Music

Taylor Swift has a very dedicated fan base. Lizzo wants a similar relationship with her fans now that her album failed to chart.

Lizzo recently released her latest album, Bitch, to a tepid reception. The Grammy winner’s album failed to chart and has sold far less than what she is used to. Lizzo said that, moving forward, she wants a relationship with her fans like Taylor Swift’s. She thinks that this could lead to more career success.

Lizzo has hit a number of career roadblocks in recent years. She dealt with public backlash after her backup dancers sued her for sexual harassment, fostering a hostile work environment, and fat-shaming. 

The hit to her reputation appears to have also impacted her career. Her latest album, Bitch, sold 2,649 copies and received just under 2.7 million on-demand streams in its first week. In the second week, it dropped to 650 units and just under 900,000 in its second week. It also failed to chart. People have noted that she doesn’t seem to have much of a fan base to buoy the album.

“Lizzo not having a fanbase is so weird to me when this woman was literally selling out arenas not even 2 years ago. like, where did those people go?” asked one person on X (formerly Twitter).

Lizzo responded. She blamed the lawsuit and the changing music industry for her sales.

“I actually can answer this: the industry changed so much in the last 3 yrs,” Lizzo wrote. “Streaming replaced radio & I was a radio darling. That’s how my fans discovered my music. Not to mention the very obvious & public attack on my career changed things. But I’m out here doing my absolute best and u can’t knock a b**** for that.”

After her album failed to chart, Lizzo said she has had to reevaluate her approach to releasing music. She no longer wants to shoot for mass appeal. Instead, she wants to cater to her fans.

“Now it’s just like, who’s my fanbase? Who’s my community? Who am I talking to?” she said on the Proto Pop web series (via Billboard).

She pointed to Swift as an artist who has built a strong relationship with her fans. She has one of the most dedicated fan bases in the music industry.

“I’m talking to the Lizzbians,” she said. “I’m talking to my people. I always talk about Taylor for doing — she’s been doing that for such a long time.”

She believes she needs to make a change because the low sales devastated her.

“It dropped, and I was like, ‘Oh, OK, this isn’t what I thought it would be,’” she said. “I didn’t think it would be crazy, but I also didn’t think it would be this. There was, like, 24 hours of my life where I based my success and my worth on a number, and I think that was soul-crushing.”

Record executives have also noted that Lizzo needs to build a fanbase if she wants longevity as an artist. Swift, for example, has been in the industry for two decades.

“I think the biggest reason is that she never had a core fanbase,” a former senior label executive told Rolling Stone. “She was a very song-driven, radio-hits-driven artist who lacked a core fanbase, and that’s what you need today for career longevity.”