Lady Gaga’s “ARTPOP” a Flop?

Is Lady Gaga’s new album era over before it even begins? According to HITS Daily Double, the album is only projected to sell 240,000 to 260,000 copies in its first week. While this number is a considerable amount in the current album sales climate, it’s a bit of a disastrous slide from the 1.1 million copies that her previous LP, “Born This Way”, opened with its first week back in May 2011.

Some may blame Gaga’s “inactivity” or low profile since that project, while others may disagree and say that the she’s still extremely overexposed. Either way, it seems her image may be tiring on people. Her recent single, “Applause”, has sold 1.8 million copies to date (also a far cry from her biggest hits, “Poker Face”, and “Just Dance”, which have both sold either near or at 7 million digital copies), and peaked at #4 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Singles Charts.

The album currently has a 61 score on the website, Metacritic, which combines different reviews from major critics and gives it an overall score of “Generally Favorable Reviews”. If the album sells in the 240-260,000 region first week, it will put it as the 3rd-highest opening week of the year for female artists. Katy Perry currently holds the top slot in terms of sales, as her “Prism” album opened with 286,000, while Miley Cyrus’ “Bangerz” opened with 270,000 its first week. The major difference is that both Perry and Cyrus projects opened considerably higher than their previous efforts, while Gaga’s is a considerable dip from her last effort.

Her current single, “Do What You Want” is slowly creeping up the charts, and she has major events coming up in the form of the American Music Awards and a Muppets Thanksgiving Special. It remains to be seen if the album can have longevity through the holidays, or if this project could be a major miss for the pop artist.