Idol Headlines for 11/24/07

Elliott Yamin is the moat puzzeling contestant to me in American Idol history to me. Yes American idol really dislikes him.. his single was out on radio(cd was een doing well),doingosu tour,wiener mobile ,fill in for ai guest(single doubled in sales). Yeah these are proof hat American dol shafted him Jhub is sending him flowers.

Elliott stated himself he was the underdog because of looks,right put duck tape on your mouth wearing thin. You were not exciting did not stand out right away . A good singing crooner on Ai never happened before.

Daughtry is being trashed for being an AI tool Elliott is in second for other reasons as thier cute puppydog..

The last few paragraphs of that NY Post article I found particularly interesting.

They want record labels to release non-DRM for FREE to consumers?

Why would any record label be willing to give away their product for FREE?

I agree that there needs to be less DRM music out there and also that CD prices need to be lowered to help sales in a shrinking market.

But I think expecting free music is a bit much. Part of being in a business is to make money. Are they going to stop charging us $10 a head to go see movies any time soon? I don’t think so.

Sorry guys somethings are my pet peezes and two idols from 5 croosed them even if thier great people.

Thanks mj it is a good blog but my opinion is the minority..

That’s a very good review for Blake. His album IMO will either hit big or not connect at all. It doesn’t seems like it will fall in the middle somehow.

If Elliott and Chris had finished 1/2 (in any order), I probably would have eased up on the idol fandom. But the “injustice” of S5 has keep me hooked.

Elliott is not your average third place idol finisher who gets signed by an indie label. For all of them, the idol fanbase only takes them so far. Then they need new fans to sell the albums. Whatever extra stuff (being an underdog) doesn’t really help them then. I truly felt that Chris and Elliott were exceptional vocal talents during their season and I am happy but not surprised at their success.

Also the record industry wonders why people keep illegally downloading music when they pull stunts like the last two Carrie Underwood shenanigans?

Her tracks from the Ever, Ever After soundtrack and the Country Christmas CD are ONLY available if you buy the whole album. In fact you can’t even buy the video to Ever, Ever After unless you buy the whole soundtrack album.

I fail to see how the record companies think they are doing themselves any favors when they pull something like that.

Elliott stated himself he was the underdog because of looks,right put duck tape on your mouth wearing thin. You were not exciting did not stand out right away .

I seriously doubt Elliott continues to talk about his looks voluntarily. In many interviews he’s done, the interviewer brings it up. Elliott could either be rude and blow off the question or answer it. He so far has chosen to answer it.

He stood out immediately to me because of his voice – most definitely not his performing abilities. Elliott was a contestant that was truly transformed on american idol. Even Taylor said on LKL that Elliott’s story was really what the show was supposed to be about. He wasn’t playing clubs (Taylor), playing in a Christian rock band (Chris) or an attendee of a performing arts school (Kat). I think the people that were fans of Elliott fell in love with his voice and humble personality first and then cheered him on because he was an underdog. He was competing with people that already had a graet deal of experience performing. The competition is over but I still feel like if Elliott had won AI it would have been the perfect Cinderella story for the show. Why am I talking about this anyway? Isn’t it almost time for season 7?!

It seems to me that most of the AI5 alum are doing fine. You don’t have to like them all – or any of them for that matter. Buy the music you like and pass on the rest – AND continue to snark when the opportunity presents itself!

The person who deserved to win is the person who received the most votes. Period.

There would have been “injustice” if some sort of vote tampering had taken place. Since there’s no evidence of shenanigans with the Season 5 vote totals, I say things ended up exactly the way they should have.

I put “injustice” in quotes. Of course, there was no real injustice just in my biased fans head . I was just trying to explain how I got hooked on idol after the Season ended. I wonder when the disease wears off? I’m not into reliving past seasons as most of these folks are lucky enough to have stuff going on in the present.

Yay, the first official review of Audio Day Dream is a good one! I’m so jealous that people are getting to hear it already. :tongue1_tb:

Her tracks from the Ever, Ever After soundtrack and the Country Christmas CD are ONLY available if you buy the whole album. In fact you canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t even buy the video to Ever, Ever After unless you buy the whole soundtrack album.

I was all excited to d/l “Ever Ever After” off iTunes the other day and I got so mad when I saw you had to buy the entire album to get it. I just said forget it.

Star: I wanted Carrie’s Do You Hear What I Hear because I heard it on the radio and it’s brilliant. I was so mad when I saw I had to download the whole album and it was $10.99. I said forget it.

My daughter wanted the Ever After video and I was again mad that I can’t download it at all without having to buy the entire Ever After soundtrack. She’ll just have to watch it from the disney site I guess.

Either way record company is shooting themselves in the foot.

The 26-year-old Washington state native, who finished second to Jordin Sparks on the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  sixth-season finale in May, takes great pride in being able to say, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m the first person, really, to have creative control coming off of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹American Idolà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ and making his own album.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  That includes co-writing 12 of the 13 tracks for his debut, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Audio Day Dream,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  due December 4 on 19 Entertainment/Aristaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦

But Daughtry said that last year, so guess Blake couldn’t be the ‘first’ one coming off American Idol to have that creative control.

Bo’s video for Witness is the #1 video this week on the VH1 Top 20 video countdown.

I wonder when the disease wears off?

Heh. I wonder.

I think that what happens on the show bears no relation whatsoever to the music business.

The person who wins AI isn’t necessarily the best singer, or the person who will do best in the music marketplace afterward. The person who wins is the contestant who is most able to capture the imagination and the passion of the viewing audience at that place and time. That’s what makes the show unpredictable and irresistible, imho.

That’s why, I don’t think Jordin and Blake’s post-idol success can be predicted based on how popular AI 6 was or was not. What happens afterward can be equally as unpredictable.

It’s all pretty fun to watch, if you ask me. .

Bo Bice video “Witness” is #1 on VH1 Top 20 Countdown on TV today!

Thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s why, I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t think Jordin and Blakeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s post-idol success can be predicted based on how popular AI 6 was or was not.

I can. lol

I think Jordin is almost immune to the criticism of season 6. She’s a great singer; she’s a teenager; her music fits into top 40 like a glove; and, above all, she won. She may have the dishonor of having the lowest winner sales to date (which can probably be attributed to the disinterest in last season) but with legitimate top 40 hits, she may be able to offset some of the negatives.

Now with Blake, I think he’s beginning to epitomize how lackluster season 6 really was. The fact that there’s really nothing all that great about him won’t bode too well for him. I think the majority of casual season 6 viewers will remember 2 people: Sanjaya and Melinda.

Blake who? I think that’s how it’s going to be. The current performance (sales-wise) of his song has already shown how small of a fanbase contingent he retains (another thing that can be linked to the lack of interest in season 6). Now there’s always the possibility that he’ll take off and become a top 40 superstar but there is nothing that suggests that he won’t become anything other than known as “runner-up on a season of American Idol”. To me, he kinda just seemed like a passing fad that happened during the show…and now, most have moved on.

What an exciting day for Bo to be #1 on the vh1 countdown. All the hard workd of clicking and dragging paid off this week. :clap_tb:

Off to start voting for next week, come on AI fans… head over to vh1 and cast a few votes for “Witness” this weekend.

Off to start voting for next week, come on AI fansà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦ head over to vh1 and cast a few votes for à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Witnessà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  this weekend.

No overt street teaming on the site, please.

Street teaming is addressed in the guidelines here which you should read if you have not yet.

Three messages to tell the readers here that Bo Bice is #1 on VH1–I understand you’re excited, but ya all can stop now. We got it. .

Congratulations to Bo for organizing his fan base effectively.

I can. lol

Sure you can. I still disagree though. If success on the show resulted in success off the show, Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee would be huge pop stars now. But they aren’t.

It has been said many times that the key to success beyond AI is reaching new fans outside AI fanbase. Obviously Taylor and Kat failed to do that for many reasons.

The jury is still out for Jordin and Blake. The early signs are mixed. Jordin’s single is doing quite well but her album is predicted to have the lowest opening numbers for an Idol winner. So she might be a JoJo or Rihanna type artist. Blake’s single is off to an ominous start. It languished on iTunes, then fell off top 100 after several days. Where’s is his fanbase? It can’t bode well for his upcoming album..

She may have the dishonor of having the lowest winner sales to date (which can probably be attributed to the disinterest in last season)

OR, it could possibly be attributed to the decline of record sales in general in the music industry. Just a thought.

About Blake… well, I guess we’ll just have to see when the album is actually released and the song actually starts getting decent airplay. Sure, Jordin’s single is doing well, it’s been on the radio for 2 months already. Blake’s went for adds, what 5 days ago?

No one really expected Daughtry to take off the way he did, either. At least at first. I know I sure didn’t, and I’m a fan. After I heard the album when it was streamed on VH1, that’s when I began to think he might have a good chance in the sales arena. I haven’t heard Blake’s album, so I’m not writing him off yet.

Obviously Taylor and Kat failed to do that for many reasons.

One thing’s for sure – Kat’s wasn’t for lack of money spent promoting hers.

Her tracks from the Ever, Ever After soundtrack and the Country Christmas CD are ONLY available if you buy the whole album. In fact you canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t even buy the video to Ever, Ever After unless you buy the whole soundtrack album.

xoxoyc, i can send them to you. tell me your idf sn or come into the chat

OR, it could possibly be attributed to the decline of record sales in general in the music industry. Just a thought.

Over the past 5 seasons, American Idol winners have averaged first week debut album sales of 313K (most in the 300K range with 416K and 239K being the outliers) .

Jordin is predicted to sell between 125-150K (although predictions are not always accurate, they are generally in the ball park…Garth Brooks excepted).

That’s less than 1/2 the average sales. Album sales are down, but they aren’t down 50% from last year. They are only down about 16% and several artists this year have managed to outsell their prior albums by putting out something that excites the buying public.

These numbers cannot be blamed on lack of promo. They can’t be blamed on Clive burying the project. They can’t be blamed on lack of airplay. They can’t be blamed on a single being released too late. They can’t be blamed on sun spots. And they most certainly cannot be wholly attributed to decreased album sales (perhaps that can be blamed a tiny bit).

Jordin’s album numbers are down because people are not interested.

Ratings dropped during the competition round this season because people were not interested (not simply because of changes to Daylight Saving Times).

The Idol singles did not sell because people were not interested (not simply because they were only released to iTunes).

The Idol tour sales were down because people were not interested (not simply because ticket prices were up and the tour started in the south…and even if the NE sold out every single one of their concerts, ticket sales will still be down. The ticket sales for the first half were too dismal to be recovered from. The final sales statistics, if they are ever released, will be down from the previous two years)).

“Break Anotha’” has small sales because people are not interested (not because it was secretly released and his older fans can’t use the internet (Taylor fans have proven that’s not true) or because his younger fans don’t have money to buy things from iTunes (Hannah Montana fans have proven that’s not true)).

AI lost the titanic appeal that it had in previous seasons. People became disinterested. Whether that was caused by producer shenanigans, the quality of the contestants, the lack of competiveness between the contestants or just that the show had run its course is up for debate. The shine is off and the producers can either fight to recover it this season (7) or the show will begin to dwindle to obscurity.

And this is not a knock on Season 6 fans. They are not morons for liking something that others do not. I like spinach and do not take it personally that the majority of people seem to dislike it and mock it as horrible to eat. People have differing taste. Fewer people liked the taste of Season 6 than previous seasons. That’s no judgement on anybody’s taste. Sometimes, the Oscar winning movie sells fewer tickets than the summer blockbuster. Doesn’t mean the summer blockbuster is a better movie and the Oscar winner sucked. Just that more people would rather watch the blockbuster.

Blake and Jordin and Season 6 Idols in general may be able to generate more interest over time with new fans. But, the AI fans are not (in general) interested and that’s why they are slow out of the starting blocks.

And there is nothing wrong with that. They are all selling more than they did last year at this time and their fans who are interested are getting lots of exciting new material. So, let’s stop it with the excuses and enjoy what Season 6 has to offer. Those who are not Season 6 fans can hunker down and wait for Season 7 (just 7 more weeks. Where are those spoilers?)

Tell me about it……. Marmite is lovely! :wink_wp:

You’re making a great deal of sense as always Kirsten, excellent post!

Wow Kirsten – You make great points and, of course, you’re funny just like always.

I think season 7 is a real turning point for idol as well. I have several friends who say they’re done with idol because they were so disappointed with this past season.

It will be interesting to see how it all shakes out. It almost seems like TPTB got the idea that they didn’t have to work at it anymore and that America preferred freak shows to singing contests.

As I’ve said before, I won’t even start watching AI until top 24. I still haven’t recovered from the whole “bush monkey” incident. I don’t hthink I’m alone and those are ratings that they will definitley lose early on.

I heart you, Kirsten. The voice of reason.

That was a great post, Kirsten, as always. And I agree, Lu. I think Season 7 will be a turning point also. Maybe they can take a lesson from the judges and format of NGAB (although I doubt it given the ratings).

Great post, Kirsten!

If the writer’s strike continues, Season 7 might rebound beautifully simply due to the lack of new material elsewhere on the dial. This is really going to be interesting.

Ditto, great post Kirsten. I don’t think the writer’s strike will help AI. The most important thing is for the fans to bond with the contestants and to care about them. That didn’t really happen Season 6. S6 also had too many Christian artists who were lovely people but kind of killed the show’s nasty competitive edge. I think 50% of S6′s top 10 were associated with Christian or gospel music.

xoxoyc, i can send them to you. tell me your idf sn or come into the chat

blairw: you can email me at xocys@yahoo.com

Coming in late..just read the Kelly Clarkson comments on her halftime performance. The girl has “perfect pitch” and probably the best in that regard that Idol has ever produced. However, I have heard her sing off key only once at a concert in Charlotte. She had (secretly) moved to a position in the middle of the audience and it was my impression from watching her play with her ear set that she couldn’t hear. I’ll hope that was the case this time too! She’s just TOO DAMN GOOD not to have a good reason to sing off key.

I can’t imagine how she couldn’t hear. She was standing on the stage with the band. She was definitely flat and screachy. Maybe there was some other reason – her voice was over tired maybe?There are some youtube vids of her performance posted in that thread. It really surprised me – she was just off – definitely not the usual Kelly.

Jordin will be on TV again next weekend . i think it is on 8-10pm Saturday the 1st and 6-9pm on Sunday the 2nd.

http://www.nick.com/all_nick/specials/teenick/

Excellent points, Kirsten.

I consider myself an average Idol fan. Have watched from day one, Season One. This past season was BY FAR the most boring, least engaging of any I have seen. I never got invested in any of it, even though, out of habit, I watched it. (Albeit while snarking in chat for several episodes).

It did have the misfortune of following the best season of Idol ever, and who knows if the show will recover from, what I consider, the worst season of Idol ever when it returns next year.

Someone at another board that attended Kelly’s concert last night in Dallas said she sounded great- most have been a temporary voice problem or sound issues at the half time show.

Those are some excellent points, Kirsten.

Sure you can. I still disagree though. If success on the show resulted in success off the show, Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee would be huge pop stars now. But they arenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t.

I was kidding, mostly. They definitely have the ability to become break-out stars but I assume that it’s going to be much harder with having to shake the “failed season” off of them.

Season 7 of Idol may be successful.

One could argue that Season 4 which brought us Carrie Underwood and Bo Bice followed up what had been widely considered the “worst” season of Idol (season 3) after what was once considered the “best” season of Idol (season 2).

One could argue that Season 4 which brought us Carrie Underwood and Bo Bice followed up what had been widely considered the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“worstà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  season of Idol (season 3) after what was once considered the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“bestà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  season of Idol (season 2).

Plus, while the season 6 ratings were down, they hardly flatlined. Idol still bulldozed everything in its path last year. So, I would not plan the funeral just yet. .

I’m reminded of a show like SNL, for instance, which has been on TV for over 30 years, and is still pretty popular. It’s not the ground-breaking show it was in the late 70′s with the first cast, certainly. But, it managed to recover from what was considered its worst season–a total trainwreck that everyone expected would kill off the show for good–the 1980 season.

The show regrouped over that summer. And here we are, 27 years later, and SNL is still going pretty strong. In the intervening years it’s had its good and its bad seasons, but it has managed to continue, despite the ups and downs.

I love spinach and Kirsten.

I also love lisab but marmite? nah.

:wub_tb:

I think mj is absolutely right.

Success on Idol doesn’t mean success in the real world. Looked what happened to Taylor, maybe he was one of the most popular contestants ever on the show but when it was all said and done, he couldn’t attract fans outside the Soul Patrol. That’s why he never could reach a massive audience and sell more than 600,000 records. His music was never played on the radio, no videos, so it was an uphill battle. Same with Kat, although she did have videos. Heh.

I think the key to after idol success is to gain interest from music fans outside the AI world. That may mean that in the beginning the sales won’t be that impressive, but with time if the music is great they can have the potential of long term success. That’s exactly what I think will happen to Blake. We will just have to wait and see.
I do think though, that maybe it’s better to start with lower numbers, be consistent and grow up from there. JMHO.

Daughtry just happened to have the best of both, he started with huge numbers and he gained new fans outside AI effortlessly.

I haven’t watched all seasons of Ai but it seems to me that AI5 produced the most memorable contestants. Of course Daughtry is phenomenol, Elliott has a huge pop hit, Kelly and Bucky are both doing great in country and Mandissa is successful in teh Christian genre. I’m very biased because I loved AI5.

whoa ana! Taylor has sold 640,000 per MSNBC in February, 2007.

Why, I don’t doubt he’s now at 640,001 !

anyway, you don’t want to mess with Birmingham. There are at least 475 Taylor clones who plan to hit the low country smokey shanty circuit anyday now. All those shanty patrons will buy Taylor’s cd’s.

check this out, guy that works with son in Bham — is he Bo Bice or what? And give him a break, he’s drunk but it is after 5:00!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=-303awVCOFw

A point that was brought up: Taylor never got a music video.

Is this true? He hasn’t done a single music video? Wow.

A point that was brought up: Taylor never got a music video.

Is this true? He hasnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t done a single music video? Wow.

No – he sure hasn’t. That’s a total puzzle unless Taylor just flat out said forget it.

One more point about predictions…

I remember last year around this time, the prediction was that Taylor would sell millions of records and change the face of pop music, that Daughtry, the Nickleback wanna-be would probably bomb, and Elliott (who disappeared for about a month in the fall) and his pathetic little indie deal would go nowhere…

Now, where is that crystal ball of mine? .

BTW, I went to see Elliott tonight. I was standing right next to the speakers on the left, so video was pointless, but I got a TON of pictures.

I’ll put something up tomorrow…

PS, he sounded great! Jo jo the pop singer was there.

Im not sure I understand…
I read “today’s” responses and headlines and did not see anything that mentioned Bo’s #1 video at the time I posted that. Sorry if I missed something. Last week he was #3 if that might have been posted. At the time I posted today, Jadore’s post wasn’t there, so perhaps we were writing at the same time and didn’t know of the other. Agree street teaming shouldn’t be done..but sorry, don’t think anyone meant to have multiple posts re the subject.

Tony:
Yes, that is true that Taylor did not do a TRADITIONAL music video like Kat, Elliott, Daughtry and others, but that Taylor CHOSE TO GO ON TOUR instead…

Taylor DID do this video for his first single, “Just To Feel That Way” which is located on Taylor’s page on SonyBMG’s MusicBox:
http://musicbox.sonybmg.com/video-player/taylor_hicks?bcpid=1126070703&bclid=1125952656&bctid=626894721 and these are the people that went on tour with Taylor from late February through earlier this month…

The main problem of this video was that it did not have a wider audience, other than the people who followed what Taylor was doing on the internet, and thus, KNEW about this video…

It SHOULD have been released to VH-1, or something, but ah, well… :doh_tb:

At Rehearsals.com, Taylor also had a BUNCH of songs video-taped while in rehearsal-mode, and the link to the site is as follows:
http://www.rehearsals.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061016&content_id=2033&vkey=news&fext=.jsp where Taylor does “Hollywood Nights,” “What’d I Say,”(warning: explicit words),
“Living For the City,” “You Are So Beautiful,” “Georgia On My Mind,”
Taylor Hicks’ own “Hold On To Your Love” and “Hell of a Day” along with a Super Stringout, which has just under 40 minutes of video, and it also includes Taylor doing a smidget of Weird Al’s parody of his AI single, “Do I Creep You Out”… LOL!!!

They are very cool videos, and gives a really good glimpse into the rehearsal process…
******************************************************
Maracaibo:

As you stated in your previous post, yes, it is true that Taylor had either EXTREMELY LIMITED radio play, or none, and it was not for lack of trying!

Trust me, I tried!!!

I called the appropriate radio stations in my area to get Taylor’s two singles played, and was told CONSTANTLY that he is not on the playlist, or that they would see what they can do to get him on the air, and yadda, yadda, yadda…

I even had one radio-personality actually HANG UP on me after her laughing at me and telling me that they WILL NOT PLAY HIM… :furious_tb: :thumbdown_tb:

Even so, considering that Taylor to have SOLD 697,000 records with SUCH LIMITED RADIO PLAY, I think that is pretty DARN GOOD!!! :clap_tb:

******************************************************
Carolina:
You quoted Taylor’s record sales from FEBRUARY 2007… You will see that Taylor has sold 697,000 albums, and this is from the Billboard Current Charts list, dated 12/1/07, which I read on THIS SITE…

Again, without the radio play that others have had, I think Taylor selling the 697,000 records ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE!!!

I love spinach and Kirsten.

I also love lisab but marmite? nah.

I concur, except what is marmite? :s Heh.

MJ, looking forward to the recap (there will be one?) and the photos from the Roxy show.

Well, I’m listening to Jordin’s CD right now and it doesn’t really impress me. BUT, that doesn’t mean she won’t sell well. I wish her well.

I agree that first week sales usually reflect the fanbases. They do seem much smaller this year. However, one thing I haven’t seen this year is organized multiple buying to boost first week sales. I’m glad for that, because I have always thought that was a waste of money. And yes, I include sending CDs to the troops in that (I think it’s presumptuous to assume the troops would like your Idol, have CD players rather than MP3 players, and would have the space to store/lug CDs around).

Not everyone here a year ago thought Taylor would sell millions and Elliott would vanish.

Yes, that is true that Taylor did not do a TRADITIONAL music video like Kat, Elliott, Daughtry and others, but that Taylor CHOSE TO GO ON TOUR insteadà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦

I don’t know. It just seems to me that Taylor may not have really been into the whole vidoe idea. Elliott finlmed hiw latest vid while he was on tour. It wouldn’t really take away from touring if he really wanted to film one, imo.

Not everyone here a year ago thought Taylor would sell millions and Elliott would vanish.

jpfan – I never predicted what Taylor would sell but I never bought in to the “Elliott will vanish” opinions either. :wink1_tb:

I don’t want to beat a dead horse but I’d say Taylor was responsible for some mistakes at the beginning. He didn’t work on his album while on the AI tour but chose to do shows with his old band. Well, Pickler and Daughtry toured, worked on their albums and got them out before Black Friday. I thought that was the first sign that Taylor would lose sales. Artists pay for their videos (I think) and they can be done in a day (cheaply.) Obviously, Taylor didn’t want one. Too bad. His fans could have gotten it played on VH1 and maybe sell some more albums. But he needed a real video, not just a filmed concert performance.

I also think the big disconnect between Taylor (party guy) on AI and the real Taylor (very reserved) didn’t help. Anyway, he’s got a second album coming and lots of opportunity to connect again with fans.

But he needed a real video, not just a filmed concert performance.

Exactly… that looked like something that would’ve been on aol music sessions – not VH-1.

I also think the big disconnect between Taylor (party guy) on AI and the real Taylor (very reserved) didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t help.

I agree again.

à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Break Anothaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  has small sales because people are not interested (not because it was secretly released and his older fans canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t use the internet (Taylor fans have proven thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s not true) or because his younger fans donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t have money to buy things from iTunes (Hannah Montana fans have proven thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s not true)).

So, are we saying then that radio play does not affect sales at all? I have no doubt that Blake’s hardcore fans are likely the majority, if not all, of those who have bought the single, because they knew it was available for purchase. Other than those people who follow him – or AI – closely, who else really knew the single was out?

Sure, I know people don’t like Blake and that many people are not interested, but to pawn it ALL off on that is a little to quick to judge, IMO. Same goes for Jordin. There is no easy explanation.

Carolina:
You quoted Taylorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s record sales from FEBRUARY 2007à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦ You will see that Taylor has sold 697,000 albums, and this is from the Billboard Current Charts list, dated 12/1/07, which I read on THIS SITEà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦

Again, without the radio play that others have had, I think Taylor selling the 697,000 records ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE

marymagdalene — I don’t doubt that Taylor sold 697,000 (just hit the first google link) — in fact, I’m sure he’s sold tons more…there are the pre-idol cd’s which are alllllll his!

purps — I’m not sure what marmite is but I’ve been told in the past and when I see the word “marmite” I think, gross. sorry lisab, my sweet!

mj, were you concerned that being next to the speakers would adversely affect the sound on videos? If so, there are certain brands of digital cameras (e.g. Sony) that handle bass from speakers very well. I’ve stood next to speakers right beside stages and have been able to record decent videos on my Sony camera. I was able to do that at Elliott’s concert in Toronto recently.