Songs From Joy The Musical Drop Today. But Why?

Today, AnnMarie Milazzo’s album, The Shape of Things: Songs from Joy The Musical, drops on all the streaming platforms.?

Why did we choose to put her music out there?

Well, first, I just love it.? And when I love something I want to show it to other people.?

But second, I believe that the most important element in the marketing of a musical . . . is the music.? (It’s the root word of musical, after all.)

And these days, in our post-pandemic world, all musicals must have an audience before they open.? Shows are more expensive than ever, which means shows are losing more money during previews, which means you need to have fuller audiences during previews to prevent your show from running out of its reserve.? I’m sure you’ve noticed plenty of shows that you’ve liked or got great reviews closing earlier than you would have expected . . . this is why.? If they lack a big brand, or big star, they are more vulnerable to Broadway inflation.

I’ll admit - I b*tched about that for a long time.? Once I got that out of my system, I realized I had two options . . . because I could only control what I could control.

1. ?Reduce costs whenever I can.??More on this later, but it involves doing things yourselves or “finding the Off Broadway solution to the Broadway problem,” as is written on one of our office whiteboards.
2. Build an audience based on whatever you have.?No star, no brand . . . then what DO you have that is unique?

In JOY’s case, we have Joy herself and her audience, and fans of the movie, and more.? But I never think you should rely on anything these days, so we set out to focus on #2 . . . even? before we’ve announced our next steps.

Since the music by AnnMarie (whose vocal design work has been a part of some of your favorite and the world’s favorite musicals - from Next to Normal to Spring Awakening and Once on this Island to Le Reve in Vegas) is so unique and since SHE is so unique (she doesn’t read or write music . . . she sees it) . . . we thought we’d release an album.

And, AnnMarie also happens to be a glorious singer (voicing Disney characters and more) so she recorded the album herself . . . with her amazing band.

All with the hope of getting it out there and getting people to fall in love with it, so when they hear about the show, they will want to get a ticket to hear that music live.? (Remember in the old days when we bought cast recordings BEFORE we saw shows?).

And even if they do NOT buy a ticket . . . our hope is that they will at least have ‘heard’ about the show . . . and be closer to buying a ticket, than had they not heard anything at all.

This isn’t a new concept by any means - Superstar was a concept album first.? Be More Chill’s album got it to Off-Broadway and then to Broadway.

So what are the takeaways?

1. ?If you’ve got a new musical coming . . . figure out a way to get the music out there fast.? (And try to release it commercially - Spotify, etc, are search engines - they can help find new audiences for you - versus you sending out demos).
2. Listen to AnnMarie’s Shape of Things here. :-)? Then let me know what you think.??