Kelly Clarkson Apologizes to Clive Davis….
Posted July 23, 2007 — in Music News
Kelly posted this blog on her website.
“There has been quite a bit of controversy surrounding the release of “My December,” much of which has focused on a supposed feud with my record label, in particular, Clive Davis. I want to set the record straight on this by saying that I want my band, my advisors, those close to me and my record label to be one big, tightly knit family. Like any family we will disagree and argue sometimes but, in the end, it’s respect and admiration that will keep us together. A lot has been made in the press about my relationship
with Clive. Much of this has been blown way out of proportion and taken out of context. Contrary to recent characterizations in the press, I’m well aware that Clive is one of the great record men of all time. He has been a key advisor and has been an important force in my success to date. He has also given me respect by releasing my new album when he was not obligated to do so. I really regret how this has turned out and I apologize to those whom I have done disservice. I would never intentionally hurt anyone. I love music,
and I love the people I am blessed to work with. I am happy that my team is behind me and I look forward to the future.”
- Kelly
hmmm,
i wonder if we would be reading this if “my december”
had moved 500k copies the first week and was on it’s way to platinum instead of clawing it’s way to gold.
Comment by ljk — July 23, 2007 @ 11:41 am
and of course a check for 10 million will smooth over the the Grand Canyon.
Comment by larry anderson — July 23, 2007 @ 12:32 pm
Um, it’s pretty good past gold and on it’s way to platinum. “One Minute” should give it a good push IMO.
Comment by List OfDemands — July 23, 2007 @ 1:06 pm
Kelly aint such a rockstar anymore, huh KOAR? She’s begging the old man to take her back. She’s just another puppet. At least Avril knows that she cant make a hit album on her own.
Comment by Lyor — July 23, 2007 @ 1:44 pm
Kelly isnt a rock star because she apologized for the media frenzy? apologizing and being human cancels everything out? Begging is not Kelly words, those are your words.
Comment by KOAR — July 23, 2007 @ 2:48 pm
Reportedly, Clive played “Bow Down” by Westside Connection on his ipod after reading this apology.
Comment by A2daC — July 23, 2007 @ 3:36 pm
i like this commentary..good read!
What kind of crazy fucked up world do we live in where acts apologize to their labels?
We’ve come full circle now. From the acts taking control in the late sixties to the executives being the talent, believing they’re the acts.
Oh, too young to remember the sixties? Well, one of the big advances was that the acts gained control of the inner sleeve. Rather than promoting the other wares of the label, the inner sleeve could contain artwork, or lyrics, whatever the act wished.
Which is what the rest of the album cover looked like too. Whatever the act wanted it to. Oh, there were some battles, over perceived obscenity, like with the Stones’ “Beggar’s Banquet”, but never forget that the Beatles released an album with no artwork, now referred to as the “White Album”, a commentary on how over the top other packages had become.
As to what came inside, on that shiny round disc, by the seventies, the acts just delivered the records. They recorded them by themselves and all the label did was release them. And, the label had no choice! That was in the contract, that they had to put them out.
And what happened? An unprecedented run-up in sales. To the point where major conglomerates swooped down and purchased record labels, for the cash they threw off. Yes, most of Warner Communications’ growth was funded by its record labels. That Time Warner Cable bill you pay every month? A cut should go to Ahmet and Mo, it’s their acumen that generated the profits that allowed what is now known as Time Warner to lay the pipe.
And how did Ahmet and Mo do it? By fucking with the acts?
No, by supporting the acts.
And where was Clive Davis in this golden era?
Well, first he was at CBS, where he claims he single-handedly brought the company into the future. And, I might believe that, except for the fact that after being booted, and starting again at Arista, his roster looked nothing like the one at CBS. CBS continued to have credible, career acts. Arista released evanescent pop. Doubt me? Check the catalog sales of what was released on Arista as opposed to, let’s say, Boston’s debut. Or Meat Loaf’s.
And people still don’t want the stuff that Clive built. Whitney Houston’s sales per year are pitiful. Even the vaunted Patti Smith, one of the credible artists who stayed with Arista as opposed to the acts like Lou Reed who tore their hair out under Clive’s tutelage and exited the domain.
You see Clive likes control. He’s got the definition of a hit in his head. And, it works in the Top Forty world. A world where he spends a fortune to make a little. I’ve got no problem with that. Except that the whole business became skewed in his direction. Donnie Ienner, his old head of promotion, ran Top Forty records up the chart at Columbia and Charles Koppelman did the same at SBK/EMI.
End result? The stockholders, seeing this action, ousted people like Mo. Who built career acts that paid off like slot machines every few years.
And the new controlled business, where the exec is king? It has presided over an unprecedented spiral down the toilet. Yes, it’s Clive and the rest of the high-living experts that are in control as sales plummet.
So along comes Kelly Clarkson. Who like every young ‘un unburdened by history does what she feels inside. Believing she can win because the attrition hasn’t rubbed off her optimism yet.
Kelly Clarkson was RIGHT! Don’t you ever forget it. She’s the artist. She only has one career. She gets to steer.
Not Clive Davis, who only needs something to hit. Who presides over artists that come and go. Kelly was standing up for every major label artist known to man.
So then what happens? I’ve got to believe her new manager got to her. Said she had to mend fences. Keep the old man happy. In public?
Why the fuck is she apologizing on her Website. Do you think the hoi polloi, her fans, care about Clive Davis? Not a whit. Clive spreads the word he’s important, the press buys it, but the public doesn’t fucking care.
If she’s gonna mend fences, do it in private. Instead, she sacrifices all her credibility in one fell swoop pledging fealty to a tyrant running roughshod over the record business. Good move Kelly. It would be like Curt Flood suddenly going on “Wide World Of Sports” and apologizing to the commissioner of baseball. Yes, players should be indentured slaves. The crusty old men who own the teams, they must be able to rule with an iron fist. They should make all the money. Players should not be able to work for the highest bidder.
Get the analogy? Old execs should see their acts as their charges, who must do what they are told.
Kelly saying that Clive didn’t have to release her album. That’s how bad contracts have become. The people who make the music have no control! What about that famous story of Mercury refusing to release John Cougar Mellencamp’s “American Fool”, saying it wasn’t commercial enough? It’s the artists who know music, who need to be in control and call the shots. Otherwise, we’re fucked. We end up with no Picassos in music. Oops, that’s what happened, the music got so blanded out, so forgettable, that sales went down and the customer spent his money elsewhere.
If this is an indication of the tack that Narvel Blackstock is taking, then I’m telling Kelly you got the old school hillbilly you deserved. Your customer is the fan, not Clive Davis. Your fans, those that exist, are with you. By apologizing to the old man, you’ve illustrated you’re a tool of the system, a laughable twit who seems to have been lobotomized, just like Jack Nicholson’s character in “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”.
Kelly Clarkson released an album sans obvious Top Forty radio hits. That was her prerogative. If it ruins her career, so be it. Let her make the decisions. As opposed to complaining, like so many end up doing, that she was forced to follow the lead of her label and it killed her career.
Who thinks artists gaining control in the music industry is going to result in disaster. I say it will deliver quality music that could not be envisioned or foreseen by those who don’t make it. We’ve got to set the artists free, we can’t keep controlling them.
As for Kelly’s comments about Clive being 80 and out of touch, she’s absolutely correct. He doesn’t know what goes on in her world. And the world he is aware of, Top Forty radio and retail sales, keeps declining in importance.
After he dies, Clive will be forgotten. But great records live on forever. And great records are created from deep down in one’s soul, when one is free, without limits. Oftentimes these are not Top Forty records, although sometimes they are, like Brian Wilson’s “Good Vibrations”. But one thing’s for sure, it’s these limit-testing songs that are remembered, not the fodder for the machine. Will Kelly Clarkson ever release timeless material? One thing I can guarantee you, not if Clive Davis is in control.
Comment by KOAR — July 23, 2007 @ 4:28 pm
you can bet that every major label that followed this “soap opera” has tighten the screws on their artist.you won’t hear anymore about this unless it’s from an artist that has a few million in the bank and can afford to go on their own. KOAR you made great points …but we just can’t have it both ways.
Comment by larry anderson — July 23, 2007 @ 5:58 pm
“I apologize to those whom I have done disservice”
I don’t think she is apologizing to Clive, she’s just breaking the ice because of the recent magazine articles that are coming out. She did these interviews months ago. In this recent Reader’s Digest article, she referred to “100 year old executives” lol
http://www.rd.com/content/single-minded-/
You are right about this statement. It’s definitely Narvel or PFA Media and not Kelly. I’m sure she put it on her website because her fans were up in arms with him for several reasons:
1-The album was handed in in January and was sat on by Clive
2-The dis on the American Idol finals speech by Clive
3-The lack of marketing support by RCA
On her websites, the fans refer to Clive as “Old Dread Lord” and came up with the phrase “Cluck Five”.
Comment by Mark — July 23, 2007 @ 6:28 pm
KOAR? Miss Clarkson is not BEGGING? Come on. Re-read Lefsetz’s article.
She’s basically saying “Dear Clive, you were right all along, I was just too ignorant too realize. Could you please forgive me and support me on the next record? I’ll even let you be Executive Producer. You pick the songs, and I’ll just be the karaoke singer that I am!”
Comment by Lyor — July 24, 2007 @ 3:33 am
Clive: 1
Kelly: 0
Comment by DD — July 24, 2007 @ 4:17 am
RCA DROP HER RCA DROP HER!
Comment by realmad — July 24, 2007 @ 7:25 am
Kelly Clarkson was never an artist, and thats the problem. If you build a career based upon the American Idol model of hit-making, (which in actuality is quite a successful financial model for labels), for the most part you give up any hope of autonomy as an artist. Beyond being a phenomenal singer, Kelly played little role in her own success. “Co-writing” can be a joke, we all know the practice of sending popstars in with actual songwriters is typically little more than labels not wanting to bruise their stars’ egos (think Paris Hilton co-writing).
Kelly Clarkson would never be anywhere if it weren’t for everyone else. In that sense, I find it difficult to feel bad for her when she puts out something on her own and it doesn’t match anything she previously released. John Mayer can do whatever the hell he wants now. Yes, he played the game and co-wrote his first single to appease Columbia, but when it came down to it, he actually had the talent to take his career and run with it. Kelly doesn’t. The only reason this record is selling at all is because of her old material.
Comment by jesse — July 24, 2007 @ 8:40 am
“Kelly Clarkson would never be anywhere if it weren’t for everyone else. In that sense, I find it difficult to feel bad for her when she puts out something on her own and it doesn’t match anything she previously released. John Mayer can do whatever the hell he wants now. Yes, he played the game and co-wrote his first single to appease Columbia, but when it came down to it, he actually had the talent to take his career and run with it. Kelly doesn’t. The only reason this record is selling at all is because of her old material.”
Kelly has no talent??? lol Kelly shared ASCAP Songwriter of the Year honors with “Because of You” a song she wrote when she was 16. She’s written 100’s of songs.
http://www.ascap.com/press/2007/041907_popawards.html
“John Mayer can do whatever the hell he wants now.”
So can Kelly, she became financially secure 2 years ago.(read the article in my first post) It’s not about the money or fame, it’s about the music and enjoying what she’s doing.
Another great talent that Kelly has is the
interpretation of other artists songs.
She always honors other songwriters and artists that she has a passion for at her live shows. Here’s an example: she was asked to sing at the REact Now benefit for Katrina victims. She could sing any of her songs but no…she picked Ray LaMontagne’s “Shelter” (which was the best performance for that benefit.) It was requested so much she added it to her show and gave Ray props (and in exchange, turned on many fans to Ray who then went out and bought his records) Check it out here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt-tlgPXq4A
Comment by Mark — July 24, 2007 @ 12:29 pm
Jesse nailed it. Why people are being so sympathetic to someone who is now a millionaire off glorified karaoke is beyond me. A real artist would have been playing clubs and not going on a talent show. Kelly should just keep her beefs in the boardroom and be thankful for what she now has..
Comment by jaded — July 24, 2007 @ 12:33 pm
Well jaded, by your thinking U2 should should just lay down and quit too…right?
“The band’s first break was winning £500 in a talent contest on St. Patrick’s Day (March 17th,1978) in Limerick.”
This girl is not karaoke, and she can rock!(and she wrote it) Like I said, don’t judge her until after you see her live show…here’s a taste.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJo2D8LdlCc
Comment by Mark — July 24, 2007 @ 4:36 pm
Clearly Kelly has enough money to do whatever she wants, and I do admire that she took a risk and decided to do something she whole-heartedly cared about. My initial point, however, is that Kelly risked sacrificing a lot of legitimacy as an artist by going the American Idol route. In many respects it was a great move; she’s a huge star with adoring fans, and she now has the financial stability to do, as Mark says, whatever she wants.
What I think her current situation shows, though, is that her career path may have nurtured more star power than artistic. Sure, she can do whatever she wants now, but is she really prepared to write and release a record of the magnitude that she, with her past commercial success, is expected? I don’t think she is. Good for her for doing what she wants, but the type of record that is expected of her might be beyond her abilities. If she gets criticized for not fulfilling the expectations of the public and her label, I have a difficult time sympathizing.
Comment by jesse — July 24, 2007 @ 5:32 pm
First thing, Kelly was signed up for Idol by one of her best friends, Jessica, after she lost everything in an apartment fire in LA. Before leaving LA, she was working 3 side jobs and was a demo singer for Gerry Goffin(ex-husband of Carole King). She turned down 2 record deals because “they would have completely pigeonholed me as a bubblegum act” She was looking for something better. Also remember, she had no idea what Idol was to become(it was new)she was just looking for exposure from record reps. The cool thing about Kelly after she won Idol,the first thing she bought was her friend Jessica a brand new Corvette.
What’s funny to me is people view “My December” as a failure when in only 4 weeks it has passed 800,000 units worldwide! That’s with no touring, limited promo, and negative press about this Clive flap.
From Ann Powers…”The idea that this music might have a great effect on a smaller audience or that it’s a valuable step in the evolution of someone whose talent should make for many fine albums pales next to betting on Clarkson like a prized racehorse.”
Comment by Mark — July 24, 2007 @ 11:07 pm
I almost posted a comment about how this was wasting my bandwidth! Wait… DOH!
Comment by Scott — July 25, 2007 @ 10:09 am
Everyone turns down record deals and artists always are out there bragging out labels are looking at them .. who the hell cares? Go out there and play for your enjoyment .. there is no hope anymore .. if there is hope and $$ .. it will come to you if its good .. I hardly doubt Kelly Clarkson turned down 2 deals.
Comment by realmad — July 25, 2007 @ 10:44 am
“Kelly Clarkson
According to pop legend, Kelly Clarkson’s early attempts to launch her music career foundered when she was turned down by almost every US record label for …
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Comment by realmad — July 25, 2007 @ 10:49 am
Kelly wasn’t turned down by record labels, she was ignored. She sent out hundreds of demo CD’s only to have many returned or thrown away. One that did call back, upon her meeting the record company, thought she was black.
It’s the same thing that happens to many unknown artists. Trying to get your foot in the door to a major label is next to impossible. If by chance you do, they want control and offer a shitty deal. Thank God for myspace, youtube and itunes! Artists are slowly getting back control of their music.
A few other points about Kelly. Her album “My December” has sold 800,000 copies worldwide in 4 weeks without touring, little promo, the negative press of the Clive flap, the fired manager that booked her into arenas when she wanted to play smaller venues like she did last year. Failure? Not!
The song “Irvine” was recorded in her closet of her house. When presented to the producer, he loved it as is and put the original closet version on the album. My point here is Kelly can easily record another album very quickly if she wanted to (even in a closet lol). She’s already getting material ready for the next album, a country rock blues album.
Comment by Mark — July 26, 2007 @ 10:06 am
Mark,
You basically supported what I said .. doesn’t matter if they threw the demo away or not .. its basically being rejected. It was a direct quote from Kelly herself .. I’m pretty sure a popular PR site isn’t going to make up quotes for legal reason/issues.
Comment by realmad — July 26, 2007 @ 6:35 pm