Show 'time' For Bublé

To follow up his 2003 self-titled debut, Canadian crooner Michael Bublé will be globe hopping throughout the year.

Bublé's 143 Records/Reprise sophomore set, "It's Time," was issued worldwide Feb. 8, following a Jan. 31 release in the United Kingdom. Warner Music International has implemented an exacting global marketing strategy.

In January, WMI flew key international media contacts to Vancouver for two weeks of interviews with the singer. After Bublé completes three months of promotional work overseas, he will undertake a three-month U.S. concert tour in May, followed by further international promotion and concerts throughout the summer.

"We could do 5 million units on this album, but to keep the momentum up will be a juggling act," Bublé's Vancouver-based manager, Bruce Allen, says. "We have to get into these international markets and give [Warner affiliates] the TV and the [promotion] tools they need."

Bublé's debut album arrived in most markets in February 2003. It has shipped 3.2 million copies worldwide, according to WMI, and remains in the top 20 in Italy and Australia. The album has also done well in the United Kingdom (650,000 units shipped), Canada (360,000) and South Africa (70,000), according to the company.

"It's Time," meanwhile, entered at No. 4 in the United Kingdom, with first-week sales of more than 36,500 units, according to the Official U.K. Charts Co. The territory has been a Bublé stronghold since his debut broke there following a promotional visit that generated one-week sales of 28,000 copies.

Matt Medcraf, label marketing manager for Warner Music Australia, says expectations for "It's Time" are high Down Under. "We're launching the new album with a solid TV, radio and press campaign."

While "Michael Bublé" did well in the United States (810,000 units), France (50,000) and Spain (100,000), it is hoped that these markets can be further developed.

"We are going to get France," says London-based Dion Singer, WMI VP of international marketing. "The company there has the most amazing plan. We are also working very closely with the Americans."

Allen adds, "I believe we can get France, too. I'm also putting more work into Spain. The U.S. is an evolving market for us. I promised the Americans we would give them a lot of time. We now have a track that Reprise can get hold of for airplay in the U.S."

Unlike Bublé's debut, "It's Time" includes potential hit single "Home," an original song the singer wrote with Amy Foster-Gilles and Alan Chang. While most territories will lead with Bublé's rendition of "Feeling Good," popularized in 1965 by Nina Simone, Warner affiliates in Canada, Italy, the United States and Southeast Asia are stepping out first with "Home."

"We are being careful about positioning Michael," explains John Reid, WMI executive VP of international marketing in London. "You don't go with an original song on a second record following a big record of standards unless you can get traction immediately. However, we will switch to 'Home' very quickly in [certain] territories."

Among the early supporters of "Home" at U.S. radio are AC stations WLTW New York, KOST Los Angeles and KRWM Seattle. Reprise senior VP of promotion Phil Costello says, "Programmers weren't expecting a straight-ahead ballad from Bublé, but the song is clearly connecting."

In Canada, where "It's Time" shipped platinum (100,000 units), "Home" was No. 6 on Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems' Mainstream AC chart and No. 35 on its Hot AC chart for the week ended Feb. 7.

Rob Farina, director of programming at AC station CHUM-FM Toronto, describes "Home" as "a career record for Michael Bublé. He is going to be performing this song until the end of time."

Warner Music Canada president/ CEO Steve Kane agrees. "Michael is not the only crooner out there, but he's the gold standard. If 'Home' is an indicator, his career will evolve to where he will be able to mix what he does as a songwriter with what he does as an interpreter."

"It's Time" was primarily produced by 143 Records founder and chairman David Foster, who discovered Bublé, and Humberto Gatica. The album includes renditions of such pop standards as "Quando, Quando, Quando" (with Nelly Furtado) and "A Foggy Day in London," as well as such contemporary R&B fare as "Try a Little Tenderness," "Save the Last Dance for Me" and "How Sweet It Is." Jazz legend Tommy LiPuma produced the track "The More I See You."

Foster credits Bublé with being a bit more adventurous with "It's Time" than with his debut. "I probably would have made the same record again, but he wanted to take more chances," he says.

Bublé adds, "David was really forceful with me on the first record. He couldn't afford to say to an unproven artist, 'Make your record.' It was his record, and it was meant to sell records. My relationship had grown so much with him that when I walked in to do this record, he said to me, 'Let's see what you've got.' "