As album sales continue to slide, the music industry keeps searching for ways to make record releases big events. There have been partnerships with big retailers (like Walmart’s exclusive on AC/DC’s Black Ice), major live events (like Jay-Z’s blitz before The Blueprint 3 dropped), and special fan contests (like the artwork scavenger hunt Pearl Jam hosted for Backspacer). But there’s one sure-fire way to guarantee an album’s success: get Oprah Winfrey’s stamp of approval.
Michael Buble’s Crazy Love recently topped the charts after the Canadian crooner appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah’s Book Club has long been credited for catapulting under-the-radar reads to the top of bestseller lists, and the daytime queen’s power of promotion has had no problems crossing over into music. Recent Oprah success stories include Whitney Houston’s I Look to You and Barbra Streisand’s Love is the Answer, which surprised many by beating out new albums by Paramore and Mariah Carey to top the charts.
Hence the Oprah Effect!
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