With only three albums under her belt, Lady Gaga is already a household name. But unless you’re working in the businesses of music or social media, you might not be as familiar with Troy Carter, Gaga’s manager and the genius behind her media presence. V sat down to talk shop with the guy who helped Mother Monster get massive.

How did you originally meet and come to work with Lady Gaga?
Troy Carter: We were introduced by Vincent Herbert, who was her executive producer at her record label. You saw the energy when she walked in the room. She was very specific about her vision, all of the music was there, and all she needed was someone to help her translate it to the rest of the world, which is where I came in.

When did you first realize the potential social media had to affect Gaga’s career?
TC: I think it developed because we were forced into it. We couldn’t get her record played on the radio and we couldn’t get the video on TV. YouTube and blogs were our platforms in the very beginning because the Internet was the only platform!

Is it true that Lady Gaga’s next record, ArtPop, will be released as an app?
TC: The album is going to be an app. It will also exist in CD and digital form, but the primary experience will be as an application. It will be built around the tablet, but will have a mobile version as well.

How do you think the business of pop music will evolve?
TC: This is the best time to be in the music industry. As sub-Saharan Africa and China go completely mobile, you have people who’ve never had access to the music we offer all of a sudden able to access it. I think we can reach a lot more people now. You’re going to see a lot more friction points for independent artists disappear, but there will be more artists than ever. You’ll have to look at making money through a different lens. Artists are going to be giving away music in exchange for different things, like data or purchasing a ticket or a piece of merchandise. There will be new ways to monetize music, but it may not be the music itself.

What is your most memorable experience of working with Gaga? Does anything particularly surreal stand out?
TC: I think—and I can say this because it just happened recently—it was seeing her have a casual conversation with the President about gay rights issues. When you think back to six years ago, this girl from New York walking in with ripped-up stockings, and now she’s having conversations with the President about serious issues-—it’s a bit surreal.

What is next for the Troy/Gaga think tank?
TC: I have no idea! We could have never predicted we’d be where we are right now, so I have no clue what the next five years are going to look like, but I hope it gets even better.

Get ready for V82, on stands February 28!

When I first saw photos and videos of the Born This Way Ball, I admit I was originally put off by the whole look and overall feel of the show. I was very critical. Wrongly so, considering I hadn’t truly experienced it for myself. But that all changed on February 6, 2013, when Lady Gaga played a sold-out show at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. It’s truly something else when you’re standing with 400 other screaming super fans in the Monster Pit, who are dancing in circles as Gaga plows through “Americano,” a performance worthy of its own telenovela.

This show is a different kind of beast compared to The Monster Ball. The fans at the Born This Way Ball are a new breed, as opposed to the fans you’d see at a Gaga concert 3 years ago. The sense of unity and joy is amazing and Gaga is giving everything she can and her fans giving everything back to fuel what she is right down to her core: an artist. This isn’t just a show; this is who she is. Gaga sported a lime green glow-in-the-dark wig for the show and said that it’s one of many things she plans to do that takes the Ball to another level as the tour comes to a close in the next few weeks.

As the set started to wind down after witnessing a giant vagina birth Gaga and her dancers, Gaga floating across a foggy stage, and Gaga as a motorcycle, her dancers rolled out a large piano covered in what looked to be the spiked balls from a one-handed flail. Gaga got candid with us and let us know that she was feeling down about her late grandfather as she lead into a vey emotional rendition of “The Edge of Glory” in place of “The Queen.”

35 minutes and seven songs later, Gaga defeated Mother G.O.A.T. and finished off the main set with “Scheiße.” By song’s end, I was trying to pick myself up off the floor and compose myself, so I could make my way towards the left side of the pit, to go backstage and meet Lady Gaga. As other fans and I waited, we got to see Gaga give her encore performance of “Marry the Night,” which she performed mostly in a stripped-down arrangement, up until the very end, when the track exploded into an underground, New York City-esque club and the fans on-stage and off broke into choreography from the music video. Now it was time to go backstage. Read More…

While promoting his single “Clarity” in the UK, Zedd spoke to BBC Radio about ARTPOP and working with Gaga. Zedd revealed that he and Gaga have created a lot of tracks for the project, saying that “she will decide how many will be on her album and I don’t know how many that will be.”

The producer later revealed that the tracks are “right in the middle between Zedd and Lady Gaga,” stating that anything that didn’t make it on ARTPOP could maybe see a release on one of his own projects, maybe with Gaga featuring.

On how the two created music together, Zedd says that they just started “collecting ideas”, not knowing which would be a song that fit the pop icon.

ARTPOP is expected to be released later this year with production by DJ White Shadow, Madeon, RedOne, and Fernando Garibay.

Zedd released a full statement regarding his MTV interview, in which he spoke a bit about ARTPOP, referring to the project as “rough”. Check out what he said below:

There’s been an interview where some things I said were placed out of context and misunderstood so I wanna make sure you guys know what I was ACTUALLY saying before media bent it to what they wish I said.

I never said ARTPOP is “rough” of “far away from being finished”! I was speaking about my own material with her and how we have to finish that up. I’m a perfectionist and to me everything that’s not perfect yet is “rough”, and that’s also why it’s going to be so good!

When I said “it could be 10, it could be 5, it could be 1 song” I obviously didn’t talk about the amount of songs on ARTPOP in general, I was talking about the amount of MY tracks/ productions on ARTPOP. We worked on a lot of songs and I don’t know which of our collaborations are making the album; she is in creative control of that decision.

I hope you all have more clarity now!

Lady Gaga was a special headlining act at the OFA Campaigners Staff Ball in Washington DC Tuesday night. During her set, Gaga wore a custom Versace gown while performing select songs from her catalog, including “The Edge of Glory” and “Born This Way” and “The Lady is a Tramp” with Tony Bennett. Check out more videos after the jump! Read More…