Can Katy Perry Make a Comeback After Two Failed Singles? A PR Expert Explains

“It’s a professional crisis,” Eric Schiffer, a public relations expert and president of Reputation Management Consultants, told Business Insider of the reception to Perry’s new music. The barrage of negative headlines also isn’t helping Perry reintroduce herself to millennials and establish herself with a new Gen Z audience: “It can be a bloodbath for a brand like hers,” he said.

For a struggling musician, a new release can offer redemption, but only if it’s good enough to make people forget why they were disappointed in the first place.

In my opinion, “Lifetimes” falls short of the task. While it’s certainly more palatable than Perry’s previous attempt (top comments under the “Lifetimes” video on YouTube include “The fact that this wasn’t the first song to be released is criminal” and “Whoever is responsible for releasing this is evil. This is way better than ‘Woman’s World’”), the bar that “Lifetimes” had to clear is very low.

Outside of Perry’s fan base, the general reaction has been a shrug. While “Woman’s World” dominated social media discourse during the week of its release, “Lifetimes” failed to generate much interest.

The song, which was written by eight co-writers, is generally banal and noticeably repetitive. When Perry sings “I’m gonna love you ’til the end and then repeat it,” she’s not kidding. “Lifetimes” is essentially the same five lines repeated ad nauseam for three minutes and 12 seconds.

It’s true that recurring lyrics are common in club music, a genre that Perry seems to think “Lifetimes” belongs in. But it’s a pretty laughable claim, especially in the middle of the “Brat” summer. If I were dancing in a Boiler Room in Ibiza (where Perry filmed her latest video), I’d be shocked and dismayed if the DJ played “Lifetimes” after something like “365” or “Spring Breakers.” As many have noted on social media, Perry’s song would fit more naturally into an episode of “Love Island.” Hooray for the villa – they’ve won a dance party!

In the real world, authentic club music is fickle, experimental, textured, and often surprising, while “Lifetimes” is predictable and formulaic. The best compliment I can give it is that it has a nostalgic quality, vaguely reminiscent of Perry’s 2010s heyday.

But if the best she can do is remind us of a time when her music was fresh and relevant, hoping that our lingering affection for “Teenage Dream” will sustain her, that’s not much of a compliment. Schiffer took a similar reading, describing “Lifetimes” as “very outdated and desperate.”

“She’s going to rely on her playbook and her playbook is complete,” he said.

It’s clear that Perry is eager to return to pop stardom. However, the reception to her first two singles, which were met with intense negativity and apathy respectively, reflects the reality of Perry’s current status in pop culture.

This situation is compounded by the perceived hypocrisy of Perry’s collaboration with Dr. Luke, who co-produced and co-wrote both “Woman’s World” and “Lifetimes.”

Although Dr. Luke worked extensively with Perry early in his career, he became a music industry pariah in 2014 when Kesha sued him for sexual, physical and emotional abuse(He has denied all of Kesha’s allegations. They reached an undisclosed settlement last year.)

For many fans, Dr. Luke’s return to Perry’s domain has negated any excitement they might have felt for the new music.

“There’s a lack of authenticity in trying to promote female empowerment with a producer who did the opposite,” Schiffer said of Perry’s single “Woman’s World.” “How do you get away with that from a credibility standpoint?”

“She feels like she’s always stuck in the past and needs to modernize,” he added. “That’s part of what keeps a music career going. Some people do, some people don’t.”

Perry’s return is possible if her new album resonates with fans

As a crisis PR expert, Schiffer said he would advise Perry to evolve, reinvent her sound and try to attract new, younger fans, instead of simply trying to appeal to the nostalgia of her millennial base.

Schiffer also said he would advise Perry to set up an interview to “give context to some of his choices,” including his decision to reunite with Dr. Luke. To win over a Gen Z audience, he said, transparency and authenticity are key.

“She has work to do, and it requires a higher level of emotional intelligence than has been applied to date,” he said. (To be clear, Perry is not Schiffer’s client — not yet, anyway. “I haven’t gotten a call,” he said, “but it wouldn’t surprise me.”)

Despite the dire state of Perry’s reputation, his career isn’t over yet. After all, we’ve seen artists like Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) and Morgan Wallen top Billboard charts this year, despite accusations of anti-Semitism and racism, respectively.

“What matters in brand rehabilitation is whether your product is getting traction,” Schiffer says. “Her product is music, and the first single struggled. The second one seems to have more traction, but it’s still early. We’ll see what happens when she releases the full album.”

“It’s achievable if the quality is there,” he concluded. “At the end of the day, that’s what matters.”