She doesn't create simple music for the radio, and even though her music is naturally more catchy and iconic than 90% of your faves, she's the trendsetter and example despite not being oversaturated. Kind of amazing the power of true art
This is not that kind of thread so please don't come at me like that and I thank you!
Because she didn't conform to commercial/top 40 music. Lana is doing what she loves, making music, touring etc. A true artist. She didn't fall into the smoke and mirrors that is the mainstream industry.
That's so true!
A real artist could care less about the fame and all the politics of the music industry and the charts and TBH I like that and respect that about her!!
She is. I cringe when anyone implies shes not mainstream. Its just that to get on american radio you have to play the game, theres politics involved, thus why her originals never made it to top 40 spins but that remix did.
Her debut is one of the most successful albums and eras of the decade and it completely redefined the sound, image and audience of the "indie popstar". She did blow up. She didn't get a lot of mainstream hit singles, especially in the US, because she didn't try to promote or even make radio friendly music. She still got plenty of hits around the world and a big US hit too
she did blow up tho, now she's not as big but still
She didn't enjoy being in the public eye. Yikes at people saying she never wanted to be famous, though! She did and even speaks about it in her earlier and unreleased material. Post-BTD she said something about her views on life changing after becoming famous, and she's talked so much about how she felt that the critics were way too hard on her, and that she felt like people focused too much on how she looked rather than her music.
It's truly a sad story tbh. She got what she wanted and it ended up being a nightmare. But like the other users in Lana's defense said, she smashed with BTD and even UV sold 1M+. Honeymoon bombed but we all saw that coming. Love her!
She's not the kind of artist that would because of the music she makes. She's more the type to cultivate a devoted fanbase that'll ensure she'll always have her work supported, tour successfully and have money in her pocket.
I doubt her aim is to snag a number 1 single or album. The Summertime Sadness thing was more of a random fluke where a remix got picked up and made popular.
Basically she's more Kate Bush than Lady Gaga. She operates best as a cult artist, I think things would get messy for her otherwise.
Because she simply doesn't care nor want to be as successful as the other pop girls.
BTD sold as much as it did because it's fresh, there was no one like her then (imagery, sound, looks...) and she did promote a lot that era. Then Y&B and SS happened so that allowed to stay in light for an extra two years after the release.
UV sold a decent amount of copies based off her name alone and it was her second album so people were thirsty for new music from her since BTD.
Then with Honeywmoon... well people simply lost interest and she simply doesn't give a single f*** anymore. It's almost incredible she is still selling.
The discussion is kind of pointless not only because of her 9 million albums and 15 million singles sold, it's just because Lana Del Rey has created the universe.
If she hasn't blown up, some others haven't even started their engine.
Ultraviolence outsold albums deemed successful by this site such as Revival