From Showbiz 411:

Lady Gaga‘s ARTPOP dropped 81% in sales for its second week and fell to number 7 from first place. The album sold 50,154 copies, down from first week of almost 260K. ARTPOP will be written about one day as a huge marketing failure, unique in every way. After a long, much ballyhooed build up the finished product simply fizzled.

Lady Gaga– Stefani Germanotta– will learn a lesson about hubris from this experience. Maybe. She directed the entire campaign, went against the advice of others, and wound up losing a ton of money ($25 million seems severe, but lots) for herself and for Universal Music.

This means ARTPOP has sold just 300,000 copies in two weeks. Where are all her fans and ‘monsters’? They certainly didn’t like what they heard. But as I said before, ARTPOP was a gigantic misfire. Gaga tried to shove the art world down the throats of the fans. They didn’t want it, and they were confused by it. What had they related to was Gaga as champion of the underdog, the gay kid, the bullied kid, etc. Jeff Koons was not in their realm.

The flop album may yet affect more things, like a tour. It will be interesting to see if she can sell tickets to concerts with music no one bought. The best solution is get back with producer RedOne, add some songs to an ARTPOP 2.0, and try and revive the CD. It’s been done. But Gaga will have to listen to someone other than herself.

PS Eminem retook the number 1 spot with his Marshall Mathers LP 2. He sold 127.000 copies, about two and a half times as many as Gaga.

Buzz Track: Bull Buster

Waxhead, a 4 piece surf grunge from Australia just released a video for Ball Buster. They usually perform at the iconic Great Northern Hotel in Byron Bay. The band has a upcoming dates in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. They are receiving airplay on 4ZZZ & Triple J Unearthed Radio and performed BigSound 2013.
Contact: mbegg_1@hotmail.com

Buzz Track: Resting Eyes

Love & Thanks is a 5 piece band based in Malibu and have becomes a Kings favorite. They are currently completing their debut EP, which is set to be released later this year. Give these tracks a couple of listens – good musicianship, composition, and a memorable melodies. In the vein of Coldplay but the band offers an original component.
Contact: zacharyfielder@gmail.com

Bryce Vine just got back from wrapping up dates with pop-duo, Karmin, and finishing up the last touches of his upcoming, debut EP, “Lazy Fair.” Starting in January he will join Karmin on the road again, supporting them for fifteen dates across the US on their Pulses Tour. Check out the track
Where The Wild Things Are.
Contact: mattmaltese@thecomplexgroup.com

Her new album, ARTPOP, was conceived as an exploration of what happens when high-brow art meets low-brow pop and if there’s really any difference between the two. It’s a theme broached in her previous albums—and touched on by Kanye West in his oil-painting-turned-music-video for Power—but with ARTPOP, Gaga is trying to position herself as the second coming of Andy Warhol. Pop artist Jeff Koons designed the album’s cover, which features a naked sculpture of Gaga cupping her breasts while giving birth to a shiny blue ball. It’s art that could be easily mistaken for a slapdash Photoshop (ADBE) job.

Considering Gaga’s massive following of “Little Monsters,” as her fans call themselves, and the fact that her last album, 2011’s Born This Way, sold over 1.1 million copies during its first week (with a boost from a 99¢ promotion on Amazon (AMZN)), ARTPOP could’ve been the year’s biggest hit. Interscope Records (VIV:FP) spent about $25 million promoting the album, culminating in an over-the-top “artRave” event at Brooklyn’s Navy Yard on the night of ARTPOP‘s Nov. 11 release. CONTINUE READING