What makes a song flop?

Drake performs on stage at Wireless Festival 2025 in London. | Simone Joyner/Getty Images for ABA Quite a few music artists are in their flop era right now.

Think about it: Drake hasn’t been the same since Kendrick Lamar knocked him out in their 2024 beef .

Katy Perry once dominated the charts, but her recent releases haven’t been fireworks.

And there was once a point where it felt impossible to step foot in a workout class without hearing Lizzo, but her latest album fizzled out.

Some examples, in other words, are obvious.

But what does it really mean for a song to flop? According to Tom Breihan, executive editor at StereoGum and author of the book The Number Ones Twenty Chart-Topping Hits That Reveal the History of Pop Music , it’s all relative.

“There’s a million songs on Spotify that nobody will ever hear,” he told Vox.

“Those songs are not necessarily flops because they did not necessarily come with expectations.

When a major artist does not reach whatever benchmark they or their fans or their label expect for them, it can be embarrassing.

People love to seize upon that embarrassment and take off running with it.” Why do some songs flail while others succeed? And how does an artist bounce back from those unmet expectations? We find out that and more on this week’s episode of Explain It to Me , Vox’s weekly call-in podcast.

Below is an excerpt of my conversation with Breihan, edited for length and clarity.

You can listen to the full episode on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts.

If you’d like to submit a question, send an email to askvox@vox.com or call 1-800-618-8545.

Are the songs that flop bad? Is that why they’re flopping? In some cases, yeah.