UPDATED: USA Today is reporting that Melanie Amaro has, indeed, been signed to L.A. Reid’s Epic Records.
L.A. said in a statement, “I joined The X Factor to be able to discover undeniable talent such as Melanie. I am pleased that she is now signed to Epic Records because I believe we have only scratched the surface on uncovering her talent and her inevitable journey to super-stardom.”
Simon Cowell adds, “We all agreed that Epic would be the right fit for Melanie. L.A. made it clear that he wanted the opportunity to work with her and with his track record, you can’t say no to that.”
“I am so excited to start recording my debut album for Epic under the guidance of L.A. Reid and Simon Cowell,” says Melanie, “This is a dream come true for me.”
Is Melanie Amaro signed to Epic Records? Reading between the lines of this twitter exchange between the X Factor winner and L.A Reid who is an X Factor judge and Chairman and CEO of Epic Records.
Post X Factor finale rumors had Melanie and runner-up Josh Krajicik landing on Simon Cowell’s label, SYCO/Columbia, while Marcus Canty and Astro went with Reid and Epic.
If Melanie does end up with L.A. rather than Simon, it could be an indication that the sound of her album will lean more R&B than pop. Which, with Melanie’s big soulful voice, would be a very good thing.
Simon has a pretty good track record in Adult Contemporary (see: Boyle, Susan and Evancho, Jackie). But it’s L.A.–the man who has steered the careers of Mariah Carey and Toni Braxton and has worked with contemporary R&B/Hip Hop artists Outkast, Rihanna and Jay-Z–who would be the better fit for Melanie.
The official label announcements should be soon.
