how much of a say do artists have in singles?

[lookinghot]

how much of a say do artists have in singles? Any evidence of your faves saying they chose a certain single, or that the label chose it???

[ChicaCherry콜라]

Darren Hayes wanted "Unlovable" to be the first single off of The Tension And The Spark but the record company refused to release it and insisted radio wouldn't play it. They insisted on releasing "Darkness" instead, but then pulled it's release. They also told him there weren't any singles on the album period and when they asked him to write one more song for it to be a single he wrote a song called "Shit On The Radio"...I love that man. So that should say just how much say the artist has when it comes to a major record label.

[Deleted]

I think it really depends on the artist. I assume that most artists at least give input, whether or not it's taken seriously is another thing. For some reason I feel like how much input the artist had creatively has an impact on how much the label takes their suggestions into considerations. I'd imagine that someone like Beyonce who, plagiarism be damned, is VERY involved in the creation of her albums holds more weight in what gets released than someone like Rihanna who essentially just shows up to record songs for two weeks and then the CD is prepped and ready for purchase. Ultimately, the label holds the most power.

[Ezekiel 23:20–21]

Most artists might have a little input in that and it may very well be in line with what the label wants to release, but there are always instances where artists fight tooth and nail for certain singles that the label don't want released and sometimes they get their way, and other times they don't.

For the Music album, Madonna originally wanted to release "Impressive Instant" as the 4th single, but Warner Bros. wanted "Amazing" as the single. Madonna felt the catchiness and sound of "Amazing" was too similar to "Beautiful Stranger" and wanted "Impressive Instant". The label then planned to move forward with the release of "Amazing" without Madonna's involvement. "Impressive Instant" was given only a promotional release where it topped the Billboard Club Play chart. It is believed that she even wanted that as the 2nd or even 3rd single in place of the other ones and that the issues they had may have contributed to the souring of her relationship with the label.

[Deleted]

I think a lot of it is bargaining with the label. I don't think a lot of artists do, generally speaking, but then an artist isn't the expert and hasn't been working in the industry analyzing the product and whatnot. Artists probably don't have much say in the overall album either-- although that's more of a case by case basis.

That's not to say that labels always get it right either or that an artist shouldn't have a say, but I think that's just the way it works. Labels shouldn't get as much flack for it as they do either; for them, it's a business and they have to make a profit. Their decisions are more educated than people give them credit for.

[Envoirment]

Based on Leona, I would say she generally gets a fair say. She's the one that chose/pushed for "Bleeding Love" as the lead single (it was going to be "Better In Time" originally). Plus, she liked "Better In Time" so releasing that was a no brainer for a 2nd single. Like seriously though, she's done about a million different arrangements of that song lmao. But there have been times where she's had go with a decision from the label. I believe "I Will Be" was released as request of the label/I think it was in contract that it had to be released at some point too. When she was releasing the 2nd single from Glassheart she wanted it to be "Fireflies" and announced it as the single. But then a week later it got changed, mainly due to the label and it became "Lovebird". That was a massive flop and so hopefully the label will listen to Leona more often. "One More Sleep" was amazing though so I'm hopeful for her next album. <3

[Deleted]

My guess is that most singles are decided by the label with input from the artist.

Some artists who have great relationships with their labels might have an easier time making a case for a single, versus an artist who is under tighter relationship, and maybe they aren't as ready and willing to "fight"' for the release of a certain/different single.

I remember reading that Taylor didn't want to record a new version of "Sparks Fly" for "Speak Now," and she had to fight to release "Sweeter Than Fiction" between album eras.

Rascal Flatts have released a few singles released based on fan reactions ("Skin" and "I'm Movin' On").

A lot of Carrie fans have suggested that Artista was throwing Carrie a bone releasing Mama's Song" as a fifth single because it was such a personal
song for her, especially because it was released as a single around the time Carrie got married.

[Lahey's Lucky Star]

I believe at one point the second single for ARTPOP was going to be "Venus" until the success of DWUW as a promo single changed her team's minds.

[MiniMusic]

Britney wanted "Me Against the Music" as the lead single while the label wanted "Outrageous"; I'm pretty sure there was a lot of debate going on with her and the label until Madonna heard the song and wanted to be featured so Jive had to go with that. Then for the second single, Jive wanted "Boom Boom" while Britney wanted "Toxic" and I guess Britney won that. Britney also chose "Everytime" as the third single- with no debate from the label. Then for the fourth single they released "Outrageous" which I'm pretty sure Britney didn't want but at that point she had chosen every single and they desperately wanted that song released for whatever reason.

Also for the Circus album, Britney chose "If U Seek Amy" over "Out from Under" as the third single.

[Au$tin]

Apr 25, 2014 12:49:42 GMT -5 MiniMusic said:

Then for the fourth single they released "Outrageous" which I'm pretty sure Britney didn't want but at that point she had chosen every single and they desperately wanted that song released for whatever reason.

I believe they were under contract to.

I'd say it definitely depends on the artist. I'm sure artists like Beyoncé or Katy Perry get much more say in their singles than artists like Demi Lovato or even Lorde. Kunt pretty much said everything perfectly: the label is better trained in the business than the artists are, and while they aren't perfect, they do know what they're doing better than the artist does. Though, I'm sure there have been plenty of times when the artist has gotten their way over the label. And sometimes it may have worked, and sometimes it may have not. Then there's the special case of the artist getting their way, but then get no support from the label (*cough*My December*cough*).

A few examples I can think of:

Kelly Clarkson - Already Gone
She protested this as the third single from All I Ever Wanted, mainly because of its huge similarity to Beyoncé's "Halo." She was upset that Ryan Tedder has produced both songs so similarly, and since Beyoncé released "Halo" as a single first before Kelly could release "Already Gone," she wanted to avoid releasing it all together out of respect for Beyoncé. The label would not budge, though, and the song became the third single. I believe Kelly wanted the title track, which ended up becoming the album's fourth single in the US, but had no label backing. Not even a video.

Pretty much all of JoJo's career...

I found a pretty cool article about this, actually!

[sabre14]

I agree that it all depends on the artist. If it's an established veteran artist, they would have more say into what's released as singles. Labels like to pick most of the singles because it's their money to help promote the song to radio. There are exceptions to every rule though. Jason Aldean I have heard say before that "Amarillo Sky" was his call. He asked Broken Bow Records to make it the third single from his debut album, and the label wasn't 100% on board. But they decided to let him make the decision because he felt so strongly about the song's chances. Aldean later commented by saying he was sweating bullets watching the song slowly climb the country singles charts. But luckily it peaked at #4 and his one of his signature songs now, so he said he can brag about it.

On the other hand, there are exceptions to the rule that well established artists have more say into what are singles. Tim McGraw had little say into what were singles most of his career at Curb. The Live Like You Were Dying, Let It Go, and Southern Voice albums singles were all made by Mike Curb. Of course many have pointed that he is awful at single picking due to the numerous songs that were left as album tracks that would have made huge hits like "Blank Sheet Of Paper", "Between The River And Me", "Train #10", and "You Had To Be There". But instead we got bonehead decisions like "Suspicions"; a single choice I still contend is the stupidest single choice I've ever seen.

Kind of vented there I guess.

[Deleted]

Apr 25, 2014 12:49:42 GMT -5 MiniMusic said:

Britney wanted "Me Against the Music" as the lead single while the label wanted "Outrageous"; I'm pretty sure there was a lot of debate going on with her and the label until Madonna heard the song and wanted to be featured so Jive had to go with that. Then for the second single, Jive wanted "Boom Boom" while Britney wanted "Toxic" and I guess Britney won that. Britney also chose "Everytime" as the third single- with no debate from the label. Then for the fourth single they released "Outrageous" which I'm pretty sure Britney didn't want but at that point she had chosen every single and they desperately wanted that song released for whatever reason.

Also for the Circus album, Britney chose "If U Seek Amy" over "Out from Under" as the third single.

Britney is actually very involved in the decisions made pre-The album that will not be named. I think I read somewhere she was the one who lobbied for 'Criminal' as well. 'Outrageous' was only released as the fourth single because of contractual obligation. I'm also fairly certain Britney's label wanted 'Toy Soldier' as the first single from Blackout, or even 'Get Back' since we were told she was filming a video for it before the album came out (the video ultimately wound up being for 'Gimme More'). She's had her say in a handful on singles from her first three records as well.

[MiniMusic]

Apr 26, 2014 8:14:03 GMT -5 @touch said:

Apr 25, 2014 12:49:42 GMT -5 MiniMusic said:

Britney wanted "Me Against the Music" as the lead single while the label wanted "Outrageous"; I'm pretty sure there was a lot of debate going on with her and the label until Madonna heard the song and wanted to be featured so Jive had to go with that. Then for the second single, Jive wanted "Boom Boom" while Britney wanted "Toxic" and I guess Britney won that. Britney also chose "Everytime" as the third single- with no debate from the label. Then for the fourth single they released "Outrageous" which I'm pretty sure Britney didn't want but at that point she had chosen every single and they desperately wanted that song released for whatever reason.

Also for the Circus album, Britney chose "If U Seek Amy" over "Out from Under" as the third single.

Britney is actually very involved in the decisions made pre-The album that will not be named. I think I read somewhere she was the one who lobbied for 'Criminal' as well. 'Outrageous' was only released as the fourth single because of contractual obligation. I'm also fairly certain Britney's label wanted 'Toy Soldier' as the first single from Blackout, or even 'Get Back' since we were told she was filming a video for it before the album came out (the video ultimately wound up being for 'Gimme More'). She's had her say in a handful on singles from her first three records as well.

Yeah "Criminal" was definitely her idea! On the Britney album, Jive wanted "Bombastic Love" as a single at one point and I remember Britney didn't want it and also she was against it being on the album in the first place because it was too immature. I never heard the "Toy Soldier" thing though... I would like to think that that would have been one of her choices but considering it never became a single and she's never performed it on tour- while she performed most of the Blackout album at some point- makes me think that may not be true.

[Deleted]

Apr 26, 2014 8:33:04 GMT -5 MiniMusic said:

Apr 26, 2014 8:14:03 GMT -5 @touch said:

Britney is actually very involved in the decisions made pre-The album that will not be named. I think I read somewhere she was the one who lobbied for 'Criminal' as well. 'Outrageous' was only released as the fourth single because of contractual obligation. I'm also fairly certain Britney's label wanted 'Toy Soldier' as the first single from Blackout, or even 'Get Back' since we were told she was filming a video for it before the album came out (the video ultimately wound up being for 'Gimme More'). She's had her say in a handful on singles from her first three records as well.

Yeah "Criminal" was definitely her idea! On the Britney album, Jive wanted "Bombastic Love" as a single at one point and I remember Britney didn't want it and also she was against it being on the album in the first place because it was too immature. I never heard the "Toy Soldier" thing though... I would like to think that that would have been one of her choices but considering it never became a single and she's never performed it on tour- while she performed most of the Blackout album at some point- makes me think that may not be true.

she didn't want 'Toy Soldier', the label did.

[MiniMusic]

Apr 26, 2014 9:04:38 GMT -5 @touch said:

Apr 26, 2014 8:33:04 GMT -5 MiniMusic said:

Yeah "Criminal" was definitely her idea! On the Britney album, Jive wanted "Bombastic Love" as a single at one point and I remember Britney didn't want it and also she was against it being on the album in the first place because it was too immature. I never heard the "Toy Soldier" thing though... I would like to think that that would have been one of her choices but considering it never became a single and she's never performed it on tour- while she performed most of the Blackout album at some point- makes me think that may not be true.

she didn't want 'Toy Soldier', the label did.

Oh sorry I misread your post! "Toy Soldier" is a great song though, one of my favorites from Blackout. Imagine the video! Sometimes the labels are right but "Gimme More" was clearly the best choice. I wonder why they chose "Break the Ice" as the third single when they had a contract for "Radar"?

[Deleted]

My guess is that the label thought 'Break the Ice' was the better choice and that they could afford to tack 'Radar' on as the fourth single-- which it was originally planned to be before things went totally haywire in her personal life.

[irice22]

Sometimes I'm not sure how much artists care about the singles. The label cares more, so I think they end up getting the most say.

An artist can always say no and not do what the label wants them to, but I'm sure there is a lot of pressure.