Also, thinking about promoting Blake’s music, I have checked last.fm. recently. I thought this was really a good idea that Team Plaid came up with but I do not think I saw a lot of progress with that. I mean, I have not seen a lot of new listeners of Blake’s music. I wonder if spreading word through BLArmy or other sites might help to have more people register there. It is a great place to introduce Blake’s music to people from different countries and to non American Idol listeners.

BLMM BLArmy ideas thread

Also, I think I am going to email that radio station, because they did say they would play anything you wanted to hear, yet they said no when I asked for Blake.
It really aggravates me that the radio stations won’t play any of Blake’s songs!

I’m back, so this is what I sent them:

Hello,

Saturday I called in and requested a song during your “Whatever Weekend”. You advertise that you will play, “Whatever you want to hear”, yet I asked for the song “How Many Words” by Blake Lewis, and I was told that you don’t play that one. So I don’t understand, you said you would play whatever, but you wouldn’t play the song I wanted. Is there some reason you won’t play this song?

Thank you.

-Nora

Thank you for the link. I could certainly leave a suggestion there. Or perhaps, Team Plaid want to include this suggestion there, since it was their idea in the first place. They could link here for more information. They really summarized nicely how last.fm works.

Nora,

I am also curious what response you will get. Although, I do expect them saying that they did not have it or that it was not on the playlist. Any song could mean to them anything on the playlist.

Since I hear that 2 are coming back from season 6, I’m really hoping that Blake is one of them!

Me too Nora!

I can’t believe nothing has leaked out yet. It better not be fricken Sanjaya!!!!

omg, that would be terrible! I hope its blake and chris.

I’m having a bumpy weekend, with too much going on, too much drama, and too much abrasion to my feelings. I’m going to resist commenting on the Label and Radio situation, because of that…but I believe Nora’s DJ said it all.
Oh! But don’t forget!
KEEP REQUESTING at the stations Blake is going to be at, this month! Showing interest there may help with validation for the future.

American Idol Stars David Cook and David Archuleta to be Featured in Spotlight Tribute
PRWeb Mon, 19 May 2008 0:21 AM PDT
The 2008 Spotlight Tribute will include American Idol Stars David Cook and David Archuleta. The current edition of Spotlight Tribute, available exclusively at www.SpotlightTribute.com , includes former American Idol Stars Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Jordin Sparks, Blake Lewis, and Chris Daughtry. It also includes Hannah Montana Star Miley Cyrus, Jessica Alba, Johnny Depp, Oprah …

ETA: AAah, a Collectibles Set, 72 picture cards, with trivia and stuff.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/American_Idol_Dave_Cook/David_Archuleta_Spotlight/prweb952454.htm

meh.

Given the types of responses folks are getting from radio stations about playing HWM I keep wondering if the record label did more than not promote Blake

Yeah NBNN, I have been thinking the same thing. Seems a cooperative NON-cooperative effort on the station’s part. :-/ A little fishy, despite Blake coming in to many stations and impressing the heck out of most of them.

Also, the stations that had a concert or a Meet and Greet had a ton of fans there to see him. If the fan interest is there, you’d think they’d be all over that.

Given the types of responses folks are getting from radio stations about playing HWM I keep wondering if the record label did more than not promote Blake

I am not sure if label would do something to stop playing Blake’s music on the radio. One of the DJs who was more straighforward with me, stated that the buzz about HMW faded too quickly. The way he phrased that made me think he was suggesting that there was enough push or support for HMW. And I am pretty sure he did not mean fans.

Also, I left a note about Last.fm at BLMM.

My Question still remains, why does a Label have to “push” it, if there is a clamor and a need for the music? If the ongoing AI Season isn;t “reason” enough to support the musical efforts of LAST year’s fav, then what is? What will happen to S7 then, if this is the trend? People assume the Idols will all have a great career, but maybe they won’t. They’ll just be discards from “last year” to the music industry.

This is what makes me curious as to what will happen with say D Cook in a year’s time.

2nd - went to Walmart here in Downingtown…no CD’s of Blake and even asked the Manager…How can one buy the CD, if it is not available?????

3rd - have not figured out last.fm

4th - I been requesting on xm20 and more importantly UPOP xm 29 since they have played BA within the last few days..ps when requesting HMW on XM20 I told them I SICK TO DEATH of Leonia Lewis..how many times do they have to keep playing it..it makes me gag (that’s what I said)

if you consider the 52 million hits Leona has on youtube, her sales of her CD are relatively low, Mathmatically speaking..where as the sales vs hits on youtube for BA is a higher percentage….but again, somehow Blakes has to sell more CD

remember my radio station will only play “hits” …Blake’s manager siad we have to keep requesting. but at this point, I think I will write to ARista..the buzz faded because very few stations even playing the song..if never got to 1st base…

something has to be going on behind the scenes

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/20830491/rocks_new_economy_making_money_when_cds_dont_sell

Seems a cooperative NON-cooperative effort on the station’s part. :-/ A little fishy, despite Blake coming in to many stations and impressing the heck out of most of them.

I know it’s frustrating but there isn’t anything fishy about it. The stations are always more than willing to have a celebrity drop by and chat. That does not obligate the radio station to play the song. Top 40 radio only has a certain number of songs they can play based on format. Nobody is conspiring against Blake. The simple fact is that in most markets Blake isn’t on the Clear Channel or Program Director generated list. There are hundreds, possibly a thousand singles floating around at any one time so there are more people in Blake’s boat than in Justin Timberlake’s. It sucks but it’s been this way for years and years and years and I doubt it’s going to change anytime soon. With a few exceptions (Daughtry, Kelly and some country artist idols) the American Idol contestants are regarded as reality show stars not music stars by the industry. That’s a fact and it’s not going to change. Jordin managed to fill a void by being in the right place at the right time (being a teen girl in the Miley Cyrus era)so she gets airplay.

As far as the idea of opening the playlists and playing any single out there and letting the country decide, well number one the labels, who control access to the singers, would not like it if their cash cows could only get a few spins per day on Z100 in NYC because they had a 200 song playlist. Not going to happen because it affects singles sales and cd sales if the pie pieces are made smaller to accomodate everybody.

I also disagree that Blake impressed the DJs. I think some liked him but his willingness to go along with bashing former peers and some of the other stuff he said didn’t do him any favors. It didn’t necessarily torpedo his chances for radio play but by not avoiding those subjects and insisting that his music be the focus he never gave the listening audience a reason to care.

On a different point has anyone seen the CD of the finale from last year? LD reminded me that IF it contained the Blake/Doug E performance I might give AI some of my money.

Like you said, it just either blows it’s way in to the Hot Picks and gets played, or it never gets started. Without reciprocal interest, why should a celebrity even bother to come in to chat?

If the label had to decide which single to “support”, we know they chose Leona Lewis. Now that she is set, there’ll be a different artist/single that will get their “attention”.

My Question still remains, why does a Label have to “push” it, if there is a clamor and a need for the music? If the ongoing AI Season isn;t “reason” enough to support the musical efforts of LAST year’s fav, then what is? What will happen to S7 then, if this is the trend? People assume the Idols will all have a great career, but maybe they won’t. They’ll just be discards from “last year” to the music industry.

This is what makes me curious as to what will happen with say D Cook in a year’s time.

Bully,

I always knew Leona would get the bulk of the promo and budget, since they signed her to a 10 million dollar record deal. But, that doesn’t make me happy that Blake got screwed over the way he did. I am personally sick to death of her generic song and can’t wait for the day that the airplay declines. I’m tempted to e-mail the local stations here telling them I’m ready to puke if I hear “Bleeding Love” AGAIN, just like Joyce did! LOL. Add “No Air” to the list.

I have a feeling the Leona pimpage isn’t going away, they will shove her second single down our throats once this one dies down.

In my opinion, David Cook has the best chance of succeeding of this bunch as long as he is marketed and promoted properly. Why? Pop-rock is pretty popular nowadays, and he’s the closest thing to a ‘total package’ that they have this season. Michael Johns might do well too if he gets signed to a record deal and given the right sort of music.

So I got my response from the radio station today.

“Nora…
Thanks for taking the time to write.
Q104 advertises “We play whatever.” We DON’T advertise “We play ANYTHING.”
Your suggestion for the Blake Lewis song has been noted for future consideration.
Thanks for listening to Q104!
Skippy the PD”

I mean they didn’t say anything like, we don’t have that song, they just said they don’t play “anything”. But what I don’t understand is, what is the difference between, “We play whatever” and “We play anything”?? It’s kind of annoying, what do you think?

Thanks for listening to Q104!
Skippy the PD”

Nora - I think someone there is jerking your chain. “Skippy the PD?” Come on - no way is that for real. I think you need to do some research and find the real PD and phone them. Don’t use the request line. In fact, if you go to the Mediabase spin reports, and find that station in there, click on the station. You should get the name and phone number for the PD in the top left corner of of the page.

And, the only thing I can think of with Philly is something Nic send me that was on the TMZ page. After the Jingle Ball there, someone was out back smoking a cigarette. They called out to Blake as he was leaving. He waved and said hi, and left. This person was all pissed off that Blake didn’t stop everything he was doing to have a conversation with them. They posted a nasty thing about it at TMZ, and claimed to be friends with someone at the radio station, or one of the staff or some such. IMO, it’s more likely the DJ’s are just being smartasses with you.

And, there is more I can say about unintentional “sabotage” on the part of the label. But, I have to go dig up the post. I wrote a draft ages ago, but never did post it.

The AI6 DVD is just the performances, not the actual “finale” results show. I wanted Doug E. Fresh, too! It does have Daughtry’s performance, though.

Disc 2 is love. Lots of Blake footage that we haven’t seen before!

thank yhu ladies

Hey everybody! I got my AI S6 Finale plus extra BONUS footage today! Yay! :-D *does happy dance*

Okay I’m Back, after consuming voraciously every last Blakey bit! :-)
Disc One is the actual Show, where they sing the two song choices and then the coronation song. After that show finishes up, they cut to the very last 5minutes of the Finale where they announce the winner. I was interested, because I didn’t get to see any of that before. Blake went down in the front row with all the other Idols, and they all cheered her on, which was sweet. :-)

They don’t show the performance of Blake and Doug E Fresh, for the person who was wondering earlier. Sorry.

Disc Two has Extras, in between footage, and behind the scenes interview stuff like from the auditions and Hollywood week. You do get to see Blake performing something that sure looks like PWARS, but the audio is too faint and Seacrest is talking over the top of it. He’s wearing the black coat with the too-long white shirt cuffs sticking out? Everyone know that pic I refer to? So, we were gypped on that score, sorry. :-/

Overall I think it was really great, and SO nice to see the Extras! I *heart* extra footage, always. It is worth getting, I think. I got a chuckle out of seeing the small clips of Blake as a toddler they briefly showed. :-) It’s also neat seeing the before-Idol Blake, with the Post-Idol Blake, comparison wise. Anyhow, me happy.

3rd - have not figured out last.fm

Do you have problems with signing up or figuring out how it works and you already signed up? I am using Windows Media Player to play the music as most of my songs are for MP3 player but you can use also i-tunes format, if you set it up that way when you sign up. I think I had to choose which one I wanted to use.

Have these pictures been posted? There are two of them, in the entertainment and portraits sctions. He looks sooo good, especially in the portraits pic. Love it.

Hey Blake and ADD fans everywhere!!!!

I was recently approached by a musician friend of Blake and Kevin’s from Seattle who wanted to collaborate on a new plan to get Blake and ADD into rotation……somewhere!

Being in the music business, he was able to bring a lot of fresh ideas and an awesome perspective into how to make the most out of every situation. So before I go any further I want to personally thank Davin/or DP Staxx from the Staxx Brothers for all his help. We are so fortunate because Davin is in this with us all the way. For those of you with a MySpace account, check out his bands page at www.myspace.com/thestaxxbrothers and leave him a big thank-you!

Our first mission will begin later this week. It is critical that we have a major show of force!!!!!! We are going to need every Blake and ADD fan out there to show up and show out!! Our delivery is going to be swift but very direct; hopefully the music industry won’t know what hit them.

I’m trying to pull everything together so I will get back with you tomorrow with an explanation and more details. So check back and get ready…..the REBELLION is about to begin!

Sawka Delight/KJ’s Drumline

I wonder what this is all about ? its great that one of blake’s friends seems to be involved. It can only help !! =] it sounds interesting, and like something we all need to do.

Blake on RealMagicTV in NYC from this past Thursday. EXTREMELY cool beatboxing; sounds great with the (amazing) song.

Also, a short but sweet interview from CBS News: http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/ma…tml?id=4108410n

And you are right - the interview was sweet. (The link above doesn’t work but if you click on the link and then search on “Blake Lewis” it comes up. - I can’t figure out how to capture a link on their site.)

Me thinks the new publicist might be doing some work …

Okay and he didn’t say, “I’m glad I didn’t win.” Awesome!!!
That wording was much, much, much better.

Loved that video from RealMagicTV. That song was awesome and they all sounded great together. Love at the end when they were singing “and if you Break Anotha, Break anotha…..” LOL

I will be checking out their album when it is released.

Love at the end when they were singing “and if you Break Anotha, Break anotha…..” LOL

EOTW didn’t even notice that…LOL Really liked that singers voice, checked out their myspace…liked their music.

Can I just say what a talent Blake is. To sit in on someone elses song and add what he did without taking away from the song…beautiful:)

Did anyone get an ad of Last.fm after the video finished? I think they had Justin Timberlake’s name on it. The other interesting thing about Last.fm that I found out recently is that the artists can get royalties when their songs are streamed. Very interesting.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=tncpwADiKn4

Blakes new Publicist is indeed getting him out in front of the people. He will be giving us some info on upcoming outings, etc soon. Blake is in Hollywood, will probably walk the red carpet but won’t be on the show..

I’ve read a lot lately and found out a few things too. Most of which are assumptions that are somewhat correct and somewhat crap.
The radio stations are owned by big money of course, not the labels. The labels can’t direct the radio stations to play songs. The big money that backs the station can be more convincing.

What I have concluded and many agree is that the AI group wants the winner to be the big ticket. Bummer, Taylor didn’t go big, nor Kat, but due to his rocking success, Chris D has done amazing…. It’s not in the cards for B to surpass Jordin… They put her in a duet with one of the hottest males and guess what, she has a hit. Tattoo was played endlessly… Did they want Jordin to fly, yes….
Let Blakes chips fall where they may and lets see what happens… They also thought his record would sell millions without much hype. It didn’t… so We keep pushing it because we know it is sensational music. That what the new publicist says too… So we all have lots to learn. Why they didn’t put B on the road to tour yet is way beyond me, that’s where he shines.

I will also tell you that the tag I’ve been reading about the label dropping him is a rumor started by a jilted person somewhere on the east coast. Too bad her shit stinks just like everyone else’s. It doesn’t take much for a rumor to get carried away… Like Hillary won Oregon and Montana and Barrack has to step down now. You do believe everything I write, right?

So, I’m on the ADD Train and every CD I have given away has been raved about so far and atleast a couple have started the pryimid going…

Hope you are all well, there will be new shows and activities coming along this and next month… I count on you fans to tell me what’s new…. Love the vids.

Don’t we have spell check here?

Oh, if you didn’t watch the show tonight, Simon said David A is the winner. Same thing he did last year. And there was no “This is my Now” What’s the deal?

Hugs, D

Thanks for the good news that he will be there with at least red carpet appearances. It was bothering me that he might not even be there, so thanks for that tidbit.

greeneyes - loved the video

amazing how they changed the rules this year - could you imagine if Blake sang his own version? I tell you I think the contest is rigged ..lets see if D A wins..seems that what Simon has plugged..haven’t watched - not interested - but my rationale is that DA is marketable to the Disney crown, similar to Clay AIkens..he sells well so should DA..is DC too similar to Daughtry?

REMINDER — pls keep voting XM29 - UPOP on xmfan.com…has been playing BA for the last two days… I know I keep plugging in requests..so lets keep up the demand

maybe this new marketing team will market and push Blake in the right direction..or better yet, get a tour and get his song played on the radio…hoping!

Joyce, can you post the link where to vote on xm radio for Break Anotha?

I, like Joyce, will be encouraging people to register and continue to listen to Blake’s songs on the computers so the songs can be scrobbled on last.fm. I am trying to watch if there are changes in numbers of listeneres over time. Roughly, it looks like there were 400 more listeners of Blake’s music this week compared to last. Whether it reflects recurring listeners and new ones or only new ones, it is hard to know but I think it is worth the efforts. It only requires starting play button on media player and enjoying his music. I also put some links to the videos in the shout out box from the concert.

Newduck,
Two words. Very impressive.

Guys I’ve been playing blake’s music for my frineds at schoool and they love it!!!

Also - if anyone wants to know ZabaSearch just posted their winner projection for this year’s AI.

Guys I’ve been playing blake’s music for my frineds at schoool and they love it!!!

Awesome, Dani!

One of my friends told me that she not only loves, but is hooked on HMW! I am gonna pass her a copy of A.D.D tomorrow!! :D

Everyone should watch Blake and Doug E Fresh in memory of last year.

Ahhh, omg a year already!!! That was DOPE!!

What I don’t know is who pays for those commercials that we hear. I just heard one today about Coldplay’s new album. It’s a short spurt explaining that they have a new album and go check it out and such. Now I like them, but I”m not a follower of the band, so without this commercial or up front placement at the local Best Buy or Targer, I wouldn’t know that this album was even made. It got my interest and I may go check that out, simply because I now know about it.

Maybe, just a short spurt of those commercials right after the AI finale would remind people how much they enjoyed him on the show and also that might be the first most of them even hear that he has an album out.

ya my friends that I’ve played itfor love like most of the songs.. lol the one that listeneed to it with me yesterday begeed me to play HMW and Surrender and Huimman alot!!!

newduck–I hear ya. I also heard an interesting thing about the record industry, and that being the shake up is only the beginning for trouble and mass make-overs at Labels. The next year will change everything, and next year may find it a whole new world for them to do business in. I believe it was said that the Satellite Market is what’s pushing change, in radio. With so many new boutique stations opening up on satellite, there are more chances to hear different things–and a lack of control then from corporate.

I think just what Kasia referred to, with listening online if possible, is a earmark of that sort of thing.If Blake gets airplay even from a boutique station, then he gets royalties and numbers they cannot account for.I don;t know how this is all going to shake down, but lack of album sales really is a problem. With all the free music nowadays, there is no need to rush to the store for your NEW release!
Maybe those days are over, of real promotion like us older folks knew.

In the other interview he talks about future projects, and mentions that he’s producing an album and that he wants to make an acoustic album. The best part though, he says he might tour with BT, possibly in September! Link.