Mariah's singles are the least of it
I wrote in Friday's column about the way Sony/Columbia Records manipulates singles up the Billboard charts. In fact, back in October it caught my attention when Mariah Carey's single "Heartbreaker" suddenly jumped way up the charts after weeks of languishing. Sony had delayed the actual release of the single, then pushed it out for 49 cents.
Do other record companies do this with other artists? Sure. But Sony has been, let's say, most enthusiastic about employing this practice. They sent Gloria Estefan's "Music of My Heart" up the charts the same way. It bounced from the lower regions to no. 1 and back down so fast I'll bet you readers never even heard it.
It's a good trick - and it's not illegal. It's just poor sportsmanship. The Billboard charts should have a policy by which "album cuts" are either on their own chart, or remain album cuts. Don't convert them into singles once they're two-thirds of the way up the chart.
Does the artist have anything to do with this? Probably not. All they know - this includes Mariah Carey - is that they have a new no. 1 single. Everyone's happy. Pop the Champagne. As for Miss Mariah: I got about a half dozen e-mails Friday from fervent fans who were pretty angry that I included her in this story. Hey, folks: I like Mariah. She's hot looking, she wears less clothing than a newborn when she's in public. I always kind of liked that song, "Dreamlover." So lay off.
Some time ago, I wrote a story about Mariah for the Dec., 1997 issue of Spin magazine. Since it's probably not on the Internet anywhere, I offer it you below. It's longish. But give it a twirl. This young woman with an amazing voice has had more legal problems than nearly any other current recording artist. The issue? Plagiarism. This is nothing to be sneezed at: in the past when songwriters have been accused of stealing someone's song, they've let the results come out in court. Some of have lost (George Harrison, most famously), many have won (Michael Jackson, Bee Gees). Mariah Carey, however, can be called the Queen of Settled Lawsuits over Copyright Infringement. (Fox 411)
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