Has Kelly Scrapped Her Album?

The big story on the Internet today was that Kelly Clarkson has scrapped her album after Sony BMG chief Clive Davis trashed it. But is it true?

The UK “Daily Star” reported that in a meeting of top label executives, Davis showcased the proposed first four singles from the CD and “poured scorn on each one.” An unnamed source said, “It was an extraordinary presentation. Clive was absolutely merciless in his criticism of Kelly. She’s one of the biggest priorities on the label and her new songs were savaged.”

The “Daily Star” also reports that Kelly is now “hastily working on further material that she hopes will please her boss a little more” and that the CD’s release has been rescheduled for December.

“Entertainment Weekly” reports that the story, according to Kelly’s rep, is not true, but like most rumors, there is a shred of truth to it…

According to the story, the disagreement between RCA and Kelly stems from her desire to do things on her own terms and Kelly has said herself in interviews that her label was not completely thrilled with her new direction.

In an interview with “Entertainment Weekly,” Kelly said, “They just didn’t prefer the album, really, at all. They don’t like me writing a whole lot, just to be honest with you. Not even after I’ve written No. 1 [songs]. So, yeah, they’re not big into that. But they’re coming around, and they like it now, and obviously it’s doing well on radio right now, so they’re liking it even more. And taking credit!”

When “EW” asked whether she had people trying to force songs or songwriters on this album, she said, “They’re trying to make money, so they want to come out with ‘Breakaway II.’ And I don’t want to come out with ‘Breakaway II,’ because I already have that record. It’s a little hard for them sometimes to come around, just because taking a different artistic path is a chance. And I get it—they’re obviously a record label trying to make money. But now people at the label are really starting to dig it, and it just kind of took a while for them. They didn’t like ‘Breakaway’ either, and they didn’t like ‘Thankful’ either. So it’s the same for every record. But it’s turning around; they like it now.”

Kelly was honored with the ASCAP Song of the Year Award for “Because of You.” “EW” asked her if it was true the song was a tough sell. “That’s what I’m saying. It happens every time. It’s not like, ‘Whoo, different!’ Every time it’s a task to get something of mine on the record. But yeah, that song, they didn’t like it for the first [album], and I totally got shut down. Second album, I just kept pressing the issue, and finally I just went and found the people I wanted to do it with. I actually went through my lawyer, and ended up writing with Ben Moody and David Hodges from Evanescence. And we did a pretty good job on it, I think. They like it now; obviously, it’s successful, so…”

Does that sound like a person who would allow her album to be scrapped?

This is an interesting situation here. Obviously, Kelly has earned the right to have input on her CD after the success of “Breakaway,” but everything I’m hearing about the “story” of “My December” sounds a little scary, so you can see why RCA would want to hold her back a little.

Kelly is scheduled to appear on “Today” May 8th, so maybe she can straighten some of this stuff out then. But I seriously doubt that RCA would pitch an album whose lead single just debuted in the top 10. If they did, then it truly proves that Clive Davis has lost touch with today’s music world…