Reigning ‘American Idol’ champ Caleb Johnson departs Interscope label
While we cannot say that we are too surprised with the following story, it is still worth noting that after less than a year, “American Idol” reigning champion Caleb Johnson has parted ways with his record label Interscope, who signed him after he won the thirteenth season last year.
What happened here? We feel like it is a combination of things, starting with the lack of attention on the show, Caleb being a difficult singer to market, and then also the changing of the guard with Big Machine Records now being at the center of the show. There’s no real incentive for Interscope to continue to support artists who may not be faring well for them.
Speaking to Billboard, Johnson says that he hopes to “get a deal with a new label that’s actually going to support me. I want to find the right home and the right team of people that are going to get behind my music and really do something. What’s the point of doing it if the [label] isn’t going to do anything?”
Ultimately, this is just not the same era for the “American Idol” winner that it used to be. Take a look at all of the past winners really since Carrie Underwood. Phillip Phillips has filed a lawsuit, Scotty McCreery has been quiet for some time, and while there are some awesome singers in this group, many of them are now doing more indie work. Even Jordin Sparks has gone a while without a hit. Sparks, McCreery, Phillips, and Adam Lambert are probably the most commercially viable people to be on the show since Carrie won in season 4.
What do you think this says for the winner of “American Idol” this season, and do you think Big Machine will offer them more support than what Caleb got? Share below, and click here for some further “American Idol” news! Also, be sure to sign up to get some other news worth singing about via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: Fox.)
Sue Wilson
May 5, 2015 @ 7:53 pm
First, please SHAZAM, tweet and specifically request Ghost Town on Spotify to raise Adam’s new single, Ghost Town, on the charts. Make sure when you use Spotify that you are playing the song from your own collection rather than the streaming one.
American Idol has to name a winner each year, even if the winner is not marketable. Melanie Amaro WHO? She won the first year of X Factor and she was supposed to get a $5 million recording contract. She did not release any music.
The amount of money that record companies invest in a recording artist for musicians, producers, studio time, writers, promotion, and getting radio play is enormous these days. The record label fronts the money and it recoups it from records sales and mostly from touring. If a label doesn’t believe that their artist will achieve the status that will allow that artist to have a hit song and to tour, it is better to cut their losses and drop the artist. Adam Lambert had to leave RCA because they wanted him to do an 80’s cover album. He declined and left RCA. He was scooped up by Warner the next day.
Interscope made a deal to sign an artist to a contract sight-unseen, based on the hope that the Idol winner would be a marketable artist. Most of the Idol winners and runners-up were not marketable artists. Actually, The Voice has betters singers and performers, and they have not been able to get one of their winners or finalists a hit song.
Record companies only care about the 18-29 demographic. Rock music is not popular with this age group. They want dance music. I don’t hear a lot of new music today that is in that genre. That would make Caleb not as marketable as an artist who makes dance music. Most of the songs Caleb sang on Idol were older songs because there is not much new music in the rock genre.
I admire what Caleb is doing by doing it on his own. I wish him well. Unfortunately, an indie artist is fighting an uphill battle without a record company behind him.