This probably won’t go over well, but I’ve decided it’s necessary to channel what most fans are already thinking.
Here goes nothing…
Tonight, Adam Leber took to Twitter tonight to clear up some “rumors,” saying:
Need to clear something up. This Grammy rumor is just that, a rumor. @BritneySpears was NEVER performing. That said, you will be seeing her soon…..
In regards to my Excluusive regarding the Grammy’s, I can only say this: I was merely reporting what I was told from a closely connected source. If Britney Spears is not performing at the Grammy’s this year, it’s not because it was never on the table as Adam suggests. Apart from MuuMuse, Perez Hilton had his own exclusive on the matter as well. Let’s just wait and see, shall we?
He then followed up that thought with the impossibly irritating statement:
PS-For those of you that are pissed,and I mean REALLY PISSED,if I sat here all day and answered all of the rumors id never get anything done.
Yes, “ALL” of the rumors: The Grammy’s. The Superbowl. The “Spears for Sears” campaign. The–oh. Oh, wait. Those are the only rumors on the table.
But now, we’ve arrived at the larger issue at hand here–beyond exclusives and rumors, there’s a bone that requires serious picking: This album’s OFFICIAL campaign.
Or more accurately, the lack thereof.
First of all, I know: The album’s not out until March.
But let’s put it in the larger pop scheme of things by comparison: Avril Lavigne‘s album has a confirmed title and release date in March. Jennifer Hudson has a confirmed title and release date in March. Lady Gaga fans have an album title, a single title, releases dates, song previews, song titles, promotional photographs, full song lyrics, confirmed interviews and performances to anticipate–and Born This Way isn’t even out until late May.
Britney’s seventh studio album is coming out in little over ONE MONTH, and we still don’t even have a confirmed release date (well, sort of…it’s March 15, and we know that because of a leaked sales sheet.)
REALLY?
The hyper-control exerted over Britney’s life is nothing new, although it became heavily exacerbated ever since the triumphant (albeit cripplingly reserved) return to form that was the Circus era. The intense degree of control was briefly captured on tape on For The Record, the beautiful-but-tragic MTV documentary that left me with the disturbing impression that Britney has never felt more controlled or unhappy in her entire life (which made her management’s frenzied promotion of the film all the more unsettling to me).
Naturally, that control extended through the promotional campaign for Circus.
Whenever gossip spread–usually involving Britney’s personal life–we got push-back from her camp with things like the BS Alert: A kind of clever, but mostly tacky way for Britney’s management to dismiss rumors on her official website by slapping a huge “BULLSHIT” stamp across a tabloid news story reporting some ~zany~ headline.
Now, it seems to operate as nothing but another barrier from her music. Another “no.” Another “not happening.” A seemingly eternal buzz-kill that neither explains its obnoxious denial nor offers up any happier news in return. What other pop star maintains such a negative marketing mechanism?
If it’s not the now semi-defunct BS Alert slamming rumors, it’s her manager and representation: Adam Leber, Larry Rudolph, assorted ‘handlers’–you name it, they’ll deny it. No new music. She’s not working with him. She’s not doing that. She’s not performing there. There’s yet to be a single positive marketing mechanism employed to promote this album, aside from Leber’s lackluster tweet tonight:
More importantly, keep an eye out for the album title, album cover and some sneak peeks of the HIAM video, all coming this week…..
REALLY?
Luckily, she has fans. Lots of them, and we’re all only too eager to jump and support Britney at the drop of a single (as evidenced a few weeks ago). She needn’t lift a finger and the single hit #1 in 20 countries. That’s what we Britney stans like to refer to as “The Power of Britney”: It’s a testament to her legend and our true belief in her as a pop artist.
But it’s also a curse, because for Britney’s team, that base is gold. It’s everything. They’ve done no heavy lifting to support the release. And you know what? They can get away with it with ease. Why? Because it’s Britney (bitch).
“Hold It Against Me” is literally out for sale right now, and there’s hardly been anything done about it, apart from “her” own occasional tweets and Facebook updates. Of course, Leber’s done a bang-up job of offering us quick teaser tweets now and then–that is, when he’s not too busy pimping out his other priority client, Jersey Shore‘s DJ Pauly D (umm…). Oh, and you can hear the song streaming on Britney.com.
But other than some incredibly tight-lipped, impersonal interactions via social media, that’s literally it. No confirmed interviews, appearances, magazines, radio visits, interactions with the outside world. Nothing. Remember…a month away, folks.
What’s with the lack of information? About anything? I know that the element of surprise is great and all, but–at this point, all of the non-talking they’ve done is threatening to make this album one massive non-event.
Between the botched Facebook “first listen” single campaign, the leaked Bonnie McKee “Hold It Against Me” demo, and the constant nay-saying to any and all rumors that spring up (including tonight’s newly rejected Grammy’s idea)–this era is beginning to feel far too sloppy for a living legend.
And you know what? It’s making her look bad. Really bad. It’s making her look lazy, and it’s making her look non-existent and/or subordinate–especially given the lengths to which the other more visible pop stars in the game are going in order to promote themselves as entertainers.
In short: I know we’re going to hear the album title and see the cover shortly. (Fuck, it’ll probably come out tomorrow and I’ll be queening out all over MuuMuse about it.) We will eventually get the video, and we will see her perform again.
But that doesn’t change the fact that this campaign has been nothing short of an afterthought thus far.
I’m speaking as a fan–a true, devoted Britney fan when I ask this: Is she actually ready to promote this album? Because that’s the message we’re getting. No communication, no preparation. Where’s the validation that our girl is even OKAY?!
Why has the entire promotional campaign for this era essentially consisted of roughly three major tweets and a blurry TwitPic?
Why is everything such a secret?
Just what the fuck is going on this era?