Oh, Vanessa

[Ryou-Neko]

Okay. I've been with Vanessa from the beginning; I heard "A Thousand Miles" when I was in the 5th grade, and immediately went out to buy the CD. That was the first CD I'd ever bought, and I still listen to it. It was a huge hit - all three singles did well on TV and radio, and I expected the same from Vanessa's next album. Then Harmonium came out, and it was unsuccessful for the standards of a major label. One could pass this off as a sophomore slump, or something of the sort. Unfortunately, it's become a foreshadowing to the success of "Heroes and Thieves". Vanessa's newest and third album has sold the least out of all three of her albums, despite a better record label, better promotion, and two singles. (Although, I feel like Nolita Fairytale was a reasonable success, but that's another matter altogether).

What I'm trying to get at is this: not to be a pessimist, but I do not see Vanessa ever breaking into the mainstream again. I don't see her ever having the sales she once did again. And I think, in the back of our minds, we've all known this, but didn't want to accept it. What I really think we should do is just that - accept that Vanessa will never be commercially successful again, and instead focus on the more important things.

Vanessa has managed to remain in full creative control so far throughout her career. For an artist with several top 10 hits under her belt, this is astounding, indeed. Why don't we all just stop worrying about sales and mainstream acceptance? Why don't we focus on the important things? We need to look at this positively. With less sales, Vanessa can maintain creative control throughout the entire extent of her career. She can have a successful career on an independent record label, which would, in turn, free her to be even more experimental and (dare I say) avant garde with her music. She could do what she wants, and what her fans want, instead of succumbing to the control that most major labels wish to enforce - I guarantee that if she can't make a hit doing something she wants on a major label, then she'll be forced to pull a Nelly Furtado or something like that to stay relevant.

Why should we try to save Vanessa's mainstream career when it is obviously not going to ever return to what it once was, when she could have a successful and prosperous career as an independent artist?

Discuss.

[PianoGirl4444]

I have been thinking that way ever since Harmonium's disappointing sales.  Personally I don't care if she's a popular artist, as long as she keeps making music for me to enjoy.

[iluvvanessa]

vanessa will do what she chooses with her career, no i do not see her as a mainstream artist, its not her style, but if she chooses to, she will be.

[Morgan]

Thank you for finally explaining what I've been wanting to get across for so long, but never knew how to.

I don't think it hurts to support her in everything we can, though, but we don't exactly have to bend over backwards to try.

[TRINIST]

I have been thinking that way ever since Harmonium's disappointing sales.  Personally I don't care if she's a popular artist, as long as she keeps making music for me to enjoy.

exactly.

[mikepepsi]

Fans can only do so much, and we are quite a small fanbase. Its up to the labels to decide wether they are going to push her heavily again or not.

I don't think she's particularly interested in being "famous" any more. So its a mute point anyway. As long as she sells enough CDs to justify the cost of making them.

[charmed23]

I don't see her ever having the sales she once did again.

agree, because not many artists have the peak sales they once did.

With less sales, Vanessa can maintain creative control throughout the entire extent of her career.

r-e-a-l-l-y? I thought the more sales the artists have, the more control they will have, the more experimental they will be because the record label will respect and have big love 4 them, as the artists are good money-making machines with their big sales.

Why should we try to save Vanessa's mainstream career when it is obviously not going to ever return to what it once was, when she could have a successful and prosperous career as an independent artist?

if VC is a independent artist, so there will be no tours, no MTV, no VH1, no TV shows, no events-attending... nothing, right? I don't know about you, Neko, but I don't live in the US and to tell you the truth, those things I mention above are the essential ways -I think- for me to see Vanessa. My friends, relatives won't ever see her on the TV and who will care if I talk about VC? Am I going to be the only Vietnamese to love VC?
Independent artists don't have budget for their videos, do they? So we will keep seeing vids like HOM, won't we? Or will we hardly have any vids at all??

and what her fans want.

doubt this. What will happen if your fav artist do whatever you like? Will you still have the hype and anticipation for your artist's new material?

I hardly hear anything about Hanson, Bo Bice, Switchfoot these days. The last thing I heard from them is they have became independent artist.

[PianoGirl4444]

^
Well, I am a Hanson fan, so I make sure I hear what's going on, just like I do with Vanessa...They are doing well as an indie band, releasing their second independent album last year.  I don't know how many copies they've sold, but they definitely have enough fans to keep them going for a long, long time.  While the public might think they've disappeared, they are still doing what they've always done:  Making great music for those of us who care enough to keep coming back for more.  

I hope Vanessa can do the same, but I fear she doesn't have as many die-hard fans as they do.

[VanessaCarltonMania]

I have been thinking that way ever since Harmonium's disappointing sales.  Personally I don't care if she's a popular artist, as long as she keeps making music for me to enjoy.

I agree....it doesn't really matter if she's famous....as long as she's satisfied....and she's happy and she still tours and records more songs and albums...because were always gonna be Nessaholics no matter what...

[Martin.]

I'm not bothered if she breaks into the mainstream or not, but the only thing I'm concerned about is hearing more music from Vanessa in the future...because if you have mainstream success, you're pretty much guaranteed to record & release a new album.

As long as I get to hear new music from Vanessa, all is well (see what I did there? ).

[Ryou-Neko]

r-e-a-l-l-y? I thought the more sales the artists have, the more control they will have, the more experimental they will be because the record label will respect and have big love 4 them, as the artists are good money-making machines with their big sales.

No. The more sales an artist garners, the more control the record label will want to have in order to maintain those sales - they will try to find a formula that makes the artist successful, and have them stick to it with little to no growth from album to album.

if VC is a independent artist, so there will be no tours, no MTV, no VH1, no TV shows, no events-attending... nothing, right? I don't know about you, Neko, but I don't live in the US and to tell you the truth, those things I mention above are the essential ways -I think- for me to see Vanessa. My friends, relatives won't ever see her on the TV and who will care if I talk about VC? Am I going to be the only Vietnamese to love VC?
Independent artists don't have budget for their videos, do they? So we will keep seeing vids like HOM, won't we? Or will we hardly have any vids at all??

I feel like this is untrue. For example - the artists on the record label Saddle Creek all sell something close to what Vanessa does, and they all still give international tours and release videos for every album. It's not difficult to manage.

[charmed23]

r-e-a-l-l-y? I thought the more sales the artists have, the more control they will have, the more experimental they will be because the record label will respect and have big love 4 them, as the artists are good money-making machines with their big sales.

No. The more sales an artist garners, the more control the record label will want to have in order to maintain those sales - they will try to find a formula that makes the artist successful, and have them stick to it with little to no growth from album to album.

... Madonna, Jewel, Garbage, Celine Dion, Kelly Clarkson... They have control and they did change and experience with new sound (though Kelly ended up flopped)

[SadAsBlue]

As long as Vanessa continues to make music, I'll be happy.

[_all_is_well_]

As long as Vanessa continues to make music, I'll be happy.

Me too!

[Ryou-Neko]

r-e-a-l-l-y? I thought the more sales the artists have, the more control they will have, the more experimental they will be because the record label will respect and have big love 4 them, as the artists are good money-making machines with their big sales.

No. The more sales an artist garners, the more control the record label will want to have in order to maintain those sales - they will try to find a formula that makes the artist successful, and have them stick to it with little to no growth from album to album.

... Madonna, Jewel, Garbage, Celine Dion, Kelly Clarkson... They have control and they did change and experience with new sound (though Kelly ended up flopped)

I think there's a point where you sell enough albums to where your record company is satisfied. Madonna, Jewel, Celine, and Kelly have all sold millions upon millions of records. Garbage has also gone multiplatinum. But what's the difference between them and Vanessa? Vanessa has sold maybe 3 million albums, out of three albums, the second two of which have flopped.