The combined challenge of unauthorized Internet downloads and hard copy piracy rage, has forced a number of music labels to think twice about investing in new acts. As it turns out, reality TV offers a low-cost solution to the problem. Take, for example, the 13-week-long “American Idol” series, which helped develop the connections among small-screens, wannabe stars and record buyers. In the US, the Fox Network show attracted a following that numbered in the millions and turned a few croaking toads into golden-throated princes and princesses of pop. True, there’s nothing of the amphibian about Kelly Clarkson, though we suppose she trained her voice under the shower. At 20, the former Texan waitress won first prize in the first season of American Idol and secured a record deal. Her first single “A Moment Like This” sold 250,000 copies in its first release week, while her debut album Thankful went double platinum. What’s more, her record company saved a bundle in marketing and promotion costs.
Breakaway, Clarkson’s second and more mature CD, marks a parting of ways with the American Idol image. “What you see is not what you get” she sings on one of the self-composed tracks. What you get is an independent woman, á la Sheryl Crow, with unoriginal but effective ballads and pop-rock melodies supported by solid and sorrowful vocals. Breakaway sold five million copies worldwide and proved Clarkson, in an artistic and commercial sense, is more than a flicker on the screen.
Sony-BMG

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
January 2006 issue



Guanzhou Chief editor: Christopher Cottrell
January 2006 issue