Paramore Conspiracy Theories (Book 2)

[Bonus] Argue: Why Paramore Aren't Succesful Right Now

Hey guys,

So I had a whole different bonus post planned but I got into this conversation with someone and thought it would be interesting to write about. 

Paramore aren't really that successful right now, at least compared to the way they were during S/T which was a huge mainstream breakthrough for them at the time. Their singles aren't charting and they aren't playing as many big festivals or being nominated for as many big awards. Paramore have only been nominated for two awards this era, a pair of Teen Choice Awards, and they lost both categories, compare that to 2014 where they got 11 major nominations for awards and it's easy to see their success has shrunk quite a bit, but why is this?

The person I talked about this with said they felt it was because of a lack of promotion, and that a lot of fans had been complaining about Paramore not being promoted enough. I disagreed with this because I think compared to most of the acts signed to FBR that Paramore, along with Panic! At The Disco and Twenty One Pilots, receive most of the label's attention. FBR has a ton of bands signed to their roster but only a few of them really get a lot of serious promotion because they've shown they can bring in money, Paramore is one of these few acts. In fact, before Blurryface, Paramore were the biggest name on FBR's roster until TOP blew up in 2015. And it's not like FBR aren't trying to repeat some of the success of S/T, I mean they gave RCB the exact same release scheme as Ain't It Fun, they're clearly trying to repeat the success of S/T and transfer it to AL. Considering they get to play big tv shows like Colbert, and some FBR acts just play small local shows most of their career, I wouldn't say that Paramore are under promoted. But of course there is some reason their success has decreased and I wanna talk about what I think the reason is. 

It was pretty much dumb luck and an amazing coincidence that Paramore decided to make S/T and that kind of music at the time they did. When S/T came out in 2013 that summer Traditional Pop music blew up and was all that filled up the charts, and how lucky was it that Paramore came out with an album with a lot of Traditional Pop qualities.

Traditional Pop music is what I define as simple, catchy, relatable pop music, with clever lyrics, and some light instrumentation. Traditional Pop songs that were released in 2013 include: Problem by Ariana Grande, Fancy by Iggy Azalea, Roar by Katy Perry, Brave by Sara Bareilles, Not a Bad Thing by Justin Timberlake, etc.

The charts were very different the week Ain't It Fun went to #10 on Billboard than they are now: 

Week AIF went #10:

Current Billboard Top Ten:

Comparison:

As you can see the current charts look very different, and are much more influenced by Hip-Hop and RnB (artists like Drake, J. Cole, and Post Malone) as opposed to the charts in 2014 where a lot of pop music (Ariana Grande, Katy Perry, Justin Timberlake) was present.

If you've heard any of those songs in my Traditional Pop example you'll understand perfectly my definition of Traditional Pop. It happens that some of the songs off of Paramore (2013) fit in really well with these examples, and appealed to the wide audience that Traditional Pop had at the time. The appeal Paramore got from that is what led to the massive success S/T had as an album. They happened to make the right album at the right time, almost as if the stars aligned. 

Of course, as with all music trends, Traditional Pop did eventually begin to fade in 2015. And by 2016 acts like Post Malone, SZA, Migos, and Kendrick Lamar saw a huge spike in popularity, as Hip-Hop and Trap influenced music started to take over the mainstream. Today the mainstream is ruled by Hip-Hop, and the spaces where Hip-Hop isn't taking over are filled by simplified EDM influenced pop. 

Where's Paramore in all this? Making an 80s synth pop record. Can you think of anything more oppisite of Hip Hop? I can't. If Paramore made Hip-Hop influenced music as opposed to 80s pop I'm sure they could be successful at this time, but that's not what they want, and if they did I'm sure most people would call them sellouts. Hip-Hop, Trap and, EDM are all going in new directions and exploring new boundaries right now, so I don't think its hard to see why an album that pretty much does just sound like an 80s album isn't really successful. There's nothing really new or fresh to it. It doesn't feel like Paramore's spin on an 80s album, it just feels like an 80s album made by Paramore, if that makes sense. In a time where certain genres are flourishing and expanding, rehashing a genre from the past without putting a fresh twist on it won't help you much. 

My main point is I don't think its necesarily promotional issues that are contributing to Paramore's lack of success this era. Although promotion might be a factor, I think it's just more so that the music that Paramore is making isn't what's culturally relevant in the mainstream, and if they went mainstream a lot of people would probably criticize them and leave them. I think the lack of success is getting to Paramore a little bit, but not as much as it seems to be getting to the fans. I mean if they don't care to make mainstream music or care about being successful, then why should we care about them doing so? Maybe we should just be glad that they're so dedicated and want to keep making music. 

Tell me what you guys think in the comments, why do you think Paramore aren't as successful this era? Is it a promotional issue? Is it them not going mainstream? - H