You have keyed in on the most important word--promotion.

Daughtry got a ton of promotion with the debut of his album. Stations were paid to get spins, there were debut videos, the album was priced at $9.99 at Walmart and even promoted on special with a lower price ($7.99 I think) with good stock levels.

Taylor, who got the cover of People his year as the Hottest Bachelor so he started off well, had some sort of falling out with 19 and did not have them manage him. He still did the album that the winner gets, but its promotion was abysmal, no video, no $9.99 (or less) pricing, stock was spotty, and stations were told to not play his song. As a Taylor fan it was dismaying to watch it unfold. I contend there was a concerted effort to milk but not promote Taylor while boosting Daughtry at every turn. It worked.

BTW, Daughtry's got the cover of Billboard magazine this week, kudos to Chris.

The difference here is that Kris is not arrogant or defensive as Taylor seemed to be and Kris signed to be managed by 19.

I hope this year is the year 19 can have both be successful and not sacrifice one while piling it on for another. Last year with Cook and Archuletta was handled better than previous years. P&G can have Cheer, Tide, Era, etc., so why not 19?