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I don't care if people don't like her, or how famous she gets. She should just focus on her music being the best that it could. Most of today's best music artists are unknown to most. All of a sudden I like how a lot of you are talking, because before there would just be hope, but that didn't help because it didn't let Kat know that her fans could be concerned. So don't put pressure on her anymore to be "successful". Let everyone else play that game if they want to. Today's best selling music is some of the worst ever. Kat is a world of her own, and she can make music that is timeless. Stop associating her with today's famous artists.
I think the majority of Kat's fans share your sentiment, GoerG. Fame and success are irrelevant as long as Kat keeps creating her beautiful music.
However, there's always the concern that a certain amount of "success" is needed to keep going in the music biz. After all, it is a business. Art for art's sake is a nice concept, but seldom a reality in our materialistic world.
Actually, they do quite often. I don't know how it was done in Katharine's case, but I have been privy to some of the cuts with smaller labels. Often times one of the execs has an artist roster with sales totals and expenditures in one hand and a big red marker in the other!!! It only takes a matter of minutes from being on the roster to being off the roster. If you are one of the ones crossed off in red, you will not be renewed, it's that simple.
We tend to over-think this whole process, but it's really not that complicated. Artists that make money for the record company, or artists that have the potential to make money with the least amount of effort will be picked up, and the others will not.
I still don't think that this development is a bad thing at all. Katharine was a square peg trying to fit in RCA's round hole. It was a mis-match from the start. Now she can find a record company (if she already hasn't found one) that will fit her better.
Actually I have reason to believe that RCA made this decision back in early December, if not before. This is why the distribution and promotion of OCAYF lacked any label involvement.
Holy God, almost 2,000 hits on this burning hot topic--and I'm beyond late. Yes, I'm the late hare in "Alice in Wonderland" around these parts...of late.
Well, Kat being let go from RCA isn't that much of a shockeroo to me. To extend Bill's comments above--Kat herself threw out some "read between the lines" clues in her recent bulletin blogs on MySpace. Remember when she said that she was taking over all operations of her MySpace under her own accord? I made comment here that night that it appeared RCA was dropping her...and she was taking control of her own MySpace before they closed it down. This was in December--so, yes, it was probably already done in the late fall already, but kept quiet until the first of the year when it was official.
She's also thrown out clues that a deal is in the works to work with David Foster--even though it isn't a done deal. This shows that Kat's always communicating things going on through subtle comments in her bulletin blogs without getting into trouble saying something outright. All you need is a little deduction skills to see what's been happening in her life and career ever since she started communicating via MySpace.
Well, now I've probably made her afraid to say anything now.
The good news here is that Kat's too brilliant not to be picked up by someone. She's one of the few celebrities in Hollywood who's had the most incredible backing of anybody in likely decades. The buzz about her has been intense in that town for a while now--and it continues. I guess my analogy of David Foster having giant wings that brings in more Foster Children may not be off the mark if he provides a recording sanctuary for Kat. Say what you want about the man--but he still knows where the line is between showing artistry and being marketable. Look at his client list--and they're all doing extremely well on the charts right now. It isn't necessarily in the Top 40--but who cares? Even if Kat ultimately ends up on the AC charts, it would still enable her to enjoy some mainstream success in the recording industry while also creating a long-term stability as a recording legend.
I imagine it's just a matter of waiting now until DF can give her a pen to sing on the dotted line at his label over at Warner. Of course, getting an album into production, etc., will take a lot of time. It'll obviously take even longer to get her sophomore effort recorded than the debut took. That means the fanbase here is going to have to be patient without having the Groucho-approved stroke.
Speaking for myself, personally, waiting for something worth the wait is what makes enjoying an artist of Kat's caliber all the more gratifying.
I understand business frustrations, Kat--and we're all rooting for that right time when everything you excel at falls into place.
Just as an afterthought: If, by chance, Kat decides to go into movies exclusively--she could take the idea I mentioned once here of combining her recording career with her acting. That means hearing her primarily on soundtrack albums for a while, which still have a strong market. After all, look at Babs Streisand and several of her biggest singles in the early to mid 1970's that were off, yep, soundtrack albums.
While it's probably best Kat has a home base on a label--doing freelancing as a recording artist on the soundtracks to films she's co-starring (or, hopefully, starring) in would be outstanding in my mind. In those scenarios--she's be more free to sing a variety of material...especially if it's a period piece. Soundtracks are eligible for Grammy Award noms, too.
That process of consolidation is a workable process in the entertainment industry. Even we writers know how to do that--especially when we write about...well, everything.
Oh, I'm quite sure of it too. It doesn't take too much analysis to figure out that Kat wasn't making the amount of returns on RCA's investment that they wanted.