Gaga's contractual obligations

[OMonster 14,637]

I was just reflecting on how strategically odd it would be for Gaga to release an album in August and not September, given the latter would mean she wouldn’t be competing against Taylor, Billie, Ariana and Beyonce at the Grammy’s in February.  

I then questioned why Gaga ever recorded Chromatica. She clearly didn’t want to and has told us that Bloodpop and co had to ‘force’ her to make music. Why didn’t she just… not record music if she didn’t want to? The fact she did suggests that she was maybe contractually required to release an album in 2020. 

It’s also interesting that there were 4 years between Joanne and Chromatica and another, probably, four years between Chromatica and LG7. Does she maybe have to release a solo album every four years at minimum? 

She clearly wants to release LG7 and has enjoyed working on it but the same can’t be said for Chromatica, so I really wonder why she forced herself to produce it. Unless - and I hope this is the case - she just wanted to push herself to put out another pop album for her own sense of self? Does seem doubtful though, given everything we know about how she was between 2016-2020. She was also in Vegas at the time so it's not as though she released the album to keep her team busy; they were all already working. Definitely feels to me like she had some kind of external pressure/requirement to get to work and put out an album. 

[chathonnete 492]

It feels like she really wants to release LG7 and is closer to music, artistry than during Chromatica. The Chromatica production process seemed more like a friends group/experience. This time she seems more connected to music, more simple, lonely (in a good way).

[palma 7,738]

Well of course she has deadlines given to her by Interscope - pretty sure every label does it unless you're self-funding the production or sth. From the documents leaked some time ago I remember that she made an initial contract for 6 albums (incl. TFM) but before Joanne was released it was extended for 5 more albums. I don't recall if there was a definite time frame for her to put out these albums but 4 years is a looong time in music business to not put out an album.

I don't think she released Chromatica to fulfill a contractual obligation - she'd release Joanne 2.0 (pretty sure she has billions of piano demos lying around that could be easily made into an acoustic album) if she were unhappy with the direction of the album and just needed to put something out. Sometimes the creative process is just very painful for the artist 

[Anderson123 36,439]

I think she meant that she was "forced" to work on it because she was so depressed. That's probably when Bloodpop brought her into the studio as a way to let that all out.

I don't think she was pressued to work faster on it because she had just released music from A Star Is Born and was working on Love For Sale too so it's not like she takes long breaks.

[elijahfan 25,368]

Contracts between artists and labels are about a certain amount of albums, I don’t know if there’s a time limit in-between projects (I mean, Rihanna is still signed to a label, right?). I also don’t think we should be that hard on the Chromatica era: if she didn’t like this body of work at all, she wouldn’t be releasing the concert tour ages after everyone forgot about this record.

But the fact the tour’s aesthetic is a bridge between her past and her future work might explain why she’s still quite passionate about this project and why releasing it close to the new album still made sense.

Edited June 1, 2024 by elijahfan

[nATAH 44,775]

i think people are misunderstanding the bloodpop story

she had already recorded some music, he just told her that it sounded nothing like her and "made her" change the style to what chromatica is now, not that he forced her to make a whole album

iirc it was basically gunna be a sad piano album

[Bronco 7,651]

8 minutes ago, elijahfan said:

Contracts between artists and labels are about a certain amount of albums, I don’t know if there’s a time limit in-between projects (I mean, Rihanna is still signed to a label, right?).

Typically it's an X amount of albums (and often stipulations about what counts as an album e.g. no collab albums count/compilations do etc), I think bigger artists have occasionally been offered x ammount of time contracts instead just so that a record label can keep hold of an artist wanting to pause their career for a moment. 
And then you get LiveNation which will contract for X amounts of tours. 

[Didymus 34,379]

15 minutes ago, NATAH said:

i think people are misunderstanding the bloodpop story

she had already recorded some music, he just told her that it sounded nothing like her and "made her" change the style to what chromatica is now, not that he forced her to make a whole album

iirc it was basically gunna be a sad piano album

I think what is being referred to is that she said she didn't want to make music at all and her friends had to "carry her off her porch crying" etc. to get into the studio.

Anyway, I'm sure her contract is... intense, and she's gone on record before to state that her label pushed her beyond capacity to record music despite her knowing she couldn't "make the gold" to use her words. I thought that stopped after ARTPOP but it is interesting to think if there are still obligations anyway.

Edited June 1, 2024 by Didymus

[OMonster 14,637]

I personally think Gaga wasn't happy with Chromatica as an album. She's said herself that she's writing the best music now that she has in years, which was an insight into how she views Chromatica. Clearly, she loved TCB and told us recently that she thought the album is best experienced live. I see TCB and Chromatica as two separate bodies of work. She loves the former, the latter not so much. 

[Nessun Dorma 2,460]

I imagine that her mental health status was the real deal during the Chromatica making. It’s not that she didn’t want to make an album, she was just unable to do so. That’s why her friends (including BloodPop) had to push her to go through it, as in a healing process too. She’s saying now that she said goodbye to old stories and old wounds (so happy for her!) and I think Chromatica helped her a lot in this process. It’s not my favorite album, but it holds a special place in my heart for it’s meaning to Gaga. 
 

That said, I have no idea which are the contractual obligations in the music industry, but setting a term seems to go against the artistic creation process. I know there’s other interests involved though.. 

[Nessun Dorma 2,460]

55 minutes ago, NATAH said:

i think people are misunderstanding the bloodpop story

she had already recorded some music, he just told her that it sounded nothing like her and "made her" change the style to what chromatica is now, not that he forced her to make a whole album

iirc it was basically gunna be a sad piano album

I would love so much a sad piano album 

[Gaga2645 2,126]

41 minutes ago, Didymus said:

I think what is being referred to is that she said she didn't want to make music at all and her friends had to "carry her off her porch crying" etc. to get into the studio.

Anyway, I'm sure her contract is... intense, and she's gone on record before to state that her label pushed her beyond capacity to record music despite her knowing she couldn't "make the gold" to use her words. I thought that stopped after ARTPOP but it is interesting to think if there are still obligations anyway.

But I thought in 2016 she renegotiated her contract so that she had more control, especially in regards to her physical health, before she resigned with Interscope? I’d have to dig to find it but I’m pretty confident LGN had posted a small article about it around the beginning of the Joanne Era.

[Charmz 4,065]

am i crazy but isn't Vegas Jazz in June or July? 

[4SeasonsInADay 67]

24 minutes ago, Charmz said:

am i crazy but isn't Vegas Jazz in June or July? 

8 dates between June 19-July 6.

[Charmz 4,065]

34 minutes ago, 4SeasonsInADay said:

8 dates between June 19-July 6.

we dont get the album or single til after that