Blake Lewis may have come in second place on season 6 of American Idol, but he won’t be seeing a second release on Arista Records. A rep for the major tells EW.com that the label “will not be picking up Blake’s option” for any future recorded projects. Lewis will, however, remain on Idol creator Simon Fuller’s 19 Recordings roster.
The news first broke on popular Idol online destination MJ’s big blog, which featured an audio interview with Lewis where he said that, as of three days ago, he was informed he’d lost his recording contract. By Idol standards, his debut album, Audio Day Dream, which has yet to go gold, did not perform as well as expected. It sold 98,000 its first week and almost 300,000 to date. Lewis contends that, despite keeping most of the control over the recordings, he didn’t have proper support for the release. He’s not alone. Earlier this year, EW reported that former Idol winners Taylor Hicks and Ruben Studdard had also been unceremoniously dropped from the SonyBMG family. Says Arista: “We wish [Lewis] the best of luck in his future endeavors.”
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Clay Aiken is also rumored to have been dropped by RCA.
Clay’s been rumored to be over for five years. Honestly, even if he were dropped by RCA, he’s likely to be picked up by another label. He is, at least, talented. Mid level would be hugely appreciative of an artist that can sell even the level his latest has sold. For him, he at least has options.
YMMV
That’s a shame…his album was really underappreciated, I felt. There’s definitely a niche for it, but I agree with Blake that he didn’t get the marketing support he needed.
AI has become such a waste of a show….people watch it but it doesn’t equate to sales at all…what’s the point of the show anymore other than to see a drunk paula abdul make a fool of herself.
I wanted to like the album, I really did, but…I didn’t. I found it boring. Very little beat boxing or jamming, just milquetoast, nothing unique (and he did tons of P.R., so that wasn’t it). I hope he GOES for it next time, b/c I loved him on Idol. And I can only hope Cook makes a kick ass album (I think he will).
I was not surprised. He is unique but after a song or two , I can see how he would get boring. But I wish him well. I would not buy his CD , but David Cook is another story!
Blake is totally correct in saying that the label did not support his cd. “Audio DayDream” is, perhaps, my favorite cd release from last year as it perfectly blended hip-hop and retro. There were numerous songs that had “hit” written all over them yet the powers-that-be at BMG International seemed to put its resources behind the less-impressive Jordin Sparks release. This is the second time in the past year that BMG Int’l has missed the boat on one of its own. Kelly Clarkson’s “My December” had a couple of potential ’smash hits’ in “One Minute”, “Can I Have a Kiss”, and “Be Still” yet the label seemed hell-bent on releasing lesser tunes. Sad. I am sure Blake will resurface elsewhere. He is one of the few AI alums who is truly original and talented.
I never liked Blake Lewis.
His sound effects were totally annoying and I don’t understand how he made it into the top 12 in the first place.
I am not suprized that he was dropped.
I did not like blake at all. He is over confident, a cry baby, with him it is always someone-elses fault. Buck-up-Buttercup. Your music is not good..
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA…HA!!!!! LOSER!!!!!
Though i was a huge fan of his during Idol, I thought that Audio Day Dream was a relatively weak CD. I hope he gets a chance to do it right with another label, because I think he could have a great career with the right material
I thought Blake was good on Idol. I didn’t buy his CD.
The problem is whether or not these artists will get radio play. Clay Aiken sells millions of CDs, but gets zero radio play. His fan base is HUGE. No radio play also affected Katharine Mc Phee and Blake Lewis. No matter if you like the artists or not, if the “mainstream” radio snubs you it’s all over before it began. I don’t listen to radio at all because it is so awful. I select my favorites and download which songs I like from iTunes. This is much better than sinking nearly $20. for an entire CD that often only has one or two tunes worth the investment. Sorry to say, this is also why the music industry is whining and crying. They shove out CDs too fast without really considering the totality of work. Unfortunately The artist gets stuck with lousy songs and so we, the audience, have decided fuggedaboutit and select tune by tune. Unless you want the album art and photos of the artist it is far more practical to download a single song. Digital music rules.
Didn’t mind ADD, but I think Blake wanted validation from the music industry for acting like an eternal frat boy and that did him in.
This is not good, It seems if these artists do not sell millions and millions of Cd’s they are not worth the labels trouble. What a shame, I think the Blake is better off on his own and he can do his music his way and hopefully he’ll do well.
As far as anyone coming off AI it’ll be hard for them to achieve the statis of Kelly and Carrie and that’s what these labels are looking for, that’s why so many of them will not sign with these labels.
I enjoyed Blake Lewis, but i have been saying for a while, these show’s highlight mediocre talent that some how the “public” thinks is great talent. Once the show is over, the mediocrity becomes apparent. Taylor Hicks was the epitome of this and he was the winner. Clay is interesting because of his “weirdness”.
I didnt care too much for Blake myself. But you gotta have the right support from ur record label. I hope that cook, and my fave Jason Castro have better success!
Thank you for that, Wildkat. Now could you explain weak gravimetric forces to me?
I think this news is very sad. Blake was trying to inject a little something different into contemporary music by incorporating the 80s and 90s tricks and sounds. I bought ADD and I have to say that I love the variety on it although the beat boxing mechanism can get a little wearing after multiple listens. But, having said that, the dreamscape he created with that record was great and there are some amazing sound effects. I really hope that he will be picked up by another label because I want to see what he will do with his second CD. There is so much originality and life in him that it would be an absolute shame to let it go to waste. – Martin (Englishman living in NJ), aged 50.
WTF WHAT IS WRONG WITH THOSE PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’M SOOOO FRIGGEN PISSED RIGHT NOW
“cries” =(
My kids and I LOVE his CD!
I actually loved his cd myself. As a matter of fact I have this cd. I think it sounded great myself. Better then Jordin Sparks’s album.
Is this really surprising to anyone? If you don’t sell records, you don’t keep your contract. Who cares? It’s all just More Idol approved pablum. One less of these so called artists on a major label can ONLY be a good thing.
Glad to see that there are some fellow Blake-supporters out there. I enjoyed ADD(minus a couple of the slow jams) and I agree that he didn’t get enough support from the label. The only major television venue I saw him promote on was AI, and that was in the before the top 12! RCA was expecting millions in sales-but with a first time artist like Blake that probably won’t happen. His sound is pretty unique to radio these day and because of that there wasn’t much promotion(from radio or the label). That being said his songs have performed relatively well on Club charts. I believe his How Many Words remix is in the top 40 at the moment…Not too shabby! I hope that he will continue to make music that he loves-the fans will follow!
I hope David Cook wins. He has a much more mature sound compared to Archuleta who just seems like easy adult listening. So vote David tonight!
This could be a good thing for Blake because the promotion for his CD was never there. How can you expect to sell a million CDs by simply releasing it? It simply doesn’t happen! I hope someone else will take a chance with him, someone who will promote him the right way.
Blake is an amazing artist. This record company doesnt know what they are missing out on. I love his CD. Keep working hard Blake. We all love you.
There is no way RCA is dropping a great artist like Clay, his new CD is just taking off! David Archuleta is the next Clay Aiken, will make multiple megahit CD’s and take Broadway by storm! David Cook will be the next Blake Lewis, gone in a year,
I’ So Disapointed In Arista For Dropping Blake. I Love His Cd. I Thought The Single “How Many Words” Had Airplay Potential. But Since No One At The Record Label Had Any Enthusiasm To Promote It, The Song And The Album Will Never Live Up To What It Could Have Been.
I feared this would happen particularly after Katharine, Taylor and Ruben were dropped. It could have done better had the right songs (“Gots to Get Her” and “Surrender” or “Hate 2 Love Her”) been submitted for airplay. P.S. Not surprised they would drop that many before season 7 began.