Melanie Amaro, Astro, Still Have Epic Record Contracts

By On 03/10/2013 · 49 Comments · In Melanie Amaro, X Factor

Share on TumblrShare via email

The Los Angeles Times has confirmed with a label rep that, contrary to what is or is not on the Epic Records front web page, X Factor winner, Melanie Amaro and 5th place finisher, Astro, have NOT been dropped from the label.

Gossip began to swirl when the X Factor season 1 alums photos disappeared from the label’s artist rosterpage. A rep tells the LA Times the the website’s landing page is “not a reflection of our entire roster.”

Rumors will, no doubt, continue to swirl around Melanie. Her debut album, Truly, has not only been postponed TWICE, but the  the label has confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that the singer’s album currently has NO release date.

In a Ustream chat session with her fans, Melanie became emotional discussing her post X Factor saga, “There’s been a lot of stuff going on … it kinda brought me down. I keep believing that everything will happen in time. I’ve been really sad, I know everybody has been reading things. I won’t even go into that.”

“But I do know that God has a plan for me regardless of what happens to me in the music industry.”

It has to be tough for Melanie to watch the Season 2 winner, Tate Stevens, release a single and prepare to drop his debut album in May.

What exactly does Epic have in mind for Melanie if they aren’t planning to release an album in the near future?  By hanging on to her, is the label attempting to stonewall Melanie from seeking opportunities outside of the X Factor machine? The entire situation is baffling. Melanie’s launch was botched from the get-go.  I imagine she’s learning some really hard lessons about the cutthroat music business.

Via The Los Angeles Times



Video streaming by Ustream

Tagged with: •
 
← Older Comments
  • breakdown

    She won. She was promised various things as the winner. Put out her album and let it flop if that’s what it’s meant to do. At least fulfill what was promised.

  • http://twitter.com/facenfield David Facenfield

    what you are saying about X Factor doesn’t appear to be any different that what happens with many AI winners & runners up… i.e. Lee, Taylor, the Davids, Crystal, Kris, even Rubben all dumped/parted ways after with Rec Co after 1st or 2nd album failed to sell…

    i’m not condoning what has happened with Melanie (or other talent show contestants) but it seems a fairly regular event…

    the big difference with her is that she won the biggest prize ever on a talent show, and hasn’t even released an album… sad

  • mmb

    But it is different. Those Idols all got a chance. In the Idol cases all of the them got albums, with a promotion campaign.  Some got platinum or gold albums and singles. The DAvids, Kris and Ruben all got more than one album.  Melanie really got nothing — a few weakly supported singles that went nowhere; she was hidden away from public view for months and months after her victory; now there is no album. I really can’t think of a reality singing show winner who has been treated worse than Melanie– not from Idol, not from the Voice and not from xfactor S2.  But its not just the label that has not done well by her, its her management.  Who is her management?  Why haven’t they had her front and center since her victory? Get her gigs, even if small ones; have be be active on social media; hook her up with a charity; have her out and about at entertainment industry events where people are photographed.  Stir up some media coverage of her.  Really none of this happened while the iron was hot and now its too late. I’m not a fan but I feel that she has been really treated badly

  • http://twitter.com/facenfield David Facenfield

    it seems we are violently agreeing about Melanie… yes her situation is very different as she hasn’t yet released an album (as I said in my response)… and this is very sad

    and I agreed that the AI alums I mentioned (the davids, Taylor, Lee etc…) all got to release at least 1 or 2 albums before being dropped by Record label…i was pointing out that this is which is no different to UK XF winners / contestants…
    NatSasics comment was that Melanie has had the same/similar trajectory as many UK XF alums seemed to suggest that the winner not getting to release an album was common practice, which it isn’t…

  • girlygirltoo

    I don’t know what happens with the UK reality show winners, so can’t comment on that. But The Voice winners have not been treated all that well either. Javier got an album and 1 or 2 singles, but basically no promo (Adam took him on tour, but I think that was more in reaction to the criticism the show got for the lack of promo Javier had received to that point). And Jermaine doesn’t look like he’s even going to get an album (or if he is, it will be without any promo). Did he even release a single? It appears as if Cassadee MIGHT get better promo, since she’s doing that CMT show, but even with her, I haven’t see very much buzz.

  • girlygirltoo

    All of the Idol winners received far more promotion, though. Even Lee, who probably had the least promo/support of all the AI winners, got more than what Melanie has received. And unlike her, they all got albums — most of them got 2 albums.

  • girlygirltoo

    Did they ever officially send his single to radio or give it any kind of push? Except for his performance nf The Voice, I’ve heard nothing about him.

  • http://twitter.com/shoriagirl Shoriagirl

    I don’t think that Melanie has anything to complain about. She still has recording contract and as soon as she or somebody figures out what kind of music she should release, she will get an album.  Obviously, whatever was planned for her originally did not work.  Why waste money if it is clear that it would not sell.

  • irockhard

    Dunno for sure but I think not.

  • http://twitter.com/eilonwya10 Eilonwy

    Jermaine Paul? There was a moment when his single had a CHR add date listed on FMQB, I think in January, but it vanished the next time I looked for it, and nobody has ever mentioned any adds for it.

    His label did finally make him a new official site, so he’s still on Republic Records’ roster for the nonce. But he’s another one where there’s an occasional live show but no real signs of album progress.

  • NatSasic

    To clarify, I wasn’t making a like-for-like comparison that UK XF winners don’t release albums at all. It’s just that a lot of them don’t get appropriate promotional backing for their music, or are only given cover songs to release (i.e. bad material like Melanie) and then are dropped unceremoniously. That hasn’t happened with most Idol winners (season 9 is probably the closest it came to that model), but at least Idol winners who are dropped are released from their contracts and able to continue releasing albums which their core fans can buy…

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Bug-Menot/100003601718986 Bug Menot

    In the video she talks of her love for R&B and the first song she sings is a Celine Deon number. I think the two parties were on completely different pages. Epic probably envisioned her doing dance-oriented numbers with possibly raunchy lyrics. Her faith – and taste in music – likely ruled that out.

    Epic chose to waste her talent rather than waste their marketing dollars.

  • http://twitter.com/facenfield David Facenfield

    I guess we may have to agree to disagree, as far as I see the XF UK winners have all been given the same huge promo with their initial album… living here and seeing it its hard to escape in the lead up to 1st single and album…
    they get lots and lots of TV & radio appearances, promotional concerts, TV adverts promoting the album, music video to coincide with release, full banners on iTunes, return slot on 1st results show on XF etc… in fact if anything it can seem like over-kill
    they may have a cover as winners single, but subsequent stuff tends to be new (or not well known if a cover) material…
    it may well be that a few months later… if the album & singles has not been as successful as Cowell wanted then they may get dropped from Syco… but that doesn’t stop them signing elsewhere and releasing future stuff… two very recent winners Joe (2009 winner) and Mat (2010 winner) are examples of that…
    so I don’t see how it is any different to what happens on Idol?
    that’s not to say that the 2nd or 3rd place don’t get the same level of support (or perceived better material)… but again the same as Idol…
    still doesn’t negate the fact Melanie is in a whole different category again in terms of what she has faced

  • girlygirltoo

    Since when is Celine Dion r&b though?

  • girlygirltoo

    I doubt it. Epic will likely quietly release her.

  • Karen C

    Melanie really got nothing — a few weakly supported singles that went nowhere; she was hidden away from public view for months and months after her victory; now there is no album. I really can’t think of a reality singing show winner who has been treated worse than Melanie– not from Idol, not from the Voice and not from xfactor S2.

    I think they didn’t know what direction she should go in as an artist. The type she was on the show isn’t really current, the type they wanted her to be didn’t work for her. I think they should and could have gone in more of a Jordin Sparks direction, or R&B. I don’t know what they were thinking.

    The winners from Idol, even those early on like Kelly Clarkson, had a definate direction as an artist they wanted to go in, and fought to go in that direction. Though if Melanie was trying to fight, maybe she didn’t have the leverage as those from other shows have because the show wasn’t as popular.

  • durbesque

    I still don’t know what a “five million dollar recording contract” means.
    Does she get any paper money? or see any bytes in her bank account?
    It’s all kept secret.

  • http://twitter.com/eilonwya10 Eilonwy

    The meaning of the $5 million has been shrouded in obscurity. Cowell made a huge deal in XFUSA S1 about how it was a check for $5 million separate from the recording contract, but XF-UK has always been a recording contract of whatever value, and XFUSA S2 definitely awarded a $5 million recording contract (not a cash prize).

    If it’s a $5 million recording contract, that’s likely the value of the contract if all options are exercised, so figure 5 or 6 albums. A recording contract ordinarily involves an advance to the artist for each album (it’s to cover living expenses — in some cases, it covers recording expenses as well, but I can’t believe Epic would give Amaro that much control over the purse strings). Advances are not repaid to the label if the album is never released — the label just writes it off.

    So assuming a fairly standard contract, Amaro would have seen some cash money, but there’s no way to know how much. There’s also no way to know how much of the first album was supposed to be underwritten by XFUSA versus paid for by Epic as in a normal album.

  • NatSasic

    I guess our experiences have just been different. I really can’t say that I’ve been bombarded with appearances by XF winners living here in London, but then my eye is often more on the American market anyway. It definitely wasn’t the case in earlier years (except Leona); arguably they’ve made more of an effort in the last couple of years. In terms of Melanie though, I’ve always found the British public more receptive to whatever Simon Cowell tells them to buy than the American public, and he expected the same reception in the US i.e. all the ’20 million viewers’ remarks he made at the time. They needed to work even harder to promote her.
    As for Idol comparisons, Idol has just produced more successful winners/runners up for the US than UK XF has for the UK, mostly due to the nature of the size of the American consumer market and music business (plus Idol’s 3 years older), providing them with more scope to continue making music for a buying public even when they’re dropped.

  • http://twitter.com/facenfield David Facenfield

    I agree with your comments about many in UK just accepting what the likes of Cowell tell them to like…
    I also agree that as the US is 5 times the population of the UK then there probably is more of a market for any musician (be they from reality show or not) to make a good living from doing their thing…
    however, in terms of your comments about Idol winners/runners up producing more success in their homeland than their UK XF counterparts have in UK… I guess that depends how you measure it…
    from looking at Wikipedia, over it’s 11 seasons Idol has produced 19 platinum albums in US (10 of these from Kelly and Carrie) and 13 gold albums…
    from UK XF initial 8 seasons (no albums released yet from season 9) there have been 22 UK platinum albums and 11 gold albums…

  • http://twitter.com/facenfield David Facenfield

    just to add of the 19 platinum Idol albums in US, outside of Kelly and Carrie only Daughtry and Clay have more than 1 each (2 a piece)… so that’s only 4 Idols with more than 1 platinum album…
    from XF UK there are 6 alums with 2 or more platinum UK albums (G4, Shayne, Leona, JLS, Olly and 1D)

  • MyDailyComment

    I think the lesson is more than just about the music business. I think the lesson really is that ONLY american idol really makes people stars, at least so far

  • http://www.facebook.com/jeannev.dotystewart Jeanne V Doty-Stewart

    From what I understand she did not get 5 million dollars all at once….she got half and the half that she got, she had to spend on her own recording. So they gave her money then she had to buy her own studio time. Such a travesty. She would have done better not winning!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=579290324 Michael Bishop

    Just watching this Melanie Amaro just makes me sad. If Epic has dropped her then hopefully some other label will pick her up. If they didn’t, just let her go. I hear stories all the time about label’s essentially holding artists hostage. If a company has no plans to promote someone, let them go. why hold someone’s life in your hands. I don’t understand how some people sleep at night.

← Older Comments