BetterForgotten

The Biggest Flops Of 2013 1. Lady Gaga, Artpop Perhaps in a decade from now, fans and critics alike will look back on this album as something special for the music it delivered. Until then, Artpop will just be regarded as a massive commercial failure focused squarely too much on stunts and not on the music. Given how much Gaga outdoes herself with each new album, it is no surprise that Artpop buckled under the pressure. However no one is feeling the pain more than her record label, which sank $25 million into making this spectacle profitable while Lorde, Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus easily ran away with all the success and the attention. Celeb Winners and Losers of 2013 Loser: Lady Gaga Perhaps The Wrap captured it best when it snarked, "That 'Applause' Gaga is hearing these days has been reduced to a polite golf-clap." Ouch! The pop star should be riding high about now, coming off a world tour and having released her fourth album, "ARTPOP," last month. However, in February she was forced to cancel dates on her "Born This Way" world tour after she needed surgery to repair a hip injury caused by strenuous repetitive movements. Her much-hyped album debuted at the top spot on the Billboard charts selling 258,000 copies, but it fell 100,000 copies short of the openings for both Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry's recent albums. Making matters worse, Gaga's second-week sales fell by a whopping 82 percent, the largest dive of the year. And the Mother Monster's Thanksgiving special didn't get any ratings love either, coming in 78 percent lower than her Thanksgiving special two years ago. Even "Machete Kills," the Robert Rodriguez sequel she appeared in, bombed. Most importantly, people weren't talking about her, even though she did her best to get our attention. She pranced onto the American Music Awards red carpet on horseback, but it was Miley who stole the show when she performed "Wrecking Ball" in front of a giant, animated cat. Better luck next year, Gaga!

I don't know if she's over and done with per se, she's still young enough to get over a flop album and singles and stage a comeback. However, I just don't think she nor her management cares anymore. Britney's been half-assing everything in her career since about 2005. Probably why her peers like Beyonce and Justin have kept some momentum in their 10+ years solo careers going, even when they go for long stretches without releasing an album, and Britney has not. Britney's popularity with the general public and with top 40 radio has faded though, and there's no stepping past that. That's usually the lifeline for any commercial pop act these days.

The album and singles are flopping because they're terrible, but this is the type of music Britney has always wanted to make. If you look at the albums she had the most creative control over (Britney, In The Zone, Blackout, and now Britney Jean), it's evident that Dr. Luke and Max Martin were not her favorite producers to work with. Also, the days of Britney selling music on her name alone are over. She's just not that type of star anymore. She's still famous, but her general popularity has faded severely. While others like Beyonce and Justin Timberlake have maintained a certain standard with their careers, Britney has not. As I mentioned before, she's past her peak and her career is in a very awkward phase. The public interest just isn't there anymore, and Britney doesn't seem to care anymore. I think she likes it this way, her personal life isn't on display 24/7 as it was once upon a time. Britney hasn't done huge promotion for her albums since about 2004, she's literally a walking zombie in the game purely for money at this point. In the long run, I wonder how her Vegas residency will fair once the initial attention disappears. She's not like Celine with a built-in older audience that caters to the typical Vegas crowd.

Barbra's first Christmas album was always a staple in my house growing up. The Jewish girl from Brooklyn actually put out a timeless Christmas album that I can still listen to today during the Holiday's. This is from her Central Park concert in 1968: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqrvtUz5MkI

The 'Haunted' video is also an homage to early 90's Madonna (Justify My Love/Erotica era). She also said this in a recent interview, "My father taught me so, so much," she said of Matthew Knowles, who managed Beyoncé until 2011. "When I decided to manage myself, it was important to me not to sign to some big company. I wanted to follow in Madonna's footsteps and be a powerhouse. When you get to this level, you don't have to share your money or your success... And we did it. And it's my company." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/21/beyonce-yonce-screening_n_4487104.html?1387675629&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000008