Saturday, February 17, 2024

Shakira, the "wolf" who transformed her tears into diamonds and now gives the final blow


Shakira
 's fans woke up this Thursday, February 15, with great news . 'La loba', after seven years without releasing an album, returns with 'Las mujeres ya no Llorn', a vinyl edition, the first of her career, which will be released on March 22. But why did it take her so long to release it when last year she scored several hits?

'Women no longer cry' will be the twelfth studio album by the 47-year-old singer-songwriter, for whom this production has been "an alchemical process."

"As I wrote each song, I rebuilt myself. As I sang them, my tears became diamonds and my vulnerability became resilience," she wrote on social media with the announcement.

And what a name he chose for this album, since this phrase has become part of popular culture after having sung it in 'Sessions 53' that he did with Bizarrap. To measure the power that this single had, in 24 hours it achieved 64 million views on YouTube, becoming the most viewed hit in Spanish, surpassing Luis Fonsi and his 'Despacito' (2017), which reached just 25 million.

'Sessions 53' became an international hit. Even Shakira herself told Jimmy Fallon, the host of the most watched late night show in the United States, that she was very happy because her song became an anthem for millions of women.

"After releasing the song I feel that not only do I have fans but a kind of sisterhood between women who have gone through the same things as me. Who think and feel the same way as me," she explained, adding that "I wrote this song to me, but it was also probably meant to be a forum and a voice to represent them. To this day, that song is still valid everywhere.

Speaking in numbers, on Spotify it has 886 million 658 thousand 273 reproductions. Shakira did well with 'Sessions 53', but it was not the only song she dedicated to Piqué. In total, it was an album - without being one - destined for her breakup.

The first sign that things were going wrong in her relationship with Gerard was with 'Te congratulations', a song she released in April 2022, by Rauw Alejandro. After a few weeks, the news about the footballer's infidelity came to light and from that moment, until the end of 2023, the press did not talk about anything other than the end of this couple who have two children, Milan and Sasha. .

Returning to the musical theme. After 'Te felicito', 'Monotonía' followed, in October 2022, which had the collaboration with Ozuna. In the lyrics, Shakira narrated that "it wasn't your fault or mine, it was the fault of monotony," and what it does to couples. Lack of attention to details, forgetting to be affectionate. In the case of 'Te felicito', it currently has 600 million views on YouTube, while 'Monotonía' has 294 million. And then came 'Sessions 53', which, as we mentioned, broke it on YouTube, and today it has almost 691 million views.

The new panorama of the music industry

The industry has changed in leaps and bounds, as has technology. The arrival of music platforms such as Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music and YouTube, among others, as well as Instagram, Facebook and TikTok have changed consumer habits.

Previously, due to the dependence on radio or music channels like MTV, people had to wait for a long time to hear a song. Now tuning a song is very easy. It only takes a few clicks to play it over and over again.

On the other hand, the purchase of compact discs fell worldwide, although the sale of vinyl records rose 51.4% in the United States, according to MRC Data's annual report on the state of the music industry, carried out in association with According to Billboard magazine, 41.7 million vinyl records and 40.6 million CDs were sold in 2021. The sale of vinyl has increased a lot because, according to this study, nostalgic people seek to rediscover the charm of records.

To give us an idea, in 2020, Bad Bunny released a total of 42 songs, and J Balvin 19, which were listened to for months. This is how music is made now.

According to producer Ovy on the Drums (Daniel Echavarría Oviedo), after hits like 'La tusa', by Karol G, platforms force artists to be present all the time so as not to lose validity.

"In addition, the public is demanding more content because now they have more access to it, they no longer have to wait for a CD to come out to listen to it. The competition between artists is increasing and no one wants to give advantages, no one can disappear for three or four months," explained the producer born in Medellín.


On the other hand, CD and vinyl have become an item for fans. "When a top artist releases an album, the superfans devour it, consume it immediately and in just two months those songs go from being releases to being catalog songs, and they start asking for much more," commented Daniel.

That pressure to always be on playlists and social media has changed the rules of the game for artists.

Shakira has been very intelligent in knowing how to move in the new generations and her new LP, as the producer said, is a product to pamper her fans and continue earning as she has done her entire career. A "wounded wolf", but very intelligent.


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