Will Smith Dropped by his Record Label

[HelloAngel]

MAN IN SACK


Rapper turned movie star Will Smith has been dropped from his record label Sony, according to reports.

Smith's recent album 'Born To Reign' failed to debut in the US Top 10 despite a heavy marketing campaign and the star's high profile role in the huge summer blockbuster Men In Black 2.

The album sold only 60,000 copies, a disappointingly small number for a major artist.

The original Men In Black film helped Smith to a hit single of the same name in the late 90s when the he enjoyed a run of hits, including 'Getting Jiggy Wit It'.

However, Smith's running streak at the movies shows little sign of stopping as he recently cashed a ?28million pay cheque for Men In Black 2.

Music industry insiders speculate that the artist may be in the process of negotiating a new deal with Dreamworks.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

hehe...i didn't even know there *was* a new album out! that's pathetic though in terms of sales. dd's last album sold as much despite next to no publicity.

perhaps this means his time as a singer/rapper has gone, but it's still his time to shine on the big screen.

 

[MrBrau1]

His music always sucked.

 

[Bonochick]

I didn't know he had a new album out either!!!

Not that I would have bought it or anything. I do have one of his albums that was given to me as a gift though...I can't remember what it's called though.

 

[MonaVox]

What heavy marketing? I never heard of it either.

I like how music / record companies don't really want the music.

 

[HelloAngel]

I like how I've never seen a single one of Will Smith's big budget Hollywood flicks.

 

[dsmith2904]

I don't understand why Will Smith would bother to have a record contract anyway. He releases albums so infrequently it would make more sense for him to look for distributors on an album-by-album basis or go independent, I'm pretty sure he has the money to do it himself.

 

[Angel]

Will Smith is cool, but I don't care much for his music other than "Summertime".

 

[meegannie]

Was the heavy marketing on a remote island somewhere? I never heard about the album either.

 

[daisybean]

Like everyone else, I had no clue he had an album out. Usually you see him on everyshow and magazine for about two months if he has a movie or album coming out.

I liked Men in Black and he was excellent in Six Degrees of Separation.

I the Fresh Prince of Bel Air...one of the best shows for it's time.

 

[Zoomerang96]

the guy sucks at everything he does. i dont get why this is surprising to anyone.

 

[U2ME3]

Fresh Prince of Bel Air

 

[Johnny Swallow]

I feel soooo sorry for him.

The Man will never let tha brotha excel.

 

[u2popmofo]

I prefer Will Smith's music far more to his acting (not saying much). Did anyone see Men In Black 2? Wasn't that one of the worst movies youve seen in a LONG time? Yikes. Not even slightly entertaining.

 

[Popmartijn]

Hello,

I'm not a big Will Smith man myself. I like 2 or 3 songs of him and that's it. But still, this is quite worrying and probably also indicative of the mess the music industry is in. OK, so his last CD Born To Reign did not sell well (although some reports suggest that it was the bad sales from his Greatest Hits album that caused Sony to drop him, an album released last November to no publicity at all, even though it has quite a good tracklist if you're into his music). But still, he's a major selling artist (apparently having sold more than 30 million records) and now he has one album selling a bit less and boom! his label drops him.
BTW, Sony also declared that, at 34, Smith was getting too old for his target group (teens, etc.). So this is what you get when you stick with a label, treating them OK because they gave you an initial opportunity. Bono once said, after Pop had less than stellar sales figures, "2 bad albums and you're out." Well, it seems like if you're at Sony, one slow starter and you're out. We must be lucky to still have U2 recording and releasing music, because if it goes like this then soon no artist will have a recording contract anymore.

Who's next? Bruce Springsteen? Bob Dylan? Pearl Jam?

Marty

 

[hiphop]

Exactly, Marty.



Tommyboy?s out, too.

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