I know you must be lurking on ATRL somewhere, and after the masses of meltdowns that have occurred over the past 24 hours I felt like I wanted to say a few things. If you ever looked through the ARTPOP threads you would know that I am one of your most positive fans on the site, and I want to continue loving and supporting you and your music for as long as I can. There are a few problems I do think need to be addressed, however, and I would like to write a little something with the hope that you may someday come across this...
The Fans
Last night, on Radio ARTPOP, many of your fans were subjected to a massive amount of criticism based on the fact that we don’t love and respect every decision you make. In fact, one girl (Emma, I believe) actually suggested that you don’t consider us to be fans if we don’t do so. All I have to say to that, really, is how dare she. Many of the people under fire have spent thousands of dollars (or pounds) to buy your music, go to your shows and buy your merchandise. Many of the people under fire have spent years of their lives defending you on online forums and in public. These people are FANS.
Another one of the girls on that show (Jessica, I think) went on a massive rant about respect. To an extent I agreed with the fact that we should respect you and your decisions, and you know that we do. But you must also respect us. The DWUW video saga is unprofessional and embarrassing. Many fans, myself included, wouldn’t care about it if you had at least kept us in the loop. When you develop the sort of relationship with your fans that you have, it’s important to feed the masses with little bits of information. I know you read GGD, and probably ATRL, and you know that silence causes meltdowns. If you don’t want to face the negativity and criticism, give a quick tweet about it.
The people on Radio ARTPOP are pretty much everything fans shouldn’t be. Firstly, the fact that a cult of ‘superfans’ has been created within the fanbase only serves to further alienate people. Secondly, I am gay myself, and I found it uncomfortable to watch a group of girls and gay guys feeding into everything you do, screaming ‘SLAYYYYY MAMA!’ at your every move. Radio ARTPOP sets ‘fan-worthy’ criteria for the public, and most people would be too embarrassed to join this group of people as fans to remain casual listeners. Fans should be fans, not delusional online creeps who would think you had done an incredible performance should you sh*t on stage in the name of art.
The ‘Art’
You are an artist and a musician. I have always respected that about you. I love the art-influences in your performances. Recently it has become a bit much. I present to you two videos of points in your career that represent how your ‘art’ has changes.
One of these is easily the most artistic moment of your career. You captivated the world with shock, imagery and music and no-one, fan or not, could deny your artistic and musical talent. The other, well, none of us are really sure what you were trying to achieve, but it wasn't something anyone wanted to see, apart from the aforementioned delusional fans, who were probably convinced it deserved to top the Hot 100.
Let art be art and music be music. You can combine the two, of course, but it is so much more natural to do it as you did earlier in your career than it is to have to explain how every move you make that confuses people is in some way artistic. There are few people on ATRL who would disagree with the fact that you are an incredibly talented artist and musician, but what stops the casual listener from becoming a fan is having ‘art’ shoved down our throats in every interview.
The Charts
You go on a lot about making music for the fans and not for the charts, and I do not let them influence my taste in music or my opinions of you as a pop star. But a few things need to be said about them. You must have more respect for them. You are where you are right now because of the charts. I don’t want to lose that, and neither should you. What happens if your chart success continues to go downhill? Your label will be less willing to invest in you and you won’t be as in demand for TV shows and award ceremonies. If chart success doesn’t matter to you, then, ultimately, it is the fans who suffer most from this, as your decline would mean a reduced likelihood that we could hear music from you again. You are a pop star. Chart success, while not the most important thing if the music is bad, is hugely important if you want your career to last for as long as I want to be listening to new music by you.
Thank You
You are my favourite artist. Your music helped me through some of the most difficult periods of my life, and for that, I will always love and respect you. I am not trying to be negative or critical, I am just addressing issues that many of us have with you in a more constructive manner.
The people on Radio ARTPOP are pretty much everything fans shouldn’t be. Firstly, the fact that a cult of ‘superfans’ has been created within the fanbase only serves to further alienate people. Secondly, I am gay myself, and I found it uncomfortable to watch a group of girls and gay guys feeding into everything you do, screaming ‘SLAYYYYY MAMA!’ at your every move. Radio ARTPOP sets ‘fan-worthy’ criteria for the public, and most people would be too embarrassed to join this group of people as fans to remain casual listeners. Fans should be fans, not delusional online creeps who would think you had done an incredible performance should you sh*t on stage in the name of art.
This is great. I was expecting some kind of messy meltdown that would get closed in seconds, but this is actually respectful, sincere, truthful and nice. Glad that someone finally took the time to do this when nobody else would put out these points in this manner.
