Even though I disagree with it on principle, record companies are amazingly good at keeping the semi-talented meat-puppets we call "pop-stars" successful for long periods of time as long as they stick with "the program". Essentially, when you have dozens of successful writers and producers recording dozens of songs with a pop-star where you select the "best songs" (as determined by focus testing) you can generally ensure a certain level of success.
One of the best signals a pop-star’s career is almost over is when they start being unusually political because studios generally focus on apolitical messages; and this is a sure signal that they have lost control of the pop-star who starts to believe their own hype and sees themselves as an artist. Even if the studio is still paying for the experienced writers and producers, and is still using the focus groups, the pop-star will force choices on their album which make it less successful; and (eventually) the studio focuses these resources to a more co-operative singer and the original pop-star rapidly declines into irrelevance.
Within a couple of years (at Lady Gaga's current pace) I expect Lady Gaga to have fully self-destructed.
