#4-Everything is mucho-good-o

[bottlecap]

Speaking of clack, I am a bit concerned about the clack for the upcoming concerts. These aren't technically Clay concerts, so he may not have any say in the policy for such things. What if they don't allow pictures, video or even cell phones! :o

I cannot imagine any kind of tour without clack!

I have confidence that three things in this world are inevitable: Death, taxes, and concert Clack in some way shape or form.

Scarlett, please tell I'm right....

[ldyjocelyn]

So true! What cracks me up is how so many seem to be buying up their Walmart's entire stock! What about the casual fan who may have heard about it somewhere and just wanders in to get theirs? What about the Not.Just.Us types, who may be rummaging through the Christmas music and see it and wants to pick up a copy - thus possibly expanding Clay's fan base? Taking all the stock means tough luck for them. This is a limited run CD. They may not be able to restock if they sell out their stock in one day.

That's why I'm raiding 4 different WalMarts over the next two days. I'm hoping I don't deplete the stock.

Success! After my disappointment this morning, I found AIW quite easily at a different WalMart, and bought 4. They had 6 copies on the top row of the new releases section. They also had 6 copies in the Christmas music section (and he has in own placecard in this section -- Hee!). I forgot to check the regular Clay Aiken section, though.

I'm a happy camper right now. This means I have at least 6 copies (2 through ordering online), and my hunt has only just begun!

Speaking of clack, I am a bit concerned about the clack for the upcoming concerts. These aren't technically Clay concerts, so he may not have any say in the policy for such things. What if they don't allow pictures, video or even cell phones! :o

I cannot imagine any kind of tour without clack!

I'm a bit nervous about this too, actually. I've decided not to take my camera -- it's just too nervewracking, especially since we don't know the camera policy. But I'm guessing that the clack goddesses (especially Scarlett, MUAH!) will figure out a way, by hook or by crook, to get the clack spread.

Ansa, I'll be more than happy to write up a recap Friday night for the FCA board. HeidiHo will help. BUT -- we're going to be drinking. Might make for some interesting comments....such as "guh," "gah" and "I want to do him."

What am I saying? I don't need drinks to say those things.

And I'm up-set that most of your are cheating on the 18 song thing. Well, I'll just have to come up with another list this afternoon. *g*

[Claygasm]

I have a question. I see where Daughtry! looks like he's on the way to pretty big opening numbers - certainly outselling ATDW the first week (but nowhere close to MOAM so rest easy! ). Of course, the talk is "Well, he's been getting big time promotion". My question is, other than the usual TV show rounds and a TV commercial - all of which Clay got with ATDW - and of course the left-over AI buzz, what promotion has he had? In my world, I have seen nothing on him in print - certainly no magazine covers for example. I have heard very little about him on the ETs etc. I have never heard him on the radio and I do listen to a station that plays Nickelback etc and since he sounds like them, I imagine its the format he would be played on. I watched AI5. But if I wasn't on the boards here or unless I sought out information on when his album was coming out, I wouldn't know he had one coming out. Same with Kelli Pickler. Same with Taylor and Kat. I mean, how has his promotion been so much better than Clay's ATDW promotion? And I don't think it has been anywhere close to the promotion Clay got with MOAM.

Maybe I just don't travel in the right circles to have noticed his amazing promotion - the amazing promotion that evil RCA/Clive denied Clay, but I just haven't seen it.

Anyone?

[muskifest]

I've seen things about DAUGHTRY! in Sunday newspaper flyers--pretty prominently placed; in People magazine CD review---almost full page review. I don't listen to radio so I have no idea about that kind of promo. Pickler's gotten some magazine press, too and reviews---both of these guys got better reviews of their CDs than Clay, but what's new.

It would be interesting (I guess ) to see lists---side-by-side comparison of Clay's and Chris's promotions, or in marketing gurus-speak....'impression points'....I just think his type of sound is what gets more general buzz from the mainstream media...it's 'cool' music.

I guess.

[bottlecap]

I've been wondering about DAUGHTRY!, too. It didn't seem like he had all the many pre-release tv appearances (based on the RCA Records site), and I don't think radio play was anything to write home about so far. Does he have any sort of a video in rotation? Maybe he just has the leftover awareness from AI5. I have also been reading about great endcap placement and lots of prominently displayed stock, so I guess he gets impulse buyers. Advertised sale prices of $9.99 and in some cases less than that probably helped, too. And then there's the whole start of the Christmas buying season. In other words, I dunno why he's selling so well. I can't say I've come across much online press for DAUGHTRY in my normal surfing, but I assume it's out there....

I find I can't judge anymore what appeals to the average music buyer - involvement in this crazy online fandom has warped my perspective on the whole promotion process.

[playbiller]

For what I have seen, Daughtry has had less TV exposure - fewer shows shorter interview time. He has had a little print exposure, jsut a little, but he has his song being advertised on Prison break and he had the pretour tour stuff. He also had tons of CDs in the store on time. Now, that is nothing new around me, but others have reported it. I find his sales sporatic, some of the places near me not selling at all. We will see how sales keep going and how his tour gets off the ground in February.

[muskifest]

(Just posted this on EAYOR but wanted to share it with you, too.)

once again, berkeleylovesclay beat me to it...she's written what I've been thinking:

In the last year, there has been little in the national press about Clay other than "Clay Moves Back to Raleigh!", "OMG Did You See AI5? Clay Has Long Dark Hair!!!1!!!1!", "Clay Takes Paxil Because of Rumors!" and the latest delight, "Clay Caught in Center of Ripa / O'Donnell Hand-or-Whatever Feud!". I guess I should be happy that "Clay Battles Nut Allergy!!!" failed to catch on.

I wish someone would write about The Singer --- occasional coverage of The Humanitarian would be a nice bonus.

The media didn't exactly break a sweat covering ATDW or disseminating the one in-depth article on the background of the album. There were few reviews and clearly some of them were written by people who had not listened to the album.

RCA selected an overplayed cover as the first single and then opted not to support the album to radio or shoot a video, other than what was used for footage in the TV commercials. The label did not take advantage of free marketing in the form of accolades from the original artists and songwriters: we would not have known that there were any positive responses, if not for a brief mention a month after the drop date from Clay himself. I don't believe in conspiracies, but I am worshipping at the Church of the Bad Fit.

Clay still sold over 211,000 his first week, not bad in the present environment, and the album is now certified gold. Alright, then: when even Clay refers to ATDW as his "last album" instead of his new one, it's time for me to move on.

This lovely little Christmas EP has barely been promoted to the fans: other than to the members of the OFC, there has been no mention of it. Despite the fact that even the exclusive retailer hasn't seen fit to let their customers know it exists, "All Is Well" is being reported as hard to find by the devoted fans who know about it. GMA Sunday (not seen in all markets) has at long last gotten word out --- but without mentioning that it is only available at Walmart.

With just local advertising, much of it part of the symphonies' regular mailings, tickets continue to sell well for the east coast Christmas shows, with several dates at or near sell-out.

I want the world to hear about Clay Aiken's music. I want him to be known as a gifted musician, not as just another object of the cult of personality.

Despite all the nonsensical distractions, despite lack of label support, despite limited or lackluster advertising, Clay Aiken sings his music on his very own field of dreams, and those who hear him, buy him.

Can you imagine how Clay would sell if he were at a label that worked hard to promote his unique talent?

I bolded a part that really resonated with me. It speaks to the FACT that most of what the general public hears or learns about Clay promotes him as a cultural 'icon', a personality for water-cooler conversations regarding just about everything BUT his voice or his character and purpose.

Two examples: While in the waiting room of the orthodontist's office yesterday, the orthodontist saw me while working with a patient and waved...(Carrie got her braces off!)...then HE LEFT HIS PATIENT and walked over to me, saying "I'm going to ask my Claymate friend" :glare: And he asked me "What do you think about all this Clay hoopla with Rosie and Kelly Ripa?" :eek3:

Then...last night, a techie friend who had been working on trying to retrieve some CLACK from an external hard drive for me called to report in. Then he said he'd looked at a picture or two and a word doc to check for file corrumption (Yikes! I had my original draft of Nothing But the Truth on that thing! )...and made a little jab at my obs---hobby, then asked (you know what's coming, right? :glare: ).."Guess Rosie outed him, huh?" :pissedoff

I could only reply, "Yeah, I guess what she said would've outed him if he were actually gay."

"Oh, he's not?" (Truly surprised.)

"Not according to a few times when he's actually answered the rude question posed by interviewers. So when should I come get the hard drive?"

And bottle? A big morbidly obese WORD to this:

I find I can't judge anymore what appeals to the average music buyer - involvement in this crazy online fandom has warped my perspective on the whole promotion process.

Lawd knows I've learned more about marketing and promotion than I ever cared about knowing. Sometimes ignorance is a good thing.

[KAndre]

Claygasm (seriously nice montage BTW!), I'm with you. I haven't seen anything on DAUGHTRY! Nobody I know even comments on him or any of the other Idols. I've seen Trans-Siberian Orchestra stuff. I saw some skinny guys on SNL that I didn't like. I saw the guy who won INXS (and I guess INXS) once. I've seen a lot of Jennifer Hudson and Dreamgirls stuff.

I just cannot stress over Clay Aiken's career, especially since I have the feeling he has more in his 401K than I do - and frankly I look forward to throwing more money at him.

Part of the problems I have with "woulda, coulda, shoulda" - is that no one is really sure what works in entertainment. The experts have a better grasp of what worked in the past - but I really don't think there are those "water-cooler" acts like there used to be...and frankly one of the reasons the music industry is in trouble is because they pour out money like it's water and hope to recoup - and the artists don't seem to be making money and the labels claim to be losing money...

Worst case scenario: RCA/Clive/Hellspawn gives a grand total of what $10K for Clay's promotional budget. That's it. Charm would have to get him the rest. He's charmed a gold record out of it. He's got 2 platinum and 1 gold album. I'm sure it could be better. Lord knows it could be worse. Mention "Mariah Carey" to Virgin Records and watch them choke. I tend to think of some article that explained that something like the top 2% of CDs paid for the rest of them - and Clay is still in that top 2%. I look at Clay establishing a solid fan base that will still be there as Idol fades away (and you know it will happen and probably sooner than later). I will be among them.

[bottlecap]

While in the waiting room of the orthodontist's office yesterday, the orthodontist saw me while working with a patient and waved...(Carrie got her braces off!)...then HE LEFT HIS PATIENT and walked over to me, saying "I'm going to ask my Claymate friend" :glare: And he asked me "What do you think about all this Clay hoopla with Rosie and Kelly Ripa?" :eek3:

I hope you took the opportunity to trash KRip. I've found you don't need to be an expert on stuff to influence people - you just have to know a tiny bit more than they do and state your opinions with conviction.

[ldyjocelyn]

I find I can't judge anymore what appeals to the average music buyer - involvement in this crazy online fandom has warped my perspective on the whole promotion process.

I guess I see it this way: what exactly is an "average music buyer?" Can ANYONE peg that? I really don't think so...and that's one of the reasons the music business is struggling, IMO.

Radio has become way too "formatted" for my taste. I love cheesy pop, but I also like to rock out from time to time, and if the beat is good and the lyrics not too crude, I'll listen to a rap song or two. Country music? Bring it on...sometimes. Heck, throw in a few movements of a Beethoven symphony, and I'm good to go. I've just scratched the surface here, but I have a suspicion that there are others out there like me.

But as far as the marketing goes...I agree with muski, ignorence is bliss.

muski, thank you for bringing that post over. Maybe it's my reaction to the pod people mentality lately...but while I agree with the entire sentiment of the piece (I really DO want the world to hear Clay Aiken's voice), there are a few things in it that troubled me. It does make the assumption, IMO, that RCA didn't work hard for Clay. Do we as fans really know this? There's so much that goes on behind the scenes that I will never see that I can't jump to that conclusion totally. (I know it seems like the label didn't do it's job though...) Also, it seems as if people automatically assume that if Clay jumps ship to another record label, that things will be peachy keen, and he'll get all kinds of publicity. I see this as the "grass is always greener" syndrome, and again, I have some doubts about that. Finally -- calling out Clay for talking about his "last" album made me chuckle, but also made me feel a bit uncomfortable about the way his words are dissected. (Confession time: 2 years ago, I would have been dissecting his words too. No more. I got tired of that very quickly in the past year...)

Again, I will say, though -- I do want Clay's voice and music to be heard. I'm just extremely patient, and believe it will happen...with time.

As for DAUGHTRY! -- I haven't seen much of anything other than placement at WalMart today, and ads in the Sunday flyers. I did a search on yes.com for radio play, and came up with nothing. (Compare that to Clay at the moment, who is being played all over the country with songs from MCWL...*g*). So, I really don't know what's driving his sales either. *shrug*

I just cannot stress over Clay Aiken's career, especially since I have the feeling he has more in his 401K than I do - and frankly I look forward to throwing more money at him.

Me in a nutshell...except that I know he has more in his 401K than I do...only because I don't HAVE a 401K. Maybe he has a Roth IRA instead?

[bottlecap]

I just cannot stress over Clay Aiken's career, especially since I have the feeling he has more in his 401K than I do - and frankly I look forward to throwing more money at him.

Me in a nutshell...except that I know he has more in his 401K than I do...only because I don't HAVE a 401K. Maybe he has a Roth IRA instead?

Aw, ldyjocelyn, have you squandered all of your extra cash on pointy princess hats for yourself and ermine jackets for lrdjocelyn and whatnot? HA!

Me, I'm considering putting my extra AIWs up on ebay while the panic is still on and I can get top dollar.... [Kidding, of course.]

[KAndre]

I bet he has a 401K and a traditional IRA (considering his probable tax-bracket, I would think he would want the deduction upfront).

I think Mariah is a good example. She screamed bloody murder about being underpromoted with Rainbow back in 1999 because it "only" went 3 triple platinum - jumped to Virgin (who paid her $28 million to get rid of her) - jumped to Def Jam and finally got back on track with her last one. Glitter, the fiasco that made Virgin drop her butt, had promo up the wazoo (including a movie that by all accounts was only a tiny bit better than From Justin to Kelly) and did squat.

I think the music business is a lot harder than many people are making it out to be. Like the restaurant business. There's a reason the majority of them fail in the first 3 years.

[muskifest]

Hee! I just got a call from couchie on AIW patrol in our area! She ventured out during her lunch break to one local SFH (Store From Hell)...

zip

zilch

nada

She said a staffer suggested she 'check back later'....uh, yeah.:glare:

I told her I'd do my duty and check out the other store in our immediate area when I finish at the dentist office, although I do NOT hold high hopes. This one's in a predominately 'urban' "Oakland Raider fan" demographic. Not 'feelin' their love for the Aiken, know what I'm sayin'?

ETA: Just 'cuz those Broads CMSU!

The Feud at LBCA

Edited November 28, 2006 by muskifest

[Claygasm]

It does make the assumption, IMO, that RCA didn't work hard for Clay. Do we as fans really know this? There's so much that goes on behind the scenes that I will never see that I can't jump to that conclusion totally. (I know it seems like the label didn't do it's job though...) Also, it seems as if people automatically assume that if Clay jumps ship to another record label, that things will be peachy keen, and he'll get all kinds of publicity. I see this as the "grass is always greener" syndrome, and again, I have some doubts about that. Finally -- calling out Clay for talking about his "last" album made me chuckle, but also made me feel a bit uncomfortable about the way his words are dissected. (Confession time: 2 years ago, I would have been dissecting his words too. No more. I got tired of that very quickly in the past year...)

It has always bothered me that some of the Pod People seem to know for absolute fact that RCA/Clive sat around and figured out how to screw Clay when it came to his promotion. They talk as if it is absolute fact that his promotion was sub-standard. Then they would compare him to Justin Timberlake and people like him. Sorry, but that's like comparing apples to oranges, IMO. JT has been around much longer and has sold tons more CDs and is, I'm sorry to say, a much bigger star. But that isn't the only difference. I've said it before and I'll say it again - Clay is known as much as a TV personality as a singer. To me, I think that calls for a different marketing strategy than someone like JT. Plus JT fits into a radio format. Clay doesn't - especially with ATDW. Call me stupid (and I am sure the Pod People would) but considering this was a cover heavy album put out by someone who radio seems to hate (yeah, yeah, yeah, I know - payola, but I don't think there's enough money in the world to get WY big time radio play. Oh I forgot, the Evil Ones chose that to be the first single specifically to screw Clay! ), I think he got really good promotion and sold remarkedly well.

As to changing labels and the grass being greener..... Reality check! Business is a business everywhere! The man who holds the purse strings gets to call the shots. Is it possible he could find a label who has the same vision he does whereas possibly RCA doesn't? Sure, its possible. But I have never been convinced Clay has a vision, so how can we expect a label to "get" him when Clay doesn't seem to "get" himself? I don't see where RCA has done such a terrible job (I know - I am a baaaaad Clay fan for even suggesting that!). It is possible another label would be worse - or better - or no different. Its a business. The only way Clay will ever have total control is to start his own label - in which case he won't have nearly the promotional budget he has now. I hope Clay ends up where Clay wants to be, not where some of the fans want him to be. (But evil me wishes that would mean re-signing with RCA just because I want to watch the head explode..... )

The dissection of every word Clay says has always been an amusement to me. This latest really CMSU. They also pounced on his use of the phrase "the label" as opposed to his saying RCA or Clive. Some are taking that as super seekrit code for "he is done with RCA". I think he just saw no reason to be redundant since he had just talked about RCA and Clive. When he referred to "the label" I think he thought most would figure out he was talking about RCA/Clive.

I guess most don't know the super seekrit code though.

As to wanting the focus to be more on Clay as a singer and musician, well, I want that too. Unfortunately, I'm not sure Clay wants that. He seems to shy away from talking about his music. He would rather talk about the damn talk show he wants than his music! If he won't talk about it, how can we expect the media to talk about it? Clay needs to pull the focus around to his music by wanting to talk about his music. It has to start there, IMO. I have long said that for others to start taking Clay seriously as an artist Clay has to start taking himself seriously as an artist. For whatever reason, he seems unwilling to do that - at least thus far.

Although, I am sure the Pod People have a reason for this too.

I am glad others haven't noticed amazing promotion for DAUGHTRY! either. The way others were talking you would think he was getting played on the radio every other minute, has his face on the cover of every magazine, and was saturating the TV airways with appearances. I think he'll have a big first week primarily because of the AI effect. It will be interesting to see what kind of legs he has.

[KAndre]

I don't wanna look at DAUGHTRY's legs!

Heh.

I sorta understand wanting the focus to be more on Clay's music but frankly it wouldn't bother me if he never talked about it - I admit I tend to sneer a little at anyone who has to tell me about their artistic vision or whatever for me to get it - backstory almost never adds anything to a piece of art for me. If Cobain came to me in a dream and said he wrote "Smells Like Teen Spirit" just for moi, I still wouldn't like and would avoid eating bisque before going to bed. I think Clay will sing until the day he dies. I think it's so much a part of him, seeing it as separate might be difficult, like me describing how I'm a woman - I just am, and he just is, for me.

[bottlecap]

Speaking of DAUGHTRY!, I got home in time to catch most of his performance (well, technically "their" performance since he's a BAND!) on Ellen. The dude does sound exactly like the lead singer from Live. The Big D! has apparently adopted this odd semi-crouching stance when he sings, while he practically hangs off the top of the microphone stand with both hands. I read something where one of the reviewers of a live show dinged D! for doing that, as it hides his face. Since I'm attuned to Mr. "I Know Where the Camera is at All Times and I Will Eyef**k the Audience to Death if I Feel Like It and then Pretend to Be Embarassed About It When Tyra Busts Me", I found D!'s stance to be a bit off-putting. Dude, a little connection to the audience is not a bad thing.

[Claygasm]

Well, well, well. DAUGHTRY! apparently sold 301K!

Maybe its a good thing people are concentrating on AIW. It may help console them.....

[KAndre]

Hey! Clay's just sort of squinting at the camera! That's what he implied to Tyra! "Eyef*ck the Audience to Death If I Feel Like It" indeed.

Double heh.

As long as no one gives me DAUGHTRY for Xmas, I'm good.

[muskifest]

Dude, a little connection to the audience is not a bad thing.

...yeah, but if it's DAUGHTRY! connecting or not, I'll have one of what Rhett's having: "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn!"

I DO understand what you guys are saying. I'm not a grassy knoll kinda gal, either, and I don't think RCA is stupid. I DO scratch my head at some of the---to the layperson's eye---missed opportunities that berkeley mentioned. I just don't know why they wouldn't have USED Clay's popularity---as a VERY recognizable personality---to provide platforms to share things like what the original artists had to say about the CD, etc.

I'm just weary of seeing Clay's name in a context of everything BUT his talent. Musical vision? Pshaw! I think Clay sings pretty, likes to sing pretty and intends on singing pretty as long as people want to hear him. But the general media gets more of a thrill over talking about his freakin' hairstyle than his vocal skills; more about where his hand has been than how he can soothe the savage breast (down girls) with the quality of his voice. More about his sexual orientation than about his concert sellouts and CD supply scarcities...

You know?

Anyhoo....I'll try to think about how he could soothe my breasts while the dentist is digging around in my mouth in a few minutes.... :o

later!

[dreamlarge]

As long as no one gives me DAUGHTRY for Xmas, I'm good

BWAH. I'm not a fan, so my teeth pretty much fell out when I saw those numbers. As for promotion, I saw one link posted online that had a portion of a couple Daughtry songs. Sounded very generic to me….not bad…just generic. But that is the only promotion I saw. I'm glad for him. He must be tharilled with 301K. I hope he and Clive live happily ever after.

Thanks Couchie for solving the virus problem I was having yesterday. I was skeered to come back today to tell you the truth. Losing one hard drive a month is my limit. I switched my browser to Firefox. And this is definitely my last PC.

[playbiller]

Well, I know exactly what the problem is with the promotion - well - I don't and neither does anyone else - I just thought I would get a little attention.

Remember how people were geting insulted when there would angst over how Clive had this party and "Clay was not invited"? Or how come there would be this party or that party and Clay would not be ther - now we know that there were issues with Clay going to parties - he could to a degree. I think he was invited to those things and did not want to go, had to beg off because of the anxiety. I had always wondered how his body could have withstood that 180 degree turn his life took and the rocket ride up past all his cohorts leaving him a bit isolated as well. Aparently he did not handle it as easily as he led people to believe - let's not even mention the truly nutso fans that pulled and grabbed at him in meet and greets and lines or the complainaints about hockeygate without even thinking for a minute that there might be something they did not see, did not know and could not be controlled (I am not saying people should not have been upset at all, but there should not have been the massive blamefest at everyone and everything, specfifically including other fans and the BAF and Fran(?)) which now we can see this was another manifestation of the panic disorder, but this is to late for a do over.

I think that Clay has specific differences between him and how others are promoted because of his issues (lightning for the media, dedicated haters, personal issues and the fewover the top fans that annoy the rest of us). He also has become a symbol for instant undeserved fame - I think this is a big error in the media, but heck they think it makes a great joke. Just imagine if he sounded bad? I think the fact that his rise was so fast is what bothered them the most, but it will continue to linger until Clay passes that magic line in the ground and becomes a vererated classic - like many other singing contestants of the past -unfortunately, I can only think of ballad boys right now, no rockers.

Anyway, the radio really seems to be picking Clay up for Christmas music - maybe this is what they will spring board off of? Oddly enough I think that DJs hate of Ripa is playing in Clay's favor with the handgate.

Edited November 29, 2006 by playbiller

[bottlecap]

Yeesh, The Insider just won't let the KRip thing go. Today - will the Christmas performance air? (In my little fantasy world, not unless KRip either very publicly apologizes to Clay and his fans, or if her head is stuck on a spike on the top of the tree in Rockefeller Center. Does that sound mean? Don't care. ) Tomorrow (Arrrgghh!), more footage of the taped Christmas performance. Let it go already....

[luckiest1]

I really hope that Clay's "surprise" for us on Thursday is either a spring tour announcement, or an open clack policy announcement for the symphony dates. Either one would be awesome news!

[atinal]

Yeesh, The Insider just won't let the KRip thing go. Today - will the Christmas performance air? (In my little fantasy world, not unless KRip either very publicly apologizes to Clay and his fans, or if her head is stuck on a spike on the top of the tree in Rockefeller Center. Does that sound mean? Don't care. ) Tomorrow (Arrrgghh!), more footage of the taped Christmas performance. Let it go already....

I'll take Ripa's head on a spike for 300, Alex.

I loved that one, bottle

Edited November 29, 2006 by atinal

[muskifest]

hee hee! Oh yeah, oh yeah...I got it, I got it!

Hee Hee!

Couchie! I'll let YOU tell the tale!