I have, but we haven’t been able to find any particular issues with me that would be affecting that. Some of the possible causes seem to be environmental, like capitalism, problematic majority demographics, certain other people being jerks, and just bad luck.

I didn’t mean in the sense of having their approval for your own peace of mind. I meant them consenting to work with you in order for you to achieve an objective.

Given how hypercommercialized and devoid of personal artistry the throwaway modern music industry is, if something is known as a hit then I don’t see it being something good to my tastes. Even the couple of former megastars which have returned to the scene with hits seem to have been forgotten about shortly after their release (ex. The Beatles’ “Now and Then”, Billy Joel’s “Turn the Lights Back On”). There will be some pop songs that may stick around for a while out of novelty rather than quality, whether they’re simply quirky (ex. “Gangnam Style”, “Turn Down For What”, “I Glued My Balls to My Butthole Again”), they became associated with a huge fad (ex. “Friday”, “Harlem Shake”), or they prominently featured in a musical or movie (ex. The Hamilton Soundtrack, songs from a Disney movie). “Somebody I Used to Know” is the closest thing to an exception that I can think of, but that’s also a bit quirky. Does anything by Greta van Fleet count as a hit with a chance for longevity?

Given Taylor Swift’s relatively unique situation of having a massive cult of personality and now having control over her own catalog and releases, she has potential to output exceptions to the hypercommercialized rule but I’m not familiar with her discography beyond the hits that I hear played in public spaces.

Y-axis?

A fuckup that specifically in line with what the Führer wants is no accident

It’s not my fault I may make stupid errors - I blame the hazards of my environment

I, for one, would much rather Trump spend his time golfing than spending it diddling kids