John Mayer is an accomplished guitarist and singer. But his days of hits is behind him, at least right. So after 21 years he’s decided to leave Columbia Records. He made the announcement on Instagram without any warning. He doesn’t say where he’ll go or what he’ll do. But Mayer was deeply affected by the death of his friend Bob Saget and this may be a reaction to that, a sort of life changing moment of reckoning.
Mayer’s most recent album, “Sob Rock,” was released in July 2021 and was sales disappointment: around 520,000 copies including streaming, but about just 95,000 CDs and LPs. There were no singles, but “New Light” was the leading track with sales of about 7,000.
It’s frustrating for legacy artists which Mayer is now, believe it or not, at age 44. Live performance is the next movie for artists like him, and these past two years have been a disaster because of COVID. Mayer also hasn’t done much to be part of a music community or network, which is what saves the current generation of Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Camila Cabello, and so on. The charts are filled with duets and so on. But for artists like Mayer, who go their own way. it’s a lot tougher. He could have a lot of interesting collaborations.
So goodbye Columbia Records and Sony Music. No word on what happens to his catalog or masters. Stay tuned…
