Can Stevie break the trend?
 

There was a time in mid and late 90s when female singer songwriters ruled the charts. However, now it seems like some of them are in danger of getting dropped by their record companies. Sheryl Crow, Melissa Ethridge, Tracey Chapman, Jewel, Alanis Morrisette cannot even sale enough records to earn Gold status, forget about platinum. Can Stevie break this trend? Both her and Lucinda Williams are releasing albums this year and it will be interesting to see just what happens. I think if Stevie gets a gold album it will give record companies some hope that older singer songwriters can sell records.

I hope she does, but I honestly don't know. I think Stevie has a much larger advantage over these women because she has much more name recognition and voice recognition than these women. I also think it has to do with where these women are in their careers. Taylor Swift sold over a million albums the week it dropped, so why can't Sheryl Crow break 500,000 over a year or two? I think Sheryl and all the other who ruled the charts 10-20 years ago are in the same place Stevie was in in the late 80s/early 90s. Too old to be current and too young to be veteran. Since 1997, Stevie has been given the status of rock legend and her career has seen a dramatic upward movement as a result. I think as time goes by, these women will see much more success, and that is the point Stevie is at now. I think Stevie's ten year absence also plays on her favor. Melissa Etheridge has a new album coming out? cool, I'm going to go buy it!! *3 years later* Melissa has a new album coming out? I might go buy it. *2 years later* Oh Melissa has a new album coming out? Hmm, I may preview it on iTunes, but I didn't really care for her last one... Like Stevie once said, "If you see someone running down the street naked every day, you eventually stop looking up." I think since it has been so long since her last album, people are less likely to not buy it because of their reaction to TISL. Since Melissa releses albums regularly, it isn't news when she releases a new one, but when Stevie releases an album after ten years, it is news. Plus, it creates a higher demand. That being said tho, we can't count our chickens before they hatch. SYW was the first studio album by Fleetwood Mac with both Lindsey and Stevie in 16 years and was expected to sell 3 million... 8 years later and it still hasn't sold 1 million. I guess we will have to wait and see.

To your average album buyer, Stevie's even less known than the names you mentioned (Sheryl, Alanis, etc). Her fame was decades before those women. And now Stevie's been inactive in recording new material for a full decade. On top of that, she's in her 60s... the oldest chart topping woman was Cher, who is far better known than Stevie and was over a decade younger when she had her last big hit. Anyone who actually believes Stevie is going to have any sort of sales or radio chart success at this point in the game is just seriously deluded. :sorry:

10 years between albums....that's insane. Artists used to release two (sometimes three) albums A YEAR! (Beatles, Stones, Elton John, as examples)...one album would knock their previous album out of the charts. They would consistently have an album in the TOP 10, or in the Beatles' case, multiple albums. Now if an artist releases an album within two years of the previous one, it's considered "flooding the market". I call it lack of creativity. I'd like to see the trend move back to artists having to release multiple albums per year...we'll see who stays & who goes.

I was just about to post that. I believe Stevie's day has passed. We'll all buy..but really how many will.really:distress:

Mick

Everything you said was true. Those women have reached the 40 year old slump, and some of the other ones just have had one bad release after another. Stevie's record company did an amazing job with the TISL VH1 presale, helping the album debut at #5. I'm hoping Dave has something up his sleave. What I would like to see though is an album that sticks around for the while on the charts. The Wild Heart was really the last album that had any staying power. I don't excatly think that quality is all the matters, either. Hole released a great album this year and it nosedived off that charts. I have to say this though. Sheryl Crow's music is easy to like and so is Melissa's, but they don't really have the IT thing that Stevie had. I'm not sure what their futures are going to be like. Girls such as Taylor Swift should be usuing them as role models, but instead are still using Stevie.

Yes, this is true to a point, but considering the fact that Stevie gets listed more on American Idol and was used by Taylor Swift and cited Michelle Branch-- something is going on. Stevie's IT thing hasn't qiete wamed completely yet. And is it just me or is Stevie more popular than ever overseas. The only place Crystal Visions is gold is in Australia.

I think Stevie's main disadvantage is that she is like a rock n roll Garbo; she has no public persona at all. Meanwhile Melissa Etheridge is out there doing Broadway, Alannis is acting in Weeds and Sheryl Crow seems to show up at any and every event that would have her. Meanwhile all we have seen of Stevie are a few unflattering shots of her walking into a restaurant with her hand covering her face. That's it! She doesn't do television or film. She doesn't have a stormy private life. She doesn't do high profile charity events or attend parties. And it doesn't help matters that an entire generation of kids became music-buying adults during her ten-year absence. She could release the best album of the century, but the world at large will not bother to check it out because they've never heard of this "Stevie Nicks" dude. A couple of years ago I was waiting in line outside of a Starbucks for a Carly Simon performance/CD signing. The Starbucks was located on Astor Place, which is NYU ground zero. This girl walked by and asked who Carly Simon was. I named a few songs like "You're so Vain," and she maintained this quizzical, vacant expression. It was only when I mentioned the line "I bet you think this song is about you..." that the glimmer of recognition came on. She remembered that "old" Janet Jackson song. :rolleyes:

Well, Alanis, Crow and Ethridge, even with name recognition cannot get a gold album. So, name recognition must not be that important.

Well, it means that a) none of them have released career-defining recordings recently and b) if it's this bad for them now, imagine how bad it will be for someone with even less exposure, e.g., la Nicks. Also, if you look at the recent sales figures for Stevie's other peers in their 60s, the statistics are even more harrowing. That being said, I think Stevie will have a great couple of weeks before falling off a cliff.

I agree. I feel the same way about filmmakers.

As for Stevie breaking "the trend": she only sells to her fanbase at this point.

She would need crossover appeal, which means she needs a hit single.

Not. Going. To. Happen.

How did Heart's Red Velvet Car do, sales-wise? I'd imagine Stevie's album to do about the same as that, if not a little bit better.

Hmmm. There is the song Cheaper then Free, and country music likes to play videos.

It's not gold and gone from charts. I don't know about Stevie's sales with this record. She's coming off a very public tour with Rod Stewart. She's got a video for country, ala Cheaper than Free. And Warner has not even really started to market the album yet. Dave has been secretative about his marketing plans too and he's up to something.

LOL! I was just gonna ask about Heart's flop album! :laugh:

ALL the caterwauling on here about how ignorant and stupid Stevie is in her lack of online savvy-ness reached a fevered pitch when Heart was preparing to release their "acclaimed" "comeback" album, and Heart were doing hip/Now!/With It! Internet tactics. All that viral activity, leaking album tracks early... I can't even remember all the lists of how much smarter Heart were being than Stevie the Stegosaurus while building the online BUZZ among today's YOUTH, who ONLY get their information and opinions from YouTube. Today's Youth would surely be virally enticed into worshipping Heart and immediately adding the band to their shrines to Katy Perry and GaGa. Heart had tackled the Internet Beast!!!

L-O-F-ing-L!!!!!!!!! :laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

I'll type your Replies for you: "Well! At least Heart tried! Stevie doesn't do anything!!!"
:laugh::]:laugh: