New Album Rumours & Discussion

[Mmmmm]

I agree. Especially TV PROMO.

[Camacho]

Thats not actually true. Last year was the first year the record business registered an increase on album sales (physical + digital) in a long time. The business is not dead yet.

I'm not saying the business is dead. It's shifted to streaming services and individual digital singles which have increased a lot, so people shouldn't be focusing squarely at album sales comparing them with past years since album sales market has shrunk a lot over the years. It's stupid for loons and the media to be comparing album sales even from just 5 years ago. Anyway for 2013 "album sales suffered an 8.4% decline dipping to 289.4 million units from nearly 316 million units in 2012."

[tumbleweedt]

Promo is the key. Period. iTunes, youtube, Twitter, all the media. That's how it works now.

"I WANT MORE!!!"

[markm]

Promo is the key. Period. iTunes, youtube, Twitter, all the media. That's how it works now.

With the right song...

[Kim]

Yeah, a big hit song or two seems to be considered more impressive than overall album sales. Although a new Madge album hitting number 1, even for only one week, is always good. The only tide she needs to turn is letting people know that a new product is out there,

[strictmachine]

For starters, it's just great to be getting herself out there in the public eye on a more regular basis like she has been lately. For the past several years, it's only fans/loons that have had any idea what she's up to, so her music just gets overlooked

[Flip The Switch]

With the right song...

yeah absolutely or even something risky. No more silly duets that people will forget in the next months and will lost interest in the album or project. I know worldwide tours makes the most part of the money, but having proper single/videos releases will keep people's head up. She's a extraordinary visionary and I wish those videos shown on tours will be the actual ones from her albums.

[Guest]

With timberlKe And the two black chicks for the lead single, she definitely appeared to be after a 12-15 yo crowd, a material girl clothing demographic. But that is the main demo that listens to top 40 radio. So if she is still trying to be on the top 40 that is who she needs to reach.

[M_Sinner]

Where is moe

[Nikki]

yeah absolutely or even something risky. No more silly duets that people will forget in the next months and will lost interest in the album or project. I know worldwide tours makes the most part of the money, but having proper single/videos releases will keep people's head up. She's a extraordinary visionary and I wish those videos shown on tours will be the actual ones from her albums.

but to sell a world tour she needs a good record. a record isn't an excuse just to tour. she could do that with hard candy and even mdna, but she over saturated the european market and was just recently in the US. a few years break won't do it. a very good album. that's all she needs. no more thinking of the charts, please!

[adreeyen]

With timberlKe And the two black chicks for the lead single, she definitely appeared to be after a 12-15 yo crowd, a material girl clothing demographic. But that is the main demo that listens to top 40 radio. So if she is still trying to be on the top 40 that is who she needs to reach.

Two black chicks? Really?

[ryan]

Any new airport meetings? Who's producing? Can we start making up our own rumors now?

[Flip The Switch]

[Guest]

Two black chicks? Really?

Well I have no idea what their nanes are. Just a couple of rappers speaking to pre teen girls.

[XXL]

I'm not saying the business is dead. It's shifted to streaming services and individual digital singles which have increased a lot, so people shouldn't be focusing squarely at album sales comparing them with past years since album sales market has shrunk a lot over the years. It's stupid for loons and the media to be comparing album sales even from just 5 years ago. Anyway for 2013 "album sales suffered an 8.4% decline dipping to 289.4 million units from nearly 316 million units in 2012."

This

Look at the movie industry too

Services and companies like Netflix are growing at the speed of light

Movie revenue and DVD sales are increasingly down

[Phineaspoe]

Care to expand on that?

Hi, sure...!

youngsters? 4 Minutes, Give Me All Your Luvin'.

Essentially. And to be clear, I'm about to talk about singles, too - not entire albums.

I believe that the problem is not that she keeps aiming for the dance floor, producing some carefree tunes, and having some fun. I think the problem is that since HC she has released singles that her older and young-ish fans can't get behind. They can't connect to the music, and much less to the message of the songs. What's even more problematic is that the portion of people under 25 who are willing to give her a chance is understandably getting smaller as she gets statistically, irrefutably, and naturally OLD. Like the rest of us. (My 14-year-old nephew doesn't give a rat's ass about how cool I think I am living in San Francisco either.)

If I could have an afternoon with Madonna, my advice would be:

Throw a bone to those moms that thought you were the shit back in 80s.

Make the gays from the 90s feel proud about how you continue to be so genuinely bad-ass and fearless.

Remind the 15-25 yo crowd from ROL all the way to COADF how creative and cool you are; they (we) are the ones who are still young enough to drive sales and airplay and word-of-mouth via social media, but they (we) do have more sophisticated tastes than dumb cheer-leading chants that end with "Madonna!"

She's the only pop artist in the world that could literally turn every demographic into a fan, because there is no living demographic that doesn't have a personal connection to her music, or an opinion about her. Except for the youngsters. So why in the world try to appeal to them FIRST? Appeal to them LAST. Get everyone else excited first.

Share your best songs and promote accordingly.

[SkyHigh76]

For starters, it's just great to be getting herself out there in the public eye on a more regular basis like she has been lately. For the past several years, it's only fans/loons that have had any idea what she's up to, so her music just gets overlooked

Yeah,I like the fact that she's getting out there and appearing at awards shows.This type of exposure is important.It creates a "buzz" for whatever she's gonna do next.She needs to continue these high-profile apppearances.

[HardDNA]

Yeah,I like the fact that she's getting out there and appearing at awards shows.This type of exposure is important.It creates a "buzz" for whatever she's gonna do next.She needs to continue these high-profile apppearances.

The buzz is definitely present. My little sister, who is in 6th grade, is doing a project on Madonna and how she forever changed the atmosphere of pop music (she's such a little stan ) and a lot of the kids in her class have been talking about Madonna's performances from the GRAMMYs and the Miley Unplugged thing. Apparently her project is getting a lot of buzz around the class!

[strictmachine]

Yeah,I like the fact that she's getting out there and appearing at awards shows.This type of exposure is important.It creates a "buzz" for whatever she's gonna do next.She needs to continue these high-profile apppearances.

Exactly! That buzz has been missing for quite a while now because of all the "non-traditional promo" , and regardless of how big you are, or how old or young you are, or how great or not you are....out of sight, out of mind with the broader public. Nobody is above that. It's amazing how a couple of minutes at the Grammys has had more people talking about madonna than they have in years. Some of it good, lots of it bad (as usual), but at least people are actually engaged enough to talk about her at all. Buzz is important!! And hopefully she keeps it going to build some momentum again.

[Flip The Switch]

Exactly! That buzz has been missing for quite a while now because of all the "non-traditional promo" , and regardless of how big you are, or how old or young you are, or how great or not you are....out of sight, out of mind with the broader public. Nobody is above that. It's amazing how a couple of minutes at the Grammys has had more people talking about madonna than they have in years. Some of it good, lots of it bad (as usual), but at least people are actually engaged enough to talk about her at all. Buzz is important!! And hopefully she keeps it going to build some momentum again.

[Rugbyguy]

Are we 100 % sure she is this consumed with top 40 radio success as everyone thinks? I think it's always been important for her to be commercial to an extent but some of you would really have us believe that it's the be all and end all for her. I've always thought to myself is commercial or radio success were that damn important to her, she would promote her work properly, but she refuses. Get her on the film promo bandwagon and she will work tirelessly, efortlessly criss crossing the globe getting the word out for little to no return yet she wont sit in a junket for a day or two in a relaxed and controlled environment and do a few TV and print magazines for a product that the when done right, usually smashes each and every time.

At the end of the day she has never said as such about commercial importance and for the majority of her career she has never seemed to be all that cared with radio chart placings and always took gambles with first singles. For example lead off singles such as Live to Tell, Justify My Love, Erotica, Frozen, Music, American Life and subsequent single choices like Oh Father, Bedtime Story, Human Nature, Bad Girl, Ray of Light etc, big budgeted videos with famous co stars, special effects etc. Then there have been the big spin off movie songs like Vogue, TUTBMP, I'll Remember, Beautiful Stranger, American Pie, Die Another Day, all big, big hits, catchy but certainly not geared specifically towards top 40 radio.

I would be more inclined to say that Madonna has had a lot of success buy taking a lot of risks and hoping her large profile and fan base will lead the song to catch on, only rarely it hasn't in those once in a decade moments when she totally gets it wrong but overall she's a very commercial, uncommercial artist.

I remember being very young, around 6-7 at the time of Blond Ambition and thinking to myself how unlike anyone else Madonna was. She had this huge, epic all conquering popularity with this huge Michael Jackson sized cultural impact on society yet she was so different to all the other girls. She was extremely provocative and out there, stunningly attractive yet not beautiful and was blessed in the way that men wanted to sleep with her, gay's wanted to emulate her and women wanted to be her. Her pull covered all bases, I remember all the way up to about 93 she was huge with the kiddies as well, before she lost a massive proportion of her audience with SEX and Erotica.

I think there was a definite tangible switch in her, post American Life. It's obvious that that album's lack of success affected her as did the criticism and I think she was hurt by it. 2003 also marked the time I first ever noticed she had a shy, self conscious side, something which was not apparent during the Sex backlash but was painfully obvious post Swept Away and American Life. It was also the time I believe she started having treatments on her face, she began showing up to events looking better and better.

I digressed a little but it's a point I've always wanted to make.

[Nightshade]

Are we 100 % sure she is this consumed with top 40 radio success as everyone thinks? I think it's always been important for her to be commercial to an extent but some of you would really have us believe that it's the be all and end all for her. I've always thought to myself is commercial or radio success were that damn important to her, she would promote her work properly, but she refuses.

I don't think performing on TV translates to radio performance much, for M anyway. I am pretty sure she partnered with Justin, Nicki & M.I.A. to get something out of them which would probably be radio support. At least for her lead singles. I don't find Justin or Nicki particularly "edgy or creative". M.I.A. is though.

[Shane]

I agree with Rugby that I am not convinced she cares that much anymore about hit singles. I always thought the first example of her choosing art over commerce was releasing Bedtime Story in the wake of TAB when surely ANY other song off the album (besides Sanctuary) would have hit top 10. But really, when you think about it, LTT did not necessarily have bonafide hit single written on it coming eight months after Dress You Up, so she was taking risks way back then. And could she really have thought GMAYL would be some airplay smash? I feel she just wanted to put out a fun tune.

[Nightshade]

And could she really have thought GMAYL would be some airplay smash? I feel she just wanted to put out a fun tune.

I think she was being lazy and then slapped those two on it for some Top 40 mileage. Otherwise, why bother?

She also did a ton of radio interviews in 2008 to promote "4 Minutes". I am pretty sure she wanted it to be a big hit. She has her moments of wanting commercial success followed by truly taking artistic risks. I wouldn't say any of her single choices lately have been examples of artistic bravery.

[GOD]

I believe that the singles released (especially first single) is what determines the album's performance. She's been releasing the wrong songs as singles for a while. She needs to:

a. Release the right singles. And release them right. With the right promotion, video, remixes...etc give them what they deserve basically.

b. FORGET ABOUT THE CHARTS! Focus on the quality of the product, focus on the theme, message... not on who to feature or who's hot now, or who's gonna give you a top 5 hit.

c. MDNA was a mishmash, first time she puts out an album that doesn't feel like an album but more of a collection of songs. Put something more cohesive.

[Guest Not4Pussies]

I believe that the singles released (especially first single) is what determines the album's performance. She's been releasing the wrong songs as singles for a while. She needs to:

a. Release the right singles. And release them right. With the right promotion, video, remixes...etc give them what they deserve basically.

b. FORGET ABOUT THE CHARTS! Focus on the quality of the product, focus on the theme, message... not on who to feature or who's hot now, or who's gonna give you a top 5 hit.

c. MDNA was a mishmash, first time she puts out an album that doesn't feel like an album but more of a collection of songs. Put something more cohesive.

And that's the gospel truth.

Can someone tweet this to Guy O?

[Flip The Switch]

c. MDNA was a mishmash, first time she puts out an album that doesn't feel like an album but more of a collection of songs. Put something more cohesive.

A heartily agree with this.

[adreeyen]

This thread is boring.

[peter]

Are we 100 % sure she is this consumed with top 40 radio success as everyone thinks? I think it's always been important for her to be commercial to an extent but some of you would really have us believe that it's the be all and end all for her. I've always thought to myself is commercial or radio success were that damn important to her, she would promote her work properly, but she refuses.

I agree with Rugby that I am not convinced she cares that much anymore about hit singles. I always thought the first example of her choosing art over commerce was releasing Bedtime Story in the wake of TAB when surely ANY other song off the album (besides Sanctuary) would have hit top 10. But really, when you think about it, LTT did not necessarily have bonafide hit single written on it coming eight months after Dress You Up, so she was taking risks way back then. And could she really have thought GMAYL would be some airplay smash? I feel she just wanted to put out a fun tune.

I think she was being lazy and then slapped those two on it for some Top 40 mileage. Otherwise, why bother?

She also did a ton of radio interviews in 2008 to promote "4 Minutes". I am pretty sure she wanted it to be a big hit. She has her moments of wanting commercial success followed by truly taking artistic risks. I wouldn't say any of her single choices lately have been examples of artistic bravery.

Hmm. Sort of? When asked about "Gang Bang," her logic behind not releasing it as a single was "radio would never play it." So ... obviously radio is still figuring into the formula. Hence the release of GMAYL with two popular guest artists. (Remember that it also had the unique opportunity of timing with the Super Bowl and using the "cheerleader chant"-infused song in a semi-appropriate context. Emphasis on the "semi-".) And Nightshade's last comment quoted above makes the same case for the choice of "4 Minutes." Though, I can't say her own preference (for "Candy Shop") would have been any more artistically brave than "4 Minutes." Don't get me wrong -- "Candy Shop" live on S&ST is awesome, and made me appreciate the song more. ("4 Minutes" live ... eh, not so much. But I do think "4 Minutes" was an inevitable single choice. It's success probably would have been just as large as a second single, though, judging from the reaction. The Timbaland/Timberlake team was just a tank that would have rolled over everything anyway, so using a different lead-off single might have been interesting. Possibly could have killed momentum, but unlikely. "4 Minutes" is just that unstoppable juggernaut of a song. Whether you like it or not, those horns and beats are infectious radio-fodder.)

Had she been able to secure Tarantino for the video, I still don't know that she would have gone out on a limb and release "Gang Bang" as a single instead of GMAYL. She wanted to spotlight a new single at the Super Bowl, and really GMAYL was the most appropriate fit. Not "Gang Bang," certainly. GGW would have been polarizing -- can't even imagine that next to "Like a Prayer." Even TUTR would have seemed strange on a TV broadcast.

[Camacho]

This thread is boring.