[The Sirius One]

Here's a place for all your questions for Verve. Since Regina has joined our group, I figured it might be easier to have one location for all your questions so she doesn't have to dig through any other threads to find them.

Important: When posting a question please bold it to make it easy to find. Thanks

List of Questions & Answers

I'd like to ask again, if i may, how do you guys think kat will be able to promote the album with a jan 5th relase date? like other people here already stated all the shows will still be on hiatus. nobody releases anything. it's known as the dead zone. how in the world is she supposed to get some decent first week sales? or is that not a priority? are you trying to get her a higher debut on the charts that way?

Contrary to what you might think, January is NOT no-man's land. Ironically, a lot of opportunities open up in January, and don't forget: folks get holiday gifts from iTunes, Amazon, Best Buy, Target, etc, and then have income to spend on music after the holiday craziness dies down. The fourth quarter is traditionally when the market gets flooded with big releases. As you all know, traditional brick-and-mortar retail stores have largely gone away (no more Tower, HMV, Virgin, Circuit City, etc. in the US), and the stores that DO still carry music have less space than ever. Hence, during Q4, they have to carry the blockbuster releases PLUS holiday music, DVDs, video games, etc in a limited space.

A number of TV shows are dark around the holidays, or they feature Christmas music.

A lot of radio stations freeze their playlists or flip to holiday music. You get the picture.

In January, there aren't a ton of releases, and believe it or not, TV shows actively look for A-list talent. All the TV shows don't go dark in January, and the morning shows (which are key to the success of pop acts) certainly don't go dark. Good Morning America, the Today Show, the Early Show, Live with Regis and Kelly, the View -- they're all on.

Are you planning on releasing the album internationally, me being a British fan and all?!

The record WILL be released internationally -- I don't have all the dates for the individual territories, but I'll try to get them. We're shooting for a January 4 release date in the UK, though as you all know (LOL), release dates are subject to change.

Kat gotten good reviews from other fans with "SAY GOODBYE'. Any chance of it going to radio?

I'm not sure about "Say Goodbye" at radio: right now, we're trying to focus all of our efforts on "Had It All."

Has Katharine ever worn her glasses in front of you? Tell us about it

Hmmmm....I didn't even know that Kat wears glasses, so no! I'll bet she looks adorable in them, though.

And will we be getting some more album promotional images soon?.. we only have about 4 right now!

As to the photos: the photographer is Ellen Von Unwerth, who's a world-renowned art photographer. Katharine was really honored to get to work with Ellen, and while the photos aren't the conventional publicity photos most of us are accustomed to, Kat and everyone here are pretty thrilled with them. We are in the process of getting more photos out into the world. Ellen was on holiday for a few weeks, but now she's back, so we're getting more prints from her.

So I'm sure that Kat is dying to visit England ... any chance she will be coming over to the UK for any promotion? Or I guess that all depends on how the album does?

I don't know when Kat will travel overseas for promotion, but of course she'll need to do that in 2010. I'm sure we'll all be fighting over her time soon enough.

I'm also wondering when the "Had It All" music video will be released?

As far as the "Had it All" video, I saw a cut of it yesterday. It's currently being edited, so it shouldn't be too much longer. For whatever it's worth, I loved what I saw!

Any chance of a Christmas EP or something?

Nothing to report about Christmas music, but hopefully we'll have some news soon.

Does Verve expect profitability on every album for an artist or a return on their investment over several albums?

Of course, in an ideal world, we'd love for all records to be profitable, but to the best of my knowledge, that has never, ever happened. Only a percentage of records are profitable every year. While we would love for all records to make money, it's not realistic, and the hope is that if we make the right records and do real artist development (a luxury in this day and age), eventually it'll pay off.

Does Verve basically develop their artists over time, hoping that they reach a stable fanbase and profitable point over the long term?

We have done both: we've signed artists and developed them over time (Diana Krall is probably the best example of someone who signed with Verve at the beginning of her career and stayed with us throughout, at least in the modern age of Verve), but we've also had success with some young, up-and-coming singers like Ledisi and Melody Gardot. We do try to stick with artists for the long haul: Teddy Thompson is a great example of an artist whose career hasn't quite taken off just yet, but we've made three records with him and are working on a fourth because we really believe in him as an artist.

Do you let your artists just do their own thing without input and guidance from the label or do you work in concert with all or just the less experienced ones and let the vets do what they want?

Every artist gets input from the label, even the biggies. For example, one of our A&R people had an idea for Herbie Hancock to do an album of Joni Mitchell's music. He loved the idea and worked with her on devloping it. That album won the Grammy for Album of the Year two years ago, and was tremendously successful for Herbie. Our a&r people work very, very closely with all of our artists.

About the supposed tour Verve has mentioned a few times, what is the plan? Is she going on a small venue tour alone? Or is she an opening act for someone big? Also, is this going to be before the release of the cd?

I honestly don't know that the tour plans are at the moment, but she will DEFINITELY be on tour next year. She has put a band together and they're working out the songs. I'm not at all sure if she will open or headline -- there are a lot of variables that go into deciding that sort of thing, so i'll leave that to her management and her booking agent.

Just for fun, have you heard the album yet? If so what is your favorite track(s)?

I have heard the new album quite a lot. My favorite songs at the moment are called "It's Not Right," "Had it All" and "How."

Do you know if the idea of Christmas songs has been discussed at all? Her stunning rendition of "O Come All Ye Faithful" was quite successful so I think this would be a good move.

I know there has been talk about Christmas music, but i'm really not at liberty to post about that yet as it's just in discussion and no final decisions have been made!

What are Verve's expectations for Katharine's sales? Do you expect her to sell on her name alone, or are you taking a slow-build approach...letting the singles and promotion get out there, and hoping the album speaks for itself?

I don't think there are many artists who can sell on their name alone these days, and it's not our style anyway. We approach every record from the slow-build approach. Of course we'll be doing all kinds of marketing, promotion and publicity, but we never, ever take the attitude "oh, so-and-so is a star -- they can sell themselves."

What TV shows do you think Kat has a good chance of being on? Do you think you guys could try to get Kat on Ellen, The Tonight Show, Regis & Kelly etc? GMA and Ellen would be amazing!

Hard to say what TV shows we'll get, but based on the music AND the amazing independent publicists we're working with, I think we have a great shot at all the morning TV shows. Of course we'll pitch her to the late night shows too, but I think the morning shows will love her. I went to The View when she performed with David Foster and the bookers told me that they love Kat and would be happy to have her any time. I would love to see her on Ellen and GMA too, believe me!

I think I'm speaking for everyone when I say we would LOVE a holiday EP. Do you think it is possible for yall to get Kat to record maybe 5 or 6 Christmas songs to be released on iTunes at around Christmas?

No clue about Christmas yet -- they're talking about it, but I don't know. I'll let you guys know when they figure it out.

If you have heard the album, whats your favorite song on it and why?

I love a bunch of songs on the record, but at the moment, my favorite song is "It's Not Right." The reason? Kat's vocals are crazy good. I can't wait for you all to hear it.

I've been talking to some fans here and they say that HAD IT ALL is not going to be released to Z100 and 106.1 BLI stations in New York. These stations have a huge following and if she got them to play the song, it could help her a lot. So is there a possibility that can change?

I'm not sure what you mean by "released" to those stations. Promotion folks will typically start a record at one format, though radio stations are free to add whatever they wish. I have to run out to an interview with another artist right now (yes, we do have other artists, though I admit that Kat is my fave), so this is it for me today. I will try to sign back in later, and to the other lovely Kat forum. You guys are great.

I speak here for the behalf of Katharine's Brazilian's fans. So, I do wonder if Verve is aware of those unexplored markets and if the answer yes, if they have plans to explore it. AND Can we looking forward one day hear Kat's songs on soundtracks or television episodes? I know probably nothing is set on stone at this point, but I do wonder if it's a possibility.

We have a wonderful film & tv licensing division in Los Angeles that has arranged to showcase Kat's music for film and tv music supervisors as well as ad agencies, but I'm not sure how that works on an international level. I'll ask our international marketing person.

Won't you guys update her Youtube channel?
Wouldn't it be nice if you guys posted all Kat's webisodes/videoblogs on it?

We know that youtube is a great way to promote an artist without spending money. Many singers like Britney, Beyoncé, etc have huge views on their channels, plus a lot of subscribers.

I'm not avoiding these questions, but I don't know the answers, so I'll ask our new media guru tomorrow.

Is the record going to have any uptempos?

The record does have some uptempo tunes, but do you mean a particular style, or just tempo?

Will you try to get Kat on Idol to perform her single?

Of course we're going to pitch Kat for the new season of Idol, so wish us luck with that! I'm hopeful, because the folks there tend to be very good to past Idol contestants.

How many songs off this record do you (hope) plan on releasing to radio as actual singles?

I have no idea about how many singles deep we're going to go: that's a decision that's made by the radio department. He'd probably smack me for saying this, because promotion people hate when the rest of us butt in (since they really are the experts), but I can hear a bunch of these songs working at radio.

Are you guys at Verve fans of American Idol? As music insiders, what do you think of it?

There are a bunch of devoted Idol watchers at Verve. To be completely honest, I wasn't one of them, but thanks to my kids (who are quite the Idol fanatics), I not only got sucked in to the show, but attended the most recent American Idol Live concert in Newark. I have to say, I love Adam and Allison (am I spelling her name correctly? I hope so!). The A&R person who signed Kat is a longtime fan of the show, and he and a lot of others at the label watch the show religiously. We ALL agree that it's a phenomenon, and it's been great fo music.

When did you and your Verve-mates become aware of Katharine, on Idol or later?

As i mentioned, Mitchell (the A&R person) is a big Idol fan, so he's been aware of Kat since the beginning.

Was "Say Goodbye" originally intended to be released when Kat guest-turn on CSI:NY was aired in April?

I don't think "Say Goodbye" was originally set to be on the album, but the song is so good, it made perfect sense to include it.

Was David Foster involved at all in making the album, perhaps in the early stages? He said a couple of times in the last couple of years that he was going to work with Kat on making her second album (at some Warner event in 2007 and then last year when he and Kat were on American Idol), but we've never seen anything that would indicate he was wrote or produced anything for the album.

David is a dear friend of Kat's (as you all certainly know), and he's been an amazing supporter of her music. John Alagia produced the album, and did a splendid job!

Is Verve planning on releasing bonus tracks? Will it be on the cd, or at various retail places like amazon, itunes, walmart etc

There is some bonus material, but I'm not sure about the particulars of where/how it'll be released. Will advise asap!

What is the reasoning behind the selection of “Had It All” as the debut single? What does it have over the other songs in the album to earn this significant position (maybe in terms of marketing strategies)? Since you had shared that your personal favorite is “It’s Not Right”, so why not it, or “Say Goodbye”?

Who knows? I just know that I love it and to my ears, it's gorgeous and SHOULD be a hit.

That's a tough one for me to answer. We defer to our head of radio promotion on these kinds of questions. He has played a few select tracks for people he trusts, which includes radio programmers, and the concensus for the first single came back "Had It All." Please bear in mind that there's a lot of depth on this record and there are a few singles on it, so we'll be working it for a long time. Also, please note that while folks have attempted to turn the art of picking singles into science through testing and such, it usually works best when radio folks just trust their gut.

Idk if you can tell us, but if u can, can u tell us the reasoning behind the recording of BRAND NEW KEY? Of all the songs out there to cover, why was this selected? It's a very interesting choice, I am looking forward to her spin on it.

Her a&r person has an absolutely encyclopaedic (sp?) knowledge of pop music, and is one of the most over-the-top music fans I've ever met. I've known him for many, many years, and have always had immense respect for him. He suggested it, and it turned out to be a really fun little cover.

do you plan on bringing Kat to SXSW as you were part of the music panel last year? Are you going to get Kat an "in" at Spin magazine since you had worked there previously? Am I getting too personal?

LOL! I worked at Spin a LOOOOONG time ago, when I was young and cool.
I don't think SXSW is the right place for Kat. It's too big, crazy and chaotic, and not as much fun as it used to be.
So you're checking up on me, huh? Do I pass?

Did Kat do a photoshoot for CosmoGirl? Will she be doing any photoshoots/interviews for other magazines to promote her album?

Nope. She hasn't done any magazine shoots YET, but yes, she will.

We hope a couple at least of Canadian spots will be included in any tour. Say Toronto and Victoria?

That works for me 'cos I'm a wannabe Canadian. Seriously. I'm a NY native, but I love Canada A LOT. I have no idea about touring stuff, sorry! But if i had to guess, I would say yes.

How much longer do you think Kat will keep her blonde hair before she changes back to brunette? Her hair seems to grow pretty fast, so it must be hard for her to have to keep dyeing it

No idea. She really does look gorgeous no matter what, though, don't you think?

I'm really curious about who has the rights to bonus/unreleased tracks/demo tracks and who has permission release the song to the public (on MySpace for example). So if there will be no unreleased or bonus tracks, what would be the reasons for that? And would the songwriters be allowed to put the song up for listening? Is it at their discretion/choice? I hope that's not too much of a confusing question, but it's a confusing issue for me.

Also, does Verve own the rights to Katharine's first album? If Kat tours, will she be allowed to perform songs from the first album?

I'm not sure if I follow, but I'll try to answer: while an artist is under contract to a label, everything they record belongs to that label. We do NOT have the rights to Kat's first record. We will certainly release bonus material through various partners, though I don't know which songs are going to whom at the moment. Sorry!

Sometimes bonus material sits on the shelf for a while, but these days pretty much everything sees the light of day.

By partners you mean like Itunes, Target, Walmart etc... ?

exactly!

By bonus content do you mean the bonus content featured on the dvd? Or do you plan on releasing extra content apart from it?

Other bonus tracks -- audio.

Do you know if Kat will be doing any 'acoustic'/'stripped' performances for sites like yahoomusic's pepsismash, Rhapsody, and VH1 Unplugged to promote her album?

I can't say for sure at the moment, but that's certainly the plan!

You say you get puzzled looks from your coworkers because you are going around asking them questions from fans. Does this mean your outreach to us is unusual?

well, i was half kidding. This kind of fan interaction is a BIT unusual for us, because we don't usually hear from the fans quite so directly, but it's great. I think folks are puzzled that I'm walking into their offices and opening my questions with "The fans want to know whether......" But it's all good, and we're happy to be able to respond to you directly. I used to write letters to record companies all the time years ago (before I was in the business, obviously), and all I would ever get was a form letter and an 8 X 10 glossy -- never a personal response.

Are you specifically Kat's publicist, in that you go to events with her and keep her in line and line up interviews with press people there or do you supervise people who do that stuff?

I'm the publicist for the label, so it's a little bit of both. I have been fortunate enough to accompany Kat some of the time, but I assembled an amazing team of publicity people to look after Kat. The four of us spend a lot of time interacting throughout every day by email and phone. But trust me: she's in great hands.

Will Kat's 'Had It All' video actually be on TV? Like MTV? VH1? aka popular music channels and shows? Just say yes!

Unfortunately I get a sense... that this video won't be released for a couple of months now...

What would make you think that? I think it's going to be a lot earlier than that!

Is Verve, or more specifically Verve Forecast, considered a big label or is it more akin to an indie label or a moderately sized label?

Verve is a boutique label within the Universal Music Group. We operate more like an indie, but we have an amazing sales force and the backup of the whole Universal distribution and marketing team, which is a blessing.

Is Kat your only mainstream pop artist?

Kat is probably our most mainstream pop artist, though we have other artists who have crossed over (and we certainly have worked with mainsteram pop artists in the past).

The Verve website doesn't make it easy to see which of your artists are specifically on the Verve Forecast label. Is there a list somewhere on the website or can you list the artists?

I'm not sure if the website gives you a breakdown of who's on Forecast versus Verve, but we're all the same staff, and we usually choose imprints based upon the music. Verve is where most of the traditional jazz stuff lives, and Forecast is our label for singer/songwriters, though that's not a hard & fast rule. There's always flexibility. For instance, Jamie Cullum started out on Verve and then moved over to Forecast.

I hope she can get some May sweeps promotion.

May sweeps? How about February?

We saw many artists that collaborated with Katharine. While I loved them all, Paula Cole's name stand out for being someone Kat loves. Aside from the fact I was happy (Okay, I squeed like a shameless 12 year old) it made me wonder... Did Kat meet Paula? Or the song was simply handled to her? According to info, she co-wrote the song. It would be very cool if she did.

I don't know the specifics of Kat's meeting Paula, but I believe they were introduced by Mitchell, a&r man extraordinaire. Kat did co-write -- in fact, she co-wrote 7 of the songs that got recorded.

No pressure about this one, but sometimes artists cover songs on internet or TV shows. Is there any way we can suggest songs? I remember Kat used to sing acapella songs by request. Off course she didn't have to obey us. It's just a friendly suggestion.

Re: requests, I just don't know!

Is January 5th the official and "final" date, or is it subject to change? What made the team choose January 5th over, say, the second week of January or any other week for that matter?

January 5 IS the final release date. Really really. For real. No backsies.

Official Track Listing:

Oh, and as promised, here's the track listing. Thanks for your patience, everyone!

1. It’s Not Right (Lucie Silvas/Gary Go)
2. Had It All (Kara DioGuardi/Mitch Allan/David Hodges)
3. Keep Drivin’ (Katharine McPhee/Chris Tompkins/Rachael Yamagata)
4. Last Letter (Barry Dean/Luke Laird/Katharine McPhee)
5. Surrender (Katharine McPhee/Ingrid Michaelson/Marshall Altman)
6. Terrified featuring Jason Reeves (Kara DioGuardi/Jason Reeves)
7. How (Lucie Silvas/Mike Busbee/Alex James)
8. Say Goodbye (Troy Verges/Hillary Lindsey/Aimee Mayo/Chris Lindsey)
9. Faultline (Lucie Silvas/Rachel Thibodeau)
10. Anybody’s Heart (Barry Dean/Luke Laird/Katharine McPhee)
11. Lifetime (Boots Ottestad/Katharine McPhee)
12. Unbroken (Paula Cole/Katharine McPhee)
13. Brand New Key (Melanie Safka) (Bonus Track)

the bonus track labeled next to Brand New Key worries me that Regina meant THAT was the bonus track when we asked if we would get any..

There's more than "Brand New Key"

When did Kat start working with Verve? Was it 2008 or earlier?

I'm not sure exactly when her deal was signed, but it was some time in 2008.

Under Kat's Bio tab on the Verve website, there's an update from what was previously there, with Kat talking about her album and the various songs. It reads like an interview/review. Any idea where that comes from (ie, who was the reporter/interviewer/Verve intern)?

I can't find what you're referring to on the Verve site -- are you talking about the "track by track?" Kat did do a "track by track" discussion, but I didn't see it on the Verve site. Maybe I should take the rest of the week off? I clearly need the rest, LOL.

and no, the interview wasn't done by a reporter or an intern -- it was done by someone who works with her management team, though I don't know exactly who did it.

who's her management? Untitled? Cephas(sp?)?

Cephas Entertainment looks after her music career. She has other managers who look after the film side of her career.

Regina, do you happen to have a schedule of Katharine's upcoming radio interviews/appearances? I know she's hitting up a DC station tomorrow, any others?

I'm trying to get that information, but our radio promotion person (who's without any help at the moment -- we're a little shorthanded) is in the midst of lining up these interviews and can't take the time away from that to give me a list. If I get any info I'll post it here, I promise! We're trying to allocate our resources and our time to best serve this project. We love how supportive you guys are, and we're SO grateful to you for all your help.

Have you heard any of the songs that didn't make the final tracklist?

Yes, I have heard other material, but I don't know if I'm at liberty to discuss it, so I'll have to take a respectful pass for the moment.

Regina, I know for her album with RCA she did do a little promo in Canada, specifically in Toronto because of Much Music. Do you think something like that would happen again? I know overseas promo takes time, but since we are just across the boarder I'm hoping and praying and wishing.

Yes, I absolutely believe she'll be going to international territories, though we have yet to determine when.

Well I'm happy with Cephas Entertainment as long as they book some TV promo appearances for Kat, like they did when we thought the release date was Oct 6th ........ oh wait!

Now, now! Let's all behave.

TV promo is actually handled by Kat's indie PR team and me -- we feel that divide and conquer is the best strategy. The people we have working on this campaign are really first-rate -- I promise you that. We already have some strong interest from very good TV outlets for release week, so keep your fingers crossed. Of course, we can't confirm any of this until we get official offers, and those will take a while to lock in (just because they're not booking January yet). However, i am super optimistic that we'll have great TV.

I am praying, really, REALLY hard you guys can consider having Kat stop by the Philippines!!! It's like everyone's been here (Taylor, (Chris) Daughtry, Elliott, the two Davids, Constantine, etc.), except her.

Well, I can't speak to whether she'll go there, but it would make sense to go there if/when she goes to Japan and Australia. There are so many factors that go into determining overseas promo, but hopefully she'll get there. I'm sure she really wants to go to the Philippines!

Regina my first question for you! Do you think the album will end up being released in Europe, particularly in Portugal cos that's where I live? I just want to know the feeling of actually going to the store and see Kat album up there and buy it! I really hope it takes off internationally.

I sure hope so, though the international territories sometimes take their time deciding when to put records out. Portugal is a good territory for some of our artists, so that would be great!

Regina, have you had the honor of meeting Nena and Larry, the luckiest doggies EVERRRRRRRRRRR? Will you be like Kat's previous advisors, who thought it unwise of her to discuss them too much?

I have met Nena, but not Larry. She's so cute! And no, i have no issue with Kat talking about the dogs at all. Why would anyone?

If the tour is a success, will you guys consider doing a southeast asia tour (singapore, malaysia, philippines etc.) There are many kat fans here!

International touring decisions would not be made by us -- that's a management and booking agent call.

Kat's recent jaunt around the various events at Fashion Week have us wondering: Are her appearances strictly a personal thing or are they and the press interviews set up by you and your team? How did she score front row seats and sitting with Tommy's daughter at the Tommy Hilfiger event?

Re: Hilfiger, she was invited there by Tommy Hilfiger, and he seated her personally. The PR team does reach out to designers to ask if they would like her as a guest, but all the shows she attended were ones that she was personally invited to by the designers this time around.

Regina, if you have any insight into this, who picked the song for the CSI episode? Was it just considered as a song solely for the episode? And if so why wasn't it released on itunes after the episode was over?

I don't know about CSI, sorry!

Regina, besides "Had It All" (of course), what songs were up for consideration for the lead single?

There were three or four songs considered for the single, but as they may be released in the future, I'm not sure if i'm allowed to mention which were considered. For now, we have to concentrate all our energy on "Had it All." As I'm sure you know, radio has changed SO MUCH over just the last two years, and it's a whole different ball game that it used to be. Everything takes much, much longer than it used to.

Regina, supposedly Kat was invited back to do American Idol Rewind but apparently declined the offer. Was this her decision and if so what was the reason behind it?

That's not correct: she did an interview for American Idol Rewind at the end of August.

Does Kat know she can "tweet" about anything and anyone, not just official announcements?

I have no clue about Kat's Twitter account.

How does kat feel about the album being pushed back? do you know? she seemed sad in the last vlog when she made the announcement.

I don't know how Kat feels about us pushing the album. I think she understands that it's for the good of the project.

What songs on the album are single-worthy in your opinion? what would be the second single if it was completely up to you?

Now, remember: I DON'T DO RADIO, and radio promotion people get very sensitive when people pick singles for them. So this is just my opinion, and please bear in mind that my favorites tend to change over time.

I love "It's Not Right" and "How" in addition to "Had it All," but at the risk of sounding like a brown-nose, there's not a bad track on the album.

Was Had It All released to Canadian radio or is that done completely separately from the US radio push?

totally separate!

Do you know the details of Kat's upcoming appearance at the Oceanside, CA Wal-Mart? I'm asking because I want to go, but I would need to know how many songs she is performing?

I don't know how many songs Kat is performing, but i do know that she is performing and signing. So sorry that I don't have details -- I'll try to get them from our West Coast sales peeps. But yes, you should go if you can!

A question about the album's recording process - I'm curious to know considering Kat was late getting into the recording studio due to the movie and other factors, whether the recording process was shortened as a result or was it allowed to take whatever time they had previously decided it was going to need?

We would never sacrifice the quality of the music for those other things, so Kat was totally encouraged to take her time in order to make the right record. When you hear the album, I suspect you'll agree that there were no compromises made vis a vis the music. It's a stunning album.

Kat is apparently taking part in the Feed America concert on Tuesday, according to Adam Shankman's twitter. Why is something like that not promoted on Kat's website?

I have no idea why, and we're fixing that. Obviously, we won't be able to post about private events, but going forward, we will post about public events. We'll also tweet about them via Verve's Twitter account and post them to the Verve website.

I'm not eschewing my responsibilities here, but I don't oversee the web stuff. I copied a bunch of my colleagues on emails I got this weekend about this issue and I think we'll have it all sorted soon.

I would love if we could do some Q&A with Kat's A&R rep at some point, even just a question here and there. Would that be possible? Like, get him an account and have him pop into this topic from time to time?

I'm not sure if Mitchell can join us as his schedule is crazy (he spends a LOT of time on the road), but I'll ask him. Also, I can forward questions to him and ask him to answer. Not quite the same as having him here, but still -- it's something!

Is the music video coming out this week or later now that the album has been delayed?

I'll check on the status of the video and get back to you. I suspect we'll probably give one of our partners an exclusive for a day until we give it to all our other video partners.

Oh, and I never really answered your question: no, the video won't be delayed, because the single is out!

For Kat's upcoming concert, as well as other performance opportunities that may or may not involving promoting the record or performing its songs, can the team make an effort to provide archival video of her performances to fans? Even with radio interviews, this constant stream of media that we can enjoy as well as push to bloggers, helps grow kat's fanbase and keep up interest, especially because it's an opportunity to tie messaging of the upcoming release date/album details and drive traffic back to kat's official site. I know it takes work for only a little return at a time but in the end if you do this regularly it will pay off! (sorry for that).

It would be probitively expensive to hire a crew to shoot all of Kat's appearances, though we will do that for some of them. I don't know if we get airchecks of all of Kat's radio interviews, but I can ask Casey about that.

When Kat does TV appearances, of course we'll post streaming links to those. I suspect we will shoot some stuff so we have performance b-roll, but again, we can't shoot everything. As you probably know, it's the post-production -- editing, etc. that costs so much. We have to allocate our resources carefully, and while video footage is certainly a valuable asset, there's so much else to be done with the $$.

Will Katharine be allowed to sing her old songs (as in, the songs from her debut) on her upcoming tour? Or will she only be allowed to sing her new material?

Kat can sing her older material -- there's never any prohibition on what an artist chooses to perform live in concert. I would think she'd want to balance old and new, though I have no idea what's going to be in her set list.

When can we expect to see the Had It All video (plz don't say "soon" lol) and where do you think it might be premiering at? Yahoo? MTV? AOL?

I honestly DON'T KNOW when the video will be approved. I'll check today and see if I can get an ETA for its release. Last week, I was told that it would probably be finished this week. However, I just got back today (I was out yesterday) so I just don't have a definitive answer. Sorry guys!

"Had It All" was just released in Portuguese itunes store!!! What could that mean? lol Are you starting already to go international? I'm just so shocked to see a Kat song in our itunes store since not even her first album was released there. I just bought 2 copies.

We (meaning Verve) have a very strong international presence, so we hope to get Kat's music out to all our territories. It's up to them to choose what US repertoire they want to put out, but Kat is obviously a huge priority for us. thanks for buying the track on iTunes!

I'm not sure how long it takes to get songs on iTunes, but maybe "Lifetime" can be made available as another eSingle to at least capitalize on the leak? I know that messes up a lot of potential plans, but the spread of that one is inevitable now.

I'm not sure what our sales people will decide to do about "lifetime," but I will ask if there a plans to put it up on iTunes now that it leaked. I don't think that's how they will respond, but perhaps they will. I'll let you know asap.

regina, i hope it's ok to ask this...i've heard Jive Records can make a profit by selling about 250k copies of an album while rca for instance cannot. so in relation to that i'd love to know what you're expectations are for Unbroken (if you guys have any)? and what would be considered a success for Verve? as you may know kat sold about 380k(and almost 500k worldwide) of her debut album and it was considered a "flop".

Well, it's not quite that simple to say that someone needs to sell X number of units on X label in order to generate a profit: it's a lot more complicated than that. It all depends upon how much is spent on recording costs AND marketing. If the marketing spend is really excessive (and that encompasses everything from tour support money to indie radio promo, advertising, video production, etc.), you may not make a profit no matter how much you spend. However, if you spend your marketing budget wisely and sell a lot of units, your break even number is a lot lower and then you can spend more. Make sense?

Of course we want to sell a lot of records. That's our business, after all. The more records we sell, the more we can invest in Kat's career (and of course, that's across the board for our other artists as well) and the longer we can keep making records with her. We'd all like to be here for the long haul -- that's the goal! But we haven't set a sales goal yet of how many we have to sell in order to view the record as a success. That will come later.

So wait Regina, you guys were really considering making LIFETIME part of an Apple commercial?? If so, SWEET!

Well, don't I wish it were up to us!!! But I have passed along the fans' comments to our new media guy, who deals with Apple all the time. We have submitted other songs (by other artists) to them over the last couple of years, and they haven't bitten yet. But who knows?

Hey Regina can you pass on the idea for Kat to come to Austin, TX not just because I live there or anything
Will do! Can I just come to Austin instead? I'm not as fabulous, but I do love Austin dearly, for whatever that's worth.

Regina, you are doing more than we ever expected we would get. The time and effort you are putting in is much appreciated. Thanks again for participating. Thank you also for looking into the unannounced performances issue. One other thing: many of us suspect that Kat's not really putting out every tweet or blog or bulletin. If she really isn't and it's the Verve staff doing some of them, trust us, it's ok to say so in the message. We'll understand, really we will.

In regards to sales amounts for breaking even or making a profit, as Regina said, obviously Verve is not going to know that until they add up revenue and expenses. Even if they could do it before hand, I would expect that they would never tell us the break-even point until the album is done in order not to hurt sales. I would at least hope that they could tell us that they're satisfied or it was a little below expectations.

To tell you the truth, I don't know who looks after Kat's Twitter account (meaning if it's her or someone at her management), but I can tell you that it's not anyone here at Verve. We have enough trouble looking after our own Twitter feed, LOL! We simply don't have the staff to look after artists' Twitter accounts.

As to the second part of your post, we CAN project anticipated P&L on a project based on what the sales department EXPECTS to ship/sell, and that's how we come up with an initial marketing budget. However, that number changes constantly based on actual sales, etc., so it gets adjusted on an ongoing basis.

Regina, do you know when we can expect a confirmation on whether or not Kat will be having an album release party and when/where that would be? I'm interested in attending, and I'd like to make travel arrangements as early as possible

We WILL do some kind of an event, and hopefully they'll let me post it here and KMF before it goes anywhere else. I'll let you all know as soon as we firm something up, I promise!

Regina, I know you have absolutely no control of which singles are chosen and that the radio promo guy at Verve doesn't like people getting all up in his business but if there is any way you can let the radio people know what the fans think, that'd be great

Sorry I've been away for so long! You should know that I pass all kinds of feedback from you to my colleagues. Seriously, I share all of this with the radio promo people, my GM, our head of marketing, and our new media peeps. thank you for the feedback, which we value greatly.

Regina's probably just been very busy. Regina, have you been traveling with Kat at all this past week?

I have not been traveling with Kat. Our radio promo person was with her on the first leg of the trip, and then one of our marketing folks was out in Pittsburgh. Our radio guy is going back out with her for the duration of the trip.

I apologize for disappearing: we have a few records coming out and a few artists coming in for shows, so it's been super hectic, more so than usual. I'll try to catch up today, since it's a little bit quieter due to the holiday.

Regina, we heard from Kat at her Pittsburgh concert that Lifetime is going to be featured on So You Think You Can Dance next week (or will it be the week after?). Will it be available on iTunes for people to download? If not, that's another missed opportunity.

I'm waiting to get comfirmation on whether it's definitely in the episode. I'll post as soon as I hear back from my colleagues on the West Coast who are in charge of licensing and tv placements.

Regina, another question about Lifetime being featured on SYTYCD: Any idea why they chose that particular song among all the ones on the album? Did they get the whole CD to choose from or was that particular song offered to them and if it was the latter, why that song?

I'm not sure why they chose "Lifetime." The film and TV community was serviced with the full advance, and they can choose whichever songs they think work best for their particular needs.

Regina - Can you tell us, even if it's just a GUESS... when the next song is going to be released to iTunes? & possibly what song?
Also, How many songs do you think will end up being released as bonus tracks? Hopefully a lot!
One more question, can you tell us if Katharine is signed to you guys for more than one album?

Awwww, you're so nice. I don't know that I'm amazing -- I think YOU guys are amazing for all you do for Kat! Remember, I get paid to do my job, but for you, it's a labor of love!

Kat has a long-term deal with us, so hopefully we'll be working with her for a long time.

The next track being released to iTunes will go up the first week of November, but I'm not permitted to tell you what it is yet. I will as soon as I can!

don't forget to watch the video on Yahoo! tomorrow morning!

Regina, do you know if the deluxe edition of Unbroken with the bonus DVD will also have a bonus track or two?

Not bonus audio -- the bonus tracks are getting parceled out to retail partners. I think you'll be happy with the deluxe edition, though!!

Regina, are there any plans to release the second radio single before the album release in January or will "Had It All" be the focus for the duration of the time between now and then?

I'll have to ask Casey about whether we're going to release another radio single before January. I suspect so, but I'm not 100% sure and I wouldn't want to give you bad information. I'll ask him when he's back in the office.

It's a weird time of year for radio, because a lot of formats flip to holiday music and don't add any new music. I'm already seeing ads for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular and it's NOT EVEN HALLOWEEN. What's up with that?!

If Casey gives me an affirmative, I'll post as soon as I can.

Sorry to keep drilling this (still bitter we only got 1 bonus track with the last album ) but do you happen to know about how many we will be getting? At least 3 (please)?

You're getting three total: one holiday song and two non-holiday bonus tracks. I'm not sure how they're going to get divvied up among the retail partners, but there you have it. I'm sorry that I'm not able to share the titles with you yet, but I will as soon as I can!

Does Kat know about this place?

I actually told Kat that I've been spending time on her fan forums and she seemed genuinely moved to hear that. She really appreciates how great you all are!

Thanks so much Regina. The radio tour seems to be getting good responses from the interviewers, is it helping with the PD/MD's as well? how has their feedback been?

I think people have been very, very happy with Kat's visits. I don't know how much this will help in terms of spins -- the radio landscape has changed SO much -- but I have to think/hope that it helps.

Wait, is the holiday track being released in January?

I don't know the release date for the holiday track yet, but I promise to share it asap! I haven't even heard it yet. we're supposed to get it this week.

Does "Brand New Key" count as one of these 2 non Holiday bonus tracks?

No, "Brand New Key" does NOT count as a non-holiday bonus track! so you're really getting three!

With her future ~real~ singles, will there be more music videos?

I sure hope so! But honestly? I don't know the answer to that question. I guess it all depends upon what format the songs are and whether they lend themselves to video treatments.

Regina, if the holiday music starts rolling in around late October, early November, and if Kat releases a second radio single at that time...wouldn't it be incredibly hard for the song to be played on radio and to be noticed? I'm not exactly sure how everything works but it makes a little more sense to wait until January and push it then, no? I feel that if she will actually release a second single it's good to just wait until the new year and give it the best chance of catching on and becoming a hit

You know, you make a lot of sense. Sometimes my brain doesn't work so well.

Regina will certainly give us a definitive answer but personally I would be very surprised if there is another conventional single released to radio before the Jan 6th date. Holiday music? very possible, but a second radio single seems unlikely. Nobody adds new music during the holidays. Plus Had It All is just getting started and the change to holiday music on AC in particular will kind of put it on standby for a bit. Hopefully HIA will not have peaked yet on Jan 6th and we will see it get a bounce after the holidays are over. End of January, February then hopefully yes but I just don't see the logic in another radio single before then.

Well, I believe we're releasing another track to iTunes in early November, which will be followed by the holiday track, but the next iTunes track won't necessarily be the next radio single. Does that make any sense?

Is Verve happy with "Had It All"'s performance thus far? And were they thrilled to see numbers near 8k for "Say Goodbye"'s first week sales?

Yes and yes!

Regina, is HAD IT ALL really on NOW 32?

Yeppers!

Oh Regina!! do you know what issue of Shape Kat will be featured in? We know she's doing the shoot this week!

How in the world do you guys find out about all this stuff? Wowza!

She'll be in the February issue. Pretty cool, huh?

Can't wait! Cover feature maybe?

I didn't think I was supposed to reveal this, but hell -- since it's on MySpace -- ummmm, yes.

Will the "Had It All" video be promoted to music video channels like VH1/MTV/MTV Hits/etc and can we expect to see it on these channels anytime soon? Do you think it will be eligible for voting on VH1's Weekly Countdown? That would be great promo.

We are submitting it to all of the above. Unfortunately, they just don't play as many videos as they used to and it's tough to get stuff added there, but we certainly hope they will add it and give it some significant play. Fortunately, our on-line partners will give it a lot of internet exposure.

Should we tell Regina what we think the Christmas song is?

You guys already know, don't you? I hear that the engineer tweeted it. it's a beautiful song (though I have yet to hear Kat's version)! Very appropriate for the times, no?

Regina, any news on releasing Had It All to Canada? I really think it could do well there. Canadian HAC was her highest charting format for Over It.

I'll have to ask our international marketing person. it seems wacky that it's not simultaneous, but all the territories have their own plans.

What other online channels besides Yahoo Music will be streaming the HIA video?

I don't have a list, but all the biggies will have it. But Yahoo! got a 24-hour exclusive.

Regina, is there a chance that Kat will be featured in other magazines?

Absolutely! And if she doesn't get featured in other magazines, I need to start practicing saying "did you want fries with that shake?"

We've been pitching her to various magazines and there's a lot of interest. We've locked in a few good stories, but we're working on a whole lot more. Suffice to say that you'll be seeing a lot of Kat in 2010. Though knowing you guys, you'll probably know where she's going to be before I do! LOL!

Also, are there any updates about whether or not Kat will be doing any acoustic performances to stream online like aol sessions or rhapsody?

I think she will, though we haven't lined those up yet.

Do you know how many songs Kat recorded in total for Unbroken?

Sorry it's been so long, guys!

We're releasing everything Kat recorded -- the album's worth of material and all the bonus tunes (3 bonus tunes total).

DEAR REGINA,
I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW...HAVE YOU MET NICK?

HAS A POSSIBLE TIMES SQUARE PERFORMANCE BEEN PITCHED FOR NEW YEARS?
WITH HER ALBUM COMING OUT IT WOULD BE AMAZING FOR HER TO PERFORM IN ANY VENUE WITH NEW YEARS EVE BASED MEDIA.

I have met Nick a bunch of times and I talk to him almost every day. He's great: smart, funny, charming, and just an all-around great guy.

We have pitched Kat for various New Year's Eve events and are awaiting feedback.

Reggie baby, What's your favorite Kat song that DIDN'T make the album?

I haven't spent enough time with the non-album tracks to be able to answer this honestly. I've been totally focused on the album. Though I guess it would have to be "Help Me."

Regina - What songs did Kat sing for her walmart soundcheck?
I'm actually not allowed to talk about that because Wal-Mart will be posting it on their website, etc., so they have to be the ones to announce that. I'm sorry!


How much say does the artist have in single choices? Are they consulted at all? I mean they are the one that'll be out there singing that song on TV appearances and such so...it seems cruel if they are stuck with a song they dislike.

The artist certainly has input, and we would never put out a single that they didn't feel strongly about. That said, sometimes the artist will defer to the promotion people if they've done research within the radio community and they get a consensus from programmers.

I think it would be interesting to know if there is any such thing as a "formula" for picking singles. What do they look for? something that somehow encapsulates the sound of the album to give people a foretaste? The consensus seems to be that neither OI nor HIA exactly did that. Then, a range of singles in different modes? Or find something that works and stick with it relentlessly. Or is it all just a big toss-up based on individual taste and eeny-meeny-miney-moe. Just curious.

You know, it used to be purely based on radio promo people's gut instincts, but now it's gotten terribly scientific in a lot of cases. It's so annoying: there are radio researchers who do "call-out research," in which they play people a tiny fraction of a song -- 10 or 15 seconds -- and people are supposed to decide based on that sample if there's a hook. We didn't do call-out for Kat's single. Our radio promo person did play a couple of tunes for a bunch of trusted colleagues and associates -- other promotion people, other Verve staff and radio programmers -- and ultimately went with his gut. He's a good one. Really and truly.

I know 3 people who were once Kat fans, but now are not any longer simply because of the low quality video UMG put on their youtube

The issue is apparently one of bandwidth, which is why the video doesn't appear to be of the best quality. I don't know if it can be fixed, but we'll work on it. Also, the video is available so widely, hopefully people will see it in more than just one place.

Are people really saying that they're no longer fans because they can't see the video clearly? Forgive me, but that seems a bit extreme. Technology, and the speed with which we can hear/see/own things has spoiled us all. Years ago, before the internet existed, I used to troll collector's magazines classified section for any video content at all that existed on my favorite bands. I would routinely buy 3rd and 4th generation video reels that featured stuff like German or British TV performances from shows like Music Laden and Star Club and Old Grey Whistle Test, and while I minded that they weren't great quality, I was so thrilled to actually be able to see this stuff. I know, i probably sound like a dinosaur, but you know what? The availability of all this archival stuff on sites like YouTube hasn't dampened my enthusiasm, nor do I take it for granted. I'm still as thrilled to see this stuff as I was when I was a young obsessive music fan.

Sorry for the rant, but thanks for indulging me.

Regina, the deluxe tracklist includes "Making Of Music Video for 'Had It All'"; does the DVD also have the actual music video on there?

yes, it does!

Will the album booklet have the lyrics to all the songs in it?

Also, I have a couple more questions:

1. Will Kat be doing any more radio touring between now and January or is she finished with that for now?

2. A few weeks ago Kat revealed that Lifetime would be played on So You Think You Can Dance the following week. However, it has been two weeks since and it has not been played. Do you happen to know whether or not the song will be played anymore and if so, when that will be?

Howdy! Back from lunch. I think I may be missing a heap of questions, and I'll go back and scroll through to see if I missed more. Sorry, guys, and thanks for being patient!

No, the lyrics will not be in the package, but they will be on Kat's website.

She will be doing more promo stuff between now and January, though I don't have a firm schedule yet. It's still coming together.

As to "So You Think You Can Dance," they did request the song from us, but they never confirm 100% that they're going to use a song until the day before it airs. We don't know if they're going to use it (though we sure hope they do)! Sorry. It's such a drag that we don't always know stuff in advance, because obviously we'd like to let folks know about it with proper notice.

is "Help Me" going to be one of the bonuses then?

Yes.

So can you reveal the other bonus title yet?

I would love to, but I can't yet because of agreements we have with our various partners. You guys will probably find out well before I post it anyway!! LOL.

I'm from Portugal. Do you know why Had It All has been released here on iTUNES but the video not? Say Goodbye was just released here this week, by the way. Will we get Lifetime? And are there any actual plans of releasing the album here in January? Thank you so much!Hopefully you can answer these. We DID miss you!

Hmmmm....I don't know the answer to that! I'll ask my colleague Jamie who oversees international. I know there are plans to release in Portugal, but I don't know about the individual territories' release dates.

Phee, I thought Nov 3 was the original date for the album track release, which turned out to be Lifetime and that was changed to Nov 10. I don't think Regina's given a firm date for the Christmas single yet, but I could have missed it.

The Christmas single is coming out on November 17.

Hi Regina, Here's a merchandise idea just in case you guys are thinking about it. Kat's album is coming out at the beginning of the year and that is the best time to also get new calendars. A lot of us are thrilled with the Ellen von Unwerth photoshoot pics so far. I think it would be really to cool to have a Kat calendar made from those photoshoot pics!

I think it's a wonderful idea, but I don't think Ellen Von Unwerth would allow us to use the photos in that manner. She's very particular about how the images are presented. However, it is a terrific idea and I'll pass it along to our marketing peeps.

Regina do you ever find yourself twitching when you are in the same room as Kat? Perhaps sweating? Maybe even bowing?

None of the above, but I can absolutely attest to the fact that i'm pretty much always smiling.

Hey Regina! Any idea what network will be broadcasting the Holiday Belles special Katharine is taking part in?

Sadly, we just got word that the special isn't happening after all. I don't have all the details, but there were clearly some major issues in the production office.

CAN KAT PERFORM THIS NEW CHRISTMAS SONG AT NYC'S XMAS TREE LIGHTING?!?!??!!?!

You know, we pitched that and pitched it again, but we haven't gotten a green light from them. It's a tough one, and they're fully booked, but we're STILL trying. One thing I can say about Kat's team: we're a persistent bunch.

Regina, two years ago Kat did Christmas in Washington on TNT. Would it be possible for her to do that again this year or are they looking for new artists?

To be honest, I don't even know if they're doing that special again this year. They don't typically repeat performers, so we didn't pitch her for this.

Regina, sorry to be repeating myself, but any word from Jamie about international releases?

Hi there,
I hate to be the bearer of not-so-great news, but Jamie said the international release will NOT be simultaneous with the US. There is actually a good reason for this that will ultimately benefit Kat in our overseas territories, but i'm sorry you'll have to wait!

Regina, Kat tweeted that she was in Minneapolis meeting with people from Best Buy and Target. If you can tell us, what was she meeting them for? I thought dealing with retail stores was normally something the label did, not the artist, so I'm real curious as to what that was about.

Well, when an artist is a huge priority for the label, there is real value in having them meet the top people at the major retail accounts. As you all know, Katharine is so personable and lovely, so hopefully she wowed them and made fans out of them all.

I believe it when I see it there's always that risk with promotional copies... did you guys tag 'em, Regina?

We didn't, because these weren't watermarked. Sigh. Even watermarking isn't a guarantee against leaks, but then the advances are traceable. I have to say, i'm amazed that the record hasn't leaked all over, given how many copies have been out there for so long. I give a lot of the credit for that to you guys, who watch out for Kat like nobody's business.

Regina, ANY chance of getting Kat on the Lilith Fair tour?

I don't know about that: she has a new booking agent, so I'll ask.

Regina,
1. Will Kat's Christmas single be sent to radio at all?
2. Can you confirm Kat's participation in the Kaleidoscope on Ice event for cancer survivors? It will be taped on Monday and shown Thanksgiving afternoon on Fox.

Yes and yes!

Also, I'm really really sorry for asking this again but do you happen to have an idea of where Kat is more likely to hold her album release party -- LA or NYC? It's ok if you don't just wanted to ask in case you do. I'll still be on winter break so I'm hoping to travel to wherever she'll be holding it both are nice cities to visit

We don't have release parties sorted yet, but we're THINKING about doing something release week in NY. No promises just yet -- but we're hoping to. Not sure what the LA plan is yet, but we'll probably do something there too.

But do you think it will definitely be released internationally, tho? HIA and SG are up in our itunes store so I was hopeful.

Oh, absolutely! Jamie just wasn't sure about the dates. Once again, because Kat is such a big priority, we want to do certain things to ensure that she's properly represented and looked after in our overseas territories. Though you may have to wait a minute, it'll be better for Kat's career in the long run.

Hi Regina! I know I asked this earlier in the thread but it may have gotten lost. Will Kat be visiting us in the S.F. Bay Area?

Yes, though I don't know exactly when. But it's a really important tour market (and press and radio) and of course it's the home of iTunes, so it's definitely top of the list!

Will it still be released in Canada on Jan 5th? I know it doesn't really count as 'international' but one never knows!

According to Jamie, Canada is the only territory outside of the US that will have a simultaneous release with us!

Do you know if she will be performing or holding a concert at all?
There's usually a performance component to these types of events, so I would say yes!

So I'm assuming it's not yet set where she will perform -- LA or NYC? Do you know if the location will be set by early December?

We're trying to do both, but nothing is set yet. Hopefully we will have it all locked in by early December. I promise to keep you all posted.

Hey Regina, do you know what she is performing at the Macy's parade or the skating thing on Fox? And nice to see you BTW

I'm not supposed to say. I know a bunch of folks will probably post the songs she's doing to Twitter (that always seems to happen these days), but I've been asked not to share that info. Sorry!

Regina, about the release week event. I know that you don't have the location set, but will it definitely take place on the release week (of Jan. 5th)?

If we do a New York event, it will be release week. An LA event would probably take place the following week.

Also congrats on HIA going Top 30 so far!!

Thanks! As you know, many stations are about to flip to a holiday format, so it's nice to close out the year with the record getting some traction. At the adult formats, it just takes such a long time for a record to climb the chart. Hopefully it'll go further in the new year with all the other activity surrounding the album's release.

The concert party thing. How much does a ticket cost. Sorry, if I am unclear.

I don't think we would charge anything: usually, we'll pay for the listening event and people can sign up for tickets or win tickets (there would be a set amount set aside for fans, and then the rest go to industry folks -- radio, press people, retailers, on-line partners, etc.). The venue makes $$ by selling drinks.

I was wondering if Kat will come to the Seattle area? Thanks for all you do!

I'm sure she will at some point, though I don't know when. Seattle, as you know, is the home of Microsoft and Amazon, both of which are really important to us. It's a shame that the newspapers there took such a hit last year. It blows my mind that a city of Seattle's size lost both the PI and the Times, but it's a great market for music, so yes, she'll need to go there.

December seems to be empty so far for Kat-related events. Are things being planned for that month - radio tour, appearances, performances, etc?

She's doing some radio visits in December, but they're not finalized yet. She's doing a couple of private industry showcases and pre-taping a couple of things that I can't really go into, but you'll see them in January. Sorry to be so opaque, but some media outlets get upset with us for taking away the surprise factor. I'm sure you can understand.

I will tell you that we've put together some great TV appearances for Kat for release week. As soon as I'm allowed to announce them here, I will put up a list so no one misses any of them.

Hi Regina, here is a list of different internet exclusive performance programs that we'd love to see Kat on. The more the better (like all of them)

Our new media folks (who really are terrific) are working on many (if not all) of these. I really have to give credit to them for being very creative and aggressive on the web front. Keep the ideas and suggestions coming, though: we really appreciate all the input!


If Had it All performs exactly the way you expect it to from here on out, when would you be planning on releasing the second single? February? Early March? Just so we can know what to expect.

It's really too early to say. We have to see how "Had It All" continues to perform (hopefully it becomes a bona fide smash) before we determine when to drop the next single.

Landing one of those major network New Year gigs would be awesome.. I'm sure that's a tough thing to book though!

Well, i think it's more an issue of the timing of it. They book SO far in advance, it's a little ridiculous. And as you all know, the record was a bit later than we anticipated. It's ok, though: hopefully, Kat's record will propel her to the top of the charts and next year we won't have any issues. So there.

REGINA WHAT HAPPENED TO AMAZON AND THE UNBROKEN CD/DVD PRODUCT ...!!!!!!

WTF?!? No clue. Going to our sales department now. will get back to you asap. It's always something, isn't it?!

OMG you said WTF

I admit it: I have a filthy mouth. I guess growing up in the Bronx will have that effect on a girl.

In any event, I have answers for you: when the release date changed, it bought us some more time (which was the whole point, yes?). Target came to us with a wonderful offer that was just so good, we decided to give the deluxe edition to them exclusively. I'm sure you all know how much muscle Target puts behind artists when they get behind them, so this is very much to Kat's benefit and the benefit of this project.

Sorry about the inconvenience with Amazon, though!

So will that specific package be available exclusively online or on the shelf too?

I have to assume it'll be available on-line. Sorry, I have no experience buying exclusives on-line from them, but it would stand to reason that they'd offer it via the web, no?

We have a Target Greatland in Jersey City, just FYI. I'm just sayin'....

Will Kat ever go down to Dallas or Houston, Texas for her promo???

I don't know of any firm plans to her to travel to Texas, but Dallas, Houston and Austin are all really important markets, so I'm sure she'll get down there!

Kat will definitely be in NYC for release week activities. We're keeping her verrrrrry busy that week. Hopefully, we'll be keeping her busy for a lot longer than that!

Regina, can you confirm that Lifetime will not be used on So You Think You Can Dance or is there still a possibility?

There is still a possibility that "Lifetime" will get used on "So You Think You Can Dance," but we have no way of knowing until the day before. Actually, we (the NY office) won't get the notification at all. Our West Coast colleagues are the ones who secured that potential placement. Sorry that I don't have more details for you!

Regina, will the "Had It All" CD single be available elsewhere besides on the Meet and Greet this Thursday? I need one for my Kat CD singles collection.

There's no plan at the moment to make the physical single available at retail. sorry guys!!!

Regina, we're getting a little frustrated with some of radio stations who seem to want to wait until the single is a hit before they will play it. What is the point of Kat visiting radio stations and making connections if they're just going to sit on their duffs waiting until the song is a hit elsewhere? Can we do anything more with these stations or do we just have to accept the fact that they're followers and not leaders?

Boy, I need to be careful how I answer this, or I may get myself in trouble. Radio is very, very difficult. They rarely will step out on artists these days. The point of Kat (or any other artist) making station visits is so that they can dazzle the staff and maybe get them to support the record. It's frustrating as all get-out, and we're as frustrated as anyone about this. Sigh.

Since it's always a good idea to build buzz before the album release, was it important to you guys to try to book Kat as a presenter at the American Music Awards, or was that not a priority?

She was pitched. They didn't offer us a spot.

When is a schedule for TV appearances going to be released

These are ALL subject to change, but here you go!

December 23 Larry King Live Christmas Special
January 4th Tonight show
January 6th Regis and Kelly and NBC LX TV live at 5
January 7th Fox and Friends
January 8th CW morning show.
January 8 Today Show – Interview only!
January 9th CBS Saturday Early show
January 14 Kimmel

Regina, why are so many "goofy" promo pictures being used? We've seen more silly ones from the Ellen shoot than serious ones. Isn't it a tad unconventional?

Howdy Kevin,

Honestly? I think people need to reminded that Kat is a young woman, and is just having fun. Ellen Von Unwerth, the photographer, is primarily known as a high-fashion and fine-art photographer. She has shot lots of recording artists over the years, but these days she mostly does fashion stuff. I think that Kat deferred to Ellen's vision and just went along with what Ellen wanted to do, but had a GREAT time doing it. Yes, some of the shots are a little on the goofy side, but again -- fun is -- or should be -- the operative word here. I can't tell you how many people have asked me why she changed her hair color. I ask them how many women in their 20s they know who DON'T color their hair and try out different looks and have fun with fashion.

So whaddya think?

Regina, where is the Verve office located?Are we allowed to visit if we're in NY when the album comes out

The Verve office is on Broadway and 57th. There's not all that much to see up here -- just a bunch of people sitting in offices typing away on their computers and yapping on the phone.

I have reading my reviews from people about Had it All. A common thing I heard is there is a country vibe. Also that it is country-rock. I was wondering have you tried to test the song on country radio? I feel this could be way to get some cross-over appeal.

I think a lot of folks agree with you, and we've gotten feedback from people who cite the "twang" factor in HIA. However, country radio is a notoriously tough nut to crack. The country radio community is VERY insular, and if you're not part of the Nashville music community, it's incredibly difficult to cross over.

Katharine is not a country artist. If Kellie P had recorded this song it would have been on country radio because that "world" accepts her as one of them. HIA is rather anomalous in that respect (having people hear country vibes in it).

Groucho is spot-on!

Regina, is anything going to happen with a CD Release Party?? And also, if some of us plan to go to NYC, do you think there will be a high possibility of us getting the chance to meet Kat?

We don't know about that just yet, but I promise I'll post when I do.

Regina, what are the chances of Ellen and Tyra!? Those are definitely at the top of my list!

Well, Ellen is a big one for us, so we're hoping that can happen. There's no word back from her camp, but I can't help but think that Ellen's new role on AI will help, especially since Kara co-wrote Kat's single, don't you think? Fingers crossed on that one!

I know that Kat and Tyra have a very good relationship, so I'd like to see that happen too at some point.

hey...of all the songs on the new CD which do u feel is the most Grammy worthy, it doesn't necessarily have to be your favorite?

Boy....I don't even know how to answer that. The Grammys are a tough call. I guess it depends upon whether there's a breakout smash on the record. If not, I have a few I would list, but obviously, the hit is the obvious choice, no?

Regina, do you know about iTunes, and if you guys will be investing in a large ad? It truly does help a lot.

I don't know what the ad plan for iTunes is. I really don't mean for this to sound cocky, so please don't take it that way, but we're lucky to have a GREAT relationship with iTunes, and the folks at iTunes REALLY like Kat and want to support this project. They've been so good to us already, so I'm not terribly worried about the support they're going to give her going forward.


Hi all,
I'll pop by later to answer questions/defend the label's decisions, etc., but I thought the LA-based fans might want to know that Kat will be stopping by the 5 Buck Music Truck this afternoon when it stops at Hollywood & Highland in front of the Kodak Theater. She’ll arrive around 2pm to greet fans who come out to make a donation to City of Hope, a leading research and treatment center for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases. Everyone who makes a donation will receive a Kat McPhee poster as well as a copy of her first single “Had It All,” and best of all, you'll get to say hi to Kat in person. I know it always makes my day better when I get to say hi to Kat in person.

later,
regina

Two morning shows with The Early Show. Is it their fault if the shows don't take up the offer? And I don't mean that question rhetorically. I really want to know how this works.

Of everything publicity-related, TV is without a doubt the most political and the most challenging to land. Now, by my calculation, Kat is doing four morning shows out of the box: Regis & Kelly, Fox & Friends, the Today Show (and yes, I know it's interview-only, but I'm hoping she'll get another booking that includes performance, either on Today or GMA) and the Early Show. And yes, people do watch on Saturday and Sunday. Morning TV -- even on the weekends -- has a bigger impact on sales that late night. Late night tv used to really move the needle, but not so much anymore (except for SNL, and we're pitching that). Please note that this schedule is not final, we're still locking in commitments, and we're also planning to stagger bookings so they don't all hit that first week. The folks at the View love Kat and want to book her, but they're dark that first week in January. We're going to want to do stuff in February around Valentine's Day and after that too. Believe me, there will be more.

Now just to elaborate on the politics ever-so-slightly: there are certain shows that won't follow others, so we have to be really strategic about how and when we book stuff. If a booker says "we won't follow show x and show y," we have to weigh which of those shows mean the most in terms of visibility for Kat and determine which show (or shows) we should do first. If you do Show X or Show Y, sometimes you have to wait a month or more to do the competing show. It's complicated, but Kat will be all over tv. I promise. It may not happen all at once, but it'll happen.

REGINA,,,,, GET KAT ON SNL AND YOU WILL FOREVER BE MY FAVORITE MEMBER ON THIS SITE!
hosting, that is, but now that I think about it you're probably talking about only to perform.

She's actually being pitched for both. What have we got to lose, right? Kat has terrific comic timing, and she's a good sport.

So what you're saying is...the sky is not falling??? To hear some people tell it the current promotion lined up is a complete disaster. I'm glad I never bought into that though because what you're saying makes much more sense. You can never please some people, but I appreciate you trying.

Disaster? Hardly. Jeez. Adam Lambert getting kicked off GMA and then moving over to the Early Show and not raising their ratings AT ALL is more of a disaster. And don't get me wrong: I love Adam Lambert! But no, our promo for Kat hardly adds up to a disaster. An October release would have been a disaster. Trust me on that one.

Hi Regina.. There's this song called "Terrified". And I think it could be Kat's big single. Just saying.

Kevin, my dear, I'm just the publicist. I get no vote when it comes to picking singles! I'll pass it along to Casey, though.

Regina, are we definitely getting a 2nd single?

Yes! But you have to be patient (i know, it's difficult -- especially since we've asked you to be patient with the release moving a few months). Radio moves at a snail's pace these days, and it takes SOOOOO much longer at the adult formats. You will definitely get at LEAST one more single, though I'm hoping for more than that! You guys have been so great hanging in with us, so hang in for a bit longer, ok? After the holidays, radio will go back to its regular programming, and HIA still has a lot of life left in it.

I think we all figured that, but just out of curiosity and for comparison's sake, what did you have planned for the October release? We know about the one morning Fox News show and the radio interviews.


Professional courtesy prevents me from throwing anyone under the bus, so i'm going to answer this very carefully. There wasn't much in place for the October release, largely because the recording schedule went much later than we originally had planned. Certain folks who are no longer part of the team didn't deliver what we had hoped they would, and we had to reconfigure the team and give ourselves more lead time and breathing room. That's it. It was not good. I'm pretty tough on myself work-wise, and i'm very happy with what the team has in place for the launch. I was VERY VERY unhappy in September.

Regina, will Kat only be singing Had It All during the promo or will she have the chance to sing some other songs as well (like Terrified or It's Not Right )? Like how Adam Lambert performed For your Entrainment at the AMAs and Whataya want from Me on Ellen.

thanks for the bump! I certainly miss a lot, though I try to keep up as best I can! You guys are just so....PROLIFIC. Yes, there will be opportunities for Kat to do different material, though our emphasis is still going to be on "Had It All." After I was on the boards earlier, I went to talk to Casey about the radio picture and he pretty much echoed what I said earlier about the pace of the adult radio formats. He feels that there's a long way to go with "Had It All," so it'll be a while before we spin single #2 out into the world.

I told him that a number of people think "Terrified" is it. Is that a general consensus?

Who reached out to who in terms of artists like Rachael Yamagata and Ingrid? I'm a huge fan of Rachael so when I heard she cowrote a song with Kat I almost peed my pants.

Kat knows Ingrid and Paula Cole, so she reached out to them directly. John Alagia made the introduction to Rachael Yamagata.

Posting because this is the 6th post on the 66th page of this thread! Anyway, Regina, will the Cd with the bonus DVD ever get released internationally so I can buy one by my lonesome?

I believe so, though I don't have a firm answer for you. I've been enlisted by friends overseas (and in Canada) to buy them exclusive CDs here and ship them as a favor -- I'm sure one of the lovely folks on this board would do that for a fellow Kat fan, don't you think? PayPal makes is insanely easy to send money to folks. DON'T ask me how i know that.

Any thoughts of pitching Katharine to have her own TV variety show with performances from her solo and with guest artists as well as a bit of standup and comedy skits. It has been years since one of those. The format would need to be updated of course for todays younger, hipper audience.

I'm actually old enough to have watched a lot of those variety shows when they were on, and they were great! I don't think there's been any discussion of that, though it's certainly interesting. As you all know, Kat is a terrific actress and I think she'd really like to do more straight acting projects. I hope she gets to show off her comic chops -- she's a very, very funny woman. She recently did one impression that literally had me crying.

One thing you should all be prepared for in terms of Idol -- you're going to see a lot of interviews that cite Idol repeatedly. Try not to get frustrated. One of these days, way down the road, people will not be able to just associate Kat with Idol. Let's face it: Idol put her on the map, but she has clearly demonstrated that she's SO MUCH MORE than that. She's going to eclipse that in time, so try not to let it bum you out when people refer to her as "Idol runner-up" or "former American Idol...", ok?

Anyway I have a question Regina! I was wondering if yall would consider reaching out to Starbucks to get them to promote Kat's album? As you probably know, they always have a few different CDs displayed in there for sale (they had Diana Krall's when it came out, and now they have Alicia Keys and Andrea Bocelli among a few others), and the sound for this CD seems like it would fit PERFECTLY with the stuff Starbucks likes to put on their shelves.

Starbucks is tough: they used to be fully in the business of selling records, but not so much any more. Now they take a couple of titles at a time, and that's it.

That said, Kat's record is going to be in a lot of interesting non-traditional retail outlets. We're still locking in details for some, but I found out today that Kat's record will be carried in the top 200 Hot Topic stores (they have over 600 stores in the US, so I don't have a list of where it'll be carried, but if you shop there, stop in and ask about it!).

Regina, any idea why Target doesn't have the CD/DVD version up for pre-order while Walmart does? Very confused!

Also, any info on the other retailer exclusives? I wanna know which places I need to hit up!


Target is fixing it -- thanks so much to you guys for pointing it out. I send Mr. Regina a note (oh yeah -- you probably don't know this, but my husband also works at Verve. How incestuous, huh?) and he got in touch with the sales folks, who alerted Target to the situation. It'll be fixed SOON. Many thanks.

Dunno about other retail exclusives -- let me ask John and get right back to you all

Regina, has Kat weighed the positives & negatives of doing a college tour to promote the record? It might be a good way to expose people to the record should it not reach them through radio or other channels.

College tours are great, but not easy to get. I'm not sure what I think about Kat doing colleges, honestly. She's up for some opening slots this summer, and will likely do some headlining gigs in the spring. It'll be a minute, but she IS GOING TO TOUR A LOT in 2010.

Regina, given that, as you say, radio movement is so slow these days, is the label planning to regularly promote the album and the various singles (or at least the current radio single) in other ways besides just radio?
Should there be any concern that HIA has not sold digitally in any significant numbers?

I don't think there's any cause for concern. We're at the beginning of a long campaign, and we're still in set-up mode. And yes, we are promoting the single in ways other than radio: various web promotions which are still ongoing or starting up in the new year, download cards, contests, upcoming television appearances, etc

Regina, in terms of the label deciding on the next single, do they look at it strategically or just what would play well on radio? By that I mean, would they go with the strongest single next, or would they go with the next strongest for #2, then the strongest for #3 to keep things building, etc?

I think we try to be strategic about everything, though we're not always successful, of course! I'm not sure I follow: we don't know what will play well at radio. We try to get feedback from programmers and other consultants, but of course the only feedback that matters is that of the listeners. Since all of this is purely subjective (insofar as there's no objective way to determine what songs are strongest, second strongest, etc): everyone's taste is different. There's a very crude saying about opinions, but I'll leave that off the boards as this is a family forum. It's always a gamble: if there was a sure-fire way to predict hit singles, we'd all be rich.

Is the CD booklet pretty, Regina?

It IS pretty. It's not huge, and as you know it doesn't contain lyrics, which I know bummed some people out. Frankly, it's a little girlie for my taste, but it is really pretty. When you unfold the booklet/insert thingy, you get a gorgeous mini-poster of Kat (the shot of her sitting on the suitcase -- do you all know that one? of course you do -- you know more than I do). I hope you like it!

Regina, how many copies of the CD are being shipped?

I honestly don't know if I'm allowed to answer that as it's generally considered proprietary information. Just know that we're at six figures now, and orders are still coming in.

LOL What are your predictions Regina?

I suck at making predictions, so I'm not even gonna try. One of the great things about Verve is that we don't rely on first-week scans and top-40 airplay. We pride ourselves on being one the last labels that does long-term artist development. If the first-week sales aren't what people hope for, we're not going to throw our hands up in despair. Just yesterday we spent a few hours strategizing things we can do week-by-week to keep the momentum going. We're going to stick with this, so hang in there with us and PLEASE be patient!

Regina, when an artist goes on a radio station tour to promote his/her music and performs a few songs from the album, how are those songs chosen? I know a lot of times, artists will sing 2 or 3 songs, one is the current single and usually the other songs end up being the next singles sent to radio. Did Kat choose to perform Terrified and It's Not Right because those are potential singles or did she pick them simply because she is more comfortable singing them live. I'm just wondering why she sang those particular songs and not say Lifetime or Last Letter or Say Goodbye.

There's no hard and fast rule about this. Frequently, the label and the artist will decide what songs the artist will perform, but we usually defer to the artist (unless we totally disagree with their choice). I know that probably isn't an elaborate enough answer, but it really is that simple. Of course we try to stack the deck with the catchiest, most memorable songs, and tempo frequently figures into it too (and of course, if a song works well in this context, then it SHOULD be a contender for the next single, no?). I've had artists go on tv and sing an amazing ballad, but some ballads just aren't as effective on tv as songs with more tempo. Is this helpful?

[Leandro]

First of all...



WELCOME REGINA!!!


Here's my random question (since everything is already being asked )


Won't you guys update her Youtube channel?

http://www.youtube.com/katharinemcphee

And another suggestion: Wouldn't it be nice if you guys posted all Kat's webisodes/videoblogs on it?

We know that youtube is a great way to promote an artist without spending money. Many singers like Britney, Beyoncé, etc have huge views on their channels, plus a lot of subscribers.
Also, you could liberate the access to all countries, because I'm from Brazil and I can't see the videos that are on it.

i think that's it
Thanks once again.

[AtLongLast]

OMG I'm not sure it's safe for Regina to be reading our threads?!

Hey Regina

I have a question please ........

Are you planning on releasing the album internationally, me being a British fan and all?!

I know RCA did with Kat's 1st album

[luv]

Kat gotten good reviews from other fans with "SAY GOODBYE'. Any chance of it going to radio?

[cmonsugar]

1.I'd like to ask again, if i may, how do you guys think kat will be able to promote the album with a jan 5th relase date? like other people here already stated all the shows will still be on hiatus. nobody releases anything. it's known as the dead zone. how in the world is she supposed to get some decent first week sales? or is that not a priority? are you trying to get her a higher debut on the charts that way?

2.is she gonna do any major promo/ appearances for Had it all in the coming weeks?

thx

[reginaverve]

Hi all!

I'll try to answer all questions , and I promise to check in as frequently as possible, though things do get very, very crazy around here.

so here goes:

Contrary to what you might think, January is NOT no-man's land. Ironically, a lot of opportunities open up in January, and don't forget: folks get holiday gifts from iTunes, Amazon, Best Buy, Target, etc, and then have income to spend on music after the holiday craziness dies down. The fourth quarter is traditionally when the market gets flooded with big releases. As you all know, traditional brick-and-mortar retail stores have largely gone away (no more Tower, HMV, Virgin, Circuit City, etc. in the US), and the stores that DO still carry music have less space than ever. Hence, during Q4, they have to carry the blockbuster releases PLUS holiday music, DVDs, video games, etc in a limited space.

A number of TV shows are dark around the holidays, or they feature Christmas music.

A lot of radio stations freeze their playlists or flip to holiday music. You get the picture.

In January, there aren't a ton of releases, and believe it or not, TV shows actively look for A-list talent. All the TV shows don't go dark in January, and the morning shows (which are key to the success of pop acts) certainly don't go dark. Good Morning America, the Today Show, the Early Show, Live with Regis and Kelly, the View -- they're all on.

The record WILL be released internationally -- I don't have all the dates for the individual territories, but I'll try to get them. We're shooting for a January 4 release date in the UK, though as you all know (LOL), release dates are subject to change.

I'm not sure about "Say Goodbye" at radio: right now, we're trying to focus all of our efforts on "Had It All."

Thanks again for the warm welcome. You've all been so kind!

best,
regina

[anbaric]

Thanks for the quick and informative response, Regina.

[AtLongLast]

reginaverve, on 16 September 2009 - 05:13 PM, said:

The record WILL be released internationally -- I don't have all the dates for the individual territories, but I'll try to get them. We're shooting for a January 4 release date in the UK, though as you all know (LOL), release dates are subject to change.

Woooooo! Thanks for the speedy response!

So I'm sure that Kat is dying to visit England ... any chance she will be coming over to the UK for any promotion? Or I guess that all depends on how the album does?

[AtLongLast]

anbaric, on 16 September 2009 - 05:19 PM, said:

Thanks for the quick and informative response, Regina.

Loling at Jinky pretending to be a Kat fan!

[Kevin]

Hey Regina!
Thanks so much for joining.. This is very excellent for us fans we and we really appreciate your efforts.

Any chance of a Christmas EP or something? I think that'd be excellent!

[MichelleF]

woah this is so cool!!

[anbaric]

AtLongLast, on 16 September 2009 - 08:27 PM, said:

Loling at Jinky pretending to be a Kat fan!

I actually like Say Goodbye!

[Kevin]

This is pinned so it won't get burried with other threads! It will always be towards the top.

Regina, sorry to bombard you with more questions but I'm also wondering when the "Had It All" music video will be released? And will we be getting some more album promotional images soon?.. we only have about 4 right now!

Thanks again!

[Mason]

This is pretty damn cool

Thanks so much Regina!

[Pheenonymous]

Hi Regina and welcome to our little lions den

Thanks for doing this!

Forgive us if sometimes our passion for Katharine gets the better of us. We feel highly protective of her.

Most of us here are a bit underwhelmed by the cover photographs we have seen for the album and the 2 itunes singles. Same for the fonts and colors of the text. Same general opinion from random people leaving comments on the internet wherever they have been displayed.

Any recognition of this on Verve's side and any plans for "better" pictures that more reflect who Katharine is and what the music is all about?

[luv]

Pheenonymous, on 16 September 2009 - 09:46 AM, said:

Hi Regina and welcome to our little lions den

Thanks for doing this!

Forgive us if sometimes our passion for Katharine gets the better of us. We feel highly protective of her.

Most of us here are a bit underwhelmed by the cover photographs we have seen for the album and the 2 itunes singles. Same for the fonts and colors of the text. Same general opinion from random people leaving comments on the internet wherever they have been displayed.

Any recognition of this on Verve's side and any plans for "better" pictures that more reflect who Katharine is and what the music is all about?

Suggestion for all of us...highlighting or underline questions so that it will be prominent for Regina to see instead of reading thru post.

[Mutt808]

Hi Regina,

Thank you for trying so hard to humor the natives. Welcome to the forum

Will the "Ask Kat" project continue? When can we expect further video replies from Kat? With the CD release date set, this project will be that much more important to tide us over for the next... *gulp* 3 months.

Has Katharine ever worn her glasses in front of you? Tell us about it

(Good suggestion, luv.)

[Kevin]

Mutt808, on 16 September 2009 - 01:20 PM, said:

Has Katharine ever worn her glasses in front of you? Tell us about it

Only you, muttie.

[Kevin]

Regina, do you think Katharine will be back to brunette hair in time for album release now that it is a few months away? Or is that basically entirely up to her own impulses?

[reginaverve]

Let's see if I can answer everything:

Hmmmm....I didn't even know that Kat wears glasses, so no! I'll bet she looks adorable in them, though.

As to the photos: the photographer is Ellen Von Unwerth, who's a world-renowned art photographer. Katharine was really honored to get to work with Ellen, and while the photos aren't the conventional publicity photos most of us are accustomed to, Kat and everyone here are pretty thrilled with them. We are in the process of getting more photos out into the world. Ellen was on holiday for a few weeks, but now she's back, so we're getting more prints from her.

I don't know when Kat will travel overseas for promotion, but of course she'll need to do that in 2010. I'm sure we'll all be fighting over her time soon enough.

As far as the "Had it All" video, I saw a cut of it yesterday. It's currently being edited, so it shouldn't be too much longer. For whatever it's worth, I loved what I saw!

Nothing to report about Christmas music, but hopefully we'll have some news soon.