Madonna needs to align herself with people of her caliber. I mean I like Miley Cyrus and Nicky Minaj but they are from a completely different generation and era. Look at what happened to JLo with Iggy Azalea, she just looks completely awkward, Jlo being such a great artist too, this is what happens when they don't make wise choices.

Madonna needs to call PATRICK LEONARD and if she wants to duet she could possibly duet with Mylene Farmer or artists of such magnitude. I think Madonna should ask Laurent Boutonant to produce her album, he made Mylene Farmer who she became in Europe. Moby was mentioned and I also think he would be a good choice.

Come on Madonna!! pack your bags from New York move to Paris get inspired and release something superior like pre Hard Candy.

What about Richard X ?

Guy Oseary creeps me the F*** out. He has gone completely money crazy.

I love all songs that she did with Patrick Leonard, they are real classics. Those songs are timeless and have a real soul. Another good choice would be S. Bray, S. Pettibone, W. Orbit and even S. Price. They should work together with her and the result would be a masterpiece.Madonna, please hear and respect the wishes of your fans.

Stuart Price, Richard X, or maybe W. Orbit.....are Shep and Patrick still even producing /writing??

I'm actually found of the religious, spiritual, mystical, Illuminati-type of symbolism, especially when rooted in something serious; true spiritual beliefs of the artist. And Madonna's being doing it since the very beginning...

M, please do suck Guy Oseary. His management has been nothing but lame stunts and half-baked explosions (The boxing thing on Hard Candy? The cheerleaders theme on MDNA?). It pains me to say it, but M, the greatest pop icon alive, hasn't produced a classic song or album for almost a decade. Confessions has been a true gem and when someone watches the tour from that period, you can easily see her glowing from being assured that she is doing her work right; she defines an era, leads in pop and she knows it. I've been reading feverishly all info about the new album and I am happy about some things. Blood Diamonds is fierce, Ariel Rechtshaid too. Diplo is extremely canny, I only wish he gives M the mastepieces she deserves. But... where is the unique songwriting elements of the past to bring out the best in M and create new classics that will refine this era, too? This is why us, all true Madonna fans are shouting for Patrick Leonard and Rick Nowels for months now.

i agree on everything except when you say: "I've been reading feverishly all info about the new album and I am happy about some things. Blood Diamonds is fierce, Ariel Rechtshaid too.
Diplo is extremely canny.."
It is precisely because of people like that that her last 2 albums were a mess and same is going to be for the forthcoming one! They are trending sellouts for youngsters, M should have nothing to do with these disposal marketing products. She should go back working with real musicians and lyricists to create music worth of her name. She hasn't had a masterpiece since 2006 for God sake!

Siobhan, if you read my comment further on, you'll see that we are saying the same thing! I have (some) faith in producers like Blood Diamonds ('Go' from Grimes is a true gem), Ariel Rechtshaid (HAIM's debut was last year's best album for me) and Diplo, BUT... we need songwriters like Patrick Leonard and Rick Nowels on board. And yes, no masterpiece since Confessions in 2005. I guess we are in uncharted territory here: noone has ever dominated the pop world at the age of 56 (I'm no ageist, I am just stating the facts), noone has been pop's No.1 for 30+ years, noone has pushed the limits thus far. Madonna does not only have to reinvent herself; she must reinvent the wheel this time round. I have absolute faith in her and I am glad she is taking her time. But for an whole new amagalm of sound, so unique to take the world by storm (once again), there are two true elements needed: inspiration and hard work. We can rest assured of the latter and only pray about the first.

that's exactly what she ought do this time but it will be difficult given the path she's following. As for the producers you mentioned, I confirm what i was saying, i think that this kind of producers make generic crappy music that can't hold a candle to the music of her previous albums. She needs something very different for the producers part.

I bet you anything the avicci tracks were scrapped.. i think the bulk of this album will be Madonna/Diplo with a few songs from Cherry Cherry and the new producer (whomever she finds)

Totally agree. Maybe one track or two will be used a a bonus track

Except wasn't Rebel Heart an avicii track?

Madonna is having an album made for her again like the last time - William Orbit went off on her publicly about that last year. She used to be the one in creative control. She didn't need some stupid A&R manager to find songs and producers for her. Who is she, Ariana Grande??! Oh, yeah she's rumored to be collaborating with the little kid, and then there's Miley Cyrus. Madonna has made herself a joke, and Guy Oseary is right there helping her do it. He's behind U2's recent iTunes disaster, not to mention their new album that just bombed. Where the fuck is Freddy DeMann??!

I agree with so much of Fred's wonderful, thoughtful post, as well as many of the other passionate comments on here. You all seem to know your Madonna (naturally) as well as about the current state of the industry.

First of all, Guy Oseary made his name and fortune off of Madonna and in my calculation deserves precisely zero credit for her multiple commercial triumphs since he usurped Freddy DeMann in '95. Oseary is a soulless suit without a musical bone in his body (unlike many former musicians-turned-managers). Nowadays he runs around pretending to be some sort of Steve Jobs-caliber tycoon (just like his good friend Ashton Kutcher, who seems to think that investing in everything that twitches will transform him into a major innovator). Anytime Madonna does something gimmicky, regressive, or immature, you can be sure that Oseary was behind it. Actually, when Madonna originally hired Oseary as her manager, I assumed he was effectively a 20-year-old yes-man (and possibly moonlighting as her boy-toy). I find very unsettling the degree to which Madonna appears to have relinquished so much professional control to him over the years.

MDNA was a solid album with several truly exhilarating songs (Gang Bang, I'm Addicted, I'm a Sinner, and Love Spent were my personal favorites) and it was certainly a huge improvement over the stiff, timorous, and melody-free Hard Candy - my least favorite album in her catalog. But there was also a hurried clumsiness that pervaded MDNA, including among her vocals, which occasionally sounded frail and reedy. William Orbit's post-op regrets about how constrained his studio time with her was came as no surprise to me. Thus I am encouraged rather than flummoxed (as so many commenters here are) by the fact that she's taking her time with this one. I'm equally encouraged by the fact that she's not putting all her eggs in one basket and has been making the rounds of producers, sampling different sounds. I do remember Madonna complaining about how disjointed she felt while making Bedtime Stories due to the multiple, competing hands in that pot but I respectfully disagree with Fred about the results: I think it is one of her 3 or 4 best albums.

However, I have mixed feelings about the reported collaborations on the current album, some of which seem like they could yield fresh and even experimental material and some of which seem to play into the hands of those who say Madonna is desperately and absurdly pandering to tweens. I can't make up my mind about Diplo. I've surveyed his work, which ranges from the funky and truly original (his early work with M.I.A and his recent Major Lazer stuff) to the bland and generic (his collabos with Britney and Beyonce).

I feel that American Life was the last album that she really poured her heart into. I think the commercial failure of that deeply personal (but often dull) album spooked her into the cutesy leotards of Confessions on a Dance Floor (an album that I consider a mixed bag of gems and duds) and the totally uninspired flirtation with "urban pop" on Hard Candy.

I always see Madonna fans saying she needs to hook back up with Pat Leonard, William Orbit, Stuart Price...and I don't disagree. But my nominations in the previous-collaborator-that-she-should-rekindle-the-flame-with category are Rick Nowels, who cowrote The Power of Goodbye and who cowrites most of Lana Del Rey's biggest hits and Shep Pettibone (Vogue and much of Erotica).

I disagree on American Life and Confessions, I think those were classics and easily listenable from beginning to end, but otherwise I agree with everything else you said. I do hope she finds that inner calm and regalness she exhibited on the Confessions Tour in 2006 cause ever since then it's like she is constantly trying to prove herself against young artists and she doesn't need to.

Osearys been hired as manager after the departure of Angela Beckett on 2007 not after Demmans departure. Caresse Henry was the manager then

Thank you for the correction! How could forget about Caresse?!

I have to agree on Rick Nowels because TPOG was AMAZING and one of my favorites from Ray Of Light besides Drowned World. I also think she should consider teaming back up with Guy Sigsworth (What It Feels Like For A Girl, and also his work with Frou Frou) because his current work with Alanis Morissette shows depth that Madonna could make even better use of! So, if there was an LP which was MOSTLY produced by Madonna, William Orbit, and Stuart Price with mixing and lyrics by Pat LeonardRick Nowels, and Guy Sigsworth, it would easily be a shoe in for a Grammy! Believe me, I know what works for Madonna, and that WORKS!

Guy Sigsworth is stale. Alanis' album bombed. We already had William Orbit. It was a critical disaster. No to Stuart Price. He's another one who went nowhere after her. Rick Nowels is safe, but she needs more ballads, so he wouldn't be bad to work with again. And Patrick Leonard is her saving grace. I wish she'd get her head out of her ass and beg him to collaborate. He's the only person who ever consistently got her and wrote so many of her most iconic songs.

Well Guy Sigsworth may be stale with Alanis but with Madonna he made one of her prettiest ballads (What It Feels Like For A Girl) and actually she had a lotta say on how the song should sound so she usually is in control with her producers, but his work with Imogen Heap shows he can make amazingly beautiful ballads. Stuart Price made Seal's System album and the song Amazing would have been perfect for Madonna, so he does know how to make music without her but yes he does do his best work with her, so just because he didn't make it big beyond her, who's to say they can't make it awesome again? I mean, we all know he can make stunning ballads as well (Forbidden Love, X-Static Process). And I can't imagine saying no to Orbit! But to each their own lol.

Sigsworth is a great call! Did you see his recent interview talking about the making of What it Feels Like for a Girl and what a complicated process it was?

Shep is great too, but I haven't heard anything lately. I know he used to have skills, but he'd be one I would be interested in seeing how it turned out nowadays

Why do the public need to know this info, just zip it and get the job done... All we need to know is the release date...

i think its about time she called it a day.go out with your head held high.or she is going to regret it.she s not even getting a top 40 hit single anymore.radio refuse to play artists music if there over 50.

For you chart position comes before music ?

Give Me All Your Luvin' was a top 10 hit and even hit the number 1 on iTunes and I heard it MANY times on the radio. Also, I heard 4 Minutes a TON of times, and also Celebration. She still has radio play (but I understand what you mean to a degree). They have a weird thing where they only play top 20 and play ONLY that. It's sad, but Madonna shouldn't make music to make money, sell records, or out-do the younger kids, but instead should make music because she believes in it. She should make it because it's something she feels in her soul. She should make an album that people will love for years to come and one she's proud of. It should make a statement. Most of all, it should be something that isn't just to sell records, but something that when people hear it, it speaks to their soul. It should make them feel good about their life, their time on this earth, and something that Madonna and her fans are proud of because it's Madonna BEING Madonna! We love her for that reason and this American teeniebopper shit says the total opposite! THAT'S why she should make another album, to make up for the last couple that she didn't make for her fans, but to keep up with the younger generation! She will ALWAYS be relevant as long as she's true to herself and to those who truly know her musically! She needs to be herself and know that no matter what, SHE'S THE SHIT!!!! She's the best as long as she stays the Madonna we have always known and loved! And that means doing things for the RIGHT reason! Doing things for herself and not to gain an audience that may or may not respond, and focus on the millions that do. It's that simple!

Good news. That means serious, careful work, not hurry.

All too over analysed.. keep it simple. Like her first few albums.. Period.

I think that there is a concern about thematic approach. She is working with a lot of producers on this one. When she did that with Bedtime Stories she found the experience stressful because she was the only voice to unite the many different things on the album. In other words, it lacked cohesion. That has also been the complaint of many people, though not me, regarding Hard Candy and MDNA. This project of Oseary's is about fixing a broken industry and the lackluster reception of her last two albums was, I think, a consequence of that broken industry. How do you promote an album artist when no one buys albums anymore? How do you market an adult artist when anyone over 25 is now perceived as old? This is a new period in music because people our age, the over 35 crowd, were not pop music consumers in the past. Now pop artists need to find a way to appeal to us older pop music lovers without sounding immature, without pandering to the teens and tweens, and yet, still appear relevant to those very same teens and tweens. That's hard because no one has ever done that before. How do you make an EVENT of another Madonna album, 32 years into a career. That is hard because, again, no one has ever done it before. Maybe Cher with Believe but really it was one song that captured people's imagination at a cultural level, not an album's worth of material. As a fan, I'll devour what she does on the next album. Many of you will too. She knows that. That's not the problem, we get her a week at #1 and 1.5 to 2 million album sales around the world. We make her concerts record breakers. That's not what's broken. Albums that sell 1-2 million copies worldwide are not profitable and more and more artists are finding themselves in this position. Even the wee pop tarts like Miley and Katy are taking months to get a million copies sold. How do you appeal to a mass audience divided by the internet? I think this is the problem Oseary is trying to solve. I also think that the idea of a producer for the album as a whole is important because Madonna is intimately connected to all the songs. As a writer, I know that it takes an outside opinion to help you see what the cohesion problem actually is. I think the idea of an album producer here is to come in and help Madonna find the theme and direction. This will then influence videos, promo images, performance concepts, tour visuals, and most importantly, what songs she chooses for the album. Her best albums had themes - Like a Prayer, Erotica, Ray of Light, Confessions, and the albums worked as a cohesive unit. The other issue is the proper mode of promotion so that the album doesn't fizzle out like the last two. How to make her relevant for more than a couple of weeks. It's been years since she's had more than one hit on an album - American Life with the title song and Die Another Day. I think she wants to go back to having 3 or 4 hits on an album and give the work life, legs and longevity. That takes planning and we need to be patient while she works this out. She can't just do a Beyonce and U2's latest stunt with apple blew up in their faces. Let her do it right. Seeing her so focused on music right now is really exciting and I'll enjoy the build up until she's ready to give us what she wants to give us. The idea of a woman in her late fifties making new fans and redefining the industry is really appealing and I want to see her do it. For that, I will happily wait.

Except from the fact that Bedtime Stories, unlike HD, MDNA and quite certainly the new album, is a masterpiece made of REAL music, something she seems to have forgotten how to do in the last few years.

Honestly, if i was in her shoes, i would not give the love and money of her loyal fans for granted, I personally won't waste my money on a third consecutive sellout souless album co-produced with trendy DJs and with the "hot" people on the music scene. I won't give any attention to a 3rd consecutive impersonal work this time.

I won't even bother to see a tour supporting such album. MDNA tour, except for 2 moments, was a total bore. Last M's tour i had attended before it, was the Confession Tour and comparing the twoes i realised how much substance, depth, innovation, style, great choreopraphy, cohesion, well defined concept and pure genius the Confession T had, all things that the MDNA tour lacked. The main impression one had at the MDNA T, was that she was wearily dragging a lifeless and uninspired show that supported an as much lifeless and uninspired music album.

So she'd better accurately senses the average fans feeling about her new work and not count too much on their unconditional support because this time the flop may be harsh.

In conclusion the "idea of a woman in her late fifties making new fans and redefining the industry" is not appealing at all, it is just sad!
Instead of staying loyal to her artist status she chose to be all about business and sellout, something that paradoxically, isn't even paying back given her last albums reception.

She is MADONNA, a true artist, her being original both as an artist and as a woman made the legend that she is today, she has no need of pandering to the teenagers and generic music listeners' taste. She is above all this and everything she was before 2008 is what separates her from basic pop acts, especially lady gaga.

So leave all the panderings and generic music to the others and go back being the true lyricist, musician and artist that she used to be, success will spontaneously follow

You lost me at the idea of Bedtime Stories as a masterpiece filled with real music. It felt like a sampler platter of trying to figure out what to do when the controversy from Erotica became more than she wanted to deal with. Bedtime Stories has some classic songs on it, but there's some really, serious, hardcore dreck filling it out, and the dissonance of music styles makes it really difficult to listen to as an album.

" This is a new period in music because people our age, the over 35 crowd, were not pop music consumers in the past. "

Eh, what ? The over 35 crowd grew up with pop and pop culture. Not quite sure what you are saying here ? lol

You forget one big problem: Madonna's been stubborn, insisting on working with trending DJs who are not necessarily trained composers/lyricists. Songs like 'Gimme All Your Lovin' 'Birthday Song' and 'Spanish Lesson' are utterly unacceptable for an artist who've been long praised for her intuition for pop tunes. They're just...No.

finally someone's thinking what i think!

Ok I can see what you mean here, but I gave a great idea in my comment. She already has the songs created (demo form of course), so why not give it to William Orbit or Stuart Price who have both had Grammys with their work and let either 1 or both of them finalize the production? They obviously know what theyre doing and on top of that, they've proven that in the last 20 years they were the only ones to give not only Madonna, but the world a vision that they wanted to see and hear! If it works, then why not? And here it doesn't just work, IT GLISTENS!!! They made gems from simplistic hooks and dance beats! They know Madonna and they know her fans! I swear, if no one believes this, there's something wrong! It's like simple math that adds to the millions!

I am lost. The rumor is that Madonna has co-written and recorded demos for more than 40 songs, with a dozen of people. Is she releasing a triple album? Why not wrap it up, and choose 10-12 solid songs, and release the thing already? Or all these sessions with Diplo, Avici and the such didn't yield anything decent?

I'm not sure why some people think she has to release something right now, people used to take years to record an album. Consumerist culture is really over the top atm.

Not knowing the whole story, I am just surprised she has been in a number of writing and recording sessions, and there isn't an album yet. This is so unlike Madonna, who, with Pat Leonard, wrote and recorded the bulk of Like a Prayer in a few weeks. Of course I don't want her to rush. But, considering I actually love MDNA and like Hard Candy, I just don't Madonna to be second-guessing herself too much. I will be patient, though. She will give us music when she is ready.

It would be nice if Madonna worked with European producers such as Stuart price, William Orbit or others...

I agree with david - she makes history when she chooses someone completely unknown - but I gotta feeling this album is already on its way to conclusion, finally you cant just record and record forever

She definitely should take an european producer, yet unknown. It worked with orbit, mirwais and stuart price. The bloodshy trax were cool as well. She could also re-invite nelle hooper and massive attack. I want you was soooooo good. She's better with nordic producers and i think sweden has a great potential.

JUNIOR VASQUEZ

Moby, maybe. I like his sound!

YES MOBY THAT WOULD BE AWESOME

It's going to suck if he's consulting someone who manages TI, lil Wayne and minaj. Just stick with William Orbit, he's an amazing producer who help her win several Grammys. She hasn't won one award (if any kind ) since.

She won the Grammy for Best Electronic/Dance album in 2006 for "Confessions On a Dance Floor"

Yes I forgot that one. I means she's won other Grammys but not the important ones like record or song of the year like with Ray of Light.