Adam does not get a ton or radio play in the US even with gender neutral pronouns in his released singles. He gets almost none in the UK. His other more mainstream album covers since FYE were barely stocked on the shelves. So the pronoun or singing about a male lover is not the problem holding him back on radio. They just refuse to give him the chance that some others get. I really hope his new single will finally get some good radio play in the US (UK too but not betting on it) and not have him take forever and a day to reach top 20 only to soon stall out and render his album dead. They keep talking about him and what he represents and use him as the face of change. However, it is others who benefit with the massive radio play, album/single sales and big streaming playlists and numbers which help with the bigger tours and award show performances, nominations and wins. And I don't think that is right.
Adam has a great career and has done well, achieved a lot and been a great spokesperson for his community but when are the barriers going to come down and benefits going to him also? Where are the rewards for him? Frustrating!!!
Just wanted to respond to this --- Adam's reward seems to be creative freedom (and a bit of money).
All three of Adam's albums were stocked and featured at retail in North America, UK, Japan, AU, NZ and several other countries. For A4 retail stock levels will not be very important -- pretty much will be digital + streaming.
Regarding Adam not getting a chance -- hard to get radio airplay when you don't have new music.
US radio -- both HAC and Mainstream Pop program directors -- have treated Adam really well overall. And some radio PDs gave him great support in December 2009 and January 2010 after the AMA's.
>> UK radio is a different story but, frankly, American and Canadian artists are not well treated by British radio.
JMHO -- while RCA and the folks at 19 Entertainment really were far from perfect -- Adam was Executive Producer of
Trespassing and, aside from the label's two single tracks, that was his album. It was not some confection that the label forced him to record. Whatever anyone thinks of it,
Trespassing was not a mainstream pop-rock album. It was the album Adam wanted to create.
And without a doubt, TOH was Adam's creative vision, and his choice of collaborators.
On top of that -- he has a side job performing some of the greatest music ever in top-level arenas.
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Adam has a new album in the works. It seems to be mostly done but not finished. If there is a big single from that album, great. But mostly, I just want it to sell and stream at a high enough level we get a solo tour.