Madonna's MDNA Album & Singles Chat- Page 12

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/3/12 at 8:36pm

With virtually no promotion, it's a miracle anyone even knew there was a new album to purchase. Did anyone know Madonna had a new album?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/3/12 at 8:41pm

When does it come out?

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 4/3/12 at 8:45pm

Fair enough Namo. I definitely am with you at the sheer ridiculousness of her camp acting like Gimme All Your was actually just some promo single (I know that other artists have done this before--almost always when the lead single essentially bombs like in this case, but it just makes me laugh--a lead single is basically by definition a promo single anyway, and it still got a physical release in parts of Europe and the usual digital release other singles ghet--even if I know some UK fans were shocked to not get a Madonna maxi single on CD for the first time--well in a very long time).

I also haven't been paying much attention to the dethroning the King thing really--as the rticle does imply, and I think you have too, the situations are so different, the times and ways music is sold now so different, it seems to be a none issue (never mind that nobody really thinks much of MJ's later work anyway--probably less so than Madonna's mixed reaction).

And yes, Superbowl was massive promotion. I think it was dumb to not release the project immediately after, actually, given the short attention span of audiences (besides the fact that Gimme All Your L was hardly the highlight of the performance), and Madonna probably thought it would be more than enough, which ten years back it probably would have been. Also kinda ironic that she did do some American talk shows (Leno I believe and Anderson) back in January when she was promoting her movie, and barely mentioned her album, which just seems all out odd.

I'm a bit surprised at the slaes being fairly strong (and to be fair while Hard Candy had a MUCH bigger lead single, at least in the US, I think the fans who buy her *albums* now, as opposed to downloading a single, were largely put off by the Hard Candy project so maybe this gave them more faith. Who knows).

It looks like she's ditched Jamie King as the director of her tour, which excites me! I hope we see something new--aside from a few great remixes, Sticky and Sweet felt like a cheap, half thought out retread of her past tours, and really Jamie King now works with *everyone* and I think it's starting to show.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 4/3/12 at 9:32pm

God it's getting boring hearing all the negative voices.
In terms of promo Madonna had the Superbowl which was quite awhile ago now. Yes of course the album has posters, billboards etc but she has done zero promo for this album other than a Facebook and Twitter chat. As Billboard say

'In terms of release-week promotion, Madonna was basically off the radar, instead focusing her energy on rehearsals for her upcoming world tour. That stands in contrast to Richie, who worked the TV circuit hard in the past week..

She has done no interviews, performances etc, it's been very quiet from her camp other than releasing a few promo pics of the tour on Facebook.

As for Gimmie All Your Luvin, they never said it was not a single release, they said it was a buzz single designed for the Superbowl....which considering the song and the video you would have to be a grade A idiot to think otherwise.

Madonna singles may not be huge charters anymore (the radio tend not to fall over themselves to play a 53 years old records) but judging from the sales figures on the album this week she is still very much in demand as an album artist.

I have to say though i think Interscopes handling of this album and single releases has been a giant mess. The UK has suffered the most, the single got no promo here, no radio play because nobody knew it was out, then when people did finally realise a new single was out they gave it away for free meaning it could not chart here. Now people are even more confused as to what her next single is, some stations are playing Masterpiece whilst others are waiting for Girl Gone Wild meaning they wont chart either. It's caused the album to suffer here (yes it got number 1 but the figures were down from Hard Candy and it looks set to slip a few places this coming Sunday). Luckily the rest of the world is making up for it.

Do i sound old if i say i wish a single release was still all about going to your music store to buy the CD, this whole downloading thing if done wrong can cause so many mess ups.

Anyway, enough of my rant, congrats Madonna on an excellent first week sales (i predicted around 250k in America for its first week, whoops)

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 4/3/12 at 10:29pm

Man, you are basically defending against the analysis in the article I linked by agreeing with everything it said. You realize we haven't even hit the 2 month anniversary since Madonna's Super Bowl appearance, right? You realize that just last week she did a live internet interview with TV talk show host Jimmy Fallon to promote the album and answer fan questions, right?

But, you're right. No promo at ALL. Those two videos? It's another milestone for her! The first two music videos in the history of music videos to not be promotional videos.

I think it was really artistically brave of her to quietly release this album and let word of mouth do the promo for her. Also, you can't really underestimate the hard work she did selling the cd out of the trunk of her 2003 Mini Cooper [license plate: FLNSOOPDOOP] after shows. She's a regular Ani DeFranco.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 4/3/12 at 10:37pm

I have not read the article just how you posted she was not a single artist anymore....which i agree with.

And yes she did an internet interview with JF.....on Facebook.....which i said. And two months is a long time in this industry, she was hot news for a week or so after that appearance but then people moved on. Also the Superbowl is big in America, it's not here in the UK for example, nobody watches it here, it's countries like the UK that have suffered from lack of promo. Bottom line is she has done pretty much zero promotion for this album other than a Facebook interview and a twitter chat with fans, i mean good lord Namo even industry papers are saying the same that she has kind of sat back on this one and seems to be more bothered about the tour, but industry papers and you know.....lack of appearances by her are wrong....you of course are right....as always.

The best thing she could have done was release this album straight after the Superbowl

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 4/3/12 at 10:47pm

You are freaking me out now. You were the one who was going on and on about how the Super Bowl is a family show and how that meant Madonna was not a hypocrite for being prissy about MIA's birdflip as if this was some cultural institution you know inside and out. It's a vehicle for ADVERSTISING mostly using female bosoms to move product. I am sorry you think the not-yet-8 weeks since the big performance during which Maddie has seen two singles vanish is such a lifetime to you. Mayhaps she shouldn't have waited what is apparently tantamount to a century between new studio albums if she'd hope to sell these things.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 4/3/12 at 11:31pm

What an earth does me saying the Superbowl was a family show etc have to do with anything? Sorry but the 2 months is a long time, it got an average single in to the top ten and then it fell out of the charts like an average single would (though it looks like the single will re enter the top 100). Also GGW has only just gone to radio stations last week (another stupid move). Plus unlike you Namo i am not just talking about promo in the US where she could get her vagina out on stage and give birth to baby aliens but it would still not help a 50 plus woman get airplay. I am talking about all over the world because believe it or not life exists outside of America. As i said quite clearly the Superbowl is big in America......nobody else watches it, the UK could not give two s***s about American Football, so that was not promo for her at all in 50 countries around the world where her music is released.

Also i AGREE that in the states she is not a singles artist anymore because the US are obsessed with youth, she does not fit in that box (you know, Foetus with a single out), so i also agree that in AMERICA she could be seen as a legacy artist as you have described her, but for the rest of the world she still tops the charts in singles and albums, she is still seen as a force to be reckoned with. The Radio spins dont count towards chart positions it strictly goes off what she sells. Now i have read that article the only thing it tells me is that the problem is not Madonna it's the US and it's attitude towards older artist. Why do her singles not get big chart entries? because radio stations there wont play her, if the charts were just based on sales then it would be another story. Look at her sales for 4 Mins an Hung Up, very big sales in America, but with not enough radio support they failed to get to number 1, however across the rest of the world both songs based on SALES ALONE were number 1 singles. The big first week album sales of MDNA that have nothing to do with the radio show that she still has a big market out there, but with US Radio ignoring her then her singles will never stand a chance.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 4/3/12 at 11:38pm

The Jimmy Fallon promo was a mixed bag--the only people I think who knew about it were pretty hardcore Madonna fans--it's not like he advertised it on his show (which I seem to end up watching every night), but I do see your point now. Still, it's not the type of promo that gets middle aged women to buy CDs the way *anyone* on Ellen, say, does. Obviously she thought she had enough promo(and really, she didn't do much promo for confessions and Hard Candy either--I know Confessions got Hung Up on some awards shows, and both had mini promo tours but those don't mean much).

But that article you liked to did basically admit she was still an album artist who sold fairly well there, despite it all, which I think was an argument some of us put out and you didn't like.

Songanddance, my friends tease me because I still buy, and collect CD singles for my fave artists (too bad that so few bother to have rare bsides or decent remixes anymore), so I get what you're saying, but really, in the English speaking orld the UK (and Ireland) has been the only plce where physical CD sales have had any importance since the early 90s--I'm not surprised, although I am sad, that they're more and more rare now. When I moved to England for a year in the late 90s I was shocked (and yes, kinda thrilled) at the huge, thriving, all important CD single market. But it hasn't existed in N America for ages--it was all radio airplay, and now downloads. (to point that out, for something like *ten* years, Madonna's Don't Tell Me was always in the Canadian singles chart, befor they finally made it about bought downloads as much as physical cds--the reason was largely as Madonna was one of the few people still getting physical CD singles in Canada).

[Jay Lerner-Z]

Posted: 4/4/12 at 12:08am

When she was on Graham Norton a while back promoting W.E., he wished her good luck with the new album and she responded with something like "I'll need it!", so I think she's more self-aware than FindingNamo seems to think - the lack of promotion suggests that this record isn't one her pet projects, and that really all she was doing is fullfilling a contract. But with style!

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 4/4/12 at 12:29am

For a while now "insiders" have claimed she enjoys the tours that come out of albums much more than the album and promo work, and I'd believe that, even if she took so long in the 90s between tours, and of course the tours make her a mint.

[ljay889]

Posted: 4/4/12 at 8:36am

i AGREE that in the states she is not a singles artist anymore because the US are obsessed with youth, she does not fit in that box

I agree. Right now it's pretty hard to even get radio play if you're not Katy Perry, Ke$ha, Adele, or Lady Gaga (who even just had a "flop" single). It was surprising when Jennifer Lopez had a radio hit last year with "On The Floor."
There was a time several years ago when R&B and rap would top the radio/pop/billboard charts. But now it's impossible to hear a pop station play a Mary J. Blige single. Things change so quickly here.
I actually did here "Gimme All Your Luvin'" twice on the radio. :-p

Updated On: 4/4/12 at 08:36 AM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/4/12 at 11:15am

God it's getting boring hearing all the negative voices.

I guess this should have been started as a "praise" thread instead of a "discussion" thread.

so i also agree that in AMERICA she could be seen as a legacy artist as you have described her, but for the rest of the world she still tops the charts in singles and albums, she is still seen as a force to be reckoned with.

Because she's not just a legacy artist in AMERICA. All this surprise over her album sales coupled with the claims of virtually no promotion mean...it's just a fantastic album that nobody knew about other than buzz and a couple of mediocre-performing singles? And didn't you just give us long explanations as to why she doesn't top the charts in singles? If there's no radio play, no top-charting singles, no promotion, and the ability to hit #1 the first week of release for the last five albums despite the opinions of fans or critics, sort of support the legacy artist theory?

Madonna did more promotion on her film than her album because she knew as a first-time director, that's what needed promotion. She knows full well her albums will sell well regardless what is on them. And she was right. The pre-release "reviews" and leaks gushing about the album in all the right blogs and websites was all the promotion she needed for the initial release.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 4/4/12 at 11:36am

For those that are interested...it looks like the stage setup for the tour has been revealed.
Link

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 4/4/12 at 4:10pm

"There was a time several years ago when R&B and rap would top the radio/pop/billboard charts. But now it's impossible to hear a pop station play a Mary J. Blige single. Things change so quickly here. "

I'm kinda glad that the hip/hop sound that dominated the US radio above any kind of pop or dance has evolved to include more of those elements--I don't love a lot that's on the radio, but I enjoy listening to it when driving, or whatever, more than I have in a while (Canadian top 40 radio is pretty similar to the US, with a ever so slight bent towards more pop/dance--for instance Kylie gets a BIT more play here). Ironically the UK radio is more R&B based than it has been in a long while now. I think age *largely* plays as big a factor there now too, though.

However, it should be pointed out that *pop* radio has largely been pretty age based. Yes, like all things, it's probably more extreme than ever now, but it's not really a huge shift--this goes back to pop music even in the 60s, ever since the teenaged demo really became a force. People bring up Cher's Believe in 1999 but often seem to forget that that was seen as a huge fluke one off, and she had no other hit singles in the US (except club charts--), and her follow up, the similar but more evolved Living Proof album was a complete non event.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 4/4/12 at 4:14pm

"And didn't you just give us long explanations as to why she doesn't top the charts in singles? If there's no radio play, no top-charting singles, no promotion, and the ability to hit #1 the first week of release for the last five albums despite the opinions of fans or critics, sort of support the legacy artist theory?

Madonna did more promotion on her film than her album because she knew as a first-time director, that's what needed promotion. She knows full well her albums will sell well regardless what is on them. And she was right. The pre-release "reviews" and leaks gushing about the album in all the right blogs and websites was all the promotion she needed for the initial release. "

Completely agree Matt. I think we may have a different angle on this (and I should point out, she did get some rather good reviews amongst not so good), but I kinda don't get why even hard core "I love everything Madonna" fans are upset about the legacy artist title. She's three decades into her career-- isn't that something to be actually kinda happy about? In pop music terms that's pretty much a dinosaur, but isn't something I think people should take as a bad thing... I guess being a big Kylie fan (who also has become much more of an album artist than a singles one--at least in the countries where she is known), and seeing how everyone is thrilled with all her 25th anniversary in the biz events like her current "anti tour'" of doing scaled back shows of fan favorite album tracks and bsides--I don't really get it.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 4/4/12 at 4:16pm

"For those that are interested...it looks like the stage setup for the tour has been revealed."

Interesting--I did expect some sort of catwalk again. That chart makes me happy that I'm not seeing her in a stadium, but in an arena (last time she toured and came to Vancouver, she played a stadium--this time it's back to an arena--and it was just such a crappy, too big, bad sound, venbue for a theatrical concert).

Posted: 4/4/12 at 4:34pm

Guy Oseary and Jimmy Iovine discuss the album promotion roll out strategy for MDNA.

MDNA is the largest selling debut week for any artist so far for 2012.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/madonna-mdna-guy-oseary-jimmy-iovine-308040

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 4/4/12 at 4:35pm

There was no promotion so I am not going to click the link because I am sure it just takes us to blank space.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 4/4/12 at 4:38pm

OK, I admit that made me laugh (and with you, not at you :P ).

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/4/12 at 6:21pm

Guy Oseary and Jimmy Iovine discuss the album promotion roll out strategy for MDNA.

Must be the shortest interview EVER. I hope they were paid virtually nothing.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 4/4/12 at 6:51pm

This is really nitpicky of me, but what I found odd first reading that is how the author of the piece insists on her album being some recent/new genbre coined "EDM". Wha? I've never heard anyone casually use that term, or use it outside of things like Electronic Music Festivals... DOes that make any electronic based dance music, going back to 1977 and Donna's I Feel Love, technically "EDM"? Isn't Madonna's album just dance/pop?

(And yes, I know it doesn't matter, just seemed odd...)

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 4/6/12 at 9:45am

From CNN:

"Her 12th CD, "MDNA" debuted No. 1 on the album chart and she has two singles on the dance-chart Top 10. She's 53 and the clubs are banging her new stuff, including "Give Me All Your Luvin," which became her 38th top 10 hit on the pop chart. For those of you keeping score, that's more than Elvis, more than The Beatles. I'm not saying she's better, but clearly she's done -- correction -- doing more.
This year she won another Golden Globe and her halftime performance at the Super Bowl drew more viewers than the game itself, according to Nielsen. I know the perception is that only gay men care about Madonna, but if that were true, given the 114 million viewers who tuned in to watch her at halftime, maybe "don't ask, don't tell" should have been called "just assume."
Why Madonna still leads, others follow.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 4/6/12 at 12:11pm

Okay, just a little perspective. The Beatles recorded for eight years. Eight.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 4/6/12 at 12:38pm

^ THANK YOU FOR THAT!!!!