John Legend seeking ad savvy for album

By Hillary Crosley

NEW YORK (Billboard) - R&B singer John Legend is seeking non-traditional advertisers to help promote his new album.

The Grammy-winning musician recently previewed eight tracks that will appear on his as-yet-untitled September release, and reported he is discussing strategies with several advertising firms to discuss promotional strategies.

"I want to go beyond what the label machine always does and think of some cool ideas," Legend told Billboard. "Labels get into a creative rut. I want an ad firm that launches other products to use their knowledge to launch my music. It'd be cool to get ideas from a firm that can still reach my marketplace. We're taking proposals now."

He declined to name the ad agencies he is meeting with.

As for the music, Legend replaced his usual live instruments with sampled drums and futuristic synthesizers. The tracks sound much more mainstream than his 2004 debut, "Get Lifted," and 2006 follow-up, "Once Again."

"The last record was mellower," said Legend. "The production this time is a little more up-tempo and more pop sounding than the last one."

Legend said he was a bit disappointed with sales of "Once Again" -- which has moved 1.2 million units to date in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan -- but added that he was not intentionally crafting radio-friendly songs this go-round. "Get Lifted," which yielded three Grammys, has sold 2.1 million units to date.

"'Once Again' was difficult for people to digest because it wasn't any one radio format," said Legend. "It was between formats and there wasn't an obvious place for everything to fit. I've been successful without a huge radio hit up until now, so I don't think about the radio when I make songs.