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'Idol' Sales Explosion Is A Good Thing
May 30, 2008
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"Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, Way before Nirvana, There was U2 and Blondie, And music still on MTV"
-- From Bowling For Soup's "1985"Whether or not you're a fan of "American Idol," the show has once again generated a sales explosion. And that's something that the music industry should be thrilled about.
People BUYING music is a whole lot better than people stealing it. Anything that causes people to buy it in BIG quantities is a genuine cause for celebration in these challenging times in the industry.
From Rolling Stone this week: "David Cook Shatters Chart Records in First Week of "Idol" Reign - One week into his tenure as the "American Idol," David Cook is already shattering Billboard records. Cook had 11 songs debut in the Hot 100 singles chart. To put things in perspective, the last time an artist had this many songs on the Hot 100, it was April 11, 1964 and the band was the Beatles. By placing 14 tracks on the Hot Digital Songs chart, he also breaks that list's previous record held by Miley Cyrus. Leading the way is first single "The Time of My Life," which scored #1 on the digital charts thanks to 236,000 downloads, while placing third on the Hot 100 (a chart based on both sales and airplay). Other charting Cook tracks include his covers of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and "The World I Know." Idol runner-up David Archuleta also enjoyed a solid week, scoring three songs on both charts, lead by his cover of John Lennon's "Imagine." (Source: http://tinyurl.com/6djhwd )
I can't imagine anybody in the industry not happy to see such news. (Although, I do imagine a whole bunch of people would be a whole lot happier if they had David Cook on their label)
No matter what one thinks about "American Idol" (and despite all the mainstream media reports about the show's decline in ratings this year), the fact is, as a platform to launch new talent, it's the biggest thing out there. As of today, Carrie Underwood has sold over eight million albums and won a ton of awards, and Daughtry is at four million and still counting. (This week, after 79 weeks on the chart, his album is once again in the Top 20)
Of course, once upon a time there was a thing called (ahem) "Music Television" and it played MUSIC videos 24 hours a day and it actually did the same thing "Idol" does today. It took part in developing new artists over a period of time, and helped generate significant retail which launched a whole bunch of those artists into gold and platinum sales levels.
Yes, MTV actually was a music channel once. And yes, you've probably read comments like that before here and elsewhere.
But, this commentary isn't about how MTV became what it is today and why its relevance to the new generation of music buyers is almost meaningless (and if any of you doubt it, talk to them about where they hear new music and who or what musical sources influence them, and you'll find the same thing), it's about seeing what meaningful exposure can do for new talent.
MTV adding a video today by a new artist isn't really as important as it used to be because the rotation just isn't there. By the time a video reaches significant rotation, the audience has already watched it in big numbers on YouTube, MySpace, etc. and even on MTV's websites.
You won't hear any label executive criticize MTV openly. They can't. They have too much to risk by doing so. But I don't think any label executive would have a tough choice if given the opportunity to get a new artist video exposed on MTV or sign the "American Idol" winner.
What "Idol" does is expose new talent to a viewing audience every week for a five-month period. In doing so, the audience makes up its mind who they like over that time span, and they take part in the artist development process. In many ways, album radio did that extremely well for decades before it eroded in ratings due to too a whole lot of reasons --none of which included an audience NOT wanting to hear great new music by new artists developed on a great format.
Today, AAA Radio carries the torch for what great radio can still be. As my good friend Mike Lyons said last week in his weekly "The Forest" post and newsletter ( http://www.triplearadio.com/the_forest ): "Again, it has long been my position that the AAA format is the sole format in the current range of terrestrial music radio stations that can break through the public's obvious disconnect with radio in 2008, due to the lack of being special, topical or even relating to an audience. The vast majority of 2008 music radio formats has been ground down to a safe, mass-appeal background music service with an aim for a mass audience. In a day when shooting for the masses is no longer possible, AAA has aimed for a more achievable goal from the beginning. A niche of boomers with an appeal to Gens X,Y and the millennials featuring cool songwriting craft and performance combined with an intelligent presentation of value. Topical, informative, cool ... the kind of radio that actually communicates with its audience and talks to you like your friends naturally do. Something the rest of radio no longer provides."
Those corporate radio people smart enough to see past the red ink on their current financials might realize that radio can still be embraced by a loyal audience that can generate station revenues. AAA radio is proving that. And proving again that MUSIC is the most important element on MUSIC radio.
Like I said, whether you like "American Idol" or not, there's no denying what it generates for the industry as a whole, and not just for the labels that are fortunate to sign the big winners who can generate explosive sales.
Anything that creates enough excitement to get people to buy music in big quantities is good for all labels and all new artists in development.
It means that despite all the file-sharing and downloading, despite all the problems in the industry, despite everything we read about the industry and have been told, people will still spend their money on music in big quantities. And that's a good thing.
And Now This...
"The problem with the iPod model is it is a singles model, and the album stands for a body of work. The vanishing album is an issue I worry about, but maybe I am old." -- Sony chief Howard Stringer at the D6 conference this week.
Mr. Stringer has obviously joined the "Blame Steve Jobs" posse, the same posse that's been trying to capture Jobs and string him up for all the industry's ills. (They can't blame Napster anymore, so now it's iTunes and Steve Jobs)
This is the same Howard Stringer who said the following in June of last year: "CD sales are still falling at a significant percentage. The digital sales are creeping up; in some cases, they're around 40% ... it's a moment at which they, the music industry, have to say, well, look, it's not fair, maybe, and we make all this content and what about our artists and what about our relationships, but the reality is, the customer is getting that music. So if we find ways to embrace the digital era and not fight it quite so enthusiastically, or sadly, then we'll be in pretty good shape, I think."
Obviously Howard is not embracing the digital era so enthusiastically.
Oh, yes. For the record, Howard is 66. Howard's not that old at all. He's just out of touch.
AND BYE, BYE WHAT WAS ONCE EMI
One year ago (5/25/07), I wrote the following regarding the EMI sale to Terra Firma Capital Partners: "The initial 'sound bytes' in the press and elsewhere all talk about rejuvenating EMI and making it a great music company again, moving forward in the digital age, exploiting online music sales, blah-blah. Well, sorry if I'm a bit cynical from reading all those nice quotes, but any private investment company that talks such talk, is usually as genuine in their meaning as those wonderful politicians in our nation's capitol....
Maybe Terra Firma Capital Partners is really sincere. (Maybe pigs will fly someday, too.) But do you really believe any capital investment company buying a music company today is going to wait long for any return on their investment? How many investment firms that buy any company in any industry, have plans to actually grow the companies they buy? How many truly buy companies with a thorough understanding of that company's core competencies? If you read any money/financial pages in any media, you'll find that in almost all cases that capital investment firms buy companies for one reason primarily: to break them up, and in turn, generate big returns on the initial investment."
This week, Guy Hands and his Terra Firma friends are ready to do what I predicted all big capital investment companies do that buy other companies in distress. (Listen closely and you can hear the axes swinging in the air)
First: Mr. Hands gave his quarterly address to shareholders and said he's almost ready to begin the long-promised layoff of 1,500 to 2,000 EMI staffers worldwide.
Second: A gossip item this week in London's Evening Standard that made the Internet rounds almost immediately, says someone overheard Mr. Hands as he was having breakfast with CEO candidate Marcello Bottoli from Samsonite. (And let's face it, the luggage business has so much to do with the music business, doesn't it?)
Anyway, the gossip article says that Hands is open to offers to split the business, and is considering selling off EMI's recorded music arm, leaving him with revenue-generating EMI Music Publishing.
And so it goes. And so it goes.
Adieu To The True Audiophile?
The average person under 30 probably hasn't purchased a serious home stereo system in the last five years. And it's not because they don't like music. Quite the opposite, actually. The popularity of online streaming music sites, rise of music blogs, and skyrocketing digital music sales from places like iTunes, Wal-Mart.com and Amazon.com show that young people are voracious music consumers.
But are they true audiophiles? No, at least not in the way people who came of age trying to find the perfect sound on Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" were. They'd buy high-fidelity speakers and systems that play back music in a quality as close to the original performance as possible.
And why not? If you think about it, the equipment that has traditionally defined the audiophile is antithetical to the way we experience music today. Speakers are clunky and immobile, and expensive shelf systems don't play easily swappable digital files. Instead, stereo shopping nowadays often means picking up an iPod and a speaker dock. The combination is cheaper, mobile, convenient, and, for better or worse, cool.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Rolling Stone Picks The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs
This is what makes a great rock & roll guitar sound: an irresistible riff; a solo or jam that takes you higher every time you hear it; the final power chord that pins you to the wall and makes you hit "play" again and again. Every song here has those thrills. But these are rock's greatest guitar moments because of what's inside the notes: hunger, fury, despair and joy, often all at once. You hear the blues, gospel and rockabilly that came before, transformed by the need to say something new and loud, right away. Rock & roll has been the sound of independence for half a century. The guitar is still its essential, liberating voice. These are the 100 reasons why.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Music Industry Defends Piracy Lawsuits
Though earlier this month, federal magistrate John Acosta recommended that the RIAA pay Andersen $108,000 in attorneys' fees for having to defend the initial suit, the major record labels are denying that they brought a "sham lawsuit" against Tanya Andersen, an Oregon resident who was wrongly accused of piracy, and is now pursuing a class-action lawsuit against the recording industry and its investigative arm, MediaSentry.
"Defendants deny that MediaSentry conducts illegal, flawed and personally invasive private investigations of private citizens," the record industry argued in papers filed last week with a federal district court in Oregon.
Read more about it by clicking here.
DMCA In Need Of An Upgrade
BusinessWeekGoogle is only "partly right" in its public response to Viacom's $1 billion copyright infringement suit, during which the search giant claims that doing away with the protections of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act would unhinge many consumers generated content sites. On the one hand, it's impossible to ensure that all the content uploaded to user-generated content sites doesn't violate copyright law. Even if the technology existed to guard against this, BusinessWeek said it would be "prohibitively expensive."
As such, BusinessWeek declares that the DMCA, which was enacted nearly 10 years ago now, needs an upgrade to reflect the advances in Internet speeds and video technology that make it possible for consumers to continually and easily repost videos that have been taken down. "Media companies like Viacom shouldn't have to file notice after notice to the same site concerning versions of the same piece of content."
Read more about it by clicking here.
The Cable Industry Might Actually Get It
Imagine it: Your cable company is already ahead of the curve. Believe it or not, it may be true. If you ask CNet.com columnist Tim Bajarin, big cable companies are already working overtime to adapt to the new digital landscape, and from the looks of it, they're succeeding. How are they moving forward?
Read more about it by clicking here.
IDOL iTUNES
"American Idol" winner David Cook sold almost 1 million downloads of his various performances from the show that are available on iTunes in the week following his winning the competition. "Time of My Life," his official first single, amounted to 25% of the sales. Anybody still questioning the power of "American Idol" need only look at these numbers to see the show still sells a whole lot of music.
BACK TO COURT
After a year of freedom, record producer Phil Spector will be retried starting September 29th. Spector's previous trial for the murder of actress Lara Clarkson ended in a mistrial.
DOORS STILL OPEN
The Doors' Ray Manzarek has a bunch of new Jim Morrison and company projects in the works for 2008. First up is another Doors live album, "Live in Pittsburgh 1970," the third installment in the "Bright Midnight Archives" collection of official bootlegs from the group's 1970 tour. To celebrate the 41st anniversary of the band, there is also a Doors documentary on the way. In the meantime, Manzarek, Doors guitarist Robby Kreiger and former Fuel singer Brett Scallions will tour Europe as the Riders on the Storm.
VIDEO GAMES SELL MUSIC
Sales of Mötley Crüe's new single "Saints of Los Angeles" have sold five times more copies through Rock Band as it did on iTunes after a month.
PUMPKINS SINGLE
In addition to those planned 20th anniversary shows, the Smashing Pumpkins also plan to release a new single in September.
20 YEARS AFTER THEIR LAST HIT
Bobby Brown and the rest of R&B quintet New Edition will receive the Golden Note Award at this year's ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards, to be held June 23rd in Los Angeles.
DOCTOR McCARTNEY
While the band played "Hey Jude," Paul McCartney received an honorary Doctor of Music degree this week from Yale University
GEE, HOW COME WE'RE NOT SURPRISED?
A Canadian promoter said that rumors of Led Zeppelin playing a series of concerts at Toronto's Sky Dome are "just rumors."
COOL CLOTHES
Rapper LL Cool J will design a line of kids' clothes for the department store Sears. Among the clothes is a tattoo-embroidered jacket and a T-shirt featuring LL's lyrics.
SIMPLE MINDS REUNITE
The original members of the Simple Minds will reunite for the first time in 27 years to begin work on a new album.
SHE LOOKS SEXY AS HELL IN THOSE MOVIES, AND THAT'S WHAT SHE SHOULD STICK TO
Scarlet Johansson's foray into the music world with her collection of Tom Waits covers, "Anywhere I Lay My Head," debuted on the U.S. album charts at #126, and sold only sold 5,100 copies in its first week.
OPRAH TAKES A HIT
The average audience for "The Oprah Winfrey Show" has fallen nearly 7% this year, according to Nielsen Media Research. It's the third straight year of decline for the country's #1 daytime talk-show.
Quotes of the week
"They're very raw, very cut and dry. It's like drums and guitar. It's that simple, and I love that. I think that combining that style with mine, which already has a raw feel to it, and my voice, I just think we could do something really interesting that mixes rock and soul together, the blues and emotion, and it could be really touching. We've had some conversations. When the time works out, and it definitely will, it will happen."
-- Alicia Keys in Rolling Stone, exploring other team-ups she'd like to work with. But White Stripes Jack and Meg top her list."I'll tell you who the lucky guy is soon."
-- Ellen DeGeneres, joking while announcing her plans to marry long-time girlfriend Portia de Rossi after California's gay marriage ban was overturned. Gee, that's funny. I think Portia said the same thing."It was a very tough loss last night for 12-year-old David Archuleta."
-- Jimmy Kimmel, taking a jab at the 17-year-old "American Idol" runner-up, on Jimmy Kimmel Live!"As far as people thinking I'm pretty or something. fans. I don't know. It's amazing what a haircut and forgetting to shave will do."
-- American Idol" winner David Cook."What I found is divorce just can't be an option. It's really that simple. And I think that's the problem with L.A. -- there are so many options. So a huge part of the success for [Jada] and I is that we just removed the other options."
-- Will Smith, on the Ellen DeGeneres show this week. How wonderful for you and Jada, Will. What about the people who don't have your money and are miserable in existing relationships?"I'm at the fish counter and a man, with his 13-year-old daughter, is talking to me about sex. Nice to be recognized but, frankly, all I wanted was some clams."
-- 'Sex And The City's' Kim Cattrall.
THIS WEEK'S "WHO CARES?!" HEADLINE THAT COULD'VE BEEN FROM THE ONION ... BUT IT'S REAL
"Neighbor From Hell Jailed For Three Months For Blasting Madonna Tracks Around The Clock"
(Source: http://tinyurl.com/6s856f )"Clay Aiken Is Going to Be a Dad"
(Source: http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20203048,00.html )
The B-Side - 'Blips'
THE ONION (www.theonion.com) STORY OF THE WEEK:
Obama Practices Looking-Off-Into-Future Pose
CHICAGO-As the 2008 presidential election draws closer, Democrat Barack Obama has reportedly been working tirelessly with his top political strategists to perfect his looking-off-into-the-future pose, which many believe is vital to the success of the Illinois senator's campaign.
When performed correctly, the pose involves Obama standing upright with his back arched and his chest thrust out, his shoulders positioned 1.3 feet apart and opened slightly at a 14-degree angle, and his eyes transfixed on a predetermined point between 500 and 600 yards away. Advisers say this creates the illusion that Obama is looking forward to a bright future, while the downturned corners of his lips indicate that he acknowledges the problems of the present.
Read the rest here: http://tinyurl.com/5fhrf9.
THE RADIO INTERVIEW on 'THE AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE' - From newsblaze.com
"Steve Meyer is on the front line of global music sales and distribution which he expects will soar to pocket-bursting levels. What's more, he shares his insight and ingenuity with us. Steve gives us both historical perspective and futuristic vision as he chats with Judy about the love of his work, trends of the business and his personal points of view about success, happiness and blending life with the lust for life. Steve joins Judy and helps us discover the thrill of having it all with a sense of balance and purpose. "
You can listen to an interview I did with Judy Piazza of 'The American Perspective' by clicking here: (It runs about 15 minutes)
http://www.thesop.org/index.php?id=10306.
The Blogs
Check out a great blog by Jerry Del Colliano, the Director Executive Programs, Clinical Professor Music Industry & Recording Arts, at the Thornton School of Music,University of Southern California, by clicking here: http://www.insidemusicmedia.blogspot.com.
Box Office
Check The Daily & Weekly Box Office (and more film info) at: www.boxofficemojo.com.
TinyURL
Check out www.tinyurl.com where you can make a smaller URL that will work for any webpage you wish to link to or reference. (As you can see, I'm using it in my news stories above!)
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