Voice winner mustn’t burn bright for a minute, to be
extinguished the next — Kingsley Cooper
Kingston Jamaica - SUPERSTARDOM for Tessanne Chin should mean lasting financial
success. But for that to be achieved, every aspect of her career must be well
planned and managed so that her development and output are sustainable and
optimised.
This
is the view of Kingsley Cooper, chairman of Jamaica's Entertainment Advisory
Board and executive chairman of Pulse Investments Ltd who was asked by the
Jamaica Observer to suggest what should be the next steps for the Season Five
winner of NBC's The Voice.
Following is the full text of Cooper's analysis:
As
Tessanne moves to parlay her Voice triumph into an internationally successful
recording and performing career, and having been asked what her next steps
ought to be, I'll add a few thoughts to the conversation. However, I should
first make it clear that I am not a part of
her management, neither am I privy to the terms of her contract with The Voice,
or indeed, any previously executed agreements that are still in force.
My
comments are therefore made in general terms, and on the assumption that
Tessanne is able to make objective "best decisions", without the
confines of contractual obligations which may not always allow her to do so.
As
brilliantly as Tessanne sings, and as emotional an effect as her performance
has on listeners, her career is first and foremost a business. She can't afford
to burn bright for a minute, only to be extinguished the next. Every aspect of
her career must be well planned and managed so that her development and output
is sustainable and optimised. Superstardom should mean lasting financial
success. This will enable her to fund those aspects of her career that she
might be required to, or might choose to fund.
Financial
success also contributes greatly to artistic success, as it will make her as
independent an entertainer as one can be, and provide the resources to expand
her career into the Tessanne mega brand — from music to merchandising to
franchising and everything in-between. All of this is possible and with her
natural charm, temperament and intelligence, she has a better chance than most
to achieve it.
However,
to do this, Tessanne needs to have the best people that she can find around
her, handling her business. While she has to honour the terms of her Voice
contract, she should be careful about all future agreements that she executes.
The terms should be appropriate and should be part of the master plan for her
career. She has to be prepared to be guided by the key members of her team,
but, I suspect, she is smart enough to make good decisions herself.
Fortunately, she also has a strong and dedicated family structure which will
provide additional support — support she can trust. She also has an existing
management team that has contributed to her success thus far.
Relationship with Adam Levine should be cemented
Another
key resource is Adam Levine. He is obviously a major fan, and for good reason.
His work with her on The Voice brought out her finest skills and together they
made impeccable musical choices. That is a relationship that should be
cemented, if at all possible. A number of critical decisions must be made —
what songs should her first album contain? How much original material? How many
covers? Should she write her own material or should songs be written for her?
How much will her new work reflect the factors that made her successful on The
Voice, and how much of a departure should there be from same? Who will produce
her new material? Which will be her long term record label? These are all
questions that Levine (and those team members currently around her) could help
to answer and generally provide guidance on.
Tessanne
is also of the new technological age. Her impact on social media was amazing
during The Voice. She has to fully capitalise on that resource as well.
Combined with her global goodwill, social media will no doubt be used to
dramatically enhance her success. Tessanne is clearly gifted as a singer, but
her crucial 'X factor', that special indefinable quality that makes someone a
superstar, is to be found in her "likability" quotient — that
endearing charm that is fresh, genuinely honest and down to earth. She has to
remain that way and use it to maximum effect.
Now
that Tessanne is a big success she will have a lot of offers for all kinds of
services. She has to choose carefully, as the adulation will turn to
indifference — if she doesn't deliver going forward. As they say in the music
business, "you are as good as your last record".
