Freefiona.com gets some love in an interesting MTV News piece. Jon Brion is pretty forthright about the situation with Sony. Is a success story like Yankee Hotel Foxtrot in Fiona’s future? Stay tuned.
UPDATE: Jesse reports from the Free Fiona protest at Sony HQ.
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I think she bled to death through her eyes. Or was that just eyeliner?
Also…I think she kind of blew it after that on air rant at the MTV music awards a number of years back. Dident she say that “this is all stupid, our whole existence is stupid” or something like that. I think she got booed.
To hell with her “Ooooh, don’t eat turkey for Thanksgiving, eat tofu instead” and her onstage nervous breakdowns, I still say When The Pawn is a masterpiece album.
Fiona is one of the most amazing singer sogwriters alive, in my opinion. It’s so absurd that Sony’s withholding the album from us fans who will so obviously buy it! WTF?! FREE FIONA!
Yeah, I have been keepng track of this for years and it is horrible. The two tracks that leaked are incredible and that rant on MTV was YEARS ago and then she came out with an amazing album after that. So she redeemed herself. yeah, she’s a little crazy but that’s what happens when you are capable of writing some of the best music out there. Her album will come out because the rumors will grow. I’m not going to say fuck Sony cause there is a part of me that loves money and corporate interests but not if it means I miss out on some good music.
Saw her in concert once, she played two songs and then practically had a MELTDOWN b/c she thought the sounds sounded awful at Roseland – she left right after that and never came back to the stage and we never got a refund. Even if the sound sucked many people paid to see her and were disappointed including me. Since then I never bought another cd nor did I care anymore. How can a record company stand behind an artist like that in the first place. Why even put $$ into that when shes going to lose fans left and right b/c of her craziness.
Abby, i just have to slightly correct you. Not that i excuse her for running off stage, but she played exactly 10 songs (and not 2) before she ran off stage at Roseland. She was supposed to play about 20 (or so her set list said). And she did play make up show at the Beacon Theatre 3 months later, which was free for all Roseland ticketholders.
She still has NO respect for her fans and acts like a spolied little brat when she doesnt get her way.
I miss her and love her work. Thanks for linking to this project… I’d never heard of it.
What’s the deal? Does Sony own the album already? Is that why she can’t release it on an indie label. That’s probably her best bet right now. It will probably sell pretty well. I’ve heard some of the songs and they are great.
Now, why can’t we put the same kind of energy to get Black Star’s shelved album released? Anyone with me?
She’s not a brat… she’s a little crazy. And I like her so I don’t think I’m attacking her by saying that, who cares anyway right? I think we kind of know she’s a little crazy. I also think things happen and she isn’t that good at dealing with stress but she is still incredibly talented and she has said she regrets the Roseland incident.
i don’t think the long-awaited album will be very good. the two leaked tracks were mediocre. her last two albums were awesome though.
when i was 17, i videotaped the criminal video and jacked off to it a few times. it was awhile before i noticed how skinny she was.
during her first tour, a concert promoter told me she was on heroin. i think it would have been cool if she married elliott smith.
“when i was 17, i videotaped the criminal video and jacked off to it a few times.”
That was beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
We hear about labels pulling this move all the time, but how exactly does a label “own” a record by an artist? Couldn’t she form a new band (or pull a Prince and change her nomme de plume), re-record the same songs with a couple of notes & lyrics altered and release it elsewhere? Couldn’t someone “cover” the songs and have her “guest” on them? I think she does not want this LP out there.
You can’t record albums separately if you’re under contract to record with a particular company. You’re in it until the contract runs out. Unless you change your name to a symbol like Prince, I suppose.
Should we have a contest to create a new symbol for Fiona, a la Prince’s? I’ll post the best ones on the site? Bonus points for including a teardrop.
How can every other album get leaked except for this one that sony could care less about? We got two, where are the rest?
She and Lauryn Hill both self destructed. Both have inflated egos.
some would argue they have justified egos.
Some would argue they have justified egos. I’m not a fan of Tidal, but When the Pawn… is absolutely brilliant.
Here’s to leakage.
The two leaked tracks are fantastic… I really wasn’t a strong fan of Fiona Apple, but these tracks changed my mind about her.
i saw her outside of the bowery a few months back at a joanna newsom concert. she was looking hot and acting pretty strange looking at a random newspaper on the ground. she caught me staring so i quickly turned my head.
Now, why can’t we put the same kind of energy to get Black Star’s shelved album released? Anyone with me?
Posted by toyochin at January 27, 2005 05:29 PM
INDEED
Now, why can’t we put the same kind of energy to get Black Star’s shelved album released? Anyone with me?
Posted by toyochin at January 27, 2005 05:29 PM
Indeed. I heart Black Star.
I have to contest the “no respect for her fans” comment. This opinion is based on one show that happened to be the worst of her career. I’ve seen her play quite a lot and it’s always been stellar. I’ve talked with her a couple of times, and she was completely gracious. She’s an odd one sometimes, there’s no arguing, but I wouldn’t want to base my opinion of anyone on a night like that.
To the complainer: Performers screw up sometimes. You got a free concert in return.
nice blog. i like.
Just a heads up. Doves tix go on sale at noon for their Bowery Ballroom show on March 15th!
i was never that big of a fiona fan, but she randomly showed up and played at the largo with jon brion a few years back. that girl has quite a voice. especially when she’s singing old hank williams songs. i love how “brion-ized” the leaked tracks sound. if that’s the direction she’s going in, she’s just found herself a big, big fan.
Thanks for the DOVES heads up Mikey Mike.
SO WHAT the album is not quote un-quote commercial enough, what’s keeping it from being released? I say the label should listen to the public and give some serious thought into releasing it. I lot of stuff doesnt air on the radio, but that doesnt mean the album can’t come out..even if the chick is a world class nut job. Music is music and if it’s good music just release the fucking album. Sony can be a bunch of pricks!
At first I was thinking that it would be a great PR move (as well as a great way to increase sales) for the Sony CEO to come out today and announce that they will release the Fiona Apple album. But the problem is that it then opens the door for fans of Starland Vocal Band and Peaches and Herb to start protesting for those albums’ releases as well. (and would the protesters send peaches, or herbs?)
protest for peaches and herbs? yes! i’m going to send off my sack of herbs to the ceo of sony, right now!
where could one find these leaked “extraordinary machine” songs?
I work in the Sony Music building, and when I went outside for a smoke earlier, I was bombarded with “No single? No problem! We want the whole album!” chants. There are only like, 8 of them out there. Not too impressive. I heart Fiona Apple, but business is business, and quite frankly… Fiona Apple doesn’t have the greatest rep in the music industry.
in the dumpster.
so the industry will unleash ashlee simpson upon the world but not fiona apple? i’m sorry, but in terms or crazy, fiona’s no worse than ashlee.
Fiona Apple is the best female artist of my generation!!! F U all who have no idea what she is about. Her songs are poerty….they have a meaning. Unlike all the pop artists that are out now. They all suck!!! Fiona Apple writes REAL music. FREE FIONA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Something tells me Free Fiona here was one of the 8 people chanting at me earlier this afternoon.
oh yea! i was one of those protestors. i remember when that woman jesse came up to sign the apple and said..”I want to her her album too!”
Jenn,
It’s not that Ashlee is any better than Fiona. It’s that it costs crazy gazillion dollars to put out an album, do promotion, pay an indepedent promoter *ahem* payola *ahem* to put in on the radio, etc etc. Ultimately, artists end up having to pay for the promo and tours, but if the album doesn’t sell, the bill ends up coming back to the label.
If a major label release doesn’t go Gold or better, it has a hard time paying for itself (even then, the artist may not see a cent after all the bills have been paid). In Ashlee’s case, her album was pretty much guaranteed to go platinum, since her MTV show essentially did the groundwork.
mishell and i went. i’m sure horrendous photos will surface soon. anyway.. scott, they moved over to trl after the sony building. i didn’t go, but i imagined you’d be gracing us with some cell phone pics.
mishell and i went. i’m sure horrendous photos will surface soon. anyway.. scott, they moved over to trl after the sony building. i didn’t go, but i imagined you’d be gracing us with some cell phone pics.
I’ve heard some of the leaked tracks, and I’d love to hear the rest of the album. It makes me a little sad to hear only a few people were out there protesting, freezing their butts off. Props to them.
Fiona Apple is a genius, unlike so many other artists of today. her lyrics have such meaning. and the “rant” that she had on the mtv awards? i think that was awsome. if id won an award, and i had time up on the stage to say what i thought of this bullshit world, i definately would. she was telling her fans and the zombies of the media not to waste their time doing wut all the artists think is cool. it wasnt a gay “just be yourself speech” it was her chance to really say what she thought. and it really sucks that her album isnt being realised. i guess i understand why the company isnt selling it, because they think it wont sell, but i disagree, i think it will sell great. fiona has tons and tons of loyal fans out there that are definately going to buy her ablum if and when it comes out, and if sony keeps refusing, she should go to a smaller lesser known label and try to sell it there. yay!
It’s certainly true that major labels have to have their albums sell at least at a gold level to break even. At the same time, major labels spend thousands to release albums by artists with no track record and their albums sell nowhere near gold. Sony is better off releasing the album with a limited marketing budget and little radio promotion, and banking on the fact that Fiona has some fans who purchased her last two albums (both of which went platinum) who will at least buy 50,000 copies of this record. Many major label releases get nowhere near that amount of sales. Sony is making a bad decision to withhold the album when it’s clear that there is a demand from fans who will certainly buy enough copies of the album to justify a small marketing budget, and the manufacturing and distribution costs of this record.
SonyMusicGirl and Jesse:
I’m really interested, as I study Marketing and Fine Art, and work for a large market research company under the WPP umbrella:
What is Sony’s real problem with releasing the album? Obviously the main concern is recouping initial outlay, however, with a double platinum selling artist with an existing fanbase, and the current market trends for similar artists ie; Amy Winehouse, Jamie Callum, Joss Stone, Katie Mehlua and, of course, some of the best marketing and PR peeps in the world, it would surely not be such a mean feat for Sony to achieve a profit, especially whilst using the publicity generated during the web campaign.
The other option would be to sell her contract to an Indie label, and at least generate some income from the money already spent in recording the album.
Doing nothing seems to be the worst option financially….?
So whats your take on it?
I don’t know in what capacity either of you work, or if you can answer these questions….you could be the office tea girls or board members, either way I suppose you couldn’t give an answer, but I really am interested, both as someone who likes her music, and in a professional/ marketing sense.
I’ve been following this for awhile now. Fiona Apple is an amazingly talented songstress, and it pisses me off greatly that she can’t even get her long-ago completed album released while acts like Jennifer Lopez and Madonna are allowed to release any crap they throw together in a few months.
‘Under the Pawn’ by Fiona is one of the most original and accomplished albums produced in recent memory. The songs possess an almost violent energy despite their melancholic subject matter, a combination that Fiona delivers with complete conviction. It is inevitiable, judging from Fiona’s limited back catalogue that she was always going to pursue more exterimental sounds. The powers that be know this and are too afraid to take any risks. Who knows? It could be the ‘Seargent Pepper’ of its time.
i like fionas way of singing but i wouldt be so quick to call it emo,free jazz,but when she came out i just knew she came from a intense large family back ground of singers ,musicians,.i call her “outburts”somebody who actually gives a damn”.it sucks that her music has turned in to dance, house contemporary b.s when it had a acoustic,natural “at home” feel to it.go to cdbaby type in her name theres a whole bnch of artists like her out there.