Why is Flowers by Miley Cyrus so successful? Why The Ex-Acts Flop (... or not)
You guys know that TikTok that says “once again, it seems like you forgot just how powerful you are?” Yeah, this is the case for Miley Cyrus.
@alina.ivvv don’t underestimate your power #career #inspo #motivation #femaleempowerment ♬ original sound - OVRThrown
At the time I’m writing this, Flowers is challenging for a #1 debut on Billboard’s Hot 100. It would mark her first #1 hit in nearly ten years. As soon as it got released, it broke so many records… the fastest song to reach 100 million streams on Spotify, the biggest unit sales in the US so far in 2023… just to name a few.
This has made many people question if this is an organic smash or should we applaud the label change (she went from RCA to Columbia Records) or if is it the breakup drama despite the Miam divorce being 3 years ago?
It’s simple really and newsflash, it’s not the label or the strength of her fanbase.
It has to do with…
organic interest from the general public
breakup drama to fuel promotion
it’s radio-friendly—it’s not niche specific
it’s a good song that sounds new
Promotion and label support can oNLY do so much. Fanbases can only do so much. People underestimate how powerful the general public is in terms of numbers, not loyalty.
Fanbases can only create a hit when they’re large enough and obsessed enough.
For example—Swifties. I saw someone say that Anti-Hero is the biggest non-hit hit ever… which is such a pretty accurate statement because it’s smashing records, but it doesn’t really have any pop culture relevance or significance, in comparison to Taylor’s other true hits that are memorable and impactful.
This isn’t shade toward Taylor, it’s simply the business mechanics of it all. Plus, it’s not really that organic considering she released a trillion remixes and relies heavily on easter eggs for her eras.
I explained this more in my post where I talk about The Swiftie Bond.
Promotion and drama do the same thing—they let the general public know there is a song out. If the song is good, then that’s a bonus.
This is why it helps not to be too niche specific or in terms of the music industry, genre-fluid.
For example, Demi Lovato’s Holy Fvck era underperformed for simple reasons really. It had nothing to do with playlisting, Scooter Braun & the label, more than it had to do with the genre change and the era being ultra-specific to Demi which slimmed the chances of relatability.
Even promoting the era wouldn’t have guaranteed a hit mainly because the rock audience appeals to a smaller group of people than pop does. It just wasn’t radio-friendly nor relatable, and the song that was, 29, did the best it could considering it was about a relationship from like 6 years ago.
Taylor’s songs go viral a lot with the general public because her songs are relatable and the Swiftie Bond makes the general public more interested in finding out more about Taylor’s drama or personal life ,for 1. relatability and 2. intrigue.
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Breakup drama will fuel an era by itself and this is best seen in none other than Selena Gomez who can’t seem to carry an era without breakup drama.
The best comparison? Lose You To Love Me vs. My Mind & Me.
Both beautiful songs, both in the same genre, both heart wrenching, both relatable, but only 1 flopped because it wasn’t supported by its anchor which is… Jelena drama.
My Mind & Me had an entire documentary followed up with Selena opening up about some rather intriguing topics & a painful couple of years… and yet the song couldn’t crack the top 80 on Billboard.
Miley has always been in a different league than her peers, Demi & Selena. I know fans call them the ex-acts along with Ariana because they had the same start and are in the same music bubble, but Miley has always exceeded them by far.
I’d say Miley and Ariana and Taylor are in their own bubble because they have crazy chart stats. Selena and Demi have always been in the same bubble regardless of whatever fake & lengthy achievements fans make on twitter.
“First female under 32 that did music in 2016 and has a pet rabbit to reach #1 on the favorite played cafe songs chart.” That’s how yall sound.
The fact that Flowers seems to sample When I Was Your Man, but still has a fresh sound for today’s climate while also remaining nostalgic, is also one of the reasons why the song is doing well.
One thing I always say about the music industry is that it’s become very saturated, especially with TikTok. Nowadays, TikTok can make or break a song… no matter how much you promote, the people are genuinely not here for it.
Breakup drama always makes a song do well. Why do you think I get so mad at Demi who has had literally the craziest life yet she never utilizes that? The only thing she really uses, is her story with sobriety and addiction and at some point, the general public is gonna grow tired (spoiler alert: they did).
Someone had to check up on me when I saw that Demi leaked 15 Minutes and followed it up with absolutely no strategy or marketing following the breakup with stalker, Max Ehrich. Even Scooter was like “hold up girl, lemme get this on Spotify at least!.”
Selena? That girl has built a music career and a standing personality based on the heartbroken girl who got done dirty by her teenage boyfriend. At this point, it’s quite impressive.
Look at how Taylor was able to revive All Too Well. She had a whole film for the song that is 10 minutes long and had the whole internet sending hate to her ex from 90 years ago despite the fact that was probably a fake relationship.
How you utilize your personal life will make or break you.
Ariana used to have the funniest stats before her sophomore album when she dropped the fake vintage cupcake housewife image and became the sex-obsessed flirty gal she is.
And all the good things that happened in her life alongside the tragic things, made people extremely intrigued by her and that’s how she got the general public support. No Tears Left To Cry would have flopped if it was released without the circumstance.
When Miley released Slide Away following Liam filing for divorce in 2019, her image was in the gutters because she was out making out with Kaitlyn Carter before news of her breakup with Liam hit the press and the general public was turned off by their marriage ending abruptly. Also, Slide Away was cute, but extremely forgetful.
Midnight Sky wasn’t fueled by Miam breakup drama but was still a commercial success, becoming a top 15 hit on Billboard. Plastic Hearts underperformed because of the genre change, but it definitely did pretty well considering the general public wasn’t really obsessed with Miley the way they are now.
Miley has always been a versatile artist with extremely hard numbers to pull off. She used to be a force during the physical/digital sales era, before the streaming world took over.
Demi was also a force with pure sales, but she’s a whole other story.
The point of the story is, Miley always had it like that and if you fit in the 4 criteria I mentioned earlier, you may have it like that too.
Well, this wraps up this post. I hope you guys liked it. Let me know your thoughts in the comment section!
For 2023, I am posting more of what I feel like posting vs. what I feel like I have to post. After all, this is my personal blog. I hope you come along for the journey. With that being said, of course, we are always taking requests for posts, so drop em down in the comments below.
And yeah, the next post is about Selena and Drew.