Why are so many PG discographies getting worse?

[Smother Em Eh 7,330]

53 minutes ago, River said:

Well.. they are like a long lasting tv series, at some point they have nothing more to say... 

Nicki has 5 albums which isn’t much and Gwen and I didn’t mention her but her and Adele only have 4 albums. 

But yes I get it and it’s almost like in a way, many are just putting out albums just to put them out. 

[Bronco 28,558]

Because the vast majority of pop acts are singers not artists.

So naturally, they're less able to keep things fresh or adapt. 

[RochesterJoannster 4,234]

PRISM wasn’t very good either. It’s the one with that tacky Birthday party song, and that awful robotic Roar. 
 

Katy’s exception was ever having one good album, which is TD. It wasn’t anything gradual. Even if she did have hits from PRISM, it was just less good music.

Edited Friday at 06:33 PM by RochesterJoannster

[TheARTPOPball 1,750]

They have said what they had to say from their unique artistic perspectives. Now they are making music for the sake of making music. 

[bxr 3,307]

1 hour ago, Bronco said:

Because the vast majority of pop acts are singers not artists.

So naturally, they're less able to keep things fresh or adapt. 

Good catch … would you say that‘s by design or just how things happened to happen?

Or, I guess, would you guess that pop labels sign singers instead of artists, for whatever reason (easier to fit into a formulaic pop package, less likely than artists to evolve or change their “identity,” their core talent / appeal is singing what is written for them, etc.) … or that the acts they sign just happen to be singers and/or not necessarily creatively-driven in a dynamic or transformative way?

Just riffing on your vantage … but/and lucid take

[Bronco 28,558]

2 minutes ago, bxr said:

Good catch … would you say that‘s by design or just how things happened to happen?

Or, I guess, would you guess that pop labels sign singers instead of artists, for whatever reason (easier to fit into a formulaic pop package, less likely than artists to evolve or change their “identity,” their core talent / appeal is singing what is written for them, etc.) … or that the acts they sign just happen to be singers and/or not necessarily creatively-driven in a dynamic or transformative way?

Just riffing on your vantage … but/and lucid take

Its by design.

Labels exert incredible control over the pop industry specifically. Singers are far easier to control as a product than an artist like Madonna or Gaga. Singers are predictable and easy to source, just collect 18 yr olds fresh out of performing arts school.

Throw a ghost writer at them. Invent a narrative.

Boom. You just created Gracie Abhrams lol 

High turnover rate, targered at teens is the focus for the industry with their acts.

 

[Controversiaga 17,363]

Don’t forget ARTPOP to Joanne to Chromatica  we really turned things around w mayhem  my apologies in advance to anyone offended by this comment or thinks it’s flame bait  it’s perfectly on topic 

edit: oh nvm i see OP did say mayhem was a good comeback xoxox

Edited Friday at 08:13 PM by Controversiaga

[StrawberryBlond 15,734]

I think it comes down to achieving basically everything they set out to do and having hit major milestones that they've already sung about. They're at a loss for what to sing about and have got too comfortable with a winning formula. Even if they're happy, they'll write a break-up song as they know it'll sell. Even if they have nothing to say, they want to keep the money rolling in, so they'll make an album anyway. Their label is probably encouraging them to give the public what they want so they just force themselves to do this every so often even if they don't feel like it. And even if they think an album is under-par, they know they just have to market it correctly. So many albums for a long time are a select few obvious single choices and the rest is just filler. Gaga is one of the few who consistently serves quality with every release, understands the importance of it and still has the passion for making music.

[Future Lovers 7,911]

Nobody can nail it 100% of the time. At some point every artist is going to experience a downswing, no matter the medium or the person.

Many pull up from it and return to quality. Some don’t. But a slump finds everyone eventually. 

It’s just not possible to make art and that art be great every single time. Part of creation is sometimes not hitting the mark. 

[Future Lovers 7,911]

On 10/2/2026 at 2:22 PM, Smother Em Eh said:

Nicki has 5 albums which isn’t much and Gwen and I didn’t mention her but her and Adele only have 4 albums. 

But yes I get it and it’s almost like in a way, many are just putting out albums just to put them out. 

Gwen has written 11 albums. She was one of the primary songwriters for No Doubt. 

[Monstermilo 5,480]

petal is great idk what ur smoking 

[princedeeblebleble 3,956]

Idk I'd personally say opposite for Ariana, I didn't enjoy her first albums but started liking her whole albums more starting with positions, wheras be4 I only liked the singles. Same with Kylie, I think she started becoming more of an album artist later with time, Madonna also until Confessions and now back with C2, and even a lot of other artists I like, like Florence, Aurora, etc keep making better and better albums. 

Why the decline in most popstars.. idk mayne comfort and a lack of challenge to be the best since they are kinda on the top now? Or maybe they tried experimenting but failed.. But also they tend to get less label support as time goes by and thus have access to less a list producers.