Innholdsfortegnelse for March 30, 2013 i Billboard Magazine

YOUTUBE HITS 1B The online video platform cracked 1 billion monthly users, joining Facebook in this exclusive echelon of companies that command the attention of half of the Internet’s population. That’s up from 800 million, reached in October 2011. YouTube knows that audience, even one that’s three times the size of the U.S. population, doesn’t always guarantee ad revenue. That’s why it rolled out the red carpet for ad agencies on March 20 to persuade companies that “YouTube is the place you want your brands” to be, VP of global video sales Lucas Watson said. FALLON’S EARLIER NIGHT Jimmy Fallon will inherit the crown jewel of late night following Jay Leno’s retirement as host of “The Tonight Show” at the end of 2014, bringing the show to New York. Fallon,…

Record labels. Gaining a performance right for sound recordings would be a financial win for labels— although the right would likely apply only to terrestrial radio. Recent estimates put the annual loss to U.S. labels due to lack of reciprocity from other countries at $70 million-$120 million. Digital music services. There will be numerous impacts on such services—many of them unforeseen today. A change to section 114 of the Copyright Act could reform the statutory ratesetting standard and result in lower royalties for Tim Westergren’ Pandora and other Web radio services. A change to section 115 will streamline licensing. Music publishers. Licensing a large catalog of compositions will become easier if Congress chooses to address section 115 and change the way reproduction and distribution rights are licensed to digital services.…

What’s it like to be a power lawyer in the music business? Lots of travel and little sleep, says Atlanta-based attorney Bobby Rosenbloum, who has negotiated deals on behalf of Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and other tech companies through the years. “Unless you really love it and have a passion for it, there are other professions that would be easier,” he says with a wry chuckle. 6.45 AM After less than six hours of sleep, I respond to overnight emails from Asia. With clients all wanting to scale globally, my work hours have stretched late into the night and early in the morning. 8.00 AM Arrive at my office for calls with Sony and Universal. We walk through the implications of new digital business models for our clients, who are…

In the Bellavista neighborhood of Cali, Colombia, the children have no form of transportation or fancy shoes. Their parents are usually maids and messengers. They live in homes classified as strata 1 and 2— the poorest of the poor—with tin roofs and dirt floors. But they do have access to something precious: A free musical education and the opportunity to play in a world-class youth symphony orchestra. They do so through Notas de Paz (Notes for Peace), a foundation created in 2007 that offers a free musical education to some 140 children who are taught how to play an instrument—and, if they keep up their grades, they can vie for a coveted orchestra slot. Notas de Paz is one of a half-dozen such programs for disadvantaged kids that emerged in…

It’s no secret that some labels are getting leaner in terms of the services they provide artists. Many artists and managers are experimenting with building their own support teams, hiring third-party firms out of pocket and even making investments into startups that offer services labels no longer, or never, did. Management used to focus on being the force motivating the label to do its job—now managers are coming into their own and doing the job themselves. By taking center stage within this new framework, management and artists are restructuring the core team in a way that’s not too dissimilar from an early-stage tech startup. A tech startup is typically founded by a designer, a developer and a businessperson, while music startups rely on just an artist and a manager as…

1 Country titan Kenny Chesney kicked off his tour in Tampa, Fla., on March 16. Backstage (2) he visited with Florida’s radio elite. In the back row, from left: WQYK Tampa Bay’s Mike Culotta, WWKA Orlando’s JR Shumann, WQYK’s Jay Roberts, WPCV Lakeland’s Mike James, WFUS Tampa Bay’s Travis Daily and wife Christine, and Columbia Nashville’s RJ Meacham. In the front row, from left: WQYK’s Hank Dale, WGNE Jacksonville’s Michele Chase, WWGR Fort Myers’Val St. John, WPCV’s Jeni Taylor, Chesney, Daily’s son Zen Davis, WFUS’Rebecca Kaplan, guest Kim Goddard and Columbia Nashville’s Jeri Cooper. 3 During the San Diego stop of her Girl on Fire tour on March 13, Alicia Keys chatted with (from left) Valley View Casino Center’s Dana Windridge, Ernie Hahn and Ashley Anton. 4 “Suit & Tie”…

Ryan Hadlock’s Northwest Sound Emporium Name: Ryan Hadlock Biggest claim to fame: Producing the Lumineers’ 2012 self-titled debut, which hit No. 2 on the Billboard 200. Current projects: Working with songwriter/producer Mike Posner (who produced “Boyfriend” for Justin Bieber) on a song they’ll pitch to One Direction. He’s also producing sessions for singer/songwriter L.P. and working with songwriter Diane Warren to identify young artists with whom they might collaborate. Bet you didn’t know: Hadlock’s parents operate a studio in San Pancho, Mexico, near Puerto Vallarta. “We built this studio ourselves. It’s a family operation.” Ryan Hadlock was 8 years old when Eric Clapton asked to borrow his Fender Champ guitar amp for a session. The guitarist had come to his parents’ Bear Creek Studio in rural Woodinville, Wash., to record…

1 Earl Sweatshirt F 13,286 T 103,335 LABEL Tan Cressida/Columbia MANAGEMENT Leila Steinberg CURRENT PROJECT “Whoa” single and video NEXT UPDoris LP Earl Sweatshirt, the formerly MIA member of Odd Future, set Twitter ablaze—to the tune of 103,335 SXSW mentions—with five shows, including a stop at the mtvU Woodie Awards and the Fader Fort. The latter was the most talked-about, with the rapper, accompanied by Flying Lotus, performing his new Wu-Tang-influenced single “Whoa.” 2 Tori Kelly F 20,980 T 45,196 LABEL Toraay Records MANAGEMENT Scooter Braun CURRENT PROJECTHandmade Songs by Tori Kelly NEXT UP “Fill a Heart” charity single and tour For a Monday afternoon showcase during South by Southwest Interactive, 20-year-old singer/songwriter Tori Kelly sure had a large concentration of powerful executives in the audience. Everyone from tech entrepreneur…

What would happen if artists stopped suspending disbelief and pursued career paths based on pure logic? We might have a lot fewer musicians at South by Southwest for one thing, judging from a panel on artist revenue streams. The problem is there’s a lot of money that’s not going to artists, Live Nation Labs GM Eric Garland said on a panel at SXSW. Money that changes hands in the online world is going to Internet service providers, ad networks, software companies and hardware firms. Relatively little finds its way to artists. “Nobody ever promised anybody infinite success and money,” countered Jeff Price, founder of digital distributor TuneCore. Not so, said Garland of finding financial success through new business models: “We promised it to ourselves.” When the music industry faced the…

Copyright reversions became possible with the 1909 Copyright Act, which created two publishing rights terms of 28 years each. When the first term expired, if the original author didn’t apply for a renewal, the song copyright slipped into the public domain. Since the songwriters were the only ones who could extend the copyright, the second copyright term of 28 years became a way for the publishing to revert to the original authors. However, publishers soon found a way around the public domain/author renewal process, by writing songwriting contracts that claimed publishing rights for the first term of copyright and all renewal periods. The 1976 U.S. Copyright Act added another 19 years to copyright, bringing the total to 75 years; and then the Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act in 1998 added…

“All the people we love with ‘whiskey voices,’ they have that sound for two years,” John Mayer says. “After that, they start singing everything an octave lower.” In fact, artists now utilize every treatment available to preserve their distinctive timbres during what appears to be an unprecedented spate of vocal strainrelated issues in pop music, affecting careers with quantifiable impact. Adele’s recovery from vocal-cord surgery—climaxing in a spectacular comeback performance at the 2012 Grammy Awards—remains the most famous example, but others abound. As far back as 2005, it was feared Justin Timberlake might not sing again after going under the knife to remove vocal nodules before releasing his smash FutureSex/LoveSounds album in 2006. More recently, Rihanna canceled concerts in Baltimore and Boston on doctor’s orders due to a bout of…

The jury’s out on whether James Blake—whose second album, Overgrown, is due April 9 through Atlas/Republic—will ever be a star in the United States. But several prominent music icons are already on a first-name basis with the English singer/songwriter/producer, thanks to his trippy amalgam of R&B and woozy electronica. “Kanye [West] has been very supportive,” Blake says from his hotel room in Austin, where he returned for another performance at South by Southwest this year. In a behind-the-scenes YouTube clip from Jay-Z and West’s 2011 Watch the Throne tour, Blake is seen hanging out with the two rappers. “[West] played one of my tunes to a lot of people in the room. I’m very flattered by it.” According to Blake, West clued Stevie Wonder to his music as well. “I…

SHOOTIN’ MOVES: Detroit rap phenom Danny Brown has added a swing of solo dates following a U.S. tour supporting “Harlem Shake” hitmaker Baauer. Booked by Joshua Dick of the Agency Group, the tour will begin at Blind Pig in Ann Arbor, Mich. (April 24) before playing Orange Peel in Asheville, N.C. (May 2), Middle East in Boston (May 9) and Hawthorne in Portland, Ore. (May 24). He’ll end the trek in Europe, hitting Roskilde Festival in Denmark (June 29-July 7), Øya Festival in Oslo (Aug. 6) and Way Out West Festival in Gothenberg, Sweden (Aug. 8). WAGON WHEELS FOR REAL: Country convert Darius Rucker has announced a 20-date U.S. run, dubbed the True Believers tour, for May and June. Booked by William Morris Endeavor, the trek will hit the Germain…

Florida Georgia Line “Get Your Shine On” (3:42) PRODUCER: Joey Moi WRITERS: Brian Kelley, Tyler Hubbard, Rodney Clawson, Chris Tompkins PUBLISHER: Big Loud Shirt Republic Nashville COUNTRY Florida Georgia Line ‘Shines’ On Nashville duo Florida Georgia Line rapidly became a household name among mainstream country enthusiasts when first single “Cruise” hit the top of Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart last year. With “Get Your Shine On,” the act’s follow-up from its Republic Nashville debut Here’s to the Good Times, the group gives “Cruise” fans what they want: another high-energy, hook-laden country-rock hybrid. A crackle of record-player feedback and plucky banjo kick off the sleekly produced track, which never extends itself beyond its self-constructed nonchalance. “Strawberry shimmer on her lips/Silver buckle hangin’ off her hips,” the lyrics begin before sliding into…

Vyclone is an iOS and Android video app that offers performers and fans an interesting twist on the concert-capturing experience, making it easy for multiple users to collaborate on live-show footage. The app automatically looks for clips shot from the same time and location and provides a host of simple tools to stitch the videos together into a single clip that transitions between multiple viewpoints. While seamlessly consolidating multiple recordings into one unified video may sound complicated, Vyclone is surprisingly unfussy. The editing software is built into the app, which stores up to four clips shot from the same location for the user to mix. With built-in social features, users can easily locate videos taken by fans who attended the same concert and like, share or comment on those videos,…

Frank Turner Turns Heads British rocker Frank Turner is approaching his first airplay chart ink, as the rollicking “Recovery” (Xtra Mile/Polydor/Interscope) gains below Alternative and Triple A. The track previews his fifth studio album, Tape Deck Heart, due April 23. Between March 9 and 16, Turner squeezed in 10 sets at South by Southwest in Austin, prompting him to humorously list “die in a heap” as his March 17 activity on his website. He survived to kick off a European tour on April 17. Selena Gomez ‘Knows’ Dustin Tavella Pennsylvania’s Dustin Tavella has emerged from the YouTube talent pool with “Everybody Knows (Douchebag)” (Film and Music). The track’s profile— more than 315,000 YouTube views since its Feb. 27 posting—snowballed after Selena Gomez posted a video of her and friends dancing…

Can’t Say ‘Bye Bye Bye’ Even as Justin Timberlake’s current singles “Suit & Tie” and “Mirrors” scale the Billboard Hot 100 and his new album The 20/20 Experience is expected to launch atop next week’s Billboard 200, the singer’s hit-packed past as a member of ‘N Sync continues to resonate. The “Glee” cast’s mash-up of the group’s “Bye Bye Bye” and Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way” debuts on Pop Digital Songs at No. 30. The original version of the latter title led Mainstream Top 40 for two weeks in 1999, while the former reigned for 10 weeks in 2000 amid the boy bands’ simultaneous runs of chart domination THE BIG NUMBER 7 Number of top 10 albums David Bowie has earned on the Billboard 200 in his career.…

THE TOP % GAINERS OF THE WEEK THAT HAVE ALSO GAINED IN EACH OF THE PREVIOUS TWO WEEKS. KEY TO GENRE COUNTRY R& POP DANCE/ELECTRONIC ROCK RAP HOW TO READ THIS GRAPHIC PERCENTAGE CHANGE THIS WEEK PERCENTAGE CHANGE ONE WEEK AGO PERCENTAGE CHANGE TWO WEEKS AGO 1 BRUNO MARS This Week: 5 (4.5 million) Last Week: 6 (3.7 million) 2 Weeks Ago: 7 (3.5 million) In addition to its streaming prowess, the song claims the Billboard Hot 100’s Airplay Gainer award for a sixth consecutive week. The streak is the longest since fun.’s “We Are Young” (featuring Janelle Monáe) also linked six straight weeks last year. It’s the best by a male since T.I.’s “Live Your Life” (featuring Rihanna) ran up six in a row in 2008. 2 J. COLE…

As Justin Timberlake’s highly anticipated album The 20/20 Experience was on course to break early 2013 records, with sources estimating sales north of 800,000 in its first week, his label and management team started celebrating its balancing of multiple media-channel ubiquity against the risk of overexposure for the pop star. ¶ The push behind 20/20 was a combination of traditional major-label tactics and innovative multimedia strategies—all driven by a hands-on, couture approach to the entire process from Timberlake and his circle of advisers, including longtime manager Johnny Wright and the M2M Construction marketing firm. ¶20/20’ campaign would ultimately include branding/sponsor partnerships with the likes of Target and Bud Light (for which Timberlake was named the brand’s “creative director”). Prerelease streaming and other awareness campaigns were coordinated with e-tailers like iTunes…

Tucked inside the recent Broadway-inspired spectacle that surrounded Samsung’s unveiling in New York of its next-generation Galaxy S4 phone was a preview of the company’s media play: Samsung Hub. The Korean technology juggernaut sees media and entertainment as a unifying element for its vast consumer electronics lineup and has been building out separate segments of its content strategy dedicated to music, games, books and videos. Now, Samsung wants to pull those pieces together to create a meatier platform that can compete with Apple, Sony, Microsoft, Amazon and Google. Music is a key component of Samsung’s strategy, especially since music goes hand in glove with mobile devices like the Galaxy S4 and Galaxy tablets. As a result, the company is doubling its Music Hub team in Palo Alto, Calif., to 200…

AEG Comes Off The Block WHAT: Anschutz Entertainment Group, the global sports, entertainment and venue conglomerate owned by Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz, went on the block last September for an asking price of up to $8 billion. With a portfolio of live venues on five continents (including category leaders like the Staples Center in Los Angeles and the O2 in London), a robust global concert promoter in AEG Live and growing ancillary divisions in ticketing, merchandising and sponsorships, the number didn’t seem unrealistic. But apparently no one brought the right deal to the table, and on March 14 Anschutz announced he would retain ownership. WHY: There was strong interest in AEG from deep-pocketed investors. Sources told Billboard in late January that the final three bidders on AEG were a group…

RECORD COMPANIES Sony Music Entertainment names Liberty Lucken VP of sales at Epic Records and Lise Brende VP of reporting for analytics and research, U.S. sales. Lucken was senior director of sales for Sony Music’s Amazon team, and Brende was president of Numbered Crunch. Island Def Jam Music Group promotes Yvette Davila to VP of mixshow promotion. She was senior director of street promotion. Show Dog-Universal Music promotes Sloane Cavitt-Logue to digital marketing director. She was sales, marketing and new media coordinator. Shout Factory appoints Jeffrey L. Thompson VP of digital strategy and business development. He held the same title at Condé Nast Entertainment. Concord Music Group appoints Matt Marshall senior VP of A&R. He served in the same capacity at Warner Bros. Records. PUBLISHING Imagem Music promotes Amanda Schupf…

Older record labels sold just music, but modern labels should sell both music and “experiences.” So says a Nielsen study released at South by Southwest that estimates the industry could generate additional revenue—totaling between $450 million and $2.6 billion—by better monetizing the artist-fan experience. Nielsen’s study, which was conducted with the participation of PledgeMusic and SXSW, focuses on a couple of types of direct-to-consumer business models: crowd-funding and direct-to-fan. It found that fans of any kind, from avid to ambivalent, expressed interest in buying exclusive content from a favorite artist during the recording process. The implication is clear: Artists and labels that don’t take advantage of new platforms to connect with fans are leaving money on the table. But which platform should they use? The term “direct-to-fan” has a broad…

Sweden is an endless font of interesting new music, and offers a Northern European alternative (i.e., the music is distinct from U.S. and British trends) to the sounds coming out of Los Angeles, New York and London. As such, there is never a want for artists stirring up new excitement. Perhaps the buzziest is sister act First Aid Kit, signed to the Knife’s Rabid Records. The band’s rustic folk sounds have won it a devout following, and a cover of Fleet Foxes’ “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song” immediately endeared the duo to the Seattle band. For Johanna and Klara Söderberg, Stockholm’s Debaser is “the ultimate rock club. Perfect capacity—800 people—so you can connect with everyone in the room.” The young duo Cazzette represent the new face of the Swedish electronic scene.…

If South by Southwest 2012 was a branding blockbuster, then SXSW 2013 was its sequel—but bigger, noisier and with a few extra characters. While there wasn’t a clear winner like American Express’ exclusive, card-member-only Jay-Z concert, or an installation with the sheer shock value of the Doritos stage (which returned this year, this time with a digital screen to broadcast tweets), a few brands cut through amid the cacophony. Samsung, for starters, set up camp across the street from the Convention Center and held private showcases of its just-announced Galaxy S 4 phones, and also had a presence throughout Austin that included exclusive panels, showcases and an epic closing-night set with A Tribe Called Quest and Prince. Citi sponsored the Sound City Players jam session in Austin, a blowout concert…

This was my first South by Southwest in 13 or 14 years. The first time I went, everyone just hung out at the convention center and you could probably name all of the bands that were playing. Now it’s so massive, I can’t get my head around it. Pretty much everyone I’ve ever known in the industry was down there at some point. I got a lot out of the conference and I wish I would’ve gotten more, but I arrived Wednesday afternoon and left Saturday morning. I don’t think I left myself enough days. On the A&R side, it’s funny, because you literally need a team of people to prepare you for South by Southwest. We had an intern print out all the shows from each day I was…

Backbeat has always been about reflecting the music business community, and with that in mind, Billboard.biz has launched an audience-generated Instagram Backbeat section. We received a record number of submissions during South by Southwest—more than 400, from panels, performances, backstage hangs and on-the-street encounters— and here we present the best (minus some stunning barbecue shots). Our thanks to everyone who sent them in—and please don’t stop. To get your Instagram photos into Billboard, just tag @Billboard and include #Backbeat in the caption, along with who/what/when/where. (Not on Instagram? E-mail bizeditors@billboard.com.) See the music industry at work and play at Billboard.biz/backbeat. 1 Converse’s Geoff Cottrill (left) and Jed Lewis. (From @ geoffcottrill) 2 Spotify’s Gary Liu (left) and Songza’s Eric Davich. (From @ ericsongza) 3 Vevo’s Doug McVehil, Rio Caraeff and…

As Pink Floyd fans geared up to celebrate the 40th anniversary of The Dark Side of the Moon this month, the band’s manager, Mark Fenwick, confirmed to Billboard that the entire Pink Floyd catalog could revert to the band in December 2015. Pink Floyd had already owned all the albums issued since The Dark Side of the Moon. In 1975, the band started issuing albums on Columbia in the United States, beginning with Wish You Were Here, while it stayed with EMI in Europe. But all the Columbia albums went with the band when it rejoined EMI in the States in 2000. “When the deal with EMI runs out in December 2014, all the masters, all the recordings will revert to the group,” Fenwick says. “We negotiated back in 2000…

If the life of Joan Sebastian were told in song, the lyrics would recant the story of a great Latin music talent who has seen more than his share of drama. The musical tale would start with a child prodigy who wrote verses well before his father gave him a guitar at age 13. Later, he would go into the seminary in hopes of becoming a priest before finding a path back to music. After a series of triumphs and setbacks, he would become one of Mexico’s most iconic songwriters who bravely faced adversity in a less than perfect world. Sebastian—who was born Jose Manuel Figueroa on April 8, 1951—is one of the biggest stars in regional Mexican music. He’s the kind of artist who creates touching and tenderly written…

Romain BNO, Paris. Deep house, new disco and deep techno have come back into fashion in Europe. But the English are the uncontested leaders, and Disclosure’s “White Noise” featuring Aluna George is a perfect example. These guys are 21 and 18 and have a maturity in production worth triple their age. “Erase You” by the Kellies. Often I find myself playing the original by [’80s band] ESG and, compared to this, most people don’t hear the difference despite the 30 years that separate them. I love the modernity and the tradition—several generations mixing together in the club. Fresh, simple and bouncy, it works without a hitch. G.O.O.D. Music’ “Higher,” featuring The-Dream, Pusha T, Ma$e and Cocaine ’80s [off Cruel Summer], is a good mix of the minimal bass hip-hop from…

When it comes to compliments, Taylor Goldsmith is impressively modest. The lead singer and songwriter of California rock quartet Dawes doesn’t want to hear that the band’s the most talented, the coolest or sexiest. “When someone hears a song by us they’ve never heard and says, ‘That’s Dawes’—that’s our proudest moment,” he says. The sentiment isn’t unfounded: Nary a fan or critic referred to the band’s acclaimed first two albums without a caveat of how much they sounded like the legendary ’70s rock of the Band, Jackson Browne, Neil Young or Crosby, Stills & Nash. Due April 9, Stories Don’t End, Dawes’ third album— their first on the band’s own HUB Records after leaving ATO Records—isn’t likely to put a halt to those comparisons. By Goldsmith’s admission, it’s a natural…

Between his role as a mentor on NBC’s “The Voice,” which helped net his first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2011, and being married to Miranda Lambert, Shelton’s life certainly seems charmed. Based on a True Story . . . celebrates that with plenty of love songs and warm, wistful sentimentality. But during the 12 tracks, Shelton clearly states he’s still a country boy, despite his fame. The album opens with a vocal loop proclaiming his “redneck” loyalties, and “Boys ’Round Here” (featuring Lambert’s Pistol Annies) assures he’s still “keepin’ it country.” Shelton keeps things kicking on tracks like “Small Town Big Time,” “Ten Times Crazier” and the irreverent “I Still Got a Finger.” His guy-next-door tenor really showcases on smoother, more melodic fare like “My Eyes,” “Lay…

It was a busy week for hip-hop superstar Lil Wayne— but not necessarily on the Billboard charts. After TMZ reported that the rapper was on his deathbed at Los Angeles’ Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on March 15, the social universe exploded. That report was soon refuted on Twitter by Young Money Entertainment co-founder and Wayne’s longtime friend Mack Maine, and then Wayne’s own Twitter account. The series of events created an immense surge of social-media activity. 1,360% 771K On March 15, the number of daily mentions of Wayne increased 1,360% to 771,000, according to Topsy Analytics, as reports about his condition took the Web by storm. 1,942% 193K A few hours after TMZ reported he was being read his last rites, Wayne tweeted, “I’m good everybody. Thx for the prayers and…

2 MONTHS AGO After Bon Jovi and Island Records kicked off the album push in October by announcing the title and a world tour, lead single “Because We Can” was serviced to radio and hit iTunes on Jan. 7. That same month, the campaign’s multilayered visuals—which feature the band members painted into a mural by Chinese artist Liu Bolin—was revealed piecemeal. The artwork came to life through interactive “augmented reality” technology in the band’s mobile app (see story, page 14), which has been downloaded almost 400,000 times since January, according to Island Def Jam executive VP of marketing Eric Wong 1 MONTH AGO On Feb. 12, three days after the tour kicked off in Connecticut, global preorders for the album launched; buyers received the title track as an instant download.…

Bon Jovi Bows At No. 1; Bowie’s Best ‘Day’ Ever Bon Jovi scores its fifth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 as What About Now debuts with 101,000 sold in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It’s the act’s third straight studio album to debut at No. 1, following The Circle (2009) and Lost Highway (2007). It previously claimed No. 1s with New Jersey (1988) and Slippery When Wet (1986). The veteran band beats the also-debuting David Bowie, who arrives at a career-high No. 2 with The Next Day, selling 85,000. The rock legend’s new album— his first studio set since 2003—earns his largest sales week for an album since SoundScan started tracking data in 1991. Bowie’s previous best Sound-Scan-era sales frame came when 2002’s Heathen started with…

What could be done to resolve some of the most troublesome, long-running issues in the music business today? That’s what a U.S. House hearing on copyright reform on March 20 valiantly tried to address. The lone witness, U.S. Register of Copyrights Maria Pallante, took questions from members of the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet about topics ranging from a performance right for sound recordings to cellphone unlocking. The last major copyright act has infuenced today’s music business signifcantly. The Digital Millennial Copyright Act provides the foundation on which digital services like YouTube can operate. The DMCA limits a service’s copyright infringement liability, provided it follows specific rules regarding notification of infringing content. Asked to name her top three issues for review, Pallante cited the performance right for…

The great hope of the music industry is that subscription services will allow record labels and publishers to tap into the music appetite of every smartphone-toting person on the planet. Connecting to consumers through mobile phones has great potential for a number of reasons. Putting music into those phones, something people take with them everywhere, makes sense, and integrating the billing process with mobile carriers can lure customers by making payments easier. Hundreds of millions of smartphones means hundreds of millions of potential customers paying recurring fees—at least that’s what music companies hope. IDC forecasts vendors will ship 919 million smartphones this year alone; that’s 50.1% of total mobile phone shipments worldwide. However, this global digital music marketplace will have to contend with one unavoidable fact: Mobile music consumers aren’t…

A deal for Australian promoter Paul Dainty and Virgin Music to promote an 18-date North American Rolling Stones tour has fallen through, and on March 19 AEG Live stepped in to promote the shows, sources say. The Stones will still roll, and an announcement for the tour—which still hasn’t been officially confirmed— will likely come before the end of the month. Sources say that a deal with Dainty/Virgin was in place, but the promoters couldn’t come to financial terms with the band on a guarantee believed to be in the $80 million range. Dainty and Virgin ponied up an estimated $25 million to present the band’s five 50thanniversary shows late last year, and those shows grossed a total of $38.7 million and sold 73,702 tickets. While that would seem like…

B y downloading a new augmented reality app and then pointing your mobile device at various spots in Bon Jovi’ Because We Can tour program, a whole new world springs to life. Music starts to play, a guitar-wielding soldier begins to march, a go-go dancer wearing a bikini wriggles around, and even the Bon Jovi heart logo pumps. It’s all very cool, without a doubt. But is this just a high-tech take on the old pop-up books that briefly amuses fans, or will AR technology turn into the deeply engaging marketing tool that early adopter Team Bon Jovi believes it can become? AR has been around for several years in simpler forms, but this next-generation version moves far beyond the promise of those familiar quick response coded boxes, which basically…

What did you wake up thinking about this morning? All the great new music coming out later this year. I’m still getting congratulatory calls and emails from the VIPs in radio and media who came to our boat show at the Country Radio Seminar, saying how much they loved the new Brad Paisley, Kenny Chesney, Pistol Annies, Tate Stevens, the Henningsens, Chris Young, Jerrod Niemann and Kelly Clarkson. It’s just further affirmation of what we’re doing here. They also loved our special live guest, REO Speedwagon Who is your most important mentor and what did you learn? Some people have one mentor in their life, but I picked up things along the way from lots of people. Singer/songwriter and producer Keith Stegall taught me not to compromise about the music.…

BROWSE After the United States and Britain, Sweden is the third-largest exporter of music in the world. Yet a single act still looms staggeringly large in its pop mythology, and in April, ABBA—which is estimated to have sold more than 400 million records worldwide—will be appropriately honored, when an eponymous museum (abbathemuseum.com) opens May 7 in the capital of Stockholm. Boasting ’70s stage capes and leotards as well as interactive holograms of the pop icons, the 5,000-square-foot museum will be integrated with the Swedish Music Hall of Fame on the island of Djurgården. It closely coincides with the release of the new album, Shaking the Habitual, by cult sensation the Knife, the brother-sister duo that perhaps represents Sweden’s new musical pinnacle. Aesthetically, it can be said with certainty that Stockholm…

Last year, “Big Easy Express” rolled out of South by Southwest (SXSW), played the Los Angeles Film Festival and then upended the traditional release schedule, playing online prior to theaters. The on-the-road concert doc—headlined by Mumford & Sons—made its final stop at this year’s Grammy Awards, where it won the best long form music video statuette. It was one of the more heralded films of the 2012 festival, along with eventual Academy Award-winning documentary “Searching for Sugar Man.” which was making its first festival appearance since being picked up by Sony Pictures Classics. This year, “Twenty Feet From Stardom,” Morgan Neville’s look at background singers, was in the “Sugar Man” role as it begins a festival journey on TWC-Radius’ dime prior to its June 14 theatrical release. The other standout…

From panels to parties, to all-night rock’n’rolling 1 Billboard’s Bill Werde and Clive Davis at SXSW Interview: Clive Davis. 2Skeletonwitch at Pitchfork Presents: Show No Mercy. 3 Guards’John Fredericks (left) and Richie James Follin at the Warner Sound showcase. 4 From left: House of Blues New Orleans’Sonny Schneidau, Vector Management’s Nick Stern,The-Artists.org’s Rich Shaefer, House of Blues Entertainment’s Ben Weeden and House of Blues Touring’s Michael Yerke. 5 SESAC’s Trevor Gale (far left) with the band Five Knives. 6 Musician Mayer Hawthorne (left) and Scooter Braun attend the Universal Music Group cocktail party hosted by Samsung Galaxy Club. 7 From left: Warner Bros.’Dave Dyer, WHTZ New York’s Trey Morgan and Warner’s Heather Luke , Josh Reich and Julie Muncey. 8 VH1’s Tom Calderone, “Downloaded” director Alex Winter and VH1’s Rick…

While master-recording rights reversions to artists is a relatively new phenomena that has made headlines in recent years, song copyright reversions have long been a quiet fact of life for music publishers. But many in the publishing business have been a little alarmed at the long line of big-name songwriters and artists lining up at their doors asking for their songs back recently. Currently, some of the world’s greatest songwriters—or their heirs—are among those who have termination notices on file with the U.S. Copyright Office. The list includes the cornerstones of the ’60s sound—Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan and Brian Wilson—and the legendary Brill Building duos that proceeded them: Mort Shuman and Doc Pomus, Gerry Goffin and Carole King, and Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. It also includes Nashville greats (Willie…

“No one wants to cut into a singer’s throat—that’s the last resort.” Michael McDonald, longtime manager of John Mayer, is explaining the singer/songwriter’s decision to put his precious vocal cords under the scalpel. It was early fall in 2011, and Mayer had just been diagnosed with a severe tissue inflammation on his vocal cords known as a granuloma. Even more crushingly, he’d received the news just after he’d nearly completed what would become his acclaimed fifth solo album, 2012’s Born and Raised: Now there was the possibility that he would never be able to record or tour again as a singer. Confronting the problem, Mayer turned to Dr. Steven Zeitels. A Boston-based laryngeal expert, Zeitels has become the superstar surgeon for superstar vocalists. He’s treated the throat issues of notorious…

Joan Sebastian wears many hats, having written some of the most eloquent love songs in the Latin songbook. How does he do it? A conversation with the Mexican master of romance. Your new album is titled 13 Celebrando el 13 (13 Celebrating 13). Why? I recorded a song called “Que Dios Bendiga” (God Bless), but I wasn’t sure what material to pair it up with. It’s a very unique song—kind of a vallento, but instead of the accordion it uses the tuba. I confess I have a lot of songs stored away, and when I went through my catalog, I liked a group of songs that had been recorded by other artists but I had never sung. I took 12 of those and, along with this one, we had the…

In the speed-of-light world of YouTube and Twitter, can slow and steady still win the race? Boosted by relentless road work and a recent trio of rock radio hits, Danish metal group Volbeat—which is gearing up to release its fifth album, Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies, due April 9 on Republic—is about to find out. “Things have been going good at radio, so of course there’s a lot of expectations,” Volbeat founder/frontman Michael Poulsen says. “But I can honestly say that I feel very comfortable about the coming record. We feel like we accomplished everything we wanted to for it.” The high hopes for the album were stoked by the success of 2010’s Beyond Hell/Above Heaven, the group’s first major-label U.S. release after Republic picked it up that year. The…

ROCK SURFER BLOOD “Demon Dance” (3:16) PRODUCER: Gil Norton WRITER: Surfer Blood PUBLISHERS: various Warner Bros./Kanine Records From a lyrical perspective, Surfer Blood’s latest indie shout-along is the band’s darkest, headiest moment to date, and a powerful reintroduction. “Demon Dance” leads new album Pythons with pounding tom-toms and paint-peeling distortion that veers the group’s sound toward straightfaced classic rock. —RR FOLK MATT HIRES “Restless Heart” (3:21) PRODUCER: Espionage WRITERS: Matt Hires, Alex Dezen, Espen Lind, Amund Bjorklun PUBLISHERS: Another Wayfaring Stranger/Pasa Songs/Stellar Songs/EMI Blackwood (BMI) Atlantic Records This baby-faced singer/songwriter’s latest single opens in a Celtic-acoustic rumble: “Pretty girls come from the ugliest places,” Hires sings, quivering diary-ripped poetry over strums and drums as the track careens toward a fist-pumping chorus. The cut offers an ultrapolished variation on the Americana-tinged…

FOLK THE STAVES Dead & Born & Grown PRODUCERS: Glyn Johns, Ethan Johns Atlantic Records RELEASE DATE: March 19 The harmonies are the main attraction on British sister trio the Staves’ full-length debut. The act offers an amalgam of American and Anglo folk styles, leaning more toward the former, but the girls are hardly willowy pushovers, as evidenced by man-smashing tracks like “Pay Us No Mind,” “Gone Tomorrow” and “In the Long Run.”—GG COUNTRY KACEY MUSGRAVES Same Trailer Different Park PRODUCERS: Kacey Musgraves, Shane McAnally, Luke Laird Mercury Records RELEASE DATE: March 19 While there’s a definite hip factor to Musgraves’ debut, the Texan has a style reminiscent of Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette. “Merry Go ’Round” has already made an impact at country radio, and one listen to the…

Future is quickly becoming your favorite artist’s favorite collaborator. The Atlanta rapper/singer appears on four singles on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart this week: Lil Wayne’s “Love Me,” which sits at No. 4 (and No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100); Ace Hood’s “Bugatti,” which also features Rick Ross and hits No. 14 in its fourth week; Rihanna’s “Loveeeeeee Song,” at No. 16; and lastly, his own “Karate Chop” remix featuring Lil Wayne, the lead single from his upcoming second album, Future Hendrix, which peaks at No. 33 in its second week. Future also co-wrote “Body Party,” the new single from Epic labelmate and girlfriend Ciara, which debuts at No. 43. Cumulatively, the singles have sold more than 1.5 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, led by “Love Me,” which…

A year after its initial release, “Gold,” the inspirational title track to Britt Nicole’s third album (Capitol/Sparrow), is enjoying a revival in new territory for the young Christian singer: pop radio. The single is Nicole’s first to crack both the Mainstream Top 40 chart, where it sits at No. 34 after peaking at No. 28 on March 9, and the Billboard Hot 100, where it falls to No. 91 from its No. 83 peak. “Gold,” the top-selling Christian/gospel download of the year, is also spending its sixth week in a row atop the Christian Digital Songs tally. “It’s a fun pop song, but it has a message that people need to hear,” Nicole says. “People are connecting with the heart of the song.” “Gold” debuted last March, helping the album…

LEGEND Bullets indicate titles with greatest weekly gains. Album Charts ● Recording Industry Assn. of America (RIAA) certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 500,000 albums (Gold). △ RIAA certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 1 million units (Platinum). Numeral noted with Platinum symbol indicates album’s multiplatinum level. ♦ RIAA certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 10 million units (Diamond). Numeral noted with Diamond symbol indicates album’s multiplatinum level. ● Latin albums certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 50,000 units (Oro). △ Latin albums certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 100,000 units (Platino). Numeral noted with Platinum symbol indicates album’s multi-platinum level. Digital Songs Charts ● RIAA certification for 500,000 paid downloads (Gold). △ RIAA certification for 1 million paid downloads…