D’oh! She was No. 36 in the Chart Update but Demi Lovato failed to land her first UK Top 40 album with Unbroken, which has to settle instead for No. 45.
Demi has never had the same UK success as Selena Gomez or Miley Cyrus, both of whom have enjoyed Top 20 peaks with their albums. The reason?
British Lovatics knew Unbroken has been out in the US for seven months and got hold of it by other means a long time ago, and those who aren’t established fans and are just casual music buyers had no way of knowing about it because promotion was zero (apart from a brief appearance on Daybreak). Gomez, on the other hand, released When The Sun Goes Down on both sides of the Atlantic on the same day, so her fans could actually buy it in the UK and it would be just as new. Sure enough, it charted at No. 15. Unbroken isn’t new, it’s over half a year old.
If Hollywood Records and Lovato’s management don’t start scheduling and promoting her properly in the international market then there’ll soon be no point whatsoever in bringing out her music overseas, and that’d be a shame. She wouldn’t even have to come over to the UK to promote the record if its release was simultaneous with the US – thanks to the internet, her fans wouldn’t need any more promotion than a trailer single and the knowledge that they’re getting brand new material.
She’s got a big enough fanbase in the UK to secure a solid-selling album, but leaving it seven months between US and UK release and then just putting it out quietly and expecting people to spend a tenner on it isn’t going to work.
Lovato, Gomez and Cyrus all have loyal fanbases who would buy anything they record. They could put out a CD of them reciting the alphabet and they’d probably buy it. But that’s not the point. Unbroken is a bloody good pop album (I’m not saying Gomez’s WTSGD isn’t), ‘Skyscraper’ one of the most critically-acclaimed pop singles of the last year, and Lovato is one of the industry’s most underrated vocalists. I don’t want to point fingers at people when I’m not 100% sure who’s responsibility is what, but don’t the label/management/publicist/whoever know they have a potential superstar on their hands…?
Still, at least No. 45 is better than No. 192 (Don’t Forget) and No. 199 (Here We Go Again).
Why do you think Demi can’t crack the UK? Leave your comments below.
> Unbroken review
> ‘Skyscraper’ vs ‘Domino’ mash-up
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More Demi Lovato news in our weekly TLTV round-up below.
IKR she is the best artist they have but they don’t promote her right .What’s the fuckin problem,she is so talented and they don’t appreciate her,I hope she finds a better label and they realize what a freakin lost they made.She deserves better.
I agree 100% with this article. Demi could have easily debuted at #1 with Skyscraper and top 10 with Unbroken if it was released simultaneously with the US, she came over to promote and didn’t even perform or mention the album title. She has legions of fans in the UK and Europe and a small tour here would have have sold like hot cakes, Her team need to stop underestimating her popularity, South America isn’t the only place Demi is considered Queen and they need to capitalise on the opportunities quicker and better promotion
I agree completely. Additionallly, when Unbroken was released in the US no one knew when it would be released in the UK. Many saw imported copies being sold in UK shops and jumped to the conclusion that it already had been released. UK Lovatics bought imported copies without even realising it because of the confusion. Over a thousand Lovatics wanted to go to Demi’s London signing, but the truth is that most of them had already purchased the album. I recieved it for Christmas, for example. There was next to no promotion over here and no sensible management of releases. Unbroken was a satisfying pop album and her voice is amazing on it, but sadly with this lack of organisation and promotion there was no chance of it debuting in the Top 40.