Lady Gaga - "Disease"

[Ryan]

[munx 🐒🎯]

Didn’t love that. I’ll stick to the perfection that is the original.

[balletgirlmom]

Lady Gaga and her career will be fine. She will be like Cher, Beyonce and other successful female artists who do whatever they want to do.  If any artist had DOWNS. it is Cher.  But her downs never bothered her. She just kept trying something different and new and her own.  Lady Gaga is like this as well.  She is a classy talented female powerhouse artist.  I love Disease and many out there do. As many have said, the Billboard Hot 100 is not the only indicator for success.  By thE way I think LG7 will be phenomenal!

[#LisaRinna]

Nov 13, 2024 12:25:34 GMT -5 Ryan said:

V O C A L S

[Az Paynter]

POP:
18 16 LADY GAGA Disease 5262 4536 726 11.747

+97 Spins
-88 Bullet
+0.266 Audience

HOT AC:
29 25 LADY GAGA Disease 803 705 98 2.003

+10 Spins
-11 Bullet
+0.022 Audience

[Enigma.]

LOVE the Antidote Live version (It's on Spotify now too btw). The verses are better here, in the original single version they sound a bit too dense and processed as the song is BIG.

[rainie]

okay first off: idk why it took me this long to check this out, it's fantastic. sounds super fresh and super quintessentially gaga at the same time

however i do have a few thoughts regarding the promotion of this -- apologies if this particular point was already stated, as it looks like there has already been a lot of discussion abt this / the song's performance thus far. imho, gaga is the sort of artist who solidly feels like a legacy act at this point, albeit one with a solid fanbase and one the general public had a positive association with -- ie they're inclined to check out a new lead single from her (hence stupid love debuting top 5) but not the accompanying album. the problem is that between dwas, joker, and harlequin, lady gaga feels weirdly oversaturated right now ?

imo what they should've done is either release this at the end of 2023 / beginning of 2024 to capitalize on the "gaga's back" hype, release the album a couple months later along with a second single, then by the time those have run their course, dwas comes along (which would still likely do well bc of "bruno's back" hype, along with it being a quality tune that fits the current zeitgeist) along with joker and harlequin a month or two later

if this wasn't an option, ie the material wasn't ready yet, then push this back to spring / summer 2025, which should still be enough time to generate some level of lady gaga return hype -- if joker and / or the accompanying soundtrack did well then it's recent amount in people's minds to boost that positive association in people's minds, not unlike what asib did for chromatica, and if they flop, then it should be far enough away where it's no harm no foul

obviously commercial success isn't everything and i do respect an artist disregarding that aspect of things in the name of wanting to give their fans music sooner rather then later ! this is just if her and her team were actually going for another hit -- i really don't think it's the song's fault, it's quite good (with more meat on the bone then stupid love, not a bad song in its own right) and this should've in theory been a great environment for an electro gaga comeback, with the gp not just favoring some amount of upbeat pop (sabrina) but also upbeat pop with campy elements (chappel roan)

[kcdawg13]

Regarding streaming and radio, I think it's been mentioned before but plenty of songs have reached the Top 10 on pop radio with poor streaming. Songs have reached the upper part of the Top 10 with poor streaming too, tracks like POV by Ariana and What It Is by Doechi reached #3 with piss poor streaming numbers, so if there is a god an artist like Gaga with a long history of hit records on this format should be able to carry this song into the Top 5 with bad streaming.

[rainie]

Nov 14, 2024 1:52:45 GMT -5 kcdawg13 said:

Regarding streaming and radio, I think it's been mentioned before but plenty of songs have reached the Top 10 on pop radio with poor streaming. Songs have reached the upper part of the Top 10 with poor streaming too, tracks like POV by Ariana and What It Is by Doechi reached #3 with piss poor streaming numbers, so if there is a god an artist like Gaga with a long history of hit records on this format should be able to carry this song into the Top 5 with bad streaming.

on the contrary, rain on me was only able to get to 8? 9? with much better streaming then this, so :/ i'd love to be wrong but unless this takes off on tiktok or smth, i kind of think this has a month max left in its pop radio tank

[Az Paynter]

IDK about Billboard but 'Rain On Me' only reached #10 on Mediabase. I think it got 2 weeks at #10 off the top of my head, but that was it.

[joshtheking]

Yeah I'm not optimistic about this making top 10 tbh

[#LisaRinna]

Dropped off the US Spotify chart today.

#200 has 341,910 plays though, it can't have been much lower than that imo.

[Maximillian]

Gaga to appear in Season 2 of Netflix hit show “Wednesday”.

[Az Paynter]

POP:
17 16 LADY GAGA Disease 5320 4679 641 11.904

+58 Spins
-85 Bullet
+0.157 Audience

HOT AC:
29 25 LADY GAGA Disease 832 712 120 2.063

+29 Spins
+22 Bullet
+0.060 Audience

[Maximillian]

I will say, my ONLY issue with this song is simply the time of year it was released. I really think if this has been dropped in Feb of 2025, it would have come out much stronger.

This year has been SATURATED -- in a way I haven't seen in a long while -- with HUGE pop girl moments. Ariana Grande, Beyonce, Charli XCX, Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Taylor Swift, Camila Cabello, Dua Lipa, Katy Perry, Addison Rae, Tate McRae -- and those are just the big names that dropped music (we can start to add in artists like Tyla, Gracie Adams, Allie X, Sia, Kasey Muscgraves, Kesha, Normani, etc). That isn't even a full list, either.

In a year that has been dominated by female pop, I think it would have been brilliant to let the holidays ride out, let some of these hits wash out through the end of year, and have opened 2025 with a huge banger (like this song), and in a period where they can give more attention to promo.

Additionally, this song dropped in the midst of a very tensions, high anxiety moment in the US -- a few days before the presidential election. While one could argue that the election shouldn't play a role in how this performed, I do think a lot of peoples minds were elsewhere when this dropped. The timing was poor. I get that originally they thought they might capitalize off of Joker, but they really should have pushed this back and given it breathing room.

[shakemaki]

This song is not a hit, it’s really that simple. Not sure why we would analyze “what went wrong” or anything like that. It’s very much Perfect Illusion’s spirit animal/successor in the sense of being a lead single of hers that ended up being shockingly non-mainstream for what we’re used to from her. That’s really all there is to it.

I hope she got it out of her system with whatever she was trying to accomplish by releasing this first, and they will focus on a hit for the next single IF those exist on the album. As already mentioned, this may not be that kind of album at all.

[PGriffin]

Yeah... this should have been pushed back to at least February. I do think this song is catchy and is a hit, but timing was off.

[Maximillian]

Nov 14, 2024 13:55:36 GMT -5 shakemaki said:

This song is not a hit, it’s really that simple. Not sure why we would analyze “what went wrong” or anything like that. It’s very much Perfect Illusion’s spirit animal/successor in the sense of being a lead single of hers that ended up being shockingly non-mainstream for what we’re used to from her. That’s really all there is to it.

I hope she got it out of her system with whatever she was trying to accomplish by releasing this first, and they will focus on a hit for the next single IF those exist on the album. As already mentioned, this may not be that kind of album at all.

You’ve beaten the dead horse, brought it back to life, killed it again.

[leonagwen]

Nov 14, 2024 14:54:27 GMT -5 PGriffin said:

Yeah... this should have been pushed back to at least February. I do think this song is catchy and is a hit, but timing was off.

Gaga is doing nothing wrong musicwise, she got big hits with music like this from 2009- 2012. Her most recent hits have been ballads. Gaga was the It Girl from 2009 to 2012. She's not the It girl in 2024. Most of the younger people who stream music in 2024 care more about Taylor, Sabrina, Chappell and Billie. The material that Gaga is putting out is good, the problem is that the younger people are interested in other artists. It would help if she would promote this more, maybe promote on a TV show?

[munx 🐒🎯]

Comparing this to Perfect Illusion really irks me. This is GOLD, the latter is not.

I agree, some promotion would be great. We need PERFORMANCES again. That acoustic version isn’t going to do anything for it.

edit: If this peaks now or super soon on CHR, I wouldn’t be surprised, low teens on POP is what most of us foresaw.

[SPRΞΞ]

This is better than Perfect Illusion for sure, but both are at the bottom of her lead singles for me.

[shakemaki]

Nov 14, 2024 15:54:51 GMT -5 munx 🐒🎯 said:

Comparing this to Perfect Illusion really irks me. This is GOLD, the latter is not.

I agree, some promotion would be great. We need PERFORMANCES again. That acoustic version isn’t going to do anything for it.

edit: If this peaks now or super soon on CHR, I wouldn’t be surprised, low teens on POP is what most of us foresaw.

I seem to remember most of the fandom defending PI at the time as “underrated/misunderstood” or whatnot too. Wasn’t until more after the fact that most were kinda happy to forget about it…

At any rate, I personally like this more than PI for sure. The lack of some career-worst vocals like PI has alone instantly makes it better for me.

[SPRΞΞ]

I randomly heard PI on a satellite radio station at my job the other day, and that key change has got to be one of the worst things I’ve ever heard in a song EVER. Makes Million Reasons seem like her My Heart Will Go On, lol.

[Love Plastic Love]

I freaking hate Perfect Illusion. Its literally so bad. Like, miserably bad.
I am ok with Disease because I think it is a genuinely good song. Not a smash hit, not made for radio, not something that will get the attention of teenagers on Tiktok. But, still a great song I genuinely love and listen to every day at least once. Perfect Illusion isn't even a GOOD SONG for being one of her flops. Like, at least flop with a great song that shows some vision and talent and not whatever that was.

Sorry. Perfect Illusion is seriously one of my few musical disagreements with Gaga and the fanbase LOL. I promise my every 2-3 year hatefest on PI is over now.

Come onnnnnnnnn top 15. I just feel like peaking around 14-15 feels so much better than 16 lol.

[shakemaki]

Nov 14, 2024 15:15:41 GMT -5 Maximillian said:

Nov 14, 2024 13:55:36 GMT -5 shakemaki said:

This song is not a hit, it’s really that simple. Not sure why we would analyze “what went wrong” or anything like that. It’s very much Perfect Illusion’s spirit animal/successor in the sense of being a lead single of hers that ended up being shockingly non-mainstream for what we’re used to from her. That’s really all there is to it.

I hope she got it out of her system with whatever she was trying to accomplish by releasing this first, and they will focus on a hit for the next single IF those exist on the album. As already mentioned, this may not be that kind of album at all.

You’ve beaten the dead horse, brought it back to life, killed it again.

I mean… have you not also done the same with feeling the continued need to defend or come up with reasons for this song’s performance? It’s really not that deep is all I’m saying.

[munx 🐒🎯]

[August]

The only thing that I will disagree with is the idea that success on the charts is not her goal or a big deal. If she did not care about her music being popular or its chart placement, she would still be an independent bar singer or festival performer. She is signed to a record label and does as much media promotion as she can and tours as much as she can, all in an effort to sell records and get airplay. That is chasing success and mainstream acceptance. Nothing wrong with it. That is the purpose of signing with a record label and sending songs to radio / streaming. That is what the music business is all about.

I recall many many years ago that Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam) giving some sob story interview complaining about selling millions of records and how thats not important and that the commercialization of music made him sick. He took a lot of flack for it as no one made him sign a record deal and accept millions of dollars in royalties. If you are going to play that game, then stay performing in the local venues that you started in and don't sign a record contract.

[Choco]

I mean of course during her bar singer days she wanted the hits. She wanted to improve her life. Now that she's rich? The hunger may just not be there in the same way and most artists admit the chart game gets boring. For every Nicki and Taylor obsessed with micromanaging every Hot 100 peak you have people like Adele, Rihanna and Billie who simply couldn't care less anymore, much to our frustration.

Now that said I don't think she didn't care for this. It's just that to me the streaming suggests this just didn't connect and that level of ambivalence doesn't usually respond to promotion. The song didn't connect. It happens. Her best bet is to keep riding DWAS until next year then drop another single.

[Az Paynter]

POP:
17 16 LADY GAGA Disease 5359 4786 573 11.903

+39 Spins
-68 Bullet
-0.001 Audience

HOT AC:
29 25 LADY GAGA Disease 861 725 136 2.126

+29 Spins
+16 Bullet
+0.063 Audience

[Maximillian]

I will start off by saying, I do think Gaga still is seeking commercial fame and success. I also KNOW based off DWAS she can still get it. With that said, It also looks like this song is peaking and will move on before the holidays. Now... about her *needing* commercial success...

Legacy artists, like Gaga, can put out singles or albums that fail to launch and their labels will not drop them. Look at Katy Perry (sorry to bring it up, just a good comparison) -- Katy's label is not going to drop her after this last album didn't meet expectations. Dua Lipa is another example. Why is that? Because these artists are still more lucrative to have on the label than not have them on it. Gaga routinely is still getting between 2.5b-5b annual streams across her entire discography -- which is over 1-2m albums annually if you convert it. She routinely sells out tours and her residency (and she has been known to be associated with a 360 deal, so thats great for the label). Going back to KP, it's the same thing -- one album that failed to perform doesn't mean her entire discography isn't making the label money and touring revenue will be solid. As long as an artist has enough relevancy to keep having their back catalogue streamed, they sell merch and can sell out big venues, the album can bomb for all the label cares.

Additionally, UMG own's Gaga's masters if I am not mistaken, which are probably in the range of $250-400m at this point. Of course hits would make it more valuable, but adding any music to it just beefs up what they can sell it for down the road.

All this to say, it's why Gaga can drop an album like Harlequin or create any type of single she wants, and she can get away with it. Shes at a point she can just be the artist she wants to be. She doesn't need anymore mainstream hits to still have a job for decades to come. Perhaps Gaga will start in the next 5 years transition to the likes of artists like Pink, Kelly Clarkson, Madonna, Kylie, etc., who drop music here and there that performs just OK but sell out tours, and therefore, the label is happy.