On Saturday, it was revealed that Interscope, Lady Gaga’s label, has spent $25 million dollars to promote her flop album “ARTPOP,” which is set to sell around 250 thousand copies in its first week — that’s a 75 percent drop from the first week album sales of “Born This Way” only two years ago.
Some have compared the fate of “ARTPOP” to Michael Jackson’s “Invincible,” where $30 million was spent on the promotion for an album that didn’t even launch one solid hit single. But “ARTPOP” is really Lady Gaga’s “Glitter.”
So, how was the money spent? We talked to a music industry analyst (who wants to be referred to as ‘Jacob’ for this story), who has worked at both Warner Brothers and Arista over the past twenty years. He works closely with people from Interscope and told us that the past year has been a huge nightmare for Lady Gaga and Interscope.
“She originally was going to have the album ready by last Christmas. They made her re-record it. When her tour wasn’t selling, they invented a hip injury and told Gaga to go away for months so the public could be interested in her ‘comeback.’ After the lead single ‘Applause’ didn’t get such a great reception, they made her re-record the album again. I hear that they allegedly paid radio stations in order to put the song at the top of their playlists,” Jacob laughs. CONTINUE READING
Lady Gaga and her loyal manager Troy Carter are over. The reason is “creative differences.” Carter literally created Gaga’s career in 2007, got her a multi zillion dollar deal at Interscope, and helped hatch her from that egg she appears in. I am told by friends that Carter was cut out of the ARTPop album campaign. and that Gaga has refused advice. “She doesn’t take direction anymore,” a source told me.
This all culminated in last night’s train wreck of an appearance at the YouTube Awards. Millions of people tuned out as Gaga appeared in darkness singing a terrible ballad called “Dope.” It’s one of three songs on ARTPop with references to drugs, not smart for her young audience. As well, Gaga apparently left a couple of what I’m told were “great” songs off ARTPop that could have been hits. (One of them was a song I featured here a few months ago, a duet with Cher.)
But this is what happens when a “star” believes they are too big to take guidance. What a shame. Carter manages John Legend and other artists, so he will be fine. Gaga, however, has problems on the horizon. Last night’s outing was a nightmare. She cried and carried on, and even her most fanatic fans didn’t know what was going on. “ARTPop” is released in one week– November 11th. It’s had a flurry of leaked singles but no focus or direction. Remember how clear the “Born this Way” campaign was? “ARTPop” is all over the place. And that may be reflected in its initial sales. (Showbiz411)
YouTube, the second largest search engine will soon introduce a paid subscription music service.
Subscriptions are said to be about $10 a month and will give users access to YouTube’s catalog of music videos without interruptions from advertising. The service will also let you temporarily store videos on smartphones and tablets to watch offline.
Music labels and publishers would earn higher royalties under the subscription plan. Music companies would also be able to tame somewhat the chaos of content on YouTube by organizing music in full albums and playlists. Music companies would also be able to tame somewhat the chaos of content on YouTube by organizing music in full albums and playlists.
Finding music on YouTube is simple enough already, I’m not sure adding a price tag will move browsers into buyers simply by removing 10 second ads.
10 Urgent Things Musicians Need To Do to Prepare for the Holiday Season
The holidays represent a lot of things: time with family, a break from work or school, food, gifts, and some more food. But something that may not be so obvious is that the holidays present great opportunities for musicians.
It may seem early to begin thinking about the holidays, but if you plan accordingly you will have a successful end to your year. We have the top ten things musicians need to do to prepare for a successful holiday season. If you start gearing up now, your music will be front and center when the holiday season is in full swing.
1. Create Something New for Your Fans
The holidays are the largest music-buying season, so distributing a new album or single gets your name in the game. If you don’t have time to release a holiday album, distributing a holiday single can help get your music out there. Think of it this way, someone may search for “Silent Night” and find your cover of it, and then want to check out the rest of your music.
Just keep in mind, that while holiday songs are great, they are seasonal, so it might make more sense to have a focused thematic release, and not to include a Christmas carol on an otherwise non-holiday album.
If holiday music isn’t your cup of cider, consider releasing a remixed single or deluxe version of an older album as a way to offer your fans new material.
Here are 24 hour digital sales records (only tracks selling at least 150K are shown). The single “Best Song Ever” by One Direction had 189,387 paid downloads on iTunes within 24 hours.
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