The doctor is in, at the tree-shrouded Conway Studios compound in Hollywood, and he won't be out any time soon.
Lukasz Gottwald -- the writer/producer better-known to the explosive-chorus-loving world as Dr. Luke -- has booked all three rooms at Conway for the entire month of September. He's told his manager to cancel all meetings, and you might have to excuse him if your call goes to voice mail. The deadline task at hand: Coming up with enough new songs for his protégée, Ke$ha, to get a deluxe repackaging of her debut album out in time for the holiday buying season.
Nothing is remotely done yet, and Ke$ha is only available for a three-week stretch, so he and fellow producers Benny Blanco and Ammo are hard at work coming up with rough tracks for the singer to put her stamp on. How many songs are they planning on adding to the "Animal" reissue?
"I'd like as many as eight, if possible," Gottwald says. "But I'll be happy if I got four or five great ones. And a lot depends on the next two weeks. She has a single right now, 'Take It Off,' which is doing pretty well. Last time I checked, it was No. 11 on iTunes. Normally, an artist would be stuck in a fourth-single slump by now, so that's encouraging. But who knows. Two weeks from now, research could come in and say that song won't go as far as we had anticipated, and then that'll mean we need a new song right away."
If Gottwald's attention to chart detail sounds a little bit (as his nickname might suggest) scientific, he's positively a rocket engineer when it comes to the arts and sciences that take place inside the studio control room, where he's known as a genial perfectionist nonpareil. He sweats the small stuff. But that sonic fussiness hasn't gotten him bogged down so much that it's kept him from racking up the most commercially enviable career in pop production at the moment.
Stats speak even louder than beats. On the Billboard Hot 100 right now, he's responsible as a co-writer and co-producer for 40% of the top 10: Taio Cruz's "Dynamite" (No. 3), Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" (No. 2) and "California Gurls" (No. 7), and Ke$ha's "Take It Off" (No. 10), which is defying a fourth-single slump. (He would have claimed half the top 10 if B.o.B and Rivers Cuomo's "Magic" hadn't slipped 11-10.) He can claim four of Billboard's 20 top-selling digital singles of all time, with Ke$ha's 5 million-selling "TiK ToK," Flo Rida's "Right Round," Perry's "Hot N Cold" and Miley Cyrus' "Party in the U.S.A."
Then there are the earlier smashes that might've made that list had they been released later in the digital singles sales revolution, like Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" and "Behind These Hazel Eyes," seminal collaborations with mentor Max Martin that put him on the pop map five years ago. That Gottwald was named ASCAP's songwriter of the year in April probably counts as a performing-rights no-brainer.
In the coming months, Gottwald will co-executive produce Britney Spears' 2011 project, alongside Martin. For his own label, Kemosabe, whose sole release so far is Ke$ha's "Animal," he'll be working with his latest signings, female singers Sabi and Sophia Black. Meanwhile, taking off his executive hat, he's still involved in plenty of production one-offs, like an upcoming single for British powerhouse vocalist Jessie J (who co-wrote "Party in the U.S.A." for herself before sacrificing it to Cyrus).
For the last five years, Gottwald has provided a veritable soundtrack for adolescence and young adulthood, assuming the mantle of Tycoon of Teen that's been passed down from Phil Spector. There's hardly a ballad to be found in his catalog, which is full of rock-tinged dance-pop with an unabashedly ecstatic quality that makes even middle-aged top 40 listeners feel like they're living the teenage dream, to paraphrase Perry.
"His hallmark is 'tempo' records-at worst, they're [midtempo]-coupled with über-melody and great concepts," RCA/Jive Label Group chairman/CEO Barry Weiss says. Consider the fact that many of these concepts have involved some form or another of cheeky female empowerment-see Perry's "I Kissed a Girl," Pink's "U + Ur Hand" and Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend"-and he could almost be considered an avatar of girls, or girl-lovers, everywhere.
But Gottwald, who will turn 37 in a few weeks, resists the suggestion that he might concoct these hits with the image of a teenage girl with an iPod in mind. His awareness of research and chart stats notwithstanding, he swears he's his own target audience.
"Apparently my taste is that of a 13-year-old girl," he jokes. "Not really. But my taste is commercial. Listen, there's been times in my life like the two years that I only listened to jazz, and probably nothing after 1966. When I went to the Manhattan School of Music, the library didn't have anything after 1966. In order to get good at that, I had to tunnel-vision and focus on that.
"But sometimes when I talk to those kinds of people, they're like, 'What is it like making this simple music?' They look down on it. And I'm like, 'No, you don't get it. I actually like this. I don't see a difference between brilliance in one and the other.' There's no compromise to me in what I'm doing. I'm trying to make songs that I love and make them feel a certain way and go to certain places. It just so happens that a lot of 13-year-old girls like that."
The wait for new music from international pop star Rihanna will be over in a matter of days, as RyanSeacrest.com will have her new single "Only Girl (In The World" on Tuesday, Sept. 7 at 3AM PT/6AM ET.
The song is produced by Stargate, the Grammy-winning Norwegian producing team who previously produced Rihanna's smash hits "Please Don't Stop the Music" and "Hate That I Love You."
An iTunes arrival date and album release date are yet to be confirmed, but word within the music community is that "Only Girl" is an undeniable smash hit.
JustJared.com reported that an industry insider says, "The song is electrifying and explosive."
If that isn't enough to whet your appetite, we don't know what is! Check back here on Tuesday after 3AM PT/6AM ET for the song in all its glory!
Although, singer Kelly Rowland is in the throws of releasing a new album, she has admitted that she has had to turn to her fans for help with naming the album as she cannot seem to think of a title.
In an interview with Today, the 'Commander' singer also rubbished rumours that the album was to be called 'One Woman Show'.
Talking of her second solo studio album: "I've actually yet to title it. I've actually asked the fans to help me title it. Someone has taken off with this title One Woman Show or something like that"
"You don't know what people are going to come up with, but then you [also] want it to be a reflection of the album and how it feels, and I'm still working on that. I've just got out the studio with Tricky and Dream."
No matter how they try to spin it, Katy Perry and her label are surely feeling a certain letdown this morning. After dominating airwaves for much of the summer, Perry was only able to move 192,000 copies of her sophomore album in its first week on sale. That’s enough to make Teenage Dream the country’s biggest album in this sleepy late-August frame. It’s much better than her previous album managed in its first week, and it’s obviously worlds away from an all-out, retire-in-shame flop. But it’s also nowhere near the kind of first-week numbers that other radio staples like Drake (447,000) and Usher (329,000), let alone Eminem (741,000), have put up in recent months. Perry’s “California Gurls” is widely considered a front-runner for this year’s Song of the Summer, with her own “Teenage Dream” single not far behind. How come those major hits didn’t translate into equally strong album sales?
The simple answer is that Perry is overexposed. By now, just about every member of the buying public has heard “California Gurls” enough times to commit it to memory. If you’ve grown tired of that song or you never liked it in the first place, of course you’re not going to buy Katy Perry’s album. But even if you love “California Gurls” with all your melted-popsicle heart, chances are you already bought it as an MP3 weeks or months ago. You probably went along and grabbed “Teenage Dream,” too. This week alone, that second single sold 259,000 digital copies. When Teenage Dream the album came out last Tuesday, you had to ask yourself, did you really need to own the whole thing? For 192,000 fans, the answer was yes. Still, it’s easy to see how that purchase might not make sense for everyone else.
Yet dismissing Perry as overexposed risks redundancy. Songs like “California Gurls” and “Teenage Dream” are engineered for maximum exposure. That’s the whole point. Perry led an elite team of songwriters, producers, and assorted studio wizards whose job it was to make sure that hearing these songs once or twice wasn’t enough for most people. Radio programmers couldn’t resist putting these songs on the air over and over again. Kids walking down the street couldn’t help humming them for weeks on end. These songs were perfectly designed advertisements for themselves — and that’s where their pitch ended. In a sense, “California Gurls” and “Teenage Dream” worked exactly as intended. They were too effective for the album’s own good.
This puts Perry in the dreaded “singles artist” category. Compare her first-week sales to those of Rihanna (181,000 last December) or Ke$ha (152,000 in January). This isn’t a category that most singers want to be placed in. They’re legitimate pop stars, with big hits and lots of fans — but not the kind of unconditional fans who will drop double-digit cash for an album out of loyalty. Is it sheer coincidence that so many (though not all) of these “singles artists” happen to be young women? Probably not. Some level of unacknowledged sexism may make consumers more likely to view the work of twenty-something female pop singers as disposable product instead of serious art.
That said, the “singles artist” label doesn’t have to be a life sentence. Rihanna, for example, spun off several more hits from Rated R and ended up going platinum. With the right follow-up singles, Perry might be able to accomplish the same in time. Today, Teenage Dream is looking like a commercial disappointment, but the long game is just beginning.
Why do you think Katy Perry’s album didn’t sell more copies? Do you think there’s another smash hit lurking within that track list? Sound off in the comments section.
Janet Jackson has previously spoken about her friendship with Lady Gaga, and now it seems she is hoping to collaborate with the "Alejandro" singer.
In a recent interview with the U.K.'s Metro, Jackson says that she had her eye on Gaga even before she became famous.
"What I love about Gaga is her story, where she came from," Jackson said in the interview. "Before she made it, before anyone knew who she was, I knew who she was and, to see her finally make it, I was so happy . . . if we were to work together that would be cool."
Earlier this year, Jackson also revealed that, in her opinion, Lady Gaga is not only a great artist but also a great person.
"I really love Gaga, yeah, and she's a sweetheart. It's not always the case when you meet them. You can enjoy their work, but it's not always ... so pleasant when you get to know their personality, and she truly is a sweetheart," she told MTV.
Jackson also offered a few words of wisdom to Gaga, adding: "She works so hard, and I told her, I think she needs to slow down just a little bit, take some time out for herself."
Nelly Furtado is getting ready to make her comeback to the music scene with her upcoming English language album. She surprised fans by performing two new tracks at a recent concert.
Furtado headlined the Orange Warsaw Festival in Poland where she debuted the new tracks, but some fans might have already recognized them. The two songs, “Free” and “Girlfriend In the City,” had recently leaked online and are set to be featured on her new album “Lifestyle,” Furtado's fourth English language album and fifth studio album overall.
“Lifestyle” follows the release of her first Spanish language album last year, "Mi Plan." "Lifestyle" is her first English album since 2006's "Loose," which yielded the #1 hits "Say It Right" and "Promiscuous."
On “Free,” Furtado aims at a pulsating dance sound on the Salaam Remi-produced track, only hinted at on previous singles like “Maneater” off “Loose.” On “Girlfriend in the City,” Furtado uses a more organic, string-based production for a song more reminiscent of her underrated “Folklore” album.
For the new album, she also hooked up Timbaland, who produced most of "Loose." She's also rumored to be working with Ryan Tedder, who produced Beyonce's "Halo" and Kelly Clarkson's "Already Gone."
The album was originally set for release back in May, but is now expected to drop before year’s end.
Rumors hit the internet recently that Beyonce joined her former Destiny’s Child bandmates Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams in firing her father, Mathew Knowles, as her manager. In his place, it was rumored, Beyonce would allow her business savvy rapper/mogul husband, Jay-Z, to guide her approaching-legendary career.
File this under big fat rumor, this according to Mr. Knowles’ Music World Entertainment. In a statement, the label puts the kibosh of the false info, saying, “Contrary to false rumors online, Beyoncé and her manager Mathew Knowles unequivocally have had and continue to have a close personal and business relationship. Mathew Knowles is the sole and exclusive manager of Beyoncé.”
The rumors kicked up just as news that Beyonce was heading back into the studio to get to work on her fourth studio album. She’s spending time this week with singer/songwriter Ne-Yo, who penned her Grammy-winning hit “Irreplaceable.”
Mariah Carey may or may not be pregnant, but one thing’s for sure, she will be delivering a bundle of joy this holiday season. The sequel to the pop songbird’s Christmas album has been given an official title and due date.
Rap-Up.com has exclusively learned that Mimi’s upcoming holiday project will be called Merry Christmas II You. The II represents the follow-up to 1994’s multi-platinum Merry Christmas album, which spawned the now-classic “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” The new offering is scheduled for a November 2 release and will include original material as well as covers of holiday classics.
An accompanying DVD will also be released the same day, but there are currently no details on what exactly it will contain. The packaging was shot in the spring by famed photographer David LaChapelle and features a festive setting with fake snow, tinsel, and wooden reindeers.
Mariah’s manager Chris Lighty tweeted that she is working with the Home Shopping Network (HSN) to promote the project, which is guaranteed to be the perfect stocking stuffer.
It looks like Beyonce has forgiven Ne-yo for publicly calling her out on her *cough* “songwriting” abilities. The songwriter has just confirmed that he was in the studio with Mary J. Blige last night but TONIGHT he is going into the studio with Beyonce. The singer, who turns 29 next week, is currently working on her fourth studio album…
Remember when she told her tour audience that she wrote ‘Irreplaceable’ for her ladies? Ne-yo said the only thing she wrote was some of the harmonies but he did the lyrics. Well, after that Beyonce never used him for her ‘I Am’ project. We know Beyonce likes to revisit the same producer who delivered her a smash. That is why it seemed really odd she did not pick him up for that last album. Anyway, this is good news! Ne-yo sure can write the hell out of a female anthem and Beyonce is certainly good at singing them!
