Petition Seeks to Free Fiona Apple Album
By BRUNO J. NAVARRO, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK - Fiona Apple fans wondering when the artist's third CD would see the light of day might want to keep an eye on one enthusiast's online petition.
Dave Muscato, a Missouri musician and Apple afficionado, founded the Web site
www.freefiona.com last month in an effort to pressure her record label to release "Extraordinary Machine." Apple's follow-up to "Tidal" and "When the Pawn ..." reportedly has been finished since May 2003.
"They didn't think it had enough commercial appeal to justify the cost of promoting it and distributing it," Muscato recently told AP Radio. "So even though it was already recorded, they'd already spent the money to record it, they basically decided to just cut their losses and stick it on a shelf."
A message left at Epic Records, Apple's label, was not immediately returned Monday.
For every signature on Muscato's petition, the Free Fiona! campaign plans to send a fake apple to Andrew Lack, the CEO of parent company Sony BMG, "as a symbol of protest and support for Fiona Apple," he said. A demonstration outside Sony headquarters in New York is also planned on Jan. 28.
As of Monday, the Web site has gathered more than 2,600 signatures. It also raised nearly $1,000 from donations and sales of T-shirts and bumper stickers, Muscato said.
"It's really taken off faster than I thought," he said.
Muscato, 20, says he had heard a couple of tracks from the unreleased album that were leaked on the Internet, so he's not worried he's going through all this trouble for an album that might not be worth it.
"Even if it's no good, which I'm sure isn't the case, I would at least like to buy it and decide that for myself," he said.
On the Web:
Free Fiona!,
http://www.freefiona.com/
