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When I heard that next Brit thing Leona Lewis was on Oprah earlier this week–complete with Oprah proclaiming that “a star was born” after her performance of “Bleeding Love”–I was going to set up a post about how it might affect her album sales, only to find out that the domestic version of her debut album, Spirit, wouldn’t be available until April 8. Talk about striking while the iron is cooling off, Sony BMG!
The suits at Lewis’ label may not have decided to give the album the Gnarls Barkley rush-release treatment yet, but they might want to re-evaulate that strategy soon; looking at the page for the import version of the album on Amazon, where it costs $22.98 and has a 1-3 week shipping time, reveals that it’s currently No. 62 on the site’s music chart. (Preorders for the domestic version, which will only set Oprah watchers back $9.99 and will presumably ship shortly after its release date, have placed that edition at No. 25.) Sales spikes like this would lead me to believe that whoever’s left at the labels are once again lobbying Winfrey and her staff to set up an “Oprah’s Record Club,” and maybe we could even get some super-cranky rock dude to play the role of Jonathan Franzen and add “controversy” to the whole thing. (Jack White, perhaps?)
Search results: “leona lewis” spirit [Amazon]
Leona Lewis on Oprah [YouTube]
From my recent days of running the music dept. at a major bookstore, I can tell you that the Oprah bump is something powerful. And Oprah fans tend to be impatient, so if the record they want isn’t available, they get pretty upset. Not a good look, Sony BMG.
Super-cranky rock dude = Stephin Merritt, obvs.
Am I the only one who thinks that wretched song should be renamed “Bleeding Ears”??
The girl can sing, I guess, but once the next Idol (Bring back Nori-gay-ga!) triumphs, won’t Leona be merely an afterthought in the world of televised karaoke contests?
This song blows. Who’s with me??
I’m starting to think they booted the release back to mid-April because they’re gambling “Bleeding Love” will be a full-fledged chart-topper by then. I expect a major move on this week’s Hot 100, and then another big move next week: it’s already No. 1 on iTunes, and radio, that slow-moving beast, will probably need about 2-3 weeks to catch up. By the week of the 8th, the song could be in the Top Five or even higher.
None of this negates your point, however. A Hot 100 chart-topper isn’t nearly as lucrative as a No. 1 album, especially one purchased by the physical-goods-loving Oprah demographic.
Yeah it’s a terrible song, but she’s really going for the Celine market here, so she’ll sell millions as long as they’re belted blandly enough. She’s massive in Britain.
Also noticed Simon Cowell took the opportunity of being watched by tens of millions of weepy housewives to donate $120,000 to the family of a little girl suffering from cancer. How undoubtedly selfless of him.
Yeah, but Celine’s ballads weren’t this bad LOL.
Lame. But not bad.
Yea, I have been hearing about this for months and months now—and FINALLY I get to experience the actual music. And it totally blows. I was expecting something vanilla yet enjoyable.