Gaga wanted to release now to give a sense of normalcy to her fans

[ARTPOPSYCHOLOGY 6,270]

Interesting read from the Wall Street Journal! I subscribed so I can add the full text for y’all 

Full text:

Although it seems unfathomable now, Lady Gaga announced a six-city stadium tour across North America and Europe on March 5. About three weeks later, all her tour dates were on hold. Elaborate release plans for her sixth studio album, Chromatica, were completely scrapped.

So instead of dashing to pre-tour costume fittings and grueling choreography rehearsals, Gaga, Campbell and the rest of her team went on a five-week sprint helping to plan an international benefit concert with the World Health Organization and Global Citizen. On April 19, the result: 270 million people across the world tuned in to “One World: Together at Home,” an afternoon of livestreamed performances capped off by a TV special curated by Gaga. Featuring a slate of performers including Gaga, the Rolling Stones and Stevie Wonder, the event raised over $127 million for a Covid-19 response fund benefiting WHO, UNICEF and CEPI.

“We knew that there was something bigger we had to do and be part of,” says Bobby Campbell, 34, Gaga’s manager of nearly seven years.

Now, as some stay-at-home measures end, Chromatica is scheduled to be released next week. It’s a release unlike any other the pop star or her manager have ever experienced.

“It’s not fun to launch an album campaign and then have to halt it in the middle,” Campbell says from his home in L.A. where he’s been isolating.“That’s something that we’ve never experienced before.”

Anxious fans who watched the original album release date go by wondered if they would have to wait until fall to hear the new music. Campbell says Gaga wanted to release it now to give a sense of normalcy to her fans. But the packed calendar for promoting the album, which included a surprise headlining slot at the yearly Coachella music festival, was wiped completely clean. Campbell says his team “is now having to rethink, in a very short period of time, what that output looks like with a much more limited amount of resources we have to work with.”

The veteran manager got his start working in the music industry at the Roxy Theatre in L.A. before graduating from USC’s music industry program in 2007. A friend working at Interscope Records recommended he apply for a role in the label’s marketing department, and he began working there in October of 2007. The team he was a part of started working with a new artist called Lady Gaga a few months later.

At the start of her career, Gaga was managed by music industry stalwart Troy Carter. In January of 2008, Gaga had a week of studio time during which she wrote “Just Dance,” “Poker Face” and “LoveGame” from start to finish. In Campbell’s retelling, the label suspected they had something special on their hands: Those first two songs went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, while “LoveGame” went to No. 5.

After working closely with Gaga at Interscope, Campbell went to work for Carter’s management company, Atom Factory, eventually becoming chief marketing officer. In the run-up to the 2013 album ARTPOP, Gaga and Carter parted ways and Campbell took on managing her full time. That year was a career low point for Gaga: A lot of her key collaborators including stylist Nicola Formichetti left her camp, and her singles weren’t climbing the charts like before. There were reports that her poor album sales cost Interscope $25 million. (Campbell refutes those reports. Interscope did not return a request for comment.)

Despite the bad headlines, Campbell says he didn’t hesitate to take the job. “There was a lot of false information in the press and just this narrative had been written around her that was so false, incorrect and just frankly unfair,” he says. “This girl is so, so important to me in my life and so important to so many people in the world, I have to stop at nothing to try to rewrite what’s happened here.”

What followed was a six-year climb back to the top. She recorded a passion project of duets with Tony Bennett, won a Golden Globe for best actress in a limited series for her performance in American Horror Story and a Best Original Song Oscar for “Shallow,” the duet she performed with Bradley Cooper in A Star Is Born. The movie grossed $436.2 million worldwide.

She also played the Super Bowl halftime show in 2017, the run-up to which was filmed in a 2017 documentary for Netflix called Gaga 5 Foot 2. The film shows the playful relationship between Gaga and Campbell as she recorded and released her 2016 album Joanne. Just before she goes out to perform in the stadium, she acknowledges that this moment is big for Campbell too—that he brokered this deal for her and made it happen.

Campbell says that moment on film captured the way they work. “Part of our relationship beyond just like artist and manager, it’s almost like a brother-sister relationship,” he says. “Sometimes we like look at each other and imagine looking at our teenage selves, being like, Holy ****; is this real? Did we really get here?”

Unauthorized album leaks have been a challenge for the manager in the run-up to Chromatica’s release. While Joanne leaked in its entirety shortly before its release date, Chromatica’s leaks have been more of a slow drip. A version of the first single, “Stupid Love,” appeared online in January before a release date for the song was even announced. It was given an official release a month later. The tracklist and featured guest list, which includes Ariana Grande and Elton John, was accidentally posted on Target’s website on April 22 and was picked up by fans.

Campbell says he can count the people who have access to the most crucial files on one hand, but between hacks and human error, things still get out. “We’re also definitely not the only artists who are facing these problems,” he says. “For me, it’s also a broader issue with information and files and a sort of a lack of real prosecution and punishment if people do get involved in that.” (He declined to say if they’ll press charges for the alleged hacking.)

Instead, Campbell says, he’s focusing on how to make the most of constrained circumstances. “How creative can we get, and what technology can we find or put to use?” he says. “Even if [it’s] done in ways that are completely dissimilar than we would’ve done six months ago?”

[buzzkill 5,152]

Can you paste the interview here? the link redirects to the WSJ landing page  

[Gagadonna 10,801]

Can u copy paste? The article needs subscription. Thanksss

[ARTPOPSYCHOLOGY 6,270]

Just now, jesse g said:

Can you paste the interview here? the link redirects to the WSJ landing page  

I edited the post with a tweet that let me read it! Let me know if it works. I’ll copy and paste the article regardless 

[Rifek 51,753]

Fortnite is coming 

[MaryJaneHolland 77,348]

I really wanted to see her on talk shows, but I guess not

Lets see what they come up with.

[dynamite 59,541]

Interesting read, thanks! 

[OOPS22 4,202]

2 minutes ago, ARTPOPSYCHOLOGY said:

I edited the post with a tweet that let me read it! Let me know if it works. I’ll copy and paste the article regardless 

The link didn't work. If you could copy and paste that'd be great! 

[Awrah999 4,314]

Does it mention Bobby pivoting on Scooter’s disco stick for extra Rain On Me payola? 

[lavenderblondee 3,695]

This has me really excited that hopefully they've got some fun things up their sleeves in the next two or so weeks for promo.

[gagaxsebert 5,804]

And all we’ve gotten is a Beats radio interview. Where are these methods cause last I remember the album is out in a week 

[LaMaisonGaga 23,884]

Can't read  needs subscription

[LetsGetHigh 52,683]

Full article:

Spoiler

Although it seems unfathomable now, Lady Gaga announced a six-city stadium tour across North America and Europe on March 5. About three weeks later, all her tour dates were on hold. Elaborate release plans for her sixth studio album, Chromatica, were completely scrapped.

So instead of dashing to pre-tour costume fittings and grueling choreography rehearsals, Gaga, Campbell and the rest of her team went on a five-week sprint helping to plan an international benefit concert with the World Health Organization and Global Citizen. On April 19, the result: 270 million people across the world tuned in to “One World: Together at Home,” an afternoon of livestreamed performances capped off by a TV special curated by Gaga. Featuring a slate of performers including Gaga, the Rolling Stones and Stevie Wonder, the event raised over $127 million for a Covid-19 response fund benefiting WHO, UNICEF and CEPI.

“We knew that there was something bigger we had to do and be part of,” says Bobby Campbell, 34, Gaga’s manager of nearly seven years.

Now, as some stay-at-home measures end, Chromatica is scheduled to be released next week. It’s a release unlike any other the pop star or her manager have ever experienced.

“It’s not fun to launch an album campaign and then have to halt it in the middle,” Campbell says from his home in L.A. where he’s been isolating.“That’s something that we’ve never experienced before.”

Anxious fans who watched the original album release date go by wondered if they would have to wait until fall to hear the new music. Campbell says Gaga wanted to release it now to give a sense of normalcy to her fans. But the packed calendar for promoting the album, which included a surprise headlining slot at the yearly Coachella music festival, was wiped completely clean. Campbell says his team “is now having to rethink, in a very short period of time, what that output looks like with a much more limited amount of resources we have to work with.”

The veteran manager got his start working in the music industry at the Roxy Theatre in L.A. before graduating from USC’s music industry program in 2007. A friend working at Interscope Records recommended he apply for a role in the label’s marketing department, and he began working there in October of 2007. The team he was a part of started working with a new artist called Lady Gaga a few months later.

At the start of her career, Gaga was managed by music industry stalwart Troy Carter. In January of 2008, Gaga had a week of studio time during which she wrote “Just Dance,” “Poker Face” and “LoveGame” from start to finish. In Campbell’s retelling, the label suspected they had something special on their hands: Those first two songs went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, while “LoveGame” went to No. 5.

After working closely with Gaga at Interscope, Campbell went to work for Carter’s management company, Atom Factory, eventually becoming chief marketing officer. In the run-up to the 2013 album ARTPOP, Gaga and Carter parted ways and Campbell took on managing her full time. That year was a career low point for Gaga: A lot of her key collaborators including stylist Nicola Formichetti left her camp, and her singles weren’t climbing the charts like before. There were reports that her poor album sales cost Interscope $25 million. (Campbell refutes those reports. Interscope did not return a request for comment.)

Despite the bad headlines, Campbell says he didn’t hesitate to take the job. “There was a lot of false information in the press and just this narrative had been written around her that was so false, incorrect and just frankly unfair,” he says. “This girl is so, so important to me in my life and so important to so many people in the world, I have to stop at nothing to try to rewrite what’s happened here.”

What followed was a six-year climb back to the top. She recorded a passion project of duets with Tony Bennett, won a Golden Globe for best actress in a limited series for her performance in American Horror Story and a Best Original Song Oscar for “Shallow,” the duet she performed with Bradley Cooper in A Star Is Born. The movie grossed $436.2 million worldwide.

She also played the Super Bowl halftime show in 2017, the run-up to which was filmed in a 2017 documentary for Netflix called Gaga 5 Foot 2. The film shows the playful relationship between Gaga and Campbell as she recorded and released her 2016 album Joanne. Just before she goes out to perform in the stadium, she acknowledges that this moment is big for Campbell too—that he brokered this deal for her and made it happen.

Campbell says that moment on film captured the way they work. “Part of our relationship beyond just like artist and manager, it’s almost like a brother-sister relationship,” he says. “Sometimes we like look at each other and imagine looking at our teenage selves, being like, Holy ****; is this real? Did we really get here?”

Unauthorized album leaks have been a challenge for the manager in the run-up to Chromatica’s release. While Joanne leaked in its entirety shortly before its release date, Chromatica’s leaks have been more of a slow drip. A version of the first single, “Stupid Love,” appeared online in January before a release date for the song was even announced. It was given an official release a month later. The tracklist and featured guest list, which includes Ariana Grande and Elton John, was accidentally posted on Target’s website on April 22 and was picked up by fans.

Campbell says he can count the people who have access to the most crucial files on one hand, but between hacks and human error, things still get out. “We’re also definitely not the only artists who are facing these problems,” he says. “For me, it’s also a broader issue with information and files and a sort of a lack of real prosecution and punishment if people do get involved in that.” (He declined to say if they’ll press charges for the alleged hacking.)

Instead, Campbell says, he’s focusing on how to make the most of constrained circumstances. “How creative can we get, and what technology can we find or put to use?” he says. “Even if [it’s] done in ways that are completely dissimilar than we would’ve done six months ago?”

 

[buzzkill 5,152]

4 minutes ago, ARTPOPSYCHOLOGY said:

I edited the post with a tweet that let me read it! Let me know if it works. I’ll copy and paste the article regardless 

it worked! thank u <3 

 

[blankpaper 21]

Coachella was supposed to be a headlining set?!?