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Independent Idol: Taylor Hicks Goes It Alone

by Jarrett Martineau | January 8, 2008 at 09:36 am

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Too bad for Taylor, but if every other Idol winner's debut goes platinum and scores a big radio single, the expectation is that he should be able to do it too.

With record industry sales plummeting to record lows, the American Idol franchise has to rely on bankable pop stars, so it's not much of a surprise that Hicks has been dropped by Clive Davis' J Records.

Previous winner Ruben Studdard was also dropped due to poor album sales and we'll have to wait and see how this plays out for last year's crooning champ Jordin Sparks. Regardless, the business of selling a million records has become a difficult task for any artist, American Idol or not.

Taylor Hicks might have won "American Idol," but he doesn't have his record deal anymore.

The soul singer, who claimed the "Idol" title in 2006, has apparently been dropped by J Records, a label within Sony-BMG, which signs the show's singers.

"Taylor is going to record on his own for the next album," said J Records publicist Liz Morentin, who did not give further details regarding Hicks. [...]

Hicks' self-titled, post-"Idol" album, released in December 2006, debuted at No. 2 on the charts. In the weeks after it was issued, however, the disc slid down the charts. While it sold a respectable 699,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan data, it did not reach the 1 million mark, unlike all the other debuts from previous "Idol" champs. It also did not register a hit song, unlike other "Idol" winners.

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webchic00

at 14:55 on January 8th, 2008

Taylor Hicks did not just get dropped like the media is trying to portray. It was a process that was agreed by two parties. It was a mutual separation. Taylor's creative freedom is important to him as he was never an AI material anyway, and what I meant by that is, he was never going to be a prepackaged, manufactured artist like the ones produced in that show. Taylor is going to be playing the music that he wants from now on, and a lot of his fans are still going to support him. I resent the fact that he is getting really bad press about this, and a only a few really tell is as it is. Thanks for this balance article you wrote, Jarette!

webchic00 has contributed a photo to this story.

annfran

at 20:02 on January 8th, 2008

Taylor Hicks has his own style and stands out among the rest of the AI winners. I wish him success. He still remains to be my American Idol.

annfran has contributed photos to this story.