Blake Lewis Dropped from Arista
ETA: Listen to Blake Lewis’s interview
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(right-click and save to download) He talks about the label dropping him at about the 7:50 mark. Blake heard the news 2 days ago. He says that initially, he didn’t want to be with a major record label, but his second place win required it. Although he still had 80% control of his record, he feels that he didn’t get the support that he needed from the label.
This just in from Team Plaid…
Blake Lewis has been dropped by Arista, according to Blake himself, from an interview with Maximum Threshold. Listen to the entire podcast here:
Blake’s debut album Audio Day Dream failed to chart any singles, and by Idol standards, underperformed, selling 98,000 its first week and 299,000 to date.
That was fast! Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee were dropped from their respective labels about 18 months after they were signed. Ruben Studdard released 3 albums before he was dropped.
Blake signed with Arista last August.
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147 Responses to “Blake Lewis Dropped from Arista”
“And of course, we are pretty much leaving men out of the equation completely when talking about internet fan board activity.”
well i wouldn’t think blake had a lot of male fans to begin with tbh lol
I would have to agree with this. Personally, I think Blake is kind of a dick with a really big mouth. But, I don’t think the population at large is aware of any of that.
The record company made a business decision. I think it’s really that simple. You can’t keep spending money on artists that don’t make you any. I was a fan of Blake on the show, but I didn’t buy his cd because I didn’t really like what I heard of it. But, that’s just one little subjective opinion.
Why his music failed to capture a larger audience is anyone’s guess. Having a multi-platinum album is like catching lightning in a bottle. If the professionals with years in the business can’t always figure out why some artists are wildly successful and some fail, I know I sure can’t.
Well I firmly believe he alienated a large chunk of his fanbase before his album came out. He dissed the rabid CAKE fans (they may have been silly and annoying but they would have bought his album like hotcakes). He was quite often rude to fans on tour and word spread. I really do think it affected his sales. For every person that buys their music just because they like the music, there are 2 more that buy their music because they like the artist as a person or for shallow reasons (like OMG! He’s so CUTE!).
I’ve been reading various AI and music boards discussing this topic and I would say that 90% of the commenters don’t believe his dropping was purely a “business decision”. Most of them bring up his unpleasant personality.
I just don’t think Blake is cut out for fame. I think it messed with his head. I think his future might lie in songwriting and producing. Anything that will keep him behind the scenes.
Yes, this is the point I’m making. The population at large is not aware of the comings and goings of Blake Lewis.
A bunch of AI fans on internet message boards believe Blake was dropped because of his personality? That does not surprise me. It’s also proof of nothing. Just because a bunch of people believe something, does not make it true.
The same can be said about thinking Blake being dropped was solely a business decision. I guess the only people who know the truth are the J/Arista executives.
And even if it WAS just a business decision, the overwhelming PERCEPTION is that Blake screwed himself over with his behavior. And the ugly truth of the entertainment business is that IMAGE MATTERS.
There’s a reason publicists and public relation firms exist today. Seriously, before Blake moves forward he must acknowledge this fact and work hard to change his reputation.
It’s funny that this is still being bandied about. Is anyone aware of how musicians have been allowed to behave? Wrecking hotel rooms, harrassing women, openly using drugs, etc. Titties in your mouth and mouthing off is nothing in the scheme of things. It was about the numbers people, believe it. It’s always about the numbers unless it involves a dead body or a child being hurt it’s gonna always be about the numbers.
Yep Blake is a bit of an ass, but listening to the podcast I can’t help but see how dedicated he is to the music and on that level alone I hope he rises from the idol ashes.
This is true. But, considering the fact that Sony has just gone through a huge shakeup, with Clive Davis being demoted and a lot of shuffling around of personnel at J records, it’s not a stretch to believe that Blake is merely victim of the current house cleaning that’s going on at the company right now.
If Blake had eaten some babies, or had the entire nation up in arms over something he did or said, I might believe his “reputation” factored into his being dropped. The AI community seems to have turned against him, but like I said, that community is only a small slice of the wider world.
I mean, how did Syesha Mercado make it to 3rd place? Enough said.
Well, I’m not trying to be disagreeable or anything, but I don’t think it’s entirely the same thing. I believe all evidence would point to most artist-droppings being done for the sake of profits, since that’s what a business as large as this is all about. A company of this size cannot survive by basing its decisions on personality.
If Blake had sold 2 million records, I think he could have said whatever the hell he wanted and still had a deal. A long time ago, fairly early in her career, I once watched Whitney Houston be the biggest bitch I’ve ever seen to a fairly large number of fans. And, I’m inclined to believe that she acts that way a lot. But, her label never dropped her, because she sold a ton of records. Granted, this was long before she proved her crazy on a tv reality show.
I think we’ve all seen people have huge career setbacks for saying something incredibly stupid. And, if Blake’s “Jews have lots of money” comment had been aired on CNN, CNBC & Fox news, I might agree that it was a career killer. I just don’t think any of the comments picked up enough steam to be the reason he was dropped.
They were however enough to make me personally think he’s an asshole, but I never would have heard those things if I didn’t visit MJ’s. So, that makes me a part of the very small population seeking out AI news online. Again, just not really a good sample of the public at large.
Yeah but that was before the days of TMZ and Perez Hilton. TODAY people see Whitney as a crazy crackhead and she’s struggling to make a comeback. Clive Davis is trying very hard to show the world that Whitney is getting over her problems and is worthy to be a star again.
MJ,
I will agree with you on this point – there are people out there that know nothing of Blake. And if Blake ever gets a chance to make a comeback, then those are the people he can reach.
BUT, I know that marketing people at record labels go to the internet to take the pulse of the consumer. And on the internet, Blake’s name is MUDD. Now if you were a record label executive, how willing would you be to take on Blake when you are aware of what a bad reputation he has? Especially if money is the bottom line. Would you be willing to invest the money in him when you not only had to get people to listen to his music but also had to work hard to overcome a bad rep?
People in this business talk and they get a lot of their info via the internet. I’m not in the music business but I’m in television and film. And I hear over and over again that if people think you’re hard to work with, it doesn’t matter how talented you are, they won’t deal with you. The only exception being is if you have PROVEN to be a big money maker. Then they’ll put up with all kinds of crap.
Blake has not proven he’s a money maker. Right now he’s got a rep as someone who can’t sell AND is an asshole. Blake is going to have a REALLY hard time convincing people to believe in him and his talent again. That is why I firmly believe a major attitude change is necessary if he wants to continue on in the business.
And sometimes not even that is enough. R Kelly still has a deal with Jive and a new album coming out in July.
Good point. In the end, it’s all about the Benjamins.
I dunno. It takes a lot of factors coming together right to launch an artist successfully and none of them seemed work out for Blake. His voice blew out (vocal cord hemorrhage, like Jordin) late in recording the album which pushed back the release date past Black Friday. It also made him sound like crap on his promo performances. and that was on what promo he was able to get considering it was holiday season and the writer’s strike was on. The public suddenly decided they loved Sanjaya. The label didn’t give him enough direction to avoid missteps with the video, album cover, rocked-out tv performances, PR. He also didn’t get much support in getting airplay for his singles.
This may sound like a list of excuses from a Blake fan but I find it hard to believe that the default expectation is Much Success considering the track record of other runners up. Especially in this kind of market. He could’ve been downright David-ish in terms of PR and I honestly don’t think it would’ve made that much difference.
And, good doesn’t mean it’ll make money, just like making money doesn’t mean something is good. Take a look at the top ten songs in any given week. Lil Wayne went first-week platinum when Kanye could not. Who could’ve seen that coming? It’s really all a crapshoot.
All jmo.
R Kelly was found not guilty recently. After all of those years, the record company must be very happy that they did not drop him after he was accused.
I may be an exception but I don’t buy the music of people that I don’t like. If I don’t like the artist, I don’t really pay attention to the songs. I would not support an artist that I don’t like by buying his/her music. No song is that good to me.
On the other hand, if I like an artist, I will sometimes buy the CD even if I have only heard one song, just to support the artist. I bought Bucky’s CD even though I don’t really care for country music. I like him, so I bought his CD just to support him. People will tell other people how they feel about an artist, good or bad.
I think that Blake lost a lot of fan good-will by being a jerk. I also think that he lost a lot of support from the general public who heard or read his interviews. To people who were not already fans, he came across badly in a lot of the interviews. The reporters and DJs who interviewed him may have disliked him because of the attitude and ungrateful manner in which spoke about AI and fellow AI contestants. It’s not good to be cocky without a proven track record of success. Also, he sounded awful during most of the live performances that I saw on TV.
When I was following my favorite Season 5 contestant’s radio play rise, I came across some websites where radio MDs, PDs and DJs post and talk about artists. I don’t still have the links but they discussed different artists and whether or not they would play their songs and why. Blake would have had to win them over also. Since he got very limited radio play, he apparently didn’t. If they thought that he came across as a jerk, that may have hurt him.
If people did not buy Blake’s CD because they thought the songs sucked and they did not like his abrasive personality, a cocky, new artist with limited radio appeal and a bad attitude would be a hard sell for any record label so I’m not surprised that Blake was dropped.
Yay! I’m not the only one! I bought Bucky’s too and I do NOT like country – lol – but I love Bucky and hope he’s successful. I was happy to make a small contribution to his success.
Oh I wish you had those links still. I’d be very interested to read what they had to say!
Not a fan of either Jordin or Blake that season and I don’t buy albums to support artists.I only buy them because I like the music/vocals. However, since her season ended I have been rooting for Jordin. She seems like a terrific person and a positive role model for teens out there. She’s has huge hits and didn’t have to become anorexic to make it.
No opinion on Blake’s post idol music as it’s completely not my thing. From neutral I went to active dislike as his interviews made him seem like a jerk. I think he needs some new friends as the ones who think he’s funny aren’t doing him any favors. I feel sorry for the guy though and he seems to have enough talent as an arranger/producer to have some kind of career in music. We’ll see.
Season 6 has become the “forgotten” season. I think many people think Jordin is a new artist on the scene and don’t really connect her with Idol. Lucky for her.
I too bought Bucky’s album and I had never bought a country album before. WHY? Because I really liked Bucky and wanted to help out a little in his success.
I think it goes either way if someone purchases a CD based on personality. I have a close friend who does this very thing, but I’m one who buys it based on the music and whether or not I like it. I think several contestants this season seem very sweet and genuine, but if they put out albums mirroring there AI performances, I won’t be purchasing them.
FWIW, I have several friends who really like Blake, and never get on the AI boards/blogs, and therefore, had no idea he ever said anything controversial.
Chris Sligh’s blog sums it up nicely I think. Blake’s voice for me has always been nice enough, but I really like his ability to arrange music, and I hope he finds his niche as he clearly loves music.
Oops, I meant “their” albums, not there albums.
jmo. . .
i “knew” his album wouldn’t be successful, i didn’t hear a hit single on it.
he will be a successful producer IF he knocks off the attitude.
he has a ear for music and beats but he is NOT a great singer.
he has to realize that he is not the star but he can make A LOT of money from producing.
Here’s to hoping.
Hey everybody. New to this site but after reading all of the responses above I thought I’d leave my 2-cents worth as well.
I’m fan of both Davids of the current season of AI, although I’m more inclined towards DA. I’m not a real fan of rock music ala Daughtry / Cook but I may listen to a couple of rock songs if they catch my fancy. The point is I may just buy DC’s cd when it comes out simply cos I like him. Why do I like him? A big part of that is ‘cos he genuinely gets along very well with DA and DA definitely looks up to DC. I’ll for sure buy DA’s cd but ‘cos DC treats him so well I’ll buy DC’s cd as well.
So the fact is fanbases may cover more than one artists and by alienating other fanbases Blake is not doing himself a lot of favour. This may not make much difference now but in any future releases he may not get the support he may otherwise get. It is evident that a lot of DA’s fans were also Blakes fans during AI6, but having dissed DA so publicly, the fans are up in arms and the support for Blake that was once there is vanishing rather quickly. As some of the responses have pointed out in this business, image and PR skills counts whether you like it or not.
I just checked out “Know My Name” on youtube because everybody seemed to think it was so good and would have been big if released as the first single. But I didn’t think it was good, so I guess I just don’t get Blake’s music.
Delurking to say HI MJ Folks!
“Unless Archie can manage to get on pop or Disney radio, I see him following the trend of one and done.”
We hear Archie’s “Crush” on Disney along with Daughtry, Jordin Sparks, Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson and Leona Lewis – oh, and David Cook’s Magic RainbowsTM. (Poor David Cook). I think Archie got a PERFECT song for his first single. It’s not my cup of tea at all by my daughter LOVES him and it fits her Radio Disneyesque playlist perfectly. He won’t sell like the Jonas Brothers but I think he’ll do fine. Disney seems to be a goldmine and the 19 peeps must have some kind of promotion deal because I hear an Idol singer every third song.
I hear Taylor, Bo, Elliott and Kelly in the supermarket.
As for Blake, I liked a few of the songs on his album but never got around to downloading them.
I tuned out before all the “grossness” so I can only judge the music. I just got the impression that he wasn’t a priority for his label. Same as Taylor Hicks. I will always be a Taylor Hicks fan, but I’m hoping his future work is more from his heart – meaning organic and gritty and not touched by Clive Davis in any way.