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http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2008/01/katharine-mcphe.html
Another Idol label deal bites the dust. Hollywood Insider has learned that Katharine McPhee is the latest former contestant to part ways with her record company. Like season 2 winner Ruben Studdard and season 5 champ Taylor Hicks, who were signed to J and Arista Records, respectively, a rep for RCA Records confirms that McPhee is no longer on the label's roster, adding that, "Katharine is going to record her next album on her own." McPhee’s self-titled debut charted at a promising No. 2 in February 2007, but it never reached gold status. Sources close to McPhee complain the label didn’t support the album — but Idol Phatigue seems to have conquered McPheever. Still, she shouldn’t lose all hope: The singer, who is managed by Guy Oseary, makes her first feature-film appearance (opposite Anna Faris) in I Know What Boys Like later this year, and we hear she's already in talks with another label.
As for this recent spate of Idol exits (we double-checked, and deals for Clay Aiken and Fantasia are still intact), a rep for the RCA Music Group (which includes Arista, RCA, and J Records) tells Insider, “After six seasons, we are proud of the eight artists on the roster who started their careers on the show. With respect to Taylor, we have an understanding that he will come back to us to play music once he’s finished writing his new material.”
Looks like those Foster stories with WB may be coming true afterall.
Good Riddance RCA
Funny how differently a story can be spun. This is the same story for both Katharine and Taylor but these are the headlines I get in the same google alert:
Katharine McPhee: the latest Idol to go indie By Shirley Halperin
American Idol’s Taylor Hicks Dropped From J Records By Matt
I hope this is good news but it depends - if it really was Katharine's choice to try to package herself for the same market as Britney and Avril and Rihanna and the rest and not RCA's then the problem remains. At least the problem as I see it. I want her to just be Katharine and make an album that really showcases her voice and her talent as a musical interpreter and improvisor which would suggest something jazzier and bluesier than any of the top 40 markets she aimed at before. She is much bigger than any single musical genre or marketing niche and any attempts to force her into one will result in a mediocre album.
Leaving RCA may or may not have any affect on how she is packaged and presented to the public next time so this could be good or bad news or just not important at all. The big question is Who will she be working with next?
I guess this is why she was introduced at the Orange Bowl as "recording artist and actress" rather than "RCA recording artist". I don't think RCA did much for her after the initial release of her album. I think they are really being hit by CD sales dying, which is hurting the entire industry, although some artists are still selling CD's, the number of artists with successful sales are declining. I think she only had a one year contract anyway, so it is just conjecture as to who decided not to continue. She did state to the effect that she would be working with David Foster and it didn't seem reasonable that that would be with RCA since he is with a different record company. So, it sounds like this has been in the works for a while and Katharine has been well aware of it. I just hope we get kept up to date on what's happening with her. Who ever she ends up with will be awfully lucky, I'm sure.
From Ken Barnes at USAToday
Another Idol has left the BMG family of labels. Shortly after the confirmation of Ruben's and Taylor's exits, Katharine joins the list. Direct from a BMG spokesperson: "Katharine McPhee has moved on to support her other entertainment activities."
This would presumably include movies, TV, etc., although I wouldn't be surprised if she made an album somewhere along the line for another label.
She has so many options!
If Foster is a music producer, he can work for any label, no? So even if she works with him, it could be under the aegis of any label out there. I keep reading things that make it sound like working with him means she'll be with this or that label. And to me, trying to market her as an edgy babe/R&B diva is not going to fly. When she sings stuff that lets her voice be heard and her personality come through, stuff she feels a connection to and can wring all kinds of emotion out of, she'll find her audience. Maybe because of the OTR connection I always think of Judy Garland, and how when her career was winding down and her voice was going, she could still connect with her fans because of the way she just poured herself into her music and they responded to it. K. doesn't need a big rich label and pricey, trendy producers to do that. She just needs the right songs and the right single choices. Today's pop market is such a crap shoot. The most disparate material clicks with audiences and hits the charts and goes crazy. There's no way to predict it, so you may as well just do what you do best and see what happens.
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