were, on average, aged 14 when their favorite song was released. For women, the most important period is between 11 and 14, with 13 being the most likely age for when their favorite song came out. It also found that childhood influences were stronger for women than men and the key years for shaping taste were tied to the end of puberty"