Why are there so many one-hit wonders this year?

[tekkenguy]

Why have there been so many one-hit wonders this year? We've had more breakout artists than any other year, but only Iggy, Sam, and Meghan (and arguably 5SOS) have been able to sustain their success so far. Other breakout artists like Passenger, AGBW, Bastille, American Authors, Rixton, Nico & Vinz, MAGIC!, Becky G, Sia, Clean Bandit, etc. haven't done so well after their first hit. Even John Legend, an established R&B superstar, had one major crossover and nothing else afterwards. What's going on?

[Deleted]

If I knew the answer to that, I would definitely tell you, it intrigues me too. Uh, my guess is that maybe it has to do with social media outlets. Eg: Vine made Bobby Shmurda famous with Hot Boy, All About that Bass went viral and that jump started Meghan Trainor's career, those are just a few examples.

[Dielawn]

The AAA trend on CHR seems to be producing more one-hit-wonders than any era in history

[Keelzit]

I personally like this situation since the one-hit wonders vary in sound which is more pleasing and 'healthy' than having the same people scoring multiple similar-sounding hits in under a year.

[surfy]

Most of the artists listed either haven't sent in another single to Pop yet or have released weak material as a follow up...

[johnm1120]

I wouldn't count many of them out yet. They're 2nd singles may have received recurrentitus, but that doesn't mean they're done (we all said the same about Owl City.)

[Au$tin]

Of the ones you listed:

Passenger hasn't released a single past "Let Her Go."
A Great Big World's second single was boring as shit.
Bastille has had success post-"Pompeii" on the alternative format.
American Authors shouldn't have had success to begin with anyway.
Rixton is very much just a watered down The Wanted.
Nico & Vinz were doomed do be one-hit-wonders from the way their first single sounded.
MAGIC! is still on their second single, which is still slowly climbing.
Becky G as well.
Sia hasn't released a single past "Chandelier."
Clean Bandit haven't released anything stateside other than "Rather Be." Their other Jess Glynne song will be sent to US radios soon, though. Outside the US, they have several hits.

[trustypepper]

I've found this whole year to be very interesting. Not many established superstars released new music this year (obviously many still did but seemed like a lot less than usual) which allowed many new artists to emerge with hits.

[maine]

This is a pretty pointless thread considering the fact that most, if not all of the artists listed haven't released a second single to Pop, or are currently on their second.

Your list:

Passenger: Nothing past "Let Her Go".
A Great Big World: Nothing past "Say Something" on Pop, but probably going to be a one-hit wonder nonetheless.
Bastille: "Flaws" was pushed to Pop (wrong song to push), which flopped, but hardly had any push outside of its adds date. They've had success on Alt (their core format) with recent singles.
American Authors: "Believer" was tried on Pop, but got pushed back so many times that it ultimately got cancelled and forgotten.
Rixton: "Wait On Me" flopped considering it was fairly uninteresting. They do have the tools to pass the one-hit wonder, but right now it doesn't look like they'll have another hit.
Nico & Vinz: Their destined for one-hit wonder status, but their second single "In Your Arms" is turning into a moderate hit and still climbing Pop charts.
MAGIC!: Currently in the midst of their second single "Let Your Hair Down". This will probably become either a moderate hit or flop, but there are other songs on the album that could become hits.
Becky G: Has she had a hit?
Sia: Nothing past "Chandelier". Still wouldn't be considered a one-hit wonder since she's scored hits with "Wild Ones" and "Titanium".
Clean Bandit: Nothing past "Rather Be".

[someguy]

Nov 29, 2014 1:57:47 GMT -5 trustypepper said:

I've found this whole year to be very interesting. Not many established superstars released new music this year (obviously many still did but seemed like a lot less than usual) which allowed many new artists to emerge with hits.

That's exactly what I think. There was less music from established artists to choose from, so radio was more open to playing crossover hits from genre artists that they generally don't play (John Legend), or they were more willing to pick up singles from brand new artists (MAGIC!, Rixton, American Authors) that they otherwise might not have touched.

[mkarns]

A lot of recent hits have been due to the sound of the song rather than the artists' track records, which I think is a positive thing in a way; more diversity on radio, rather than a lot of soundalike mediocrities becoming hits just due to name rec.

But it's too early to call a lot of this year's--or even the last few years'--newcomers "one hit wonders" yet, though some undoubtedly will be.

[jenglisbe]

Is this for sure more than normal?

[Dielawn]

Nov 30, 2014 14:16:44 GMT -5 mkarns said:

A lot of recent hits have been due to the sound of the song rather than the artists' track records, which I think is a positive thing in a way; more diversity on radio, rather than a lot of soundalike mediocrities becoming hits just due to name rec.

But it's too early to call a lot of this year's--or even the last few years'--newcomers "one hit wonders" yet, though some undoubtedly will be.

Which ones do you think fall into that last category ?

[kanimal]

Nov 30, 2014 14:16:44 GMT -5 mkarns said:

A lot of recent hits have been due to the sound of the song rather than the artists' track records, which I think is a positive thing in a way; more diversity on radio, rather than a lot of soundalike mediocrities becoming hits just due to name rec.

But it's too early to call a lot of this year's--or even the last few years'--newcomers "one hit wonders" yet, though some undoubtedly will be.

This is the answer right here.  Not only were we lacking an excess of established artists at pop this year, but radio recently decided that a song doesn't deserve monstrous airplay just because it comes from Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga and the like.  The only established stars who seemed to be "automatic" at radio this year were Taylor Swift (who wasn't automatic at pop prior to this album cycle - and thus "became" a popstar this year) and Maroon 5.  New stars like Iggy Azalea, Ariana Grande (why was she omitted from the first post?  She had one semi-legitimate hit prior to this year - and is now a juggernaut) and Sam Smith, meanwhile, have seemingly entered into "automatic" territory and are on the road to becoming "established."

But the reality is that the marketplace has largely been chasing appealing (and appealingly DIFFERENT) songs, and that predisposes the format to artist variation (and fewer "streaks" of hits).

There's also the fact that many of the songs that arrived at pop this year were made outside of pop by artists that are not "popstars" and thus not necessarily capable of repetition.  Best Day of My Life was an alt hit -- and one that was featured in tons of commercials and videos - and it leveraged that buzz to score at pop.  Pompeii also established itself at alternative before pop.  Rixton's song mainly rose due to the iHeartRadio OTV deal (and peaked shortly thereafter).  We'll find out if the same is true of the songs by Clean Bandit and Tove Lo songs.  In such cases, their debut songs might not have even been hits if not for "boosts."

The artists themselves, in many ways, control their destinies.  Of all the songs that hit this year, Meghan Trainor's "All About That Bass" seemed *most* likely to be a one-hit wonder, and it already isn't because Trainor went into the studio and developed a song that replicated the essence of her first hit.  Nico and Vinz didn't do that--they released a good song, but one that was developed before they became famous in America--and the follow-up stalled (but was an outright flop either).

[tekkenguy]

I feel like MAGIC! screamed one-hit wonder to me more than Meghan did. Rude was much more left-field than AATB was IMO so their chances at another hit seemed slim. Pop has always been more welcoming to female musicians than male ones, so I think Meghan had a great shot at a follow-up. Most male acts who make it past a single hit also get big album sales. MAGIC!'s album flopped so their fate was obvious.

[trustypepper]

An important thing to remember is that just because a follow-up single flops, doesn't mean the artist is done for good. Many artists who blasted onto the scene with a big hit and then flopped with the follow-up have seen success on singles from their next album or even later.

[YourFaveIsAFlop]

You'll also notice that a large number of these artists are also not US based. Attempting to recreate success of 1 big single in a huge market like the US is risky and time consuming, when the label could better spend resources developing domestic audiences for them that will carry their careers for a longer period. The pay off of breaking through with a second single in America is huge, but the risks are also huge and many foreign artists don't even attempt it, hence the high proportion of foreign 1 hit wonders.