Concert in U.S.A.?!

[The Cap]

Originally Posted by Max

I'm sure she is known in the United States, millions of views on youtube prove that, but how that fact can be translated into ticket sales is a big unknown.

If you want to base awareness of Alizée on, say, the extremely popular "Jen ai Marre" top-of-the-pops style TV clip that regularly makes the rounds, well ... I dunno. I'm sure you get at least a couple of conversations like :

"Hey, did you look at the YouTube vid link I sent you ?"
"Yeah ... really cute girl, and a catchy song. Who was that ?"
"Her name's Alizée ... French pop singer. Very big in Europe, Mexico and Asia."
"What else has she done ?"

Then, you get a new fan, maybe. Sadly - and I've seen a few of these first hand - the exchange is usually much more like :

"Hey, did you look at the YouTube vid link I sent you ?"
"Yeah, man ! Hot chick ! And that DANCE, holy crap ! What a body ! How OLD is she ?"
"Her name's Alizée ... "
"Didi you see the fish on her butt ? Make it swim, baby, make it SWIM !"
".. . a French pop singer."
"Who cares, man ! I'd fillet that fish ANYTIME ! Hey, what's for lunch today ?"

Sad, but often true.

[heyamigo]

c'mon people, some of you guys seriously overestimate the number of "real" fans she has in the US. i don't mean to be a pessimist, but think realistic for a second. i mean do some of you even know one alizee fan in real life? this forum may give the illusion that she's big in US but like someone said, we're a small minority and in case of a concert, i can bet you not all of us will be able to or willing to fly into another city to attend it.

that said, small venues in a couple cities make sense to me if there was going to be a concert at all, but we'll see. but it's irritating when some people start saying that she can easily sell out some sizable venues...

however, i'll be very pissed if kazahkstan and uzbekistan gets concerts and not us.

[HelixSix]

Well I paid attention to her quite awhile before I joined this forum, and prior to that I spent some time just lurking here. I'd say the bulk of her U.S. fans don't know of this forum/site or don't really feel the need to find out/join it. And it's probably a good guess that a large portion of her U.S. fans are from the old days and completely unaware of her new album...which is why some marketing efforts in this country would prove successful.

I don't think stats from this forum can predict at all how well she would fill up a concert. The general population has always been turned off about the idea of joining forums because it carries negative connotations.

[lefty12357]

This sometimes sounds like the “chicken or the egg” argument or a catch 22. On the one hand, Alizée shouldn’t come to the USA because there aren’t enough fans. On the other hand, how do you get enough fans in the USA if you won’t come here to cultivate them. It is the artist’s responsibility to build the fan base. If you are going to be an international star, then you have to get out in the world and win over those fans.

How many fans did Alizée have when she was 15, just before her career started? None. You don’t start out with a free block of fans and you don’t sit around waiting for them to appear like magic. If she had done that, she’d still be waiting. You have to get out there and get exposure, you have to earn your fan base and win them over. She was very fortunate to get all the Mexican fans at very little cost or effort on her part. The same could be said for whatever fans she currently has in the USA. Few artists get a gift like that. As unusual as it seems, my guess is the majority of her CD sales have come from fans she did not directly cultivate. What could she accomplish if she put forth a serious effort towards those markets? She obviously has decided to include Mexico in her plans. But what about the markets that require more effort?

I am not going to be a doom and gloomer and say that Alizée should just stay home and hide in a corner where it’s safe and hope for the best. Nor am I going to say that she should throw caution to the wind and gamble everything on what may be a long shot. That’s for her and her people to decide. They have more data than we do and they will hopefully devise an appropriate strategy for Alizée’s career, and that just may include the USA in some measure.

Finally, when I look at the members here, I see quite a variety of people. We have varied ethnic and religious backgrounds. We range in ages from 14 to 54 and politically we cover the left, right and center. We have a wide range of occupations and hobbies and have both males and females here. And geographically, we are spread across this large country. Yet we all have one obvious thing in common, we admire Alizée, just as she is. Why do people keep saying that Americans can’t accept her? We did.

[Infatuated]

Great post Lefty, well put. That pretty much says it all right there. If Alizée performing in America is going to happen....then its going to happen otherwise.....who knows?

I personally think that it is inevitable at some point for her to do a show here. I, or probably anyone else except her husband and parents, have no knowledge of the workings of her mind, but she seems content to hang out and do her thing in France. I've heard in interviews from her several times how much she loves Corsica and is 'tied' to the place. So she may not even want to go and perform Everywhere she has fans. That sounds selfish in a way....who knows? I certainly don't

[lefty12357]

Originally Posted by Infatuated

I, or probably anyone else except her husband and parents, have no knowledge of the workings of her mind, but she seems content to hang out and do her thing in France. I've heard in interviews from her several times how much she loves Corsica and is 'tied' to the place. So she may not even want to go and perform Everywhere she has fans. That sounds selfish in a way....who knows? I certainly don't

Yeah, she said if it was up to her she wouldn't leave France. Unfortunately, when you sign with a record company, they want to maximize profits on their investment. She knows she has to make the best of it if she is to continue her career, otherwise they won't sign her for any more albums. And I don't think her current sales in France are enough to sustain her career. I guess everything we want in life comes with a cost or a compromise.

[Ali]

Originally Posted by HelixSix

That is just your opinion. And I am curious as to what your basing your fan estimate on.

But have people forgotten that there is a process called GETTING NEW FANS??? If every artist had the same mindset as some people in this forum then there would be hardly any international success for anybody....they'd just say "well I don't magically have a big fanbase in the US, I guess theres nothing I can do about that."

Having a concert here is one of the many ways to increase a fanbase and gain more exposure.

Well, in terms of my estimate of her fan base in the United States, just look at how many CDs she has sold which is very little maybe a 1000 or 2000 or maybe even 10000 copies. Compare that to Mexico where she has sold over 50,000+ copies, based on the last numbers I saw. She has to have a pretty solid fan base in a particular country before she goes to that country.

Now let's look at a breakthrough new artist like Leona Lewis who is from the U.K. I barely knew about her until this year. Why did she all of a sudden became famous? Becuase she had a hit song here in the States. She has sold a decent number of copies of her album here in the States. A person like her could cross the pond and come to America for a concert. Alizee has neither, she doesn't have a hit song nor has she sold a descent number of copies of her album. Her chances of coming here to do a concert, therefore is very unlikely, for now. Top it that off with the fact that she sings in French which is a bummer for most Americans.

[tbailey]

Originally Posted by lefty12357

This sometimes sounds like the “chicken or the egg” argument or a catch 22. On the one hand, Alizée shouldn’t come to the USA because there aren’t enough fans. On the other hand, how do you get enough fans in the USA if you won’t come here to cultivate them. It is the artist’s responsibility to build the fan base. If you are going to be an international star, then you have to get out in the world and win over those fans.

How many fans did Alizée have when she was 15, just before her career started? None. You don’t start out with a free block of fans and you don’t sit around waiting for them to appear like magic. If she had done that, she’d still be waiting. You have to get out there and get exposure, you have to earn your fan base and win them over. She was very fortunate to get all the Mexican fans at very little cost or effort on her part. The same could be said for whatever fans she currently has in the USA. Few artists get a gift like that. As unusual as it seems, my guess is the majority of her CD sales have come from fans she did not directly cultivate. What could she accomplish if she put forth a serious effort towards those markets? She obviously has decided to include Mexico in her plans. But what about the markets that require more effort?

I am not going to be a doom and gloomer and say that Alizée should just stay home and hide in a corner where it’s safe and hope for the best. Nor am I going to say that she should throw caution to the wind and gamble everything on what may be a long shot. That’s for her and her people to decide. They have more data than we do and they will hopefully devise an appropriate strategy for Alizée’s career, and that just may include the USA in some measure.

Finally, when I look at the members here, I see quite a variety of people. We have varied ethnic and religious backgrounds. We range in ages from 14 to 54 and politically we cover the left, right and center. We have a wide range of occupations and hobbies and have both males and females here. And geographically, we are spread across this large country. Yet we all have one obvious thing in common, we admire Alizée, just as she is. Why do people keep saying that Americans can’t accept her? We did.

wow!

great post - i agree with everything said here

it's akin to the situation she was in when she was just starting her career. Many could have said why even bother with France b/c at the time she had no fans there. It just takes work, talent, marketing, and good decisionmaking. Like i've said before Alizee has the complete package and shouldn't shy away from the U.S. market.

[HelixSix]

We need "Vcash" or some sort of fake currency that some other forums have so we can make bets on these sort of things.

[mibir]

Originally Posted by lefty12357

This sometimes sounds like the “chicken or the egg” argument or a catch 22. On the one hand, Alizée shouldn’t come to the USA because there aren’t enough fans. On the other hand, how do you get enough fans in the USA if you won’t come here to cultivate them. It is the artist’s responsibility to build the fan base. If you are going to be an international star, then you have to get out in the world and win over those fans.

How many fans did Alizée have when she was 15, just before her career started? None. You don’t start out with a free block of fans and you don’t sit around waiting for them to appear like magic. If she had done that, she’d still be waiting. You have to get out there and get exposure, you have to earn your fan base and win them over. She was very fortunate to get all the Mexican fans at very little cost or effort on her part. The same could be said for whatever fans she currently has in the USA. Few artists get a gift like that. As unusual as it seems, my guess is the majority of her CD sales have come from fans she did not directly cultivate. What could she accomplish if she put forth a serious effort towards those markets? She obviously has decided to include Mexico in her plans. But what about the markets that require more effort?

I am not going to be a doom and gloomer and say that Alizée should just stay home and hide in a corner where it’s safe and hope for the best. Nor am I going to say that she should throw caution to the wind and gamble everything on what may be a long shot. That’s for her and her people to decide. They have more data than we do and they will hopefully devise an appropriate strategy for Alizée’s career, and that just may include the USA in some measure.

Finally, when I look at the members here, I see quite a variety of people. We have varied ethnic and religious backgrounds. We range in ages from 14 to 54 and politically we cover the left, right and center. We have a wide range of occupations and hobbies and have both males and females here. And geographically, we are spread across this large country. Yet we all have one obvious thing in common, we admire Alizée, just as she is. Why do people keep saying that Americans can’t accept her? We did.

Wonderful post and I understand what you're saying with how we accepted her. The problem is I don't feel its fair to say this site is a good representation of the general public. We accepted Alizée, but that doesn't automatically mean a sizable amount of others will. The sad truth, as has been mentioned earlier, is that a good portion of American's want to hear English music and cannot understand how people can listen to music in a language they are not themselves fluent in. Am I saying there isn't enough to accept her for some sort of concerts? No, I just feel that the Americans on this site are more of an exception, not the rule, preventing a large fan-base.