New album: Confessions on a Dance Floor Part 2

[dollhouse]

^Madonna did chart with GMAYL, BIM and Popular thou, not solo but better placing than Mimis new stuff which is carbon copy rnb thats gets wider USA taste than most Madonnas stuff

[martin]

She'll never crack the top of the charts - or anywhere near it - ever again. It's been structurally built against her for almost 2 decades, across various mediums and platforms.

She had an incredible run in the charts and having smash hits, but it's over.

You must just accept this and enjoy the art that's presented to us when it does, finally, appear.

[Confessit II]

5 hours ago, ashtangi74 said:

So if Beyonce, sabrina Carpenter or Billie release an album in jan-feb-march u say she must delay the release till june, july next year?

I hear you hun I really do.

The discussion was based primarily around Taylor.

Every pop artist, big, small, old, young will want to avoid her new album, and their record companies. She will be number 1 for months and dominate the entire quarter.

We all know that of course. I wouldn’t blame Madonna or Warners for wanting to drop her new album out of the way of Taylor’s.

As many of us have said, we all want a triumphant return to music and I am just happy and excited Madonna is back in the studio and creating again….I would like it to be rewarded with a high debut and a high possibility of a number 1 album in many territories. 

In answer directly to your question, yes Madonna would need to avoid certain acts on release week and for Taylor, avoid the whole quarter to bank on a high chart position.

It’s just an honest and frank reflection on where we are at in 2025 with it. 

8 hours ago, Beastialg said:

Just for reference. The #3 album this week (new debut) was Renee Rapp "Bite Me". It opened with 64K album-equivalent units, of which 47K were pure sales. 

50-60K pure sales should be easily achievable for Madonna with her next album.

I feel Top 5 is a lock, Top 3 very likely. Top 1/2 depending the competition, the album reception and promotion.

This.

Proof Madonna can get that number 1 album to add to her tally, I am getting very bemused with so many are convinced she can’t. Perhaps not in America but across Europe there is a strong possibility.

She can without a fanbase full of streamers, what happens next and how much longevity she has, and how much the new album can add to her legacy is to be revealed…..

….but at the least she can do it with a high landing.

[bard]

if madonna can hit #8 with FEL, she can easily do top with a new studio album.

[Confessit II]

9 minutes ago, bardo said:

if madonna can hit #8 with FEL, she can easily do top with a new studio album.

I think so.

The forum seems to be a mixed bag.

- Some think she absolutely can smash something out again and have chart success.

- Some are convinced her days of any chart success are now totally dead and over.

- Some think she simply doesn’t care anymore about her commercial placement whatsoever.

[bard]

7 minutes ago, Confessit said:

I think so.

The forum seems to be a mixed bag.

- Some think she absolutely can smash something out again and have chart success.

- Some are convinced her days of any chart success are now totally dead and over.

- Some think she simply doesn’t care anymore about her commercial placement whatsoever.

she's definitely capable of debuting at #1 in the US and around the world depending on the competition. the question is how hard/fast it will fall and if she can chart with a hit single. 

[Confessit II]

5 minutes ago, bardo said:

she's definitely capable of debuting at #1 in the US and around the world depending on the competition. the question is how hard/fast it will fall and if she can chart with a hit single. 

 
Im with you on that, but at the moment the forum is divided on her capabilities with the new album commercially and where it will/can debut.

I guess none of us will know for sure until release week.

Let the debate continue 

[Cyber-Raga]

I do not believe the quality of her work is debatable or whether she can deliver. Of course she can still deliver like Domino‘s. She is fucking Madonna. 
Who cares if she ends up tanking at the charts. Wouldn’t be the first time. At this point it really doesn’t matter. 
However, having said that, by the same token, I am bewildered by most of her business decisions since leaving Warner in 2008 and more recently since re-signing with Warner in 2021. She doesn’t owe me an explanation and I don’t have the right to tell her how she should conduct her business. I simply don’t understand why so many stupid and rookie mistakes are made when it comes to streaming vs physical media and their respective release strategies. The mind really boggles sometimes. 

[bard]

Just now, Cyber-Raga said:

I do not believe the quality of her work is debatable or whether she can deliver. Of course she can still deliver like Domino‘s. She is fucking Madonna. 
Who cares if she ends up tanking at the charts. Wouldn’t be the first time. At this point it really doesn’t matter. 
However, having said that, by the same token, I am bewildered by most of her business decisions since leaving Warner in 2008 and more recently since re-signing with Warner in 2021. She doesn’t owe me an explanation and I don’t have the right to tell her how she should conduct her business. I simply don’t understand why so many stupid and rookie mistakes are made when it comes to streaming vs physical media and their respective release strategies. The mind really boggles sometimes. 

as an artist, she has the right to do what she wants, but i don't think there anything wrong with fans who have supported her career for over 40 years to expect a bare minimum of competence in how the business side of things is run. just my two cents. 

[systemvalues]

Yes, sometimes  fans

37 minutes ago, Cyber-Raga said:

I do not believe the quality of her work is debatable or whether she can deliver. Of course she can still deliver like Domino‘s. She is fucking Madonna. 
Who cares if she ends up tanking at the charts. Wouldn’t be the first time. At this point it really doesn’t matter. 
However, having said that, by the same token, I am bewildered by most of her business decisions since leaving Warner in 2008 and more recently since re-signing with Warner in 2021. She doesn’t owe me an explanation and I don’t have the right to tell her how she should conduct her business. I simply don’t understand why so many stupid and rookie mistakes are made when it comes to streaming vs physical media and their respective release strategies. The mind really boggles sometimes. 

Yes, sometimes the Forbes cover headline comes to mind... a headline that was a question, since they didn't really believe it. Then, if you analyze the way she made choices from a financial standpoint, there's no doubt they were well-considered. But when you focus on how she's maintaining her status as a pop icon and adapting to the new times, some doubts arise... unfortunately.

[Confessit II]

5 minutes ago, systemvalues said:

Yes, sometimes the Forbes cover headline comes to mind... a headline that was a question, since they didn't really believe it. Then, if you analyze the way she made choices from a financial standpoint, there's no doubt they were well-considered. But when you focus on how she's maintaining her status as a pop icon and adapting to the new times, some doubts arise... unfortunately.

Maybe some of us underestimated Freddie & Caresse.

[systemvalues]

2 minutes ago, Confessit said:

Maybe some of us underestimated Freddie & Caresse.

But some of us never overestimated guy.

[Cyber-Raga]

People like Liz are genuinely missed in her camp. It is very obvious that Warner used to pick up the tab and pay for her PR and creative team and obviously promotion, including photo shoots for the artwork cover. Ever since leaving Warner in 2008 she has been mostly drawn to people who she pays in autographs. 

But like Ive said, her decision, she seems to not mind, in fact she likes it. I am just bewildered by most of this. The quality of her new album doesn't have to suffer from this. 

[systemvalues]

7 minutes ago, Cyber-Raga said:

People like Liz are genuinely missed in her camp. It is very obvious that Warner used to pick up the tab and pay for her PR and creative team and obviously promotion, including photo shoots for the artwork cover. Ever since leaving Warner in 2008 she has been mostly drawn to people who she pays in autographs. 

But like Ive said, her decision, she seems to not mind, in fact she likes it. I am just bewildered by most of this. The quality of her new album doesn't have to suffer from this. 

Sometimes I think she has a kind of talent scout syndrome...she meets people and gives them chances (e.g.: Rissman), but sometimes it works, sometimes less so.

[Steve]

She may have a one off Cher or Elton/Brit moment but Ageism persists.  And while she has outlasted many music industry models (fan call in request radio play, pay for play, sales, points, streams, start with vinyl thru CDs and return to vinyl etc etc) M has adjusted but her hardcore fans have not and/or have moved on not bc they aren’t fans but bc they have loves, lives, children and other responsibilities…Adulting.  

[dario]

I prefer she delivers a good 12 track album rather than keep doing these collaborations which are not organic at all..I dont think she will chart again with this streaming formula shit, as most artists over 40..she needs to do an album for us fans, release the thing on viny,cd or any real format not streaming to prove her fans loyalty, gp just dont care about new music just her shows.

[Carey]

10 hours ago, Confessit said:

I think so.

The forum seems to be a mixed bag.

- Some think she absolutely can smash something out again and have chart success.

- Some are convinced her days of any chart success are now totally dead and over.

- Some think she simply doesn’t care anymore about her commercial placement whatsoever.

All three things can be true at the same time. 

It's not outside of the realm of possibility that she smashes everywhere, but it is unlikely. Likewise it's more likely that she never has another Top 10 again but it's not impossible that she does.

None of us will ever truly know if she does care but my personal view is that she shouldn't. If it happens then wonderful but I think we are a good 25 years past the point of it having any kind of material affect on her legacy.

[Foolio]

15 hours ago, dollhouse said:

^Madonna did chart with GMAYL, BIM and Popular thou, not solo but better placing than Mimis new stuff which is carbon copy rnb thats gets wider USA taste than most Madonnas stuff

GMAYL and BIM were released over ten years ago, in the 2010s. During that decade, Mariah actually scored more top 100 hits than Madonna (Beautiful, You're Mine, Infinity, I Don't).

As for Popular, its chart success had little to do with Madonna - I'll still take it though 

 

[Foolio]

22 minutes ago, Confessit said:

Well she’s on her way to Italy isn’t she for her birthday?

So it was another short and snappy studio session with Stuart in London.

So has she finished it now and will move to promo material after her birthday or is it still in progress 

She will absolutely post something this weekend about her birthday, if we don’t get something album related that’s very specific and not just another tease I think it will be next year.

But that’s fine, I just hope if it is almost done now we get something extra like an instrumental or a clip of a new track 

Wasn't she in London for at least two-ish months? If we assume she was focused on the album much of the time, I wouldn't call it short and snappy

[Confessit II]

10 minutes ago, Foolio said:

Wasn't she in London for at least two-ish months? If we assume she was focused on the album much of the time, I wouldn't call it short and snappy

No she arrived last month into London.

She spent Independence Day in America & she attended that 90s MTV themed Party in NYC on 14th July.

She posted being in London on her IG on 22nd July that was 3 weeks ago so even if she had arrived a bit earlier, she hasn’t been in London for more than 1 month max.

So it appears to be another short studio session in person with Stuart in London.

[Foolio]

6 minutes ago, Confessit said:

No she arrived last month into London.

She spent Independence Day in America & she attended that 90s MTV themed Party in NYC on 14th July.

She posted being in London on her IG on 22nd July that was 3 weeks ago so even if she had arrived a bit earlier, she hasn’t been in London for more than 1 month max.

So it appears to be another short studio session in person with Stuart in London.

Gotcha! I guess I've had a long summer lol.

One month still isn't that short though! But of course who knows whether she's actually worked on the album much of her time in London.

[Confessit II]

7 minutes ago, Foolio said:

Gotcha! I guess I've had a long summer lol.

One month still isn't that short though! But of course who knows whether she's actually worked on the album much of her time in London.

Oh I’d imagine TONS of recording and development on the new album has obviously happened behind the scenes but it appears her time with Stuart in the studio in London have been short sessions.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but normally she locks herself away for several months solid to complete an album.

But of course this is very different. It appears she is recording on her own terms and to her own time table which she has earned 

And there’s nothing to say she needs 4 months SOLID in a studio to complete it.

However, that said, she first revealed a new album in December last year with multiple pics indicating she had been working on it for a long time and even said she had been working on it for months 

So the album has been in progress now for a year at least.

Unless Stuart has been secretly flying to America, Madonna has been travelling a lot for the last year and it appears her studio time has been limited in terms of her physical presence inside a recording studio.

Again, unless she’s been recording vocals and sending them to Stuart from her house in Hamptons. 

Who knows? But it’s taking a while so I’m guessing that hasn’t happened….it appears the value is coming from these sessions in London with Stuart, which are few and far between if we look at where she has been in the last 12 months.

[runa]

6 minutes ago, Confessit said:

Oh I’d imagine TONS of recording and development on the new album has obviously happened behind the scenes but it appears her time with Stuart in the studio in London have been short sessions.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but normally she locks herself away for several months solid to complete an album.

But of course this is very different. It appears she is recording on her own terms and to her own time table which she has earned 

And there’s nothing to say she needs 4 months SOLID in a studio to complete it.

However, that said, she first revealed a new album in December last year with multiple pics indicating she had been working on it for a long time and even said she had been working on it for months 

So the album has been in progress now for a year at least.

Unless Stuart has been secretly flying to America, Madonna has been travelling a lot for the last year and it appears her studio time has been limited in terms of her physical presence inside a recording studio.

Again, unless she’s been recording vocals and sending them to Stuart from her house in Hamptons. 

Who knows? But it’s taking a while so I’m guessing that hasn’t happened….it appears the value is coming from these sessions in London with Stuart, which are few and far between if we look at where she has been in the last 12 months.

Sorry, but she didn’t lock in studio for months, for MDNA, RH and Madam X… I clearly remember seeing pictures here and there of her in the studio, every few months. What you say is untrue. 
I mean, it’s ok to speculate, this is the place for it, but no need to rewrite history.

[stevo208]

5 minutes ago, runa said:

Sorry, but she didn’t lock in studio for months, for MDNA, RH and Madam X… I clearly remember seeing pictures here and there of her in the studio, every few months. What you say is untrue. 
I mean, it’s ok to speculate, this is the place for it, but no need to rewrite history.

I have no doubt she has been working on it and just letting us know when she feels like it that she has been working on it. I'd like to think it's near completion, if not completed. Andy Cohen said she told him it was half done earlier this year so chances are it is just around the corner... either later this year or very early next year. I think if she doesn't tease something about it on her birthday as a gift to us, then it's next year. But honestly, something tells me it will be unleashed upon us sooner than that. 

Edited August 14, 2025 by stevo208

[runa]

2 hours ago, stevo208 said:

I have no doubt she has been working on it and just letting us know when she feels like it that she has been working on it. I'd like to think it's near completion, if not completed. Andy Cohen said he told him it was half done earlier this year so chances are it is just around yhe corner... either later this year or very early next year. I think if she doesn't tease something about it on her birthday as a gift to us, then it's next year. But honestly, something tells me it will be unleashed upon us sooner than that. 

Totally agree. We might have an unexpected surprise  

[metalissimo]

39 minutes ago, Confessit said:

Oh I’d imagine TONS of recording and development on the new album has obviously happened behind the scenes but it appears her time with Stuart in the studio in London have been short sessions.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but normally she locks herself away for several months solid to complete an album.

But of course this is very different. It appears she is recording on her own terms and to her own time table which she has earned 

And there’s nothing to say she needs 4 months SOLID in a studio to complete it.

However, that said, she first revealed a new album in December last year with multiple pics indicating she had been working on it for a long time and even said she had been working on it for months 

So the album has been in progress now for a year at least.

Unless Stuart has been secretly flying to America, Madonna has been travelling a lot for the last year and it appears her studio time has been limited in terms of her physical presence inside a recording studio.

Again, unless she’s been recording vocals and sending them to Stuart from her house in Hamptons. 

Who knows? But it’s taking a while so I’m guessing that hasn’t happened….it appears the value is coming from these sessions in London with Stuart, which are few and far between if we look at where she has been in the last 12 months.

Actually she first posted on her instagram about the new album in Sept 2024.

I predict after she celebrates her birthday she will be back in the studio again finishing the new album. 

I predict the new album will be released in Jan-March 2026.

[Anne]

Yeah, she has been in London for around a month now and they seem to be leaving today. With the lack of any paparazzi pics or random candids of her out and about, she must have been pretty focused on working in the studio and I guess the album must be pretty much done by now.

Regarding the commercial strategy and releasing the album against Taylor or wait till later, of course the most important thing at this stage is getting a solid quality record, but precisely because it's her comeback album after 6 years one would like to see her getting the spotlight and topping as many charts as possible, because not matter its quality and unless a miracle happens, it's going fall down hard on 2nd week, as that how the industry works.

And by the way, on Reddit, there are people reporting that Hung Up is popping now as and ad on YouTube.