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Post by Q3 on Sept 23, 2011 23:04:06 GMT -5
A&R Execs -- Here is a good definition.... "Once the most powerful career in the music business, artist-and-repertoire (A&R) executives are charged with finding new acts for record labels, signing them to contracts, and then supervising their artistic development. They oversee the recording process, including the selection of producers, songs and singles, and liaise between artist and label. Thus, these largely anonymous gatekeepers have quietly influenced the soundtracks of our lives." Rest of article follows -- interesting read: www.laweekly.com/2010-02-11/music/a-r-star-makers-the-vanishing-gatekeepers/1/ |
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Post by adamrocks on Sept 23, 2011 23:06:23 GMT -5
I'm getting here late tonight but just wanted to thank Gelly and all who posted links to downloads, pics, and articles today! Atopia is such a great place for getting our Adam 'news fix' every day! So....  I need some sleep so, I'll repeat what my grandson says at the end of his answering machine message.....PEACE OUT!   |
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ksha518
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Post by ksha518 on Sept 23, 2011 23:17:53 GMT -5
My lingering suspicion is that Adam has already created 3 albums and his interview yesterday did nothing to disperse these thoughts at all for me. Remember we had a phase long long time ago, when the storyline was: The new album will be more along the lines of WWFM, because why change something that worked. It will be less eclectic, a more unified sound. Adam was never 100 % convincing in telling this story and he certainly was never too enthusiastic about it, so I thought at the time that this is the A&R party-line and Adam is talking himself into liking it. And so the months went by and we heard somehow less and less about that "WWFM cloning biz". Then the "very different, much more real and honest, less OTT, less glam" storyline started to take shape. Obviously OOL was developed during this much more honest phase. It belongs in subject matter there and we were introduced to it the end of July. And we all loved these new messages sooooo much more. Excitement for the album was beginning to be much more palatable. The assumption was that the mid-August sessions had been finalized and the song selection process with RCA was complete and we were moving forward. Adam seemed very confident and happy at that time. Somewhere along the line then something happened that altered the course. Could it be perfectionist Adam who just felt he could do even more and one up his already brilliant creation? Could the new team at the helm of Sony/RCA influenced that more urban direction by opening a few doors for him? Did he just have a new set of ideas and wanted to see them come about? The information that he now has executive control makes any such a scenario of re-writing parts of the album more likely, because he is a perfectionist, he is very open to new ideas that may have brought towards him and he is curious and likes a challenge. Whatever it is, nobody is stopping him now. I think that urban direction is a very recent development and I think we can assume now that this album will be just as eclectic as FYE ever was. The fact that he was now a bit hesitant whether OOL was on the album, when in July he said it would be, is further indication of a directional change. Adam kind of confirmed that he sees his own album evolution in his own interviews over time. The only question now remains, will the album ever be perfect enough for its demanding Executive Producer? Adam loves OTT, can you ever go OTT on album ideas and album quality and album perfection? Is there such a thing as too much goodies? Somehow I think the answer is yes. So is somebody else seeing this happening? Just asking a question, here. Don't rip me to pieces, please, but if you want to talk me out of this...go right ahead :-) Craazy, loved reading your thoughts in this post. I hadn't really put together the album information the way you did. And I had forgotten about his early 'WWFM clone' comments, which I wasn't too thrilled about at the time. (I guess most people felt the same). I think that probably a lot of different factors came into play to bring Adam to where he is now with this. I can imagine him talking to people at RCA at some point in much the same way he spoke to the Cherrys about his Zodiac show concept, with the same enthusiasm and originality, but with more maturity and awareness of all the potentially limiting factors. And as I said in an earlier post -- regardless of all the upheaval at RCA, I think most people he works with at the label trust him as an artist, musician, and performer, and in fact I wouldn't be surprised if they're a little in awe of him. I really do think there's a recognition of genius. That sounds a little over the top, and I have no particular thing that makes me say that, it's just an impression. I think any of your ideas of how the change in course came about could be true -- maybe Sony/RCA opened some doors, maybe Adam had some new ideas, but I suspect the change originated with Adam. My feeling is that Adam's ideas evolved as the album started taking shape, and his collaborative skills, along with RCA's respect for him, helped him negotiate the creative control he wanted, and thus allowed him to pursue the new ideas/directions. I don't necessarily see this turn of events as Adam's perfectionism in action. I see it more as evidence of his artistic process, which is dynamic and not static. I think rather than wanting to simply make the album BETTER, he wanted to make it MORE. ( And then probably, as a perfectionist, will work toward making each individual track better and better.) It's very possible that the concept for the whole album is still evolving. I hope it's true that the album will be eclectic -- that's way more interesting, IMO. But I think it will have a unifying theme as well. While I think maybe it's possible to, as you said, have "too much goodies" and go too OTT on album ideas, quality, and perfection, I really don't see that happening in this case. I think Adam will probably do a lot of somewhat perfectionistic tweaking, but I really think at this point he will be able to balance that with an awareness of when to stop. And I don't mean an awareness of a deadline as much as an awareness that the album is finished, that he's done what he wanted with it and it's time to let it go. So there's my treatise on your question, lol. For some reason I'm having more trouble than usual expressing what I want to say (ok, perhaps there is a small PUI element). And I've been typing for so long that ONCE AGAIN I wouldn't be surprised if the new thread is up and this one is dead. :  |
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ksha518
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Post by ksha518 on Sept 23, 2011 23:29:21 GMT -5
I agree that Adam #2 seems to be transitioning over time -- at least the collaborators have shifted to more rhythmic producers. But I think that Adam's slight hesitation about OOL being on the album -- another "probably" -- is because the album track list is probably not final and he does not get the final call on that. This comment highlights that I don't know what I'm talking about! And yet I persist... I guess I was thinking that Adam was conceptualizing and shaping the album, and that he would determine the track list. But I guess he could submit what he wants to the label, and there's a reasonable chance they could back him up. Or maybe he has a track list he wants, and an alternate. ??? |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2011 23:46:36 GMT -5
I think that the label may be Adams Lee Cherry, if necessary. No flaming head dress!
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Post by iluvfun42 on Sept 23, 2011 23:47:29 GMT -5
I agree that Adam #2 seems to be transitioning over time -- at least the collaborators have shifted to more rhythmic producers. But I think that Adam's slight hesitation about OOL being on the album -- another "probably" -- is because the album track list is probably not final and he does not get the final call on that. This comment highlights that I don't know what I'm talking about! And yet I persist... I guess I was thinking that Adam was conceptualizing and shaping the album, and that he would determine the track list. But I guess he could submit what he wants to the label, and there's a reasonable chance they could back him up. Or maybe he has a track list he wants, and an alternate. ??? I think he definately has a Plan B and I also believe the label is on board with him and that he will have the track list he wants. I like (hope) the idea that the album might be like FYE in that it will be very diverse--unlike some other artists whose albums sound like one song in 7 acts. I really hope OOL will be on the album because I really want to hear the studio version of it--kinda like Feeling Good--it's still one of my most favorites! |
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Post by lulu2365 on Sept 23, 2011 23:55:04 GMT -5
I think he definately has a Plan B and I also believe the label is on board with him and that he will have the track list he wants. I like (hope) the idea that the album might be like FYE in that it will be very diverse--unlike some other artists whose albums sound like one song in 7 acts. I really hope OOL will be on the album because I really want to hear the studio version of it--kinda like Feeling Good--it's still one of my most favorites! That's one of my favorite things about FYE, there's a different song for different moods and everybody has different types of songs they like best. I hate albums where the songs are like one long run on sentence and they all sound a like. |
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Post by seoulmate on Sept 23, 2011 23:58:37 GMT -5
Just wondering: At all the GNT concerts, was there always a big stack of FYE CDs for sale along with all the other merchandise??
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Post by Q3 on Sept 24, 2011 0:03:01 GMT -5
I agree that Adam #2 seems to be transitioning over time -- at least the collaborators have shifted to more rhythmic producers. But I think that Adam's slight hesitation about OOL being on the album -- another "probably" -- is because the album track list is probably not final and he does not get the final call on that. This comment highlights that I don't know what I'm talking about! And yet I persist... I guess I was thinking that Adam was conceptualizing and shaping the album, and that he would determine the track list. But I guess he could submit what he wants to the label, and there's a reasonable chance they could back him up. Or maybe he has a track list he wants, and an alternate. ??? Yes, you have it exactly. Adam will submit the album to RCA with the track list he wants. Adam has demonstrated that he knows how to collaborate with his label team -- so I am sure that there will not be a huge issue. His label has the right to change the track list but when an artist has a sequence that is desired the label usually respects that. I think the track list challenge for Adam #2 will be similar to FYE -- too many album-worthy songs. And they have to pick 12-13 tracks for the basic album. ETA: They had FYE CDs for sale at every Adam concert but at MSRP -- $18.99 most of the time. People still bought them. |
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Post by iluvfun42 on Sept 24, 2011 0:05:56 GMT -5
 Just wondering: At all the GNT concerts, was there always a big stack of FYE CDs for sale along with all the other merchandise?? I kinda had tunnel vision for the tee shirts. And since I was only fortunate enough to go to two shows I was kinda in a fog. *bad fan--I will get betterer*
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