Are her collabs really better than her solos?

[Controversiaga 11,252]

first- this is not a critique of Gaga! It’s a critique of the listeners and the people who are streaming music lol ok 

 

Why is it that lately her collabs do better than her solo singles? It’s been like this since 2018 with A Star Is Born- and before that she didn’t have a big solo hit since applause.  I wonder if DWUW featured ANYBODY except the pdfile if it would’ve performed way better.

 

so it seems the general public likes her duets better.  Shallow was the most listened to song from A Star is Born and any song from her previous album Joanne, Rain on Me was the most listened to song on Chromatica, and now the same is true again for Mayhem, with DWAS.

is it just that these really are in fact the better songs???  Is there something I’m not hearing?? Because i personally don’t think shallow is the best song from ASIB, I don’t thin ROM is the best song on chromatica, and DWAS is definitely not the best song on mayhem imo.

 

so what is going on? How are these songs out performing her other songs, which IMO are actually better more enjoyable songs??? 

Edited 20 hours ago by Controversiaga

[TimotheeChalamet 5,686]

No, they are not better than her solos

[Ladle Ghoulash 24,713]

It honestly could be that the GP isn’t super into undiluted Gaga, so they like having someone to kind of balance out her more eccentric tendencies? 

Edited 20 hours ago by Ladle Ghoulash

[HeAteMyh3art 1,089]

million reasons and arutw???

[BrandyFinest 24]

It really might just be the power of a combined fanbases.

ASIB is a little different cuz 1.it's a movie and 2. Bradley is not like other collaborators where they were a known music artist before Gaga. I do not think it can be evaluated like other collabs

 

But for ROM was helped a lot by arianators and even sour candy, Black pink stans did a lot in terms of the streams for that song. A lot of people are casual monsters, so they need the allure of a collab to make them really stream gaga. 

 

 

[artdoll 46,385]

There's a couple of factors that would come into play.

Firstly, its worth noting that a majority of her collabs are singles (Just Dance, Telephone, Rain On Me, Die With A Smile, Shallow, you get the picture). A song being pushed as a single will already in itself bolster the song's popularity and more people will know about it as a result of it being promoted.

Secondly, as someone already said before me, duets/collabs will tend to have push from both respective fanbases, which is even more evident when it's two pop queens (ROM & Telephone). Having an a-list pop star release a single will already be successful on its own. Add a second a-list pop star? It'll get even more traction.

Thirdly, and this is more arguable and opinion based, but, a majority of her collabs are easier to digest and listen to. This will draw in an audience consisting of many people of all ages, backgrounds, etc. Songs like Shallow, DWAS & ROM for example, are easily digestible to the GP in comparison to other songs where Ga's eccentricity is in the forefront.

Spoiler

also @River uses payola so there's that

Edited 19 hours ago by artdoll

[elsamars 718]

 

[faysalaaa 4,588]

Not everyone is down for the Gaga thing, but because shes so talented, people love her when she does music that they listen to.

[artdoll 46,385]

1 hour ago, Controversiaga said:

It’s been like this since 2018 with A Star Is Born- and before that she didn’t have a big solo hit since applause.

I forgot to mention this part, but this just isn't true. lol

Million Reasons (2017) was practically inescapable when it was having its moment, its one of her most streamed songs of all time on Spotify alone. Not to mention ARUTW is right there!  Had she been pushed as a single I can assure you she would've either matched Shallow's success or eclipsed it.

[happymistake 22]

5 minutes ago, faysalaaa said:

Not everyone is down for the Gaga thing, but because shes so talented, people love her when she does music that they listen to.

exactly, i was just talking to one of my coworkers about her and she was like she's so talented i love her ballads and when i asked which ones she could only name Shallow 

Edited 19 hours ago by happymistake

[AVeryGagaHolyDick 25,617]

23 minutes ago, artdoll said:

I forgot to mention this part, but this just isn't true. lol

Million Reasons (2017) was practically inescapable when it was having its moment, its one of her most streamed songs of all time on Spotify alone. Not to mention ARUTW is right there!

On a global scale, MR was hardly big hit (or a hit at all in most countries) when it was “having its moment”  it ended up having longevity and more admiration over time, particularly in the US, pulling great streaming numbers but it was nowhere near inescapable outside of stan Twitter during its cycle. The whole fanbase freaked out when it reached #4 in the US after the Super Bowl, because no one believed it would even be possible. And then it fell free in a modern ecstasy.

And ARUTW isn’t a good example since Shallow (the only possible duo comparison) did better even where ARUTW was released. It still smashed hard, though, and even INLA did great as well.

It is factual that her collaborations tend to do better than her solo singles. That doesn’t mean she can’t score solo hits. Whether it comes from the GP’s taste or her label’s promotion, her duets undeniably work better commercially.

But to answer the OP, no, her collabs aren’t necessarily better. 

[PartySick 160,328]

I think it's less about collab vs solo and more about genre.

Shallow, as a rock/love ballad, backed by ASIB's massive success and the media being abuzz about Gaga and Bradley's alleged affair, was destined to be a smash.

Die With a Smile is quintessential Bruno Mars. Sprinkle in Gaga's feature as a hook and just about everybody got ensnared in it...except for those of us who are put off by cheesy songs like this and most of Bruno's other hits  

Rain on Me was weird. It had a high peak fueled by nostalgia for Gaga's pop music and Ariana's pure popularity at the time but now? It's honestly so forgettable  if you ask most people if they've heard it you might get a "what song? Huh? Oh, oh yeah, I think I heard that playing at a Target in like 2022 or something"  

She absolutely has the capability to make songs like Shallow and DWAS on her own though and they'd probably smash too if given the proper push.

ARUTW could have easily been her biggest hit ever, it just didn't make sense to push a solo song from a soundtrack about Ally and Jackson's story.

Million Reasons' popularity and longevity cannot be denied. It may have not been a HUGE hit on the charts but it's still incredibly well known and could easily be one of her staple songs if she desired it to be.

Hold My Hand was a cute hit too but it was tied into the Top Gun promo so odds are if you didn't care about that movie, you didn't care about the song.

And a song like Abracadabra is the exception to all of this. I still believe its success is fueled by nostalgia for Gaga's classic pop songs but DWAS put the world's eyes on her so more people went "oh yeah, 'p-p-p-poker face, ra ra ah ah ah, abra ooh na na'  "

...now if she actually pushed a song like Vanish Into You then we'd have another smash on our hands but she's apparently busy trying to make the Taylor sounding song work despite it being one of her most mid tracks since Eh Eh  

 

[artdoll 46,385]

49 minutes ago, AVeryGagaHolyDick said:

On a global scale, MR was hardly big hit (or a hit at all in most countries) when it was “having its moment”  it ended up having longevity and more admiration over time, particularly in the US, pulling great streaming numbers but it was nowhere near inescapable outside of stan Twitter during its cycle. The whole fanbase freaked out when it reached #4 in the US after the Super Bowl, because no one believed it would even be possible. And then it fell free in a modern ecstasy.

And ARUTW isn’t a good example since Shallow (the only possible duo comparison) did better even where ARUTW was released. It still smashed hard, though, and even INLA did great as well.

I was specifically quoting the "no solo hit song since applause" aspect of OP. 

Million Reasons may not have been as huge globally, but it did particularly well in the US, where Gaga is from. A hit song is a hit song even if its not as well known in other countries. There's no denying MR's success, commercial or critical even if it's not her biggest. As for my usage of "inescapable", where I live, it indeed, in my opinion, reached inescapable levels. I was hearing MR in stores, public places, on the radio, etc. 

The same applies to ARUTW.

Edited 18 hours ago by artdoll

[artdoll 46,385]

38 minutes ago, PartySick said:

one of her most mid tracks since Eh Eh  

I will not tolerate Eh Eh slander you banana 

[nodandsmile 10,630]

3 hours ago, Controversiaga said:

so it seems the general public likes her duets better.  Shallow was the most listened to song from A Star is Born and any song from her previous album Joanne, Rain on Me was the most listened to song on Chromatica, and now the same is true again for Mayhem, with DWAS

because she does not release that many singles to begin with

Shallow was the sole single off ASIB even tho solo ARUTW joined the billion club ages ago and oustreaming a lot #1 singles from that time

idk why you grouped ASIB and Joanne together because you could have easily mentioned MR which did not destroy the charts but will eventually join the billion club on spotify

does not take a genius to know why DWAS is much bigger than Abra, but even then the latter is actually is doing better on streaming than ROM which featured a streaming titan

God I hate it when haters talk is spewed on here