mariafrancy

Hello, I don't write here a lot, even if I always read this forum. Sorry in advance for the mistakes and the long post, but tonight I'm a little tired and I don't usually write in English, I mostly read... I am not an expert on this subject, but recently I have read some articles and forums on the music industry, partly out of curiosity, partly because Mika was talking a little about it in some interviews and I think that it could be useful to remember some things. I think that a career today is more complex than just album sales: sure they are good, but in many cases physical sales, streaming and concerts are completely different things. First of all, it must be considered that the physical sales of albums have dropped a lot in the last 4-5 years, since NPIH, in some countries more than others. For example, in Italy, many pop singers who previously obtained platinum (50,000 sales) or double platinum (100,000) now struggle to get a gold certification (25,000). Some record companies also organize many signing sessions to sell a few more copies or even make many deluxe versions of the same album... Many of these artists, however, still have good tours in theaters or arenas. On the contrary, many rap and trap singers get lots of certifications of singles and albums thanks to streaming and are on top of the charts, but they can only play in clubs. It's a generalization (for example, there are also some pop performers who do very well with singles, without being able to have a real tour, and rap singers who play in arenas), but it gives an idea of the situation. In France I think something similar happens, but with sales higher than Italy. Then, it must be taken into account that streaming favors younger singers, who are "born" with this method of listening to music, have average young listeners who perhaps have much more time to listen to streaming and are often highly promoted on Spotify and others platforms: they enter the best-known playlists, at the top positions. I don't really understand how it works, but I think that there are also big investments by record companies on some singers. In the US often tours have bundles (concert tickets + cds) that make album sales look bigger. I think that most of Mika's sales are physical albums, because in the French physical charts the album is higher than the one that combines all the "sales". Another factor to keep in mind is that, in France and in Italy, in the album charts there are very few English/US album and that mostly they have not made huge numbers, apart from the soundtracks of Lady Gaga and Queens, Billie Eilish (but she is at her first album and I think it has not reached platinum yet in France) and a couple of singers and bands that are very strong in streaming. Another thing: compared to the two previous albums, there is only one version (no deluxe), there are no songs in French and there are 13 tracks (it seems that streaming favors albums with a lot of songs, even if sometimes that's not a good thing for the quality of the album... I have listened to some of these very very long albums with tracks that are all the same...). Finally, for this article, they relied on year-round sales, while Mika's album has a life of three months. Let's wait and see if the next year a deluxe version will be released or some songs in French or English that will enter the playlists. I remember that even with the previous album there was talk of disappointment in sales, to finally reach platinum both in Italy and in France with the repack. Reading the online forums, I saw that many fandoms today focus almost obsessively on streaming (and many singers keep asking their fans to stream...). I honestly think that focusing too much on figures and certifications makes you lose the pleasure of listening to music and, to tell the truth, I admire Mika for not doing this, even if probably it's not the best thing for his sales. Anyway, if someone uses Spotify, Deezer or another platform (in Italy and France only with paid accounts and not on Youtube), you can use them more often instead of listening to your cd, so it can contribute to sales. I made a subscription a few years ago and I no longer buy CDs (apart from Mika's) because I find it more practical to listen to music like this. In many articles that I have read it's said that in a few years the CDs will disappear and that real careers are now based on live music. So maybe that's one of the reason he's now concentrating more on touring many countries and doing festivals (like Coachella).

I love this song so much, that I can't stop listening to it! It gives me a feeling of warmth and happiness, an emotion similar to when I listened for the first time to Origin of Love or Good Guys, that are some of my favorite songs. I'm a little "obsessed" with his last two albums and Sinfonia Pop and now I can't wait for the next one!

Yes, I think the same! Many people are reading the messages both on twitter and on instagram (there are lots now with both hashtags). And others will discover more about Gregory when there will be subtitles. He probably corrected the little mistake with tenses without thinking (because there was one, I guess? I make mistakes with foreign languages too).

Don't worry! Someone collected all the tweets until last night and created a little book. They will give it to Mika after the recording of the show tonight. And I'm sure they'll mention that people are still writing with this hashtag!

Thank you! You know the rules of Wikipedia and the language much better than me! I only tried to correct the mistakes, but it's a "world" I don't know much about. And the editor I talked with made it very clear that he wasn't interested in the matter. The part of the BBC is taken from the BBC page (I found it here on MFC): it was just a draft and I used it only to give the information, but the editor said he wasn't the right person to do this work (that I can understand: everyone has different interests). But some weeks ago I was reading other more well-known artist pages and I saw that they have much more "promotional" material, like programs where they appeared on just as guests, to make promotion for their albums release for example... So, as you said, you probably just have to know your way around Wikipedia. Yes, it was really important for me too. I usually don't write much on twitter (and here), but I think this moment and others in the show can help many people (me too). I hope you have a nice Sunday with the ones you love!

Hello! Unfortunately, it's not only the Italian page that's not updated, but the English, French and Spanish ones too, for example. Wikipedia is not always the most reliable source, but lots of people read it for informations. Some weeks ago I tried to correct some mistakes on Mika's English Wikipedia page, but - as I'm Italian and I have never worked on Wikipedia - I wrote the last two post (9th October) in this talk page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Mika_(singer) asking for help. Nobody answered, so I tried to ask on the online help chat of Wikipedia... It didn't go so well... After 2 hours of discussion (because apparently Italian or French articles from official sources were not considered reliable...) I managed to have an editor correct only a few things and add a mention of Stasera Casa Mika and the Rose d'Or award. For example, the last 2 dvd are still missing in the filmography section... On another note, someone on twitter started this beautiful hashtag #whenIvebeenGregory to help people talk about their stories and, in a way, say "thank you" to Mika for creating the character of Gregory and talking about important themes, like depression, fears and sadness in his show. In my opinion, it was a really touching moment. It's good when in a show there's lots of fun, but also something that makes you reflect.

I think that the informations in this article come from Mika's website, in the Biography section http://www.mikasounds.com/biography (the updates are only in the News and Music sections of the site, that the person who wrote the article should have read anyway...) or from the page of his management: http://machinemanagement.co.uk/project/mika. Apart from the 4th album evident mistake, I was trying to find something more recent on the web about worldwide figures, but I couldn't find anything from an official source (perhaps they will update everything with the new album?). About the figures of the albums, for example, I see that in this Wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mika_discography they talk about 20 million records, indicating as source Machine Management. So probably, now, something like 11 million albums or more, counting the 4 albums and Songbook (as you can see below in the same page) + singles + dvds = 20 million records? But I don't know if those figures are correct or updated... Perhaps it's more now, because there are other mistakes and things missing in Mika's wikipedia page. Yes, and some million views more with "Elle me dit" and the videos from MikaSoundsOfficial Youtube channel. In this site http://kworb.net/youtube/artist/mika.html they say 687 millions now. Anyway, I'm very curious to see what will happen at X factor UK: I always love watching him on tv!

It's a pleasure! It's me really that should thank you! Because I've read a lot of your translations of old interviews too! I can understand some French, but there are always some words and phrases that are not completely clear (but after two years of watching The Voice I'm getting better!).

Yes, not a very mature reaction... Sometimes I want to reply too, and then I stop myself, because really, with some persons, it's not worth it...

Yes, it was. The funny thing is that this article is from a blogger that a lot of times says not really nice things about Mika (and without a real reason too...). But in this case the ratings were good, so he could only report them...

Just wanted to say that, yes, it seemed short to us (because we are all waiting for Casa Mika 2!), but it really wasn't! The part with Mika lasted 15 minutes and it was in the opening of a show on the 1st channel, so I think it made a lot of publicity for his show and to an audience that probably, for the most part, is not his usual one. Lots of older people watch it too, ones that probably don't use socials frequently. Fiorella was really nice: she made Mika lots of compliments and she mentioned the Rose d'Or award too. And I think that the songs were perfect for the audience. The first one is an old lovely well-known song (the one that moms and grandmothers love, but can be appreciated by young people too). But for me the funniest moment was probably the second song, because it was written as a kind of funny satire against the discographic industry and mainstream songwriters of the time. So, in way, you could say that it's a little like a seventies italian Grace Kelly (I'm only talking about the meaning and intent of the song, not making comparisons!). Anyway, I know about some of these surreal and humoristic old songs thanks to my father and it made me happy to listen to a little bit of "La canzone intelligente" after a long time!

It was the journalist that talked about his past articles for Corriere and asked him to write for them again. She said they talked about a theme too. Mika then remembered that they met one day in a restaurant near the journalist's office while he was eating "cotoletta alla milanese" and they talked about how half of Mika's family is now vegan. And she thought it would be an interesting theme for an article. Mika talked about writing in general, but if I remember correctly, he didn't specify exactly what, apart from the phrases I translated before (about new songs) and his show, which he said it's a laboratory where he can experiment (and that's why he likes it a lot)

Hello! I wasn't there, but I watched the video on Facebook and maybe, while you are waiting for subtitles of the whole interview, you are interested in the part about writing songs for the new album. This is what he said (I hope that there are not too many mistakes! This is a really literal translation....). "There is a culture that is changing in music. I got back to the piano (to write songs), because I don't always write: I write for a period, then stop, then begin again. I always did like that, from the beginning. And what is happening now is that I'm rejecting a little the "formats" of songs. I wrote a song now that is like a landscape: it last 4.50 minutes and there are 5 different parts that don't repeat. And I thought: it's strange! I never wrote like that before! I'm really structured: strophes, refrains... I think that now there's a culture where music became background music. The idea of sitting and listening and consuming music like a film, like something that stands alone, is much more rare. Sure, there are many among you that do it, but the tendence is not that. And the music now, with Spotify, with streaming, became something that is always there in the background, in the kitchen, library, restaurants and everywhere... So the tastes of popular music now reside more in background music, and other artist that don't do this kind of music disappears a little in this tendence. And I'm not someone really reactive, because I've always done what I want to do. And it will happen what it will happen... But I think that this tendence is a little dangerous because background music is funny, but it's not the only kind of music that counts, actually, not at all. So, perhaps rejecting this a little, I'm writing these songs that are a little strange, that have not this more traditional structure. And this is my starting point, and the project will arrive where it will arrive. And I'm someone that has always done so many contradictory things in his own work and I hope to keep doing it in the future". Then he said that he wrote a new "sigla" (jingle? theme song? last year it was Boum Boum Boum) for Casa mika, that wasn't born as a sigla, but as a song (he wrote it a month ago) and he thought it was perfect for the show and he really like it (he didn't say in which language he wrote this song). I hope this can help!

Yes, I understand what you are saying about different backgrounds and exposure to a certain kind of music since your childhood and I wouldn’t certainly judge anyone if his or her tastes are different from mine! But why don’t give it a try if you already really like the other songs of an artist? I think that Mika in the last few years made many discoveries too, listening to Italian and French music for his television shows and probably that influenced a bit even his new English songs (I don’t know if you like "Talk about you", but part of the inspiration came from an old Italian song, that I love and is in the credits). And, to tell the truth, I was probably a bit in your situation when I was a kid: since my parents (like many older people in Italy) don’t understand a word of English, I mostly listened to Italian songs, with just a bit of classical music and French oldies. It was only in high school, but especially University and after, that I really started to discover music in English and other languages. Now, in recent years, it’s so easy to find new music on YouTube! And you can make interesting discovers too. Probably it’s also a question of temperament, since I am quite curious… But I’ll tell you a funny thing: I made my parents listen to Mika last album (the double one with the symphonic concert) and they loved the songs! Especially Any other world, Grace Kelly, Promiseland and Ordinary Man. They obviously can’t sing them, but my mother even went to google to find an Italian translation of the lyrics (and that’s never happened for another English artist). It’s really true that Mika can be liked by every generation, from kids to older people…

Hello, I'm new here. I joined MFC some months ago but, as I am a rather shy person, I just observed (and enjoyed all the materials, interviews and music from live concerts) without never posting… It’s probably not a good idea to enter in this discussion, especially since it’s my first post, but in the last few days I kept coming here because I was a bit upset by this “war” that happened after a comment in an interview and that I think many non-English mother tongue fans can’t truly understand. You see, I’m Italian and I really don’t get the problem with listening to a song in another language. I obviously listen to more Italian music, but I usually listen - and like - songs in English, French, Spanish and other languages too. For me, the first and most important thing is the melody. I can’t understand the words in a different language without looking up the written lyrics before. Yes, it’s a bit more difficult, but I think that, if I really like a song or a musician, it’s an effort that I have to do (and can enrich me very much, helping me to learn new languages and discovering new cultures). About the French songs, I really like them, even the ones not in the album, like “J’ai pas envie”. And I think it’s the same for many Italian fans, and fans all around the world (see the recent Asian tour). Especially I like that Mika seems so happy when he performs them and put so much effort to make them funny and to take down the barrier of language and make all the people dance. He said many times that he is not only British, but also Lebanese, French and American. It’s natural that there could be songs that we don’t like (for example, I’m not crazy about some songs of the second album), but I think we have to accept all parts of his identity, if we like him as a person and as a musician. And I think that’s why he was so hurt (that he felt “refused” somehow) and talked about it in the interview after such a long time. He should probably let it go, but we are all humans and, when something touches us deeply, it’s difficult to forget (especially if in the past you have been harshly criticized, you tend to put up your defences). By the way, in the interview, he put the accent on the touching moment of the flags (that I think all fans participated in, probably even the fan that criticized him) to tell that he shouldn’t have judged the situation so quickly… And he didn’t make the name of the person. Are you sure she’s really the one? That said, I think it’s horrible that someone has written so many bad comments about this person. It’s not in any way justified, but even me, like I said, don’t understand her point of view about listening songs in French or any foreign language… I even think it would be interesting if Mika did a song in Korean, Japanese, Mandarin or another difficult language (I certainly would want to hear that!). On the other hand, reading your comments I think the issue is perhaps more about Mika not doing shows in UK for a long time and the old fans feeling kind of abandoned. But I don’t know if that’s really his fault or what he wants. I think that his last two albums didn’t sell that well there and he received a lot of bad press and comments too. Perhaps, at the time he accepted X Factor in Italy, he was just trying to find a new market (if it went bad, the consequences wouldn’t have been so horrible). Then it went well and I can’t really fault him for going for the new opportunities that came from it and from The Voice (more freedom for his music and concerts). Perhaps his popularity would return if he did a radio or television show in UK, but I don’t know if he now has offers (or offers that he would like). He said many times that it should be something related to things he knows about and something where he can have freedom to experiment. And probably for the concerts is the same: I think that today they cost a lot of money, even small gigs, and in any part of the world you need to have promoters and people that invest (and that is based on popularity). He said it recently about Australia, and I think that it could be the same for other countries. Sorry if I offended someone with my opinions in my first post (I know I talked too much…) and sorry for my grammar mistakes. I want to thank all of you for this wonderful place and for all you do for other fans (especially Nina for the touching live videos and stories about gigs, Marina and Eriko for the interviews and materials, and all the subtitling people!). A big hug to all of you!