It seems that even the iron-clad methods used in the music industry to promote a major album debut for a megawatt star doesn’t always work. For Jennifer Lopez , who is 44 this year, and her new album A.K.A, the recipe of endless touring and countless talk show appearances has not stood to boost album sales in the way that Lopez undoubtedly anticipated.
Though she has done just about everything “right” when it comes to promoting her new album, the record hasn’t fared well in it’s f irst week of release . So far, since A.K.A hit the market on June 17th, only roughly 40,000 units have sold. Anything under 100,000 is considered a flop by industry standards. Furthermore, when you take into account that a gold album means over one 500,000 sold, Lopez’s album sales are anything but impressive.
Lopez admitted to The Columbian that she is finding making music to be increasingly challenging. Back in the day, record companies would plunk down some pretty serious cash to help an artist launch an album. Now with digital trends to work with, record labels are no longer fronting that type of money. In her interview with The Columbian, Lopez said the following about the process of asking for money at the label:
Now, it’s like, ‘We’ll see if we can do that and we can give you this much.’ And you’re like, ‘Wow, OK. So how am I gonna do that?’ It’s a whole different mind-set. What great idea can I come up with that costs nothing?
Lopez’s last platinum album was recorded in 2002, so it isn’t as if she doesn’t know what it’s like to sell a million units. She’ll just have to see what the next few weeks show, but if the past week has been any indication, A.K.A is likely to disappoint.
From the TV producer front, Jennifer Lopez’s TV drama “The Fosters” has fared much better than her last few musical endeavors. The show has received critical acclaim in it’s second season and is up for a nomination for Best Primetime Television Program at the at the 29th Annual Imagen Awards and she has also received the Vanguard Award from GLAAD Media Awards for the TV series which is a story about a multi-ethnic gay couple who is raising a bevy of adopted, foster, and biological children.
It appears that Lopez might have somewhat of a knack for the TV thing, so something tells us that if her album A.K.A doesn’t lift off, she’ll do just fine.