Written and produced by Gaga, DJ White Shadow, Dino Zisis and Nick Monson, additional songwriters included Martin Bresso, Nicolas Mercier, Julien Arias and William Grigahcine.

"Applause" was inspired by the cheering of her fans, which kept her motivated during the months she toured with the Born This Way Ball in pain, before cancelling it due to a hip injury, and pays respect to the art of performance.

It is an electropop, dance-pop and Eurodance song built around synthesizers and hi-NRG beats, with lyrics addressing how Gaga is dependent upon her fans' adoration and how she lives to perform.

The song received generally positive reviews from music critics, who felt its chorus was catchy and favorably compared it to the material featured on Gaga's debut album, The Fame (2008).

An accompanying music video directed by fashion photography duo Inez and Vinoodh was released on August 19, 2013, and broadcast on jumbotrons across Times Square.

To promote the record, Gaga opened the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards with a performance of the song in which she represented her career through several on-stage wardrobe changes.

Development of Artpop began shortly after the release of Born This Way (2011),[1] and by the following year, the album's concepts started building as Gaga collaborated with producers Fernando Garibay and DJ White Shadow.

[5] "Applause" was written and produced by Gaga and DJ White Shadow, along with Nick Monson and Dino Zisis while on the road for her Born This Way Ball tour in 2012.

[10] The record has been pinned to the electropop, dance-pop and Eurodance music genres,[11][12][13] and has been cited as returning Gaga to her career roots by mirroring the sounds of her debut album.

[13][14] Evan Sawdey of PopMatters described it as "closer to 'Just Dance' in style over any of her Born This Way-era hits, but in a much more aggressive fashion, catering to the gradual EDM-stranglehold of pop radio.

[17] Robbie Daw of Idolator noted that the "opening, pulsating synths are a straight-up throwback to the 'Poker Face' intro — albeit slightly sped up — while the handclap-laden chorus swells and soars with the same pop frenzy that made 'Paparazzi' such a delight.

[27] Gaga urged fans to "please take these down as much as possible" and provided instructions on how to report information regarding the unauthorized distribution of her song to her label's parent company, Universal Music Group.

[33] Due to the proximity of the single's leak to fellow pop singer Katy Perry's "Roar", "Applause" was fervently compared to it, in addition to rumors spreading of a "feud" between the two.

"[45] Lewis Corner from Digital Spy gave the song four out of five stars, stating that "Lady Gaga makes no secret that she's after mass adoration, and as far as lead singles go, her next grand spectacle is off to a strong start.

"[8] Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine believed the song lacked "the bigness" of Gaga's previous lead singles but noted that "it proves she can still craft a catchy hook".

[12] Mof Gimmers of The Quietus noted that the song was "a bit sticky in places" but explained "if you stop expecting too much of Gaga, you'll realise it has a furiously irresistible chorus.

[49] Positive feedback also came from Mike Driver from Clash who highlighted "Applause" as one of the tracks on Artpop that ticks "all of the prerequisite Gaga boxes – dazzling production, a clutch of clever couplets, choruses you can demolish a tower block with", but found that it did not represent a notable musical progression for the singer.

[50] Hilary Hughes from Esquire offered similar commentary, feeling that Gaga was playing it safe and that "the song doesn't break new ground for the reigning Queen of Pop".

[51] In a mixed review, Evan Sawdey of PopMatters called the song generic and that "were it not for her heady lyrics and warped lead-in synth line, 'Applause' wouldn't stand out all that much in radio, which makes it an even more curious choice as a lead single.

"[15] Spin's Marc Hogan criticized the song's "bland dance-bot foundations" as "a bit behind the times at a pop moment where the biggest song-of-the-summer candidates have moved back toward '70s-inflected guitars.

"[70] Gaga spoke of this intensity during an interview with the radio station Z100 New York, explaining that it was difficult for her to quickly mould herself into the different personalities portrayed in the video.

[80] Erin Coulehan of Rolling Stone magazine noted that the video was in "typical Gaga fashion", further calling it a spectacle of flashing lights, vivid colors and intricate choreography.

"[82] A writer of Billboard described the video as "a collection of arty postures and scenarios" and compared the black-glove bra look to Janet Jackson's 1993 Rolling Stone magazine cover.

There is no plot other than the basic lyrical premise, "I need you to pay more attention to me," given heft by a syllabically rocky first-person observation about pop culture, fame and art that Andy Warhol noted 50 years ago.

[85] A writer of The Independent wrote, "Showing Gaga in a number of guises (as a Beatnik performance artist, her face smeared with clown make-up, sporting David Bowie-esque androgyny while wearing a bra made of black, leather gloves and as various winged creatures), the high energy accompaniment to her new track is a hotch-potch of imagery that seems to highlight the pop princess' ever changing appearance.

"[91] Hilary Hughes of Esquire said that the video "hits all the marks of Gaga-esque eccentricity: glitter, boob grabs, weird animals, space, severed limbs, devotional imagery, nudity, neon, etc.

[98] "Applause" was the final song Gaga performed at London's Roundhouse as part of a show that was broadcast live online on September 1, 2013, for the month-long iTunes Festival.

[99] Gaga completed her last look of the show with "a green ringmaster jacket, top hat and sparkly silver boots" and performed the song alongside "an endless supply of supple dancers in gothy fetish wear" who danced behind her on chairs.

[102] "Applause" served as the encore during the singer's Artpop launch party event, dubbed the ArtRave, held in the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York during the early hours of November 11, 2013.

[106] Gaga reprised "Applause" at the South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival in Austin, Texas in March 2014, where she was joined onstage by her opening acts and friends, the Dirty Pearls, Semi Precious Weapons and Lady Starlight.