Big in '05

[bluenote]

Well i just think Monica, along with Mya got overshadowed by Beyonce. I mean Beyonce was huge and was the only urban female anyone really cared about. Monica just cant compete with a Booty shake and blonde weave!  Thats the only reasonable explanatio as to why some1 who had a song as big as "so gone" didnt get an even moderate hit with the 2nd single.

I cant blame it on her promotion because Monica is an established artist and peopleknow her well and there is no better promotion than a hit single by an already established act. its not as if she was some1 new that had no previous exposure like some1 like Christina Milian for example.

I think "u shoulda known better" saved Monicas ASS! If "after the storm" ended with "knock, knock/set it off" she would have been in serious trouble. But "u shoulda known better" gave her album a second leg and left a good impression. So she is in a good position for a spring release, but i seriously doubt if she has anything out that soon. But it would be cool if Brandy and Monica both came back at the same time.

[Night Senses]

BlueNote said:

I cant blame it on her promotion because Monica is an established artist and peopleknow her well and there is no better promotion than a hit single by an already established act. its not as if she was some1 new that had no previous exposure like some1 like Christina Milian for example.

I disagree. Just because you're an established artist, doesn't mean you don't need a certain amount of promotion to succeed. Monica may be a known name, but it's not like she's even as famous as Beyonce or Alicia Keys. Even though Monica has been in the spotlight way longer than the aformentioned names, she still hasn't reached the commercial heights they have in terms of popularity and success. And even though Monica has earned more Platinum singles and has her name attached to one of the biggest singles of the past 10 years, those accomplishments are downplayed because she is not exposed as much as she should be.

Promotion is definitely key. If you throw an established artist out there and expect the music to sell itself, you're in for a rude awakening. Times have changed and established acts have to work HARDER than the newbies to stay in the spotlight. The fact that Monica is on J Records doesn't help either. Alicia Keys is obviously their priority and it would just be way too much trouble to invest more time on another female artist. (sarcasm)

On the bright side, Monica sold 900K because of So Gone and U Should've Known Better - not because she was on every magazine cover, award show, music program or endorsement ad.

[bluenote]

The thing to rememebr with Monica is that you cant expect her to do BETTER than what she did at her peak. "the boy is mine" is only a 3 mill which was her peak. Her album sales are not all that outstanding compared to Brandy at her peak, but her single performance is pretty good. SO I think Monica going platinum is fine, she has never been a mainstream, over the top success and never will. She has always been the young r&b diva, with hit singles and respectable sales. So they dont need to promote her like they wold promote Beyonce nor can they because she isnt Beyonce nor does she has the same status or success as Beyonce. They are on 2 diff. playing fields. They should promote Monica the way they always did which is the way they promoted her for the "after the strom" album. You must understand that you cant get certain people on every magazine cover, or get them to perform at every event if they are not in demand for those covers and events.

[Night Senses]

BlueNote said:

The thing to rememebr with Monica is that you cant expect her to do BETTER than what she did at her peak.  "the boy is mine" is only a 3 mill which was her peak. Her album sales are not all that outstanding compared to Brandy at her peak, but her single performance is pretty good. SO I think Monica going platinum is fine, she has never been a mainstream, over the top success and never will. She has always been the young r&b diva, with hit singles and respectable sales.  So they dont need to promote her like they wold promote Beyonce nor can they because she isnt Beyonce nor does she has the same status or success as Beyonce. They are on 2 diff. playing fields.  They should promote Monica the way they always did which is the way they promoted her for the "after the strom" album.  You must understand that you cant get certain people on every magazine cover, or get them to perform at every event  if they are not in demand for those covers and events.

You make a good point, but as a fan, it's just frustrating, because I know that she could've done better with just a little bit more of a push. I'm not expecting them to promote her like Columbia promotes Beyonce, I'm just expecting them to support her as if she was worth it, because she is. Obviously, Monica is very liked as an artist - she had a #1 album and two hit singles. But she can't really go any further if she's being held back and nobody wants to invest anything in her.

The promotion for After The Storm started out promising and then all of a sudden, she vanished from sight and I honestly did not hear from her again until U Should've Known Better came out.

What other female, besides Alicia Keys, is on J Records getting lots of support? They saw that Monica had a huge urban hit single with So Gone and nothing was really done to capitalize on it.

I would not be complaining about promo if So Gone would have flopped and gone nowhere. But they had an opportunity to really DO something and they didn't. It didn't have to be a huge push, but it should've been something to compensate for her #1 hit.

I understand your point a little more clearly, but Monica just deserves so much better.

[bluenote]

I think most fans go str8 to promotion as the reason for a lack of success with most artists and its understandable because i feel Def Jam did a shitty job with Christina Milians promotion. i dont think J records did as much as they could have but i think "knock, knock" flopping as hard as it did reallly surprised them(it really surprised me).  I think they could have pushed another single right after that but they didnt and she was out of sight for a while. but maybe J records didnt believe anything else could be a hit and just released "u shoulda known better" late out of "respect" for Monica so that they can say they at least tried to get her another hit and it wont look like they just deserted her.  But I think when things had to get moving for Alicia Keyes, they just kinda pushed Monica to the back field and consentrated everything on her return because if you remember correctly, there was some speculation about if Alicia would get the sophomore jinx after waiting so long between albums and building so much anticipation, so they had ALOT riding on Alicia Keyes being successful with her follow up.

[Rumors]

Back to the topic-

I think 2005 will be the year for Coldplay. I bought their second album and enjoyed it but I really didn't see where all the critical acclaim came from. However, they are a favorite of the critics and have a huge intentional fan base. Chris' marriage won't hurt either.

U2 - I'm not sure that their album is going to hold up as much as I thought. The critics gushed over it but I think the reaction of many fans has been one of disappointed (based on reviews at amazon.com). I haven't heard the album yet. Word-of-mouth may not sell albums but their world tour certainly will. I'm sure they'll have the biggest tour next year, hands down.

White Stripes - I like Jack White (may be somewhat overrated) and he is the man in the rock world at the moment.

Rob Thomas - He is really a big question mark. MB20 has never received much critical acclaim, however, I think that many critics will be interested to see what he does solo. He received the first ever Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame in June 2004. He obviously his liked by some of his peers even if MB20 as a whole isn't. IF Rob's album is good, gets some good reviews, and gets some promotion he may do well. If all three of these factors don't come into play, I doubt that he'll go platinum. Time will tell.

Audioslave (if they have a new album out)

3DD - They will have their customary 2-3 hits off their new album and go multi-platinum.

Green Day - They will continue to build buzz in 2005 and it may be huge if they can win that Grammy for AOTY.

Kelly Clarkson - I think she'll do well.

Not Gwen - I listened to her new album yesterday. I thought it was horrible and I like Gwen and was ready for something different from her but she didn't deliever. Unless she can get a radio hit off the album in 2005, I don't see it staying on the charts for long. I also don't think she is going to tour which will hurt the album's longevity.

That's it for now.

[sinceubeengone7]

i didn't know rob thomas has an album comming up. i luv his voice, but i'm hoping that his album will be more rock and roll than pop-rock/ballad. i'm hoping he also puts some latino flavour into it (santana!). lol.

i heard the u2 album and its fabulous. i wouldn't say it's 'contemporary' tho. the album is very different from what is heard on the radio right now, and i believe that that is what is causing the bad reviews.

as i said, as long as kelly doesn't release "you heard me" or "i hate myself for losing you", she will have respectable hits in 2005.

i just saw the vid for gwen's "rich girl". i completely changed my mind now.... she was all hype and she won't be huge in 2005.

[thedualityofman]

One word:

KASABIAN.

[Bob]

Monica did suffer for Alicia Keys... think about it, they would have been in direct competition, and Alicia is their darling. "Diary" and "U Should've Known Better" ended up going basically toe to toe... labels don't really like that too much... it's one thing if they have a male and a female and a group all out at the same time, but two female R&B artists?

And Bluenote you seem to have forgotten that Monica was gone from the scene almost entirely for four years... between AOM and SG there were more than four years, actually. That means that the average 13-17 year olds had a rather fuzzy idea of who Monica is.

That's why this next album has a shot at doing more. But yeah, even this time around Monica showed that she's a singles artist not an album artist.

[bluenote]

Bob said:

And Bluenote you seem to have forgotten that Monica was gone from the scene almost entirely for four years... between AOM and SG there were more than four years, actually. That means that the average 13-17 year olds had a rather fuzzy idea of who Monica is.

Most current teens may not have been into music when Monica was big but people my age who grew up with Monica certainly knew who she was.  I think when i say she is an estabilshed artist, I mean she has a fan base that knows her. sure she has to re-introduce herself to some younger audience but that goes with the territory for any artist .

I think Monica will do well with her next album.  i would just like her to do somethin different with her music. Maybe a new sound, something fresh. i just dont want to hear her re-hash dull r&b tunes. she has alot of talent that I think needs to be displayed. She needs the right producers behind her and that doesnt necessarily mean the hot prodcuer of the moment but some1 that can really compliment her skills.  Dallas Austin would be a good start. I'm not sure if he worked on ATS but i know he did her 1st 2 albums.  and Maybe some1 like Jimmy Jam and terry Lewis and Rodney Jerkins again, but with better material than he gave her b4. She needs a hot club banger like LMB!. i think that would be hot!

[rayato2k4]

Enuff bout Monica jeez

Okay the year will start off with 3 massive hits in the making.

-- Mario - Let Me Love You
-- Ciara - 1,2 Step
-- 50 Cent - Disco Inferno

A personal favorite from hip-hop I 'Hope' blows up is the Twista-Faith Evans joint.

2 Artists I'm rooting for to blow up in 2005 are Marc Broussard ('Where You Are') and Rachael Yamagata ('Worn Me Down'), I would also love it if Mindy Smith ('Come to Jesus') broke through in 05. OH, Jem too (either re-release 'They' or promote 'Come on Closer') Howie Day is also shaping up to explode with 'Collide'.

Funny I just realized all the artists I've mentioned are Hot AC-oriented.MAYBE WILL BELONG TO HOT AC INSTEAD OF HIP-HOP ;)....nah, that won't happen

Green Day's also shaping up to have an even better year 05 with a couple Grammy wins and the massive POP success of 'BOBD'.

[agon666]

Green Day will be unbelievable this year. *knocks on wood* BOBD and "Wake Me Up When September Ends" will both be pop smashes, and they may end up duplicating Linkin Park's amazing feat they achived withMetorea: 5 singles released, 5 #1's on Alt. "Holiday" will go #1, and that 5th single is still up in the air, but it will be big!

U2 will fill the space in between "Holiday" and "Wake Me Up When September Ends" with their own #1: "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own." That song is incredible! The chorus makes me shiver evertime I hear it.

I'm beginning to think 3 Doors Down won't be that successful with 17 Days. I guess it depends how "Let Me Go" goes on pop, but all the rock stations have slowed down on it, and it looks like it won't even go top 10.

Rob Thomas may be the biggest question mark going into '05. I really hope they push this album and it gets big, but I don't want MB20 to be completely split up forever. So, there's is a fine line I hope they don't cross where he becomes a pop superstar. But, knowing MB20's history, all of his songs will peak at 2-4 on pop charts. (It's really amazing that they've only had 1 #1, yet 5-6 top 5's!)

[bluenote]

With 2 new movies in 2005 with John Trovolta and Tommy Lee Jones, Christina Milian is bound to be the new "it" girl in Hollywood! Lindsay you beter watch out!