Britney is more popular than Beyonce & Gaga (according to YouTube)

[GypsyWoman]

1 hour ago, button said:

Getting her life back on track is what people denied Britney could do. They were convinced it was going to end badly for her (ie: commiting suicide or overdosing on *****). The comeback Britney made was more of a personal comeback, a comeback to a stable, healthy lifestyle rather than a comeback to commercial success. Like who was focusing on Britney's chart success in 2007 when she was shaving her head ect? What hypocrisy am I perpetuating? Gaga isn't having a meltdown. Their cases are not similar at all.

In terms of commercial success, Blackout is light years ahead of Joanne. Britney 9 years into her career, had a lot more commercial viability than Gaga. Even in her darkest days, she didn't stop being a hit maker. Gaga has a clean "re-built" image, had a Superbowl performance with supposedly 120M viewers and still couldn't outpeak Gimme More, which Britney didn't need to discount by the way.

I'm not dismissing Gaga. I'm just saying it's not looking likely. She went on an extensive campaign to rebuild her image pre-Joanne, did all of those big promo slots you mentioned and didn't see half of Blackout's success, the album Britney released when she was a trainwreck and a joke to the public.

Oh and after Circus, Britney released an album which moved as many SPS units as Lady Gaga's third studio album, Artpop. Which says more about Gaga than Britney when you think about it.

I agree that this was Britney's personal comeback, but don't try to make it seem like Britney's personal life hasn't been the driving force behind her success. Britney became who she was because of the contrast between Britney the performer (innocent girl) and the real Britney who was a much more rebellious person. That contrast is what kept Britney interesting and intriguing. Nobody is trying to discredit Britney here either, but you seem to be on this one track mind where you think Britney has been nothing but successful since she came onto the music scene. Yes, she's a huge star, but she struggled prior to Circus too. Between 2003 and 2007, Britney was a mockery for people. Her life overshadowed her career and any musical attempts between then failed miserably. Blackout was a shining beacon of hope for us and the public, but it still didn't generate a huge success. 

Britney's team stepped in and did a MASSIVE image overhaul and that combined with the personal comeback hype for a big success with Circus. Femme Fatale rode on that comeback wave, but that wave has long hit the beach and is gone. Now we're truly seeing Britney's raw success which isn't much to speak of.

Gaga will never have Britney's level of success, just like Britney will never have the level of success that Madonna has. That's just the way it is, but trying to discredit Gaga so early on is no more foolish than what people did to Britney earlier in her career. 

Gaga's career is following a similar trend to Britney's. Both of their first two albums were massive hits. Any albums following have had lack luster success compared to the previous two and were met with criticism mainly because they veered off the formula of the first two. Remember, Britney sold considerably less than Oops! In the Zone followed suit and sold half as much as Britney. The same thing is happening to Gaga but it seems much more dramatic because sales today are generally lower for most artists.

the main difference between Britney and Gaga is that Gaga is having a lot more success separate from music than Britney did so she's able to stay a little more relevant for her career rather than her personal life.

Despite what your inner fandom may say, it's actually okay to root for other female artists. Even if they're doing better than Britney. The world isn't going to end if you root for them you know...

[Lou M. Taylor]

52 minutes ago, GypsyWoman said:

I agree that this was Britney's personal comeback, but don't try to make it seem like Britney's personal life hasn't been the driving force behind her success. Britney became who she was because of the contrast between Britney the performer (innocent girl) and the real Britney who was a much more rebellious person. That contrast is what kept Britney interesting and intriguing. Nobody is trying to discredit Britney here either, but you seem to be on this one track mind where you think Britney has been nothing but successful since she came onto the music scene. Yes, she's a huge star, but she struggled prior to Circus too. Between 2003 and 2007, Britney was a mockery for people. Her life overshadowed her career and any musical attempts between then failed miserably. Blackout was a shining beacon of hope for us and the public, but it still didn't generate a huge success. 

Britney's team stepped in and did a MASSIVE image overhaul and that combined with the personal comeback made for a big success with Circus. Femme Fatale rode on that comeback wave, but that wave has long hit the beach and is gone. Now we're truly seeing Britney's raw success which isn't much to speak of.

Gaga will never have Britney's level of success, just like Britney will never have the level of success that Madonna has. That's just the way it is, but trying to discredit Gaga so early on is no more foolish than what people did to Britney earlier in her career. 

Despite what your inner fandom may say, it's actually okay to root for other female artists. Even if they're doing better than Britney. The world isn't going to end if you root for them you know...

 

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I agree that this was Britney's personal comeback, but don't try to make it seem like Britney's personal life hasn't been the driving force behind her success. Britney became who she was because of the contrast between Britney the performer (innocent girl) and the real Britney who was a much more rebellious person.

Britney's looks, personality and character were big reasons for her success, yes, but I don't remember ever talking about the driving forces behind her success. I'm confused as to why you're bringing this up.

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Nobody is trying to discredit Britney here either, but you seem to be on this one track mind where you think Britney has been nothing but successful since she came onto the music scene. Yes, she's a huge star, but she struggled prior to Circus too. Between 2003 and 2007, Britney was a mockery for people. Her life overshadowed her career and any musical attempts between then failed miserably. Blackout was a shining beacon of hope for us and the public, but it still didn't generate a huge success. 

I called Blackout a commercial underperformance, how am I trying to make it seem that Britney has been on top since she came out? Like...

"Everything she released between 2003 and 2007 failed miserably"

????

• In the Zone was released in November 2003. Moved 12.7M SPS. Bigger than the "Britney" era. Twice the size of the "Circus" era.
• Toxic was released in January 2004. Bigger than anything from "Circus".
• My Prerogative was released in November 2004. A 6.8M selling record.

Did you miss their release?

Or do you actually mean everything she released between September 2007 and March 2008?

As in Blackout, Gimme More, Piece of Me and Break the ice?

Even then... there's something I just don't get. You mention Artpop and Joanne as successes but call those miserable failures?

Blackout sold more digital singles than Joanne and Artpop combined. Blackout sold more albums than Joanne and Artpop. Blackout moved two times more SPS than Joanne and as much as Artpop. Gimme More outpeaked all Joanne and Artpop singles. Yet they are miserable failures but Joanne, Artpop and their singles aren't? There is a logical fallacy. Yes, Blackout was a big commercial underperformance for Britney's standards but it remains an era that is 2x the size of Joanne and equally as big as Artpop. How does Blackout break Britney's streak of successes but "Gaga is successful for 8-9 years straight" with Artpop and Joanne in her catalogue? That's what you claimed.  

My point is that Gaga still hasn't had her comeback. Just because I'm saying she's yet to have her comeback doesn't mean I'm being a stan and hating on her. I'm being objective. Once she has her comeback, we'll call it a comeback, I have no problem with that.

 

[GypsyWoman]

3 minutes ago, button said:

 

Britney's looks, personality and character were big reasons for her success, yes, but I don't remember ever talking about the driving forces behind her success. I'm confused as to why you're bringing this up.

I called Blackout a commercial underperformance, how am I trying to make it seem that Britney has been on top since she came out? Like...

"Everything she released between 2003 and 2007 failed miserably"

????

• In the Zone was released in November 2003. Moved 12.7M SPS. Bigger than the "Britney" era. Twice the size of the "Circus" era.
• Toxic was released in January 2004. Bigger than anything from "Circus".
• My Prerogative was released in November 2004. A 6.8M selling record.

Did you miss their release?

Or do you actually mean everything she released between September 2007 and March 2008?

Even those can't be called miserable failures.

Blackout sold more digital singles than Joanne and Artpop combined. Blackout sold more albums than Joanne and Artpop. Blackout moved two times more SPS than Joanne and as much as Artpop. Gimme More outpeaked all Joanne and Artpop singles. Yet they are miserable failures but Joanne, Artpop and their singles aren't? There is a logical fallacy. Yes, Blackout was a big commercial underperformance for Britney's standards but it remains an era that is 2x the size of Joanne and equally as big as Artpop. How does Blackout break Britney's streak of successes but "Gaga is successful for 8-9 years straight" with Artpop and Joanne in her catalogue? That's what you claimed.  

My point is that Gaga still hasn't had her comeback. Just because I'm saying she's yet to have her comeback doesn't mean I'm being a stan and hating on her. I'm being objective. Once she has her comeback, we'll call it a comeback, I have no problem with that.

 

 

Which brings me back to my original comment pages back, she doesn't need a comeback because she hasn't gone anywhere and has had moderate success with what she has done. You're wuick to point out that after Fame Monster and I guess born This Way, she hasn't had any success which brings me back to what I said about britney. Britney had the same trend in her career. First two albums were huge then her success started to dwindle with each album release.

Nobody is arguing that Britney didn't sell more 8-9 years into her career than Gaga, but you also have to factor in or at least acknowledge the fact that sales are significantly lower today than they were 10 yeas ago. Following In the Zone's release, Britney began on a downhill slope, the Onyx Hotel tour was not pulling the numbers that the DWAD tour did and her knee injury brought her career to a complete halt. Then her marriage, Chaotic, kids, breakdown, etc. the odds just stacked up against her and when she finally did release an album, the music was good, but the response was lackluster from the general public mainly because she was a different person. 

She made her comeback with Circus, did very well and Femme Fatale benefited from that. After FF, her career has begun to struggle again, much like it was post In the Zone.

[Lou M. Taylor]

32 minutes ago, GypsyWoman said:

 

Which brings me back to my original comment pages back, she doesn't need a comeback because she hasn't gone anywhere and has had moderate success with what she has done. You're wuick to point out that after Fame Monster and I guess born This Way, she hasn't had any success which brings me back to what I said about britney. Britney had the same trend in her career. First two albums were huge then her success started to dwindle with each album release.

Nobody is arguing that Britney didn't sell more 8-9 years into her career than Gaga, but you also have to factor in or at least acknowledge the fact that sales are significantly lower today than they were 10 yeas ago. Following In the Zone's release, Britney began on a downhill slope, the Onyx Hotel tour was not pulling the numbers that the DWAD tour did and her knee injury brought her career to a complete halt. Then her marriage, Chaotic, kids, breakdown, etc. the odds just stacked up against her and when she finally did release an album, the music was good, but the response was lackluster from the general public mainly because she was a different person. 

She made her comeback with Circus, did very well and Femme Fatale benefited from that. After FF, her career has begun to struggle again, much like it was post In the Zone.

Nope Britney hasn't had the same trajectory. I made it clear that In the Zone was a bigger era than Britney and you already know about Blackout -> Circus. And I explicitly said that I was using SPS in comparisons which means there's no need to bring up the sales climate excuse. You can directly compare SPS because it includes streaming and digital sales which Gaga has the advantage in.

Blackout is actually the one disadvantaged in the comparison with Artpop because digital song sales were much bigger in 2013 than in 2007. Artpop should have no problem outselling Blackout singles considering the climate it was released in. But it didn't. Joanne was released in the age of streaming which helps it move more streaming units than Blackout but it couldn't outsell it in SPS. 

Saying Britney and Gaga have the same career trajectory implies that Artpop is comparable to Britney and Joanne comparable to In the Zone. That's laughable. Britney and In the Zone were amongst the biggest music eras of their respective years. Artpop and Joanne weren't. Everyone has been outdoing Gaga since she dropped Artpop. Few outdid Britney post Oops. That's the key difference. Britney was still having A-tier pop eras after her 2nd album. Like... what is Gaga's equivalent of Toxic from her 4th studio album, Joanne?

Hell, not even Born this Way is anywhere close to Oops!... I Did It Again (23M SPS vs 10M SPS)

Take a look yourself.

 

Gaga has been in Blackout success territory since 2013. She does need a comeback. Artpop is something she has yet to comeback from.