Innholdsfortegnelse for June 29, 2013 i Billboard Magazine

The Smurfs are a powerhouse. That alone may be news to some folks. ¶ In many circles, the little blue trolls get lost in the summertime avalanche of superheroes, sequels and Disney characters, but their box-office power is astounding, especially in the international market: Sony Pictures’ “The Smurfs” grossed $142.6 million stateside in 2011 and $421.1 million internationally, according to figures compiled by Box Office Mojo. For the sequel, Sony Pictures Consumer Marketing has a global promotional campaign that is one of the largest the studio has ever produced. ¶ Among the first movie’s fans are producer Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald and the children of Britney Spears. Together, Spears, Gottwald and Kemosabe/RCA Records are launching the soundtrack to “The Smurfs 2” with the first Spears single in almost two years,…

GAME OVER FOR BEYONCÉ Beyoncé has settled out of court with a videogame company that sued the singer for $100 million in 2011. Game maker Gate Five had said Beyoncé backed out of a contract to make a motion-sensitive dance game, thereby costing the company massive financial losses. Terms of the settlement are confidential, but both parties are said to have reached an amicable solution. MUSIC TRAILS APPS ITunes users spend an average of $12 per year on music, according to research from Asymco’s Horace Deidu based on the latest stats released by Apple. Music is the second most-downloaded form of media at the digital storefront after apps, according to the data, but that number has decreased steadily from a peak of $42 in 2007. The number of active iTunes…

Chet Flippo—veteran music writer, editor and author, as well as Billboard’s Nashville bureau chief from 1995 to 2000—died from pneumonia on June 19 at age 69. At the time of his death, he was editorial director of CMT and CMT.com. Flippo’s knowledge of American roots music, country and early rock’n’roll allowed him to write with not only an understanding of an artist’s music, but also the cultural and historic significance it held. Alan Jackson was among the acts he championed as someone he felt was carrying the torch for traditional country music. “Chet respected the importance of real country music—he had a genuine understanding of its history and a true appreciation for it,” Jackson says. “He was out there telling the world about country music long before it was the…

What did you wake up thinking about this morning? My first work-related thought was about our A&R team and how we’re going to grow, train and scale as fast as possible. I’m always thinking about how to get the best creative minds that aren’t in the business into the business instead of recycling through those who have languished in the major-label system. And how to give the most hands-on experience in the shortest period of time. And then I thought, “When am I going to be able to work out next?” Describe a lesson you learned from a failure. I think I fail every day. My office is in Atlantic Studios. We have eight studios and writing rooms. Every day I go to work thinking I’ll facilitate a hit to…

UMG CANADA BY THE NUMBERS 7 Debut chart position of Headstones’ album in Canada $ 61 Average fan spend per campaign in Canada 100% Percentage of Canadian acts who have exceeded their presale goal TOURING Gavin O’Reilly has been recruited as the new worldwide CEO of the Agency Group, succeeding Neil Warnock, who is stepping into the new title of founder/worldwide president. With more than 20 years of corporate and media experience, O’Reilly is responsible for TAG’s day-to-day operations, with Warnock focusing on business development. “I’ll essentially be responsible for the day-to-day running of our global business, and both Neil and I will be able to focus on the further growth of [TAG] in the many diverse business areas that we want to pursue around the world,” O’Reilly says, declining…

Madonna is towering over Los Angeles. Billboards throughout the city are announcing the June 22 debut of her MDNA concert special on EPIX, the multiplatform movie service jointly owned by Viacom’s Paramount Pictures, MGM and Lionsgate. It’s the biggest advertising campaign EPIX has launched for one of its original shows. Linking Madonna with the channel extends the EPIX brand in a way that was only hinted at in concert programs featuring Britney Spears, Usher, Coldplay, the Black Eyed Peas and others. Amid its blockbuster offerings including “The Avengers,” “The Hunger Games,” comedy shows and the Rick Springfield documentary “An Affair of the Heart,” it’s Madonna who’s the face of EPIX this month. What we’re seeing in the fortnight leading up to the Madonna show is above-ground manifestation of a promotional…

1 Soul mates: Erykah Badu (left) held court with Chaka Khan backstage at the eighth annual Apollo Theater Spring Gala concert and awards ceremony on June 10 at the New York landmark, where the latter was inducted into the Apollo Legend Hall of Fame. “You just can’t say no to Chaka,” host Wayne Brady told the crowd. 2 BMI execs crowded country newcomers Joel Crouse and Thomas Rhett at the BMI Tailgate Party outside LP Field during the Country Music Assn. festival in Nashville on June 6. From left: BMI’s David Preston and Leslie Roberts, Crouse, Rhett and BMI’s Clay Bradley and Jody Williams. 3 Hotlanta: Island Def Jam senior VP of A&R Kawan “KP” Prather (left) and Press Reset Entertainment CEO Shanti Das (center) sizzled with new Atlantic Records…

Michael Simon is no stranger to the joys and rigors of regular travel. As president/CEO of the Harry Fox Agency—one of the music industry’s leading providers of rights management, licensing and royalty services since its founding in 1927—he’s often running out of the company’s offices in New York to catch a lastminute, transcontinental flight. He frequently travels to the Twin Cities, and with good reason: He grew up in St. Paul, and makes a point of keeping in tune with the area’s ever-evolving music scene. He’s even signed local acts like Sleep Study and And the Professors, the orchestral side project of the Honeydogs’ Adam Levy, to his own independent label, Simon Recordings. He may love the familiar streets of his hometown, but Simon says he always makes a point…

“I don’t follow any guidelines,” Jay-Z says in “22 Twos,” one of the standout tracks on his 1996 debut, Reasonable Doubt. And there’s no reasonable doubt that Jay’s instincts to blaze trails have served him well. In particular, Jay has been one of the leaders of the revolution that has been unfolding for years between music and brands. Jay’s deals—from his hands and distinct voice telling the world about HP computers to his getting Budweiser to pay for a party in Philadelphia for 80,000 of his closest (and paying) friends— haven’t just put a lot of coin in Jay’s Roc-a-Wear jeans pockets. They’ve helped build Jay’s brand and paved a path for the business and brands to think even bigger about partnerships. But occasionally, guidelines do come into play. “99…

Team Ciara ALBUM: Ciara LABEL: Epic Records RELEASE DATE: July 9 MANAGEMENT: Lisa Ellis, Box Three Eight Eight EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Ciara, Nayvadius “Future” Cash, Antonio “L.A.” Reid PRODUCERS: Ciara, Jasper Cameron, Mike WiLL Made-It, Rock City, Co-Captains, Josh Abraham, Rodney Jerkins, Soundz, the Underdogs, D’Mile PUBLISHING: C. Harris/Royalty Rightings/Universal Music Publishing Group TOURING: Summer and fall BOOKING AGENT: D. Wirtschafter and Brent Smith, William Morris Endeavor PUBLICITY: Ken Sunshine and Briele Douglass, Sunshine Sachs; Lauren Ceradini and Courtney Lowery, Epic Records SITE:OnlyCiara.com TWEETS: @Ciara Among the first slate of albums in Epic’s 2013 pipeline following Antonio “L.A.” Reid’s exit as an “X Factor” judge to focus on his day job as label chief, Ciara is a major priority for the company. (Another top release, Avril Lavigne’s still-untitled project, is due…

Aday after performing traditional jazz at a tour stop in Iowa, 80-year-old clarinetist Charlie Gabriel, 42-year-old tuba player Ben Jaffe and the other members of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band were rehearsing for a gig at Bonnaroo with musicians whose own music is easily four decades younger. John Oates and My Morning Jacket’s Jim James were leading the session, which featured a rhythm section of funk legends, Meters drummer Zigaboo Modeliste and Sly & the Family Stone bassist Larry Graham, and a repertoire that included the Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” and songs from Sly & the Family Stone and Prince. It was the latest example of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band’s evolution beyond early 20th century New Orleans jazz. During…

Nate Deaton, GM/music director, KRTY San Jose, Calif. Cassadee Pope, “Wasting All These Tears.” Her voice captivated me on the first listen to the song. At first I thought it was a little on the poppy side, but the more I hear it on the air, I think it fits perfectly where country radio is today. Thompson Square, “Everything I Shouldn’t Be Thinking About.” Even though the groove and intro remind me of AC/DC’s “Girls Got Rhythm,” this is the perfect summer song for Shawna and Keifer [Thompson]. They have had hits before, but this is the one that makes them mainstream. Kellie Pickler, “Someone Somewhere Tonight.” there’s just too much great about this song not to like it. Great lyric, great vocal and a performance that is beyond compare…

ACTION BRONSON In the past three years, Queens-based MC Action Bronson has gone from an unknown artist to an internationally recognized star, signing to Vice/Atlantic and releasing new EP Saaab Stories on June 11. Launching a world tour this summer with the help of new booking agent Jeremy Holgerson of the Agency Group, Bronson will take his antics across North America and to international markets. Holgerson partnered with TAG’s James Rubin in the U.K. office and Colin Lewis in Canada. ROUTING: For Holgerson, the main task was landing festival spots to anchor the tour. “We started in Europe and Canada, and also in the U.S., going after things like Canadian Music Week and South by Southwest, figuring out key shows for Action and using the festivals as our tent poles.”…

Derek Vincent Smith, best-known as Pretty Lights, knew the creation of his innovative new album, A Color Map of the Sun, would be no easy feat. Rather than collecting samples from records, the electro hip-hop artist created original samples: 20-plus hours of tape—recorded on era-specific instruments—pressed to vinyl and then sampled to build the album’s 13 tracks. The result is electro with real soul, a genre-hopping mix of Smith’s influences. There’s the trippy ’70s funk of “Go Down Sunshine,” the computerized blips that dip into the deeper electro of “Prophet” and the Talib Kweli-assisted soul jam “Around the Block.” A bonus: The two-disc set features a second live album (Live Studio Sessions From a Color Map of the Sun) of compositions as they were originally recorded, providing an inside look…

“Kinky Boots” is forging a path on Broadway, with pop icon Cyndi Lauper leading the way. The Lauper-scored musical won six Tony Awards—including best musical and best original score—on June 9, and its original Broadway cast recording debuted on the charts dated June 15 at No. 51 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on Top Cast Albums. With 7,000 albums sold its first week, according to Nielsen Sound-Scan, Kinky Boots became the highest-charting cast album since The Book of Mormon in 2011. (It currently sits at No. 128 on the Billboard 200, with 15,000 sold total.) The Kinky Boots cast album debuted the week before the Tonys telecast, so the initial impact of the show—felt in the album’s second chart week—was muted by the set’s natural second-week decline (down…

Almost 43 years after Black Sabbath debuted on the Billboard 200, the iconic heavy metal band earns its first No. 1 album this week with the arrival of 13. The set starts at No. 1 with 155,000 copies sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. 13 is the group’s 23rd chart entry, and first studio album with singer Ozzy Osbourne since 1978’s Never Say Die! The new release is only the band’s second top 10, following 1971’s Master of Reality, which reached No. 8. Black Sabbath made its Billboard 200 debut the week of Aug. 29, 1970, with its self-titled album. The launch of 13 with 155,000 is also easily the biggest sales week for the band since SoundScan started tracking sales in 1991. Its previous best frame was when live set…

THIS WEEK WE LOOK AT THREE WEEKS’ WORTH OF DATA, HIGHLIGHTING TOP % GAINERS OF THE WEEK THAT ALSO GAINED THE PREVIOUS TWO WEEKS AIRPLAY DATA COURTESY OF NIELSEN BDS KEY TO GENRE DANCE/ELECTRONIC RAP ROCK POP R& COUNTRY 1 TYLER FARR This week: 71 (16 million) Last week: – (11 million) 2 weeks ago: – (10 million) Country singer Farr has slowly picked up steam with his current single, which is his first to chart on Hot 100 Airplay—but third on Country Airplay. It’s currently in its 17th week on the Country Airplay chart and breaks into the top 20 this week (22-20). His debut full-length album is tentatively due in October on Columbia Nashville. 2 MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS FEATURING MARY LAMBERT This week: 48 (29…

“The Voice” may have found its version of Carrie Underwood in Danielle Bradbery, the untrained 16-year-old singer from the suburbs of Houston who was crowned season-four champion on June 18. Immediately signed to Big Machine Records, Bradbery is expected to be in Nashville on June 24 to start recording. Bradbery is the second consecutive “Voice” winner to be funneled to Nashville through Universal Music Group’s arrangement with the show, though last season’s champ, Cassadee Pope, is on Republic Nashville. The Pope story was one of transformation, since she was an established bandleader in the indie pop-rock community prior to her “Voice” success with country covers. Bradbery provides an opportunity for creation from scratch: She doesn’t have prior recording or live performing experience, hasn’t yet written a song and has only…

Sean O’Connell spends the beginning of every June in Middle Tennessee. His marketing company Music Allies works with some of the biggest music festivals in the United States, including Bonnaroo. He oversees a team that performs Bonnaroo’s radio promotions and creates audio and video content with performing artists in the Hay Bale Studios (literally a trailer surrounded by hay bales). His team works with dozens of stations that transmit from the site. 8.00 AM arrive back at the Bonnaroo site five hours after leaving. Over the next few hours, check the graphics of all the videos, make sure staff has food and check on Radio Bonnaroo. 10.00 AM Meet with Marc Mason from BMI to talk about plans for cross-marketing of music festivals in 2014. 12.00 PM Greet artist Frank…

FTR In the June 22 issue, the Latin Notas column misspelled the names of Warner/Chappell’s Gustavo Menendez and Argentine artist Deborah De Corral. After nearly a year of speculation, Insomniac Events finally revealed it has entered a “creative partnership” with Live Nation. While the terms of the deal weren’t immediately disclosed, Billboard had previously learned that the deal is a 50-50 share valued at $50 million to each side. Despite being in the midst of Insomniac’s business conference EDMBiz, company CEO Pasquale Rotella announced the news in the fashion that’s made him dance music’s most charismatic businessman: directly to his fans and followers, in lengthy posts on Twitter and Facebook. “I am pleased to announce that Insomniac and Live Nation have formed a creative partnership that will take our events…

WHAT: Universal Music Canada has partnered with direct-tofan service PledgeMusic to find new avenues to fans. While Pledge-Music allows artists to raise funds for projects—a la Kickstarter, Indiegogo and RocketHub—it positions itself primarily as a platform that markets albums from the beginning of the recording process through their commercial releases. Thus, a major label can run a pre-order campaign on PledgeMusic and allow fans to receive updates and exclusive content until the album is released. “It’s very hard for labels to integrate with companies like ours because of the fan-funding moniker,” PledgeMusic CEO Benji Rogers says. But Universal Music Canada “realized we can be a big marketing tool that augments rather than replaces its own direct-to-fan efforts.” WHO: The deal brings together the only music-specific platform of its kind and…

Warner Music Group has acquired Gala Records Group, the first privately owned label in Russia. Gala, launched in 1988, handles distribution, publishing, live production and artist representation in addition to recorded music. Its distribution arm works with such indies as K7, Fat Cat Records and Kontor. The acquisition is WMG’s first fully owned business in the country. WMG was acquired by Russian-born mogul Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries in 2011 for about $3.3 billion. “Russia represents a significant opportunity and, with Gala spearheading our operations there, we will be well-positioned for growth in this vibrant and dynamic market,” WMG CEO Stephen Cooper said in a statement. “WMG’s expertise and involvement is extremely valuable for the developing Russian music market,” Gala CEO Alexander Blinov said in a statement, “and will strengthen our…

At the National Music Publishers’ Assn. annual meeting, RIAA chairman/CEO Cary Sherman addressed publishers by pointing out the many times that labels and music publishers act as adversaries instead of partners. But he urged the two camps to unite and act as one industry, a sentiment that was echoed by NMPA president David Israelite. With copyright review and likely copyright revision on the horizon, the music industry will have its hands full holding off the so-called “copyleft” organizations, which will flex their lobbying muscle to likely seek shortened copyright terms as they try to block the music industry from seeking copyright protection and enforcement regulations. Such organizations, like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, have received broad and/or financial support from companies like Google and Facebook. These organizations are still feeling their…

“Songwriting is like a drug, and I will smoke it until the day I die.” —Benny Blanco 1 Peace be with you: Wiz Khalifa (left) honored Benny Blanco, recipient of the Hal David Starlight Award, at the Songwriters Hall of Fame 44th annual induction and awards dinner at the Marriott Marquis in New York on June 13. Then the two aligned their chi backstage. 2 Motown founder Berry Gordy (left) celebrated receiving the Pioneer Award with Sony/ATV Music Publishing’s Martin Bandier at the Songwriters Hall of Fame ceremony. 3 Feels like the first time: Mick Jones (far left) and Lou Gramm (far right) of Foreigner toasted their induction with fellow honorees Joe Perry and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith at the Songwriters Hall of Fame event. 4 Money talks: New England…

Just Blaze is a geek at heart. The producer, who broke through in the early 2000s by crafting seminal songs with Jay-Z, has an obvious affection for the phalanx of equipment he’s chosen for Rebel Base Studio, his personal suite at Stadium Red in Harlem. Describing his Fairman mastering compressor, he evokes the cadence and conviction of a veteran electronics salesman. But Blaze, born Justin Smith, knows that it takes more than great gear to make great music. “My approach is to think less about the gear and more about the magic,” Smith says. “I know guys who have every piece of gear imaginable, but they can’t make a good record. The real magic is in the interaction between the producer, artist and songwriter.” Smith built Rebel Base, a midsize…

As a marketing play, it’s a coup. As a consumer play, it’s a strategy sure to drive engagement. But what does the pact between Jay-Z and Samsung mean for retailers and the labels? The impact is less than clear for two key reasons: The details on exactly how the app that delivers Magna Carta Holy Grail to 1 million Samsung users aren’t known; and the album was announced and delivered so close to its release that Island Def Jam—distributor for Jay-Z’s Roc Nation label—was still trying to work out production details and street date at press time. Both have an impact on retailers. If users who download the app can not just hear the music before its retail release but also transfer it to other devices or burn copies, it…

Agents and managers vote with their route books when they’re assembling tours of small venues, and if total ticket sales are any indication (and they are), they frequently vote for Live Nation’s small venues. The overwhelming bulk of the top 25 clubs in North America, based on numbers reported to Billboard Boxscore, are owned, operated and/or booked by Live Nation, primarily under the promoter’s House of Blues and Fillmore brands. These venues fall under the purview of House of Blues Entertainment CEO Ron Bension, who oversees Live Nation’s theaters and clubs division with HOB COO Ben Weeden. Bension took the post in late 2010 in the wake of the Live Nation/ Ticketmaster merger. “The changes over the past two years have been quite positive,” Bension says, “and we’re seeing the…

ARTIST: Sara Bareilles ALBUM: The Blessed Unrest RELEASE DATE: July 16 LABEL: Epic Records PRODUCERS: John O’Mahoney, Mark Endert PUBLISHING: Sony/ATV MANAGEMENT: Career Artist Management BOOKING AGENT: Paradigm Agency CHART HISTORY: “Love Song” (2007), No. 4 Billboard Hot 100, 3.6 million; Little Voice (2007), No. 7 Billboard 200, 1.1 million; Kaleidoscope Heart (2010), No. 1 Billboard 200, 441,000 TWITTER: @SaraBareilles “I always swore I would never live in New York,” Sara Bareilles says with a laugh from her New York apartment. “I always felt so overwhelmed here. It’s ironic— the thing you think you don’t need is the thing you actually need most.” Last year, the 33-year-old singer/songwriter decided that the thing she needed was a major personal and professional change in order to record the aptly titled The Blessed…

MIKE MANGIONE & THE UNION In April, Mike Mangione & the Union brought a New York rock club to the Deep South with foot-stomping rhythms, soaring strings and ethereal vocals. Whether it was with a whisper or a growl, they grabbed every ear. Averaging 100 dates a year, including house concerts, the band formed when the Mangione brothers—frontman Mike and guitarist Tom—began playing around Chicago and Wisconsin. While touring, a friendly soundman and upright bass player joined before the band added a percussionist, cellist and violinist. The act’s music has been played on NPR and Milwaukee radio, where it’s been nominated for band and album of the year, and Sugarland’s Kristian Bush has expressed interest in working with the outfit. This is no surprise to co-manager Eric Elwell, who says…

Labrinth featuring Emeli Sandé “Beneath Your Beautiful” (4:32) PRODUCERS: Labrinth, Da Diggler WRITERS: Timothy McKenzie, Mike Posner, Adele Emeli Sandé PUBLISHERS: Stellar Songs (PRS), EMI Blackwood Music (BMI), North Greenway Productions/Sony-ATV Tunes (ASCAP) Syco/RCA Maybe it’s a reaction to the bombastic, synth-heavy Europop that’s been saturating American top 40 radio, but piano ballads are all the rage now—from Bruno Mars’ soul-bearing “When I Was Your Man” to Lana Del Rey’s string-swathed “Young & Beautiful” to Rihanna’s vulnerable “Stay.” Next on the list is British singer/songwriter Timothy McKenzie, better-known as Labrinth, who is snaking his way stateside with “Beneath Your Beautiful,” a seductive ode to inner beauty. “Beautiful,” from Labrinth’s debut album Electronic Earth, is already a ubiquitous smash in the United Kingdom. But no matter what continent you’re on, it’s…

.biz Musician/entrepreneur Will.i.am has been named a partner in Beverly Hills-based licensing and strategic marketing firm memBrain Licensing. The firm says it will look to tap into the Grammy Awardwinning artist’s “visionary ideas and global fan base” to create “new intellectual properties directed by Will.i.am” while also offering clients access to a range of creative services. 13—the first full Black Sabbath studio album with Ozzy Osbourne singing since 1978’s Never Say Die!— has been received like a welcome gift by headbangers across the globe. The Rick Rubin-produced set is the veteran British group’s first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 as well as its first chart-topper in the United Kingdom since 1970—setting a world record for the longest gap between No. 1 releases. First single “God Is Dead?” hit No.…

6 MONTHS AGO When they’re not recording music or on tour, the members of Big Time Rush stay busy working on their most important platform, the hit Nickelodeon TV series that bears the band’s name. The fourth season of “Big Time Rush” went into production in January, featuring guest appearances from Gavin DeGraw, Cher Lloyd and Victoria Justice. “Throughout the year, the band is in constant two-way communication with its fans through social media,” Columbia Records senior VP of marketing Doneen Lombardi says. Engagement with fans helped BTR double its Twitter and Facebook followings during the past calendar year, Lombardi adds. 1 MONTH AGO The new season of “BTR” premiered May 2, and Columbia launched a pre-order of 24/Seven the Tuesday before. Fans who purchased the pre-order received an instant…

Lorde Lifts Off New Zealander Lorde, 16, soars onto Alternative with “Royals” at No. 30. The debut is the highest for a solo female making her first visit to the airplay chart as a lead artist since M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” (No. 28) nearly five years ago. “Not since we launched Gotye [“Somebody That I Used to Know”] have we seen such instant reaction, all being driven so far by radio,” Republic VP of rock promotion Dennis Blair says. As Lorde’s The Love Club EP bows on the Billboard 200 at No. 191 (see page 42), the label expects the singer/songwriter’s debut full-length album, accompanied by tour dates, in the fall. THE BIG NUMBER 12 Rock album sales are up by 12% in the wake of sale pricing and promotion timed…

Christina Aguilera. The singer—an ambitious strategist as a coach—returns to “The Voice” for the fall season and will be in a position to push the show toward a more pop vein or attempt to beat Blake Shelton at his own game. Big Machine. Three young singers from “The Voice” are in the fold at Scott Borchetta’s company—RaeLynn as a publishing and label signing, Cassadee Pope through Republic Nashville and now Danielle Bradbery. Is there a limit to how many “Voice” singers can succeed in one Nashville camp? Country crossover acts. Florida Georgia Line and Hunter Hayes performed on the “Voice” finale, exemplifying the type of acts breaking on country radio with top 40 and TV potential. “You feel like you’re part of the evolution of music,” FGL’s Brian Kelley says…

With the launch of Apple’s iTunes Radio, there’s an assumption that other music services could suffer a drop in market share. Certainly investors believed that, pushing Pandora Media’s stock price down a punishing 10.6% on June 3, the day after Apple inked its licensing agreement with Warner Music Group for its streaming radio service. Since then, however, a different point of view has emerged. As the consumption of streaming music keeps growing unabated, there could be enough headroom in the market for the existing services to share in the expansion. In other words, streaming music hasn’t yet become a mature market with a zero-sum game where one player’s gain must come at another’s loss. In fact, both Clear Channel’s iHeartRadio and Pandora have grown their user bases simultaneously. In a…

Five months after bringing country back to the nation’s No. 1 market with the launch of WNSH (Nash) New York, Cumulus introduced a new morning show on June 20, combining syndicated “After Midnite” host Blair Garner with four established country acts in a lineup that many believe will soon appear in other markets. Chuck Wicks, Sunny Sweeney, Terri Clark and Lee Ann Womack are all part of the weekday on-air show that now airs in the New York metro area from a studio in Nashville. CNN sister network HLN anchor Robin Meade, who is also a recording artist, brings national news from Atlanta. The move heightens the profile of those artists and suggests Cumulus is going after the market in a big, innovative way. The team, which practiced with two…

Major labels. PledgeMusic provides a new revenue stream and allows labels to segment the market by offering different bundles of products and experiences. Artists. Fans already follow acts like Canadian rock band Headstones on social media, but direct-to-fan services provide the platforms to monetize that relationship. Competing platforms. Music- and marketingfocused PledgeMusic is well-suited for labels. Such competitors as Kickstarter and Indiegogo will continue to attract independent artists.…

When Roger Waters started his tour of The Wall in early 2010, he wanted to create a connection between the concept album’s anti-war sentiment and the former soldiers who returned from battle wounded. He asked his brother-in-law, Jim Durning, to invite veterans to the shows, perhaps 20 in each city. “It was moving and illuminating—we learned so much about the challenges they face,” says Durning, who handles Waters’ merchandise and veterans-outreach efforts, having brought more than 1,500 wounded vets to The Wall Live shows and orchestrated meet-andgreets with Waters. A meeting with Bob and Lee Woodruff at last year’s Stand Up for Heroes event—a dozen wounded vets performed with Waters there—led to discussions with Habitat for Humanity founder Millard Fuller, whose Fuller Foundation provides housing for the homeless. As research…

A weekend spent at the 12th annual Bonnaroo festival in Manchester, Tenn., provided a real-time live-music business school about professionalism, evolving, the power of the shared experience and why those in the industry do what they do. Lesson No. 1: Shit happens. When Mumford & Sons abruptly canceled Saturday’s headlining show (for good reason), rather than panic, organizers found a quick and appropriate solution in Jack Johnson. They weighed such options as moving someone already scheduled into that slot, bringing in another artist in a region rich with them or just looking around the grounds, where they found Johnson. “Jack was already doing a special surprise performance on Friday [with Animal Liberation Orchestra] and is a good friend of the festival, so we thought he would be a great vibe…

Perhaps because the biting weather forces months of indoor-only activity, the Twin Cities have long been home to an exhilarating music culture. Local heroes the Replacements, who just announced they were reuniting after 22 years, even wrote a song, “Skyway,” about the protective, Habitrail-like walkways between downtown buildings in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Along with Hüsker Dü, Soul Asylum and seminal alt label Twin/Tone, the band helped make the Twin Cities a post-punk hotbed. Of course, around the same time, Prince exploded out of the electrifying Uptown funk scene to stardom. More recently, local hip-hop acts like Brother Ali, Atmosphere and Dessa have proved increasingly influential. Owl City and indie-rock acts like Cloud Cult and Motion City Soundtrack have also contributed to the area’s continued musical vitality. There’s a plethora…

Not only did Samsung score exclusive access to Jay-Z’s first solo album in four years, the consumer electronics behemoth inspired the multi-hyphenate rapper to do something he’d done even less frequently— tweet. “If 1 Million records gets SOLD and billboard doesnt report it, did it happen? Ha. #newrules #magnacartaholygrail Platinum!!! VII IV XIII,” he tweeted at 1:34 p.m. on June 17, some 16 hours after he made global headlines when a surprise three-minute commercial chronicling the making of Jay-Z’s Magna Carta Holy Grail aired during halftime of the NBA Finals. While the answer to Jay’s question about sales is ultimately up to Billboard’s charts department (see story, page 20), the impact of his groundbreaking deal with Samsung had every sector of the industry buzzing. It marks the first time a…

Comeback. It’s a term frequently bandied about the industry these days, given that an act’s fortunes increasingly hinge on reactions to a chosen buzz track or single versus a whole album. As the 2013 summer release slate heats up, the notion of a comeback is currently being floated in regards to Ciara. Breaking through in 2004 with the No. 1 Billboard Hot 100/Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs single “Goodies” and a multiplatinum album of the same name, Ciara has scored eight top 10s on the Hot 100 and 13 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Not to mention a second platinum album in 2006, Ciara: The Evolution. Also a Grammy Award winner for best short form video for her vocals on Missy Elliott’s “Lose Control” in 2005, Ciara was later named Billboard’s Woman of…

There are many reasons the club circuit remains a fertile breeding ground for the arena headliners of tomorrow. The intimacy, sweat, proliferation of alcohol and immediacy of an epic performance occurring mere feet away create an alchemy in which, in the aggregate of many performances over time, careers are born. But what makes a great club great? What attracts fans even if they don’t know which band is playing on a given night? It could be as elusive as the all-imporant vibe, or as clear-cut as the tricked-out restrooms at Turner Hall in Milwaukee, outfitted by Wisconsin’s own Kohler family, the first name in bathroom fixtures. Oftentimes it’s the food, which certainly is the case at Stubb’s Bar-B-Q in Austin. But the most frequently cited grub from those in the…

After churning out hits for four decades, no one would blame Guy Clark for resting on his considerable laurels. He’s had songs recorded by Johnny Cash, Brad Paisley, Vince Gill, Jimmy Buffett and Alan Jackson, to name a few, but retirement isn’t in this country songwriter’s vocabulary. On July 23, Dualtone Records will release My Favorite Picture of You, Clark’s first new studio album since 2009’s Somedays the Song Writes You. His 2011 live set, Songs and Stories, earned the singer his highest-charting album at No. 29 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums tally and No. 146 on the Billboard 200. Co-written with Gordie Sampson, the new album’s title track is a tribute to Clark’s wife of 40 years, Susanna, who died in 2012 after battling cancer. “I’ve had that photograph…

ARTIST: Maya Jane Coles ALBUM: Comfort LABEL: I/AM/ME RELEASE DATE: July 1 PRODUCER: Maya Jane Coles PUBLISHING: unsigned MANAGEMENT: Steven Braines BOOKING: Brendan Long, Nick Cave and David Levy, William Morris Endeavor (international); Mariesa Stevens, Liaison Artists (North America) CHART HISTORY: No. 5 Uncharted (2012) TWITTER: @mjcofficial Maya Jane Coles produced, engineered and mixed debut album Comfort in her home studio, played every instrument, performed vocals and designed the artwork. And according to her manager Steven Braines, the 25-year-old DJ/producer turned down a $750,000 major-label offer for the album, opting instead to work with Kobalt’s label services division to start her own imprint with the self-affirming name I/AM/ME. “It’s always been quite cut-and-dry for me,” Coles writes in an email—she doesn’t do phone interviews, and isn’t particularly interested in press.…

LISTNR ON LISNR AND BEYOND: Artists who have partnered with Lisnr include Swedish House Mafia and Mia Carruthers. Lisnr uses the locationaware features of apps like Google’s FieldTrip to add an interactive layer to live events. The gold standard in sonic fingerprinting apps is still Shazam, which recently added unlockable content in addition to its popular music ID function. Shared music experiences—it’s an area in which all manner of music companies are trying to innovate. But what happens when those experiences are poor— hampered by confusing product design and low bitrates? That’s a problem presented by Lisnr, a nascent music app that was expansively updated in June and is designed to increase fan engagement with audio. Lisnr works by allowing access to exclusive content based on a variety of triggers.…

Two Disney Channel-born pop princesses are riding high on Billboard’s charts—Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato are both in the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 with their latest singles. Gomez’s “Come & Get It” spends another week in the top 10, while Lovato’s former top 10 “Heart Attack” dips 20-26. 1.3 M “Come & Get It” has sold 1.3 million downloads in its first 11 weeks, according to Nielsen SoundScan, while “Heart Attack” shifted 1.2 million in its first 11 frames. “Heart Attack,” released five weeks before “Come & Get It,” has sold 1.5 million total and is Lovato’s secondbiggest seller after “Give Your Heart a Break” (1.9 million). 16% 178K After five weeks on sale, Lovato’s Demi has sold 178,000—a growth of 16% compared with the first five…

Simpson’s New ‘Single’ Alli Simpson, 15, is following in the footsteps of her older brother, pop singer/songwriter Cody Simpson. The former’s debut single, “Why I’m Single,” hit retail on June 11 and sold 9,000 downloads in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Its video is off to a fast start, too. After premiering June 10, it earned 1 million views in its first nine days, pushing Simpson’s total YouTube channel views to more than 10 million. Bonjour, Savoir Adore In the vein of acts that sport male/female vocal interplay (e.g., Of Monsters and Men, Stars) comes Brooklyn’s Savoir Adore, a mix of ethereal pop/rock from Paul Hammer and Deidre Muro. The pair released its second full-length, Our Nature, last year and, newly signed to Nettwerk, have rereleased the set,…

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…