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Ask Billboard: Madonna Vs. Lady Gaga


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just found this on Mfanzine...

http://www.billboard.com/news/ask-billboard-madonna-vs-lady-gaga-1004102123.story#/news/ask-billboard-madonna-vs-lady-gaga-1004102123.story

MADONNA VS. LADY GAGA

Hey Gary,

I am a longtime reader of Chart Beat and enjoy reading these "Ask Billboard" questions.

Many people compare Lady Gaga to Madonna. I believe the two are equal in talent, as well as style. It is hard to compare the pair, though, because Lady Gaga released her first single ("Just Dance") 27 months ago, while Madonna released her first single ("Everybody") 333 months ago (or 322, if you consider "Holiday" Madonna's first mainstream hit).

I was wondering if you could compare any statistics between Lady Gaga and Madonna approximately two years into each artist's career.

Thanks,

Garrett Clayman

Cherry Hill, New Jersey

Hi Garrett,

Since Nielsen SoundScan data was not launched until 1991, we can't fairly compare Madonna's sales to Lady Gaga's. We can, however, look at their Billboard chart performances in their first 23 months after each artist's Hot 100 debut, since that's how long Lady Gaga has been impacting the chart. Madonna first reached the Hot 100 dated Oct. 29, 1983, and Lady Gaga, Aug. 16, 2008:

Billboard Hot 100

Madonna: 8 entries, 7 top 10s, 2 No. 1s (and 2 Gold titles, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)

Lady Gaga: 10 entries, 7 top 10s, 2 No. 1s (and 4 Platinum titles, according to the RIAA)

Billboard 200

Madonna: 2 entries, 2 top 10s, 1 No. 1

Lady Gaga: 2 entries, 2 top 10s

Dance/Club Play Songs (comparing each artist's first 26 months, since Lady Gaga first charted on the list dated May 3, 2008)

Madonna: 5 entries, 5 top 10s, 3 No. 1s

Lady Gaga: 8 entries, 8 top 10s, 7 No. 1s

Adult Contemporary

Madonna: 7 entries, 2 top 10s

Lady Gaga: 5 entries

Thus, in this strict comparison of charted titles, Madonna and Lady Gaga line up extremely similarly approximately two years into each artist's careers, especially on the Hot 100. At that checkpoint, each singer shows seven top 10s and two No. 1s.

Madonna's Billboard 200 ledger is more impressive, having banked a No. 1 with her second set, "Like a Virgin," as is her early Adult Contemporary crossover appeal. Conversely, on Dance/Club Play Songs, Lady Gaga's first two years-plus clearly outshine Madonna's, in terms of chart visits and top 10s (8-5 in each category) and No. 1s (7-3).

Only time well tell if Lady Gaga's career can continue to evolve along that of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-enshrined Madonna, now counting 28 years since first putting her iconic stamp on pop music and culture.

Like Madonna, Lady Gaga writes her own material and possesses a unique sense of flare, so it's certainly possible that such a successful future could be in store.

Check back around 2036 and we'll have a better idea.

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Great stats for both ladies! No doubt both will add to those tallies.

Interestingly, Paula Abdul had 4 number one singles, 5 top 10 singles, 4 dance number ones and 2 top ten albums one of which was number one her first 23 months. If it were 1990 I'd probably say she's on track to becoming the most successful female artist ever. It's never too late, but does anyone have any bets in Paula's favor? ;)

19900312-750-0.jpg

:D

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Great stats for both ladies! No doubt both will add to those tallies.

Interestingly, Paula Abdul had 4 number one singles, 5 top 10 singles, 4 dance number ones and 2 top ten albums one of which was number one her first 23 months. If it were 1990 I'd probably say she's on track to becoming the most successful female artist ever. It's never too late, but does anyone have any bets in Paula's favor? ;)

19900312-750-0.jpg

:D

EXACTLY

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Great stats for both ladies! No doubt both will add to those tallies.

Interestingly, Paula Abdul had 4 number one singles, 5 top 10 singles, 4 dance number ones and 2 top ten albums one of which was number one her first 23 months. If it were 1990 I'd probably say she's on track to becoming the most successful female artist ever. It's never too late, but does anyone have any bets in Paula's favor? ;)

19900312-750-0.jpg

:D

Yeah, this is exactly the way I view Gaga. Right now she has the potential to become a big star, but she's currently just a very popular new artist. An "it" Girl. She still has a lot to prove to be even compared to Madonna.

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Yeah, this is exactly the way I view Gaga. Right now she has the potential to become a big star, but she's currently just a very popular new artist. An "it" Girl. She still has a lot to prove to be even compared to Madonna.

:thumbsup:

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I recently watched an interview with Lady GaGa on Fuse. I saw so many similarities between her & Madonna. However, a couple of things struck me about her. She kept going on about how her "art is about liberation". Lady GaGa was insistent about that to the interviewer. I can appreciate that. But when I first heard Madonna ( Everybody, Holiday, Into The Groove for example) I automatically got that message. Madonna's songs have consistently conveyed that message through out her career to this day. Express Yourself, Vogue, Ray of Light, Music & Confessions on a Dancefloor to name a few. Aside from maybe "Just Dance", I personally don't get that from her. Saying it is doesn't make it so. That doesn't mean I don't find Lady GaGa compelling, especially "Bad Romance".

Also, I loved how Lady GaGa admires a lot of the same people Madonna has gushed about for years. Frida Kahlo, Andy Warhol, Dr. Martin Luther King & Ghandi. Yes, alot of us admire those legendary people obviously. But hearing her talk, it was like listening to a Madonna interview circa 1990.

The similarities are striking.

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I recently watched an interview with Lady GaGa on Fuse. I saw so many similarities between her & Madonna. However, a couple of things struck me about her. She kept going on about how her "art is about liberation". Lady GaGa was insistent about that to the interviewer. I can appreciate that. But when I first heard Madonna ( Everybody, Holiday, Into The Groove for example) I automatically got that message. Madonna's songs have consistently conveyed that message through out her career to this day. Express Yourself, Vogue, Ray of Light, Music & Confessions on a Dancefloor to name a few. Aside from maybe "Just Dance", I personally don't get that from her. Saying it is doesn't make it so. That doesn't mean I don't find Lady GaGa compelling, especially "Bad Romance".

Also, I loved how Lady GaGa admires a lot of the same people Madonna has gushed about for years. Frida Kahlo, Andy Warhol, Dr. Martin Luther King & Ghandi. Yes, alot of us admire those legendary people obviously. But hearing her talk, it was like listening to a Madonna interview circa 1990.

The similarities are striking.

I TOTALLY agree with you on this. There's just something about Lady GaGa that just doesn't resonate with me, maybe I'm missing something but I just don't see the draw AND this has NOTHING to do with Madonna, I am talking about Lady GaGa's music alone, some songs are good, good beats, etc...but again, they don't grab me in the same way and speaking about her visual side, I don't find her visually interesting, but I haven't found anyone visually interesting as Madonna since Madonna first came on the scene.

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I TOTALLY agree with you on this. There's just something about Lady GaGa that just doesn't resonate with me, maybe I'm missing something but I just don't see the draw AND this has NOTHING to do with Madonna, I am talking about Lady GaGa's music alone, some songs are good, good beats, etc...but again, they don't grab me in the same way and speaking about her visual side, I don't find her visually interesting, but I haven't found anyone visually interesting as Madonna since Madonna first came on the scene.

That's a valid point. :fag:

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But hearing her talk, it was like listening to a Madonna interview circa 1990. The similarities are striking.

To me, it almost seems like GaGa is literally copying every page from Madonna's notebook to a dot. Flattering to Madonna perhaps, but also a little contrived and fake.

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I am so tired of these two being pitted against each other as if this is even a fair or necessary race. I hope Madonna does a whole album with RedOne just to piss everyone off.

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To me, it almost seems like GaGa is literally copying every page from Madonna's notebook to a dot. Flattering to Madonna perhaps, but also a little contrived and fake.

Absolutely. The interviews are dead on copies of stuff that Madonna already said back in the day. She does have some different influences to Madonna with all the male artists she cites, but I've yet to see much of that.

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I am so tired of these two being pitted against each other as if this is even a fair or necessary race. I hope Madonna does a whole album with RedOne just to piss everyone off.

I know there are alot of people who like to pit these two against each other. That was certainly not my intent. I don't think bringing up similarities between the two is necessarily doing that, especially since I like them both. As far as it being a fair race, it's absolutely not. Lady GaGa has a LONG way to go before she comes close to Madonna's hard earned achievements. Now that Lady GaGa has our attention, people aren't going to ignore the obvious. It would be naive of anyone to think that people would. We've seen it happen with Cyndi, Paula, Janet, Britney and so on. Why would it be any different with Lady GaGa?

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She still has a lot to prove to be even compared to Madonna.

but Lady Gaga can already be compared to JUST the early MADONNA especially when it comes to popularity...

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