Should Alizée have more fans?

[Rev]

Originally Posted by Deepwaters

...She's going to have to earn more fans.

She made a conscious choice to move away from the image and the style of music that she was singing in the Mylène days. I think it was a good choice for many reasons, but it also means that she is starting over almost from scratch. Many of her old fans fell away after Psychédélices was released, disappointed that the Alizée they used to love is gone.

She must now make contact with a new set of fans, a more mature audience interested in more unusual, non-formula music of the kind she wants to sing. I believe she can do it. Her voice has lost none of its power, and her magic is still strong. She needs better organization in terms of promotion and performances to follow the new album. And finally, she needs time, and a bit of luck. The time she has, and as for the luck -- that can be arranged.

But there's no reason to think she should have more fans already, no. Not in my opinion. She hasn't earned them yet...

I'm glad you said it (so I didn't have to).

It's up to her. She has the ability. And this time it looks like she is making better choices.

Time will tell.

Originally Posted by ALS

Well Alizée has the worst economy since WWII working against her in the E.U.
Although it shouldn't be a problem with CD sales it is a major problem when trying to get the average fan to scrape together €75 to €150 for an hour and half concert.

I don't have a clue where to suggest she put ticket prices. She looks like she aims for a certain sized audiance, but high ticket prices will discourage many. It looks like she has to choose between more intimate venues or lower prices. I wish her luck with this choice.


By the way - I agree with your thoughts Lefty.

[Scruffydog777]

This is a painful subject for me. Since her comeback, I've been one of her biggest critics. When she broke up with MF and LB, she left two incredibly talented people behind. A lot is said about MF and with no doubt she is a very talented performer, but LB had an incredibly huge role in this too. His music by itself, might sound like very good elevator music, but when you combine it with Alizée's voice and MF lyrics, well it was a match made in heaven. Everything was so perfect about those performances from 1999 to 2003. The music, the lyrics, her voice, the way she wore her hair, her outfits, the stage, the lighting, the incredibly beautiful dances she used to do,and most of that is gone now.

You had a combination that was imho, a mixture that we'll probably never see again. You take away two thirds of an awesome group of artists and you are left with 33 percent. As in school, 33 percent is a dismal grade, so too is it in the music industry. The people in France aren't fickel as I've heaard so many people say concerning her new music. It's just that it pales in comparison to her first two albums.

They could match her up with the greatest musician in the world, and the greatest music writer in the world and it would by no means gaurantee success. Because you never know how certain artists will blend together.

I'm not going to go into any further in this post how I thought her latest album and her recent performances were a huge disappointment.But there are reasons why she had to cancel 2 concerts in a 6 month period in a very large city that she now calls home, and it wasn't because of the tour manager.

There's only one thing that can save her now, her new album, and without MF and LB involved in it, I'm not very optimistic about her future.

[alizeeindia]

Originally Posted by Scruffydog777

This is a painful subject for me. Since her comeback, I've been one of her biggest critics. When she broke up with MF and LB, she left two incredibly talented people behind. A lot is said about MF and with no doubt she is a very talented performer, but LB had an incredibly huge role in this too. His music by itself, might sound like very good elevator music, but when you combine it with Alizée's voice and MF lyrics, well it was a match made in heaven. Everything was so perfect about those performances from 1999 to 2003. The music, the lyrics, her voice, the way she wore her hair, her outfits, the stage, the lighting, the incredibly beautiful dances she used to do,and most of that is gone now.

You had a combination that was imho, a mixture that we'll probably never see again. You take away two thirds of an awesome group of artists and you are left with 33 percent. As in school, 33 percent is a dismal grade, so too is it in the music industry. The people in France aren't fickel as I've heaard so many people say concerning her new music. It's just that it pales in comparison to her first two albums.

They could match her up with the greatest musician in the world, and the greatest music writer in the world and it would by no means gaurantee success. Because you never know how certain artists will blend together.

I'm not going to go into any further in this post how I thought her latest album was a huge disappointment.But there are reasons why she had to cancel 2 concerts in a 6 month period in a very large city that she now calls home, and it's not because of the tour manager.

There's only one thing that can save her now, her new album, and without MF and LB involved in it, I'm not very optimistic about her future.

Great post and really thought out. This is exactly what I think as well. You reminded me those Majestic days of Alizee. I really miss them a lot. I think most of the Alizee fans realise the truth but after all we are her fans. We become overjoyed over small things. Found a new picture of Alizee and all will feel extremely happy for whole of the week. This is what Alizee has made us and this is definitely not because of the Psychedelices era.

[Ruroshen]

Originally Posted by lefty12357

In the meantime, I stick by her because I like her voice and her music, but also because I simply like Alizée, the person.

This. I don't pretend to have even the faintest idea of what she's like in private, and I'm not one of those dudes who puts her on a pedestal as some paragon of beauty and virtue (although admittedly when I get on one of my fan wankery screeds on the podcast, it can sound like I am). But from everything we've seen and learned of her, my internal people-barometer tells me that she's a truly decent person...and being somewhat of a romantic idealist, there's nothing that makes me happier than supporting truly decent people, and maybe in some small way helping them to succeed.

Yeah, yeah, it's cornball, I know. It's A Wonderful Life is one of my favorite movies, too. Wanna make somethin' of it?!

Originally Posted by wasabi622

good point there. i mean, her new album is to come out in september, which is about 4 months away. im not too sure of advertising and marketing.. but seems to me now is a good time to start promoting it.

Yeah, I've been thinking about that, and that has me wondering if maybe we're not all being overly optimistic about a September release date?

[SimonH]

Originally Posted by lefty12357

When Alizée first appeared on the scene she was the right girl with the right music at the right time. This doesn’t happen very often and of course she was a huge hit. Even less often can an artist keep repeating that success. When you start at the top, where can you go from there? One would almost have to expect her career to cool down some.

Probably a lot of her fans in the beginning were people just looking for the latest bandwagon to jump onto. Those people always move on to something else, and then on to something else again. Yes, I’m sure she also lost fans who were stuck on the Lolita thing, and still others who simply didn’t like her new music or “look”. There was also her long absence from the business which probably cost her some momentum.

Also, we have to consider the lack of a well executed and sustained promotion and marketing effort for her third album, not to mention having to cancel concerts. Although I feel the songs on Psychédélices were good, I don’t think that any one of them jumped out as a “big hit” type of song. It’s too bad 50/60 didn’t get some heavy promo.

Through it all though, she has her small group of hard core fans in France and Europe, as well as her newfound Mexican and other international fans. I think we all agree that Alizée is special to us as a person, as well as an artist, and that’s why we stick by her through thick and thin. You won’t get the general public to go that far. Keep in mind that some of her Mexican fans may disappear as well. A certain percentage of fans will always move on to something else once the novelty wears off, and they never come back no matter what. Once you are “yesterday’s news” to them, they can actually become sick of you and even dislike you. It’s sad, but true.

So should Alizée have more fans? Considering all the above, maybe not. Maybe the question to ask is whether Alizée can gain more fans in the future. If she can get a big hit out of her next album and get the promotion she needs, I don’t see any reason why she can’t have a ton of fans. It wouldn’t hurt for her to be exposed to a fresh market that doesn’t know her yet. Novelty can play a big part in the success of an artist and I had always hoped that an adorable French singer hitting the US market at the right time could be that novelty. I know it’s a long shot.

As long as Alizée is allowed to keep playing, she has a chance to hit another home run.
In the meantime, I stick by her because I like her voice and her music, but also because I simply like Alizée, the person.

Sorry for the long post.

Originally Posted by Deepwaters

This is going to annoy some of you, but if Alizée herself reads it, I think she'll agree with me.

She's going to have to earn more fans.

She made a conscious choice to move away from the image and the style of music that she was singing in the Mylène days. I think it was a good choice for many reasons, but it also means that she is starting over almost from scratch. Many of her old fans fell away after Psychédélices was released, disappointed that the Alizée they used to love is gone.

She must now make contact with a new set of fans, a more mature audience interested in more unusual, non-formula music of the kind she wants to sing. I believe she can do it. Her voice has lost none of its power, and her magic is still strong. She needs better organization in terms of promotion and performances to follow the new album. And finally, she needs time, and a bit of luck. The time she has, and as for the luck -- that can be arranged.

But there's no reason to think she should have more fans already, no. Not in my opinion. She hasn't earned them yet.

(No offense intended, Lili. You know I'm always on your side, no matter what.)

These two post explain it & tell it as it is. I'm sad I missed her "Lolita" days. I'm not even a one year old fan, but I did discover her from her older stuff. I was sad to find out that it happened years ago & even sadder she didn't still do those sexy dances lol. Then I found out she was married... what can I even say about that. Well besides the point, I'm highly looking forward to her new CD because it will be the first product released in my time period of being a fan. Everything else she has released was before I even knew her name.

[Rev]

Originally Posted by Scruffydog777

This is a painful subject for me. Since her comeback, I've been one of her biggest critics. When she broke up with MF and LB, she left two incredibly talented people behind. A lot is said about MF and with no doubt she is a very talented performer, but LB had an incredibly huge role in this too. His music by itself, might sound like very good elevator music, but when you combine it with Alizée's voice and MF lyrics, well it was a match made in heaven. Everything was so perfect about those performances from 1999 to 2003. The music, the lyrics, her voice, the way she wore her hair, her outfits, the stage, the lighting, the incredibly beautiful dances she used to do,and most of that is gone now.

You had a combination that was imho, a mixture that we'll probably never see again. You take away two thirds of an awesome group of artists and you are left with 33 percent. As in school, 33 percent is a dismal grade, so too is it in the music industry. The people in France aren't fickel as I've heaard so many people say concerning her new music. It's just that it pales in comparison to her first two albums.

They could match her up with the greatest musician in the world, and the greatest music writer in the world and it would by no means gaurantee success. Because you never know how certain artists will blend together.

I'm not going to go into any further in this post how I thought her latest album and her recent performances were a huge disappointment.But there are reasons why she had to cancel 2 concerts in a 6 month period in a very large city that she now calls home, and it wasn't because of the tour manager.

There's only one thing that can save her now, her new album, and without MF and LB involved in it, I'm not very optimistic about her future.

Hi Scruffy - I too enjoyed the magic that occurred as a result of the the MF-LB-AJ team. However, I also believe that Alizée has had a wake-up call as a result of her coming out and not receiving the wide acclaim she had hoped for. In a way, her having to cancel 2 concerts could turn out to be the best thing that could have happened to her.

She now realizes that it will not be easy, and the fact that she is in the recording studio is a very good sign. It tells me she is comitted to figuring out how to proceed, and has some ideas on how to do so.

I believe her to be a very focused and determined woman, and I believe she has the capacity to learn from her mistakes and come back smarter and stronger. Don't forget that she did have an inside opportunity to watch masters at work, and she is a quick study - she knows what it looks like when it is working. Although she has a lot to learn about the business, I believe that as she does she will learn what works and move towards success.

I, for one, look forward with optimism.

[jung_adore_ALIZEE]

Originally Posted by Scruffydog777

They could match her up with the greatest musician in the world, and the greatest music writer in the world and it would by no means gaurantee success. Because you never know how certain artists will blend together.

they coulds also match her back up with MF and LB and I wouldn't guarantee that she would have any more success than she has now or will have with this new album

[Ben]

Originally Posted by jung_adore_ALIZEE

they coulds also match her back up with MF and LB and I wouldn't guarantee that she would have any more success than she has now or will have with this new album

True, sometimes we look back on the first two albums through rose-coloured glasses, when there already was a sharp commercial decline by the middle to end of MCE. We assume things would have been great had she came out with a "Gourmandises Part 3", but I'm not sure.

To an extent that's the nature of the business, the "novelty" factory that Lefty talked about wearing off. So chicken or the egg: did things change because the "dream team" split, or did they break up because things were changing anyway? I'd be surprised if the answer wasn't a bit of both.

Artistically speaking, that is. No doubt she would have benefited from Mylene's disciplined promotion and business acumen had they remained together. As others have pointed out, that seems to be where Alizée must develop herself more now.

[alizeeindia]

Originally Posted by Ben

True, sometimes we look back on the first two albums through rose-coloured glasses, when there already was a sharp commercial decline by the middle to end of MCE. We assume things would have been great had she came out with a "Gourmandises Part 3", but I'm not sure.

To an extent that's the nature of the business, the "novelty" factory that Lefty talked about wearing off. So chicken or the egg: did things change because the "dream team" split, or did they break up because things were changing anyway? I'd be surprised if the answer wasn't a bit of both.

I dont agree, Ben! You talk about Novelty that was there when she was new and not there now. What about the new fans? I came to know her in 2008 when I watched her La Isla Bonita performance and liked it. Then watched her JEAM performance and slowly became an ardent fan. Had I watched Fifty Sixty, I m sure things would not have been the same. Why most of the Mexicans are her fans?

I still believe, she has done it in the past, she has it in her but either she is not trying that hard or whatever but she can do much better.

[Ben]

Originally Posted by alizeeindia

I dont agree, Ben! You talk about Novelty that was there when she was new and not there now. What about the new fans? I came to know her in 2008 when I watched her La Isla Bonita performance and liked it. Then watched her JEAM performance and slowly became an ardent fan. Had I watched Fifty Sixty, I m sure things would not have been the same. Why most of the Mexicans are her fans?

Well "novelty" doesn't apply to people like us who really love her stuff, just to those looking for the "latest bandwagon" like Lefty said. It's always possible to have another hit, but you can only be the "hot new thing" in any given place once. J'en ai marre wouldn't be as popular in Mexico now if it had already been big there in 2003. So even if she did keep the same type of music and performances, I think we'd still see fall-off in places like France. Maybe not as much, but it was already starting in late 2003.