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Going Gaga Indeed
May 27, 2011
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"When I am not onstage, I feel dead. Whether that is healthy or not to you, or healthy or not to anyone, or a doctor, is really of no concern to me. I don't feel alive unless I'm performing, and that's just the way I was born. I have attention. Is it that you believe that I am attention-seeking or shock for shock's sake, or is it just that it's been a long time since someone has embraced the art form the way that I have? Perhaps it's been a couple of decades since there's been an artist that's been as vocal about culture, religion, human rights, politics. I'm so passionate about what I do, every bass line, every EQ. Why is it that you don't want more from the artist, why is it that you expect so little, so when I give and give, you assume it's narcissistic?"
-- Lady GaGa, talking about her criticsYes, she was everywhere these past two weeks.
Letterman. American Idol. The View. Saying goodbye to Oprah. Her 'Monster Ball' show debuted on HBO just two weeks ago and is one of HBO's biggest audience concert specials. (It runs throughout he month and is on HBO On-Demand as well)
She was the musical guest on the season finale of 'Saturday Night Live' and it scored the highest metered-market household average for a season-closer of the show in seven years and equaled the highest in 11 years, according to household ratings averages in the 56 local markets metered by Nielsen Media Research.
She was recently voted 'Songwriter of the Year' at the recent 59th annual BMI Pop Music Awards.
This week Amazon.com was overwhelmed with orders for their excusive, one-day 99-cent sale on her new album "Born This Way," and their servers went down. (Amazon has pulled another surprise, announcing a repeat of Monday's Lady Gaga 99-cent sale on Thursday.) You can read about the Amazon.com and iTunes promotion in 'Welcome To The Lady GaGa Wars' in the Wall Street Journal here: http://tiny.cc/3n84n
Whether you're a GaGa fan or not, what happened at retail this past week is extraordinary.
The total numbers are confirmed yet, but it looks like Lady GaGa will sell over a million units her first week here in the U.S. or close to it. Globally, the album detonated and went to #1 in iTunes in over 20 countries. When all is said and done, and after she releases all the hits on the album it will sell in the multi-millions around the world. Not bad considering people are still stealing music everyday in big numbers. (Despite what the RIAA might want you to believe)
Such an explosion at retail in today's retail music market is something to be celebrated. It also reinforces once again, that REAL artists who connect with their audiences, write great songs and make great records, will always outsell the mediocrity that is so prevalent in so much of what's out there these days.
All the hype in the world won't sell millions of albums. All the exposure an artist gets doesn't guarantee sales.(e.g., look at J-Lo's 'Love' album sales in comparison even though she's been in front of 20 million-plus people every week on 'American Idol', debuted her video on the how, performed, got the cover of People magazine, etc.)
What sells records the way Lady GaGa sells them is the SONGS. The MUSIC. And yes, her performances. But performances can't sell bad songs or bad music.
Whether or not you're a fan, Lady GaGa is the real goods. And artists like Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, Paul McCartney and others who have played with her all say the same.
She never wears the same outfit twice, and she never performs the same song quite the same way when she's in front of a TV audience. That's why people watch her. She keeps it fresh and as exciting as the music she makes.
Whether or not you're a fan, what the music industry needs now more than ever are more REAL artists who can do what Lady GagGa does at retail.
I have asked this question in the newsletter countless times: "How many artists established in the last decade do you think will be able to sell out 20,000-seat arenas a decade from now? Twenty years from now? 30?"
If she's still making music down the road, I'd bet Lady GaGa will be able to do that.
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THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 2
FOLLOW-UP TO LAST WEEK'S COMMENTARY 'SONY'S CHIEF EXEC REALIZES (A BIT LATE) THERE'S DANGER IN THE DIGITAL WORLD'
Last week in my commentary about Sony's PlayStation network being hacked, I wrote, "In the past decade-and-a-half, everything has been hacked. The iTunes store has been hacked. Microsoft's best software has been hacked despite the millions it spends on security. Amazon.com has been hacked. Music and movies have been replicated and duplicated millions of times from a variety of online sources. Government websites have been hacked. American Express, Visa, MasterCard, the Discover card have been victims of online security breaches. The list goes on and on."
This week, hackers "targeted Sony Music Entertainment Japan and stolen information from thousands of accounts in a Canadian Sony Ericsson eShop site, a spokesperson confirmed today. Meanwhile, e-mails, phone numbers, and passwords of more than 8,000 accounts at Sony Music Greece were stolen over the weekend, Sony confirmed. "
(Read about it on CNET here: http://tiny.cc/ngcvv )
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THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 3
MOBILE MUSIC GROWTH, BUT CONSUMERS PREFER THEIR MUSIC FREE (DUH!)
From MediaPost, "Market research firm NPD released findings today indicating the spread of smartphones has helped expand the mobile music audience. The number of active mobile music listeners increased by almost nine million last year, growing from 12% to 17% of Web users in the process."
However, "The majority are turning to free or ad-supported options. "More than half of mobile music listeners currently prefer to listen to their own music, and most prefer free music to paying for it," said NPD entertainment analyst Russ Crupnick said. "That's a challenge for paid services to create and offer the most incremental value, which will be critical for companies looking to supplement the ad-supported model."
Read more here: http://tiny.cc/uujez and the NPD article here: http://tiny.cc/dyosg
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THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 4
FOLLOW-UP ON: THE BUZZ ON 'AMERICAN IDOL' IS GONE
Last week I opined that "American Idol" had lost its buzz despite the ratings.
As predicted, Scotty McCreery won. And as I said, he had been winning since the final top-10 or Top-12. He was always the front runner, and it was no contest as he consistently pulled in the most votes by far week after week. It was never a contest this year.
Now this from a New York Post article this week titled, "Getting old, When did 'Idol' become 'Antiques Roadshow'?"
"Pre-season promises were bandied about doing away with the clunky theme weeks. Not only did they stay in the end, but the show devoted weeks to the song books of Carole King and Leiber and Stoller, composers about as relevant to today's music marketplace as Gilbert and Sullivan. Even the one element of the show which seems to have been an unqualified hit -- the additions of Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez -- at second glance, reinforces the stodginess problem. Tyler, of course, flowing robes aside, is AARP eligible. And "youthful" -- rather than actually young -- is the term more often associated with Lopez. The better part of a decade has passed since her zeitgeist moment. The contrast looks especially rough when compared with the judges of NBC's "The Voice" -- a quartet of still-potent hitmakers: Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton, Cee Lo Green and Maroon 5's Adam Levine."
(You can read the entire article here: http://tiny.cc/sia7p )
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THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 5
FACEBOOK WILL LAUNCH MUSIC SERVICE VIA SPOTIFY
Forbes is reporting that Facebook has partnered with Spotify on a music-streaming service that could be launched in as little as two weeks.
Read about it here: http://tiny.cc/f3v3g
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THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 6
THE RIAA EXECS RAKE IN THE BIG BUCKS
According to non-profit financial filings with the IRS, shared with Digital Music News, RIAA President Cary Sherman Made $3.2 million In 2009. (The latest year available)
Mitch Bainwol -- listed as CEO and Director -- grabbed $1.62 million in total compensation for the year. In total, the RIAA paid $16.2 million in "salaries, other compensation, and employee benefits" for 2009.
That's an awful lot of money for an industry association that spends a fortune on lobbyists and wining and dining politicians in Washington, D.C.
I have no idea how any sane industry label executive could look at these numbers and say "Yeah, we're getting our money's worth."
$3.2 million for Mr. Sherman??? As head of a non-profit industry association???
And Now For Some News ...
Just How Big Is YouTube?
READWRITEWEBThree billion views per day big. That's how big.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Paul McCartney Goes Into The Clouds
CNET/HPWhile some brick-and-mortar libraries are converting to robot-style storage systems, Hewlett-Packard has put Paul McCartney's archive of music, video clips and photos into a digital cloud library. HP launched the private collection with MPL Communications, which the former Beatle founded in 1971, to digitize five decades of McCartney material.
It's called the Paul McCartney Digital Library, and it doesn't include Beatles material.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Ouch: PlayStation Outage Cost Sony $171 Million
VENTURE BEATThe hacker attack on Sony's PlayStation network that left the service offline for nearly a month while the company instituted enhanced security will end up costing the firm around $171 million, the company said in a recent earnings statement.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Auto-Tune For Guitars: The Digital Guitar Future?
CREATEDIGITALMUSIC.COMA new tool could be for the expressive, not just the lazy. That's the read of Auto-Tune for guitar, and it makes me excited to see what people will do with it. It could be the advent of the true digital guitar.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Music With Me Sez Why Bother With Google Music And The Clouds?
MUSIC WITH METhe average iTunes library has 5,409 songs of which 4,195 have never been played. Put another way: We listen to about 19% of the music we own.
Why upload your entire library when you only listen to 19% of your music? Ever?
Check out Music With Me ... they make sense.
Read more about it by clicking here.
More Artists Seek Digital Royalties From UMG
NY TIMESJust two months after Eminem's producers won a case against the Universal Music Group over how royalties are computed for digital music, more artists have followed with complaints that they are owed what may amount to millions of dollars in unpaid earnings.
Read more about it by clicking here.
More Dialogue From Clive Davis
DAYTONPERRY.COMIn honor of Clive Davis' influence and accomplishments, both within and outside the music profession, New York University honored the music mogul with a Doctor of Fine Arts degree on May 18, 2011, during its 179th Commencement Exercise. Shortly thereafter, Clive Davis managed to squeeze some time out of his busy schedule and settle down for an interview with Clayton Perry - reflecting on "the art" of artist development, the founding of J Records, and the cultural impact of LaFace and Bad Boy Records.
Read more about it by clicking here.
CLIVE GIVES BACK:
Clive Davis, industry legend and Chief Creative Officer of Sony Music Entertainment Worldwide, has given $5 million to the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University in order to expand the Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music into the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. Davis' gift will allow the school to recruit working professionals as faculty members, establish a scholarship fund and increase its number of students.
WARNER SHAREHOLDER SEZ "NOT SO FAST":
A Warner Music Group shareholder has filed a class-action lawsuit against the company, claiming that its chairman and CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. and its board of directors breached their fiduciary duty by accepting a $3.3 billion bid from Len Blavatnik's Access Industries rather than a higher offer from billionaire brothers Tom and Alec Gores. The suit seeks to block the consummation of the deal with Access and provide damages to the defendants.
MAYBE IT'S BETTER THAN THE SHOW:
The cast recording of Bono and the Edge's musical "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" will hit stores on June 14th. The disc will include 14 songs penned by them for the recently revised show, which is set to open officially on Broadway on the same day.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN:
Bob Dylan has announced a new round of European and North American tour dates. The American leg will begin on July 15th at the Santa Barbara Bowl in Santa Barbara, California and wrap up at the WinStar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma on July 23rd.
ON DEMAND IS THE FUTURE:
Another reason DVD sales are declining: Comcast said on Wednesday that its subscribers have viewed 20 billion entertainment programs via its On Demand service since it launched in 2003.
JAGGER IN NEW BAND:
Mick Jagger is part of a new band: Super Heavy - featuring Dave Stewart, Joss Stone, Damian Marley and Indian film composer A.R. Rahman. The band has quietly been recording together over the past 18 months, with their debut LP planned for sometime around September.
SONY BOXES:
Sony Music Entertainment's catalog division Legacy Recordings has just released comprehensive box sets featuring the collected works of the Byrds, Sam Cooke, Stan Getz and Return to Forever as part of their new Complete Albums Collection.
MOBILE STATS:
The number of global smartphone users is expected to reach over 2 billion people by 2015, when unit sales will exceed 800 million, according to a report from market research firm Parks Associates. Unit sales are projected to grow over 175%.
I DON'T KNOW IF ANYBODY MISSED THESE, BUT THEY'RE BACK:
Pop Up Video, a music video program featuring humorous trivia bubbles about songs and videos, will return to VH1 this fall after a decade-long hiatus.
BUFFET NEWS:
Jimmy Buffett is preparing a collection of unreleased early work and has written some new songs. The "Buried Treasure" project includes at least 20 original songs and perhaps some cover material Buffett recorded in Nashville between 1969 and 1973 with original producer Travis Turk.
ONLINE PAYOLA?
A group of business owners have filed another lawsuit against Yelp, alleging that the site offered to bury bad reviews in exchange for ad buys. An amended petition specifically alleges that Yelp has paid people to write reviews.
IRON MAIDEN AIR:
If you plan to fly Iceland Express this summer, you just might find Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson in the pilot's seat. The airline has announced that Dickinson, lead singer of the metal band, will be at the helm of the fleet's latest acquisition, a Boeing 757 leased from the U.K.'s Astraeus Airlines, as regular routes are expanded in the U.S. and Canada. The plane was used for Iron Maiden's recent worldwide Final Frontier tour.
APPLE RULES MOBILE VIDEO:
Mobile video ad firm FreeWheel says 80% of mobile video viewing is done on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
APPLE APPS:
Apple's App Store has now approved 500,000 applications for distribution to iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users, after less than three years of operations, Wired reported, citing data tracked by 148Apps.
CIRQUE AND ELFMAN:
Cirque De Soleil's 'Iris' will bring together dance, acrobatics and video to portray the illuminating history of cinema and its genres, taking audiences into the heart of the movie-making process. The show will play at the Kodak Theatre and will feature a stellar musical score by world-renowned composer Danny Elfman.
The Music Industry Past, Present & Future, And The Internet I answer questions on EconTalk
I did an interview about the industry and the Internet at EconTalk with host Russ Roberts. Russ is also a professor of economics at George Mason University, blogs at Cafe Hayek, and has written three novels that teach economics. He's also the co-creator of the Keynes-Hayek rap video. (And if your understanding of the economic meltdown that occurred needs to be enlightened, this video will do it)
In the interview we talk about the evolution of the music industry, the impact of the digital revolution, and I give my reasons for believing in the virtues and potential of the Internet in enhancing the music industry. I point out, as I have many times here in the newsletter, that the internet allows numerous artists to make money from their music and it can enhance revenues from live performances by expanding an artist's base. We also discuss the challenges facing record companies and I suggest that the full potential of the Internet as a distribution channel has yet to be fully exploited. There's a lot of ground covered, but based on the comments already posted of those who have tuned in, they've enjoyed it.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Quotes of the week
"To an Oprah non-believer, I imagine much of this last hour played like the self-important ramblings of a complete egomaniac. To a member of the faithful, it may have been a blessing. To an agnostic like me, there were moments of power and moments of absolute self-aggrandizement."
-- Critic Alan Sepinwall on the last episode of Oprah Winfrey's syndicated talk, basically her sermon on "the gospels of the Church of Oprah" interspersed with clips."It would be f---ing awful if my third album was about being happily settled down ... and all the critics were, like, 'Yeah, it's f---ing s---. Can you be miserable, please?'"
-- British soul singer Adele, fearing that happiness could ruin her career, to Out magazine"It's always kinda the same thing: Hey, aren't you the fat guy from The Hangover?"
-- The Hangover Part II star Zach Galifianakis, on the downside of fame, on Conan"Well, they start out nice!"
-- Taylor Swift, on her exes, to InStyle
The B-Side - 'Blips'
THE ONION (www.theonion.com) STORY OF THE WEEK:
Final Minutes Of Last Harry Potter Movie To Be Split Into Seven Separate Films
Final Minutes Of Last Harry Potter Movie To Be Split Into Seven Separate Films
Read the rest here and laugh: Click Here.
The Blogs
Check out Jerry Del Colliano's (the founder of INSIDE RADIO) daily blog, by clicking here: http://www.insidemusicmedia.blogspot.comWebsite
Check out attorney Ray Beckerman's website at: http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com where he prints news about the RIAA's ongoing activities
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"And the beat goes on, the beat goes on ... drums keep poundin' rhythm to the brain."
"Work is life, you know, and without it, there's nothing but fear and insecurity." -- John Lennon
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