This is a bit late, I know. Not my fault this time.

Hunter Hayes has had a pretty good year. His second single
off his self-titled debut album on a major record label, ‘Wanted’, has so far
garnered sales of nearly 2 million, he won a CMA for Best New Artist, and he’s
just been nominated for a Grammy for Best New Artist also. So maybe his record
label thought it would be a good idea to release the video for his new single,
‘Somebody’s Heartbreak’ as a live video. Oh dear.

Live videos have always been a feature of music videos in
all genres, as they’re cheap, easy and show the act’s live prowess, often a
‘test’ of true artist authenticity, depending on the genre of course. Generally
within modern country music they feature as the video for the last single from
an album, for successful acts that’s usually fourth or fifth, as with Taylor
Swift, etc.

However, this is only Hunter’s third single from this album,
and with ‘Wanted’ being such a big hit, it almost feels like his second.
Certainly I think this was far too early in the album cycle and his career to
consider a live video. He is a big artist and therefore will no doubt have
about five singles, so this feels a little weird in his cinematic progress.
Live videos are meant to say “I had all these songs out, they did really well,
now look at my amazing tour and how good I am doing it all live, people are
lapping this stuff up”. Perhaps I’m a little cynical. But I feel like I want
more new visual material from someone like Hunter before I get him trying to
prove his prowess in the live field. Perhaps his record company are trying to
promote him as a live act, perhaps they are selling less tickets than expected.
However, I find that hard to believe, as he is supporting Carrie Underwood, who
is kind of a little bit popular.