R&B singer Mya recently sat down to break down music industry politics and the affects it's had on the fate of her now shelved CD, Liberation.
Liberation's latest false start is one of several for Mya's latest project on Universal/Motown. The numerous set backs resulted in scrutiny from fans and naysayers that believed the crooner should have patterned her actions after Beyonce.
Artists like B, Jennifer Lopez and Rihanna have capitalized on corporate sponsorships, acting, modeling, product placement deals and aggressive marketing initiatives to ensure they connect with their potential consumers at numerous points of interest, which ultimately is hoped to translate into record sales.
"We're at a different state in music as well as entertainment as well as the economy right now," Mya explained. "It's based on finance. It's based on marketing and promotions which are essential to get your product out there to be heard. I think what albums are becoming now are promotional items for other opportunities, but you have to be a multi-faced, multimedia artist to take advantage of those things. Not just a singer, but a model. Not just a model, but an actress. Not just an actress, but a dancer. Not just a dancer, but a musician."
"There is a whole other side of the business that affects releases," she added. "There are also other releases that are pushed into your slot because they've pushed back because of difficulties or the state of the music industry right now, or lack of proper support. Y'all don't know this, well some people do but people don't want to hear that."
Liberation was most recently slated to hit shelves on September 18. At press time, there no release date has been set.