6.27.13 Adam's still in NY! Headed to Florida next!

Crazyoldgal, please make sure you also note that I am a novice at this, I was just making a discussion point. I just thought we all need to look into this whole topic more as there are both opportunities for fan support as well as probably a lot of fun in discovering other good music too. Not at all ready to write an instructional kind of post, sorry if it came across that way.

As I wrote, the first thing I had to learn and learned quickly was that Pandora does NOT in fact rely on listeners to link music together. It is fully done by staff that listen and group music based on a list of preset criteria. And secondly, Pandora is under public pressure and is said to be at the low end of the royalty payment stream back, even though I am struggling to understand the contradicting messages inherent within articles specifically addressing the topic. On such confusing article was just linked here yesterday. All this does not mean that I don't want to understand better how playlists or stations become influential (as in often requested) versus rather obscure. And Spotify is a different animal too.

On your second point:
I have absolutely no doubt that Adam will be able to continue to make music one way or the other. If Adam ever really found himself outside of his present contract world and wanted it, he could start i.e. a Kickstarter project and raise probably half a million within no time. This is not even a question in my mind. But I believe that more years with big label are beneficial for him, in spite of all the imperfections often mentioned, and if it is not RCA there are other labels who would be interested and standing in line, so no worries.

Labels are learning too how to move and live in an altered environment and for A3 they know more than they did for Trespassing.

RCA needs to revamp its roll-out, promotional support and internal activities such that they are coming out ahead in the new business environment they are finding themselves in.

It is my impression - just a gut feeling at this point - that RCA did adjust the A3 plan as well as budget to reflect both the new market situation, as well as Adam's specific core market strength, and therefore allocated funds differently for A3, than they did for Trespassing.

Brick and mortar does not define the album process anymore, it has become a after-thought for those albums that are eventually taken there. Trickle releases have become commonplace, many albums are only released online (CD and digital), etc.
It cuts a ton of cost that way and that money can be better used elsewhere. A special promotional campaign non-withstanding, I see presently no reason why this would not also work for Adam to go that route. Two years ago, I still thought that Adam needed that in store presence. CD departments are so shabby and limited these days and are in places of the stores that get little ad-hoc traffic, that I don't think this is of that much value anymore. Things change.

I also think they learned their lesson relying on radio support. They won't throw money there unnecessarily anymore.
I also think that they know that Adam has a pretty long song creation lead time, and they will throw the expensive heavy weights in where needed, but not from the get go. Contrary to popular opinion, I think that is actually good for Adam. Takes pressure off the front end to 'come up with something quickly' and allows for more experimentation. Adam is still figuring his own musical style out, imo. I like what I see at the moment, weeks spent in NY without any information where and with whom. Freedom right now is a good thing and he is soaking up the musical richness and diversity of NYC, rather than the charts and pop star adoration oriented world of LA.

And as we have seen this week, Adam can make plenty of noise all over NYC without having an album out. Forget looking at the Gokeys of this world. Adam was listed next to freaking President Obama yesterday, remember. He will be successful, his path is just not going to be that of the average pop star.

Was also thinking that yesterday in that Bonnie McKee video. Most of the other artists in that video were defined by their hit songs or by their pop persona. For Adam, Cuckoo was just one expression of his art, he himself is much bigger than that one song, even if it is a good one. He stands out, even in this comparison with other world famous artists, who admittedly had often more chart success with their work. It does not matter, his path is a different one.
Destined for greatness - not for pop stardom!
YMMV.

just testing out my new San Diego avi from chapf
There is a story to it but it is OT. She did leave the avi in the member news

Oh my....this is beyond hilarious.