**MegaStarkan**
18-04-09, 12:19
Turkish music industry headed for boom in new albums in 2009
There are quite a few recording artists in Turkey who only a few years ago vowed that they wouldn't release any albums of new material until the struggle against copyright piracy was won, but who are now beginning to turn out new works.
In fact, the first three months of 2009 has seen more than 30 new albums presented for the listening pleasures of music lovers in Turkey. And so it now seems clear that as we head towards summer, the Turkish music industry looks likely to experience a real album explosion throughout the year.
Among the albums in this group are ones by Erdal Çelik, who seemed destined to be forgotten, not having made an album for almost a decade, Mine (of the pop duo Ajlan & Mine), as well as pop singers like Nalan and Kurtuluş. Some of these artists are waiting for the recording sessions on their new works to be finished, while others are holding their breath, simply waiting for listeners to get to hear the new sounds. And of course, at the same time there is a whole range of new names -- such as Ercan Demirel, Musa, Berksan, Atiye, Barbaros and Yusuf Güney -- doing everything they can to carve niches for themselves on the music market.
And so, as artists and music producers come to the realization that sitting around and waiting for the fight against pirated copies to be won is to no one's advantage, they are also finding new ways to make money from their talents. Producers, understanding that there are no real profits to be made from album sales alone, have begun to do the representation, managing, sponsoring and even the concert organization for artists. At the same time, artists are now demanding lesser asking prices, and in fact many are offering dramatically reduced demands for payment.
More important than all this though is that music producers are finally at peace with digital technology. For instance, electronic-pop singer Hande Yener's newest album went on sale Monday, but most people have already memorized the songs on this album because Yener's production company struck a deal with a GSM operator days before the album was slated to come out, and thus the digital sales of the songs on this album began in advance of the album actually hitting store shelves. What's more, these digital sales were not bad at all, with 40,000 on the first day.
Despite fluctuations in the music sector caused by the global economic crisis, producers are noticeably intent on not making concessions when it comes to quality. In fact, this care they are showing to maintain quality is clearly reflected on such details as album cover designs, promo photographs and of course the songs themselves. And of course the artists themselves, and the way they approach the production of their albums help keep the quality high. People work for months now to see that an enviable work is produced; the old style of "let me get an album out as quickly as I can" seems to be a thing of the past. And so, as many of these ongoing projects getting wrapped up, music lovers in Turkey eagerly await the coming summer explosion in albums.
Artists expected to release albums in 2009
Rockers: Teoman, Emre Aydın, Aylin Aslım. Jazz musicians: Fatih Erkoç & Kerem Görsev Trio (already released a CD/DVD live recording at the İstanbul Jazz Center). Pop musicians: Yalın, Göksel, Mirkelam, Gülben Ergen, Erdal Çelik, Mustafa Sandal, Serdar Ortaç, Gülşen, Tarkan, Burcu Güneş, Ferhat Göçer, Emre Altuğ, İzel, Aşkın Nur Yengi, Yeşim Salkım, Candan Erçetin.
Source Today's Zaman (http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=171699)
There are quite a few recording artists in Turkey who only a few years ago vowed that they wouldn't release any albums of new material until the struggle against copyright piracy was won, but who are now beginning to turn out new works.
In fact, the first three months of 2009 has seen more than 30 new albums presented for the listening pleasures of music lovers in Turkey. And so it now seems clear that as we head towards summer, the Turkish music industry looks likely to experience a real album explosion throughout the year.
Among the albums in this group are ones by Erdal Çelik, who seemed destined to be forgotten, not having made an album for almost a decade, Mine (of the pop duo Ajlan & Mine), as well as pop singers like Nalan and Kurtuluş. Some of these artists are waiting for the recording sessions on their new works to be finished, while others are holding their breath, simply waiting for listeners to get to hear the new sounds. And of course, at the same time there is a whole range of new names -- such as Ercan Demirel, Musa, Berksan, Atiye, Barbaros and Yusuf Güney -- doing everything they can to carve niches for themselves on the music market.
And so, as artists and music producers come to the realization that sitting around and waiting for the fight against pirated copies to be won is to no one's advantage, they are also finding new ways to make money from their talents. Producers, understanding that there are no real profits to be made from album sales alone, have begun to do the representation, managing, sponsoring and even the concert organization for artists. At the same time, artists are now demanding lesser asking prices, and in fact many are offering dramatically reduced demands for payment.
More important than all this though is that music producers are finally at peace with digital technology. For instance, electronic-pop singer Hande Yener's newest album went on sale Monday, but most people have already memorized the songs on this album because Yener's production company struck a deal with a GSM operator days before the album was slated to come out, and thus the digital sales of the songs on this album began in advance of the album actually hitting store shelves. What's more, these digital sales were not bad at all, with 40,000 on the first day.
Despite fluctuations in the music sector caused by the global economic crisis, producers are noticeably intent on not making concessions when it comes to quality. In fact, this care they are showing to maintain quality is clearly reflected on such details as album cover designs, promo photographs and of course the songs themselves. And of course the artists themselves, and the way they approach the production of their albums help keep the quality high. People work for months now to see that an enviable work is produced; the old style of "let me get an album out as quickly as I can" seems to be a thing of the past. And so, as many of these ongoing projects getting wrapped up, music lovers in Turkey eagerly await the coming summer explosion in albums.
Artists expected to release albums in 2009
Rockers: Teoman, Emre Aydın, Aylin Aslım. Jazz musicians: Fatih Erkoç & Kerem Görsev Trio (already released a CD/DVD live recording at the İstanbul Jazz Center). Pop musicians: Yalın, Göksel, Mirkelam, Gülben Ergen, Erdal Çelik, Mustafa Sandal, Serdar Ortaç, Gülşen, Tarkan, Burcu Güneş, Ferhat Göçer, Emre Altuğ, İzel, Aşkın Nur Yengi, Yeşim Salkım, Candan Erçetin.
Source Today's Zaman (http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=171699)