Lady Gaga now has a lot more control and freedom as an artist now than before hence why ARTPOP rarely had on any necessarily radio/chart friendly songs. Where as Katy Perry's Prism was loaded with pop-ish, public friend tunes in terms of repetitive meanings and beats and easy to understand lyrics. Therefore that's why Prism did better on the charts and radio. Where as ARTPOP is more a Little Monster thing or Lady Gaga fans thing, therefore it was not as successful commercially but on listening to both. I genuinely could say that ARTPOP was 10x better than Prism. ARTPOP had more soul and essence and diversity and the lyrics were on point. It was like Gaga telling a story. But calling ARTPOP era a flop is very far fetched for me especially for a non-commercial era it's far from a flop.
This is what I need people to realize. Katy Perry (Even though I love her and her music for the most part) is a commercial artist, she makes music for the public and for the charts and radio. Katy Perry is suppose to appeal to the materialism of the industry which means everything around her is all commercial, from her music to shows. On the other hand after The Fame, Lady Gaga was no longer a commercial artist meaning that her music was not necessarily chart or radio friendly or public appealing even though it does well on the charts and radio and the pubic is receptive of Lady Gaga's music. The thing is Lady Gaga's role is to push boundaries and think outside the box and make being different public appealing.. Every artist in the industry has a role.
ARTPOP is 40 something in Canada but I don't care anymore! I'm just happy that gaga is proud of what she's done and I'm happy that it's out! And I don't care if her songs are going under and Katy is beating gaga