Madonna - "Living For Love"

[seaguy27]

Feb 22, 2015 15:48:32 GMT -5 Wolfy said:

Feb 22, 2015 14:22:25 GMT -5 chartfreak said:

Not necessarily, if this had 100 million AI on a weekly basis I'm sure it would be selling better.

In theory, yes. In reality, no. Radio wouldn't give 100 million AI to a song that isn't connecting with the general public. It's why I suggested going to single #2 early on right after the Grammys. After the Grammys we saw several early indicators that the general public wasn't connecting to the song. It could be Madonna or it could be just the song that isn't connecting to the general public. It's why I suggested switching to single #2 a couple days after the Grammys.

You should watch last weeks episode of Girls on HBO…..The one girl is a singer and asks her friends about a song…They say wow it will do well because while it is not that good they are sure they will like it after it is played a gazillion times on radio….they say its one of those songs that your forced to like! LOL

[Safado]

Any updates to the song? Mediabase, jump, botoxic?

[seaguy27]

Her team also put things together poorly…..radio aside which is a given, her sales would have been more respectable had they launched a single that had not been sitting on the market tied to an album pre-order for months. That made no sense whatsoever.

The sales performance is scary bad and more disturbing than anything….she has and should be able to sell ok and better than being outside the top 200 for a first single.

[badrobot]

Is ghost town confirmed as the second single?

[parkerricky]

Feb 22, 2015 15:30:26 GMT -5 tatula69 said:

To those that say that M is not concerned with getting another hit, sorry, but it is Madonna herself who is clinging on to the past and attempting to reclaim her pop hit status. Why else would she be creating this music? Why would she be collaborating with hot producers and trying to align herself with Nicky Minaj and Miley Cyrrus? Why is she embracing social media, if not to resonate with an audience her kids' age? I think she is very much concerned with getting mainstream hits.
As for the next tour: I know that the MDNA tour was a huge success, but in a personal level, I attended the concert and I was disappointed that it was so focussed on the new material. I won't pay that kind of money this time around just to hear new non-hit music. That's just me, but I wouldn't count on this tour as being as big a hit as the last one. We shall see, I guess. I wouldn't mind a greatest hits tour, though. Maybe. Depends on how much she is asking.

Sounds like a troll to me????

Anyone who has attended Madonna concerts over the years, particularly beginning with 'Drowned World', her return to the concert stage after a 8 year absence. Which was a triumph! Knows very well her shows are not lengthy trips down memory lane.

People want to see her and her latest presentation of her new work and she sprinkles in old songs she can tolerate!
Over the years her fans accept it. Like any fan from the inception would love to hear perform old stuff,like 'Angel'
she hasn't done since 'The Virgin Tour' But we as her fans get that she wants to stay in the present. Than fact she can pull that off is quite a testimony. Given she has multiple placements in the Top10 Highest Grossing Tours of all time! . For you to claim her audience is now going to revolt or abandon her is absurd. At some point she'll include more from her catalogue but it won't be some act of desperation!!

[Wolfy]

Feb 22, 2015 16:15:45 GMT -5 seaguy27 said:

Feb 22, 2015 15:48:32 GMT -5 Wolfy said:

In theory, yes. In reality, no. Radio wouldn't give 100 million AI to a song that isn't connecting with the general public. It's why I suggested going to single #2 early on right after the Grammys. After the Grammys we saw several early indicators that the general public wasn't connecting to the song. It could be Madonna or it could be just the song that isn't connecting to the general public. It's why I suggested switching to single #2 a couple days after the Grammys.

You should watch last weeks episode of Girls on HBO…..The one girl is a singer and asks her friends about a song…They say wow it will do well because while it is not that good they are sure they will like it after it is played a gazillion times on radio….they say its one of those songs that your forced to like! LOL

They are referring to the top divas that are hot right now. Yes, they can release almost anything and it will do well. Rihanna for example, but she can do this because the demand for her is still sky high. She's been slowly building up her social media presence for the past decade. Right now, she rules social media and streaming. She's on top on facebook, twitter, instagram, spotify, vevo... etc. When she releases new music/video, her followers instantly know about it, causing surges. Her social media stronghold is impressive. Her current strong support, everywhere, is what causes her high sales & streaming. That high demand causes radio to have confidence in her. That's why she could release a song that sucks and it would likely do well. That's right now though... how will Rihanna perform on the charts when she's Madonna's age? Its not about her age, but about whether or not the general public still feels a connection with her at a later age. As for US pop radio, its more specific. Radio listeners are very young. Personally, I felt LFL had a chance. I felt that if the song was good and radio supported it, that listeners would buy it. But, then as time went on and the numbers came in, it became obvious that people were not connecting with the song. Nowadays we have tons of numbers to dissect on various charts. Everything that's online (streaming, likes, views, online searches etc) is archived somewhere in a chart. After an artist does something big (Grammy performance), that's when you can get alot of info from the online stats. From those numbers we can get a lot of information and make informed predictions. That's why I early on felt that LFL was not connecting with the general public.

[Deleted]

Which is odd because it is such a mainstream song (hello, it's as if LAP, EY, & Vogue had a threesome in 2015!). Can Ghosttown do any better after such a chilly response to greatness?

But I still blame the release schedule for the majority of L4L ' s woes, not lack of interest after the Grammys. M has had many iconic TV performances but if I recall correctly then only one (TAB on AMA) resulted in a huge chart increase.

[Wolfy]

Madonna makes so much money touring, that she will likely keep trying. Under-performing isn't a big deal for Madonna. New material keeps the fans happy and gives her new songs to perform live. The touring money will fuel future comebacks. Afterall, Live Nation (a touring company) is signing the pay checks. She'll keep trying for sure. Hopefully one day she'll release a song that gets her back in the top 40. I have a couple ideas. She could release a song that's only a feature. A song that is mostly sung by a current pop diva. A song that will get her voice on the radio again, even if its only in small doses. Once people are used to hearing her voice on the radio again, then would be the time to try for a strong comeback. Another thing she can do is that she can be controversial again. A controversial song/video could go viral. Lastly, there's exceptions to everything. Madonna could end up with a hit when we least expect it (Cher's Believe).

[madonnaismyleader]

I wish everybody wouldn't jump the gun and say it's over just yet. I've been monitoring YouTube and the 5,000,000 mark for video and audio are reachable by nights end. Not bad. Let's wait till the week after Rebel Heart debuts and we can at the least pray for a chart placing on the hot 100. Like mentioned in a prior comment, me too expected zilch as far as top 40 airplay. The biggie stations that spun LFL this week like in NYC, DC, Chicago, Miami whether or not we reject or accept it she is 56 but they at least acknowledged that an artist that has graced our airwaves for 3+ decades deserves a shot. No payola like GMAYL to me was cute, campy but nowhere near impressionable as LFL. I've grown up my ENTIRE life with every era and get sad each time that there will be no new music to turn up the radio to anymore. So I enjoy this more than any era knowing that top 40 Madonna is over sorry for the ramble, just throwing it out there about how we should cherish every time we hear the Queens new material on the airwaves once more????????????????

[jumpb4uthink]

From Jasonakos drownedmadonna
Many stations are still playing it. All Cumulus Top40 stations inluding Q100 in Atlanta and KRBE in Houston. And plenty of iHeart stations too. Z100 and Kiss Boston included. It's just that it's not getting as many spins as before yesterday.
:)

[Safado]

Thanks Jump. Maybe since they played it a lot last week, they are easing up and start back up again slowly.

[madonnaismyleader]

Feb 22, 2015 19:23:05 GMT -5 Safado said:

Thanks Jump. Maybe since they played it a lot last week, they are easing up and start back up again slowly.

fingers crossed!! It's so crazy how the DOOM people create from 1 day of less spins!! Maybe we'll get a modest hit after all!!! If this airplay continues for 2 weeks till the album release we will definitely have at the least a top 40 or should I dare day too 20?????????

[tatula69]

Ok... I'm not clear , so would someone please tell me if this weeks' spins were due to a radio deal or not, or is it possible to tell?

[Safado]

Feb 22, 2015 20:00:39 GMT -5 tatula69 said:

Ok... I'm not clear , so would someone please tell me if this weeks' spins were due to a radio deal or not, or is it possible to tell?

That's the mystery question. I'm trying to figure that out myself. It's so weird. Let's see how this week plays out.

[Marooned@Midnight]

If it's a deal, it's unlike any deal that we've ever seen before. I'm not ready to buy that explanation yet.

[seaguy27]

I do not think it was a deal….however, it was probably due to heavy heavy arm twisting behind the scenes lobbying to give her a respectable opening week and then do what you want sort of thing.

[jumpb4uthink]

Feb 22, 2015 20:00:39 GMT -5 tatula69 said:

Ok... I'm not clear , so would someone please tell me if this weeks' spins were due to a radio deal or not, or is it possible to tell?

it has never been confirmed but it appears to me that it was a one week deal starting on Valentine's day with a different spin than the usual top of the hour spins. Guy O and madonna herself have said that they wanted the single to be released on that day. I mean what are the odds of a singles spins to drop from 300+ spins to -50? We should see how this goes next week.

[chartfreak]

And if there was a deal? I don't understand what's the point of knowing, especially if it stabalizes for the rest of the week.

[tatula69]

I think it's only natural to want to know, for 1. understanding radio's bahaviour and 2. for trying to predict what will happen to AirPlay.

[Keelzit]

It sucks that this is her 1st lead single since her 1st album that will fail to not only reach the top 10 on the Hot 100 but to completely miss the chart.

[kanimal]

Feb 22, 2015 20:13:29 GMT -5 jumpb4uthink said:

Feb 22, 2015 20:00:39 GMT -5 tatula69 said:

Ok... I'm not clear , so would someone please tell me if this weeks' spins were due to a radio deal or not, or is it possible to tell?

it has never been confirmed but it appears to me that it was a one week deal starting on Valentine's day with a different spin than the usual top of the hour spins. Guy O and madonna herself have said that they wanted the single to be released on that day. I mean what are the odds of a singles spins to drop from 300+ spins to -50? We should see how this goes next week.

All today's update suggests is that the song yesterday failed to match the special excitement/boost that existed on Valentine's Day (since the -50 is comparing spins on 2/21 to spins on 2/14).

If the negative updates continue into the next few days, then we definitely have reason to be suspicious about the entirety of last week's performance.

[jumpb4uthink]

Feb 22, 2015 21:02:50 GMT -5 Keelzit said:

It sucks that this is her 1st lead single since her 1st album that will fail to not only reach the top 10 on the Hot 100 but to completely miss the chart.

just maybe it will stabilize and even rise in AirPlay and the week the album is released may push the song much higher on iTunes and enter the hot 100. It's possible.

[cause_for_celebration]

Feb 22, 2015 21:02:50 GMT -5 Keelzit said:

It sucks that this is her 1st lead single since her 1st album that will fail to not only reach the top 10 on the Hot 100 but to completely miss the chart.

I know! I did NOT expect that at all. Really disappointing. But as others have suggested, had it not been instantly tied in with the album preorder, it would have had a much higher chance. =(

[Safado]

Where's mediabase for a full update?

[jumpb4uthink]

Feb 22, 2015 21:28:45 GMT -5 cause_for_celebration said:

Feb 22, 2015 21:02:50 GMT -5 Keelzit said:

It sucks that this is her 1st lead single since her 1st album that will fail to not only reach the top 10 on the Hot 100 but to completely miss the chart.

I know! I did NOT expect that at all. Really disappointing. But as others have suggested, had it not been instantly tied in with the album preorder, it would have had a much higher chance. =(

the albums leak was a plus and a minus. Preorder Album went #1 in 42 countries but including LFLwith the released songs left a two month gap of the song in limbo. I still think it will enter hot 100 during the album release time if AirPlay stays stable..

[seaguy27]

She could have picked any 6 songs to release in December….why release your first single then?

[🅳🅸🆂🅲🅾]

Feb 22, 2015 22:26:46 GMT -5 seaguy27 said:

She could have picked any 6 songs to release in December….why release your first single then?

According to them, those were the only 6 songs that were completely ready at that time and they had to rush them out. They still remastered them after and replaced them on iTunes. The situation was quite catastrophic that all the demos leaked out and they still had more than 3 months to go until the official release. The demos in most cases are extremely different than the completed, final versions, but still that happened. It doesn't help things that the full album leaked a month before its official release. Hopefully other artists and their management will learn from what went wrong here so they can better safeguard their new albums/projects to avoid or minimize these types of leaks.

[Juanca]

Feb 22, 2015 20:13:29 GMT -5 jumpb4uthink said:

Feb 22, 2015 20:00:39 GMT -5 tatula69 said:

Ok... I'm not clear , so would someone please tell me if this weeks' spins were due to a radio deal or not, or is it possible to tell?

it has never been confirmed but it appears to me that it was a one week deal starting on Valentine's day with a different spin than the usual top of the hour spins. Guy O and madonna herself have said that they wanted the single to be released on that day. I mean what are the odds of a singles spins to drop from 300+ spins to -50? We should see how this goes next week.

A couple of points to keep in mind:
- yesterday the +300 was explained by the expansion of the pop panel with new stations that were playing LFL being added. That spincrease was thus inflated
- last Saturday LFL was included in a syndicated show, but not this Saturday. That's already a factor to explain a decrease in spins over the weekend. And that's not unusual for songs in the upper-30s/40s
- I don't believe there was a deal. That doesn't make sense. A deal that is not top of the hour or applicable to all stations of a group is not a deal. Promo push might've happened, but that is not a deal.

I know we've talked about promo strategy a lot. I don't think it was necessarily bad to release this in December. This was very well received! It should've been promoted early though and not let it fizzle. Instead of Valentine's focus on NYE; or just send it for adds with promo. Let the song build up and then take further advantage of the video and Grammy performance for a splash in the charts that'd help it with chart performance.
Anyway
I'm still happy that it's at least a pop top 40 hit :))

[botoxic]

I just got back from a camping trip and have only looked at a couple hours of data, but from what I've seen, a majority of the iHeartMedia stations did not spin "Living for Love" today. Late last week (Wednesday through Friday), the song picked up anywhere from 5-10 new non-iHeart stations each day - many Cumulus but also independent stations as well. And this weekend, at least 6 more jumped on board, including WKTU New York and Q100 Atlanta. But those won't be enough to offset the iHeart defection, and I anticipate continued spin losses for at least the next two daily updates.

But if new stations continue to join the "Living for Love" train at the same pace as last week, the song could start to stabilize by mid-week. A big part of the story will be told with this week's adds report. Z100 staying on board may influence some of the iHeart stations to reconsider and possibly add this week, and all signs indicate the Cumulus block could make it official as well. (For those wondering, Z100 gave another spin about a half hour ago - early Monday morning NY time, and I think it's safe to say they have no intention of dropping the song just yet.) Even if spin losses continue throughout the week, the song at this point is on enough stations to maintain a presence just outside the top 40 and would be poised for potential regrowth starting next weekend.

It would appear that the label pushed "Living for Love" to dance radio last week (three adds plus spins at two new stations), and I anticipate the push to HotAC will start soon. I don't think the second single will be worked until after the album release, so the next few weeks of promo should benefit the lead single as well. We probably won't see a Hot 100 debut this week, but I think an appearance will likely coincide with release week.

The next few days will be a little painful, but there are plenty of signs that all hope is not yet lost.

[seaguy27]

Feb 23, 2015 0:03:02 GMT -5 🅳🅸🆂🅲🅾 said:

Feb 22, 2015 22:26:46 GMT -5 seaguy27 said:

She could have picked any 6 songs to release in December….why release your first single then?

According to them, those were the only 6 songs that were completely ready at that time and they had to rush them out. They still remastered them after and replaced them on iTunes. The situation was quite catastrophic that all the demos leaked out and they still had more than 3 months to go until the official release. The demos in most cases are extremely different than the completed, final versions, but still that happened. It doesn't help things that the full album leaked a month before its official release. Hopefully other artists and their management will learn from what went wrong here so they can better safeguard their new albums/projects to avoid or minimize these types of leaks.

Then she should have released just 5……the final version of LFL did not leak until early February when they were going to start promoting the song anyway.

Under no circumstance should they have let their lead single get dropped like that unless they were going to push it right away.