Don't let the artist choose single

The worst person to choose next single is the artist. They constantly wrong on what is good and what works.

How can I say that? The artist is the closest to the songs?

Yes and that is the reason. There is an expression called "kill your darlings". It comes from the movie industry. Here you can see many times that the final decision of a movie is done by the producer, not the director as should be closest to the actual making of the movie.
The reason for this is that the closest person has too many scenes or parts that are close to them, that it clouds their judgment of the whole picture. So to get a classic movie you kill some of the director's darlings. If you ever want to make a comparison they sometimes on DVD releases do directors cut where the darlings are there.
So why are the producers better to choose this? Mainly since they know how and where the movie will be market. One trick they use is to test screen it to a test audience. Out of the reaction of that audience, they make decisions.

In fact, the best persons to choose the single is the PR team. The hard part of that is they might be many of them. Still, they are the people who are gonna sell the song. If they feel its wrong or they know there is a better one out there, they won't do their best. They will do what is needed they won't go that extra mile. That extra mile is what makes a hit.

I meet on daily basis artists that throw away opportunities around the topic that they think they know best. Still like when you are a teenager in most cases later on in life you really get that your old folks were right. Not in all but in most of the picture.

Another proof that the artist is wrong is that they always think that the latest they did is the best and the direction they should go. The acts that live out of an old hit is just a proof how wrong they are. Just say the word Smokie.

This is a celebration to the people who got a stubborn artist to change their mind.

Rod Stewart thought "do ya think I'm sexy" wasn't a hit. He also rejected "Sailing" in the beginning.

Def Leppard never thought "pour some sugar" was a hit.

Depeche Mode tried to hide off "just can't get enough" later in their career.

Kiss still think they write hits.

The list can be very long...