Bootynugget

i wish she would do more radio shows because those isolated live recordings are sometimes better than the album versions 
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_85hcBq6NE
 
but it seems even less likely than a TV performance now that she's ridiculously famous. radio promo is typically reserved for lesser known artists, i would think? i'm currently trying to imagine west coast and/or pretty when you cry in that minimalized, studio-type setting and i want to die 
 

Yes, Lana could go indie, but I think that would be an extremely short-lived success. Can we talk about how it's basically necessary for artists like Lana to do promo and what not to sustain a career in general? If she just shits out albums with little to no support in terms of promo, videos, etc, she's not going to have the stable means to continue making music. And then what? You'll cry how she should've done more promo 

Because "She is an icon! Her art is so above everyone else that she doesn't need to promote it."
 
Or, "We don't want her to become mainstream because people who listen to Top40 shit will listen to her and devalue my own listening experience"
 
Or, "We don't want her to literally whore herself out by going on television. I mean, only manufactured shit do televised performances, right?"
 
Or, "She said she releases music for herself and doesn't want other people to listen to it! She doesn't want fame! Fame is for disgusting mainstream pop artists like Beyonce and Rihanna!"

I think we need to remember that Lana apparently was sick during the UV era. It's possible that she would've done more promo if she hadn't been sick. Also I think she used UV as way of coping with her depression and stuff and that might explain why she moved away from it so quickly.
 
Anyways I really hope she'll do more promo this era, I don't expect her to do Taylor Swift level promotion, but the promotion she did during the Paradise era was enough for me. A few radio- and television performances and interviews and some really great music videos is all I'm asking for. If people don't think being a Lana fan was more exciting during the BTD/paradise era they are lying!
 
And the people who are calling television performances 'whoring out' need to stop. Even Tom Waits did television- and radio performances for his last album! If you want people to buy your album you need to do promo, simple as that.
 
That being said I have trust in Lana. She seems happier than I've seen her for a long time and this tour have been amazing so far! She's never done a bad album and I'm sure HM will be great too! Don't Le Me Be Misunderstood is one of my favorite songs of all time and I think that MTWBT sounds like a really interesting concept! I think that Life Is Beautiful sounds really beautiful and I hope it'll be on the album since it fits the theme of the HM lyrics. I'm also really excited for Mark Ronson as a producer.

in my eyes lana can do no wrong so im not really worried about HM

Well yeah, they weren't nearly as successful as BTD, but that doesn't mean they were commercial failures. They may not like her antics, but at least they lead to some success (and in UV's case, critical acclaim). And with Mark Ronson, I have no doubt this album will be huge, regardless of promo or not

UV was a big opportunity to appeal to a more mature, music-knowledgeable fan base had she promoted more. She won the critics over with it, but didn't expose it to enough new people.

I've played West Coast and Shades of Cool to friends and family and many loved it. I don't think she needed a viral hit, she just needed to actually let people know that she had new music.
 
I don't agree that doing a few television performances is "whoring out".

Why do people keep implying that Ultraviolence would have been more of a commercial success had Lana done more promotion? Lana went viral due to her sweet 'teenage nostalgia' vibe, something UV completely lacks. No amount of whoring out on TV could have saved that album. 

You raised some interesting points.
 
I think that is awkward to put next to each other terms like Indie and industry which should be antonyms. Indie is all about DIY culture when industry (in music) is about Beyonce, Katy Perry etc. When Lana wrote Sirens she was indie, a girl with a guitar, as she said in an interview: she was a lyricist and a bad composer. After signing with her first label she was helped by others to shape her sound and she became part of a small business. By signing with Interscope she become a medium sized business: a lot of people (producers, musicians, managers) work and depend on her success. In my view Lana today has nothing to do with the indie business model 
 
I love UV more than BTD. But we have to be real about the fact that she built up her fan base during the BTD era. Her presence then, albeit sometimes awkward, was relatable like her music and many people like it. UV undoubtedly gained her some new fans but UV main impact was with her critical reception which improved markedly comparatively with the BTD era.
 
Regarding fans, in my view, UV had a negative impact because many casual (SS remix) and pop oriented fans lost interest in her because they couldn't stomach UV's rockish sound and abrasive lyrics. She gained some quality music "fans" but these are fickle and are treating her as a "guilty pleasure" and if HM will not deliver they will ditch her in a dime.
 
I don't think that it's all about fame. It's more about the capability of maintaining a medium sized business.
 
1. Does she needs to be of a certain size (commercially) to be viable as an artist?
Well, she cannot go full indie because she needs producers and musicians to build her sound and she needs money to pay them. Or, we could have more videos like the UV video but compare it with the BTD, Ride, NA, SOC videos: I'm not here for that. So I think that she needs to maintain some commercial viability to make quality music and videos.
 
2. Does she needs promo to maintain some viability commercially? You said that good music sells and is true to a certain extent. But look at UV, it was arguably a better album than BTD and today is practically out of the market when BTD is still on the charts. Many are saying that UV rode on BTD fame and promotion and will sell about 1/5 of what BTD sold. If she stumbles further with HM commercially she will have to improve a lot in the critical department to compensate (which I doubt given the HM lyrics) because otherwise she'll lose support and maybe her contract.
 
And believe me Lana's one artist that needs all the support she can get in this business where many are despising her despite UV:
http://www.craveonline.com/music/articles/860023-sasquatch-2015-recap-photos-choking-lana-del-reys-self-absorbption#/slide/1
 
3. Certainly, she can base herself on hardcore fans (like me), who are to infatuated with her voice and looks, to not lose interest even if HM flops commercially and critically but there will be few and far between stans standing

pasted from the Unpopular Lana Opinions thread:
 
A lot of people seem to believe that Lana is as famous/iconic as people like Sinatra and Bob Dylan and that she doesn't need to do promo because "she doesn't need hits and only writes for herself". I've seen lots of people say that they were happy Lana didn't do any TV appearances because she isn't a "commercial artist". Whilst it is important that Lana stays true to herself, good promo is so important in this day and age. I don't understand why some fans seemingly don't want her to gain wider recognition and greater success - which can only be done if you actually try to do promo. Sales, whether you like it or not, are important and Lana needs to do proper promo and proper music videos in order to maintain interest. Lots of people I know didn't even know she released Ultraviolence, and just remember her as that weird anti-feminist woman who sang like shit on SNL and had a remix. In order to stay relevant, she needs to promote her music. Promoting her music properly isn't "selling out" or being 'commercialised".
 
I think UV promo was lazy and simply not good enough. Many say that she only needs her fans, but if you release an album without live TV performances, do interviews where you make quasi-suicidal and controversial comments and seem distant and passive-aggressive, fail to promote the critically acclaimed lead single and release a few average music videos - you begin to lose fans.
 
Honeymoon is such an important album for Lana's career. If she fails to promote this album, she may begin to lose her relevance and appeal.

I don't know how long it will take some of the people on here to realize that lana doesn't give 2 shits about sales or success...She's made it pretty evident through the ultraviolence era that she doesn't want fame. It's not like she has to rely on her singing career to thrive anymore, including that she has a rich family. Also Lana even said that she doesn't make music for anyone else but herself and thats how it should be, you shouldn't make music cause you want to be rich&famous you should do it because you love it... 
I think that the whole "honeymoon is being pushed out quickly so lana can get out of 3 album contract w/ interscope" may be true to an extent, but I think its unlikely. Maybe though because she is friends with Azealia Banks and admires the fact that she went indie.

And she seems to be perfectly fine with that.

I'm happy with the level of fame Lana has now and the weird middle ground she's in of being not fully indie or mainstream. The thing is she sells as many albums and can fill up huge venues like really mainstream artists with a ton of radio hits. So for now, the label lets her get away with not doing promo since all they care about is money. I think it would be nice for her to have another top ten hit like Summertime Sadness, but I don't ever want her to be the type of artist who's constantly being played on the radio like Katy Perry. Lana already hates fame as it is, so I don't think it would be good for her to become massive. And fame changes artists.
 
I would like her to have another Rolling Stone cover, a Billboard cover, and an online campaign to create buzz around her videos and songs. I guess one TV performance or interview would be nice, but I can't think of any show where Lana wouldn't look out of place.

Ok, this is sort of random and possibly irrelevant, but I was reading one of Lana's interviews from the UV era and what I've pasted below reminded me of Lana's description of "futureretro" for Honeymoon:
 

She's had some weird dreams lately. 
"Modern dreams, dreaming in modern times. Really strange. I had a dream that I was waiting for someone to find me, and in the sky, where the stars were supposed to be, it was an Uber map. And I was watching this person get further and further away from me, where the constellations were supposed to be. And I woke up totally confused. "
 
This may have absolutely nothing to do with Honeymoon at all, but it's interesting considering HoneyMOON and she's talking about space here. Also, she described Honeymoon as "futureretro" and these dreams are set in the future.
I'm probably reaching here, but just thought I'd share.


 

I see now that Honeymoon is really important for her career

now that you mention it you're rightt!! cant help being so in love with froot tbh.. but lana and disco and spaceships wouldnt be so bad

that sounds like froot to be honest...
it would be interesting though

The positive thing is that she didn't said that UV is her last album like she did with BTD or P.
I hope she didn't said that after HM is out

The more I think about a colorfull and fun album, the more I like this idea

i love how we seem to know what she has to do to have a successful album more than she does XD 

she really does need to get out and promote.

I hope when we won't get UV Kind of songs at least some songs like Bel Air, Dark Paradise, Blue Jeans, Born To Die and Summertime Sadness.

I wouldnt mind some songs like Hollywood( talking about the tempo)

I'm actually here to instagram movies, if it fits the song of course.
 
I want her to go back to her huge budget videos, aka Ride, National Anthem, Born To Die. If she gets another video shot with the same quality as Born To Die that would be the best thing ever right now! At the same time if we get a few big budget videos, then I'm happy for a few instagram filter ones too.

Just becasue she's done it once, doesn't mean she'll always do it (and I don't really see the UV songs fitting into a "movie")
It would just consume time and postpone the release date of Honeymoon.