RE: “Why do you think Adam Lambert’s new song is doing so poorly? I think he thought the song being different is what would help him stand out.”
First, I would like to point out that “Ghost Town” was actually a hit worldwide, especially in Europe and Australia (where it is currently at #14 on itunes), and peaking, so far, in the top 10 or top 20 of many countries. And it is still making slow, but steady gains in the US. It is already a way bigger hit than “Better Than I Know Myself,” (slash anything since 2009) and it is moving in the right direction.
Second, Adam Lambert’s song isn’t actually that different from other current music. A lot of things I have read are actually praising Adam for creating true blue pop music that fits right in on the radio. “Ghost Town” isn’t a standout song. It’s a blend in song that says “It’s okay. I don’t bite. See look hear at this fuzzy, completely non-scary bunny rabbit that I made just for you. Once you are done petting it, you can come see my other bunnies and more interesting animals.” It’s a song that was cleverly designed to slowly reintroduce Adam to mainstream radio programmers who were scared off by Adam’s failure in 2012. Once they, and the public, feel comfortable with Adam, then he can get faster airplay starts on his other songs.
I love Adam Lambert personally, and his new music has received decent reviews, but I can see several reasons “Ghost Town” is building audience so slowly:
1) It’s summer. People are happy. People are carefree, and bright, and cheery. “Ghost Town” is depressing. It starts off slow, with Adam being super dramatic as he goes through what I would consider cheesy lyrics. I think “Original High” would have been a more natural summer hit.
2) Because “Ghost Town” is so slow, it doesn’t grab people’s attention immediately and captivate them. It isn’t a spectacle. It has a certain appeal, but it is subtle, and it takes a few listens to catch on in people’s minds and give them the endorphins of recognition when they expect to hear a specific sound, and the note is hit perfectly. Since it got such a slow start and was naturally handicapped by its slowness and its subtlety, many people didn’t get those first, slow listens for quite a while, so it was only able to build airplay slowly.
3) Adam was only able to do a limited amount of promotion. He was on Ellen, and that was basically it for a long time. Now that the song has been around for a bit and is a bit more recognizable, he is apparently getting more frequent invitations to perform it live. But, it is hard, when a song has been out this long without picking up steam, to foretell an acceleration in consumption.
The bottom line is that Adam Lambert was falling victim to the curse of American Idol, where former contestants hop onto the pop scene and then slowly fade into oblivion as their season is forgotten.
The same spiral of negativity that gripped Lady Gaga’s narrative with Artpop gripped Adam Lambert with the start of “Better than I Know Myself.” He tried to reproduce “Whataya Want from me,” and people didn’t buy into it, so radio stations didn’t play it, and by the time “Never Close Our Eyes” came out, people weren’t interested in giving it a shot. Maybe the label ignored Adam and failed to promote properly, but whatever the case, Adam’s press coverage was a swirl of pessimism, with the sole bright spot of becoming the first openly gay male artist to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200 (and even then, it was the lowest sales frame for a #1 in like a year!). Sales quickly dropped off, and the public never got to enjoy the precious gems hidden away on the rest of that album. Coming off of an album like that, it is difficult to make people expect you to succeed.
When the people who make success don’t expect success, success doesn’t happen.
One of billboard’s prescient editors ranked “Ghost Town” high on the list of songs likely to be summer smashes, recognizing the sheer talent and stage presence the guy possesses. But, “Ghost Town” still started off slowly. It gained slowly but steadily in radio airplay until the Original High was released, the promotion of which managed to finally nudge it onto the bottom reaches of the Hot 100, a bit higher than where “Better than I Know Myself” had debuted/peaked. Once the label stopped promoting, you might have expected the song to drop off the chart, and it definitely faced setbacks, but radio gains and youtube views managed to stabilize, and the song is again slowly scaling the charts.
Just to be clear, I would be shocked if this song ever made it to the top 10.
It would have to accelerate like crazy in order to do it in less than a year, and a year is a long time to stay on the charts. The radio play gains feel a little squishy, like they could collapse at any moment. The song isn’t driving sales the way that future hits tend to. But, it is slowly creeping up the ladder, sneaking in radio airplay when people aren’t paying attention, and so on. While AC airplay has started collapsing in recent days, that was never where the audience was, and Adam is still making slow and steady gains at pop and adult pop. So, if it just keeps growing at this rate for a another month or two, maybe it could take off in the fall, or maybe it could just climb halfway up the chart before sinking.
It is polling well among actual radio listeners.
While “Ghost Town” is still only at #28-34 at pop radio (depending on how you count), it’s favorability rating is 9th best, (60.3% to 20.8%, or +39.6%). While 18 songs have better positive rankings, only 3 have lower negatives. Only 62.1% were familiar with the song (strange that 1/5 people hated or liked a song they were not familiar with…). In other words, “Ghost Town” is still near the beginning of its chart life, at least if the listeners have anything to say about it.
Conclusion
I would not be at all surprised to see successively more successful singles from Adam off of this album, with each getting a bit stronger reception as the public is reintroduced to Adam as a pop-star (as opposed to Adam the flamboyant reality star).
Adam’s style has morphed into a kindof mainstream pop sound, and that, combined with his side ventures on television and touring as the frontman of Queen, will ensure that he holds onto a paycheck and maintains a presence in the pop world for years to come.
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Tags: adam lambert, airplay, american idol, better than i know myself, chart-watching, charts, ellen degeneres, ghost town, itunes, lady gaga, music, Music Industry, never close our eyes, original high, pop, pop music, queen, Radio, radio airplay, rock band, the original high