The question is this ... can a
virtually unknown country music artist, on a new label, compete head-to-head
with country music superstar Kenny Chesney during his debut album release?
Chesney's latest album, due out November 8th, "The Road & The Radio," and
Austin's debut album, "Labor Pains," will both hit media outlets the same
week.
When asked about this Austin had this to say: "I know it may seem like
album suicide to release my first album the same week as Kenny Chesney, but we
have built a pretty strong online fanbase, and we are going against the grain
a bit with our promotion. We've had a great response to our first single
release 'Labor Pains.' All I can really say is I hope that Kenny has a little
compassion and sends some of his sales my way."
Austin's website (http://www.MichaelLeeAustin.com) has been literally
giving away FREE fan club memberships from his website for the past few weeks,
building a strong online presence.
Armand Morin, VP of Marketing for Alive Records, Austin's label, states,
"We don't really plan to market Michael in the traditional way as the major
labels at first. Our initial game plan revolves around our strong point of
online marketing. Yes, we'll be in iTunes, Napster, Yahoo! Music and others,
but we will also be marketing directly through our website."
Morin continues, "Obviously we don't expect to top artists like Kenny
Chesney, but we believe we will have a strong showing on the charts with
Michael's debut album. Radio has been exceptionally receptive to 'Labor
Pains,' and every day people are contacting us about it and wanting to order
it now."
Michael Lee Austin's album "Labor Pains," due out the week of November
7th, has been touted as a refreshing revival of a traditional country sound.
Radio promoters all across the country are getting rave reviews from listeners
and can't play the title song "Labor Pains" enough.