Harriet - (Singer with echoes of Karen Carpenter)*

[Nicko]

Paul O'Grady let slip that 'She's out of my Life' is a track from the covers EP, out in July.

 

[Nicko]

The shop seems to be for UK customers, right? The prices are in £s. If I purchased something from here in the U.S., would I be able to play them?

I would think so, CDs are never an issue, it's only the movie business that has those regional restrictions.

 

[Murray]

Amazingly Harriet received major airplay from Paul O'Grady's Prime Time Radio 2 show today - I couldn't believe it! It was one of those *wait is that, nooooo it can't be...? oh my it is!* I couldn't turn it up higher. Radio 2 never ever plays new artists especially in the triple play sunday slot - they played no less than three of her material including her new single!

I also noticed - for those who are interested in her physical CD's - she's launched her website with a shop which comes with tons of rare physical products. I've already ordered mine! http://www.harrietsmusic.com/?product=introducing-harriet-gold

Thanks for sharing that info Jamie! I ordered the Gold fan package.

 

[JamieHarrison]

No problem. Love to share. Saw on her twitter that the store is open to international customers and ships abroad. Looking online the Gold fan package has gone already!

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Murray and Jamie, please share your reviews here when your physical CD's arrive, I'm curious how the Gold fan package looks, artwork, insert jacket, liner notes, picture CD? etc...I probably should have ordered the Gold pkg but didn't. I wonder if she will reference Karen at all in the liner notes. If she does I'm going to really regret not getting them.

Harriet has posted Olivia Newton-John's original "Physical" video on her facebook page....love it!! I knew I liked her for a reason.

 

[Nicko]

Here is an interesting post from Facebook by

Duncan Watson

"This week I had the chance to see Harriet at her first full length full band gig and I can tell you it was utterly amazing. I am in the process of writing up a review about it but, in the meantime, here she is taking a selfie of us both, as we do ..."

 

[JamieHarrison]

Sorry if this isn't the right place...but just saw Harriet post this other FB for those interesting in her physical release:

"Thank you to those of you who have already purchased a CD from my new online shop! If you haven't ordered yours yet, here's the link... http://www.harrietsmusic.com/?post_type=product

"Introducing Harriet" has my song 'First And Last' on it, which is ONLY available to buy on this physical format! Xx"

I can't wait for my CD to arrive! - I am just a little bummed it doesn't contain She's Out Of My Life but maybe its being used in the future in some way.

Slightly off-topic, but are there any other new artists people here could recommend in the same vein as Harriet.

 

[Nicko]

Sorry if this isn't the right place...but just saw Harriet post this other FB for those interesting in her physical release:

"Thank you to those of you who have already purchased a CD from my new online shop! If you haven't ordered yours yet, here's the link... http://www.harrietsmusic.com/?post_type=product

"Introducing Harriet" has my song 'First And Last' on it, which is ONLY available to buy on this physical format! Xx"

I can't wait for my CD to arrive! - I am just a little bummed it doesn't contain She's Out Of My Life but maybe its being used in the future in some way.

Slightly off-topic, but are there any other new artists people here could recommend in the same vein as Harriet.

'She's out of my life' is on covers EP that's released this month or next I understand

 

[Harry]

I'm unimpressed so far with Harriet's marketing techniques. If she wants to sell discs, then SELL DISCS. Not this limited-to-30 nonsense. I'll be happy to buy whatever she releases, but I'm not going to jump through hoops to do so.

Harry
...in grumpy mode, online...

 

[song4u]

I'm unimpressed so far with Harriet's marketing techniques. If she wants to sell discs, then SELL DISCS. Not this limited-to-30 nonsense. I'll be happy to buy whatever she releases, but I'm not going to jump through hoops to do so.

Harry
...in grumpy mode, online...

Perhaps she's coming down on the side of artists that prefer doing their own marketing instead of going the iTunes route. Or maybe since she is just starting out they wanted to "test the water" first instead of spending a lot of money and not finding people are interested. Some artists of her generation come on strong like they're "all that and a bag of chips" before anyone has a clue who they are. I dont know, but I have a feeling that those people who got that special signed release should hold onto them because she will likely go places. Think of those with early signed Corrs and Carpenters items.

 

[Harry]

No, I get that. I understand the collectible thing and if I were not retired and had money to throw around, I'd have probably joined in the fray. It's just that there's so much of this stuff going on. You want this song? It's on the Western Bulgarian release that was limited to one day's sale and is priced at $80. You want that song? It's an exclusive digital-only release in the UK and YOU can't buy it in the US. You want these bonus tracks? Order it from Japan on an SHM-CD, if you can find it.

I've gone that route with The Corrs, with all kinds of singles and b-sides and import albums, having to buy things from Canada because they weren't released here in the US. It's maddening trying to keep up, and I'm still missing some vinyl-only 12" mixes.

I also get that no-one wants to press a bunch of CDs and have them go unsold. I'm just not ready to play those games with Harriet as she's still an unknown quantity. There are signs of greatness, but she's not there yet.

Harry

 

[JamieHarrison]

I think Song4U has it in a nutshell. I agree with you Harry though - its so frustrating having to wait for her album. I think the Cds are a nice little present she's given to her fans who - like me - nagging her on Facebook and Twitter for something physical. And, she's met that demand in the best she can. A prelude to whats to come. I WISH I had those early signed Corrs and Carpenters items. WISH WISH WISH. I wish I owned a signed Ticket to Ride. Can you imagine owning the first official recording Carol King's first ever promotional single "The Right Girl" from 1958? Maybe Harriet's label are thinking its better to test the water and go easy rather than "all that and a bag of chips" as Song4u states. But Harry is right. Its so annoying. I am happy that we're getting stuff at all though - even if it just a drip-feed.

 

[song4u]

The good part is that with internet publicity and people telling their friends about a new talent, an artist has a better opportunity to be heard by a wider audience early on. And I think in her case, her team are welcoming input from fans.

Karen Carpenter looked and sounded less than polished at the beginning, yet most of us appreciate following her metamorphosis as a singer and performer. I think Harriet has the elusive "it" that only a few singers possess, but she's a diamond in the rough. And she's already pretty adorable.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

I can also see where Harry is coming from and I'm not in a grumpy mood.
I think it's great that Harriet is providing physical CD's and getting the fans what they want, my problem is just like Harry said, 3o for the fan pack is just way too low, I mean really it was sold out in less than a day. I think they should have pressed at least 100, surely they have enough money to have done that. Second and most important for me, is how the fan pack was packaged, why did they have to make 4 CD's that contain only 4 or 5 tracks and some with only 1 song. I think a better idea would have been more songs and less CD's. The single Fly I can understand make that 1 disc but why not include the remix as well? 2 songs for the single CD, then make 1 or 2 others that contain more tracks. I don't have a problem with the price of the fan package just the way it was marketed with all those CD's spread out to make it seem like your getting more. Also I'm not sure what the final ones will look like but according to the website she's using the same picture twice on 2 CD's, it would have been better to have all 4 be different photos.

I love her music and want to buy physical cd's but I wasn't really impressed how this was put together. I am excited about purchasing the new album hopefully in physical CD form.

 

[song4u]

I can also see where Harry is coming from and I'm not in a grumpy mood.
I think it's great that Harriet is providing physical CD's and getting the fans what they want, my problem is just like Harry said, 3o for the fan pack is just way too low, I mean really it was sold out in less than a day. I think they should have pressed at least 100, surely they have enough money to have done that. Second and most important for me, is how the fan pack was packaged, why did they have to make 4 CD's that contain only 4 or 5 tracks and some with only 1 song. I think a better idea would have been more songs and less CD's. The single Fly I can understand make that 1 disc but why not include the remix as well? 2 songs for the single CD, then make 1 or 2 others that contain more tracks. I don't have a problem with the price of the fan package just the way it was marketed with all those CD's spread out to make it seem like your getting more. Also I'm not sure what the final ones will look like but according to the website she's using the same picture twice on 2 CD's, it would have been better to have all 4 be different photos.

I love her music and want to buy physical cd's but I wasn't really impressed how this was put together. I am excited about purchasing the new album hopefully in physical CD form.

Come to think of it, I wouldn't be surprised if they have more waiting in the wings and they're just waiting for requests to roll in. A marketing strategy perhaps?? I know little about that.

She seems to be very popular based on tweets, and those who have seen her perform live are impressed. I think she will find her comfort zone eventually. (Not everyone starts out with a natural stage personality, i.e. Andrea Corr.) And she already has Larry Flick (Syrius XM), and Graham Norton (BBC) not only willing to give her air time, but both seem to be firmly in her corner and predict she will be very successful.

I'd sure like to get one of those signed packages - may be a collectors item someday. So I hope more become available when I have the money.

 

[Murray]

I can also see where Harry is coming from and I'm not in a grumpy mood.
I think it's great that Harriet is providing physical CD's and getting the fans what they want, my problem is just like Harry said, 3o for the fan pack is just way too low, I mean really it was sold out in less than a day. I think they should have pressed at least 100, surely they have enough money to have done that. Second and most important for me, is how the fan pack was packaged, why did they have to make 4 CD's that contain only 4 or 5 tracks and some with only 1 song. I think a better idea would have been more songs and less CD's. The single Fly I can understand make that 1 disc but why not include the remix as well? 2 songs for the single CD, then make 1 or 2 others that contain more tracks. I don't have a problem with the price of the fan package just the way it was marketed with all those CD's spread out to make it seem like your getting more. Also I'm not sure what the final ones will look like but according to the website she's using the same picture twice on 2 CD's, it would have been better to have all 4 be different photos.

I love her music and want to buy physical cd's but I wasn't really impressed how this was put together. I am excited about purchasing the new album hopefully in physical CD form.

Actually Chris, there were only 10 of the fan packs available! I was lucky that I checked the forum late at night, and was able to get one before they sold out. I figured that if Harriet makes it big, as we all hope she does, that it could be a good investment.

I think you have a few misconceptions about these CDs. In response to fans requests for a physical CD, Harriet had the "Introducing Harriet" (4 song EP) pressed, and made 50 copies available individually on her website. As of this moment, there are still 20 available, so there's hardly been overwhelming demand! The other 3 CDs in the fan pack were promo CDs that were pressed for distribution to radio stations in the UK, and were never intended to be sold to the public (all three - the first two EPs, and the "Fly" single - were released digitally on iTunes and elsewhere). There were only a handful of these promo CDs leftover, so a few "fan packs" were slapped together to use them up.

You know, most young people nowadays don't even buy CDs. Everything is downloaded onto their smartphones and tablets, or streamed from services like Spotify. It's very difficult to even find a new laptop with an optical drive in it, and some new cars don't even come with CD players. It's only ageing people like us that care about physical formats anymore, or about collecting things. Personally, I'm happy that Harriet made any CDs available at all.

 

[Harry]

The other thing I wondered about: are these actual pressed CDs. Is there a record company involved, or is it someone with a computer CD-R drive churning out some CD-Rs? Or are the CDs commissioned at some factory that does limited runs?

These days it's hard to say. Andrea Corr's first solo album TEN FEET HIGH was a traditional release on Atlantic, and got the traditional Japanese release with a bonus track back in 2007. Her second CD, in 2011, LIFELINES came out in a nice CD/DVD package with a copyright of "AC Records". Obviously that's her own record "company" but the discs are professionally done.

Sharon Corr released her first solo effort, DREAM OF YOU, on a Rhino label (division of Warner) here in the US in 2010. Yet in 2013, her album THE SAME SUN came out in a professional-looking digipak format, with copyrights going to "BobbyJean, Ltd.", again probably her own "label company".

Bottom line is it's tough to get professional record deals these days for even a known entity. Unless you're in that guaranteed hitmaker set of artists like a Taylor Swift or a Maroon 5, getting the backing of a record company behind you is tough.

Harry

 

[Murray]

The other thing I wondered about: are these actual pressed CDs. Is there a record company involved, or is it someone with a computer CD-R drive churning out some CD-Rs? Or are the CDs commissioned at some factory that does limited runs?

I hadn't thought of that Harry. I sure hope that they are actual pressed CDs. If they turn out to be CD-Rs, then I guess I just spent $50 for Harriet's autographed picture... at least she's pretty! (in these politically correct times, am I even allowed to say that?)

Bottom line is it's tough to get professional record deals these days for even a known entity. Unless you're in that guaranteed hitmaker set of artists like a Taylor Swift or a Maroon 5, getting the backing of a record company behind you is tough.

That may be the reason why her album is taking so long to come out, and she's self-releasing all these EPs in the meantime. She may still be working on securing distribution. Having a successful producer/composer/arranger like Steve Anderson behind the project will certainly help in getting record company attention.

 

[song4u]

Thank you for the explanation Murray, about what the fan pack contains.

Bobbyjean records is Sharon Corr's own label named for her father in law Bobby and her mother Jean. She explained it in an interview.

Thanks for the wakeup call about CDs Harry. I almost hyperventilated when I couldn't find vinyl releases of new albums any more and it was all CDs. I actually had to buy a CD player! Time goes on. I have learned to download music from iTunes, that's where I got my Corrs and Andrea Corr albums. But I jump at CDs - bought Sharon Corr's at her show and she signed it. Made me feel 15 again, getting an album autographed! I think my friends were a little worried about me, and my husband only humored me. But I miss that excitement of a new album coming out that you haven't heard on YouTube and the smell of opening a new vinyl album. Maybe I do need help.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Thanks Murray that clears up my confusion about the discs. Wow 10 is far too little. I wonder if more will show up?

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Harriet posted this on her new website Harriet's Notebook

I want to use this opportunity to say a huge thank you to everyone who has purchased CDs from my new online shop. I had no idea that the ‘gold fan package’ was going to be as successful as it was; it sold out in a day! A few of you have asked why there were so little available – Essentially it was a collection of unreleased physical promo CDs pressed within the last 12 months for radio stations. We wanted to offer more but we were specifically limited to 10 packages, due to there only being 10 remaining copies of “Maybe This Christmas”. I thought that fans would love to have these as keepsakes; hence my making them available to buy."


So it sounds like these CD's were pressed earlier this year and not pressed especially for the gold fan package. It also seems that the supply of the gold fan package was due to only few Maybe This Christmas promo CD's being available to group in the package.

I guess it makes more sense now because I thought the package was pressed just for this event but these were CD's left over from earlier in the year. Am I reading this correct?

 

[Nicko]

You also have the answer as to why the songs are spread out over the CDs, they were separate entities for radio promotion.

 

[JamieHarrison]

This makes total sense now. I think the only thing especially pressed for the shop was the Introducing Harriet which makes sense as it includes all the lead songs of the last year (except the Christmas tracks of course). I get the sense she reads all her tweets and Facebook messages seriously so who knows how that little shop of hers will develop in coming months. I really hope Harriet keeps this Harriets Notebook corner of her site updated too. Though my heart skipped a beat when I saw it tweeted as I thought it was the album cover or something!

(BTW To me she looks more and more like Olivia Newton Johns/Karens cousin!)

 

[song4u]

I do think she looks like she could be from the same family tree as Karen. Who knows. Noone knows her last name anyway.

 

[JamieHarrison]

Yes!