As I have said, I don't agree with the Beyonce comparison, but let's run with it as your statement above suggests it is actually an apt comparison. Not least because Richie is an established artist who has already sold millions of records, just like Beyonce.

Discussing cross-over fan appeal is pointless. I could just as easily say every Bon Jovi fan knew about RSO but ignored it. There's no way to know which is view is correct, other than the numbers kind of suggest ignorance.

Now, you're probably going to point out that Richie wasn't flying under his own flag, so as you say RSO was a new project (I only agree under the direct term). So let's run with the Beyonce comparison.

If Beyonce announced a project with Orianthi called BO and messed around with the album for two years. That's plenty of time for anyone who wanted to know about the project to find out about it. BO then drops their songs on Spotify, you think Beyonce's BO project would go largely ignored?

RSO was never going to be a mainstream sensation, so I contend those who were meant to know about it (Bon Jovi fans, Orianthi fans, Richie fans) had plenty of time to learn of this project. Perhaps too much time and that was the problem.

At the same time, what do people expect? Bon Jovi's numbers are hardly stellar in terms of album sales or Spotify listens these days. How much more did people think RSO could realistically do? Surely, the project more or less reached its ceiling either way?

How many Spotify listens was it, 3,000? I don't find that number crazy considering this is a project from that guitarist from Bon Jovi and that guitarist from (insert band).