Adam Lambert is Back with “Another Lonely Night” Music Video

Adam Lambert’s new music video is on Youtube. Although, as of 10/9/15 12:50AM, it is still unlisted and therefore won’t show up in a search or on Lambert’s list of music videos, you can watch it if you have the link to the direct URL. Luckily, I do. And now, I am sharing it with you. ;P You can watch “Another Lonely Night” HERE.

“Another Lonely Night” is the second single off of Lambert’s third studio album, The Original High. Luke Gilford directed the music video; Adam Lambert, Sterling Fox, Max Martin and Ali Payami co-wrote the song.

Internationally, “Another Lonely Night” was released early in Poland and South Africa. It is currently charting at #s 28 and 35 on the iTunes charts of the two countries, respectively. “Ghost Town,” meanwhile, remains at #52 on MediaTraffic’s global singles chart, at #44 on the worldwide Spotify chart, and in the Top 25 on 12 countries’ iTunes charts (#3 Kazakhstan; #9 Finland; #9 Hungary; #11 Luxembourg; #12 Czech Republic; #14 Belarus; #16 Portugal; #21 Germany; #22 Namibia; #22 Netherlands; #23 Poland; #24 Austria). “Ghost Town” peaked in the Top 20 of the US Pop and Adult Pop Songs airplay charts, and at #64 on the US Hot 100. It peaked at #1 on Poland’s official airplay chart and at #2 on the official singles charts of Australia and South Africa. It has been certified for platinum sales in both Poland and Australia. It is currently sitting at a to-date peak of #12 on Germany’s official singles chart.

My personal opinion? I’ve always thought “Another Lonely Night” was a stronger single choice than “Ghost Town.”

 

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Adam Lambert is Back with “Another Lonely Night” Music Video

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“Ghost Town” rises #16 to #2 in the Land Down Under

Following his performance on the Australian version of The Voice, Adam Lambert’s new single shot to the top of the Australian iTunes chart, where it is still standing strong. As a result, “Ghost Town” leapt from #16 to #2 on Australia’s premier singles chart, ARIA, for the tracking week ending Friday, August 7th. One Direction’s new single, “Drag Me Down The Original High, meanwhile, returns to #6, near its #4 debut/peak.

“Ghost Town” has spent 11 weeks on Australia’s singles chart. It has also peaked in the top ten in South Africa, the Netherlands, and Poland. It is currently charting on iTunes in 37 countries. For the week ending July 31st, “Ghost Town” ranks at its peak-to-date of #67 on the US Billboard Hot 100 while The Original High ranks at #98 on the Billboard 200. Lambert ranks at #88 on Billboard’s (US) Artist 100.

Lambert’s prior singles, “Whataya Want from Me,” and “If I Had You” are also tracking in the iTunes of Australia and New Zealand. Lambert is slated for performances in both countries when he goes on tour starting in early 2016.

Adam Lambert reaches #1 on Australian iTunes; set to peak on US Hot 100 this week

Adam Lambert reaches new highs with his new album, The Original High, in the land down under.

Adam Lambert’s newest album, The Original High and his newest single, “Ghost Town,” have taken over the land down under after a “buzzworthy” performance (per Billboard) on the Australian version of The Voice Sunday night. Sales of “Ghost Town” even picked up a notch in the states, pulling Lambert’s sales from #78 to #74 on US iTunes.

Adam Lambert is known as the first openly gay male artist to debut atop the Billboard 200 with an album, and one of the few contestants from American Idol that have managed to maintain a presence in the music industry. He has also become the de facto frontman of Queen in recent years (and Brian May is featured on one of Lambert’s new songs) as they have toured extensively together.

While “Ghost Town” has been a slow-building minor hit in the US (it still hasn’t cracked the top half of the Billboard Hot 100, although it is set to make a play for it this week; more below), it has enjoyed more success overseas. Last week, “Ghost Town” sat high on Aria (Australia’s primary singles chart) at #16.

Prior hits “Whataya Want from Me” and “If I Had You” have reentered the Australian iTunes chart and currently sit at #77 and #86.

“Ghost Town” may peak on the Hot 10o this week.

During the most recent chart week, Adam Lambert’s new single, “Ghost Town,” was featured prominently on iTunes’ “Hot Tracks” section of its home page. This resulted in a massive 71% week-over-week sales spike for the song, from 15k/week to 26k/week. It had been hovering around #80; it jumped to the low #40s, and stayed there through the week. It is still featured on the list, but it is now in the second-to-last position, and sales have slid back to the mid #70s.

Prior to this week, the song had been rising on the Hot 100 at a rate of 3-6 slots/week, on the strength of modest but balanced and consistent airplay, sales, and streaming gains. It currently sits at #71. As I previously reported, “Ghost Town” may therefore rise 15-20 slots on the Hot 100 this week. There is a substantial degree of error in that calculation, since Billboard is somewhat tight-lipped about the ranking formula it actually uses. Still, I would be surprised if it rose less than 10 slots or more than 25 slots on the Hot 100.

Suppose for the sake of argument that Lambert scores a 21-slot jump to #50 this week. What next? Sales have already deflated to the level they were at when he was ranked #71. Streams, at least global streams on youtube, have not been accelerating, although they have been increasing modestly over time. Daily radio airplay appears to have stalled over the past several days, although that may be a temporary fluctuation in a relatively volatile data set.

Assume that the song returns to the underlying trend of gaining 3-6 slots/week after the artificial sales spike. It might drop from #50 to #63. Then, it would pick up to #60, then #57, #53. The song would have to maintain momentum for another month or more in order to make a new peak, provided that it doesn’t start accelerating. If the song is peaking now on radio and streaming, then it won’t last that long.

I am not saying that the song is definitely peaking this week. It has had shaky airplay growth in the past that in the bigger picture, in hindsight, looks more like slow and stable growth. Additionally, the song has polled well among radio listeners who have heard it (a substantial number still had not), and that indicates potential future radio success.

All I am saying is to not be surprised if this week does end up being the end of the story. The single had a slow start, and it never really accelerated. If it hasn’t accelerated by now, then there is no reason to think that it is going to accelerate in the future. It isn’t impossible. It could be simply that “Ghost Town” was released in the wrong season (summer), and it will pick up once leaves start to fall. Or, it could fall right alongside them.

Either way, we are about to learn a valuable lesson about how songs move when they are ranked #71 and their sales spike 71%. And, next week, we are going to learn just how popular Adam Lambert is in Australia.

Update: Lambert did indeed peak on the Hot 100, but only at #67. I suspect that I weighted sales too heavily as a percentage of Lambert’s chart points. He then dropped back to #72, albeit with stable gains at radio. It remains to be seen how long the song will continue to post gains at radio, and thereby continue to climb the charts. #67 could still conceivably represent Lambert’s peak.

“The Original High” should be Adam Lambert’s next single

Check out “The Original High” HERE.

I hope Adam and his label don’t assume that this song has less hit potential than “Underground” or “Another Lonely Night” just because of the youtube view count differential. The songs were released sequentially, with later released songs quickly falling into the same daily view count as the prior releases. “Underground,” for example, was released during the initial buzz surrounding “Ghost Town,” so, as new music from Adam, it received essentially the same initial view-count as “Ghost Town.” Later album cuts received less individual buzz and have had less time to accumulate views. Further, casual listeners of “Ghost Town” might want to see what else Adam’s album has to offer, and they are predisposed to click on the video with the most views, so the initial bias translates into a feedback loop.

I personally see this song as a highlight of the album and a potentially huge hit at pop radio. “Underground” is too dark to be the next single. It shouldn’t follow “Ghost Town.” “Underground” sounds like a followup to “Ghost Town,” and followups almost never do better than the original. “The Original High” doesn’t sound like “Ghost Town: Part 2;” it sounds like an original single with clear progression and a unique theme. Adam needs a new single that showcases his album (as the title track does) and shines the spotlight on both his artistic versatility and his ability to create a killer unique original pop hit that contributes substantively to the musical landscape.

For the above-mentioned reasons, I think “The Original High” is the best choice for Adam Lambert’s next single. What do you think? Sound off in the comments below.

Adam Lambert’s “Ghost Town” single review, update, and future expectations.

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.