The ex-Factor

So, as I walked past my local arena last week they had put up the big banner advertising the X-Factor arena tour.

People were already queuing outside for tickets which went on sale two days later. The show isn't actually for six months.

But will anyone remember them by then?

A lot of people rant about how X-Factor is evil, how it merely demonstrates the worst of the industry etc.

I don't think it is all that evil, but it isn't the proper environment to find a star. It certainly isn't conducive to fostering talent.

And that's because these people only have one talent: they can sing. There are session singers up and down the country who make a satisfactory living from being able to sing. Actually, that may be a little unfair: this year I'm sure one of them was shown holding a guitar so maybe he can play it.

But generally they do nothing else but sing and maybe dance. The big, sustainable acts write their own songs. Some of the best, biggest acts aren't even that good at singing.

The BBC had the very short-lived Fame Academy. This was different to X-Factor in that it did try to foster talent. The participants went to song-writing and other such classes. They were encouraged to write their own songs, play their own instruments. Yes, the live shows were mostly about singing cover versions, but the main focus was on the other programmes, showing their artistic development. And whilst only one original song was released: Ainsley's Keep Me a Secret, a number of the participants did contribute to the songs they released post-show (Alex Parks for one and winner David Sneddon's Stop Living a Lie issued as the culmination) and others now work behind the scenes in the industry (David Sneddon being quite a prolific song writer these days for people such as Hurts, Lana Del Rey and Nicole Scherzinger).

But the strategy around X-Factor is all wrong too, and that is epitomised by the arena tour. If they were really wanting to capitalise on the hype surrounding the live shows to maximise musical exposure they should have as many of them as possible releasing albums as soon as possible. But they don't. Instead, they cash in with this arena tour.

Is that really such a terrible thing?

For the 'artist', yes. Whilst the company behind the talent show is coining in the ticket receipts, the performers are under contractual obligations; and - moreover - first options and restrictions preventing them from contacting any other record company for the period of a year. This means if Syco records / Sony BMG doesn't want the performer, they can't go anywhere else for a year without a release from contract from Syco.

And this can be hugely damaging for the performer. In order to capitalise on their 'fame' they should be getting their first album out as a matter of urgency. Instead they do this nationwide tour which lasts for months, then they go off and record an album of cover versions with maybe one or two original songs which is ready for release just in time to get ignored because the X-Factor has started up again. Or maybe the timing is actually such as to ride the surf of the X-Factor publicity, that releasing exactly a year after first being propelled to fame actually benefits the sales of the album.

But that, of course, is if Syco decide to take the performer on. If not, then they are set back in this opportunity by a number of months, long enough to get lost in obscurity. As the following final approaches there maybe the occasional kind question from a commentator of “whatever happened to so-and-so who finished fifth in last year's competition?” whilst they are trying to put the finishing touches to an album of covers that they couldn't start until the current competition was well under way.

One of the victims who plummetted off the radar despite winning and being signed to Sony BMG was Steve Brookstein. His first album was covers. He released one single. And then he was dropped. He couldn't capitalise on the “winner” tag - his second album, released independently of Sony BMG, failed to chart. He has been hugely critical of the X-Factor formula.

But then perhaps factors are too complex to blame it all on one thing? After all, there are successful artists who come from X-Factor - One Direction, JLS, Leona Lewis and Olly Murs; with Girls Aloud coming from the predecessor - Pop Stars.

But of the winners of the eight previous series (it's still too early to comment on this year), in my judgement, there has been one proper star created - Leona Lewis - a few low-bubblers (people who remain in the industry performing to some degree) - Matt Cardle (who coincidentally has just released some new work) and Alexandra Burke - and then the 'where are they now also-rans' - Steve, Shane Ward, Leon Jackson and Joe McElderry. It's perhaps not fair to stick Joe in there as he has gone off to pursue more classical interests. But on any assessment it is not a great winners list.

But should it be? Am I comparing like-for-like? Afterall, with the 'grifting' bands that start local, writing their own stuff, working hard to build a fanbase, doing the free gigs in the sticky local pubs - there are many of those who fall by the wayside, and it is a rare thing indeed to have a successful second album let alone reach the epic heights of Muse, U2, the Beatles or any other such bands. Even for the manufactured pop bands, for every Westlife there is a Phixx, a D-Side or any of the other not-even-one-hit-wonders.|And, let's face it, if they didn't achieve what they did through X-Factor, they'd still be stacking the shelves at Asda.

If there wasn't the arena tour, there wouldn't need to be the one-year restriction in the contracts. It would also give the various acts the time to record their album so that there wasn't a need to put so many cover versions on.

That said, by undertaking the arena tour they are still in front of the public, they are giving the various management and production teams time to come up with a decision and a plan, and then they can turn around an album reasonably quickly, perfectly in time to ride the next X-Factor wave. Maybe the reason for the failures isn't the timing, maybe it is a genuine lack - either in the quality of the writing of the songs, of interest from the public, or in the talent of the artist. Perhaps, once the hype is over, people step back and make a proper critical assessment. After all, when you're paying for the music rather than using it to fill your Saturday night, your quality control generally increases.

Though not in every case.