New from Mikasounds

[Marilyn Mastin]

Yes, I'm sure people in the general population think Mika has nothing new. They possibly think he is a has-been already. As was mentioned above, I can't understand why Mika stresses over his shows, puts his heart and soul into them, then doesn't make certain his product is advertised to the widest audiance possible.

In the past he has tended to say, things like, "it's for those who were here from the start" etc. But that's unfair on the new fans, because not everyone got to know him through Grace Kelly, but that doesn't mean the newer fans are less loyal, or love him any less. I got to know him through Love Today, and count myself a very big fan! Maybe people who haven't yet become Mika fans, would do so, once they see his DVDs, but thay need to know his stuff is out there.

[sariflor]

Yes, I'm sure people in the general population think Mika has nothing new. They possibly think he is a has-been already. As was mentioned above, I can't understand why Mika stresses over his shows, puts his heart and soul into them, then doesn't make certain his product is advertised to the widest audiance possible.

In the past he has tended to say, things like, "it's for those who were here from the start" etc. But that's unfair on the new fans, because not everyone got to know him through Grace Kelly, but that doesn't mean the newer fans are less loyal, or love him any less. I got to know him through Love Today, and count myself a very big fan! Maybe people who haven't yet become Mika fans, would do so, once they see his DVDs, but thay need to know his stuff is out there.

I think that what you mention is a totally different thing- The only instance where I know that he's said that, was for the Brixton after party thingie, and to me that makes total sense.

He had a very limited amount of people that he could see, and he wanted to reward the "first" fans, as in, the people who had been following him from the early days, going to plenty of shows, supporting him throughout all that time.

This doesn't mean that he's favouring these fans, or that he's implying that other fans have a "lesser" status.

It just means that on an occasion like that one, where it was physically impossible to see everyone (out of the 5000 people or so who went to the gig, I presume every one of those fans would have loved to meet him, no?) he had to choose a few, and the criteria that he (tried to) follow was: the oldest fans first.

Let's be realistic: as much as he needs to focus on every old, new and future potential fan, the reality of it is that many of us have spent nearly 2 years promoting him with friends and aquaintances, posting videos, etc, and surely this has also been in his favour?

Anyway, the Brixton gathering was clearly intended (in Mika's eyes, IMO, judging by what he said and how he reacted when he saw all those faces that he couldn't recognise) for his "oldest" core fans, who had been following him for a long time, and not for example for the person who had just discovered him and decided to go along to the gig to check him out.

It's quite natural I find .

Of course though, this party had nothing to do with the fact that I think he's not promoting himself well enough, in order to get more new fans. People won't just stumble upon his MS page or MFC if they don't hear about him, so it seems silly.

[chickadee]

Of course though, this party had nothing to do with the fact that I think he's not promoting himself well enough, in order to get more new fans. People won't just stumble upon his MS page or MFC if they don't hear about him, so it seems silly.

 

Well, I did. Stumble upon his MS page that is. That's how I found out about Mika, but it's not a technique that I was trying to use. I wasn't looking for new artists, I'd been checking out whether someone else was touring and read their comments section and clicked on the profile of a commenter and then in her comments section was Mika and I clicked on his out of curiousity and voila! The rest is history. I'm still a bit amazed by the fact that if Mika hadn't commented on her page, I never would have found him. And even more amazed that he commented her!

 

And just to reply to Christine cos I forgot to MQ her, although Facebook has taken off as you say, I find it equally as useless as MS when it comes to Mika. MFC is the place to be!!!

[Christine]

And just to reply to Christine cos I forgot to MQ her, although Facebook has taken off as you say, I find it equally as useless as MS when it comes to Mika. MFC is the place to be!!!

 

I didn't mean that Facebook is supplanting MySpace as far as artists communicating with fans is concerned. That's why I said artists have to find a more direct route to reach fans now (i.e. the email). It's just that people are using Facebook to keep in touch with one another so they don't spend as much time on MySpace.

[Marilyn Mastin]

I think that what you mention is a totally different thing- The only instance where I know that he's said that, was for the Brixton after party thingie, and to me that makes total sense.

He had a very limited amount of people that he could see, and he wanted to reward the "first" fans, as in, the people who had been following him from the early days, going to plenty of shows, supporting him throughout all that time.

This doesn't mean that he's favouring these fans, or that he's implying that other fans have a "lesser" status.

It just means that on an occasion like that one, where it was physically impossible to see everyone (out of the 5000 people or so who went to the gig, I presume every one of those fans would have loved to meet him, no?) he had to choose a few, and the criteria that he (tried to) follow was: the oldest fans first.

Let's be realistic: as much as he needs to focus on every old, new and future potential fan, the reality of it is that many of us have spent nearly 2 years promoting him with friends and aquaintances, posting videos, etc, and surely this has also been in his favour?

Anyway, the Brixton gathering was clearly intended (in Mika's eyes, IMO, judging by what he said and how he reacted when he saw all those faces that he couldn't recognise) for his "oldest" core fans, who had been following him for a long time, and not for example for the person who had just discovered him and decided to go along to the gig to check him out.

It's quite natural I find .

Of course though, this party had nothing to do with the fact that I think he's not promoting himself well enough, in order to get more new fans. People won't just stumble upon his MS page or MFC if they don't hear about him, so it seems silly.

Yes I understand that if there is limited space, it's fair that it's for the first come-first served people. I also know he is good to his fans, like when he bought the champagne at the Christmas party for us all, when he didn't need to. But he just doesn't seem to wish to increase his fan base and that means he just keeps on sending messages to existing fans about his DVD, when we already have our copies! He's trying to make us happy with the blogs and vlogs, but not putting himself out there for new people to find. I hope he does start marketing himself better, otherwise, in the present economic climate, he might not sell his new album so well, this time around.

[Christine]

I also know he is good to his fans, like when he bought the champagne at the Christmas party for us all, when he didn't need to. But he just doesn't seem to wish to increase his fan base...

 

Well it's not quite that simple. I'm certain that Mika would be more than happy to increase his fan base! But advertising on television costs a lot more than a few bottles of champagne.

 

I think the PDP DVD is a bit of a vanity project and if he hadn't sunk so much of his own money into it, it never would have happened. I doubt that his record company would have written him a blank cheque for this endeavour because they already laid out in order to create the album and launch him to the point where he can actually sell 55,000 seats at a gig.

 

When LICM was launched Mika busted his ass and I'm sure a ton of bills were racked up in order to promote him. He was doing radio, TV and print interviews, magazine shoots, in-store appearances, making videos, and promotional tie-ins literally every single day.

 

I know we feel the Mika drought around here but for the rest of the world it's normal and they don't expect to see Mika in their faces 24/7 year in and year out. Other young British artists are on the same cycle. The Lily Allen promo machine is cranking up again now that she has her second album out and is going on tour.

 

I don't know if it's possible to see quite the hype of Mika's career launch, but I expect a dramatic onslaught of promotion in the coming months. He is building this new website so that there's a place for people to go when the interviews, etc. get his name out there again. He'll have somewhere to reel them in and entice them to stick around for the times when he's not engaged in costly and time consuming promotion via other media.

[Christine]

This is an example of Lily Allen's promo emails. The content doesn't have to be formal in order to be correct.

 

 

And how about this game of dodging paps?

[Soaring Simpson]

Yes, that's more like it- except it shoots itself in the foot with "Hi Kids", surely? Even if kids are the people they're aiming at

[Marilyn Mastin]

Well it's not quite that simple. I'm certain that Mika would be more than happy to increase his fan base! But advertising on television costs a lot more than a few bottles of champagne.

 

I think the PDP DVD is a bit of a vanity project and if he hadn't sunk so much of his own money into it, it never would have happened. I doubt that his record company would have written him a blank cheque for this endeavour because they already laid out in order to create the album and launch him to the point where he can actually sell 55,000 seats at a gig.

 

When LICM was launched Mika busted his ass and I'm sure a ton of bills were racked up in order to promote him. He was doing radio, TV and print interviews, magazine shoots, in-store appearances, making videos, and promotional tie-ins literally every single day.

 

I know we feel the Mika drought around here but for the rest of the world it's normal and they don't expect to see Mika in their faces 24/7 year in and year out. Other young British artists are on the same cycle. The Lily Allen promo machine is cranking up again now that she has her second album out and is going on tour.

 

I don't know if it's possible to see quite the hype of Mika's career launch, but I expect a dramatic onslaught of promotion in the coming months. He is building this new website so that there's a place for people to go when the interviews, etc. get his name out there again. He'll have somewhere to reel them in and entice them to stick around for the times when he's not engaged in costly and time consuming promotion via other media.

I do hope you are right about the coming months. I hope there will be promotion for his album. Mika is too good for his album to fail, and it won't fail if there is publicity for it, so I hope that will happen!

Mika is deffinately an unusual artist, in the way he interracts with his fans, so it would be such a shame if his album failed due to lack of publicity.

But hopefully, you are right, and Mika is gearing up for a big publicity push!

[Lolliepop_girl]

just received from Mikasounds....

 

" Hi all

 

After the amazing exploits of 2007 with the global success of 'Life In Cartoon Motion', it would have been a real challenge for anyone, let alone MIKA, to attempt to top that during this year. However, despite not releasing any new material this year, there have been some amazing highlights that makes 2008 another MIKA year to remember.

 

For starters there was that amazing performance that opened this years Brits when MIKA kicked off proceedings with 'Love Today' then segued into a duet wiith Beth Ditto on The Gossip's classic 'Standing In The Way Of Control' and then ended with 'Grace Kelly'. At the end of the day MIKA sealed the previous 12 months by winning the Brits Best Breakthrough Act.

 

MIKA's main focus this year has been taking his live extravaganza on the road and, in particular, continental Europe when for a few heady weeks MIKA brought his show to various festivals and towns. Probably the most significant being MIKA's first stadium show at the Parc des Princes in Paris on 4 July in front of more than 50,000 people.

 

MIKA really pulled the stops out for this one pulling in some of the world's top design talent to help create a stunning stage set and bespoke costumes. Add in circus performers including flying clowns, tap dancing astronauts, a 100 foot Chinese Dragon, can-can dancing Big Girls and you create a spectacle that even had the likes of Kanye West nodding their head in admiration.

 

It was appropriate then that this very special was captured for posterity and released last month as a special live DVD that captured the entire performance including 'Rain', a new song, as well as bonus material.

 

So with MIKA's attention now firmly fixed towards the next album we bring the year to a close and look ahead to even more exciting times next year. You can keep tabs with MIKA's thoughts and musings via his blog.

 

In the meantime guys, another year has passed and another year of your tremendous, wonderful support. Thank you so much on behalf of MIKA and everyone here at Mikasounds – we would all like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a fantastic New Year.

 

Have a good one and thanks again!

 

 

Love Mikasounds "

"exploits of 2007"

 

That is good but it doesn't sound good

[chickadee]

I didn't mean that Facebook is supplanting MySpace as far as artists communicating with fans is concerned. That's why I said artists have to find a more direct route to reach fans now (i.e. the email). It's just that people are using Facebook to keep in touch with one another so they don't spend as much time on MySpace.

 

Oh. Sorry, I misunderstood:blush-anim-cl:

 

Well it's not quite that simple. I'm certain that Mika would be more than happy to increase his fan base! But advertising on television costs a lot more than a few bottles of champagne.

 

I think the PDP DVD is a bit of a vanity project and if he hadn't sunk so much of his own money into it, it never would have happened. I doubt that his record company would have written him a blank cheque for this endeavour because they already laid out in order to create the album and launch him to the point where he can actually sell 55,000 seats at a gig.

 

When LICM was launched Mika busted his ass and I'm sure a ton of bills were racked up in order to promote him. He was doing radio, TV and print interviews, magazine shoots, in-store appearances, making videos, and promotional tie-ins literally every single day.

 

I know we feel the Mika drought around here but for the rest of the world it's normal and they don't expect to see Mika in their faces 24/7 year in and year out. Other young British artists are on the same cycle. The Lily Allen promo machine is cranking up again now that she has her second album out and is going on tour.

 

I don't know if it's possible to see quite the hype of Mika's career launch, but I expect a dramatic onslaught of promotion in the coming months. He is building this new website so that there's a place for people to go when the interviews, etc. get his name out there again. He'll have somewhere to reel them in and entice them to stick around for the times when he's not engaged in costly and time consuming promotion via other media.

 

Can't remember why I quoted this, cos I'm reading about four threads at once... except to possibly say that that makes sense when you put it like that. And that I bow to your superior knowledge of the recording industry? *shrugs* It was something like that, anyway.

 

Yes, that's more like it- except it shoots itself in the foot with "Hi Kids", surely? Even if kids are the people they're aiming at

 

Actually, I didn't presume that was intended to be for kids. I just thought it was a casual and joking way of adressing her fan base. Nicely informal. It's the kind of thing I would say to a group of friends that I was comfortable with, who I knew already liked me and who I didn't need to impress too much. It also to me shows a little whimsy, like she's not taking herself too seriously. I liked it.

[Christine]

Actually, I didn't presume that was intended to be for kids. I just thought it was a casual and joking way of adressing her fan base.

 

I agree. It's not a literal attempt to address children. It's just a phrase.

[Soaring Simpson]

I agree. It's not a literal attempt to address children. It's just a phrase.

 

Each to their own. It's a phrase that makes me want to slap her- and would have made me unsubscribe when I actually was a kid. And I've certainly never heard it used to address adults before- I expect that depends on where you live

[sariflor]

Well, I did. Stumble upon his MS page that is. That's how I found out about Mika, but it's not a technique that I was trying to use. I wasn't looking for new artists, I'd been checking out whether someone else was touring and read their comments section and clicked on the profile of a commenter and then in her comments section was Mika and I clicked on his out of curiousity and voila! The rest is history. I'm still a bit amazed by the fact that if Mika hadn't commented on her page, I never would have found him. And even more amazed that he commented her!

 

Oh, this is an incredible story! I'd love to know which profile this was on- Was it an artist's, or a 'private' person's one? When was the comment left? Very early on?

 

It is indeed a random way of finding him, but let's be realistic, how often will that happen?

 

 

Yes I understand that if there is limited space, it's fair that it's for the first come-first served people. I also know he is good to his fans, like when he bought the champagne at the Christmas party for us all, when he didn't need to. But he just doesn't seem to wish to increase his fan base and that means he just keeps on sending messages to existing fans about his DVD, when we already have our copies! He's trying to make us happy with the blogs and vlogs, but not putting himself out there for new people to find. I hope he does start marketing himself better, otherwise, in the present economic climate, he might not sell his new album so well, this time around.

 

Yes, I agree, I think that the Mika-machine often targets the ones who are already converted so to speak, forgetting about the new ones that they could catch.

I am hoping that we'll see a lot more Mika promotion in 2009.

 

 

 

I know we feel the Mika drought around here but for the rest of the world it's normal and they don't expect to see Mika in their faces 24/7 year in and year out. Other young British artists are on the same cycle. The Lily Allen promo machine is cranking up again now that she has her second album out and is going on tour.

 

I hear what you're saying, but for example Lily Allen is a very different story. She may have been out of the musical scene for a while, but she is in the papers every second day. And I mean that literally! Not 3 days can go by without seeing a picture or a mention of her in one of the free 'commuter' papers (Metro, Lite and TheLondonPaper).

 

These are just mentions of her partying/fighting with someone/getting drunk/walking a dog/going shopping/leaving her bf's house/having lunch with her ex/losing weight etc,etc,etc, but it keeps her 'out there' in the public's mind.

The same applies to Amy Wino, and a few more.

 

Mika has not been there for ages, and he has never had the same amount of 'social' exposure in the media. I personally prefer it, because I'd rather he's not out there for stupid things like these other people, but in the average person's mind (not a hardcore fan) this will for sure have an impact when it comes to popularity.

 

 

 

Each to their own. It's a phrase that makes me want to slap her- and would have made me unsubscribe when I actually was a kid. And I've certainly never heard it used to address adults before- I expect that depends on where you live

 

I feel like slapping her even if she doesn't talk much , there is just something about her that I don't quite like that much to put it mildly

[chickadee]

Oh, this is an incredible story! I'd love to know which profile this was on- Was it an artist's, or a 'private' person's one? When was the comment left? Very early on?

 

It is indeed a random way of finding him, but let's be realistic, how often will that happen?

 

 

Mika has not been there for ages, and he has never had the same amount of 'social' exposure in the media. I personally prefer it, because I'd rather he's not out there for stupid things like these other people, but in the average person's mind (not a hardcore fan) this will for sure have an impact when it comes to popularity.

 

Let's see... She's an artist although a very young one... Her name's Jessica Lombard and although she's probably about 15 now, back in 2007 she was only 13 and already gigging... This is her profile: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=123686953

 

The comment would have been left in around late September/early October 2007... I really can't remember quite when it was...

 

 

There's times when I read things like what is bolded above and can't for the life of me remember why it is that we all want him to be so popular. I'd settle for him to have a profitable career... He doesn't have to have world domination:naughty:

[chickadee]

You know what? After scrolling through pages and pages to find it... I found it. It was the 14th October. And it wasn't even Mika! It was a Mika fan. I always presumed that I'd linked straight to his page from that comment, but it would appear not. I must have had to go searching for Mika. Why was I so intrigued, I wonder?

[sienna]

You know what? After scrolling through pages and pages to find it... I found it. It was the 14th October. And it wasn't even Mika! It was a Mika fan. I always presumed that I'd linked straight to his page from that comment, but it would appear not. I must have had to go searching for Mika. Why was I so intrigued, I wonder?

 

It's the Mika magic!

 

Reaches you everywhere!

[Monie]

Yes I understand that if there is limited space, it's fair that it's for the first come-first served people. I also know he is good to his fans, like when he bought the champagne at the Christmas party for us all, when he didn't need to. But he just doesn't seem to wish to increase his fan base and that means he just keeps on sending messages to existing fans about his DVD, when we already have our copies! He's trying to make us happy with the blogs and vlogs, but not putting himself out there for new people to find. I hope he does start marketing himself better, otherwise, in the present economic climate, he might not sell his new album so well, this time around.

 

Well, it would have been a bit rude when he would have said:" the champagne is just for those people who were there from the beginning (the other ones can drink water)" . I am a new fan too but once the Mikamagic reaches you, as Sienna so beautifully said, it sticks like superglue (with me it did that is)!

[Soaring Simpson]

Monie, I think Marilyn just meant he didn't have to buy the champers at all, for any of us, becuase we'd have stayed fans even if he hadn't done anything. I don't think she means "some but not all fans".

[Monie]

Monie, I think Marilyn just meant he didn't have to buy the champers at all, for any of us, becuase we'd have stayed fans even if he hadn't done anything. I don't think she means "some but not all fans".

 

I know. It was just that she had been talking about the Brixtonafterparty and how that was meant for the ones who had been there from the beginning and my imagination went a little further with thinking how it would have been if he had ordered champers only for the ones who had been there from the beginning . Of course, he doesn't have to do anything for us to stay fans. I am not his fan because of the things he does for us (tho it helps ).

[Marilyn Mastin]

Monie, I think Marilyn just meant he didn't have to buy the champers at all, for any of us, becuase we'd have stayed fans even if he hadn't done anything. I don't think she means "some but not all fans".

Yes that's exactly right! Thank you for understanding.

[Monie]

Yes that's exactly right! Thank you for understanding.

 

For me it was clear too. What I wrote were my own thoughts .

[Marilyn Mastin]

For me it was clear too. What I wrote were my own thoughts .

That's okay! discussion is healthy!

[chickadee]

That's okay! discussion is healthy!

 

Discussion is healthy... I just wish we had some. Discussion that is. This place is dead at the moment! I almost wish someone would write something controversial somewhere, just so we could all have a gabfest about it, cos there's nothing to talk about!:crash:

[Soaring Simpson]

Discussion is healthy... I just wish we had some. Discussion that is. This place is dead at the moment! I almost wish someone would write something controversial somewhere, just so we could all have a gabfest about it, cos there's nothing to talk about!:crash:

 

Yeah- where's Jack when you need her?