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Supporting the American Idols: So What Do We Do Now?by Bruce Barker -- 12/11/2003
View Printable version of this article My most recent article concerning the negative attitude shown by much of the music business toward American Idol singers and their fans resulted in a literal flood of e-mails. After reading several hundred responses I realized that it would be impossible for me to personally respond to each of them, so I would like to begin by apologizing to all who took the time to send me their thoughts and opinions. Because of the sheer volume of comments I received, this “group” reply will have to suffice. With the exception of one notable dissenting voice, every one of the e-mails I received joined in a loud chorus of frustration about the treatment shown thus far to the Idol singers. I heard from dozens of Clay Aiken and Justin Guarini fans relating the often sarcastic and seldom warm welcome they’ve received from radio stations and even music stores as they attempted to support their favorite singers. In the entire batch I heard from only one reader who had a completely positive experience in attempting to request Idol music. The one question that I was asked more than any other was, “So what are we supposed to do now?” To put it another way, “How do we break down these barriers and make radio give us what we want?” I’m going to give you some answers, but I warn you right now that you may not like some of what I have to say. The first article pointed out what was happening and what was wrong. This one is a message to the fans on what to do to change things and also to any music industry people who read this column (and I did hear from several) with some suggestions on how to get back in touch with your consumers. Let’s start off with the American Idol Fanatic. You know who you are. You are the Clay Nation. You are the Ruben Nation. You are the hundreds of Justin fans who have contacted me over the past six months. One of the more common comments I received from fans was praise because I “tell it like it is.” That hasn’t changed, but I fear this time you may not be praising me in e-mails as much as you will be burning me in effigy. Someone has to say it and I guess I’ll give it a shot. You need to step back a bit. Some of you need to step back a lot. I don’t pretend to speak for all media, but I will go out on a small limb here and speak based on my own opinions, the opinions of those within the music business that have contacted me, and the opinions of the fine people that have honored me by including me in their group of writers here at Foxes on Idol and RealityNewsOnline. We love to hear from you. You are one of our crucial lines of contact that keeps us abreast of what the various performers have scheduled in coming weeks. Without you, the Idol winners would have no careers and the writers here would have no audience. But no amount of gilding the lily will change the reason why I say you need to step back. As I said, I have heard from several people who work in radio and the music industry. I gave as much weight to what they had to say as I did to every other letter I received and it led me to make some calls, ask some additional questions, and do some more digging for the answers. This is what I learned: There are a lot of things that have led to the resistance to giving airtime to Idol alumni. Some programmers don’t like the show, some feel the Idols haven’t “paid their dues” and got it all handed to them on a plate, and as I mentioned in the last article, in some cases the promotional people at the label simply dropped the ball. Unfortunately the dedication of the fans is also one of the biggest problems right now. I’m going to use the more zealous fans of Clay Aiken as an example simply because they have been the least “Invisible” in recent weeks, but I could just as easily present examples from the ranks of the supporters of each and every one of the American Idol singers. Every time someone on the radio cracks a joke at Clay’s expense, the phone lines light up. Every time someone in the Clay newsgroups or fansites comes up with an idea to get Clay’s name and music out there, the radio stations get buried in calls, faxes, e-mails, carrier pigeons, or whatever other mode of communication can be found. For several days when the video for “Invisible” didn’t make it to the Number 1 spot on MTV’s Total Request Live, there were e-mails flying speaking of a conspiracy to keep Clay out of the top slot. I myself received several that said things like, “I’m part of a group of 20 people who have been voting as many times as we can. I also know of a lot of other groups around the country. No matter how many votes he gets, for some reason Clay doesn’t hit #1. Why is MTV holding Clay down?” Again, this isn’t directed only at the Clay Aiken lovers. Justin’s fans hand-delivered copies of his album to radio stations after his label failed to get the single for “Sorry” out on time. I heard from one harried deejay that received 23 copies of the record in one single day! If anyone at Foxes On Idol praises one singer or writes a review about an album, he or she immediately starts getting e-mails from fans of the other singers demanding equal time. A simple statement like, “I’ve really enjoyed listening to Measure of a Man” will get any number of “Why do you hate Ruben so much?” letters and so forth. If one of us actually says something negative, the outcry is prompt and massive. One thing is abundantly clear. You love your Idols. So do we. That’s why we write about them. But remember The Aunt that everyone seems to have? The one who would come over on the holidays and couldn’t resist pinching your cheeks and crushing you in a big bear hug until you realized that breathing was a truly wonderful thing that you would no longer take for granted? Sometimes love smothers. View Printable version of this article
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