The Reality Of Winning The Voice
Outside all the fanfare, the hype and the superlatives from Seal, what does winning The Voice actually entail? DARREN LEVIN reports.
Meet Karise Eden, a 19-year-old from the NSW Central Coast, who not only won the Nine Network reality show The Voice last night, but has been dubbed “the voice of her generation” by none other than UK pop singer Seal. It’s a big burden to carry for a young work-in-progress, who was too busy flitting between women’s shelters in her youth to ever contemplate the realities of a professional singing career – but the superlatives didn’t end there.
"You've just witnessed a historical moment in Australian TV,” gushed Seal after a performance by Eden on the program’s penultimate show on Monday night. “You are looking at the new Australian queen of soul.”
While Eden may well unseat Renee Geyer – the artist that’s carried that mantle for 40 years of hard graft and little financial reward – she faces a long, hard road in a fickle industry whose core business (selling albums) is dwindling with each passing year. According to last year’s ARIA wholesale figures, the current overall industry value has dropped more than 27 percent since 2005. While labels and industry professionals have undoubtedly taken a hit, artists are the real losers in this equation; a fact confirmed by a recent Ernst & Young report finding musicians were making roughly $12,000 a year.
And yet the singers that appear on The Voice are still being sold an outdated rock’n’roll fantasy where all of their dreams can come true. Are they told that attaining platinum sales in Australia is a rarity for a local artist (there were eight last year), or that those figures relate to roughly 70,000 records sold?
As winner of The Voice, Eden has already won 10 times the average national wage for a musician in cash, as well as a car and a record deal with Universal Music Australia. But what exactly does that deal entail? While contestants have been barred from talking about their contracts with the media, a report in The Guardian published earlier this year hinted at oppressive 360 deals involving 50 percent of revenue from album sales, 50 percent of publishing rights and a 20 percent cut of the gross of all other revenue associated with the artist, including merchandise, biographies and performance income.
But that’s not the case in Australia, says Darren Sanicki, the lawyer representing the 48 finalists of The Voice. While he was unable to discuss exact figures, he says the contracts offered were “generally in the same ballpark” as your garden-variety major label deal.
“I act for the contestants and if there was massive unfairness about it, it wouldn’t be happening,” Sanicki told M+N today. “In the other shows, Idol or whatever, you’re talking about kids. With The Voice you’re dealing with a lot of seasoned professionals: Mahalia Barnes, Glenn Cunningham, Prinnie Stevens and Darren Percival. These people have all been around for years in the industry – they had a lot of strong ideas of where their contracts should end up.”
But that doesn’t mean the negotiations were all smooth sailing. Each contract was beholden to not only the interests of the label, but the two production companies behind the show as well. “You’re not only dealing with a record company,” says Sanicki, “you’re dealing with a company that’s answerable to the format owners of the show. In Australia it’s Shine, but in the Netherlands – where the show comes from – it’s a group called Talpa [Media]. The hard thing was when Universal’s hands were tied by Talpa and they couldn’t budge on a point. That’s when it gets a little frustrating.”
While Eden is the only contestant to have put pen to paper to a Universal deal so far, theoretically all 47 other finalists can be snapped up over the coming weeks. Sanicki says all finalists were offered the same deal, barring a handful of artists with pre-existing management and publishing deals.
“The top 48 contestants all sign the same contracts, which is recording, management and publishing – separate agreements,” he explains. “The contract automatically applies to the winner, and anyone else management or the label decides to option. It’s a bit more detailed than that, but effectively the record label can pick who they want. And the people they don’t option, that’s it. It’s over.”
Sanicki says the option period generally lasts only a few weeks, but given the success of the show he expects Universal to exercise it on at least one more artist. “I just get the feeling with The Voice because of how big it is, and because there’s already been so much recording activity, and testing of the market – they’ve sold 100,000 singles – they’ll probably take more than the winner. I don’t know how many, but we’ll find out.”
But not all artists are thrilled at the prospect of a Voice-endorsed record deal. Speaking to M+N on condition of anonymity, a former contestant said they felt as if they were signing away their life. “It’s pretty all-encompassing. It’s your standard contract that stitches you up. They spend a fortune on these shows so they want to tie you down, and they do tie you down. If you get optioned, you pretty much have to go their way … When it’s being broadcast to millions of people, they want to own you.”
“The singers that appear on 'The Voice' are still being sold an outdated rock’n’roll fantasy where all of their dreams can come true.”
Asked if they had an understanding of what kind of agreements they were entering into, they said it was hard not to get caught up in the “whirlwind” nature of reality TV. “There were certain things I was reluctant to sign on, definitely. Stuff pertaining to publishing and those kind of platform deals, where your life is owned … We had a few good wins, but nothing substantial. Universal, I suppose, would’ve put the bar very high knowing that for most of us this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. They would’ve been happy to bring it back to what the standard [major label contract] would be anyway.”
Aside from an in-house counselor, which was provided by the production company free of charge, the contestant said they were sold the rock star dream until the very end. “There were a lot of roundabout discussions and they were really careful about what they said and how they said it.”
So what now for Karise Eden, an artist taking her tentative first steps beyond the protective environment of The Voice? With her cover of ‘Hallelujah’ already sitting at #2 on the ARIA Singles Chart, Sanicki, her lawyer, says it’s a case of striking while the iron – and the TV ratings – are hot. “I believe they’re going into the studio really quickly to finish a record so she can get one out. Then it’s about how well you do next. She probably wants to get something out, relax, and then have a think about making an album from scratch; to try and become a relevant artist.”
And yet for all the Jessica Mauboys and Lisa Mitchells, the Brooke Addamos and Guy Sebastians, the Matt Corbys and Shannon Nolls, that quest for relevancy is something attained by very few, especially when you’re perceived as not having paid your dues.
“It’s really difficult to get a break,” Sanicki concedes. “Some might be ready and some might not. You look at [X Factor winner] Altiyan Childs. He clearly wasn’t ready for it. But there are a lot of others that have. Jessica Mauboy is on the verge of being a world star … There’s plenty of people having successful careers that started on one of these shows, and equally there’s people that don’t handle it so well.”
Fuuuccck. Don't you hate how irrelevant shows like the Voice make you feel as a music fan? That's probably sold more copies than my five favourite Australian albums of the year combined.
christ when will people stop covering that fucking song. ENOUGH!
when it stops selling 100,000 copies every time someone trots it out on a talent quest.
I just got about two lines into her cover of Hallelujah before having to close the browser. It would have been quicker if I hadn't had to recoil in horror.
She'll defs go straight to vinyl.
And EVERYBODY covers the Jeff Buckley version. Slow, earnest, right down to the exact cadence he uses, leaving out the verses he chose leave out. Even Katherine Jenkins (Welsh soprano, pint-sized, blonde) covers it the exact same way.
Future Pitchfork 4.3 material?
the jeff buckley version is the john cale version
Interesting article, nice one
nice
Nice pick-up!
So moderate unfairness is OK?
Nice work Darren. Interesting read.
corporation attempts to make as much money as possible from desperate-for-fame artists.
the surprise element of this would be?
The Voice is on the BBC in the UK, which I find fascinating. Anyone seen it?
i think it's better people are reminded of it than not. we're talking bout young people getting swept up in this manufactured lime light, there is more than an air of exploitation about these shows.
There has been more than an air of exploitation about 90% of all aspects of the industry...at least the Voice-ites get access to a lawyer and counsellor. Here's some advice, kids...don't sign.
awesome piece Daz! hope a few Voice devotees chew through it.
just to clarify - what happens if you don't get optioned? are you free to pursue your own options, or are you effectively banned from ever pursuing a career?
yeah, but the thing is the kids would sign anything, they're hardly going to get on tv and then go, wait a second i don't want this i'm leaving the competition..the point is they are pressured to sign these contracts.
I agree, you've just got to hope there's a trusted voice in their ear telling them not to sign ... if they were #23 or # 31 out of the 48 contestants, then WHAT POSSIBLE advantage could signing with Universal give them? They'll just get tied to a contract that will haunt them in the future.
But that's not much different to what has happened often in the past, even in the indie f
Damn... Meant to say ''indie field''. I mean, shit, does anyone remember rooArt's 'Youngblood' compilation series? You signed a contract with them at your peril.
you're effectively released from contract
Oh carn guys, backstage $3.20 cokes is pretty sweet
My guess would be that if you don't sign the standard contract at the beginning of the show's run you don't get a spot in the top 50.
I something something dark side this thread.
Just as I expected. Compulsory signing to lame major label.
I reckon that Lakyn Heperi will get optioned by Universal. Amazing skateboarder too.
Bloody horrible show. The winner has the Adele thing going on (ie. plain-looking soul singer).
And a very good article too.
great read
of course there's compulsory signing. and the producers, for all their bargaining power, wouldn't even need to pressure/coerce - they can rely on these non-entities who think singing bad covers on TV is life's greatest achievement to sign any old thing they haven't even read. and you know what, good on the tards, if that's the extent of their ambition.
Re it not being a 360 deal:
So, 120 per contract. Well, that's all right then.
Great yarn.
I think that Karise has a pretty great voice - I only just heard her when I was switching through radio stations in my car - and they were playing her new single. Very husky and Adele-esque, but I was certainly expecting a lot worse. The song was okay, but it sounded like karaoke. Seriously. It was so cheese. They preeetty much used a midi drum track and soft strings over the entire song, except for the fact it was bookended by seemingly random RnB drums. Mystifying.
Karise has been around for a bit too... has previously played Peats Ridge, has been putting her own vids on YouTube pre-The Voice. Seems pretty pro-active, modest... doesn't come across as the 'desperate to be rich and famous' type. Will be interesting to see how they invest in her re: live performances. Hopefully not Westfields and NRL half time acts.
As a vocalist, she changed during the extent of the show, smoothing out much of her constant Diamanda Galas roar, so here's hoping she continues to receive coaching and mentoring. Pretty crazy that she's 19. As the article suggested, she's still got a long way to go.
she's only 19???? she looks 35.
Major label treats artists unfairly. Hardly a scoop.
So she's already taken home $500,000? I'd say she's doing pretty well. Even if she's forgotten in 2 months (pretty likely) she done alright for herself.
She's sings well until she goes up the register into a scream... Austraila loves a good screamer!
that figure was based on the ernst & young report, not the average national wage.
Beaten to it.
I wonder what happens if you refuse to co-operate? Like if I won then demanded that I only release an album of Fall covers?
The producers/record label would have made them all sign something before setting foot on set agreeing that a condition of participating would be to cooperate with the label or some such... Or it would be a condition of winning the $$ (and actually seeing any of it) that they do x,y,z for the label/production company/network... incl. all the PR bollocks during/after the show (e.g. interviews on breakfast television).
The contracts/agreements for partaking in any reality TV series are pretty exhaustive. I'd say she won't get a shred of autonomy/control over her music until at least the second album, if at all.
For all the 'success' stories born from reality TV, there's at least three times as many casualties. You'd want to be doing it for the money/experience, not to gain credibility as an artist (in my opinion).
great read. good work m+n.
head desk
Karise Eden Australian Tour
Wed 27 Jun - Chermside Westfield Shopping Centre QLD
Thu 28 Jun - Westfield Kotara NSW
Fri 29 Jun - Westfield Sydney Shopping Centre NSW
Sat 30 Jun - Westfield Miranda NSW
Mon 2 Jul - Westfield Southland Shopping Centre VIC
Tue 3 Jul - Westfield Fountain Gate VIC
Wed 4 Jul - Westfield Garden City QLD
Thu 5 Jul - Westfield Marion Shopping Centre SA
Sat 7 Jul - Westfield Whitford City WA
Sun 8 Jul - Westfield Belconnen ACT
that can't be real... is it?
she only had to play 4 songs when the gigs structured that way, no pressure.
had/has
why did you expect anything more?
Afraid so
The voice album cover art decoded
crikey blog.