After coming off of some tremendously successful years, it was startling to see Katy Perry fail to live up to her own standards when the pop star released WITNESS last June.
However, Capitol Records head honcho Steve Barnett revealed that the "Swish Swish" singer has plans to climb the charts and get back into good graces with the public.
Speaking to Variety, the industry heavyweight admitted that Perry's inability to connect her latest record with the public was something of an interesting story. "I love her and have forged a great relationship with her. I talk about how engagement is so important and I don't believe you can have big cycles between projects [as Katy did]," Barnett said. "I think that’s changed. And so you sit down and have tough conversations with her and management. As successful as you’ve been, you learn."
Barnett admitted he's learned more from Capitol Records' mistakes than he has of their success stories and it's a mentality that he believes Perry holds as well. "I believe our artists are in the same category as that," the chairman and CEO continued. "But she has a plan, and we have a plan, and I feel good about it."
With three WITNESS singles, including the Skip Marley-assisted "Chained to the Rhythm," "Bon Appétit" featuring Migos and "Swish Swish" featuring Nicki Minaj, the album managed to move 840,000 copies, as per Variety's stats via BuzzAngle. While it's an entirely respectable figure in 2018, it's a far cry away from moves of its predecessors: the 3x platinum-certified Teenage Dream and the 2x platinum-certified Prism.
Here's to hoping that Perry can regroup and find a sound that connects with the public. She's currently in the middle of her world tour in support of WITNESS. In early February, the entertainer wraps up the North American leg of the trek, before heading to Latin America, Asia, Europe and closing the world tour in New Zealand in August.
Original article by James Dinh at iHeartRadio