Epic Resurrects Shakira…Why?
Shakira’s "Hips Don’t Lie: set a record selling 266,500 downloads in its first week according to Nielsen SoundScan breaking the previous record of 175,000 copies of D4L’s "Laffy Taffy."
According to the New York Times the single was part of an effort to breathe new life into Shakira’s current Epic album which was initially released in November without this single on it. When sales appeared to be dragging, Epic set the re-release with "Hips" added. But before the street date, the new single and video were promoted on Yahoo Music and released exclusively via Verizon Wireless. The company also sponsored a contest editing a best of the fan made videos which was viewed more than 1 million times on Yahoo! in its first week.
Resurrecting a fading release is no small accomplishment and Epic president Charlie Walk deserves credit for masterminding the plan. But in the end, is it just another empty fabrication that sells a few extra CD’s but does nothing to build a lasting career or win true fans. And many wonder if Shakira’s is a career that deserves this much effort.
"The more the mainstream beats its chest, saying it’s where it’s at, the greater the number of disaffected, looking elsewhere, for something that’s more than empty calories," according to music industry commentator Bob Lefsetz. "Oh, the major labels will survive to purvey crap like ‘Hips Don’t Lie’, but shit like this will be the sideshow. As bands the majors pooh-poohed, steered by twentysomethings like Geffen and Azoff in their heyday, build careers on the Net and road and generate cash the supposed big players of today can only ENVY!"
Let’s all hope that Bob rather than Charlie is the one right in the end.
The fans who bought the CD are the ones who have the final say as the whether or not the re-release has any real or lasting effect.
Don’t give any weight to these Lefsetz ramblings. How rockist can the guy get? Not everybody is going to build a career though the Internet and touring. Take hip hop, for example. That’s a market that takes mixtapes, album guest appearances and radio for development. Not a whole lot of touring in hip hop.
And who’s to say Shakira’s career isn’t worth reviving? Such an elitist attitude! No, she’s not Bob Dylan. She’s not Neil Young. She doesn’t have the respect of the “true” music fans. (Maybe in 20 years she will, just as Madonna finally has the respect of music critics. Remember how badly she was derided in the early and mid ’80s? Now those are seen as her most important years.) But she’s a worldwide superstar who probably has more fans that Dylan and Young combined.
Like it or not, Sony and the rest of the industry needs people like Shakira. Somebody needs to sell some music, right? Is it going to sell in increments of one million, or is it going to subsist on the poor to modest sales of Lefsetz-approved singer-songwriters?
Re-releasing an album with only one new song isn’t new, either. It’s been done to death. In this case, though, people got the option to either buy the single or buy the entire album. (In the past critics complained that the only way to get the new song was to buy the entire album.) It’s a win-win. I see no reason to complain about this. It’s a success for Sony, and fans get a new song.
Sorry we offended you Glenn. Does this mean that your blog Coolfer is going to start featuring tracks by Shakira and other bland pop creations?
We both like music that matters. Why not stand up and be counted? Or are the labels buying so many ads on your site that you’re afraid to offend them.
Jeepers… it’s got a good beat, you can dance to it… I give it an 86. What is the big deal here? Labels have been rereleasing albums with a “hit” track forever. Hell, I remember when Ramones “Leave Home” suddenly had Rock and Roll High School on it instead of Carbona Not Glue (Yes, I know there was a trademark issue…) Having a hit track brought new attention to an album that was otherwise DOA.
Oral Fixation was an ambitious project, released as a double disk in two languages over an extended period. Yeah, marketing. Maybe even failed marketing. Faint praise here I know, but the music wasn’t that bad. Don’t Bother was a strong track. The rest of the material, I thought, would have found a market, just not me…
But, whatever the taste and critical judgment, what’s wrong with a company in the business of selling product trying to sell some product? They had an infectious track and they threw it in the box, to try to sell more boxes. Does Bob Lefsetz cry when they throw in a free swiffer when he already bought his toilet wand without one? You just want the swiffer? Go buy the swiffer!
If all you want is Hips Don’t Lie, go buy it on iTunes! Think you might want to try some more Shakira? Buy the freakin’ CD. Same as it ever was…same as it ever was.
Every person who goes out and buys Fixation because of Hips is a person who now knows whether or not they want more Shakira. Her career is only truly revived if people buy her next offering. Before Hips no one ever really listened.
Wouldn’t it be great if more people listened to more? Doesn’t every artist deserve that shot?
Shakira was not resurrected… She’s been alive folks… more than ever before! here is why: She has 14 years of career (biggest star in Latin America), produces, writes, plays, dances, composes her own music… that is called real talent, and real talent does not flop, and does not need help to glow. Epic benefited itself by supporting Shakira, she is a worldwide artist; and here you are asking if the promotion given to her was worth it? GIVE ME A BREAK… next time you write something research on the subject… if not then Don’t talk… SH*T < that is all you practically wrote... by the way... you should check out her TOUR... kicking off in Spain; guess when? TOMORROW!
and i’m guessing HIPS DONT LIE was already produced before ORAL FIXATION was even FINISHED! there had already been rumored about a HIP HOP song or something! but knowing SONY and MUSIC COMPANIES….we can be sure to expect that they can force any artist to retain a song until a later day to have an even BIGGER SUCCESS!
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