Why Has Katy Perry Underperformed This Year?

[Deleted]

not too long ago, she was the biggest star in pop music, now her recent singles are underperforming, something that hasn't really happened since her debut album. Other than "Roar" and "Dark Horse", which were #1 hits, and the latter being her biggest hit to date, her other songs have underperformed at the Hot 100. Her newest single, "This Is How We Do" is currently at #27 after the previous week being at #24, and both "Unconditionally" and "Birthday" never reached the Top 10 and dropped pretty fast. In her last 2 albums, she couldn't miss as every single she released reached at least the top 10 if not went #1, so what has happened here? She's still a big deal, but why are her singles underperforming? is it because the fans don't like the album that much? is it because some people are getting tired of her? is it because they don't carry the same touch of her previous singles? what do you think of this?

[Devil Marlena Nylund]

Because no pop singer can maintain the level of success she had with Teenage Dream.

The singles from this album may have "underperformed" but that's really just in relation to the last album. Yeah, this album isn't vastly different from the last one so they probably tried to stretch that sound a bit with this and it hasn't worked super well in their favour but I think if they change her style up just enough, her next album will do well enough. She'll never reach Teenage Dream-era success again but there's no reason to panic.

[K.]

IMO, the material simply has been inferior to Teenage Dream and even One of the Boys. I actually think she's done really well this era for the quality she's putting out.

To be clear, I don't think her new stuff is bad, it's just not "It Girl" level good.

[Deleted]

My answer is: it's extremely difficult to equal or top an album with 5 number 1 smashes. (Only two people have them and neither of their follow-ups topped them, even though they had monster lead-off singles).

I agree that the quality may not be the same, but I think this era has turned out to be pretty good. I guess any artist would kill to have 2 number 1 hits from an album, but given her past album with zero misses, no matter what position "Unconditionally" had reached, unless it had been #1, people would still have talked about an underperformance.

[Flip]

She is not 'underperforming' lol. She had two number one hits off her latest album.

[¤ Matthea ¤]

Well, "Unconditionally" and "This Is How We Do" just aren't that good.

The under performance of "Birthday" surprised me. I thought it would do way better than it did. Maybe not #1, because not every song can be a #1. But still. I think music video for "Birthday" was a huge miss.

[Wave.]

Dark Horse took over everything.

[YourFaveIsAFlop]

Dark Horse is one of the biggest songs of the year and her album released in 2013 has sold over 500k copies in 2014. I'm not sure how that's an underperformance except in relation to herself.

[#LisaRinna]

The material she's released outside of "Dark Horse" has been subpar.

Honestly, "Roar" was already subpar but there was the hype of the 1st single playing there.

Katy is also lucky to have a label and a team who would kill to see her succeed, or this album would've been her Artpop.

[Deleted]

Sept 19, 2014 7:10:54 GMT -5 Flip said:

She is not 'underperforming' lol. She had two number one hits off her latest album.

Compared to her singles from her last 3 albums, she's underperformed, especially for her standards. Those 2 #1's aside, her other singles have sort of flopped, which is surprising considering in her previous albums, any single she realeased automatically went to the Top 10 or was a #1 hit.

[Gary]

I agree with the 2 #1's off the latest album comment. Sending each and every single to #1 from now until forever simply isn't going to happen.

[Deleted]

Sept 19, 2014 9:08:01 GMT -5 YourFaveIsAFlop said:

Dark Horse is one of the biggest songs of the year and her album released in 2013 has sold over 500k copies in 2014. I'm not sure how that's an underperformance except in relation to herself.

You completely misunderstood the point of this subject. I already mentioned "Dark Horse" is her biggest hit to date, but I'm talking about the album as a whole and her singles aside from "Dark Horse" and "Roar", besides those two, every other single pretty much flopped, while in previous albums, at least a Top 10 was a gimme every time she released a single, that's what I mean by underperformance, think for a second.

[Deleted]

For you guys that are pointing out "Roar" and "Dark Horse", read the description (my first comment on top) before posting your comment.

[Gary]

I think Roar and Dark Horse in context of "underperforming" is relevant.


"underperforming" compared to record setting placement of singles from the previous album, Including deluxe reissues, the prior album had 6 #1's which is a record.

No where to go from there but down.

2 #1's off an album doesn't happen much either. So underperforming which 2 #1's off the latest album? No, I don't agree

[dbhmr]

The two reasons others have already said: the natural come-down from her out-of-this-world Teenage Dream era, and subpar material. Pulse was convinced, in spite of every other example in the world showing otherwise, that Katy was going to be the exception and just continue to ride the #1 wave for at least another album cycle or two. This was never going to happen, but she could have made some interesting artistic/musical progression with her follow-up album. And, for a while, it seemed like she was going to with the reports we were getting, and those cool trailers she made. But she went the safe route to maintain her elite status, and the result was even more MOTR radio-friendly pop that, outside of whatever they picked as her first single (because the hype was just too big, and it was fortunate that "Roar" was among the catchiest and slickest songs of the bunch) and the great-no-matter-what "Dark Horse," the songs were just never going to stick with the general public because they weren't all that interesting, nor particularly good.

She's basically giving us what she gave us with Teenage Dream and it's the law of diminished returns. It says a lot about her star power, her management team, and pop radio's undying affection for her that she's done as well as she has, because for nearly any other artist, this era would be a great success.

[upsidedown]

I feel like its over-saturation. All of her singles sound relatively the same and This is How We Do, while a fun jam, is extremely basic and nothing new.

[Hefty Hanna]

Material.

It's really that simple.

[SPRΞΞ]

she's only underperforming in relation to herself. She's beating everyone else.

[Devil Marlena Nylund]

Sept 21, 2014 18:02:36 GMT -5 SPRΞΞ said:

she's only underperforming in relation to herself. She's beating everyone else.

Hold your horses there Sally. Ariana's on the phone.

[Joe1240]

Maybe most of her singles this era just aren't as great as the "Teenage Dream" era. "Dark Horse" was the best single on the album and nothing else that has followed has even matched that single's success. IMO,She should move on from this era and release a new album in fall 2015.

[leonagwen]

Shes underperforming based on her own standards.But the album did produce 2 huge #1 hits,Roar and Dark horse.Dark horse has a chance at being the #1 song of the year.A music artist is not gonna have 6 #1 hits on every album they release.

[JOJO SIWA DERANGEMENT SYNDROME]

Katy did very well with "Roar" and then again with "Dark Horse". "Dark Horse" was already selling well when it was issued as an iTunes Countdown single and it got radio airplay before it was even sent for adds. And it continued to gain on radio and sell well while "Unconditionally" was a single. The public didn't really go for "Unconditionally" all that much and they weren't really here for "Birthday" and "This Is How We Do." The hot mess video for "Birthday" didn't really help either (the extra long length didn't help either). As others said earlier in this discussion, it comes down to the material chosen for a single release. There were other stronger songs that could have been released as singles. We can't go back in time to see what could have been had "Walking On Air" or "Legendary Lovers" been released as singles in place of "Birthday" and "This Is How We Do".

[halo19]

ITT: having an album era with two #1 hits constitutes a flop era. That's pulse alright.

Not everyone hits it big every time and maybe people are a bit tired of her?

[Zeebz]

The era isn't a flop, but I absolutely think it is mainly underperforming due to material. "This Is How We Do" and "Birthday" are both cheesy and annoying. "Unconditionally" and "Roar" are incredibly bland, and they don't sound fresh at all. "Dark Horse" is really the only above-par single she has released this era. The problems are simple: She is choosing the wrong singles (there are much better songs on the album), her singles (other than "Dark Horse" obviously) this era immediately sound dated and basic, and she can't keep having the kind of success she had with Teenage Dream,

Again, however, she isn't flopping by any means. She is still doing quite well. Pop radio is still here for her.

[areyoureadytojump]

I'm wondering if there will be a 6th single for the Christmas shopping season or is the album dunzo?

1.490 million sold in the USA.

3 million sold worldwide.

[Deleted]

Hmmm never saw this era as underperforming. I guess that's where your mindset or standards kick in. To me she is still very much overperforming and should be very gracious, in terms of numbers. The only times I see her underperforming is when I see her on a stage.

[Caviar]

Trash it all you want but "Roar" is one of the biggest anthems in her catalog.