"Listen Up!" Billboard Chart Positions

[Miguel]

These graphs show that there can be a long waiting period before view rates start cranking -- even for songs that eventually get super hot.

Maybe that's only true for song titles that begin with "Someone."

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While most new recording artists begin unknown and then watch their fame and fan base grow over time, former Idols have a reverse curve.

The usual M.O. is to rush an album out to capitalize on the Idol audience. That comes with a catch though as the album is not likely to showcase the performer as an artist. Even if the album is a solid effort it's likely to sound generic. Most alums receive little critical acclaim as a result and, even if their names are known, recognition of their music remains limited among the general public.

It's a very challenging task for any of them to grow in the normal new artist fashion. Not sure any of the above comparisons have any relevance to Haley, except for the fact that Adele and Haley are both very talented.

It is challenging and that's why patience is required. The comparisons are relevant because Haley is not being marketed like the typical Idol alum.

Being an Idol alum comes with a stigma of sorts. Now imagine trying to market an Idol alum whose music should appeal to fans of Amy Winehouse and Lana Del Rey. The latter was white hot and posed for superstardom at the beginning of this year. But things started to unravel some when people began to feel she was an Interscope creation.

To be taken seriously Haley has to overcome the notion that she is a product of the Idol/Interscope machine. Hyping her too much (early) only plays into that belief.

Some say we should have complete faith in Interscope's intentions, while others think Interscope is just planning to milk Haley's Idol base and then dump her after minimal investment.

They've already invested more than the minimum and deviated from the Idol playbook. The fact they have designated songs for an international audience is a sign they think she has big potential. They also continue to follow many people on Twitter from around the world on her behalf. This could be coincidence (they tend to be fans of One Direction and Beiber) or an indication of their long-term plans.

[Flask Man]

They've already invested more than the minimum and deviated from the Idol playbook. The fact they have designated songs for an international audience is a sign they think she has big potential. They also continue to follow many people on Twitter from around the world on her behalf. This could be coincidence (they tend to be fans of One Direction and Beiber) or an indication of their long-term plans.

I completely disagree with this comment. Invested more than the minimum? How do you figure? They haven't invested jack. She didn't even get a main page banner on iTunes for her album launch. They booked her no big national promo or national TV spots of any kind, failed to land her a summer tour, and outside of the obligatory radio travel grind have left her hung out to dry.

The hijacking of her Twitter account to follow 32k 1D/Bieber fans was no investment in Haley, but it did piss off her fan base. It was also an abject failure; just a cheap substitute for real, live bookings, marketing, PR and advertising.

As far as them delaying her release, how can you spin that as a positive? She finished her album in early January and her single in August. Waiting until late May for the album was putting her in the back of the line, not helping her out. If they dropped Free in January and LU in March she'd have doubled her sales and airplay.

Haley so far is self-made. She was handed a list of Interscope approved songwriters and producers and SHE worked it to put out the best possible album in the shortest possible time. Interscope/19 has done nothing special for her. Go to the UMG home page and look for Haley. Besides her album release day of 5/22 you wouldn't know she existed.

So far my scoring is Haley ALL of the credit, Interscope NONE.

[blue22HR]

Go to the UMG home page and look for Haley. Besides her album release day of 5/22 you wouldn't know she existed.

http://www.universalmusic.com/


She's on the home page to me

[Miguel]

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Haley Reinhart, Listen Up! (8,000, -61%, 28,000) (#51 BB200)

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Invested more than the minimum? How do you figure?

The minimum is taking a bunch of songs off the shelf and recording them in the least complicated manner possible in the least amount of time.

They haven't invested jack. She didn't even get a main page banner on iTunes for her album launch.

They placed a banner on the iTunes homepage for POP music and on VEVO.

They booked her no big national promo or national TV spots of any kind

They don't do the actual booking. They did things to try to build buzz and set the stage for bigger bookings, including a paid appearance on 90210.

failed to land her a summer tour

That was in the cards but "Free" didn't take off. They want a hit before they book a tour.

The hijacking of her Twitter account to follow 32k ND/Bieber fans was no investment in Haley, but it did piss off her fan base.

No investment in Haley = not doing it at all. They considered who to follow and pay someone to execute the strategy. Most of her fan base isn't pissed off because they realize it's not Haley doing the following.

It was also an abject failure

It's part of a long-term strategy. People have been made aware of her music. And if they tweet about her it makes others they know aware of her too. Phrases like "abject failure" should be reserved for incidents like Lana Del Rey's SNL performance or JD's halftime show.

just a cheap substitute for real, live bookings, marketing, PR and advertising.

The tweets are part of the total marketing process, not distinct from it. Yes, it's cost effective. Companies care about such things.

Rob Wells is president of global digital business at Universal Music Group:

Wells turned a low-level marketing gig into career gold when he was sitting in a meeting about how to let fans know about a new album from Take That, a British pop group.

Because the mailing list Wells had been working on grew so large, sending an announcement through the mail would cost more than half of the album's total marketing budget. As BMG's executives debated what should be done, Wells piped up, "Why don't we just send emails? They're free."

One executive replied: "That's a brilliant idea! What's email?"

From then on, the company changed its marketing plans to embrace the Internet.


http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jun/03/...l-20120603

TT is still around: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxEVPe7XMcs

As far as them delaying her release, how can you spin that as a positive? She finished her album in early January and her single in August. Waiting until late May for the album was putting her in the back of the line, not helping her out. If they dropped Free in January and LU in March she'd have doubled her sales and airplay.

Covered that before. But I will add it seems they might have moved the release date of "Free" back some to coordinate with her Idol appearance and 90210 appearance. i.e. "national promo (and) national TV spots."

Go to the UMG home page and look for Haley. Besides her album release day of 5/22 you wouldn't know she existed.

I don't believe many fans visit that site but they have not forgot about Haley. 2 of the 3 news items on the UMG homepage are about her. On the Interscope homepage, 2 of the 7 news headlines relate to her as do 2 of the 14 new releases that are featured.

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Would I like to see them do more marketing? Sure. But realistically they were never going to appropriate a gargantuan budget for Listen Up! right out of the gate because it would be too risky. If they had doubled the marketing budget would they have at least doubled the sales of Listen Up!? Probably not without a hit single.

I know it's frustrating, but I don't think we'll see the advantages of a major label until she has a hit they can get behind.

[Flask Man]

Miguel: Would I like to see them do more marketing? Sure. But realistically they were never going to appropriate a gargantuan budget for Listen Up! right out of the gate because it would be too risky. If they had doubled the marketing budget would they have at least doubled the sales of Listen Up!? Probably not without a hit single.

Chicken/egg theory here. Interscope fans believe Haley failing to score big single/album numbers justifies her not getting high profile promo. Others, like me, think the reason Haley has failed to score bigger numbers is because Interscope/19 failed to give her the high profile promo she needed and deserved.

I think this is the time in the debate we go to the "agree to disagree" phase. No point continuing to circle around this when our positions are already clearly defined and hardened. Bottom line: We both want her to succeed.

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Billboard numbers are in: Haley Reinhart, Listen Up! (8,000, -61%, 28,000) (#51 BB200). http://content.usatoday.com/communities/...891GtniETA

Kind of a bummer she came in at #51, 3 spots below the HDD projection of #48. Staying positive, tho. Album is great, and eventually cream will rise...

[Miguel]

Something to consider:

"Forget You," by Cee Lo Green, reached #2 had 5.3 million downloads.

A chart-topping single could once be counted on to drive big sales of full albums, which bring in greater royalties. But the “unbundling” of albums in the age of iTunes — the loss of album sales at $10 or $15 when consumers can buy a single song for about $1 — has contributed to a 58 percent reduction in album sales since 2000. Despite the success of “Forget You,” “The Lady Killer” has sold only about 450,000 copies in the United States. .

A recording contract for an act like Cee Lo would typically offer a net royalty of about 15 percent, according to several music executives. That means that for a $1.29 download from iTunes, after Apple takes its standard 30 percent fee, the artist would be paid 13 or 14 cents; for five million downloads, that amounts to about $650,000. As one of five writers of the song, Cee Lo would also make about $45,000 in publishing royalties on those downloads.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/26/busine...wanted=all

TOTAL ALBUM SALES

2005: 619 million
2011: 331 million

[Flask Man]

Some very good news for our girl! HDD predicts ListenUp! will move UP on the Billboard charts from #48 to #41 this week!

http://www.hitsdailydouble.com/sales/salescht.cgi

[Miguel]

54% results so far, still more to be tallied.

Always good to go up instead of down.

I'm surprised she's currently ahead of REGINA SPEKTOR who had a big debut last week.

[Flask Man]

Very unusual to move UP the charts in week #3. Sales should be within 2k of last week, which is a sign that Haley is showing some great legs.

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Actually, just noticed HDD made an error by showing her album was #48 on BB last week. It actually was #51, so if this holds it's a remarkable 10 spot JUMP on BB in week 3...virtually UNHEARD OF! Gotta believe Free's increased HAC spins has at least something to do with this, so let's not be too quick to ditch the Little Single That Could.

[gillyking]

Very unusual to move UP the charts in week #3. Sales should be within 2k of last week, which is a sign that [/Haley is showing some great legs. ]

Haley's always showing some great legs