Dua Lipa – Radical Optimism

[andrebra]

May 9, 2024 19:58:20 GMT -5 Choco said:

She recently said she loves her dad being her manager because he doesn't push her to do stuff she doesn't want.

Yeah she's 100% going back to the beach as we speak and letting this era tread water.

I’m just wondering what it is exactly she doesn’t want to do? Pretty much the only difference between this era and the last is the lack of promotion now, and clearly her songs can’t perform well if she doesn’t promote them. It’s like girl you either need to be okay with not having the kind of success you want or you need to get back on the grind. An SNL show and last minute pop-up performance is not gunna do it.

[Maximillian]

I really am not understanding people saying there has been a lack of promo this era, when she has done MORE promo than FN that took place during the pandemic. While I agree the rollout could have been better, she has....

**Opened** the Grammy Awards, Brit Awards, grabbed the Time Magazine Cover for most influential people (plus a performance that will air this week on ABC), SNL *host and performer*, BBC1 Radio Lounge Performances, Met Gala, pop up shows in NYC, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, plus a bunch of other Youtube videos, radio interviews and magazine interviews (Rolling Stone, Billboard, Hollywood Insider, Guardian, etc). Her team also had a pretty robust digital and print campaign across two continents plus a song that it sitting at number 16 on CHR. Lastly, shes launching a mini tour through Europe in a few weeks and headlining a ton of festivals.

Beyond timing / single roll out being better, if this doesn't perform well, it has nothing to do with her efforts. Girl has been WORKING. I just think the music is too safe / not exciting enough for her fans to stay engaged with.

[Juan Carlos]

Debuts atop in the UK. It scores the biggest opening week for a British female artist since Adele's 30 back in 2021 with 46.3k chart units. You could read the article here.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C6yyaVitz1o

https://www.instagram.com/p/C6y4uDXsRfQ

[HEADOFTHEPACK]

May 10, 2024 14:26:50 GMT -5 Maximillian said:

I really am not understanding people saying there has been a lack of promo this era, when she has done MORE promo than FN that took place during the pandemic. While I agree the rollout could have been better, she has....

**Opened** the Grammy Awards, Brit Awards, grabbed the Time Magazine Cover for most influential people (plus a performance that will air this week on ABC), SNL *host and performer*, BBC1 Radio Lounge Performances, Met Gala, pop up shows in NYC, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, plus a bunch of other Youtube videos, radio interviews and magazine interviews (Rolling Stone, Billboard, Hollywood Insider, Guardian, etc). Her team also had a pretty robust digital and print campaign across two continents plus a song that it sitting at number 16 on CHR. Lastly, shes launching a mini tour through Europe in a few weeks and headlining a ton of festivals.

Beyond timing / single roll out being better, if this doesn't perform well, it has nothing to do with her efforts. Girl has been WORKING. I just think the music is too safe / not exciting enough for her fans to stay engaged with.

Yeah I agree it's not the lack of promo, but I do think timing plays a big part. It's been messy and not really tied to key moments (aside from this past week). Performing Training Season at the Grammys was the strangest one to me, simply because the song wasn't released... so what exactly is being promoted? Complete waste of a moment. That + the lack of a key single drawing people in. It's never felt like the campaign has had much oomph behind it, probably because it's been over such a long period of time.

[Maximillian]

May 10, 2024 15:48:23 GMT -5 HEADOFTHEPACK said:

May 10, 2024 14:26:50 GMT -5 Maximillian said:

I really am not understanding people saying there has been a lack of promo this era, when she has done MORE promo than FN that took place during the pandemic. While I agree the rollout could have been better, she has....

**Opened** the Grammy Awards, Brit Awards, grabbed the Time Magazine Cover for most influential people (plus a performance that will air this week on ABC), SNL *host and performer*, BBC1 Radio Lounge Performances, Met Gala, pop up shows in NYC, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, plus a bunch of other Youtube videos, radio interviews and magazine interviews (Rolling Stone, Billboard, Hollywood Insider, Guardian, etc). Her team also had a pretty robust digital and print campaign across two continents plus a song that it sitting at number 16 on CHR. Lastly, shes launching a mini tour through Europe in a few weeks and headlining a ton of festivals.

Beyond timing / single roll out being better, if this doesn't perform well, it has nothing to do with her efforts. Girl has been WORKING. I just think the music is too safe / not exciting enough for her fans to stay engaged with.

Yeah I agree it's not the lack of promo, but I do think timing plays a big part. It's been messy and not really tied to key moments (aside from this past week). Performing Training Season at the Grammys was the strangest one to me, simply because the song wasn't released... so what exactly is being promoted? Complete waste of a moment. That + the lack of a key single drawing people in. It's never felt like the campaign has had much oomph behind it, probably because it's been over such a long period of time.

I agree on the Grammy's -- but everything else has been pretty solid tbh. Music videos had solid budgets, everything was packaged well. I also think there is a difference between single promotion and album promotion -- and her album promo has been very solid the last few weeks. I mean, shes been out there pushing music for 6 months now. Its more than enough time to get people on board with the music (you are right though, its been very drawn out overall).

I don't think her promo is to blame for her sales performance, I think - again - her singles (and album) are polarizing to the US and didn't click.

[HEADOFTHEPACK]

For sure, not disputing it just hasn't clicked in the US. Kind of understandably to be honest given the music. The songs (and album in cases) do have a quality to them which is quite... British. And European. Some of the album tracks in particular remind me of British pop from the early-mid noughties. Illusion just makes me think of UK-centric dance singles. Happy For You definitely does too, but I can't pinpoint the reference. Maria is a summery euro bop, then you have Falling Forever which sounds like a Eurovision entry.

FN does too in places, but it fit into a broader 'disco' context at the time as well.

Disclaimer: I am British.

[Ling-Ling]

Yeah, she did promo, but so much of it (particularly in the US) was ineffective and/or horribly timed. The minute she dropped "Houdini" during the holiday season and didn't do squat for it (except interviews to push "DTN" for award nominations), we should have known she was in trouble, lol. Why didn't they do a first quarter single release with a concentrated push? And then opening the Grammy's with a song that wasn't even available and nobody had heard? And her doing sit-down interviews on late night talk shows and not actually performing doesn't push the music either. A lot of moronic, amateur-ish decisions going on. The song getting pulled from TikTok as soon as it started to take off didn't help matters. The visuals that didn't have any replay value didn't either. She timed SNL right and that was about it.

Dua is not a huge, beloved personality with a devoted fanbase, she needed a hit to push the album here more than anything else and she failed to land that. And a lot of that was due to her messy promo strategy. Hopefully she and her dad learned a few lessons along the way.

[Maximillian]

May 10, 2024 16:18:02 GMT -5 Ling-Ling said:

Yeah, she did promo, but so much of it (particularly in the US) was ineffective and/or horribly timed. The minute she dropped "Houdini" during the holiday season and didn't do squat for it (except interviews to push "DTN" for award nominations), we should have known she was in trouble, lol. Why didn't they do a first quarter single release with a concentrated push? And then opening the Grammy's with a song that wasn't even available and nobody had heard? And her doing sit-down interviews on late night talk shows and not actually performing doesn't push the music either. A lot of moronic, amateur-ish decisions going on. The song getting pulled from TikTok as soon as it started to take off didn't help matters. The visuals that didn't have any replay value didn't either. She timed SNL right and that was about it.

Dua is not a huge, beloved personality with a devoted fanbase, she needed a hit to push the album here more than anything else and she failed to land that. And a lot of that was due to her messy promo strategy. Hopefully she and her dad learned a few lessons along the way.

Lol I remember everybody saying she was ready to host the Superbowl just a few months ago lol. But you're correct, the promo was there, the execution was lackluster. Unfortunately, in this day and age of streaming and instant gratification, you can be huge one moment and gone the next without a hit. The room for error these days is extremely small.

[Mike]

May 4, 2024 12:25:36 GMT -5 Mike said:

This is honestly better than I anticipated.

WOW if this actually holds.

[Juan Carlos]

I agree with most of you that the promotion was there, but the execution was poorly handled. Besides the information that "Training Season" was swaped for "Houdini" as the lead single at the last minute, including a shelved music video, it seems that her team was planning a similar launch of the lead single at the EMAs last year like "Don't Start Now" back in 2019. However, it didn't happen because the show was cancelled and they needed to reorganize everything. That said, this doesn't exempt them that they prioritize interviews where the main discussion was her roles on Barbie and Argylle and the soundtrack she did in the former, "Dance the Night", during the promotion of "Houdini", which was a red flag to be honest.

Personally, I don't see any issue with performing a song with two weeks in advance (re: "Training Season") because there was a pre-order link attached when it was announced, but it sadly wasn't handled very properly once again. It's been said that the track was meant to be released on February 1 (three days before her GRAMMYs performance) as I explained here, but her team opted to delay the release to include the bundles (CDs, cassettes and vinyl) in the UK, which is her core market. This could have worked perfectly if and only if she promoted the song during the release week there too, making "Training Season" a EU/OZ release like "Physical", but "Houdini" didn't have the same longevity they were expecting as "Don't Start Now" had. As a consequence, once they saw that US radio stations were dropping "Houdini" and opting to play "Training Season" instead, they decided to give a proper push to that one too.

[Dylan :)]

Ireland, where an artist can only chart three songs at a time

#2 Radical Optimisim (NEW, Album)

#20 Illusion (=)
#44 These Walls (NEW)
#54 Training Season (+6)

[suburbandreams]

The issue with her promo was that her team didn't come with an interesting throughline that could actually grab attention.

There was a reason why her talking about the album being psychedelic was the main thing that picked up.

she wasn't saying anything interesting about the inspiration behind the singles or album.

It reminds me of Olivia with Guts where she also did tons of interview but said very little and so they just focused on how much Olivia liked rock.

If an artist is going to do tons of interviews, they did to have interesting subjects prepped to actually talk about.

[munx 🐒🎯]

Not feeling the album, I tried 3 times and couldn’t really get through it, skipped most songs half way through. Not loving most of the mastering/mixing on the vocals. Nothing is grabbing me or becoming a favourite of mine, maybe in time, but as of now, I think I’ll be skipping this album.

[Juan Carlos]

Debuts at #2 in the US.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C64Vy0CsGGo

[Carlitoz]

I’m enjoying SO much this album. This afternoon it’s been on repeat. Like 5th time playing already.

[wavey.]

She beat FN's opening I know that's right.

[felipe]

May 10, 2024 16:01:59 GMT -5 Maximillian said:

May 10, 2024 15:48:23 GMT -5 HEADOFTHEPACK said:

Yeah I agree it's not the lack of promo, but I do think timing plays a big part. It's been messy and not really tied to key moments (aside from this past week). Performing Training Season at the Grammys was the strangest one to me, simply because the song wasn't released... so what exactly is being promoted? Complete waste of a moment. That + the lack of a key single drawing people in. It's never felt like the campaign has had much oomph behind it, probably because it's been over such a long period of time.

I agree on the Grammy's -- but everything else has been pretty solid tbh. Music videos had solid budgets, everything was packaged well. I also think there is a difference between single promotion and album promotion -- and her album promo has been very solid the last few weeks. I mean, shes been out there pushing music for 6 months now. Its more than enough time to get people on board with the music (you are right though, its been very drawn out overall).

I don't think her promo is to blame for her sales performance, I think - again - her singles (and album) are polarizing to the US and didn't click.

The album is getting a lot of promo but I think they really fumbled with the singles. Houdini was released in November and the first (and only) TV performance would only come 3 months later. By then it was already too late.

[rnb]

this album grows more and more after each listen, perfect for the summertime.

[Maximillian]

Happy For You and These Walls are my standouts. I have them on repeat. I think if I could have redone the single rollout for US:

1. Houdini (start of 2024)
2. Illusion - solo release at first and then a few weeks in, drop a big remix with a featured artist
3. These Walls (album release week)
4. Happy For You (late summer / fall)
5. Training Season (remix) (winter)

I would have also started Jan/Feb 2024 and had a full year or rollouts, with the album coming out closer towards Summer.

[PGriffin]

I think they misfired with Houdini. They should have waited until the Oscar/Dance The Night buzz died. Wasn't she still doing promo for Dance The Night after Houdini was released? I think Houdini was the right lead single but it needed time and space....the singles and album after that remains a mystery to me. Illusion is catchy but very generic and Training Season is okay.

[felipe]

May 13, 2024 12:32:46 GMT -5 PGriffin said:

I think they misfired with Houdini. They should have waited until the Oscar/Dance The Night buzz died. Wasn't she still doing promo for Dance The Night after Houdini was released? I think Houdini was the right lead single but it needed time and space....the singles and album after that remains a mystery to me. Illusion is catchy but very generic and Training Season is okay.

Yes. Houdini was out yet she was going to talk shows and doing interviews to promote Dance the Night like Houdini didn't exist. I don't get it.

[thezatch]

All that talk about "Dance The Night" during Grammy / Oscar season and it still wasn't tacked onto the end of the album. Like, what?

[PGriffin]

May 14, 2024 8:26:28 GMT -5 thezatch said:

All that talk about "Dance The Night" during Grammy / Oscar season and it still wasn't tacked onto the end of the album. Like, what?

 right?!? If that was the case they should have launched the project with DTN and make Houdini the second single. That would have made more sense...(unless she couldn't get the OK to make DTN part of the album). If that was the case she could have served up Houdini as a summer hit! At this point I'm beating a dead horse, hopefully things make more sense for DL4.

[Love Plastic Love]

I think they were really, really pushing for DTN to get awards/be heavily nominated, which didn't make sense to me because if they were going for a "fun" route, they did I'm Just Ken, if they were going for the Oscar Bait song, its Billie. But, either way, just pushing back Houdini a bit would have solved that problem.

But, really, the album ended up opening well and all it needs is one hit to connect and she will be fine. She is probably fine in Europe anyway.

[Maximillian]

"Dance the Night" was likely exclusive to Barbie the Album and unable to be added to Radical Optimism. The same way Billie, Nicki Minaj, Charlie XCX haven't added their hit songs from that album to their albums either. While we can all agree rollout is messy, I think a few other factors happened here:

1) There was probably a promo agreement in place when they recorded these Barbie album songs back in the day. I do not think anybody expected the critical success of the movie to be as HUGE as it was, and therefore, the label, producers, etc probably were happy to milk that promo agreement when award buzz was circling. I am sure the label didn't mind this either (Atlantic - part of Warner - distributed Barbie the Album. Warner is Dua's label.) so it only was to their benefit. However, it certainly added to a choppy transition from DTN to Houdini (a lead single).

2) Single and Album rollouts are typically planned a decent amount in advance. I am sure the overlap was not intentional, and they figured this random movie song would not be the massive hit it became. While they should have pushed the album back and rolled out the singles differently, things might have been too far into motion.

3) Dua got buried in pop girls all releasing at the same time -- Taylor, Beyonce, Ariana. I really think if they *knew* all these major releases were coming down the pipeline, they would have scheduled this album to come out later this year. While it was fair to assume all of these artists were coming out with new material, I do not think anybody wanted all of this to come out within the same 6 week span.

[wjr15]

I agree they should’ve waited until January to drop the lead single. It made no sense to drop it last fall when she was still heavily promoting DTN. The material on this album is good but the promo rollout has been messy.

[Ivy Leegue™]

French Exit is just so...sexy. As soon as it starts, I feel warm.

[Elusive Chanteuse]

In a perfect world, they would’ve dropped Houdini on the Friday before doing the world premiere performance at the Grammys.

At least the album opened up with strong numbers internationally so it shows that her fanbase did grow from the FN era.

[bat1990]

My thoughts:

[felipe]

May 14, 2024 9:56:42 GMT -5 Love Plastic Love said:

I think they were really, really pushing for DTN to get awards/be heavily nominated, which didn't make sense to me because if they were going for a "fun" route, they did I'm Just Ken, if they were going for the Oscar Bait song, its Billie. But, either way, just pushing back Houdini a bit would have solved that problem.

But, really, the album ended up opening well and all it needs is one hit to connect and she will be fine. She is probably fine in Europe anyway.

True, but I don't hear any potential hits on the albums...