Why Do the Coaches Win ‘The Voice’ and Not the Singers?
Trae Patton/NBC Reading Time: 3 minutes
It’s no secret that The Voice seems to always put it’s attention on the coaches of the show, rather than the contestants themselves. When it comes to a show that has ended up with less successful winners than its competitors, you begin to wonder why that is. The Voice mostly focuses on which team will win the show. Although the winner ultimately ends up with a record deal, why not project their name instead of the team they’re on?
This series first aired on April 26, 2011 and ever since, it really hasn’t produced many super stars. Even though they’ve had successful winners like Cassadee Pope (season 3) and Carter Rubin (season 19), they definitely did not get the same amount of fame as Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood did on American Idol. They are two entirely different shows, but the point is the same. Both are trying to produce the next star in music, so why do some shows give artists less credit than others?
What is the Prize for Winning The Voice?
The winner of The Voice receives $100,000 and a recording contract with Universal Music Group.This really seems like NBC is setting their winners up for success. Unfortunately, that is not necessarily the case. Many winners from The Voice have discussed that life as a singer is actually pretty difficult even once you’ve won a talent show.
“You still have to prove yourself as an artist, because the whole time that you’re on the show, you’re not singing your own songs,” said season one winner Javier Colon. “But after being on television and having so many millions of people watching, you would hope that you’d at least have a fighting chance.”
Javier won his season in 2011, but soon left Universal Music Group about a year later in 2012. He claimed that he left the company due to the lack of support on the first album he dropped after his win. Although Colon is not the only singer from The Voice who has left this company, his story is definitely the most well known.
Universal Music Group is known for signing some big artists like The Weeknd, Drake, Ariana Grande, and Taylor Swift. They also have another branch of their company named Big Machine Records, which country artists typically sign to after the show. It seems as if this music label isn’t as versatile as producers had once thought it was considering there haven’t been many big names to come from the show.
I’d say the issue behind winning this show isn’t that the contestants are on teams, instead it’s that their record deal might be with a company who doesn’t know their style well.
When did the Show Shift Focus to the Coaches?
The Voice has always been about which coach can be the best mentor for their team members. So, there was no specific time this shift really began. I think after a few seasons of this show airing and not creating any household names, fans began to care more about the coaches. They probably thought the artists on the show wouldn’t make a big name for themselves since none of their predecessors have.
It’s not a surprise to know that some hardcore fans of The Voice have written off the show since this began. One of the biggest complaints is that this show has given up its true meaning and has become more of an entertainment- based program as opposed to a competition show.
Although I do think there have been many fans who have parted ways with the NBC show because of this, I think the coaches have a lot to do with it as well. It’s no secret that some of the fan-favorite coaches have left the show to pursue other avenues. So in the long run, I think whether people want to admit it or not, they were always watching for their favorite coach.
I have never watched for tje coaches. I stop watching when America votes because lame white singer win over better black and brown singers. It has always bothered me that the coaches often seem more excited about soulful white singers over soulful black ones. It is shameful that after 22 seasons so few POC have won and only one woman of color. Clearly the execution of the show is not working.