Album Release: Last Week of February

I realised I haven't been posting much about my beloved's singing career. It's not that I am not interested, in fact it consumes most of my life at the moment, but this blog was in part meant to be an outlet for me and a distraction from the day to day work of the album.

My beloved and I took the decision to self produce the album last year. While the outlay for us has been far greater than is the norm, the flipside is we own many of the songs over the next 3 years with the potential financial upside being greater than if she was merely signed into an ordinary record company arrangement. While the offers were out there for her, not only were the amounts of money woeful, there were no guarantees on when an album could actually be released.

Not only have we had to fund this exercise in all its parts (song rights, production, licensing, distribution, promotion [radio/tv/internet and concerts]) we have been responsible for the coordination of the post production and promotion team and our various agents at the music stores, shopping centres and radio stations.

The last two months have been far from the glamour of my beloved entering the recording studio for a few hours, recording a track, and then heading back home in a limo for dinner. Very little time is actually dedicated to singing. Most of the day (and night) is consumed with contract preparation and negotiations, constant haggling about price for the various services involved and oversight of the hundred and one people involved in developing, releasing and promoting an album nationally.

Notwithstanding the above, I always enjoy a challenge and I have found for the most part found the exercise mentally rewarding, if not financially draining.

My beloved's self titled album is due for release last week of February. To date 6 songs have been recorded with 3 remaining for the beginning of next week.

Video shoot by Treb Montaras (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37jI-z0QQNs) for the 'carrier' single is scheduled for Monday. It was meant to occur on Saturday but has been delayed because we took the decision to scrap the music of the carrier single and have it rearranged with a more RnB 'feel'. No, it is not normal to ditch your lead single and begin again a few days out but given she is relatively unknown here, her reintroduction into the industry has to be with the best she and the people around her can produce.

A schedule for TV, Radio and Mall appearances is currently being compiled for the promotion of the album during late February and early March.

FHM (fhm.com.ph) will feature my beloved without much clothing on in their March edition to be released late February. We deliberately asked for the March edition to time with the release of the album even though the shoot took place last November in a very dusty warehouse in San Juan, one of Manila's older suburbs from Spanish colonial times.

So that's basically it for the moment in 500 words or less. I will keep you all updated.