Does Drake have a big pop following over there or is it just urban? Over here, Drake is liked by the masses, especially since he sings too(horribly, might I add).
I would say very much urban. He's got his fanbase but has only actually had two Top 20 hits of his own (and one of those featured Rihanna).
"Alive assembles a cast of spendy songwriting teams so vast it can claim at least partial responsibility for every major pop success story of recent years, from Rihanna to Emeli Sandé: Stargate, Dr Luke, TMS, Chuck Harmony, Sia Furler and Rodney Jerkins. All that kingmaking power and – on the evidence here – not an original idea in their collective heads".
I made that point in another thread. Not enough individual voices or artistry as too many artists rely on the same teams of songwriters churning out the same generic shit.
i cant really argue with many of the points made in that review, but while these teams continue to deliver pop music that is successful, i cant see things changing any time soon. her music is not by any stretch of the imagination original and neither are the songs produced by these successful teams, but lets not pretend that these people claim originality in the place, so its a bit of a moot point really.
i think her voice is quite individual though, even though she often over sings.
i cant really argue with many of the points made in that review, but while these teams continue to deliver pop music that is successful, i cant see things changing any time soon. her music is not by any stretch of the imagination original and neither are the songs produced by these successful teams, but lets not pretend that these people claim originality in the place, so its a bit of a moot point really.
i think her voice is quite individual though, even though she often over sings.
Yeah, I expect some of those songwriters are talented enough to do better but sadly there's no need. It's probably not a very artistic process at all for them, maybe like working on a production line or something.
Yeah, I expect some of those songwriters are talented enough to do better but sadly there's no need. It's probably not a very artistic process at all for them, maybe like working on a production line or something.
With Rihanna it definitely is. Quite a few of them have said that pretty much every beginning of summerish/late spring, her label puts together a few day long writing camp where a huge selection of writers and producers get together with the sole goal of writing hits for her to listen to and choose from. Some of them will start it and others finish and it goes on like that till they have material to present for her. That is how she picks a lot of her songs unless they just email her a track she likes.
With Jessie, people like Claude Kelly, Chuck Harmony, Sia, Rodney Jerkins, etc have said she is a ful time collaborator and wants to be in the center of everything when it comes to her music. The songs are always about her life, so she has to be the main creative output in order for her to want to put it on her own album. That's the biggest reason the Calvin Harris song isn't on the album among other spacing issues. She didnt write the song so she couldn't connect to it enough to want it on her album even if it is a great song as she described it. You could say that is a vanity issue or you could say it's about being part of what she puts out as her own. Probably more of the latter since she has no problems singing others songs as long as it isn't for her album like The song on DJ Cassidy's album Claude wrote and Diane Warren wrote Crazy Bout You for Silver Linings Playlist.
It seems she likes to write, though, as she wrote Repeat on Guetta's album(that song is about her ex, though, so I guess it makes sense) and wrote her parts on the Dizzee Rascal song she is featured on for his new album.
Yeah, I expect some of those songwriters are talented enough to do better but sadly there's no need. It's probably not a very artistic process at all for them, maybe like working on a production line or something.
i don't think these people claim to be particularly artistic either.:o i assume the song writing teams that come up with these hits enjoy their work and the people that buy the music presumably enjoy their output. there is not particularly any harm in any of that and i dare say a lot of consumers aren't really expecting any great artistry.
i think its unrealistic to expect great artistry when the teams concerned don't particularly expect that of themselves.
Both versions of the album are in the top 10 on iTunes and 5 songs on it are top 100 and rising. Sexy Lady rose 10 places in the last few hours and might be top 20 soon.
i don't think these people claim to be particularly artistic either.:o i assume the song writing teams that come up with these hits enjoy their work and the people that buy the music presumably enjoy their output. there is not particularly any harm in any of that and i dare say a lot of consumers aren't really expecting any great artistry.
i think its unrealistic to expect great artistry when the teams concerned don't particularly expect that of themselves.
I certainly don't expect that of them. My issue is not that music is made that way because some of it always will be. It's with the volume of artists going down that route and not coming up with their own sounds/ideas. And you could make a case for it harming music, in the same way that a market full of dumb, clichéd Hollywood blockbusters wouldn't be very good for the film industry either.
Anyway, it's probably not the most appropriate thread for this sort of discussion. Best to keep it to discussion about the actual album I suppose.
1. Kings Of Leon 60k-70k
2. Drake 45k-50k
3. Jessie J 35k-40k
4. Arctic Monkeys 35k-40k
5. Avicii - True
7. Birdy
9. Jason Derulo
I also think it will be close between Jessie J and Arctic Monkeys. Only one place separates them on iTunes. I know that Alive's standard edition is also #10 but today's placing is buoyed by the pre-sales so interesting times ahead. I seem to remember her debut sold over 100k in its first week but was kept off the top spot by the sales juggernaut that was '21' (that had recently been buoyed by the Brits performance).
She's had a big profile these last couple of years, so I thought a long awaited second album from her would go straight to #1 on iTunes! Very surprised to see it at #3 :eek:
She's had a big profile these last couple of years, so I thought a long awaited second album from her would go straight to #1 on iTunes! Very surprised to see it at #3 :eek:
Weirdly, in her case I'm not convinced all the exposure is that good for her career as her personality massively divides opinion.
She's had a big profile these last couple of years, so I thought a long awaited second album from her would go straight to #1 on iTunes! Very surprised to see it at #3 :eek:
Why do people keep saying this like number three is such a terrible thing? The two ahead of her are massively popular as well. Number three is nothing to be frowned upon.
Why do people keep saying this like number three is such a terrible thing? The two ahead of her are massively popular as well. Number three is nothing to be frowned upon.
Number 3 isn't a terrible thing, I didn't say it was did I?
I assumed that due to all the exposure in the last couple of years, she would shoot to #1.
Number 3 isn't a terrible thing, I didn't say it was did I?
I assumed that due to all the exposure in the last couple of years, she would shoot to #1.
Very surprised.
Of course she should. At least she got beaten to #1 with her debut by a bona fide sales juggernaut but that isn't happening this time, I suspect. Time will tell.
People are putting far too much emphasis on the iTunes chart.
But she's lower on the Amazon physical chart than she is on iTunes and #20 on play.com (physical). Maybe the supermarkets will bump her sales? I'm amazed Amazon haven't offered the MP3 at £4.99 though.
But she's lower on the Amazon physical chart than she is on iTunes and #20 on play.com (physical). Maybe the supermarkets will bump her sales? I'm amazed Amazon haven't offered the MP3 at £4.99 though.
If you take out the compilation album that can't chart, she's really #3 on Amazon as well. Supermarket wise she was #1 in Tesco when I popped in this afternoon, and is #2 in Sainsbury's and HMV. As I said earlier, I don't think Jessie's got a chance at getting the top spot but #2 is very likely IMO.
Edit: She's actually genuinely up to #3 on Amazon now.
People are really putting far too much emphasis on the iTunes chart, especially when it comes to Drake.
the figure is more like 61.5% looking at the first quarter sales published by the bpi earlier this year and i suspect digital album sales have shown more growth since then. however, you're quite right about the itunes album chart not being a key indicator on how things might pan out on the official chart though.
apart from the record company who have clearly invested a lot on this album, i don't really see how people could assumed she would storm to #1 with this album. sure, the début sold very well, but she released the last album off the back of a huge #1 single. neither of these new lead singles have performed anywhere near as well and its fair to suggest she has lost quite a bit of momentum. still a top 3 placing come sunday isn't to be sneered at and with songs proving popular on itunes, she can extend the album campaign with more singles.
the figure is more like 61.5% looking at the first quarter sales published by the bpi earlier this year and i suspect digital album sales have shown more growth since then. however, you're quite right about the itunes album chart not being a key indicator on how things might pan out on the official chart though.
*snip*
I was going by the January report, so that's indeed quite the growth in just four months.
As for your second point, your totally right. Who You Are was launched off the back of two platinum smashes (one of which was ginormous), it's been obvious since Wild's release Alive wouldn't open with similar numbers. She's undoubtedly lost quite a bit of her huge momentum (and I do agree with others that The Voice is likely to be a large cause of that), but that doesn't mean she can't be in for another very (if much less) successful era. As I said earlier in the thread, I predict album sales of around 500,000 - 600,000 and numerous top ten hits.
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I would say very much urban. He's got his fanbase but has only actually had two Top 20 hits of his own (and one of those featured Rihanna).
i cant really argue with many of the points made in that review, but while these teams continue to deliver pop music that is successful, i cant see things changing any time soon. her music is not by any stretch of the imagination original and neither are the songs produced by these successful teams, but lets not pretend that these people claim originality in the place, so its a bit of a moot point really.
i think her voice is quite individual though, even though she often over sings.
With Rihanna it definitely is. Quite a few of them have said that pretty much every beginning of summerish/late spring, her label puts together a few day long writing camp where a huge selection of writers and producers get together with the sole goal of writing hits for her to listen to and choose from. Some of them will start it and others finish and it goes on like that till they have material to present for her. That is how she picks a lot of her songs unless they just email her a track she likes.
With Jessie, people like Claude Kelly, Chuck Harmony, Sia, Rodney Jerkins, etc have said she is a ful time collaborator and wants to be in the center of everything when it comes to her music. The songs are always about her life, so she has to be the main creative output in order for her to want to put it on her own album. That's the biggest reason the Calvin Harris song isn't on the album among other spacing issues. She didnt write the song so she couldn't connect to it enough to want it on her album even if it is a great song as she described it. You could say that is a vanity issue or you could say it's about being part of what she puts out as her own. Probably more of the latter since she has no problems singing others songs as long as it isn't for her album like The song on DJ Cassidy's album Claude wrote and Diane Warren wrote Crazy Bout You for Silver Linings Playlist.
It seems she likes to write, though, as she wrote Repeat on Guetta's album(that song is about her ex, though, so I guess it makes sense) and wrote her parts on the Dizzee Rascal song she is featured on for his new album.
i don't think these people claim to be particularly artistic either.:o i assume the song writing teams that come up with these hits enjoy their work and the people that buy the music presumably enjoy their output. there is not particularly any harm in any of that and i dare say a lot of consumers aren't really expecting any great artistry.
i think its unrealistic to expect great artistry when the teams concerned don't particularly expect that of themselves.
Here are my predictions for Sunday's album chart
1. Kings Of Leon 60k-70k
2. Drake 45k-50k
3. Jessie J 35k-40k
4. Arctic Monkeys 35k-40k
5. Avicii - True
7. Birdy
9. Jason Derulo
Combined.
Anyway, it's probably not the most appropriate thread for this sort of discussion. Best to keep it to discussion about the actual album I suppose.
I also think it will be close between Jessie J and Arctic Monkeys. Only one place separates them on iTunes. I know that Alive's standard edition is also #10 but today's placing is buoyed by the pre-sales so interesting times ahead. I seem to remember her debut sold over 100k in its first week but was kept off the top spot by the sales juggernaut that was '21' (that had recently been buoyed by the Brits performance).
Weirdly, in her case I'm not convinced all the exposure is that good for her career as her personality massively divides opinion.
Why do people keep saying this like number three is such a terrible thing? The two ahead of her are massively popular as well. Number three is nothing to be frowned upon.
Yeah, I knew she got a backlash on The Voice, but I didn't think it would effect her musically.
Number 3 isn't a terrible thing, I didn't say it was did I?
I assumed that due to all the exposure in the last couple of years, she would shoot to #1.
Very surprised.
Of course she should. At least she got beaten to #1 with her debut by a bona fide sales juggernaut but that isn't happening this time, I suspect. Time will tell.
People are really putting far too much emphasis on the iTunes chart, especially when it comes to Drake.
But she's lower on the Amazon physical chart than she is on iTunes and #20 on play.com (physical). Maybe the supermarkets will bump her sales? I'm amazed Amazon haven't offered the MP3 at £4.99 though.
If you take out the compilation album that can't chart, she's really #3 on Amazon as well. Supermarket wise she was #1 in Tesco when I popped in this afternoon, and is #2 in Sainsbury's and HMV. As I said earlier, I don't think Jessie's got a chance at getting the top spot but #2 is very likely IMO.
Edit: She's actually genuinely up to #3 on Amazon now.
the figure is more like 61.5% looking at the first quarter sales published by the bpi earlier this year and i suspect digital album sales have shown more growth since then. however, you're quite right about the itunes album chart not being a key indicator on how things might pan out on the official chart though.
apart from the record company who have clearly invested a lot on this album, i don't really see how people could assumed she would storm to #1 with this album.
I was going by the January report, so that's indeed quite the growth in just four months.
As for your second point, your totally right. Who You Are was launched off the back of two platinum smashes (one of which was ginormous), it's been obvious since Wild's release Alive wouldn't open with similar numbers. She's undoubtedly lost quite a bit of her huge momentum (and I do agree with others that The Voice is likely to be a large cause of that), but that doesn't mean she can't be in for another very (if much less) successful era. As I said earlier in the thread, I predict album sales of around 500,000 - 600,000 and numerous top ten hits.