Why I think RCA executive are fuckwits

[KAndre]

Eonwe, I do see your point, but why would a record label invest in any artist and not expect them to sell? Considering the constant bombardment of the message that sales and profit are declining (the article’s sub heading appeared to reference this), it definitely doesn’t indicate that he is bad and that the record company guys are right. Hopefully, we can agree to disagree on whether or not he’s ‘good’, but in fact, since he is one of their artists, I would say that being the target market for his album and not really mattering to the record company might explain a lot of their problems. (Dang, one more rant forcing me think about my points.)

Part of what I found interesting about the article that wasn’t addressed is why he had “become the best-selling single since Elton John’s reworked Candle in the Wind”. A number of others also got the same amount, if not more, of TV fame from Idol; to be honest, the single never got a lot of radio airplay and didn’t have a video to further saturate viewers with awareness; he is just as accessible for downloads as any other “chart-toppers”. The music industry has access to “countless other wanna-bes” and the current chart-toppers, and could provide them with TV exposure (I’ll bet more people cumulatively watch MTV and its sister stations, the various award shows, and the various entertainment shows than watched American Idol). Why can’t they sell it? I looked at the Billboard Single Certification chart, and of the 12 singles listed, 5 were related to to American Idol, and two of the remainder were from 1968 and 1977. I do believe the records companies are doing something wrong. I will be looking with interest at the sales numbers in November; hopefully RCA will be doing the same.

[Eonwe]

why would a record label invest in any artist and not expect them to sell? Considering the constant bombardment of the message that sales and profit are declining (the article’s sub heading appeared to reference this), it definitely doesn’t indicate that he is bad and that the record company guys are right. Hopefully, we can agree to disagree on whether or not he’s ‘good’, but in fact, since he is one of their artists, I would say that being the target market for his album and not really mattering to the record company might explain a lot of their problems.

(bolding mine)

That bold bit there is actually an excellent point. But, I would say that you did buy the single (and the magazines, etc etc) despite what the record execs said, because you like Clay’s music, so in a way they are obviously free to say what they want as long as they put their money behind him.

As an answer to your question (this is going to be pure speculation), my guess is that the record company does not expect to sell to me, or any others who didn’t watch American Idol (not that no one outside the viewership will buy, but I’d bet it’ll be a statistically insignificant percentage). And, they probably assume, and rightly so, that due to the massive support for Clay from the viewers, they can count on decent returns on an album/single. So, they put money behind him becase they already have a basically guaranteed group of customers who they know will buy at least his first album based on his popularity on the show.

That is also why they aren’t putting money behind other ‘wanna-bes’; he’s a wanna-be with an already committed fan base. No marketing is required, because the show did all the marketing they needed before hand, and they didn’t have to pay for it. I’d definitely ‘invest’ in someone whose name was already a household name in the millions of homes who watched the show rather than someone else who no one knew.
Billboard’s page isn’t loading right now for me (grrrr), but I think it’s funny and fitting that it’s the best selling single since the Diana version of Candle in the Wind. That song was also a successful single because of its connection with Diana (ie, because of publicity surrounding the song and its subject) as opposed to the song itself.

I’d wonder where/how singles are marketed these days. I know that they’re a lot more dificult to come by these days than they were ‘back in the day’; a lot fewer artists release single CDs. So, I’d just be curious to know who is selling singles and why, and how much they’re making, and how their albums sell in relation to their single sales, etc etc. Unfortunately, without billboard loading for me now, I’ll have to come back and explore that later.

(the subtext of that paragraph there should read as follows: I assume 5 of the 12 singles on that list (a ‘best single sales of all time’ list?) are from American Idol is because the record companies are taking advantage of their free marketing from the show to release singles that people will buy because they want to strike while the iron is hot, and probably many of those folks couldn’t put out a successful CD).

[KAndre]

I’m looking forward to it, Eonwe. I’m finding it a little more difficult to track down all the numbers I’m interested in on Billboard. I heard that the finale was watched by 38 million, which is a pretty good proportion of the population; I still would think this is a target market they should put a little effort in cultivating.

And just to let Boo Boo Foo know I’m not ignoring him/her, one of y friends from another board took the Sinatra comparison and starting looking:

Frank Sinatra
Sinatra started his career by winning the Major Bowes Amateur Hour in 1938. He then spent several years as the vocalist for the Harry James Orchestra and later the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. In 1942 he left the orchestra to start a solo career. His name first appears in the Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature in 1943. I didn’t look up any articles on the orchestras, because I’ve already spent half the day on this.

The first article on Sinatra to appear in the mainstream press was a one page article in Newsweek. (“He can’t read a note but he’s dethroning Bing” Newsweek 21:62 March 22, 1943.) This short article describes how he’s winning polls as the “best popular vocalist” which had formerly been dominated by Bing Crosby. “From the ladies who sigh through five shows a day…Sinatra is terrific. This viewpoint is also shared by a growing number of other solid citizens.” From the same article: “Sinatra’s vocal style is way over on the sweet side – vaguely reminiscent of a Crosby attack with the b-b-b boos left out.”

A longer article appeared in Life in May of 1943. (“Frank Sinatra rose through voice that makes women swoon” Life, 14:55-56+ May 3, 1943.) This one is fascinating. I’m quoting lots of relevant passages.
Quote:
Frank Sinatra, a gaunt, 25-year old resident of Hasbrouck Heights, N.J., is what tired press agents refer to as the current singing sensation. His fans, who are tireless, have been so bold as to announce flatly that he is the new Bing Crosby. Inasmuch as there appears to be nothing wrong with the old Bing Crosby, this is a little perplexing. But Sinatra fans are a breed apart. The result of their purposeful worship is that in this, his first year as a solo attraction, Sinatra will earn approximately $25,000 from his work in night clubs, theaters, motion pictures and on the Lucky Strikes Hit Parade radio program.

Quote:
Sinatra’s present popularity is so great that newspaper columnists wanting to stir up reader reaction need only run an uncomplimentary remark about him. The resultant mail is as large as it is vitriolic.

Quote:
Amateur psychiatrists who have attempted to explain Sinatra’s popularity invariable arrive at widely divergent conclusions. Some insist that it is a manifestation of wartime degeneracy, others, that it is a product of the maternal instinct which his voice arouses in women. All of them, however, agree that his voice does something extraordinary to women of all ages.

Quote:
Students of popular singing who have tried to analyze Sinatra’s success agree that it stems in part from his complete sincerity. He has the ability to believe implicitly the rhythmic goo he sings.

Quote:
One factor that the experts appear to ignore, when analyzing Sinatra’s success, is his appearance. “I look hungry,” he says of himself. He weighs 137 lbs, is 5’10” and looks as if a square meal would help him. He has a mop of mussed hair, hollow cheeks, and sunken eyes. His ears are too large and his neck is scarred. These deficiencies are probably as indispensable to his success as his vocal stylings.

Quote:
Sinatra himself…feels that his appeal for the younger generation is directly attributable to the fact that these kids regard him as one of their own. “I wear bow ties, sport jackets and sweaters, and kid like ‘em,” he says. “I’m their type.”… His speech is filled with youthful awe and he constantly describes people or things as being “so terrific” or “so sensational.”

Next article: “That old sweet song” Time 42:76 July 5, 1943
Quote:
Cocking his head, hunching his shoulders, caressing the microphone, Sinatra slid into She’s Funny That Way, purring the words “I’m not much to look at, nothin’ to see.” “Oh Frankie, yes you are!” wailed the audience.

Quote:
Incredulous newspapermen, on whom the Sinatra voice has little effect, canvass his harem to discover what Sinatra did to them. <snipped some stupid comments from the harem> Whatever Sinatra’s secret, he possesses one of the best microphone techniques in the business. It is studiously informal, effortlessly little-boyish. His tone quality is liquid, his delivery easy. He is also young enough and sentimental enough to believe the words he sings.

Quote:
Of his status as America’s No. 1 microphone lover, he observes: “It’s a kinda exaggerated affair.”

Next article: “The voice” Newsweek 22:94+ Dec 20, 1943
Quote:
And the coming year will tell the real story: Will The Voice fade out as a short-lived phenomenon or will it settle down as a national institution?

This next quote is interesting with regards to the myth of the fainting fans:
Quote:
It was at this point that the word Swoon reentered the nation’s vocabulary when a girl in his audience fainted because of the heat, and columnists exaggerated it into a mass syncope over his voice.

Quote:
As a visible male object of adulation, Sinatra is even more baffling. He is undersized and looks underfed – but the slightest suggestion of his twisted smile brings squeals of agonized rapture from his adolescent adorers. To them he seems to be all things: sweetheart, brother, son, and buddy.

Quote:
Naturally these Sighing Societies of Sinatra Swooners – who call their pajamas Sinatra Suits and who sign their letters Sinatrally Yours while languishing in a Sinatrance – have created many a hot spot for their idol. Recently, in fact, The Voice itself had to tell them to shut up at a broadcast.

[Miller]

Clay who?