A record man creates a star.
Sure, TV and radio can shine the light on a beautiful voice, but a beautiful voice is a dime-a-dozen.
But a record man creates a star.
I mean, I know people at church that sing as well as anyone on TV.
Aspiring singers do not need a better voice.
They need a Scooter Braun, a Shep Gordon, or a Jerry Weintraub.
But since Clive Davis moved on from the show, in 2007, the number of lasting stars that Idol produced has notably declined. The doldrums of 2007 were perhaps partly to blame at the beginning, but the recent winners haven’t come close to the stardom Clarkson and Underwood achieved (if only Davis had A& Red Adam Lambert’s disappointing first album). The copycat talent shows that appeared on other networks—The Voice, X Factor (another Simon Cowell production), and America’s Got Talent, among others—haven’t produced a superstar either. Leading one to conclude that while a TV talent show can help get an artist noticed, it can’t make a recording star. Only a record man can do that.
-John Seabrook, The Song Machine
