Will singing other genres hurt Stans sales?

Stan is a talented but rare singer, who has the voice and musical ability to not just dabble, but sing solidly outside of his genre. And not just one or two genres either! He sings:

1. Christian Music- of which there is an absolutely "huge" market in America

2. Soul Music- Slow Torch songs, Superstar, Mans World

3. R&B- Think of Me, Lets Stay Together

4. Mainstream-(blush, I'm so "nana", have no idea what they call modern music these days! Lol!),Black Box, The Climb, Purple Rain, We Will Rock you


The thing is, is it detrimental to him in the long run? I know all of us here will love anything he puts out, but will...say, Mainstreamers think "I'm not into Soul or R&B" and not buy his records because of that?

Or would he have to put out genre based albums?

I'm not being negative, I just find the logistics interesting...

okay,fine, it MAY...just MAY have something to do with it being my sister who pointed out to me all the genres he sings on the Album, and why he chose (Mainstream)Purple Rain over (Rock) Nothing Else Matters, but the glory for this post is all miiiine...ya hear! All miiine, on one wil ever know!!...bwhahaha



oooh... did I say that last bit out loud?

LMAOO i think it depends on his intended target audience...didnt he say he would like to do soul with liek apop and rnb vibe or osemthign like that? because they would target older adn younger genreations..it depends on how he composes his music..he could have different tracks on his album some targeted at older and some at younder generations, so its a bit for everyone..but he just said he really want sto write music about real things, and about his life..and IMO he should sell really well and become succesful..and he also said he would like ot release a gospel album on the side

I'm not an expert on this subject, but i can say that whatever he brings out i will buy. :)

Stan has been a versatile singer on idol and managed to put his own spin on each and every genre he "confronted". It is said that a versatile singer like Stan is every producer's dream. Can reach and satisfy different audiences and bring home $$$.

I see his potential to enter the USA market and have a discret success. Don't know about the xstian market (probably huge in both Americas) but I'd like him to collaborate or feature with big american producers... that's is in the hip-hop, R&B market... a bit like Guy Sebastian is doing atm... i just hope it won't take as long for Stan to reach the shores.

From what he said, will see a soulful, meaningfull album (that means something to him) ... don't know if sony will leave him free 100% to do what he wants to do. The genre he wants to do is R&B with an old soul... but he also acknowledges that the current music market wants pop, dance with an edgier spin....

Finally, I don't think he got to choose which songs were included in the album... at least not all of them...... I'm sure he wanted "Amazing Grace" in it but don't know about the rest.

lol @ hikoi you wrote it aloud....smilin.....i think as simona wrote versatility is key to success and marketability stan has that ability to change witht he trends he can switch so easily between genres and has proven it time and time again......i would buy absolutely everything he puts out....and die hard fans which i am sure stan has many of......would feel the same as me....i think stan singing across the genres and not being boxed into any category except as a phenomenal singer has stans career pegged in boxed up and wrapped sublimely in an exquisite voice as a long promising and fruitful career.......ewwwwwwwwwwwww sickly.....too much sweetness....lol.....

Speaking of other genres... found this website re Stan singing at the Easterfest 2010 (Gospel Fest).. very interesting - although the news is a little old (18 Dec 09)

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

thanks Krysta!

very interesting! did i hear right that they had to enlarge the venue to accomodate more ppl after Stan participaton was approved? 5,000 more? they think Stan is going to attract more ppl to the festival and their investment on Stan will definitely pay off.

The festival is of Gospel Music and Stan wants to do a Gospel album.... he is trying to test the audience maybe? I don't think it will hurt at all if he does bring out an album of that genre and I also think he's going to be a huge success at this festival.

Great move by Champo (Stan's manager) to propose Stan for this festival. He must really know what Stan is made of and what he really loves!

if you don't mind Krysta can i post this link also somewhere else in the forum?

I don't think singing several genres will hurt Stan's sales at all. He IS young, and has a lot of young fans already (look at FB) plus his voice and choice of songs also attracts the over 30s - look at the membership of this forum. OK, maybe we are fairly "hip" over 30s - he he - but if you look at "The Climb" and "Halo" for instance, they are both "Mainstream" (as in still in the charts with Beyonce and MC) but Stan has put a totally different spin on both of them.

MC is out here staying with her Aussie b/f at the moment - wonder if she has heard his version of the "The Climb"?

The other thing I have noticed is Stan seems to be attracting a wide variety of ethnicities. Now, given in Australia we HAVE such a wide variety of ethnicities anyway, that is probably natural, but I still find that interesting - look at this forum alone, we have lots of different ethnic backgrounds here - which I think is WONDERFUL!!!

I think the genre that is getting most effected are the younger generation. I see occasional twitters like "I think my mum is in love with Stan walker", "my parents are thrashing SW" it cracks me up. Its like they want to like him, but it grosses them out a bit that their parents like him as well!

Well, it has to be the younger demographic buying Black Box - because as much as I love listening to the album, I usually avoid that song - it isn't bad, just a bit "poppy" for me! LOL

I DO like the acoustic version though - I'm hoping he puts that on his next album. Plus the acoustic version must be getting some airplay somewhere, as the video is on the Top 40 Countdown site.

Shall we just call him a cross-generational, cross-cultural voice? LOL

Hi all,

I couldn’t help but notice the similarities between Stan and Elvis (as mentioned on other thread topics).
Elvis sung different genres ie. Gospel, Blues, Pop/Rock, Rock and Roll, Country, Ballads, R&B/Soul, Rockabilly etc. He had that quality of resonance in his voice, could sing with emotion and connect with his audience and he could really sing.
Most artists are usually restricted to a particular genre because when they cross to another genre it shows their weakness to sing in that particular genre’s fundamental style (Can you imagine Miley Cyrus singing Metallica!).

Each genre has its own particular rhythm. For example, for Big Band/Single Ladies- you have to hit your note on the front of the beat; R&B, you hit it on the back.

Fans weren’t that keen on the CD version “We will rock you”, but in my humble opinion (lol!), what was missed, was that Stan was singing in the fundamental style of the Rock genre; and he was using Rock tones! When he goes up in his harsher high Rock( not smooth R&B) tones at the end, he is hitting on the beat and crescendoing in Rock style. And his wailing notes? Pure rock, not R&B, think Adam Lambert’s rock performances on American Idol! Stan put his own stamp on it and upped it to a young song. Aus Idol and his CD shows his true versatility and musicality. As he stated, he didn’t want to sing in his own particular genre but he wanted to show he could sing others as well.

Stan shows that he can really sing, and being young, he will only get better and better. When you look at Adam Lambert, he was a polished seasoned performer in his prime ,yet I consider Stan to be a better singer who has not even hit his prime.

Oh yes Gisray, totally agree with ur comments And Adam Lambert has a fine Rock voice (seasoned as u said), but Stan's IS better, and purely natural! Stan's Album truly shows this versatility - his amazing ability to cross genres.

Thanks Gisray..

Gisray wrote:
Fans weren’t that keen on the CD version “We will rock you”, but in my humble opinion (lol!), what was missed, was that Stan was singing in the fundamental style of the Rock genre; and he was using Rock tones!

thank you so much Gisray for this clearification. I'm one of those fans that weren't keen. Loved his live R&B version but didn't reproduce the same brilliance on Cd. now understand why.

Aus Idol and his CD shows his true versatility and musicality. As he stated, he didn’t want to sing in his own particular genre but he wanted to show he could sing others as well.

Stan shows that he can really sing, and being young, he will only get better and better. When you look at Adam Lambert, he was a polished seasoned performer in his prime ,yet I consider Stan to be a better singer who has not even hit his prime.

agree 100% with you. what strucked me to most about stan,other than his amazing voice, was his versatility and ability to make each song a Stan song. I can still remember debating this subject on idol forums. Some there were saying how safe and no much of a risk taker he was, singing only stuff that he knew well and changing it to suit his genre .... so many countless debates about that but i never got a non-stanfans agreeing with me.

As for what stan can do and which genres he can "go into"... we have only seen a glimpse of his full potential and repertoir me thinks

I actually liked his "We Will Rock You" except for the fact it was a shortened version. It should have been the "full monty". so to speak.

Simoa has hit the nail on the head when she says "ability to make each song a Stan song". To me, that is his key to success.

Not a risk taker? I don't know how anyone can say that. He took a Miley Cyrus (spelling??) song and made it his own. Halo. He took more risks than anyone else in the competition.

To top that off, he took a poppy version of Black Box and made it acoustic. Someone afraid of risks would not have done any of those things. So, Simo, there is your answer to the doubters!!!

I have to concur!
Stan had guts to do what he did on idol.
Truly, the song choices were very risky!
A lot of the other contestants took the softly softly approach (btw this forum needs spellcheck just for me)

I think no, he has so good voice as for me, than he can sing in other genres

Nah, no way! I'd listen to anything he sings! I reckon he just has one of those voices where he could sing the phonebook and I'd still love it. In fact if he sang songs from other genres, it would make him more versatile.

Really enjoyed this discussion. I think it it interesting to see how
Stan grows as time goes by. His voice is unique but soul sounds
are just beautiful when he sings them. I don't think american idol
have any artists with the versaility of stan. I am not an Adam Lambert
fan but Stan is different he has the lot. He has been blessed with
his personality, voice, generally he is special!!! Lets hope his career
is handled carefully.
surfer

surfer wrote:Really enjoyed this discussion. I think it it interesting to see how
Stan grows as time goes by. His voice is unique but soul sounds
are just beautiful when he sings them. I don't think american idol
have any artists with the versaility of stan. I am not an Adam Lambert
fan but Stan is different he has the lot. He has been blessed with
his personality, voice, generally he is special!!! Lets hope his career
is handled carefully.
surfer

Ahhhhh nice post Surfer..yes Stan is truly blessed! I hope the lifestyle changes that are enevitable with a successful music career, will not cause a huge change to that magic personality.. and that he evolves with gods grace...