Kings of A&R

• Rumors tell us that MTV may cancel its show TRL (Total Request Live) which is broadcasted from Times Square studio. The show, which has been airing on MTV for about nine years, may be cancelled because of the low ratings.
• Jewel has departed from Atlantic Records. She had a successful career as a singer songwriter but it began to dwindle when she attempted to cross over to pop. You need to stick with a vision because people really want to believe in something. Be who you are and say what you feel.
• American Idol Host Simon Cowell, says he has never bought a Bob Dylan record because he “bores me to tears.” Simon also said he would plug his ears and run in the other direction if he were to see a 21-year-old Dylan singing “Blowin’ in the Wind.”

 

V2 has cut the staff including President Andy Gershon. V2 will retain the White Stripes catalog, but will no longer issue new music from artist’s including Moby and the Raconteurs. The only genre the company plans to participate in the frontline going forward is gospel. The company is looking for ways to grow business digitally.

Again, we have a problem with new music. Labels cannot fund themselves and turn profit with new music. You will continue to see the labels downsize and disappear until people are excited to purchase music again. Rather than focusing on artist development and new platforms, music industry executives continue to preoccupy themselves over digital distribution. Distribution doesn’t work if you don’t have consumers buying anything.

The last day is Friday for EMI’s most senior executives , the most powerful executives in the global music industry Alain Levy and David Munns. Expect hundreds of lay offs.

Chairman Eric Nicoli was hoping Robbie Williams and a Beatles remix album which were launched during Christmas could help rescue the company, but both albums dissapointed.

If artist development is not the future of the music business then major label layoffs and consolidation is.

(The Financial Times)

The music industry heavily relies on aging rockstars to pay salaries, turn profits, and fund new artists.  The LA Times analyzed the record and merchandise sales of 2006. The top 10 include:

Celine Dion
Madonna
The Rolling Stones
Rascal Flatts
Kenny Chesney
Barbra Streisand
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Nickelback
Tim McGraw/Faith Hill
Bon Jovi

Old artists still have a grip on the music scene. Why? Because their careers were developed over the course of 10 years+. This is why Celine can gross 43.9 million in 6 months. One avenue of the future of the music business is artist development. Developing………………….

The British pop chart will undergo one of the biggest shake-ups since its inception 54 years ago on Sunday when any song downloaded from the Internet will be able to compete for the number one single spot.

Up to now, only songs which were physically available for purchase in shops counted toward the weekly chart.

Downloads could be included, but only a week before an actual CD single went on sale and for two weeks after it stopped appearing in stores.

This Sunday’s number one could be any track whether it has been sold in stores or online.

It said the “dramatic development” would be more reflective of what music Britons were buying, and could mean that old tunes, tracks by unknown artists or unreleased songs on albums hitting the top of the charts.

“This new ruling changes the nature of a single and puts the consumer in the driving seat,” said OCC director Steve Redmond.

“Literally any track can be a hit — as long as it sells enough.”

“For a long time we’ve wanted the chart to reflect what the consumers are actually buying,” said a spokesman for the BPI, the British record industry’s trade body.

(FULL ARTICLE HERE)

 

Album sales

2006: 588.2 million
2005: 618.9 million
2004: 666.7 million
2003: 656.2 million

Track downloads
 
2006: 581.9 million
2005: 352.7 million
2004: 140.9 million
2003: 19.2 million

Top 10 albums

1. High School Musical: 3.72 million

2. Rascal Flatts/Me and My Gang: 3.48 million

3. Carrie Underwood/Some Hearts: 3.02 million

4. Nickelback/All the Right Reasons: 2.69 million

5. Justin Timberlake/Futuresex/Lovesounds: 2.38 million

6. James Blunt/Back to Bedlam: 2.14 million

7. Beyonce/B’day: 2.01 million

8. Hannah Montana: 1.99 million

9. Dixie Chicks/Taking the Long Way: 1.86 million

10. Hinder/Extreme Behavior: 1.82 million

Top 10 digital songs:

1. Daniel Powter/Bad Day: 2.02 million

2. Nelly Furtado/Promiscuous: 1.71 milion

3. Justin Timberlake/SexyBack: 1.66 million

4. Gnarls Barkley/Crazy: 1.63 million

5. James Blunt/You’re Beautiful: 1.62 million

6. Fray/Over My Head: 1.57 million

7. Fray/How to Save a Life: 1.56 million

8. Sean Paul/Temperature: 1.53 million

9. Chamillionaire/Ridin’: 1.42 million

10. Shakira/Hips Don’t Lie: 1.41 million.
(USATODAY)

• A ‘New’ Station for New York
  CBS Radio launched Fresh 102.7. that will focus on songs released in the last decade. The target audience is women (25-44). Programming will include artists like John Mayer, James Blunt, Alicia Keys, Marc Anthony, The Fray and Dido.
• Kids turn to a ‘New’ Website WITHOUT Rules
  Social networks like MySpace and YouTube have decided against allowing conversations over live video because of the potential for abuse and opposition from child-safety advocates. New start ups like Stickam will do whatever they can to “attract” eyeballs and often at the price taste, ethics and child safety. Stickam mostly attracts young people comfortable with the idea of a continuous self-produced reality TV show starring themselves.

Companies that offer Web cam chats say that the technology seems to attract abuse. “There are just some people who, if you give them a Web cam, are going to take off their clothes,� said Jason Katz, founder of PalTalk

Warner Brothers opened a page on the service for two of its artists, Jamie Kennedy and Stu Stone, and trained a Web cam on them as they recorded a music video.

• U.S. digital download sales hit a new all-time high in the week after Christmas with 30.1 million tracks sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Sales of digital albums were up, with volume of just over 1 million bundles - the first time digital album volume has crossed the million plateau for a single week. (Billboard)

• XM and Sirius continue to talk about a potential merger.
• According to the LA Times, revenues from digital downloads and mobile content is expected to be flat or, in some cases, decline next year. Rather than pushing the panick button industry some executives are pushing for the right to sell digital downloads as unprotected MP3s. Revenues from digital music has not made up the loss from the declining physical CD sales. Revenue from digital music has yet to offset losses from still-declining CD sales.