Ole signs Haley to New Worldwide Deal! New EP!

[XAtlantic]

Well, as we get closer to "Better" and its release, some may hope for a big hit for Haley... But, for those who wonder how and why certain artists always seem to be on the charts [snip]...

My feeling is that Haley has one thing foremost in her mind, and that is that her work will really hold its own in the eyes of her peers, namely other musicians (those that have ears that hear; and by extension the audience). Most of her success to date has been on that route, that she is recognized by people who then respect her and are then sometimes interested in bringing her into something, from where opportunities derive. That's the platform on which now also the EP stands. That is different from standing on a platform that depends on a hit, particularly a hit that is not that sparkling once you decompose it. "Slow and steady, but really good and with full conviction" is Haley's route, a kind of chart that consists more of the landscape that contains the musician greats of times past and present than the actual hot-selling radio play charts. Maybe the two will fuse someday, it is not impossible (of course there are fantastic songs in the top 10, too), but conceivably it may never happen just because. But there's nothing wrong with being a really well-respected, well-known (in those circles) musician with a body of work that people come back to again and again over time because it does not fade in its musical greatness. One can rise quite high on that route, too, if all goes well. Sometimes I wonder if Haley would even cherish being a superstar with all that goes with that. But I do think she wants to be out there for real, cf her latest tweets, and I certainly wish her enough income to live well, be free of worries to go for it, and to allow her to choose and experiment and go down routes she likes. (Ok, I should stop - I have no idea what Haley is thinking or might think and who she is or anything, and should not assume anything, I'm just watching - the only thing I know is that I have never been a fan of any sort much, but with Haley it just did not take very long to think: special special special; just like it happens with her with so many other people).

I've been wondering what the significance of an EP is. In this age, and with Scott Bradlee demonstrating it - why even go for an album rather than for a series of songs, released when they are ready, and building from there? Or why not a full CD? I think the answer here is, too: she wants a body of work, one not flowing from day to day as with PMJ, but crafted carefully and approved, to make her mark with, her lasting mark. I think she's very careful with that. Which also explains why she is not putting stuff on youtube. Either one produces a stream or a selection of work.

It will be a great day when we'll have the EP. Until then, I will listen to my rotation of the 6 PMJ songs - which would also make a fantastic EP.

(Sorry if much of what I wrote repeats things we've been saying over the years ... but we're definitely out of the "worrying for Haley" phase, those of us that had boughts of that affliction.)

[Tusk]

Honestly, since Haley signed and has progressed in her career with Ole, and since I have very little interest in most popular music of today, getting a 'radio hit' isn't even in the realm of expectations I have for this EP.

It's been a while since I've had much 'trust' in the Modern Music Machine, which is why I've been 'OK' with Haley taking the song writer approach to what she wants to do in the industry. In the environment of today, it seems the 'traditional' way in music has more return for the the Machine and it's moving parts than for the artist IMO, so the old ways of marking success like 'radio play' seems a fairly superficial way of making your way. When the machine leaves you and you have to rely on what you believe to be your talent, what have you got left, but to perform music someone else wrote, making money for them?

My only hope for Haley, at this point, is that she looks seriously at getting some legitimate and effective management, someone who can help her devise a road map and keep her p's and q's in order. You can have a souped up, turbo charged Ferrari, but without a steering wheel, you'll likely just go off the road or round and round

p.s. gotta love seeing ABBA still being referred to for their pop song writing skills, even almost 50 years since their Hey Days....Bjorn Ulvaeus had famously said that you only have a window of a few years to catch the ear of that generation's youth to write Pop music, but it seems he and Benny Andersson found some 'core essence' that still reverberates through their contrymen to this day.

p.p.s. That is not to say that it's all B&B of ABBA that have so contributed to modern popular music, they did, after all, credit the song writing pioneering of Lennon & McCartney & Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys as inspirations for them to let them know that song writers can also perform their own songs as well as write them

[john]

Just a few thought on the EP, recordings by Haley in general, original material vs. covers, and the Beatles.

Dave Grohl on song writing ... "think of it as a bumper sticker..." On Aerosmith's formula "Start with the chorus.."


I don't expect Haley to have any hits on her EP, at least from what I have heard thus far. But that is fine by me. I also don't mind Haley doing covers at all, even on her EP. I might even encourage it with originals mixed in. The Beatles are an inspiration for Haley. Lennon and McCartney, and later Harrison are known for their song writing abilities, and the Beatles were anything but a cover band. The are known as musical trailblazers who introduced very creative and original material. But not at first. The first 2-3 albums they recorded (the number gets a little confusing because they had UK releases, US releases and so forth) included the following covers:
"Anna (Go to Him)" (Arthur Alexander)
"Chains" (Gerry Goffin, Carole King)
"Boys" (Luther Dixon, Wes Farrell)
"Baby It's You" (Mack David, Barney Williams, Burt Bacharach)
"A Taste of Honey" (Bobby Scott, Ric Marlow)
"Twist and Shout" (Phil Medley, Bert Russell)
"Till There Was You" (Meredith Willson)
"Please Mister Postman" (Georgia Dobbins, William Garrett, Freddie Gorman, Brian Holland, Robert Bateman)
"Roll Over Beethoven" (Chuck Berry)
"You Really Got a Hold on Me" (Smokey Robinson)
"Devil in Her Heart" (Richard Drapkin)
"Money (That's What I Want)" (Janie Bradford, Berry Gordy)
"You Really Got a Hold on Me" (Smokey Robinson)
"Long Tall Sally" (Enotris Johnson, Richard Penniman, Robert Blackwell)
"Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!" (Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller/Richard Penniman)
"Mr. Moonlight" (Roy Lee Johnson)
"Rock and Roll Music" (Chuck Berry)
"Words of Love" (Buddy Holly)
"Honey Don't" (Carl Perkins)
"Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" (Carl Perkins)


Another video -- interesting info about writers, consumers, and uses of music.
Music Matters 2013 - Ralph Murphy - How to write a Hit! (vice president of ASCAP at the time)


Characteristics of previous year's #1 pop songs
Fast to #1 then fade
Mid to up tempo -- 100 beats per minute of more (66%)
Female singers (75%)
Male writers (80%)
Eight second intro
Use the pronoun "you" within 20 seconds
Obey the 2 minute rule (get ot bridge by)
Seven repetitions of title
Dance

Characteristics of country #1
Gradual to #1 then fades
Audience more female
Under 100 beats per minute (66%)0
75% male
Male writers
14 sec average intro
All except one use the pronoun "you" within 20 minutes
All obeyed the 2 minute rule
All involve love
Drive time

[Miguel]

"Hit Charade" (Atlantic Magazine)

Great title.

A short-attention-span culture demands short-attention-span songs. The writers of Tin Pan Alley and Motown had to write only one killer hook to get a hit. Now you need a new high every seven seconds—the average length of time a listener will give a radio station before changing the channel. “It’s not enough to have one hook anymore,” Jay Brown, a co-founder of Jay Z’s Roc Nation label, tells Seabrook. “You’ve got to have a hook in the intro, a hook in the pre, a hook in the chorus, and a hook in the bridge, too.”

Interesting observation.

---

Rolling Stone:

Don Henley has a Number One solo album, as his Cass County LP debuts at Number One on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart...Cass County features guest appearances from Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard, Miranda Lambert, Trisha Yearwood, Jamey Johnson, Alison Krauss, Vince Gill and Mick Jagger.

...The new project is often referred to as the rocker's "country" album, and while he doesn't reject that label, Henley says much of it fits more neatly into the Americana format. He doesn't mince words when it comes to assessing the current state of mainstream country music.

"I don't recognize country music anymore," Henley says. "The bar is not very high right now. I'm not naming any names. I'm just saying the bar isn't very high right now. [There is] a lot of bad songwriting going on, really sloppy stuff. Not that country music is supposed to be an intellectual exercise, but it could be better than it is. It could have more meat to it than it has currently got."

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/d...z3nk8v4TXS

[InItToWinIt]

Well, I guess we, or at least I think I, now know why the EP hasn't come out yet. I'm also pretty sure that none of us would have ever guessed that is was all about gum wrappers. I don't think that "Can't Help Falling In Love" will be on the EP but who can blame Ole and Haley for not wanting to wait until The Story of Sarah & Juan is revealed on millions of TV screens before releasing Haley's new EP.

[john]

Well, I guess we, or at least I think I, now know why the EP hasn't come out yet. I'm also pretty sure that none of us would have ever guessed that is was all about gum wrappers. I don't think that "Can't Help Falling In Love" will be on the EP but who can blame Ole and Haley for not wanting to wait until The Story of Sarah & Juan is revealed on millions of TV screens before releasing Haley's new EP.

I wonder how long with was in the works. Definitely makes sense to wait on the EP. This CHFIL justs drops out of nowhere. The dynamics of it all are unusual and it will be interesting to see it unfold. It will probably appeal to younger listeners that liked Undone, it has a similar feel to me, although at a different stage of the relationship LOL. But the song is classic and appeals to people of all ages. Then there is the storyline of the advertisment. It whole thing is so well done and just grabs people. So the song gets that association and the continued exposure as it is used to promote the gum.

The song is climbing the charts and right now "Haley Reinhart" is the #1 search on iTunes. From comments on twitter and on the videos it is clear that another batch of American Idol fans is being reacquanted with Haley. They might also like AATB and some of her other recent work.

I wouldn't be surprised if Haley doesn't soon appear on shows like Ellen. I could see a late night show bringing on the two actors and then having Haley do the song. Lots of possibilities as this thing unfolds. Radio play? This song could turn out to be a lot more than Haley, ole' and others expected. We were all zigging, now we gotta zag.

Of course, in a few months Haley's voice will be heard on F is for Family, which adds yet another dimension to the Haley story. Things are changing fast.

[Kevin]

Well, I guess we, or at least I think I, now know why the EP hasn't come out yet. I'm also pretty sure that none of us would have ever guessed that is was all about gum wrappers. I don't think that "Can't Help Falling In Love" will be on the EP but who can blame Ole and Haley for not wanting to wait until The Story of Sarah & Juan is revealed on millions of TV screens before releasing Haley's new EP.

I don't even pretend to know anything about the business or marketing. However, I would have had the EP out on iTunes waiting for all of these people who are now out there looking for Haley and that song.

[riley]

Haley is going to get more mileage out of this one than Ole could not do for her. I don't know how it works but I would imagine with a major TV ad campaign there are obligation plus she can't compete with that. The last Wrigley Extra origami commercial was a huge success.

I think it is smart to wait. I am still interested in why they decide to remix the EP?

[mercfan3]

Yea, they definitely need to stick this cover on the EP. It's like a first single, except it's through television promotion instead of traditional ready play. (Although, I wonder if radio will start picking it up if it gets super popular..)

[InItToWinIt]

Well, I guess we, or at least I think I, now know why the EP hasn't come out yet. I'm also pretty sure that none of us would have ever guessed that is was all about gum wrappers. I don't think that "Can't Help Falling In Love" will be on the EP but who can blame Ole and Haley for not wanting to wait until The Story of Sarah & Juan is revealed on millions of TV screens before releasing Haley's new EP.

I don't even pretend to know anything about the business or marketing. However, I would have had the EP out on iTunes waiting for all of these people who are now out there looking for Haley and that song.

The reverse usually works a lot "better". You want the publicity when the EP/album is released, not after it is released.