Classics, Standards or Covers?
What's the difference?
classics: Belonging to the highest rank or class. Serving as the established model or standard.
standards: level of quality or excellence, especially a song or other piece of music that is very popular.
covers: commonly used to mean any recording of a song previously recorded by another artist.
Then again, it probably depends on who is doing the singing.
Rod Stewart releases an album of great classics.
Aaron Neville biggest selling new album is soul classics.
Paul McCartney performs all time classics.
Van Morrison has a classic album of old standards.
Bruce Springsteen does a collection of folk standards.
Christina Aguilera's Back to Basics is a modern take on vintage 20's, 30's & 40's
Clay Aiken sings covers on his new album. Covers when done by any other artist are called classics and standards.
Something stinks here, and it isn't Clay's music.
classics: Belonging to the highest rank or class. Serving as the established model or standard.
standards: level of quality or excellence, especially a song or other piece of music that is very popular.
covers: commonly used to mean any recording of a song previously recorded by another artist.
Then again, it probably depends on who is doing the singing.
Rod Stewart releases an album of great classics.
Aaron Neville biggest selling new album is soul classics.
Paul McCartney performs all time classics.
Van Morrison has a classic album of old standards.
Bruce Springsteen does a collection of folk standards.
Christina Aguilera's Back to Basics is a modern take on vintage 20's, 30's & 40's
Clay Aiken sings covers on his new album. Covers when done by any other artist are called classics and standards.
Something stinks here, and it isn't Clay's music.
Technorati tags: Clay Aiken
posted by Truth Rules | 10:22 AM
10 Comments:
I'd say it's that way because RCA wants it that way.
I never believed in conspiracy theories so much, but I do believe in promotion. and Clay isn't getting any and it shows. And I've never been more determined to support him. It's like AI all over again. I'm eager to see what's next. I can't see him fading. not for a long time. Heck he's been gaining new fans in aisia and oversees. RCA screwed up(and yes I belive it was them, Clay seems to have had little chioce in the end). the question is what do they do now? ( I relly think this is a major turning point, and it will be good. Maybe not right away but it will.)
WORD to that!
Wouldn't we all like to know the answer to that not so sweet riddle.
You go, Clay! Your ADTW is beautiful in every sense of the word - just like you are.
And, baby, we are ALL right here waiting for you and support you 100% in everything you do.
I beleive the stench is coming from RCA/Clive. It is all about perception and the semantics used to create the desired perception. Recording artists who have label $upport sing classics and standards. Those who do not, like Clay are MANDATED to sing COVERS. This is just another example of the negative spin that TPTB wanted to accompany ATDW. For some reason Clive/RCA do not want it to be a best seller. Making money does not seem to be a priority for this album. I wonder why??? I also would like to know when Clay knew that the label was going to hang him out to dry and undermine him wherever possible. I knew that the pre-promotion was not there and no lead single was bizzare,but I had hope that some bigger unique type of promotion was just around the corner. Silly me. I too, am curious about what happens next.
I SO agree, it's called payola!
Did you see this Truth:
CBS RADIO SETTLES
SPITZER LAWSUIT
Broadcast Chain Agrees to Pay $2 Million As Part of Agreement, Discontinue Practices
October 19, 2006
And now the broadcast giants are falling.
CBS Radio has settled the ongoing music industry payola probe conducted by N.Y. State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer for $2 million.
That follows the announcements of settlements with all four major record groups, including UMG ($12 million), Sony BMG ($10 million), WMG ($5 million) and EMI ($3.75 million).
The announcement comes on the heels of the New York State Supreme Court’s ruling sustaining Spitzer’s lawsuit against radio conglomerate Entercom.
Formerly Infinity Broadcasting, CBS Radio is the third largest radio conglomerate in the country, operating approximately 178 stations nationwide, with stations in Rochester, Buffalo and New York City, putting the case under Spitzer’s jurisdiction.
Spitzer's investigation revealed that certain stations owned by CBS Radio openly solicited “illegal financial benefits, expensive vacation packages, gift cards and other valuable items from record labels in exchange for playing the labels' songs.” The stations also received funds from independent promoters upon agreeing to add certain songs to the stations' playlists. The indies would pay the stations with money received from the record labels to secure "adds."
Well, dunh.
"The sale of a station's valuable air time to the highest bidder violates state and federal laws and robs consumers of their right to know why the songs they hear on the radio are being broadcast," Spitzer said. "Our settlement with CBS Radio represents a significant milestone in our effort to reform the music industry for the benefit of the listening public."
During the investigation, Spitzer's office obtained e-mails and sworn testimony from CBS Radio employees who admitted trading airplay for promotional benefits as part of their business model.
Among the findings: From 1999 through 2003, employees at Rochester radio stations WPXY, WZNE and WCMF were required to provide regular memos or spreadsheets to station management summarizing the money garnered in exchange for playlist adds.
Some CBS Radio stations accepted payola for songs that station managers acknowledged would not have otherwise been placed on the playlist. In June, 2003, WPXY added Nick Lashey’s "Shut Up" and Smashmouth’s "You Are My #1" in exchange for "flyaways,” airplane trips to be used for contest prizes.
During the same period, the music director for stations WPXY and WZNE sold blocks of advertising time to labels for the purpose of playing portions of the song to improve its position on the music charts. Spins, whether purchased or not, are detected the same way by radio monitoring services.
Under the settlement, CBS Radio has agreed to: undertake company-wide reforms, including the immediate cessation of receiving payments and other inducements from record labels in exchange for airplay; discontinue using independent promoters as a pass-through for securing airplay; hire a compliance officer to monitor promotion practices; and implement an internal system to detect any future abuses.
CBS Radio will also pay $2 million, through the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, to New York State not-for-profit entities to fund music education and appreciation programs.
For more info, as well as evidence compiled in the investigation, click here.
http://www.hitsdailydouble.com/news/newsPage.cgi?news06378m01
For the record:
Derogatory posts about Kelly or Ruben will not be approved.
They are Clay's friends and deserve to be treated with respect. Besides, I like both of them.
Blogger won't let me post this comment.
Linda said:
God I just love Eliot Spitzer - can't wait till he's Governor!! I only hope that Andrew Cuomo can pick up where Mr. Spitzer left off - although I'm sure he'll continue along the same path, being that he has to follow-up on previously filed lawsuits.
I hope this changes things, although I won't be holding my breath.
10/25/2006 12:09:30 PM
RCA isn't giving Clay any promotional support because from what I gather, this is a throwaway CD. If Clay was only signed for three CD's (please, God, let it be true), then RCA wouldn't want to send a big star to a competitor, so they've been devaluing him.
I'm sure there was also a clash between Clive and Clay in that they weren't on the same page as far as Clay's career direction was concerned. Some people think that JP was hired as part of the smear campaign to render Clay unmarketable. The timing is very suspicious.
Anon @ 7:36pm - I'm editing out your political comments and posting the rest.
Anon said:
$2 million is a drop in the bucket. The practice will continue, just a little less overtly.
Truth - Great blog page - simple, concise and the truth.
Anon Oct 26 at 8:23 pm: You are so right, and mirrored my thoughts exactly - you got the words just right!
I think one of the reasons Clay got so much crap is because ATDW is only his 2nd CD, not counting his Christmas one. Since not everyone buys Christmas CDs, if people were looking to purchase what to them would be Clay's 2nd CD..of course its not the best thing that its covers. I'm not disrespecting Clay. I have and love ATDW. Some of you may recall that Michael Bolton got the same treatment as far as doing covers, so Clay isn't the first or last to get crap for it, but with Clay's talent it really is a shame because yes, he will be judged for it. He's a smart guy and undoubtedly knew that, so he's likely already thinking about how to make his next one killer!
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