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KATY PERRY IS #1 ... WITH LESS THAN 290,000 SOLD
November 1, 2013
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"Hype is the awkward and desperate attempt to convince journalists that what you've made is worth the misery of having to review it."
-- Federico FelliniWell, it was Kay Perry's week for the release of her new album 'Prism' and it sold just 286,000 copies.
I guess in retrospect, Miley Cyrus really did have a big first week when she sold just 270,000.
At least Katy Perry got her #1 without having to take off her clothes.
But the hype machine for Katy (like Miley) was in overdrive the past month, and (like Miley) she was everywhere to be seen and heard, and she also had her #1 hit "Roar" to launch the album.
Miley's 'Bangerz' album meantime dips 2-4 with just 43,000 (down 40%) sold this week. That brings her total to just under 400,000. Still not a Gold album and miles to go before it reaches Platinum.
Look, there's nothing wrong with hype. As Neil Bogart once said, "If you hype something and it succeeds, you're a genius -- it wasn't a hype. If you hype it and it fails, then it was just a hype."
I don't mean to denigrate Ms. Perry; I just want to point out the facts, and the reality of what's happening out there at retail, where people vote for their favorite artists and music with their dollars at the cash registers all over the country.
To me, with all the hype surrounding both artists, one would assume bigger sales impacts in the first week. (Again, that's my opinion) Yes, even with people still downloading music illegally, albums still have BIG sales weeks in week one. (Wait and see what happens the remainder of the year)
Again, maybe it's just the MUSIC.
Maybe the consumers are waiting for something MORE.
I hope so. Because first week album sales of under 300,000 units for BIG stars (or "alleged" big stars) does not portend good things for the music biz.
Unless those first weeks turn into lots and lots of following weeks of lots and lots more sales.
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THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 2
FROM THE WRAP: WHY NETFLIX IS GREEDY, AND RIGHT ABOUT THE MOVIE BUSINESSWhen Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said over the weekend that movie theater owners were stifling creativity with an antiquated delivery system, he kicked up a hornet's nest of backlash. In a nutshell, Sarandos would like to see day-and-date movies on the streaming service; theater owners want to preserve their exclusive window at all costs.
TheWrap's film writer Lucas Shaw says it's time for one of them to put up or shut up. Read the story at TheWrap
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THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 3
QUINCY JONES FILES SUIT OVER UNPAID MICHAEL JACKSON ROYALTIESQuincy Jones has filed a $10 million breach-of-contract lawsuit in connection with Michael Jackson projects released after the singer's death.
The legendary producer -- who has won 27 Grammy Awards and produced the King of Pop's best-selling albums including 'Off the Wall,' 'Thriller' and 'Bad' -- is going to war with Sony Music Entertainment and MJJ Productions, a song company controlled by the icon's estate.
At issue are works including the 'This Is It' film and soundtrack album, the Michael Jackson Cirque du Soleil productions and the 25th anniversary edition of the 'Bad' album. Read the story
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THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 4
YOUTUBE WILL LAUNCH MUSIC SUBSCRIPTION SERVICEHypebot reports that YouTube is putting the finishing touches on its subscription based music service, which is expected to be launched later this year.
The licensing deals for the service were completed in May. It will be launched along with Googles All Access music service, according to industry insiders. read more
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THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 5
iPHONE AND iPAD SALES BIG IN APPLE'S Q3, AND THE FULL LOW DOWN ON THE iPAD AIR
Apple Sold 33 Million iPhones, 14 Millions iPads in Q3.Read the story at TheWrap and Apple to sell 51 million iPhones this quarter, forecasts analyst
AND ... The 2013 iPad is finally here -- and it's faster, lighter and thinner than ever before. How does it compare to the upcoming iPad Mini with Retina Display that costs $100 less? And how does it stack up against Android models from Amazon, Samsung, and Google?
CNET's been testing the iPad Air for the past week, and they have the answers you've been waiting for. iPad Air reviewed: Apple's best tablet ever?AND...iPad Air benchmarks show 80% speed bump over iPad 4
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THE 'A-SIDE' - THE BONUS TRACKS
* Lady Gaga Blasts Off For 'Venus': Listen
* Paul Simon Takes on 'The Boxer' Live
* Flashback: Journey Reunite With Steve Perry in 1991
* Lady Gaga Is 'Glamour' Magazine's Woman Of The Year: 4 Pics & Video
* 12 Thrilling Facts About Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' Video
* 10 Surprising Things About Johnny Cash
* Randy Newman Talks Kanye West, His Favorite Score and a New Album
* U2 Readies Two New Songs for 'Back to Black Friday'
* Recap: Austin City Limits Music Festival 2013 in pictures
* 17 Songs Inspired By Scary Movies
* 'Breaking Bad' Script Leak Answers Finale Questions
* For Halloween, Netflix treats subscribers to 'Dexter'
* New Bang & Olufsen wireless luxury speakers are the first with WiSA standard
* Engineer predicts Apple's iTunes Radio will put an end to overly loud recordings
* Apple's rumored iPad keyboard? Bring it on, say keyboard makers
* Watch 10 Never-Before-Seen 'Star Wars' Bloopers
* 16 Bizarre Background Characters You Missed in Famous Movies
* FAA greenlights gadget use during entire flight
Short News Items ...
CHRIS BROWN IN TROUBLE AGAIN? GEE, WHAT A SURPRISE ... NOT!
Chris Brown was arrested in Washington D.C. this weekend for felony assault after allegedly attacking a man outside a hotel. .Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Brown got into an argument with a man outside the W Hotel on K Street and allegedly punched him once in the face.
"BOSS" NEWS:
Bruce Springsteen was a worldwide superstar when he joined the Amnesty International Human Rights Now tour in 1988. In Africa, after a moment of "sussing out, the whole place just exploded." Those historic shows are finally set for release in a six-DVD package. Read More
"IDOL" CUT:
Fox is cutting 'American Idol' results shows in half. After a few hour-long results episodes into the season, the finalist results shows will be cut to 30 minutes. No premiere date has been announced for new series yet. (Editor's note: And do we still care?)
FLEETWOOD MAC TOUR ON HOLD:
Fleetwood Mac have canceled the Australia and New Zealand legs of their tour so that bassist John McVie can undergo cancer treatment. The band announced the cancellation on their Facebook page on Saturday.
ARCADE FIRE HOT:
After a promotional rollout including surprise shows and Saturday Night Live, Arcade Fire are ready for you to hear their new album, Reflektor. The band has just posted a stream of the full record on YouTube, set to footage from the 1959 film 'Black Orpheus.' Read More
WHO'S LAST:
The Who are planning a massive world tour for 2015 -0 and it'll likely be your last chance to see them. "That will be the last big tour," Roger Daltrey tells Rolling Stone. "People have read that wrong though. We aren't finishing after that. We intend to go on doing music until we drop, but we have to be realistic about our age. The touring is incredibly grinding on the body and we have to draw a line in the sand somewhere. This will be the last old-fashioned, big tour."
'SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE' REDUX:
Stevie Wonder will perform his landmark 1976 album 'Songs in the Key of Life' in its entirety for the first time ever as part of his annual House Full of Toys benefit concert at L.A. Live on December 21st.
HURRICANE SANDY CONCERT FILM:
Just in time for the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy's devastating destruction, the first trailer for concert film "12-12-12″ gives audiences an upbeat look at how Hollywood and the music industry partnered to pull off one of the biggest benefit concerts of all time. Read the story at TheWrap
MORE ZOMBIES:
AMC has renewed its hit 'The Walking Dead' for a fifth season. The series has been a ratings bonanza for the network, returning for its fourth season premiere earlier this month with 20.2 million total viewers in Live + 3 Day ratings. Among those viewers, 13.2 million were in the advertiser-cherished 18-49 demographic.
STILL BROTHERS, BUT NOT ONSTAGE:
The Jonas Brothers have officially called it quits. Three weeks ago, the trio called off a tour just two days before it was set to kick off, with their spokesperson citing a "deep rift in the band," adding, "There was a big disagreement over their music direction." The Jonas Brothers' official Twitter account was deleted soon after. The band's decision was reportedly unanimous.
GAGA ON SNL:
Lady Gaga and Haim are both set to appear on 'Saturday Night Live' next month on November 16th.
CHILIS GET NEIL:
Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea has called on many famous friends, from Patti Smith to Metallica, to play his annual benefit for the music school he started, the Silverlake Conservatory. But landing Neil Young for last night's intimate outdoor gig was a dream come true. Read More
AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS UPDATE:
Lady Gaga, Kendrick Lamar, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis and Luke Bryan will take the stage at this year's American Music Awards, set to air live on ABC on November 24th. The four new additions join previously announced AMA acts Miley Cyrus, Imagine Dragons, One Direction and Florida Georgia Line.
PIANO MAN NEW YEAR'S EVE:
Billy Joel is playing a New Year's Eve show at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It will mark his first New York City concert since he closed down Shea Stadium in the summer of 2008. Ben Folds Five is opening up the show; tickets go on sale November 9th at 10 a.m.
SEE YOU IN COURT, DEPT:
The estate of Marvin Gaye is firing back at Robin Thicke over more than "Blurred Lines," the title track of his latest record. The family initially claimed that Thicke's hit plagiarized the soul icon's 1977 track "Got to Give It Up" – and now, they're insisting that the singer stole from two of Gaye's songs.
DYLAN GUITAR AUCTION:
The sunburst Fender Stratocaster that Bob Dylan famously plugged in at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival will finally be auctioned off in New York at Christie's on December 6th. The guitar on which Dylan went electric is expected to bring in as much as $500,000, the Associated Press reports, and will be auctioned alongside five sheets of handwritten and typed fragments of lyrics that would later appear in "In the Darkness of Your Room," "Absolutely Sweet Marie" and other songs.
SXSW UPDATE:
SXSW has announced its "First round" of artists for the huge music showcase that will again hit Austin, TX in March next year. Amongst the list are: Drenge, Casual Sex and London Grammar, Only Real, mysterious collective Jungle, NONONO, Avi Buffalo, Bring Me The Horizon, , Delorean, Eliza Doolittle, Feathers, Ghost Loft, Micah P. Hinson, Kins, NO, Pure Love and Josef Salvat. (Editor's note: If you know any of these acts please let me know by all means)
STAR WARS UPDATE:
Disney's CEO Robert Iger is insisting that Star Wars: Episode VII get a 2015 release, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
MOST POWERFUL:
Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com who earlier this month officially took ownership of The Washington Post, is No. 15 on Forbes' newly released 2013 list of The World's Most Powerful People. Russian President Vladimir Putin tops the list, followed by Barack Obama and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Other notables from the technology world include Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates (No. 6), Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page (tied at No. 17), Apple CEO Tim Cook (No. 19) and Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg (No. 24) Read more
Leaving Us
Lou Reed, an influential songwriter and guitarist who helped shape nearly 50 years of rock music, died Sunday. The cause of his death has not yet been released, but Reed underwent a liver transplant in May. Lou was a member of Velvet Underground in the late Sixties. His album, 1972's "Transformer," produced by Reed-disciple David Bowie, pushed him beyond cult status into genuine rock stardom. "Walk On the Wild Side," a loving yet unsentimental evocation of Warhol's Factory scene, became a radio hit (despite its allusions to oral sex) Read more about Lou Reed's life
Hal Needham, a stuntman and film director, died in Los Angeles on Friday morning at 82. The cause of Needham's death was not immediately available. Born in Memphis, Tenn., in 1931, Needham got his break in the business as a stunt double in the TV western "Have Gun, Will Travel," and provided stunt work in films such as "How the West Was Won," "The War Lord" and "Little Big Man." He frequently served as a stunt double for actor Burt Reynolds.
Marcia Wallace, the star of "The Bob Newhart Show" and "The Simpsons," died last Friday. She was 70. She would remain with "The Bob Newhart Show" for its six-season run before segueing into guest appearances on shows like "ALF" and "Murphy Brown," and becoming a regular presence on game shows such as "The 25,000 Pyramid" and "Hollywood Squares." She would also build a second career as a voiceover actress, giving life to Edna Krabappel, Bart Simpson's cynical and chain-smoking fourth grade teacher on "The Simpsons."
Quotes of the week
"I never felt too bad about Paul. He was my husband's partner and they did a great job and all that. They seemed to have a lot of fun, and I respected that."
-- Yoko Ono, the widow of Paul McCartney's Beatles companion John Lennon, in a recent interview with The Associated Press.
The B-Side - 'Blips'
THE ONION (www.theonion.com) STORY OF THE WEEK:
Report: ChicagoTheBand.com Most Visited Site On The Internet
SAN FRANCISCO - With its massive and fiercely loyal user base, ChicagoTheBand.com -- the official Internet home of the American music group Chicago -- remains the most frequently visited website in the world, tech industry experts confirmed Wednesday.
"As far as sheer web traffic is concerned, there's only one name that matters right now, and that's ChicagoTheBand.com," said Dave Sherfesee, president of web analytics firm Alexa. "In fact, our data indicates there are currently 1.32 million ChicagoTheBand.com message board users fervently debating whether 'Hard To Say I'm Sorry' or 'You're The Inspiration' is the band's definitive ballad," Sherfesee continued. "And that's just one of 200,000 active comment threads."
Read the rest and laugh: Report: ChicagoTheBand.com Most Visited Site On The Internet
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.
Smart Marketing Consulting Services
Smart Marketing Consulting Services has been in business sixteen years, and consults clients in the music, entertainment, attraction, media, and technology industry on branding, marketing, online exploitation, maximizing new media, and more.
"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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