‘The Voice’ Season 23: What Does the Winner Get?
NBC’s The Voice Season 23 finale is nearly over, and fans can’t wait to see which of the five finalists takes home the grand prize. Winning The Voice can certainly boost hopeful singers in the industry, but some reports suggest issues. Here’s what to know about what The Voice Season 23 winner will receive and how past winners have felt about taking home the crown.
What does ‘The Voice’ Season 23 finale winner receive?
The winner of The Voice Season 23 finale will take home $100,000 and a record deal with Universal Music Group.
This seems like a great prize — but it’s minimal compared to what the winners of American Idol receive. The winner of American Idol 2023 receives increments of $250,000 and $1,000 weekly stipends to record their album.
It’s not all bad for The Voice winners, though. The judges occasionally offer additional perks that NBC didn’t originally write in the contract. In the past, Blake Shelton took winners on tour with him in order to promote their albums. Shelton is currently a judge on season 23, and he has two singers competing for the win in the finale. Season 23 marks Shelton’s final season, so it’s unlikely he’ll continue offering any perks once he leaves the series behind.
The winning contestant also reportedly must sign a contract — and violating the contract puts their prize money in jeopardy. If a contestant shares details of the show’s contract, the show can allegedly sue them for $100,000 to $1 million. The contract also allegedly says that the TV show can change the rules at their discretion and ignore the show’s voting system altogether if they so choose.
Past winners and coaches have slammed the series for how they treat the winners
Several of The Voice winners in the past have spoken on what happened to their careers once they won the series. Alisan Porter won in 2016, and she admitted to the New York Post that the experience wasn’t what she “expected.”
“It was sort of like, ’I got this record deal, but what do I do now?’” Porter shared. “Once you win, they’re on to the next season within two months and you’re a has-been. And I was, like, terrified that I wasn’t gonna use this momentum to make it in the music business. It was definitely not what I had expected.”
“I knew I wasn’t gonna be the next Ariana Grande, but when you’re with a label who has Ariana Grande or people like that, that’s sort of their motivation,” she continued.
Coaches Blake Shelton and Adam Levine also commented on how the record deals occasionally go awry. “One of the frustrating things for me as a coach on this show year after year is they win this record deal with Universal, and so many times the ball’s been dropped,” Shelton told Entertainment Tonight, according to The Sun.
A fan on Reddit also noted that some of the winning singers lose their recording contracts quickly after signing on after the show. “TIL the TV show The Voice heavily promotes the fact that the winner gets a free record deal,” a fan wrote. “However, many of them get dropped shortly after signing. The winner of season 7 even admits none of the label executives knew who he was when he first entered the office shortly after winning.”
“That’s what happened with Pentatonix winning The Sing-Off Season 3,” another fan commented. “They got a Sony recording contract, were dropped very quickly, and turned to YouTube to get views. They got super popular on YouTube, got a new contract with a different studio, and now they have two or three Grammys. But they had to do a lot of work themselves after winning a really tough show.”
These are the 5 finalists competing for the prize
The Voice Season 23 finale is nearly over, and the winner will be crowned on Tuesday, May 23, 2023.
Blake Shelton’s team has two singers left — NOIVAS and Grace West. This season also marks Shelton’s last, so he certainly hopes to go out with a win.
Kelly Clarkson’s team has D. Smooth.
Chance the Rapper’s team has the trio of singing sisters, Sorelle.
Finally, Niall Horan has Gina Miles.
Fans can vote for their favorites beginning on Monday, May 22, 2023, during the Overnight Vote.
This story was originally reported by The Sun.
The Voice Season 23 finale begins on Monday, May 22, 2023, at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
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