Applauding Gaga or roaring for Katy Perry?
With their recent releases, female heavyweights locked in battle for newest song of the summer
The summer is nearing its end, but the battle for summer song supremacy is far from over.
Move over, Daft Punk. You too, Robin Thicke. Especially you, Pharrell Williams. It’s time for two new songs to force their way into your brain while the weather is nice and the living is easy.
This time, the battle is between two female music heavyweights who are debuting new music after a break from the spotlight.
If you haven’t already heard Lady Gaga’s “Applause,” or Katy Perry’s “Roar,” you’ll definitely know what they sound like by the end of the summer. They’ve been around for a week but are both already at the top of iTunes’ singles chart.
Both songs are feel-good, danceable tracks with hooks that stick in your mind long after the first play.
Which one will you be shamelessly humming by the end of the summer? Here’s the argument for each new song.
Sales Though both songs leaked at the same time, Perry is the early winner here. Billboard says “Roar” could sell between 525,000 and 550,000 downloads in its first week. That would be enough to best the 2010 release of Perry’s “Firework,” which Billboard says sold 509,000 digital copies in its first week on the market.
Billboard’s forecast for “Applause” is less bright: it predicts the single will be downloaded between 200,000 to 225,000 times in its first week.
“Roar” sits at No. 1 on iTunes’ singles chart, while “Applause” is at No. 3. Wedged in between the two is, of course, Robin Thicke’s catchy “Blurred Lines.”
A verdict arrives on Wednesday, when Nielsen SoundScan will release initial sales data for both songs, for the week ending this past Sunday.
Perry has a slight edge because “Roar” has officially been on the digital market a day longer than “Applause.” But you would be foolish to underestimate Gaga’s loyal legion of Little Monsters. Lyrics Hard to know who wins this showdown, considering Perry rhymes “fire” with Video Lady Gaga’s fans tucked themselves into bed on Sunday night knowing a shiny new music video would be waiting for them Monday morning: her first since December 2011’s video for “Marry the Night.” Gaga appeared on Good Morning America to promote the new single and video, which features the singer made up as a zombie, hiding in a life-size top hat, posing scantily clad on a bed and hiding underneath what looks like a huge airbag, all within the first 30 seconds. Well played, Gaga.
Katy Perry has only released a lyrics video for “Roar,” and it’s based on emoticons and text messages. Easy point for Gaga, here. Release date Katy Perry’s “Roar” was released digitally on Aug. 12 but leaked to the world a couple of days early last weekend.
Lady Gaga’s “Applause” was scheduled for release this Monday, but it leaked on the same weekend as “Roar,” even though her fans pledged to report any leaks. It was officially released digitally on Aug. 13. Song length Both Lady Gaga and Katy Perry are keeping things short. Gaga’s track comes in at 3:32, with Perry taking up an extra 10 seconds of your life, at 3:42. “fire,” and Gaga rhymes “applause” with “applause.”
Perry: “I got the eye of the tiger, the fire, dancing through the fire. ’Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar. Louder, louder than a lion. ’Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar.”
Gaga: “Applause, applause, applause. I live for the applause, pause. Live for the way that you cheer and scream for me . . . ” Social media Gaga has done a better job promoting her new single, with a Twitter campaign encouraging people to tweet GIFs from the new video once it dropped. She was up early tweeting before her appearance on Good Morning America, telling fans she’s excited to see their smiles after some time away from the world of TV interviews.
But Perry has a slightly bigger platform, with 41 million followers compared to Gaga’s 39 million.
Billboard says “Roar” could sell between 525,00 and 550,000 downloads in its first week. That would be enough to best the 2010 release of Perry’s “Firework,” which sold 509,000 digital copies in its first week on the market
Plagiarism? Both Gaga and Perry have faced controversy over accusations of plagiarism.
Many have pointed out that “Roar” sounds very similar to “Brave” by Sara Bareilles, a song Perry admitted to liking on Twitter earlier this year.
Her music video has also been compared to DJ Dillon Francis’s video for “Messages,” which is also based on text messages and emoticons.
Gaga has long been accused of copying Madonna and some say “Applause” sounds a bit too much like “Girl Gone Wild,” a song Madonna released last year.
We’ll let you be the judge. Return to glory For both, these hits are a sample of what’s in store on upcoming, long-awaited new albums. Lady Gaga will drop Artpop on Nov. 11, her first release since 2011’s Born This Way.
Perry has had a longer gap between new albums: her last major release was Teenage Dream in 2010. Prism comes out on Oct. 22. Anything less than stellar sales numbers for both albums would be a disappointment.