What’s wrong with Gaga and U.S pop radios???

[Economy 44,042]

Bud it's not a unique problem to the US

 

Here in Canada her streams were even stronger, the song was selling more than double whatever song was at #2 (it's still #1 on iTunes and has almost never left) and as a result we got a #3 peak on hot 100 (higher than the US) and the song has maintained itself in the top 10 still (currently #9)

 

Yet despite even stronger reception from the public here than in the US, our Radio spins were even worse than in the US

 

On Pop Radio it barely lasted 2 weeks in the top 50 and on HAC it didn't get as much love as in the US either

 

So Canadian Radio was even more cruel to Shallow and our sales/streams did better than in the US, they literally payed it dust

 

So count your blessings 

[Doot 2]

Perhaps this should be a lesson to the fans. 

 

There is nothing that is going to guarantee chart success. It either happens or it doesn’t. 

 

A hashtag by a producer means jack squat. 

[Economy 44,042]

36 minutes ago, Arturo said:

There are roughly 100 US Pop radio stations. That means roughly 100 people control the entire Pop radio format in the US as there’s only one program director per station.

Enough programmers supported it to get to #23 on the Pop chart. But the rest felt like it wasn’t fit for the format. And as amazing as the song is, are they wrong? It sticks out like sore thumb. I’m not defending them because I’d wish the programmers that hated it didn’t but it is what it is. At least about half of the stations still support her. 

We only have 3 major Metropolis in Canada (Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver)

 

This may explain why our radio support was even worse than in the US. If you think US radio payed shallow dust u should of seen Canadian radio

 

It barely stayed in top 50 pop radio for 2 weeks and in the US at least HAC supported it well here HAC only gave it moderate support

 

It still peaked higher here tho (and is still top 10) because the sales and streams have outdone the US...

 

But to me that outperformance in streams and sales relative to the US make it even more puzzling why our radio spins were even worse

[messybottom 10,579]

57 minutes ago, Mister D said:

This is not new. Radio are not supporting Gaga since 2013 and plus she's over 30. US radio is fishy (always has been), so... 

The same thing has happen to Christina, Britney, Pink, etc... when them were over 30, US radio stopped playing their new songs.

This is not fair at all, but it's the way it is. Thank god we are in the streaming era, and every artist can succeed without radio support. 

This is exactly why I can't wait for Radio to die completely. Streaming is taking over and lettings songs that are actually hits, become hits!! 

[Economy 44,042]

29 minutes ago, LilyLark said:

It's not just Gaga, Bey is also a prime example of this weirdness.  Like in terms of pure albums moved, it's something like Adele > Taylor > Beyonce > Gaga/Rihanna with Ariana's latest topping Gaga/Rihanna and then > Katy.

But in terms of actual singles on the US Hot 100, most of the girls who move the most albums (Gaga, Bey, Adele)  often have the least radio play in the US. Lemonade was a smash hit, sold something like a 100k more than Ariana's latest, and yet the highest one of the singles debuted was at 10.  Adele had one track come at #1, the rest peaked at 8 or nine of her last album and yet she sold/streamed a record amount. Even Taylor got less radio play than Ariana and Halsey. And for all one might say that Gaga and Bey's latest are less radio friendly, the amount of pure albums moved should have had an influence on what the radios decided to spin because of popularity.

I don't think it's the typical or traditional payola, but I do think certain labels do push/work with radio stations way more closely.  But with how the music industry is constantly changing, I'm not sure judging by radio play is the standard set of success anymore.

Radio is maybe more important for new artists who need exposure to become known. Big aritsts don't need radio anymore for people to know they released something thanks to internet

 

However, radio AI is still big enough to influence a song and affect the charts

 

But it is possible for a song to be a hit now without radio whereas in the past it was almost impossible

 

Here in Canada our Radio spins for Shallow were even more tragic than in the US but our sales and streams were even more impressive 

 

Shallow peaked at #3 here and has remained in top 10 thanks to streams and sales alone. Radio gave virtually no support what's so ever to the song. Yet everyone knows it and Shallow has quite the hype

[derpmonster 22,412]

52 minutes ago, Arturo said:

There are roughly 100 US Pop radio stations. That means roughly 100 people control the entire Pop radio format in the US as there’s only one program director per station.

Enough programmers supported it to get to #23 on the Pop chart. But the rest felt like it wasn’t fit for the format. And as amazing as the song is, are they wrong? It sticks out like sore thumb. I’m not defending them because I’d wish the programmers that hated it didn’t but it is what it is. At least about half of the stations still support her. 

What about it doesn't fit? Many songs have alternative structures. Many songs appear on radio despite sounding very different from everything else on radio. Gaga's own songs have done that. But look at Adele. When she was played in 2011, no one was making acoustic stuff and yet it got support on pop radio, not just HAC or AC like one may have predicted. 

If a song does well, it only makes sense for radio to play it. It's on pop playlists on Spotify too, so yeah they are wrong about it.  

Luckily streaming is much more democratized than radio. 

[Doot 2]

The second this fanbase realizes radio in general in slowly fading away, the less hungup they will be about her airplay.

[Rio 5,088]

1 hour ago, Mister D said:

This is not new. Radio are not supporting Gaga since 2013 and plus she's over 30. US radio is fishy (always has been), so... 

The same thing has happen to Christina, Britney, Pink, etc... when them were over 30, US radio stopped playing their new songs.

This is not fair at all, but it's the way it is. Thank god we are in the streaming era, and every artist can succeed without radio support. 

Then she needs to come back with a fresh era and make pop bops with top producers and do collaborations. It's the only way radio will embrace her again. And it's totally achievable. Madonna did it several times. Pink has defo had hits over the age of 30, and didn't Xtina have Moves Like Jagger and Say Something? Scream and Shout became Brit's 6th #1 at age 30. 

Gaga can achieve anything tbh. Radio is ageist. I just don't think the music Gaga is putting out is resonating too well with US radio. Tbh, here in the UK, Shallow was played quite a lot and still in the Top 30 of the UK Airplay chart since October.

[Angelm 8,655]

Because there’s no payola 

[LilyLark 9,694]

23 minutes ago, derpmonster said:

What about it doesn't fit? Many songs have alternative structures. Many songs appear on radio despite sounding very different from everything else on radio. Gaga's own songs have done that. But look at Adele. When she was played in 2011, no one was making acoustic stuff and yet it got support on pop radio, not just HAC or AC like one may have predicted. 

If a song does well, it only makes sense for radio to play it. It's on pop playlists on Spotify too, so yeah they are wrong about it.  

Luckily streaming is much more democratized than radio. 

But Adele didn't get that much radio play in 2015, which was bizarre since her album broke all sorts of records.

[Monsieur D 2,878]

2 minutes ago, Rio said:

Then she needs to come back with a fresh era and make pop bops with top producers and do collaborations. It's the only way radio will embrace her again

You're right, but I don't think that Gaga is going to release any pop bop. We already know her. Perfect Illusion II is coming... 

 

3 minutes ago, Rio said:

Then she needs to come back with a fresh era and make pop bops with top producers and do collaborations. It's the only way radio will embrace her again. And it's totally achievable. Madonna did it several times. Pink has defo had hits over the age of 30, and didn't Xtina have Moves Like Jagger and Say Something? Scream and Shout became Brit's 6th #1 at age 30. 

All those song are collaborations with men. 

Scream & Shout was #3 (I think). 

And sadly only HAC / AC has support Pink latest singles. 

Guys the ageism is real, don't doubt about it.

[Serial Chiller 8,044]

1 hour ago, BLACKOUTbritney said:

Well I mean, Radio was theirs. Just outside of the US 

Here in Australia I haven't heard Gaga on the radio this much since Poker Face. You can't even take a piss at a public toilet without hearing shallow playing 

Pee’s off the deep end 

Watch as it dives in

It’ll never meet the toilet bowl. 

[Rio 5,088]

11 hours ago, Mister D said:

You're right, but I don't think that Gaga is going to release any pop bop. We already know her. Perfect Illusion II is coming... 

 

All those song are collaborations with men. 

Scream & Shout was #3 (I think). 

And sadly only HAC / AC has support Pink latest singles. 

Guys the ageism is real, don't doubt about it.

So radio is both sexist and ageist then at the same time, you're saying? What's wrong with collaborating with a male? Scream & Shout was still a bigger hit than Shallow in the US. It peaked at #3 and was in the Top 5 of the radio chart.

my only message is I believe Gaga can dominate radio again if the cards are played right. With a male or by herself. The woman's achievements are just endless. Not that she needs to anyways, Shallow is the symbol song of 2018 and will be remembered. She's on to bigger and better things than radio. LG6 is gonna hit us hard

[maryloo 545]

Radio is G A R B A G E. I turned on a local radio station yesterday and heard BTW start. I was super excited to have caught it at the beginning! My excitement turned sour quick when I realized this local radio station EDITED AND CENSORED EVERY PART OF BTW THAT HAS TO DO WITH LOVING YOURSELF FOR BEING LGTB. I was furious and turned the station off. **** iHeartMedia. We're over. This is why radio is dying. 

[giskardsb 12,565]

US pop radio is deathly afraid of looking outside the box.   Much like most of America, everything is homogenized and generic and safe.  Every mall has the same stores, all suburbs look the same, and every pop radio station plays only stuff that copies everything else and generally caters to the undiscriminating masses.   Occasionally they make a mistake and good music gets played, but mostly they are deathly afraid of challenging the status quo.