Post by davidhr on Nov 14, 2017 8:58:53 GMT -5
Lara’s Canadian – really Quebec – promotion of the new album is continuing, as she is set to appear on the program “Belle et Bum” scheduled for November 23rd
www.facebook.com/BelleEtBum/photos/gm.1250819535064081/1674407715923305/?type=3&theater
More TV appearances will apparently be announced soon.
Meanwhile, in response to questions from fans concerned with the lack of apparent promotion of the English language album in the two English language countries, the U.S. and Great Britain, Lara’s management issued the following comments:
(1) There have been a few promotional articles, e.g.,
**Broadway World
www.broadwayworld.com/bwwmusic/article/Recording-Artist-Lara-Fabian-to-Release-New-Album-Camouflage-This-October-20170906
**Idolator.com
www.idolator.com/7666697/lara-fabian-new-album-camouflage-growing-wings
**The Musicsite.com
themusicsite.com/music-news/press-releases/canadian-belgian-artist-lara-fabian-camouflage-album
**USI Shield.com
usishield.com/26500/reviews/fabian-cant-camouflage-her-talent/
Note that the latest of these is over a month old, and the others are much older still.
(2)Their PR agency in the U.S. is working on the album promo. However, there will only be TV if it is a major national TV show. And that’s not easy to get for Lara, who basically has not been heard of in the U.S. in 17 years. This is another example where not having a big record company backing her really impedes the effort. It was probably unrealistic for fans to expect a non-US artist to have much impact in that country under these circumstances, regardless of how good an album she has. And Lara isn’t in the U.S. even now.
(3) Chameleon" will be the next single, to be released early in January. There will also be a remix; more information will be forthcoming as to who will be doing it, but it is someone who has already done remixes for Mylene Farmer and Anggun.
(4)The main U.S. promo, they say, will be the tour. However…if the tour (of just five cities) doesn’t have any promotion, how will people hear about it? If Lara were around, perhaps she could participate in more local TV/radio shows to drum up some support, at least in the tour locations, where ticket sales are lagging.
(5) As for the other big English speaking country – the U.K. – there will be no concert there. The explanation given is that Lara was just there, in March of 2017. Of course, that was for the French album (and at that time, Lara said she would be back ‘soon’). It may well be that that soured promoters…if they had to do it all over again, would Lara’s management have waited for her ‘UK ‘debut’ until the English language album was ready?
(6) Lara’s management concluded with the statement, “In any case, we are proud of this album, commercial success or not. Music sales these days are what they are and it will not get better. The most important thing is that the music is good and that Lara and the fans are happy. And she is very happy.”
Unfortunately, the album is already being characterized as a commercial failure, even by those who (in their own way) like it, e.g., (https://www.avoir-alire.com/lara-fabian-camouflage-lui-donne-des-ailes), translated below:
---------------------------------------------------
Lara Fabian: Camouflage gives her wings
Commercial disaster, the new Lara Fabian is much better than her usual soppiness.
After a short career in English in the 2000s, which allowed her to appear on the soundtrack of Final Fantasy and Spielberg’s AI, as well as to obtain a surprise success in some Anglo-Saxon markets, including the USA where she found herself at the top of the dance ranking, Lara Fabian sang a lot ... in French, not always for the best of our ears.
The Belgian and Canadian artist, who will complete her new tour in France at the Zenith in Paris in June 2018, returns to her international career with Camouflage, her first effort entirely in English since 2004. A bold choice, between lyrical flights and Electro pop music resolutely modern. Camouflage revamped her repertoire for prime-time TV, with a few pieces that, at worst, are inspired by the vociferous nonsense of Celine Dion, but which at best embody the pop-Anglo-Saxon stuff of what works in our time. The title Chameleon, between Sia and Rihanna, is particularly striking, when the single Growing Wings majestically opens a project really not uninteresting.
The commercial flop in France is impressive, the singer did not exceed the 18th place of the merged hit albums, before falling very quickly to 151st place. For once, it's a bit harsh.
----------------------------------------------------
To be more precise, in France, on Charts in France it’s fallen 48 places to #135, in Belgium, after four weeks, it has fallen to 33rd place (a drop of 13) (and it spent two weeks on the charts in Flanders and Switzerland). It’s only current placement on iTunes (which changes day-to-day) is #188 in Russia; EWIM is actually #28 in Cape Verde
.
It is fair to ask whether there is anything Lara and her Team could have done to make the album more successful, commercially (outside of aiming for big ‘hits’, which they did not want to do). We know that the music business characterizes artists in certain genres; although ‘cross-overs’ do occur, they are not common – once you’re typecast as, say, a country music singer, it’s hard to find a way to appeal to a rock audience, for rock stations will not play your songs (even if they are rock songs), rock publications will not review your albums, etc. Conversely, almost anything you do (within broad limits) will be accepted by the country music media (even if there is some rock in it). This is a convenient marketing tool that helps the industry identify the target audience for each artist, which people will buy or listen to their albums, and come to their concerts.
Very often, it all hinges on the first impression: Joni Mitchell was forever a confessional ‘folk singer’, even though she stopped doing folk music early in her career. In Lara’s case, she was obviously originally a French language singer, but she had a chance, with Sony’s backing, to broaden that designation to a ‘pop singer’ in English as well, similar to what Celine Dion did. Lara chose not to do that; she was turned off by the processes involved, going so far as to say she was ‘European’ not American, with European sensibilities. Sony tried again, in an aborted effort in 2004, but again Lara refused to fit into that mode. So they gave up, and since then, Lara has been a “French” (language) singer.
Now she comes along with a new English album, and it is, in a way, the worst of both worlds. Since she’s a 'French' singer, the French media and press interviewed her and reviewed it, often with positive comments. But the French speaking audience is not so willing to accept an English record from a ‘French singer’ - and Lara wasn't there to continually promote it - hence the poor commercial showing. The one exception to that may be in Quebec; it is currently ranked #5 for English language records by 'Canadian' artists (as Lara officially is), and part of ‘adisq’ (http://palmaresadisq.ca/fr/tops-ventes/); but that may be due to the publicity she is receiving from her appearance on “La Voix”. That involvement, in effect, could be giving her a ‘get out of jail free’ card to sing in English since she so clearly is supporting a French language broadcast.
Elsewhere, as a ‘French’ singer, her effort in English is ‘outside her genre’. The reviews in Germany often mentioned that she is a singer of ‘chansons’, and suggested she stick to that. And in the U.S., and English speaking Canada, French language singers are not their concern, regardless of what they happen to be doing now.
It would take a great deal of effort and focus to overcome this characterization. Lara is so talented, and such a great guest, it would not be impossible for her to ‘move the ball’, at least somewhat, were she to desire to do so. But as we know, her attention has been captured by the opportunity to appear on ‘La Voix’, and to live in her beloved Quebec once again. That seems to have short-circuited any effort at promotion outside Quebec until January, and one has to be somewhat skeptical as to how much will occur – and how successful it will be - even then.
Lara’s management said that the music is the ‘important thing’, and surely most fans would agree that it is the ‘most important thing’. However, the lack of commercial success can impact the fans in numerous ways. For one thing, it may discourage her from ever doing any more work in English, and there are many fans who care deeply about that. Also, Lara’s management indicated that additional tour dates have not yet been released because they are waiting for Lara’s schedule in 2018 to be clarified. This is further complicated, they note, by the preparations for the next French album to be released in the fall of that year. In view of this timeline, the minimal album sales so far, and the relatively poor ticket sales for her U.S. venues (albeit three months ahead of time), it would not be surprising if the tour ends up being abbreviated, with far less than the 40 dates originally envisioned. Another potential casualty of this state of affairs might be any DVD of the tour show, which we were told would probably only take place if the album were a hit. So ‘commercial success’ does influence the music availability and what makes fans happy. And the rush to have another French album out so quickly, which will require time to work on, certainly reinforces the perception that the English album and its tour are not as important as a return to the genre the media believes she belongs in.
The album has only been out a month; some albums take time for people to recognize their quality, especially from artists who are not ‘in their face’, all the time (as Lara is in France and Belgium for her French albums). Perhaps that will be the case with this wonderful work, but if so, it will likely require focus and effort, neither of which seems to be in abundance at the moment for this album.
In contrast, in some very positive news, ‘Cello’, the movie for which Lara sang the closing number, was a big winner at the New York Film festival. Angie Su has received awards for Best Director, Best Inspirational, and Best Drama; Lynn Harrell has won for Best Actor and Samantha Desman has won for Best Young Actress. Randy Kerber won for Best Score, and CELLO's title song, "Remember Me" won Best Song (by Kerber and Glen Ballard, performed by Lara). Here’s the award certificate for the song,
www.facebook.com/cellomovie/photos/a.567591846758239.1073741828.564121157105308/742649042585851/?type=3&theater&ifg=1
Lara left the following statement on her FB site: “I am so honoured to have participated in this beautiful project. Congratulation to Cello The Movie! Follow this link to listen to "Remember Me" :
youtu.be/MiTFBE-HM14
Maybe if Lara can’t get many people in the U.S. to be interested in her directly, perhaps she can become involved in projects they will be interested in – such as movies, or shows – and gain familiarity that way. We all believe that once people experience the magic of Lara’s singing/music they will fall in love with it, as has happened in many other places in the world. It’s just a question of how to make that contact happen.
Interesting ‘videos’ of the week: In honor of Lara’s return to Quebec, Sonia Benezra has been putting on youtube some of Lara’s TV appearances on her show from back in the 90s. They can be seen, for example, at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx8eiVvIOOo
(one of her great performances), and
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV94JArsHM0
It will be interesting to see just how popular Lara can become in Quebec, in this ‘rebirth’. With respect to Lara’s Team’s comment that “she is happy”, one can imagine that if she regains her public there, nothing would make her happier.
David
www.facebook.com/BelleEtBum/photos/gm.1250819535064081/1674407715923305/?type=3&theater
More TV appearances will apparently be announced soon.
Meanwhile, in response to questions from fans concerned with the lack of apparent promotion of the English language album in the two English language countries, the U.S. and Great Britain, Lara’s management issued the following comments:
(1) There have been a few promotional articles, e.g.,
**Broadway World
www.broadwayworld.com/bwwmusic/article/Recording-Artist-Lara-Fabian-to-Release-New-Album-Camouflage-This-October-20170906
**Idolator.com
www.idolator.com/7666697/lara-fabian-new-album-camouflage-growing-wings
**The Musicsite.com
themusicsite.com/music-news/press-releases/canadian-belgian-artist-lara-fabian-camouflage-album
**USI Shield.com
usishield.com/26500/reviews/fabian-cant-camouflage-her-talent/
Note that the latest of these is over a month old, and the others are much older still.
(2)Their PR agency in the U.S. is working on the album promo. However, there will only be TV if it is a major national TV show. And that’s not easy to get for Lara, who basically has not been heard of in the U.S. in 17 years. This is another example where not having a big record company backing her really impedes the effort. It was probably unrealistic for fans to expect a non-US artist to have much impact in that country under these circumstances, regardless of how good an album she has. And Lara isn’t in the U.S. even now.
(3) Chameleon" will be the next single, to be released early in January. There will also be a remix; more information will be forthcoming as to who will be doing it, but it is someone who has already done remixes for Mylene Farmer and Anggun.
(4)The main U.S. promo, they say, will be the tour. However…if the tour (of just five cities) doesn’t have any promotion, how will people hear about it? If Lara were around, perhaps she could participate in more local TV/radio shows to drum up some support, at least in the tour locations, where ticket sales are lagging.
(5) As for the other big English speaking country – the U.K. – there will be no concert there. The explanation given is that Lara was just there, in March of 2017. Of course, that was for the French album (and at that time, Lara said she would be back ‘soon’). It may well be that that soured promoters…if they had to do it all over again, would Lara’s management have waited for her ‘UK ‘debut’ until the English language album was ready?
(6) Lara’s management concluded with the statement, “In any case, we are proud of this album, commercial success or not. Music sales these days are what they are and it will not get better. The most important thing is that the music is good and that Lara and the fans are happy. And she is very happy.”
Unfortunately, the album is already being characterized as a commercial failure, even by those who (in their own way) like it, e.g., (https://www.avoir-alire.com/lara-fabian-camouflage-lui-donne-des-ailes), translated below:
---------------------------------------------------
Lara Fabian: Camouflage gives her wings
Commercial disaster, the new Lara Fabian is much better than her usual soppiness.
After a short career in English in the 2000s, which allowed her to appear on the soundtrack of Final Fantasy and Spielberg’s AI, as well as to obtain a surprise success in some Anglo-Saxon markets, including the USA where she found herself at the top of the dance ranking, Lara Fabian sang a lot ... in French, not always for the best of our ears.
The Belgian and Canadian artist, who will complete her new tour in France at the Zenith in Paris in June 2018, returns to her international career with Camouflage, her first effort entirely in English since 2004. A bold choice, between lyrical flights and Electro pop music resolutely modern. Camouflage revamped her repertoire for prime-time TV, with a few pieces that, at worst, are inspired by the vociferous nonsense of Celine Dion, but which at best embody the pop-Anglo-Saxon stuff of what works in our time. The title Chameleon, between Sia and Rihanna, is particularly striking, when the single Growing Wings majestically opens a project really not uninteresting.
The commercial flop in France is impressive, the singer did not exceed the 18th place of the merged hit albums, before falling very quickly to 151st place. For once, it's a bit harsh.
----------------------------------------------------
To be more precise, in France, on Charts in France it’s fallen 48 places to #135, in Belgium, after four weeks, it has fallen to 33rd place (a drop of 13) (and it spent two weeks on the charts in Flanders and Switzerland). It’s only current placement on iTunes (which changes day-to-day) is #188 in Russia; EWIM is actually #28 in Cape Verde
.It is fair to ask whether there is anything Lara and her Team could have done to make the album more successful, commercially (outside of aiming for big ‘hits’, which they did not want to do). We know that the music business characterizes artists in certain genres; although ‘cross-overs’ do occur, they are not common – once you’re typecast as, say, a country music singer, it’s hard to find a way to appeal to a rock audience, for rock stations will not play your songs (even if they are rock songs), rock publications will not review your albums, etc. Conversely, almost anything you do (within broad limits) will be accepted by the country music media (even if there is some rock in it). This is a convenient marketing tool that helps the industry identify the target audience for each artist, which people will buy or listen to their albums, and come to their concerts.
Very often, it all hinges on the first impression: Joni Mitchell was forever a confessional ‘folk singer’, even though she stopped doing folk music early in her career. In Lara’s case, she was obviously originally a French language singer, but she had a chance, with Sony’s backing, to broaden that designation to a ‘pop singer’ in English as well, similar to what Celine Dion did. Lara chose not to do that; she was turned off by the processes involved, going so far as to say she was ‘European’ not American, with European sensibilities. Sony tried again, in an aborted effort in 2004, but again Lara refused to fit into that mode. So they gave up, and since then, Lara has been a “French” (language) singer.
Now she comes along with a new English album, and it is, in a way, the worst of both worlds. Since she’s a 'French' singer, the French media and press interviewed her and reviewed it, often with positive comments. But the French speaking audience is not so willing to accept an English record from a ‘French singer’ - and Lara wasn't there to continually promote it - hence the poor commercial showing. The one exception to that may be in Quebec; it is currently ranked #5 for English language records by 'Canadian' artists (as Lara officially is), and part of ‘adisq’ (http://palmaresadisq.ca/fr/tops-ventes/); but that may be due to the publicity she is receiving from her appearance on “La Voix”. That involvement, in effect, could be giving her a ‘get out of jail free’ card to sing in English since she so clearly is supporting a French language broadcast.
Elsewhere, as a ‘French’ singer, her effort in English is ‘outside her genre’. The reviews in Germany often mentioned that she is a singer of ‘chansons’, and suggested she stick to that. And in the U.S., and English speaking Canada, French language singers are not their concern, regardless of what they happen to be doing now.
It would take a great deal of effort and focus to overcome this characterization. Lara is so talented, and such a great guest, it would not be impossible for her to ‘move the ball’, at least somewhat, were she to desire to do so. But as we know, her attention has been captured by the opportunity to appear on ‘La Voix’, and to live in her beloved Quebec once again. That seems to have short-circuited any effort at promotion outside Quebec until January, and one has to be somewhat skeptical as to how much will occur – and how successful it will be - even then.
Lara’s management said that the music is the ‘important thing’, and surely most fans would agree that it is the ‘most important thing’. However, the lack of commercial success can impact the fans in numerous ways. For one thing, it may discourage her from ever doing any more work in English, and there are many fans who care deeply about that. Also, Lara’s management indicated that additional tour dates have not yet been released because they are waiting for Lara’s schedule in 2018 to be clarified. This is further complicated, they note, by the preparations for the next French album to be released in the fall of that year. In view of this timeline, the minimal album sales so far, and the relatively poor ticket sales for her U.S. venues (albeit three months ahead of time), it would not be surprising if the tour ends up being abbreviated, with far less than the 40 dates originally envisioned. Another potential casualty of this state of affairs might be any DVD of the tour show, which we were told would probably only take place if the album were a hit. So ‘commercial success’ does influence the music availability and what makes fans happy. And the rush to have another French album out so quickly, which will require time to work on, certainly reinforces the perception that the English album and its tour are not as important as a return to the genre the media believes she belongs in.
The album has only been out a month; some albums take time for people to recognize their quality, especially from artists who are not ‘in their face’, all the time (as Lara is in France and Belgium for her French albums). Perhaps that will be the case with this wonderful work, but if so, it will likely require focus and effort, neither of which seems to be in abundance at the moment for this album.
In contrast, in some very positive news, ‘Cello’, the movie for which Lara sang the closing number, was a big winner at the New York Film festival. Angie Su has received awards for Best Director, Best Inspirational, and Best Drama; Lynn Harrell has won for Best Actor and Samantha Desman has won for Best Young Actress. Randy Kerber won for Best Score, and CELLO's title song, "Remember Me" won Best Song (by Kerber and Glen Ballard, performed by Lara). Here’s the award certificate for the song,
www.facebook.com/cellomovie/photos/a.567591846758239.1073741828.564121157105308/742649042585851/?type=3&theater&ifg=1
Lara left the following statement on her FB site: “I am so honoured to have participated in this beautiful project. Congratulation to Cello The Movie! Follow this link to listen to "Remember Me" :
youtu.be/MiTFBE-HM14
Maybe if Lara can’t get many people in the U.S. to be interested in her directly, perhaps she can become involved in projects they will be interested in – such as movies, or shows – and gain familiarity that way. We all believe that once people experience the magic of Lara’s singing/music they will fall in love with it, as has happened in many other places in the world. It’s just a question of how to make that contact happen.
Interesting ‘videos’ of the week: In honor of Lara’s return to Quebec, Sonia Benezra has been putting on youtube some of Lara’s TV appearances on her show from back in the 90s. They can be seen, for example, at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx8eiVvIOOo
(one of her great performances), and
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV94JArsHM0
It will be interesting to see just how popular Lara can become in Quebec, in this ‘rebirth’. With respect to Lara’s Team’s comment that “she is happy”, one can imagine that if she regains her public there, nothing would make her happier.
David
