Almost a year after its
release last February, XL/Columbia pop songbird Adele’s 21
is showing no signs of letting up. In its 48th week on the chart,
the multi-Grammy nominee’s sophomore album spends its 17th
week at #1, topping Titanic and tying Billy Ray Cyrus’ Some
Gave All back in 1992. The all-time record for weeks at #1 is
held by the West Side Story soundtrack, which spent a total of
54 from 1962-63, followed by Michael Jackson’s Thriller,
with 37 weeks on top. The 96k in sales this week sends 21’s
total in the U.S. past 6.1 million.
Razor & Tie’s
Kidz Bop 21 is the highest-charting debut of the week, with 56k
in sales, good for #2. YM/CM/Universal Republic’s Drake (#3),
Nonesuch’s Black Keys (#4) and Def Jam/IDJ’s Rihanna
(#5) round out the leaders.
Rise rockers Attack Attack!
are the other Top 10 newcomers, in at #9, alongside Def Jam/IDJ’s
Young Jeezy (#6), Capitol/EMI’s Coldplay (#7), Show Dog’s
Toby Keith (#12-8, +13%) and Interscope’s LMFAO (#17-10,
+19%).
Other new Top 50 entries
include Fiya/Light/eOne gospel group James Fortune & Fiya
(#13), Zoe/Rounder’s Kathleen Edwards (#40), RCA Nashville’s
Martina McBride (#45) and Universal Republic’s Gotye (#50).
A pair of hits compilations
re-enter the chart in Curb’s Tim McGraw Number One Hits (#34)
and Capitol/EMI’s Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band’s
Ultimate Hits (#48).
The week’s biggest
sales increases were scored by Universal Republic’s Florence
+ the Machine (#45-32, +29%) and Big Machine’s Taylor Swift
(#48-33, +29%), followed by WaterTower Music’s Joyful Noise
soundtrack (#20-12, +18%).
This week’s new
releases include Curb’s Tim McGraw, Epic’s Lamb of God,
Universal Republic ’s 2012 Grammy Nominees, BNA’s Kellie
Pickler, Reprise’s Seal and Amnesty International’s
Chimes of Freedom: Dylan Songs album.
January 24, 2012
Was Megaupload's Almost-Launched
Megabox Service Better for Artists Than Spotify? Busta Rhymes
Thought So...
First a report, published
in December, on Megaupload’s imminent launch of their Megabox
platform, from Digital Music News:
There’s another
gigantic wrinkle in the MegaUpload drama…
It’s called MegaBox,
and it’s already up in beta with listed partners 7digital,
Gracenote, Rovi, and Amazon MP3.
Actually, this is technically
a relaunch of an earlier concept, and a perfect re-stab at major
label opponents. “UMG knows that we are going to compete
with them via our own music venture called Megabox.com, a site
that will soon allow artists to sell their creations directly
to consumers while allowing artists to keep 90 percent of earnings,”
MegaUpload founder Kim ‘Dotcom’ Schmitz told Torrentfreak
this week…
And, also from Digital
Music News, Busta Rhymes’ vehement support of his not-not-not-CEO
friend Swizz Beatz…
1st of all I am soooo
proud of my brother @THEREALSWIZZZ 4 being apart of creating something
(MEGAUPLOAD) that could create the most powerful way 4 artists
2 get 90% off of every dollar despite the music being downloaded
4 free…
With labels and companies
doin’ deals with Spotify and many other companies like it
who doesn’t give us shit…
Swizz Beatz linked to
Megaupload shutdown
Rapper and producer may be questioned by FBI over alleged role
as CEO of filesharing website
Swizz Beatz, the rapper
and producer who is married to singer Alicia Keys, is allegedly
"bracing himself" for an FBI interview following the
arrest of executives at filesharing website Megaupload, where
he was listed as CEO.
Beatz's role at Megaupload
is a matter of serious contention given US officials' $175m piracy
claim against the site. Seven executives were indicted in Friday's
police operation, which the US government describes as the largest
criminal copyright case in its history. Founder Kim Dotcom has
denied the charges and is fighting extradition claims following
his arrest in New Zealand.
Although company documents
show Beatz, real name Kasseem Dean, owns no part of Megaupload,
the hip-hop star was listed as CEO on the site and had advocated
the service in promotional videos. On Saturday, Megaupload lawyer
Ira Rothken said Beatz was "never involved in a meaningful
way" and was simply "in conversations to be named CEO".
However, the New York Post claims Beatz was Megaupload CEO for
nearly a year. "This appears to be a situation where Swizz
agreed to be the CEO … without first doing his due diligence
about the company," a source told the paper.
While Beatz reportedly
insists Megaupload's offences predate his involvement, the 33-year-old
"expects to be questioned by the FBI", according to
the Post, and may hire a criminal defence lawyer. If found guilty,
the other arrested executives face up to 50 years in prison.
One of hip-hop's best-known
producers, Swizz Beatz started out in the late 90s, producing
tracks for DMX, Jay-Z and Busta Rhymes. In addition to releasing
two solo albums, he also produced tracks by Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne,
and Jay-Z and Kanye West.
FUN CHART FACTS: The
past two weeks have seen catalog releases set record-breaking
percentages of total sales, representing 52.7% of the market for
the week ending Jan. 8 and 54.5% of the total for the week ending
Jan. 15. Look no further than aggressive pricing by Apple's iTunes
and Wal-Mart for the results. (1/24a)
HEY MAN, NICE SHOT: Recently signed Interscope
artist Kayla Brianna got some priceless national exposure last
night, thanks to the 17-year-old’s dad, Kenny “The Jet”
Smith. The Inside the NBA fixture managed to work footage from
Kayla’s video for her debut single “If You Love Me”
into his “Kenny’s Pictures” analysis during halftime
of TNT’s Lakers-Heat game. He also gave shout-outs to Jimmy
Iovine, Victor Herbert and Garnett March. You can check out the
clip—minus the Kobe and LeBron inserts—on kaylabrianna.com.
(1/20a)
DIDDY TV: Sean Combs is planning to launch a
music-themed cable network called Revolt by the end of the year—12/12/12,
to be exact, according to TV trade Broadcasting & Cable. Sources
describe it as “a music and music news channel with an urban
skew… like the old days of MTV for an African American audience.”
Former MTV programming chief Andy Schuon is reportedly involved
with the company. Comcast will provide distribution as part of
its commitment to the FCC to help launch minority-owned networks.
The company plans to launch 10 over the next eight years, including
eight Hispanic- or African American-owned channels, and began
accepting proposals for the first three last spring. A source
said Time Warner Cable will also be involved, with another 18
milion households. (1/23p)
FROM MIT TO EPIC: Lynn Hazan is the latest addition
to L.A. Reid’s new Epic as GM/CFO. She’ll have full
responsibility for label operations, including finance, business
and legal affairs, and contract administration, reporting to COO
Mark Shimmel. She comes to the label from RED and IODA, where
she was EVP/GM, overseeing the integration of the latter into
the former as back end for delivery of music to digital service
providers. Hazan was named one of the top “Women In Music”
for 2011. Once an intern at management company RZO, she has been
a road manager and tour accountant for Lollapalooza and a CFO
of RCA Records, and has worked with the international finance
group at BMG. Lynn attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
and received her MBA from The Wharton School. The label will reportedly
announce a head of sales next. (1/23p)
January 23, 2012
Lana Del Rey’s dad, Rob Grant, made millions
in the internet domain market, and was even the subject of a cover
story in the trade publication Domain Name Journal. Years later,
his daughter’s new-at-the-time music was the subject of a
glowing review in that same publication. Spoiler alert: he likes
it!
Today, Lizzy’s first full-length album
Lana Del Ray (a moniker that also serves as her stage name) went
up for sale on iTunes (just $9.99 for the 13-track album or 99
cents for any of the individual songs).
Knowing Lizzy’s immense talent I downloaded
the album as soon as it was released and am listening to it (for
the second time) as I write this. I can tell you with 100% honesty
that I love it…
APPLE POLISHING: Apple revenues came in at $46.3
billion for its fiscal Q1 (comprising the last three months of
2011), up 73.3% vs. same period last year, and well ahead of analyst
predictions. Shares are trading +7% after hours following the
report. The company had $13.1B in net income, up 117.6%. The results
at $13.87 a share were well ahead of the $10.08 consensus guess.
Apple says that it sold 37 million iPhones in 1Q, a 128% increase,
and 15.4 million iPads, up 111%. Mac sales increased 26% to 5.2
million, a record. Only iPods were down, 21% to 15.4 million.
Said CEO Tim Cook, Steve Jobs' successor: “Apple’s momentum
is incredibly strong, and we have some amazing new products in
the pipeline. Take that, RIM!” (1/24p)
GARBAGE GOES INDIE: Garbage is the latest rock
band to forsake the major label system by launching its own label,
STUNVOLUME, to self-release its new studio album later this spring.
The album will be distributed by Fontana in the U.S. and around
the world via licensing deals with Cooperive Music in Asia, Europe
and Latin America; Liberator Music/The Mushroom Group in Australia
and New Zealand; Sony in Japan and Universal Canada. The Shirley
Manson-fronted band, featuring noted producer Butch Vig, has been
in the studio finishing their fifth studio album, and first in
seven years, recorded in a basement in Atwater Village, L.A.,
their first outside of Madison, WI. The band released their self-titled
debut in 1995, which went double-platinum in the U.S., spawning
the hit singles, “Stupid Girl” and “Only Happy
When It Rains,” receiving a Grammy nomination for Best New
Artist. Garbage’s last studio album was 2005’s Bleed
Like Me, which debuted at #4 on the album chart. The band has
sold more than 12 million albums worldwide. (1/23p)
MILEY DOES DYLAN: Miley Cyrus’ cover of
Bob Dylan’s “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When
You Go,” from Amnesty International’s Chimes of Freedom:
The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International,
debuts today at www.mileycyrus.com and www.facebook.com/amnestyusa
and has been added out of the box at MTV Hits, MTV.com, CMT Pure
and CMT.com. The song is from Dylan’s 1975 classic, Blood
on the Tracks. The four-CD set, available tomorrow through Fontana,
will contain a total of 73 tracks, while 76 tracks will be available
via individual digital download and a bundled digital album. In
addition, a two-disc CD set of Chimes of Freedom with 31 tracks
will be available at Starbucks beginning tomorrow. Chimes of Freedom
is dedicated to the thousands of people worldwide who are imprisoned
or threatened for the peaceful expression of their beliefs. For
more information, visit www.amnestyusa.org/chimes. (1/23a)
Neil Young was in Park City, Utah, last week,
where he was promoting the Slamdance release of the Jonathan Demme
documentary, Neil Young Journeys. The singer has long been outspoken
about the low fidelity of 21st century music formats—and
it’s a cause he’s apparently still very vocal about.
"I'm finding that I have a little bit of
trouble with the quality of the sound of music today," he
said. "I don't like it. It just makes me angry. Not the quality
of the music, but we're in the 21st century and we have the worst
sound that we've ever had. It's worse than a 78 [rpm record].
Where are our geniuses? What happened?"
Young continued his rant, saying that consumers
of music only hear “5 percent” of the data of an original
recording in an MP3 file, and claiming that the warmth and the
depth at the high end is gone. "It's like Occupy Music —
the 5 percent, that's who we are now,” he said.
However, the singer did praise a couple of bands
during his talk with MTV News, although anyone immune to the “charms”
of Mumford & Sons may want to stop reading at this point.
"Mumford and Sons and My Morning Jacket are great bands,"
Young said. "I love them both and I know them well. I feel
good about saying that."
January 23, 2012
Music that went silent nearly 40 years ago on
an historic stretch of Chicago’s celebrated Michigan Avenue
is poised to return, thanks to an unlikely mix of rock stars,
politicians and real estate developers.
Chicago has rezoned Motor Row—near Chess
Studios, the famed “home of the electric blues”—as
a live entertainment district, set to open in early 2013…
KOBALT GOES DIGITAL: Kobalt Music Group Ltd.
has launched a pair of new divisions, Artist and Label Services
and Neighbouring Rights, as well as the acquisition of leading
digital distributor/marketing services provider AWAL Limited,
marking its evolution into a "broader and new class of service-oriented
music company across multiple rights areas," including recorded
music, designed to serve client needs. AWAI directly and globally
distributes and promotes the recorded music of more than 5,000
indie labels and artists including Radiohead, Arctic Monkeys and
Moby. Kobalt obtains access to AWAL’s worldwide distribution
network of more than 250 digital retail partners, including iTunes,
Amazon, Spotify, eMusic, Rhapsody, 7Digital, Beatport, Deezer
and Nokia. The pubbery’s new Artist and Label Services division
will roll out next generation services for artists and labels
worldwide, giving recording owners “a similar level of control,
transparency, accuracy and efficiency,” enabling Kobalt and
AWAL clients the opportunity to maximize revenues from a wide
range of digital retail, subscription, D2C and social media services,
and benefit from advanced data analytics. (1/23a)
DIGITAL MUSIC GOES GLOBAL IN 2011 WHILE ACTIONS
ON PIRACY GAIN MOMENTUM
IFPI Report Pegs Worldwide Digital Revenues Up 8% to $5.2 billion
January 23, 2012
The digital music business saw unprecedented
global expansion in 2011, while key steps forward were taken in
several markets to help tackle digital piracy. That’s according
to a report by the International Federation of the Phonographic
Industry (IFPI), the global version of the RIAA.
With rapid expansion into new markets by services
such as iTunes and Spotify, the major international digital music
services are now present in 58 countries, compared to only 23
at the start of 2011.
In 2011, subscription services expanded and
linked with new partners to reach new audiences. Meanwhile cloud
technology is helping transform the way fans manage and store
their music.
Global revenues to record companies grew by
an estimated 8% to $5.2 billion in 2011--a faster rate of growth
than 2010—with strong consumer demand for both single track
downloads (up 11%), digital albums (up 24%) and fast-expanding
subscription services. The number of users paying to subscribe
to a music service leapt by 65% in 2011 to 13.4 million worldwide,
according to IFPI.
In the U.S. , digital channels have overtaken
physical formats to become the primary source of revenues for
record companies. Globally, 32% of music industry revenues come
from digital sources, far surpassing the film, newspaper and book
sectors. New services launched across Latin America , while in
China record companies are working in a landmark partnership with
the largest internet company Baidu.
Commenting on the report, IFPI CEO Frances
Moore said: “As we enter 2012, there are good reasons for
optimism in the world of digital music. Legal services with expanding
audiences have reached across the globe and consumer choice has
been revolutionised. Meanwhile momentum is building in the fight
against piracy as governments and a growing circle of intermediaries
engage with our industry.
“Any complacency now, however, would be
a great mistake. Our digital business is progressing in spite
of the environment in which it operates, not because of it. In
2012 the momentum needs to build further. We need legislation
from governments with coordinated measures that deal with piracy
effectively and in all its forms. We also need more cooperation
from online intermediaries such as search engines and advertisers
to support the legal digital music business.”
Piracy remains an enormous barrier to sustainable
growth in digital music. Globally, one in four internet users
(28%) regularly access unlicensed services, according to IFPI/Nielsen.
This is rigging the market for legitimate services, stunting growth
and jeopardising investment in music. IFPI advocates an inclusive
combination of graduated response, site-blocking and other measures
to tackle the problem.
There has been positive momentum in the fight
against piracy in 2011. In France , the introduction of the new
Hadopi graduated response law has seen peer-to-peer (P2P) piracy
levels decline by 26%, with around two million P2P users stopping
the activity since warning notices were first sent out in Oct.
2010 according to IFPI/Nielsen.
A newly published academic study finds evidence
that Hadopi has had a positive impact on iTunes sales in France
. The analysis found that iTunes singles sales were 23% higher
than they would have been in the absence of Hadopi.
In the U.S. , a groundbreaking ISP cooperation
deal was signed in 2011 and a graduated response program will
be implemented in 2012, with most major ISPs signing up to a “copyright
alert system”. The move follows the closure of the illegal
service LimeWire in 2010, which has helped cause a dramatic drop
in levels of P2P piracy in the U.S. market.
In New Zealand, a new graduated response law
took effect in Sept. 2011, with early indications of impact. In
Europe , a string of court judgments has helped reduce copyright
infringing activity on major sites like the Pirate Bay . In Belgium
and Italy , visits to the infringing sites dropped by 70-80% in
each case. In Spain a new law came into force to allow the blocking
of illegal websites--a positive step, if disappointingly limited
in its scope.
The recorded music industry is now working directly
with advertisers, payment providers, search engines and website
hosts to tackle digital piracy. A partnership struck in 2011 between
IFPI, the City of London Police and payment providers MasterCard,
Visa and PayPal has prevented more than 60 illegal websites from
abusing payment services since it began in March 2011.
Better cooperation is being sought with
search engines, which are a major channel for consumers to access
music. Research in several countries indicates that between a
quarter and a half of people illegally downloading access infringing
music via search engines. However, many of the top results provided
by search engines are linked to unauthorised content or sites
which regularly infringe copyright.
