With just a week to go until the second season of “The X Factor” wraps, Epic Records chairman and CEO Antonio “L.A.” Reid has chosen to focus on his day job rather than do A&R from a seat on a TV show. It’s not an imprudent move.
Reid made the first season of “X Factor” look like a factory line for Epic Records, signing three runners-up and agreeing to distribute the album from the season three winner, Melanie Amaro. Epic will release the Amaro album, which is technically a signing to Simon Cowell’s label at Sony, Syco. That album was penciled in for a Dec. 4 release – she announced the date during several public appearances in early September – but it has been pushed back to first quarter 2013.
Two of Amaro’s singles have already flopped and a third appears destined for the bargain bin as well. “Respect,” released 10 months ago, has sold 24,000 copies, according to Soundscan. “Don’t Fail Me Now,” released in mid-September, has sold 20,000.
Amaro sang her latest single, “Long Distance,” on the Dec. 6 “X Factor” results show that was watched by 7.84 million viewers. The single, released Dec. 3, sold 6,000 downloads last week.
Of the artists Epic signed from “X Factor’s” first season, only the rapper Chris Rene has seen any significant results. “Young Homie,” an original he sang during the competition, became his first single in March and sold 290,000 copies.
Read more: Phil Gallo, Billboard
