John Barrowman recently released his Pledge Music fan-funded album You Raise Me Up. It reached #16 in the UK album charts, much better than his two of his previous studio albums with record label Sony.
Another Side (2007) Barrowman released with Sony BMG only managed to reach #22 in the UK album chart. Music Music Music (2008) also with Sony barely entered the UK album chart at #35. His album John Barrowman reached #11, but after this the record label dropped Barrowman. A fan at a convention in the US later asked Barrowman when his next album was coming out. He explained that it wasn’t and the young fan said: ‘We’ll fund it!’
Barrowman, when talking about You Raise Me Up said that he felt privileged to make the album and that: ‘I think this is the best album that I’ve ever, ever made.’
Despite dropping to #25 on the UK album charts this week, it seems that Barrowman is having more success with Pledge Music (a site that allows fans to pledge money to artists in exchange for a copy of the album, merchandise and meet and greet opportunities) than he was with the record label.
So does this mean that the Record Labels need to watch out?
