[Ok! Mag] Vacationing with Vanessa Carlton

[cassiemoy]

brief article about V & cairo:

By Valerie Nome  


WED JULY 30 2008, 6:00AM
VACATIONING WITH VANESSA CARLTON

Vanessa Carlton has been around the world, but her favorite place is Cairo, Egypt.

 

“Egypt is such an intense and beautiful and chaotic city,” the 27-year-old singer tells me. “I love it. I loved walking in Cairo by myself, which is kind of a risky thing, but I just felt really empowered. It was so beautiful.”

 

Even in the recession, she recommends international travel.

 

“It’s so important for everybody to travel the world because you have such a better perspective of where you're at when you’re home.”

 

And Vanessa's NYC home is totally swank. I've been there! It's awesome. She has a direct elevator up to her super-spacious apartment, which comes complete with wood floors, high ceilings, art collection and yapping dog Lord Victor. She'll likely swing by tonight because she's playing Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza in NYC. Woo-hoo!

 

Catch the Thousand Miles songbird on tour through August 10 when she wraps up at Milwaukee's Pabst Theater.

lol, the tone was a bit airheaded, but all right :]

[edit] oops, forgot the link: http://www.okmagazine.com/blog/post/3046/Vacationing-With-Vanessa-Carlton

[craft]

Yeah, the tone was a litte kidish, but it's OK! Magazine, so I wouldn't expect less. But it's great to see Nessa doing shows and actively promoting the album...since The Inc. seems to have given up on her. :?

[nutnlp]

It's always the 'label & vanessa' with everyone on these boards....the label has done everything they can, they took all the right steps and measures.....hell, ashanti just released a new album, didn't get nearly as much rotation/pucbliictiy/tv spots as v did.  she could work harder as an individual and you'd notice a huge difference..but she doesn't.  she has hardly toured at all for this record, and hasn't checked in with her fans in over 9 months, she could have had a child and nobody that hasn't been to the shows would know.....she has slacked majorly ever since the offer to do film scores has came up....we can all relate........your working a crappy job that you don't like? a better, easier job offer comes along...your gonna start slacking in the curent job your in because in the back of your mind you have this new better job coming up....shes mentioned shes not sure weather her next album will be thru universal/inc or indie...if she wants to go indie...gotta work harder than that vanessa!

With the way the music industry has shifted and changes so much every year...you pretty much have to worship and take advantage of the power of the internet...she should know this by now.....

[Martin.]

"the label has done everything they can". wtf? have you been following this era at all? they haven't done anything hardly. the only real promotion vanessa got was when she did a week (and only a week) of TV shows promoting the album - and by then it was too late, because you don't begin promoting an album the same day it drops.

and i'm not even gonna get started on "hands on me".

[itsthefiveofus]

yeah Hands on Me was just pretty much Frogger trying to get across the street and totally got ran over. Agree with the TV Spots they were late. They had little ads on  google and youtube and stuff but I mean sure a person can click on it and just go ok whatever. They did not really do something to make her name stick it was always just "vanessa which released ATM back in 2002 has a new album out" nothing really solid solid. But they did try not unlike A&M with Harmonium. I just don't think The Inc. looking back did EVERYTHING they could.

[nutnlp]

They can only do so much...I don't know if you guys know but Vanessa isn't exactly A-list material like she was in 2002-2003.  They put so much money into promotion and they run with it...it's up to the public weather or not they grab onto the single...Nolita.  They didn't, which is why Hands On Me wasn't a success....as far as radio play/video roatation.  It's funny that you say the TV spots were too late?  It's better IMO to have them play the day the record drops.....I don't see where they went wrong anywhere...They gave her 100 percent musical freedom...they gave her two music videos, one which was played on heavy rotation....some airplay...they gave her a radio promotion tour, they gave her major tv spots......they did everything they can.....just because the public didn't grab onto it doesn't make it the labels fault...you can make someone eat something when they don't want to eat it.

[craft]

Little TV spots and music videos don't guarantee success. Fact is, if the label had promoted more heavily, the album would've sold more. Now, we should just get back on topic and discuss the magazine article that Vanessa is featured in. :?

[Martin.]

They can only do so much...I don't know if you guys know but Vanessa isn't exactly A-list material like she was in 2002-2003.  They put so much money into promotion and they run with it...it's up to the public weather or not they grab onto the single...Nolita.  They didn't, which is why Hands On Me wasn't a success....as far as radio play/video roatation.  It's funny that you say the TV spots were too late?  It's better IMO to have them play the day the record drops.....I don't see where they went wrong anywhere...They gave her 100 percent musical freedom...they gave her two music videos, one which was played on heavy rotation....some airplay...they gave her a radio promotion tour, they gave her major tv spots......they did everything they can.....just because the public didn't grab onto it doesn't make it the labels fault...you can make someone eat something when they don't want to eat it.

i think we're all aware that vanessa doesn't have the status she once had back then. the problem is the way they promoted her (with the little promo they actually did). The Inc should have treated her like a brand new artist.

how can the public "grab onto" something that isn't being promoted? if you read back in the Nolita radio threads, many fans requested the song at their local stations but instead got "ATM". radio wasn't playing it, and as i understand, VH1 was the only channel that played the video heavily - and that was down to us voting a million times on that Top 20 chart thing.

"hands on me" wasn't a success because, again, it didn't get promoted. this was the single that should have catapulted her into mainstream success (not that it matters to me, but you know...). it was the same situation too (as far as radio is concerned) - fans requested, but got "ATM" instead. radio weren't supporting.

Nolita went for ad's in june, the video premiered in early august and the promotion started on October 9th :? you thought they did good? that was a huge error. they needed to be promoting "nolita" more or less after it was sent to radio & the video premiered.

every bit (and i do mean bit) of promotion they gave vanessa came wayyy too late.

[nutnlp]

How do you explain all the radio dates she did?  

When your fans work harder than you do..thats when you need to step it up....Vanessa knew what she was getting into with the Inc, and I'd really like to hear her insight on the whole issue...especially after Harmonium was so ignored by A&M....you'd think she'd have a deal with more promotion since she had more insight on what happens without it...but like I said it's not completely the labels fault....there are tons of things Vanessa could do herself, that she just doesn't do.  I don't believe promotion was too late...she did radio shows and things before the record came out.....TV spots the day of(which is the best way, because if it was any sooner and someone went to buy the album and couldn't find it because it wasn't out yet...chances are you'd lose a sale).  Also what kind of promotion were you expecting?  Huge billboards in NYC? Magazine covers?  That doesn't happen over night..maybe it would have happened in 2002...but for the numbers and market The Inc/Universal were aiming for...I'd say they did exactly everything they were supposed to do.


Major TV Spots(Leno, Regis & Kelly)
TRL
Heavy Rotation on VH1, minor MTV, MTV2, etc.
Hands On Me got the gossip girl ads.  
shes gotten the Kohls ad.

Yes, it's probably not moving a lot of albums(people don't buy albums anymore anyway, which is why I stress the power of the internet and things she could do in that aspect)....but I think they knew that it was going to be a short-lived album.  Which is why they didn't WASTE money with over promoting an album that got 50 or less tour-dates.

I understand that more success would have brought on more shows, more touring....but shes not an A-list act...these are all things she could take into her own hands...but she doesn't.

I love V, but I don't think it's fair to bash the labels everytime an album flops!   If everything you guys say is true...shes not getting treated fairly or being dealt with in the right way...I'd love her to find a better label...it's not going to happen...unless she steps it up and starts her own label....but its gonna take a lot more drive and work on her part.

A record label can't MAKE people buy a record that they can't connect with.

[Martin.]

the radio tour wasn't enough. and even after she performed there, the stations never played "nolita". they carried on playing "ATM".

i'm not placing 100% of the blame on the label at all. but the fact is they didn't do enough for Vanessa (promotion wise). i, personally, was expecting basic promotion at the very least. vanessa didn't even get that.

and i guess we'll just have to agree to disagree about the timing of the promotion, because i certainly don't believe you begin promoting your album the day it comes out. what they should have had her do was promote "nolita" as soon as the video dropped. that was the time to do tv spots and all that jazz. the single dropped in june and she appeared on TRL in october to premiere the video. wtf?

i think the label are going through a rough patch, because vanessa isn't the only one who flopped. a lot of the artists on their did, including ashanti. the label haven't got a clue.

vanessa can do more. the label can definitley do more.

[itsthefiveofus]

the radio tour wasn't enough. and even after she performed there, the stations never played "nolita". they carried on playing "ATM".

i'm not placing 100% of the blame on the label at all. but the fact is they didn't do enough for Vanessa (promotion wise). i, personally, was expecting basic promotion at the very least. vanessa didn't even get that.

and i guess we'll just have to agree to disagree about the timing of the promotion, because i certainly don't believe you begin promoting your album the day it comes out. what they should have had her do was promote "nolita" as soon as the video dropped. that was the time to do tv spots and all that jazz. the single dropped in june and she appeared on TRL in october to premiere the video. wtf?

i think the label are going through a rough patch, because vanessa isn't the only one who flopped. a lot of the artists on their did, including ashanti. the label haven't got a clue.

vanessa can do more. the label can definitley do more.

def. agree with you on the whole late promo stuff with Nolita coming out in June but not being premiered on MTV until October... so late. I also agree with just eh label in general not having a clue b/c Ashanti did not really do all that great and stuff and the one guy Loyd or something got his name out there but he did not stick either.

[B]

We should really have a designated thread for discussing the whole label thing instead of hijacking threads with it, but eh.

I think we all had very high expectations of what Irv could do for V's career when she hooked up with his label. For the most part those hopes and aspirations have gone unmet, but I wouldn't say all of that is Irv's (or the labels) fault.

Comparing Ashanti's moderate success with her new album to V is like comparing apples to oranges, there really is no comparison. Ashanti gets over on the R&B/Hip Hop market and whatever transfers into Top 40, more money for her. V's main demographic is Top 40, and frankly I think she fits better on AC, but AC seems to be a dying breed as it is.

The hip hop world is much more welcoming back of artists no one has heard from in an extended period and letting them get back to their previous status, while Top 40 eats up artists and spits them out left and right once the next hot thing comes along. For a while it was all about singer-songwriters, now it is all lolli lolli and bust it baby. Honestly, when V faded into oblivion for those two years after BnN to Harmonium she never really got her status back in the Top 40 world.

Another example of this dichotomy is Inc artist Lloyd, who after putting out "Get it Shawty" did nothing for about 8 months and just put out a song which is already at 15 on the R&B charts (it is at 64 on the billboard 100, just FYI).

I think the main thing I'm saying is this is the music business, and basically it all comes down to the numbers. Could V do more to promote herself? Sure. Could the label do more for her? Probably. But the bottom line is will radio buy her songs, will TV play the videos or put her out there, and if they do will the mainstream public welcome her back? For the most part the answer to each of those questions has been a resounding no, and from there it is just a domino effect.

I personally will support V whether she ever blows up and has the opportunity to play larger venues again, or if she is playing 200-300 seat capacity houses for the rest of her career. A lot of quality music never makes it to the radio or into the mainstream because it isn't about quality, it's about quantity and what the music business can get people to buy into most. It just so happens that V's music isn't really what radio is buying right now.

(As an aside, I still think Private Radio was the last V song which really had a chance to hit big on Top 40, but it never got that chance)

[nutnlp]

I really agree with everything you said......well done.  I'm just a strong supporter of Vannessa and would hate for her to give up(again).  Regardless if you sale thousands of records or not if you really love what you do...you will keep doing it...keep at it...so I have faith in her in that.  Just don't want to see her give up......love the music...I may be negative and very opininated here but it's only because I want the best of her and for Vanessa.  With what happened with A & M and Harmonium..I thought that would have been a huge window into the future, an eye opener...a way to take precautions......

I just think shes worth it.

Sorry about jacking the threads...whens theres not much to talk about, shit like this happens.

I'm deff. going to Cairo.  :roll:

[VanessaCarltonMania]

she went to Egypt!!! she coulda done international concerts!!! Everyone's coming to Lebanon now for the Baalbek festivals! It's only a few hours away from Egypt by airplane!!!

[portions.for.foxes]

lol That article is completely snarky and poking fun at the fact that Vanessa lives a fairly comfortable life and is able to make trips to Egypt when average American's barely afford the gas it takes to bring them to the supermarket.