EMI: No Manipulation of Sales

With waning album sales in Taiwan, even the No.1 album on the chart may not be the overall best seller, and those who won awards may not be the best singer. For Elva’s latest album 3-faced Elva, released on 15 June, EMI expressed that they would not engage in underhand means to push album sales, even if the album did not make it to the No.1 spot. At the Rexona press conference held last night, Elva agreed to an exclusive interview with a reporter. She said candidly, that she is a singer, not a puppet.

3-Faced Elva is Elva’s first album since returning to EMI, and her album release date clashed with One Million Star’s Yoga Lin (林宥嘉) and Jam Hsiao (萧敬腾). According to the usual company tactics, they would usually spend lots of money to get their artiste to be on the No.1 spot. With regard to this, EMI said that they would not do that, and Elva was surprised: “Wouldn’t we be at the losing end then?” But not using underhand means is exactly what Elva wanted. She said: “I have to be true to myself. What’s the use of using money to manipulate chart sales? Previously, listening to songs was pretty simple, if you like a song, you would go and buy the album. But now, manipulating chart sales creates an illusion. This is a very weird thing, but it’s rampant in Taiwan, who doesn’t know.”
Besides not manipulating chart sales, the company also does not want any comparison and promise that fans would not want a refund, showing much confidence in this album. In fact, the company has spent a lot of effort in this album. In Taiwan, the album will be released in 3 different versions – independent, sincere and courageous. From 15 June, a new verison would be released every 10 days. After the release of these 3 versions, a normal version would also be on sale. This amounts to releasing the album 4 times in 1 month. There have been rumours that EMI is trying hard to boost album sales, but they refuted the saying: “We have already told everyone of the 4 versions beforehand, so that her fans can choose which version to purchase. Of course we hope that fans would collect all versions.”

Of course, Elva’s performance in the album has maintained her standards, and she is making new breakthroughs. She said: “As I grow older, the more experience I have, and this is a never ending learning process. Now I can freely express my thoughts. Listening to songs is a kind of feeling. I hope that I have injected lots of feelings when I’m singing, so that listeners can understand more about me.”

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