A senior Sony executive has predicted that Rag’N’Bone Man’s debut album, Human, will be one of the strongest sellers of 2017.
Rob Clark, senior TV promotions manager at the major, told Music Week he believes that “When you see the live show and hear the songs he’s got, it definitely looks like an album that’ll still have a strong position in the run up to Christmas and this time next year.”
Summing up the mood at the label in the run up to the record’s release on February 10 – shortly before the BRIT Awards, at which Rag’N’Bone Man will celebrate his Critics’ Choice Award – Clark added: We went with the single [Human] twice and the second time it really connected.
“The album’s there, the next single’s there, the video is ready and we’re in that fantastic position you always hope for where you’ve got one song away, more coming and then a fantastic album,” he continued.
Commenting on Human’s performance in the singles chart – where it has so far peaked at No.2 and moved ahead of Clean Bandit’s former No.1 Rockabye last week only to be outsold by Ed Sheeran’s two new singles – Clark said: “It’s ironic it was the week we jumped above Clean Bandit but those Ed Sheeran songs will hang around for a long time.”
“That’s fantastic for them [Atlantic], and the tracks will travel massively but we’re still in a strong position,” he added. “It’s holding a strong position at airplay so a lot of people are still hearing it.”
Clark went on to emphasise the importance of Rag’N’Bone Man (aka 31-year-old musician Rory Graham) building on his existing fanbase throughout 2017. “What’s really important is that people are discovering what he’s about and who he is. There’s a whole audience out there who still don’t know who the person is behind the song so that’s another journey we’ve got to go on.”
According to data collated by Music Week from several leading outlets, Rag’N’Bone Man finished joint first with AJ Tracey as the most-tipped artist for 2017.
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