Taylor Swift - "You Need To Calm Down"

[leonagwen]

Jul 7, 2019 13:22:28 GMT -5 deepston said:

I wouldn't even be mad with this underperforming if this was a shadow of what 1989 and most of rep were.

The song is alright but she's completely out-of-touch with the latest trends. I claim that reputation was ahead of its time

The high budget music video did nothing to help.

[Glove Slap]

Jul 7, 2019 13:22:28 GMT -5 deepston said:

I claim that reputation was ahead of its time

LWYMMD and Delicate were both much more well-formed than either of the singles. I'm hoping they can at least keep this going up to the album release. I've gotten everything I'm going to get from this though. I still think it's really good from the production standpoint, but the end of the prechorus and the start of the chorus are the worst parts, and more importantly, drag the track down at the worst possible time.

[born]

Her self-titled album sounds more fresh than this song and it was released 13 years earlier :kii:

Next please.

[deepston]

Jul 7, 2019 17:38:26 GMT -5 Glove Slap said:

Jul 7, 2019 13:22:28 GMT -5 deepston said:

I claim that reputation was ahead of its time

LWYMMD and Delicate were both much more well-formed than either of the singles. I'm hoping they can at least keep this going up to the album release. I've gotten everything I'm going to get from this though. I still think it's really good from the production standpoint, but the end of the prechorus and the start of the chorus are the worst parts, and more importantly, drag the track down at the worst possible time.

Yes, I can't help but think that these 2 singles are much weaker than Delicate and LWYMMD. Which is odd because I'm 100% sure there will be much more interesting song on the album, I just don't know why she always does this... 
This song came and went in 2 weeks and I'm being generous. I would love if it radio kept radio for a few week until August but this isn't strong enough to hold the entire promotion until 23 of August. I actually think the end of the pre-chorus is the most interesting part but it lacks something, this track is too simplistic when it should be much more powerful. For a something that is supposed to be an anthem, it comes off as too minimalistic.
We are in desperate need of a promo single, and a good one.

At this point I'm hoping "Cruel Summer" is the Drake collab we were promised and that it features a much more trendy and interesting direction for her. Otherwise, without a surefire hit, I can see the album being extremely frontloaded. 

[g8erboi]

Surprised "Cruel Summer" wasn’t released in place of this, just based on the title alone. Makes me think it’s just going to be an album track, or maybe a single next summer?

[kimberly]

Jul 7, 2019 19:07:48 GMT -5 g8erboi said:

Surprised "Cruel Summer" wasn’t released in place of this, just based on the title alone. Makes me think it’s just going to be an album track, or maybe a single next summer?

Summer's long, sis. Maybe she'll drop it a week or two before the album to remind people that there is indeed an album coming. Lover is not a great title, album cover looks like a school project (a good one, but still) and ME! is tanking right now with YNTCD looking to follow its path. I literally forget she announced the album and release date sometimes. The lead up to reputation was much more effective with the snake videos and simultaneous album/single announcement.

[aznsinger]

Reading all of this makes me sad. Taylor deserves a long lasting pop career but I do have to admit her single choices leading up to the album hasn’t been great since arguably Speak Now era..

[Au$tin]

Jul 7, 2019 20:42:21 GMT -5 aznsinger said:

Reading all of this makes me sad. Taylor deserves a long lasting pop career but I do have to admit her single choices leading up to the album hasn’t been great since arguably Speak Now era..

Uh. WANEGBT and SIO were bath #1 smash hits with lasting impact on pop culture. Even LWYMMD was a pop culture moment despite its short life and BA kept her in country's good graces. No, her single choices leading up to albums have been fire until this era. The only one that really didn't help push the album much was RFI.

[aznsinger]

Rephrasing, I meant her singles before the album doesn’t seem to garner respect or critical acclaim. Even though the albums itself are so good. That’s what I meant

[👑 Eloquent ™]

Jul 7, 2019 19:05:14 GMT -5 deepston said:

Otherwise, without a surefire hit, I can see the album being extremely frontloaded. 

Oh the album is gonna be extremely front loaded regardless of hits, especially in today's sales climate. I wouldn't be surprised with an 800k-1mil SPS opening week and 1.5 sps total and that is given it produces a moderate hit after this. I think even with a monster hit 2 million SPS was gonna be a stretch (sad as that is today), so with the way she opens, this was always, figure-wise, gonna be that. With the way "Me!" performed and if this burns out, I wouldn't be surprised with a 650k-850k SPS opening and 1.2-3 million total. Luckily for her it will still be a big release comparatively.

They really fu**ed up with "Me!" though, Jesus and this would honestly play better as like a fourth single (though it is leagues above the first). I am still a bit interested to hear the supposed "new sound" this album houses as I certainly am not hearing it yet.

[trustypepper]

Ya’ll are crazy, both of the singles are pop magic per usual from Taylor. Not in the same class as her best but enjoyable pop music is all I ask from her and she almost always delivers.

[Joe1240]

I love both of the singles myself,The only problem that "You Need To Calm Down" has it sounds like "Sunflower". These songs should be doing better on the charts, not looking good when the star power is the only thing keeping this single alive at the moment. Taylor needs a single with longevity and that hasn't happened since "I Don't Wanna Live Forever".

[Rose "Payola" Nylund]

You need to calm down just became Taylor’s second number one on my personal chart and I don’t know how to feel about it but I’m jamming either way.

[trustypepper]

Jul 8, 2019 3:08:00 GMT -5 Joe1240 said:

I love both of the singles myself,The only problem that "You Need To Calm Down" has it sounds like "Sunflower". These songs should be doing better on the charts, not looking good when the star power is the only thing keeping this single alive at the moment. Taylor needs a single with longevity and that hasn't happened since "I Don't Wanna Live Forever".

I would argue she just had a hit with longevity in Delicate.

[Au$tin]

Jul 7, 2019 21:04:13 GMT -5 aznsinger said:

Rephrasing, I meant her singles before the album doesn’t seem to garner respect or critical acclaim. Even though the albums itself are so good. That’s what I meant

Maybe I'm remembering wrong but didn't WANEGBT, BA, and SIO all have critical acclaim?

[Taylor.]

Jul 8, 2019 8:15:56 GMT -5 Au$tin said:

Jul 7, 2019 21:04:13 GMT -5 aznsinger said:

Rephrasing, I meant her singles before the album doesn’t seem to garner respect or critical acclaim. Even though the albums itself are so good. That’s what I meant

Maybe I'm remembering wrong but didn't WANEGBT, BA, and SIO all have critical acclaim?

Yes, they were all nominated for Grammy's.

Anyway, this got a +192 today and passed Katy to hit #11.

[Az Paynter]

POP:
14 11 TAYLOR SWIFT You Need To Calm Down 8417 7389 1028 40.301

+192 Spins
-36 Bullet
+0.888 Audience

HOT AC:
15 14 TAYLOR SWIFT You Need To Calm Down 2528 1962 566 13.868

+81 Spins
-51 Bullet
+0.781 Audience

[Joe1240]

This week stays at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart.Holding stable this week. At least its not a drop. :)

[Az Paynter]

POP:
12 11 TAYLOR SWIFT You Need To Calm Down 8436 7682 754 40.522

+19 Spins
-274 Bullet
+0.221 Audience

HOT AC:
15 14 TAYLOR SWIFT You Need To Calm Down 2568 2055 513 14.100

+40 Spins
-53 Bullet
+0.232 Audience

[weaver]

Jul 9, 2019 2:45:44 GMT -5 Joe1240 said:

This week stays at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart.Holding stable this week. At least its not a drop. :)

I feel like maybe it will climb back up a bit...hopefully. But if Tay is following the latest strategy of releasing 3 or more singles in advance of the album, she may just drop another single and move on from this.

[divasummer]

This made such a splash with the video. Though I don't think it went as viral as some had hoped for.
(did it even go viral)?
It seems she will do ok but much like Katy she may not be a radio staple anymore.
She's got more fans though so she will sell and probably get more shots at radio.
Who knows she may still get a huge hit.

[Choco]

Yeah the video didn't connect the way most people expected it to. You really can't force viral, ask "Swish Swish".

However I think the Spotify and Radio responses are pretty good.

And if they time the next single well it could still hit #1. OTR won't last forever, and both "ME!" and this did above average numbers on their first week, so timing is key for whatever they release next.

[Az Paynter]

POP:
12 11 TAYLOR SWIFT You Need To Calm Down 8510 7847 663 40.566

+74 Spins
-91 Bullet
+0.044 Audience

HOT AC:
15 14 TAYLOR SWIFT You Need To Calm Down 2612 2122 490 14.296

+44 Spins
-23 Bullet
+0.196 Audience

[Az Paynter]

POP:
12 11 TAYLOR SWIFT You Need To Calm Down 8582 7974 608 40.822

+72 Spins
-55 Bullet
+0.256 Audience

HOT AC:
15 14 TAYLOR SWIFT You Need To Calm Down 2672 2188 484 14.386

+60 Spins
-6 Bullet
+0.090 Audience

[COW COW COW COW COW COW COW]

I have t heard this played once on Massachusetts CHRs. I heard “Me” a few times. What happened to the tightly knit pop that we are used from Taylor? If the next single isn’t impressive, I have a feeling it will be the beginning of her first problematic era.

[👑 Eloquent ™]

Jul 11, 2019 15:56:00 GMT -5 COW COW COW COW COW COW COW said:

the beginning of her first problematic era.

Did you sleep through Reputation? lol

[desertfloods]

^ I never saw Reputation as a weak era though. I think it still did well considering there was no promotion and the music/image was such a big change for her.

This era, however, is supposed to be back to old pop Taylor again. With $$$ and promo lined up for it. So if it doesn't do well, it is definitely much more disappointing than Reputation.

[👑 Eloquent ™]

Jul 12, 2019 1:32:52 GMT -5 desertfloods said:

^ I never saw Reputation as a weak era though. I think it still did well considering there was no promotion and the music/image was such a big change for her.

This era, however, is supposed to be back to old pop Taylor again. With $$$ and promo lined up for it. So if it doesn't do well, it is definitely much more disappointing than Reputation.

Problematic and weak are two different things and Rep was definitely blessed with its fair share of hiccups/problems (the "payola" scandal, huge plunges at radio, the entanglement of its first two singles, her image issue, the actual performance of its second and third singles etc).

[Az Paynter]

POP:
12 10 TAYLOR SWIFT You Need To Calm Down 8678 8126 552 40.621

+96 Spins
-56 Bullet
-0.201 Audience

HOT AC:
15 14 TAYLOR SWIFT You Need To Calm Down 2707 2310 397 14.453

+35 Spins
-87 Bullet
+0.067 Audience

[KeepDeanWeird]

Didn’t expect audience drop this soon. I’m guessing bad Callouts? At least her 2 ‘promo’ singles hit Pop Top 10 and #2 on H100.