ARTPOP Stans, Please Explain

[Fuffy 1,031]

# of listens ≠ album quality

ARTPOP isn’t an easy listen, but when you really want to listen to it, it hits harder than most of other songs and albums. That’s what makes people stan it.

[artdoll 46,580]

5 hours ago, Mirrion Rizzons said:

I do wonder how many streams DWUW would have now if it didn't have a problematic collab attached to it: 

The numbers up until 2019:

DWUW - 120,012,472

other version: 58,596,287

so around 178m - could easily see it having around 400-500m streams in 2025, which would have improved APs numbers

I think a lot of people forget that DWUW was one of Gaga's most streamed songs of all time on Spotify until its removal. It definitely would be somewhere between TEOG and LoveGame in terms of streams if it were still around 

[artdoll 46,580]

3 hours ago, 27monster27 said:

Born This Way was very weak on streaming until in more recent years. ARTPOP was actually pretty strong on streaming, and the album actually did a good job of transitioning her into the streaming era. I'm not sure why its streams are so low.

To be fair, when ARTPOP was released, we were still in that gray area where people were still not fully onboard with streaming and Spotify was not nearly as popular as it is today. I'd say Joanne (and The Cure) really helped her find her footing in the streaming age as that era took place when streaming more or less became #1 in means of consuming music. ASIB breathed new life into her streaming numbers which was later solidified by Chromatica and later greatly bolstered by TikTok taking a liking to a few songs, ultimately stabilizing with Mayhem.

[RAMROD 110,166]

3 minutes ago, artdoll said:

To be fair, when ARTPOP was released, we were still in that gray area where people were still not fully onboard with streaming and Spotify was not nearly as popular as it is today. I'd say Joanne (and The Cure) really helped her find her footing in the streaming age as that era took place when streaming more or less became #1 in means of consuming music. ASIB breathed new life into her streaming numbers which was later solidified by Chromatica and later greatly bolstered by TikTok taking a liking to a few songs, ultimately stabilizing with Mayhem.

 

Organic appeals yup yup 

[princedeeblebleble 1,892]

Well they took the only other single off streaming, so that lost a lot of streams. I'd imagine the same would happen if they chopped DWAS from Mayhem.

Also the album has a pretty bad rep amongst normies so they don't really search it out to stream it. I do find it pretty tragic that ASIB and Joanne are more streamed though, how are more people listening to Joanne than ARTPOP 

[TheARTPOPball 600]

ARTPOP is personally my favorite album and my favorite era of hers to have experienced, but i typically listen to albums a lot for about a year after they release and then they kinda fade. 
 

also, i need to be in the mood for it, because of how heavy it is. But when i am, it hits harder than any other record

[artdoll 46,580]

52 minutes ago, princedeeblebleble said:

I do find it pretty tragic that ASIB and Joanne are more streamed though, how are more people listening to Joanne than ARTPOP 

Actually, ARTPOP actively out-streams Joanne and does nearly double what Joanne does, daily. Million Reasons is just such a force to be reckoned with that it towers over every song on ARTPOP including Applause. However, Applause outperforms Million Reasons streaming wise on a daily basis, there's also that. 

Edited 8 hours ago by artdoll

[nATAH 50,455]

it's a cult classic, cult classics have never been about numbers

[CautiousLurker 19,476]

Well the first thing I did when it came out is buy it on Apple so I could download the mp3s and I've never listened to it any other way since - it is the album that cumulatively has the most listens on my end, I just don't like using streaming apps 

[robboadam 2,313]

12 minutes ago, CautiousLurker said:

Well the first thing I did when it came out is buy it on Apple so I could download the mp3s and I've never listened to it any other way since - it is the album that cumulatively has the most listens on my end, I just don't like using streaming apps 

Actually, this is a really good point - I haven’t replaced my iTunes version with the streaming one cause of……that song……so my plays will never contribute.

[River 117,826]

8 hours ago, REALITY said:

ARTPOP stans are like the Snyder Bros of Little Monsters

 

[Trxstan 1,621]

I mean the running joke is that ARTPOP stans are few and far between, which is why it’s such a ‘niche’ pick for a fav Gaga album. ARTPOP stand wouldn’t be clowned if we weren’t the minority. That alone should explain the low streaming numbers, plus the lack of GP appeal or knowledge.
 

Compared to other albums which easily have 3-4 recognizable songs to the GP (btw, tfm) or a megahits (million reasons, shallow, rain on me, abracadabra/dwas), ARTPOP only has applause.

 

like obviously the album that everyone is constantly hating on is going to have the least popularity and also the most outspoken defenders.

[Leblanc 2,478]

My favourite thing about Gaga is that somehow her current album is always my most favourite. ARTPOP has a place in my heart for really solidifying my love for her when a lot of people were against her but I honestly don't really go back and listen to her older songs all that often, usually I'm always listening to whatever current album she's on with a selection of older songs that I keep in rotation usually from the most recent album before the current one. It does make me feel like I'm growing up alongside this person who can make songs relevant to my life today. Like how I'm struggling with addiction right now and Zombieboy/Can't stop the high/some lyrics in Disease shock me with how much it feels like I needed those songs for cathartic reasons

[Sneaky Oliver 22,234]

12 hours ago, salty like sodium said:

how is btw so lowww 

we have to remember that Gaga’s streaming numbers were very weak until Shallow, BTW has gained a lot of traction with Judas and Bloody Mary getting viral on TikTok, correct me if I’m wrong but Bloody Mary and Judas have surpassed BTW the song  and TEOG which were the most popular songs from the album back in 2011

Also Mayhem was able to surpass BTW numbers because of DWAS huge success 

[Sneaky Oliver 22,234]

Kind of off topic but one thing that crossed my mind recently is that when Joanne and Chromatica were released I was like “they’re great but they won’t crack into my top3 of Gaga’s discography” (consider I was OBSESSED with Chromatica when it came out), my top3 have always been BTW/TFM/ARTPOP.

But something has shifted with Mayhem. I think this album has an element that’s absent in most of Gaga’s discography: relatability. Many Mayhem tracks are incredibly relatable like Vanish Into You, LoveDrug, How Bad, even Disease and Garden. 

Even though I still love ARTPOP, I don’t listen to it as much on a daily basis, not because it has aged poorly, but I have to be in a very specific mood because I can’t really relate to the music, except if I feel like partying, or when I go to the gym or if I just wanna hear some music to get me hyped and excited. 

Obviously I have an emotional attachment to it because it’s the music I used to listen during my teenage years but I can see Mayhem stealing its spot on my top3 in the future.