Is peaking at #2 considered flopping?

[irice22]

Absolutely not. But again we need distinguish between flopping and underperforming. Yes, Taylor Swift peaking a lead single at #2 is underperforming.

[Deleted]

It’s a f**king flop for Taylor. For some hobo like a random British dude. Hell Yeah!!! Nice peak.

[cassiuscasanova]

No. Madonna is like the queen of #2’s

[leonagwen]

May 2, 2019 21:17:23 GMT -5 irice22 said:

Absolutely not. But again we need distinguish between flopping and underperforming. Yes, Taylor Swift peaking a lead single at #2 is underperforming.

Being in the top 10 on airplay after one week is not flopping.

[irice22]

May 4, 2019 7:08:57 GMT -5 leonagwen said:

May 2, 2019 21:17:23 GMT -5 irice22 said:

Absolutely not. But again we need distinguish between flopping and underperforming. Yes, Taylor Swift peaking a lead single at #2 is underperforming.

Being in the top 10 on airplay after one week is not flopping.

Which is exactly why I said underperforming.

[Kris]

May 2, 2019 20:56:51 GMT -5 Caviar said:

Surprised absolutely no one mentioned year end stats.

BuT hAnGiNg By A mOmEnT wAs ThE #1 yE fOr 2001 DeSpItE oNlY hItTiNg #2. 

[Deleted]

May 3, 2019 22:43:41 GMT -5 cassiuscasanova said:

No. Madonna is like the queen of #2’s

Taylor bout to pass her 

[#LisaRinna]

May 4, 2019 15:33:57 GMT -5 @drakeisskinny said:

May 3, 2019 22:43:41 GMT -5 cassiuscasanova said:

No. Madonna is like the queen of #2’s

Taylor bout to pass her 

nnnn

[kanimal]

It's obviously never "flopping."

But if we're talking about disappointing / underperforming ... it depends on the context.

- If you're talking about an "event single" that is supposed to be the biggest thing on the planet for its first week or two but will obviously lose steam a month later .. then, yes, the #2 position could be considered a disappointment in certain situations.

You'll have to dive deeper into the numbers to really know.  How do the sales/streams/radio compare against other releases from that artist / similar artists?  Why DIDN'T it hit #1?

- If you're talking about a song that enjoys a 20-30 week run in the limelight, then the specific peak is pretty meaningless.


The real story is that we need to get over "peaks."  You have to look at the run as a whole.

[Albie]

lol I don't even think I would have taken this seriously when Taylor was in her prime.

[Eloqueen™]

Career and performance trajectory should also be taken into account. Expectations for an artist should be adjusted depending on the stage of their career, the performance of their last album etc. People don't seem to be doing this for Taylor. For instance: I think it is silly to have the same expectations for the lead followup to a blockbuster era like 1989 (that produced multiple massive #1 singles) as the lead followup ("ME!") To Reputation (her lowest selling album that featured a slew of struggling singles). Like expecting "Look What You Made Me Do" to be a guaranteed #1 was a pretty safe bet, but I don't know why people, particularly following Reputation, have this #1 or flop mentality for "ME!". It is pretty obvious she isn't at the same place in her career, nor with the same public perception/general level of public support and people are acting like she shouldn't be affected by this. So, I guess for a lot of people Taylor is expected to forever debut at #1 with every lead or it's a wrap. Silly to me.

[cassiuscasanova]

If we are talking about Taylor I wouldn’t call it a flop or even underperforming

[nick64]

Why do we still have this conversation? Peaks mean absolutely nothing. It's a measure of how well a song performed in a given seven day period, that's it. "I consider #1/Top 10/Top 40/etc a hit" is one of the most naive quotes in terms of chart watching. Every song needs to be judged on an individual basis. For example, "Be Alright" only reached #23, but it was the debut single of Dean Lewis and has had a lot of longevity. That's certainly a win for him. Same can be said for "You Say". It only peaked at #29, but lasted over 40 weeks and it's a Christian song! Huge win. On the other hand, "Focus" debuted at #7, but only lasted a few weeks. Ariana had just come off four very solid hits and was one of the most talked about names at the time (less than now, but still). For her, that's weak. When an artist has hype, their debut will be higher. That's just the way it is. Drake's "Don't Matter to Me" debuted in the Top 10 due to album hype and the Michael Jackson feature, but when it was later released as an actual single, it never even recharted. That's bad. "Me!" debuting at #1 or #2 is completely arbitrary. This week was never gonna be the judge of whether the song can be considered a hit or not. If the song is crashing about a month from now, then yeah, it was probably a flop for her, but that's yet to be seen.

To sum it up, a hit can't be defined by one number. It's all about context.

[Gary]

As with everything else the word depends on who is using it. If as a fan, you absolutely expect your favorite artist to hit #1 each and every time out, then yeah #2 is a "flop"

[jebsib]

Context is everything. "Loverboy" reached #2 and was a perceived flop as it was Mariah's first effort after leaving Columbia. Like "ME!", MC poured enormous promotional effort into the single which - given her track record - was almost assured #1. When Top 40 rejected it, the song failed to get to #1 and seemed like Virgin's enormous multi-million dollar return on investment was not earned.

Michael Jackson's "IJCSLY" also looked like it wasn't going to hit #1 in 1987, peaking at #2 behind La Bamba. It would have been a nightmare scenario for Epic (first song released after "Thriller") so they upped the promo and got the song to #1 before it plunged.

So - weirdly - some key songs 'only' peaking at #2 are perceived by the record company as bombs.

[Rose "Payola" Nylund]

The ridiculousness of the question is no better than asking “is water dangerous to your health?” The simple answer is no, of course not. We need water to live. But in the right circumstances, with more information (ie, MORE CONTEXT), water can be deadly.

[Joe1240]

Not at all unless it is one week single in the Top 10 for example Various Promo/Album Singles they debut and drop off the next week. For Taylor Swift this is not at all,She is coming off her least successful era Singles-Wise and one year wait between singles. This is different situation from her last lead single.#2 is considered hit for her at the moment far from a flop.If the song drop like the Rep Singles did,Then we can say different.

[Enigma.]

So is #2 for Ed Sheeran/Justin Bieber a flop if it was a flop for Taylor Swift?

[#LisaRinna]

May 12, 2019 4:23:27 GMT -5 Enigma. said:

So is #2 for Ed Sheeran/Justin Bieber a flop if it was a flop for Taylor Swift?

Of course.

[Deleted]

May 12, 2019 4:23:27 GMT -5 Enigma. said:

So is #2 for Ed Sheeran/Justin Bieber a flop if it was a flop for Taylor Swift?

Much bigger of a flop cuz ed n Bieber latest eras were bigger than rep

[Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ]

None of these two are flops, but I think that people have much higher expectations for Taylor. Plus all of that promo, Ed/JB released lyrics and audio only. Also, "I Don't Care" is not a lead single (yet), Ed's songs are known for their longevity, not for huge weeks, unlike Taylor's songs. Most importantly, "ME!" and "I Don't Care" are FAR from their best.

[Deleted]

May 12, 2019 20:47:41 GMT -5 Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ said:

None of these two are flops, but I think that people have much higher expectations for Taylor. Plus all of that promo, Ed/JB released lyrics and audio only. Also, "I Don't Care" is not a lead single (yet), Ed's songs are known for their longevity, not for huge weeks, unlike Taylor's songs. Most importantly, "ME!" and "I Don't Care" are FAR from their best.

Shake It Off:50 Weeks
You Belong With Me:50 Weeks
Love Story:49 Weeks
Teardrops on my Guitar:48 Weeks
I Knew You Were Trouble:36 Weeks
Our Song:36 weeks
Blank Space:36 weeks
Delicate:35 weeks
Style:33 weeks

[Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ]

May 12, 2019 20:58:24 GMT -5 @drakeisskinny said:

May 12, 2019 20:47:41 GMT -5 Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ said:

None of these two are flops, but I think that people have much higher expectations for Taylor. Plus all of that promo, Ed/JB released lyrics and audio only. Also, "I Don't Care" is not a lead single (yet), Ed's songs are known for their longevity, not for huge weeks, unlike Taylor's songs. Most importantly, "ME!" and "I Don't Care" are FAR from their best.

Shake It Off:50 Weeks
You Belong With Me:50 Weeks
Love Story:49 Weeks
Teardrops on my Guitar:48 Weeks
I Knew You Were Trouble:36 Weeks
Our Song:36 weeks
Blank Space:36 weeks
Delicate:35 weeks
Style:33 weeks

I meant longevity in the top 5/10/20. Also, almost all Taylor's singles/promo songs debuted in the top 20, you cannot compare her buzz (in the US) to Ed's. It's not even close.