[letsgotoofar]

I've had time to think more... not enough to add my list of artists yet, but enough to throw in my tuppence as a working producer who knows how to market some stuff.

I would use a mix of contemporary and classic rock artists for the most part, with only a few tracks utilizing musical theater stars. In the case of the Whistle example, the ratio of popular stars of yesterday and today to musical theater stars was 9:3 (with some room for argument on Donny Osmond, who today might be better remembered in some quarters for starring in the American cast of Joseph and the Amazingly Long Title than his pop career). Some musical theater stars can sell, but not enough to justify filling an album with them, so that's something to keep in mind. (Among the things I've already decided definitively, again using the Whistle example where Meat's track also appeared on another album, "Who Needs the Young" would be Meat's contribution. It's a good 'you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours' trade, it could promote sales of Braver in addition to pumping up the musical, and Meat does need to be on there somewhere, but probably won't be up to doing anything genuinely new for a while, so this is a way to at least include him.)

Another is to maybe not do a formal album except for the physical release. Album sales are way down, digitally and in hard copy format. Seeing as there are 21 songs (well, 20 songs and 1 speech) on the cast recording, and 7 x 3 = 21, they split up nicely into three little EPs, maintaining the integrity of Bat I and suggesting a structure for the rest, so I thought I'd stick to the songs (and spoken word) in the show rather than add any non-show bonus tracks, and -- keeping the ratio in mind -- I'd do four songs for celebs and three for theater stars per disc, or, more accurately, "set." It's got a symmetry and balance to it. Plus, more product potentially equals more payday, totting digital and physical sales up.

The last thing to keep in mind is that, as loaferman61 aptly put it, very few albums are "perfect," but Bat I is certainly a candidate. You can't do better than the best. But we're not trying -- no one would try, because they can't succeed -- to replace it. We're trying to think of what would promote the musical. So, knowing we can't replace perfection, and knowing it's only to sell, let's just have fun! Let's throw names at the wall. You always thought The Darkness could do a track? Put it down! You think maybe Dolly Parton would do something interesting? Why not! It's an exercise in imagination.

More to follow!