Innholdsfortegnelse for November 30, 2013 i Billboard Magazine

TUNECORE TAPS INDMUSIC TuneCore, the digital music distributor that helps artists get their songs on iTunes, Spotify and Amazon, has partnered with INDmusic to monetize its catalog on YouTube. INDmusic is best-known for handling the monetization of Baauer’s viral smash-turned-Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 “Harlem Shake.” Under the deal, INDmusic will administer the rights of the 290,000 masters in TuneCore’s catalog on the video service. TuneCore and INDmusic will split 20% of revenue gained from ads placed on the videos, while artists will receive 80%. DEEZER COMING TO AMERICA Deezer, the French music streaming service with 5 million subscribers, will finally be available in the United States in 2014, according to a major-label source. The service is already available in more than 180 countries. Deezer’s strength in France is tied…

Los Angeles-based Michael Aragon heads up Sony’s Music Unlimited and on-demand digital video services, integrating them into a variety of devices and platforms, including the new PlayStation 4 game console, which launched in the United States on Nov. 15. 5.30 AM My Jawbone Up wakes me, and I run through a quick scan of emails from our Europe team and check of video sales and music subscriber counts from the day before. 6.00 AM I’m out for my daily run to get the blood pumping. I’m usually listening to a sports podcast—likely Colin Cowherd, who’s my favorite. Need to keep up with football news so my high school friends don’t school me on my fantasy league. 7.00 AM Breakfast with my 9-year-old twins, Michael and Ali, before sending them off…

Latin labels. Typically, advertising campaigns choose one language or another when it comes to music. Using a bilingual act and a bilingual song for such a major campaign is powerful motivation for Latin labels like Universal Music Latin to continue developing their bilingual acts. Brands. The line between Latin and general-market campaigns is becoming hazier, and will continue to blur. Target’s use of a Spanish-language song this summer was one such example (see right). Featured acts. While a few Latin acts have had their music showcased in mainstream campaigns, the opportunities haven’t always been well-exploited. Illya Kuryaki & the Valderramas’ “Ula Ula” appeared in a Target commercial, but there was little traction in digital sales.…

TV. Google argues that more people watch YouTube than most major cable networks, while the TV advertising business is 16 times the size of the online video advertising market. Armed with metrics to compare itself to TV, YouTube potentially would have the leverage to lure more ad dollars online. Yahoo. Google’s closest competitor for online ad dollars could be hurt by the ascendancy of YouTube’s online video advertising. That’s because some of the growth in video ads has come at the expense of online display ads, a category where Yahoo derives nearly 40% of its revenue. YouTube artists. Thousands of artists like Lindsey Stirling rely on YouTube for a stream of revenue generated by the ads on their videos. By growing the overall amount of ad money flowing to YouTube…

It started as a drop-in recreation center in a church basement with 12 children. Today, nonprofit organization A Place Called Home is a comprehensive community center in South Central Los Angeles providing programs in education, arts and well-being for 300 young people—and currently preparing to celebrate its 20th anniversary. APCH’s “Gala for the Children: Celebrating 20 Years of Love” will be held Dec. 11 at the Beverly Wilshire hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. This year’s gala co-chairmen are Barbara Glazer, managing partner of Picture Head and partner in Howling Entertainment; entertainment industry veteran/former APCH board chairman Bob Israel; Maryellen Zarakas, senior VP of worldwide marketing/TV and studio licensing at Warner Bros. Consumer Products; and Dawn Taubin, chief marketing ofcer for DreamWorks Animation. Additional gala organizers include New Heights Entertainment head…

OP-ED TAMIR KOCH @MyMusICClOuD Today’s music services need to offer truly cross-screen experiences to meet new consumer demands. We already know about the importance of mobile and crossscreen. But cross-screen isn’t just desktop and mobile— that’s leaving one big platform out. A platform that’s big and growing: smart TVs. While mobile devices and an accompanying proliferation of mobile music apps are the digital music consumption catalyst of today, smart TVs are the catalyst of tomorrow. They’re one of the top trends that will dominate the tech space in 2014. Smart TV shipments are expected to reach 123 million in 2014. Think of smart TVs as a facilitator of the next generation of MTV. The experiences that they allow aren’t just about content— they offer new ways to engage with music…

Creek rises again: Billboard has confirmed that Nickel Creek is making its first record since 2005’s Why Should the Fire Die? The popbluegrass trio of mandolinist Chris Thile, fiddler Sara Watkins and guitarist Sean Watkins reunited in Los Angeles for an event celebrating CBS Films’ “Inside Llewyn Davis.” Sara Watkins and Thile record for Nonesuch, which is expected to release the album in the spring. But a label spokeswoman says it’s too early to discuss any details. Thile has a tour planned with his band Punch Brothers in March, leaving open the possibility of a few Nickel Creek concert dates in April or May. Perfect ‘Pitch’ When it came time to record his new disc, B.o.B enlisted a wide array of talent, including Ester Dean. And the singer/songwriter delivered, hitting…

You could say Barry Weiss’ destiny was etched in vinyl. When the chairman/CEO of Island Def Jam, Motown and Republic was a year old, his father Hy Weiss named an ofshoot of his indie doo-wop label Old Town after him. “It’s an odd thing seeing your name on a label,” the Woodbury, N.Y., native says. “I still have the 45 of Hector Rivera’s ‘At the Party.’” That first impression led to many more indelible moments, from having Stax greats at his bar mitzvah to catching early performances by Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys when he was president of Jive/Silvertone/Verity. He credits his meteoric trajectory to two Clives—Zomba’s Clive Calder, who hired him right out of college in 1982, and Clive Davis, whom he succeeded as head of RCA/Jive Label Group—along…

@BlowStaxx: “Blast and pray, as well all know, is gone. The focus is really about the personalization and targeting the influencers.” #TouringConf @Pimplomat: Your intern should not be running your digital marketing plan. #touringconf #iavm @DopeGirlGill: “There’s an increased focus on the “moment of passion” and personalization, including smaller/highly segmented email lists. #TouringConf” @Bandsintown: Amen “Every label in this room should have a digitally savvy person on their team.” - @guptamedia @billboard #touringconf #pushmktg @DaSilvaArtists: “Always play like you have something to prove” @FLAGALine @billboard #artist #wordsofwisdom #wordstoliveby #touringconf @iainbluett: @MarcieAllen on #sponsorship 1% is the transaction. 99% is the execution. #touringconf #brandin #marketing #eventprofs @jjschwed: “Stealing from one is plagiarism, stealing from many is research” - Gregg Perloff, #TouringConf words of wisdom @univsolmc: “You have to have an artist…

Strange Music co-founder Travis O’Guin made his fortune in the furniture repair business by age 22, and used the millions he’d earned fixing damaged goods for major retail chains to launch an independent hip-hop empire with Tech N9ne. But as it turns out, the intertwining history of the furniture and music businesses has deep roots going back nearly 100 years. The first furniture company to make signifcant inroads in the music business was Wisconsin Chair, which founded Paramount Records in 1917. The core business was constructing cabinets to hold phonographs—and the 78 rpm records were a way to keep customers returning to the furniture store. By a collection of happenstance, open-door policies and a fire that ravaged Thomas Edison’s manufacturing plant, Paramount went from nearly shutting its doors in 1922…

Affluent, music-loving, Englishspeaking and a long, long way over there. Such are the qualities of Australian music fans who have made their market a destination of choice for digital music services looking to expand their international footprint. In the space of three months during 2013, Google Play Music and iHeartRadio both arrived Down Under, marking the respective services’ first expansion outside the United States. It used to be that Australia had to get in line with everyone else. But the market has now leap-frogged Europe’s top economies as the place where upstarts begin to roll out. When the iTunes music store arrived in the United States in 2003, Apple turned to the United Kingdom, Germany and France for its first ventures abroad, launching there in 2004. Australian consumers had to…

Few bands have had a longer, rockier road to success than Parmalee. Shortly before signing with Stoney Creek Records after 10 years on the road, the band’s drummer, Scott Thomas, nearly died when he was shot during a robbery. After he recovered, the group’s debut single languished, and the foursome’s second single “Carolina,” a song first released five years ago, spent 38 weeks creeping up Billboard’s Country Airplay chart before finally hitting the top 10 on Nov. 9—the longest such climb by a duo or group in the chart’s 24-year history. Its success prompted Stony Creek to fast-track Parmalee’s major-label debut, Feels Like Carolina, from a planned mid-January release to Dec. 10. “After all we’ve been through, we’re ecstatic,” lead vocalist Matt Thomas says. “We appreciate what we’re doing right…

Last year, while touring for 2011 album Vice Verses, Switchfoot visited famous surfng locales in New Zealand, Indonesia and South Africa, looking to inspire a new album and document how the Southern California Christian rock band’s passions for waves and soundwaves collide. “There’s a freedom music and surfng both share,” drummer Chad Butler says. “There’s a sense of awe and wonder when you’re out in the ocean looking at the infnite horizon and feeling surrounded by the rhythm of waves and tides. That’s often where I find myself falling in love with music again.” “The movie positions the band—and the album positions them musically—to become a much more mainstream band than they’ve been on the last couple records.”—ANTHONY DELIA, ATLANTIC The tour was captured in a new documentary about the…

Vowch, an app launched by New York’s Tippt Media, is a unique take on the personal recommendations space. By allowing users to vouch for various interests— from food items to celebrities to music—they can earn points and build themselves up as an “influencer,” which increases their visibility and clout on the network. “We wanted to build a platform that in 30 seconds or less allows you to quickly give your friends a rich picture of what you’re into and a taste of why you’re into it,” says David Parker, who co-founded the app with brother Jeremy Parker and Jesse Itzler. Vowch lets one profile him or herself by creating little interactive packages with video, audio and text around music, TV and other interests. By allowing users to search whatever they…

For 15 years, the Now That’s What I Call Music! franchise has been going strong on the Billboard 200. This week, the latest entry in the series, Now 48, debuts at No. 3 on the tally, increasing the series’ lengthy chart career. The new album features 20 songs, including three current Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hits: Katy Perry’s “Roar,” Avicii’s “Wake Me Up!” and Lady Gaga’s “Applause.” 39% The Now 48 compilation starts at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 with 114,000 sold in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That’s up 39% in first-week sales compared with the arrival of the last set, Now 47 (82,000). The latter debuted and peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 on the Aug. 24 chart. 75.9M All 48 of…

After several mixtapes, indie rapper Chris Webby releases an EP, Homegrown, which debuts at No. 75 on the Billboard 200. 3 MONTHS AGO Webby and manager Dana Biondi announced a joint venture between their imprint HomeGrown Music and eOne on Aug. 28. Through the deal, eOne will assist with A&R, promotion and marketing of Webby’s EP and forthcoming LP Chemically Imbalanced, due in March. Webby released the EP’s first single, “Down Right,” through iTunes and his YouTube channel the same day as the announcement. A few days later, he launched his “Throwback Series” on his Twitter and Facebook pages, posting a previously released song every day in September to show fans how far he’d come. “He’s made over 150 records, so it was really about getting him back in people’s…

1 EMINEM Eminem has been on a roll with his last three albums. His latest, The Marshall Mathers LP 2, debuted with 792,000, up nearly 7% in sales compared with the first week of his previous set, Recovery (741,000). Further, Recovery’ bow was up compared with the debut of the album before that, Relapse, which moved 608,000 in 2009. 2 JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE After years of waiting for Timberlake’s return to music, it wasn’t surprising to see his 20/20 Experience rack up an enormous first week: 968,000. Therefore, it was bound to be difficult for him to challenge that figure with follow-up 2 of 2 in October. 3 DRAKE Like Eminem, Drake’s debut weeks have steadily improved with each successive album release. 2013’s Nothing Was the Same (658,000) trumped the debut…

The Nov. 19 release of the soundtrack to “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” was preceded by three singles from Coldplay, Christina Aguilera and Sia—a feat notable not just for Republic’s collaboration with the acts’ respective labels to work the songs at radio, but for the landmark improvements to Apple’s bundling of tracks into album pre-orders. ¶ “We’d always had the lack of flexibility of releasing singles and being of the pre-order itself—on a lot of occasions, the consumer had to buy that particular track twice once the album came out,” says Russell Fink, senior VP of digital and mobile sales for Republic and Island Def Jam (IDJ). “But over the last six to 12 months, we’ve seen iTunes overhaul their system in a way that’s put the consumer first, so…

It’s no secret that smartphone and tablet sales are exploding around the world. What’s less visible is how access to mobile broadband varies worldwide. A recent report by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) shows the differences in price and penetration of mobile broadband in various countries. These differences matter because affordable mobile broadband is necessary for the rich-media features offered on smartphones and tablets like music videos, apps or streaming services. Across six regions, a 500 MB postpaid handset plan is the most affordable and costs less than 6% of per capital gross national income (GNI). Prepaid plans are common in much of the world. (Africa is an exception to affordability.) Both pre- and post-paid plans cost at least (and often more than) 20% of per capita GNI. Most of…

What did you wake up thinking about this morning? Probably the first thing I think is “Boy, I really want a cup of coffee,” but I really wake up thinking about my family’s health. Sure, I think about how we’re going to build our business, but what I’ve learned over the years is that if your family is healthy, everything else is secondary. Describe a lesson you’ve learned from a failure. The big one came when the economy collapsed and we were left with an unsustainable capital structure. And while we never dreamed it was unsustainable going in, you have to say you failed in not anticipating the economy’s collapse. Pulling out of that is probably the most gratifying thing of my career, and the lesson I learned is that…

RELATED FIELDS The Country Music Assn. board of directors appoints music and TV industry veteran Sarah Trahern CEO, effective Jan. 1. She replaces Steve Moore, who resigned in July. CMA board president ed Hardy has since assumed day-to-day CEO duties and will continue doing so until Trahern takes over in January. Trahern joins the CMA from Scripps Networks interactive’ Great American Country, where she served as senior VP/GM. Prior to Scripps, she covered politics and public affairs for C-SPAN in Washington, D.C. After joining GAC in 2005, Trahern was promoted to senior VP of programming and in 2010 became the network’s GM. That same year, she was named one of Billboard’s 30 female power players in the music business. LABELS The RiAA names George Borkowski senior VP of litigation and…

BUSINESS MATTERS GLENN PEOPLES @BILLBOARDGLENN In the physical world, retailers do a good job of targeting specific customers. Country fans can find the artists they hear on the radio while shopping at a Walmart in a suburban or rural town. Rock and indie rock fans are well-served by the selection of vinyl and CDs at independent record stores. Christian bookstores cater to fans of the genre’s music. In some cities, Latin music fans can find music retailers targeting native Spanish speakers. Digital retailers and services have incredibly deep catalogs but, ironically, lack the diversity of the physical world. Fans of pop, hip-hop and rock are incredibly well-served. Subscription services tend to lean toward indie rock in editorial and exclusive content, targeting one subset of consumers at the expense of fans…

Divas In The House Mariah Carey and Deborah Harry celebrated the Out100 Awards in New York, while Martina McBride got top props at the Nashville Assn. of Talent Directors Honors, toasted by producer Paul Worley, CAA’s Darin Murphy and Big Machine’s Scott Borchetta. 1 Who’s the fiercest one of all? It was an open question at Out magazine’s 19th annual Out100 Awards at New York’s Terminal 5 on Nov. 14. “I’m a straight girl, so I don’t really know why they asked me to be here—but my boobs have been out for years,”Mariah Carey joked while accepting the artist of the year award in honor of her friend, movie director Lee Daniels (“The Butler,” “Precious”). Deborah Harry (right) performed at the event, recognizing LGBTQ leaders both in and out of…

The Nerd Bird The 56-minute fight between Los Angeles and the Bay Area has been an industry must ever since the term “convergence” was coined. Here’s our user-friendly guide from those who can talk motherboards and Mothership. The connection between Silicon Valley and Hollywood is deeper than ever. To wit, Los Angeles’ media players have taken to the skies with abandon, prompting Virgin America to dub its recently launched LAX to San Jose, Calif., fight “the nerd bird,” the only carrier offering in-f ight Wi-Fi. Frequent fights—including ones from L.A. to San Francisco and Oakland—make same-day returns easy. But there’s more to the commute than meets the eye. Five music executives share their survival strategies, so you’re not left winging it. —Alex Pham BEST AIRLINE FOR THE JOB “Flying anything…

IF YOU’D LIKE TO KNOW WHERE ONE DIRECTION will be a year from now—let alone next week—score yourself an invite to the weekly planning calls with the principals of Modest! Management, Sony International and Columbia Records, held every Monday for the last 18 months. “What we set out to do is basically deconstruct things and say, ‘We’re in business together—this is a partnership,’” Sony U.K. International senior VP Mark Collen says. “There’s no dictation from one side to the other. It’s everyone agreeing on, ‘This is how it works.’” Had you been privy to the calls held 10 months ago in mid-January, you’d have heard initial plans being mapped out for Midnight Memories, One Direction’s latest album (out Nov. 25) and third in two years’ time. As 2012 came to…

“There’s not much in this industry that shocks me, and I’m officially shocked. I am so moved and honored to accept this. We can all make a difference.”—Marcie Allen, on winning the Humanitarian Award 1 MAC Presents president Marcie Allen (right) and Citi senior VP of entertainment marketing Jennifer Breithaupt took home the Concert Marketing & Promotion Award for their work on the Rolling Stones’ 50 & Counting tour. Allen also received the Humanitarian Award. 2 Worlds collided when Billboard Legend of Live George Strait (center) connected with Vans Warped tour founder Kevin Lyman (left), who was named Hauler of the Decade in the inaugural Shell Rotella Haul of Fame, presented by Shell Rotella global brand manager Chris Guerrero. Speculation that Strait would play Warped in 2014 could not be…

Black Friday may be suffering an identity crisis as retailers of all stripes make moves to stretch out the 24-hour period into a multiple-day shopping event. With worries that shoppers are haunted by the weak economy, that online retail will pick up market share and that the traditional five-week shopping period in between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year is truncated to a four-week period, music merchants went into proactive mode and have begun pre-Black Friday sales as early as the week before. The moves have label executives excited, saying that all the attention can’t help but drive sales. But what’s got industry executives even more fired up is that music once again has good representation in retail circulars—something that has been missing in action in recent years as DVDs have…

Keep ticket prices down. Don’t grow too big. Stay prudent at the talent-buying table. Those are the top tips for Australia’s festival operators in the years ahead. Because when the dust settles on 2013, festival promoters Down Under will take stock of what’s been the bloodiest year in recent memory. Many of the big brands changed hands, retooled or went down. Harvest and Peats Ridge were canceled and won’t return, while the Homebake and Pyramid Rock festivals nixed their 2013 events. “Ticket price has had such a massive impact, and that’s probably what’s affected the bigger festivals,” says Stephen Wade, CEO of booking agency Select Music. Wade reports that such festivals as Falls and Groove in the Moo are having “no problems” and that they “resisted that urge to chase…

Snoop Dogg’s newest project, a collaboration with singer/producer Dam-Funk due Dec. 10 on Stones Throw, is a homecoming for the legendary rapper. The two met when Dam-Funk (pronounced “dame”) performed at a Colt 45- sponsored party in Los Angeles in 2011 that Cashmere Agency—which handles marketing for Snoop—threw for Joe Cool, the illustrator behind the artwork to Snoop’s landmark 1993 solo debut, Doggy Style. Impressed by Dam’s P-Funk-inspired beats, Snoop grabbed the mic and started freestyling for more than an hour. “It felt like magic,” Snoop recalls. “I complement Dam’s music and his music complements me.” That impromptu collaboration eventually led to a week of recording sessions that produced the pair’s debut album, and its name. 7 Days of Funk is filled with the wobbly basslines, drum-machine hand claps and…

LOS CAMPESINOS! Welsh sextet Los Campesinos! is pushing its new album No Blues, released Oct. 29, with shows in the United Kingdom and the United States. The run is booked by Matt Hickey at High Road Touring, the band’s agent since it formed in 2006. Speedy Ortiz and Joanna Gruesome are joining the act on select U.S. dates. Routing: The band will kick of the tour with five dates at home, beginning at Clwb Ifor Bach in Cardif, Wales (Dec. 5) and culminating at Heaven in London (Dec. 9). The group moves stateside beginning Jan. 21 with four shows in Boston, New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C. “It’s the shortest tour they’ve done in the U.S.,” Hickey says. “They toured a lot here for the last record, and the cost…

Did you really think Simon Cowell and team Syco would drop the ball on 2013’s most marketable boy band? Across the 14 tracks on Midnight Memories, there’s hardly a carefully manicured hook that doesn’t sound like it’s auditioning to follow “Story of My Life” as the next single. “Best Song Ever” has a massive chorus that bobs along like 2012’s “Live While We’re Young” and 2011’s “What Makes You Beautiful,” but it’s not all rehash: One Direction continues to prove there’s more Jonas Brothers than ’N Sync in its boy band DNA by embracing the guitar—from the solo in “Little Black Dress” to the Mumford & Sons beat that “Happily” manages to pull of. The quintet still sings about love with teenage idealism, even as contributions from One Republic’s Ryan…

Lady Gaga collects her second No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 as ARTPOP debuts with 258,000 copies sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That number is in line with recent first-week sales from other female pop artists, Katy Perry’s PRISM (286,000) and Miley Cyrus’Bangerz (270,000), but has caused a furry of press coverage comparing it with the 1.1 million that Gaga’s 2011 blockbuster, Born This Way, sold in its initial frame, aided by a street-week 99 cent Amazon deal. “There were some extraordinary circumstances on the last album,” Interscope vice chairman Steve Berman says. “This time, it’s about the music and digging in for the long term.” Interscope head of sales Gary Kelly calls ARTPOP “the next facet of her career” and says the label launched lead single “Applause” in…

OVER THE COUNTER KEITH CAULFIELD As forecast last week, lady Gaga debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with her new album, ARTPOP. It sold 258,000 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It’s the second No. 1 set for Gaga, who also debuted at No. 1 with her last album, 2011’s Born This Way. That set bowed with 1.1 million sold in its first week (a number amplifed by a temporary 99 cent sale deal by Amazon MP3). ARTPOP is also the fifth top 10 for Gaga, following The Fame (No. 2), The Fame Monster (No. 5), The Remix (No. 6) and Born This Way. The arrival of ARTPOP is the third-largest sales week for a woman in 2013. It follows Katy Perry’PRISM (286,000 in its…

Pandora has given up its efforts to seek legislation that would help reduce the royalties paid to rights holders, a source knowledgeable with the decision tells Billboard. Instead of pursuing legislation, Pandora will focus its efforts on lobbying the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), the three-judge panel that sets statutory rates for webcasters like Pandora. The current rates run through 2015. Pandora believes there’s reason for confidence. “There are different members on the board than the last time around, and we like our odds better now,” the source says. Pandora didn’t comment on the company’s specific strategy for addressing royalties. “Pandora will focus on other paths to resolution,” a representative says. One path could be direct deals with labels, which Apple has secured for iTunes Radio. “Direct deals are not something…

For the past three years, Post Foods has used artistdriven campaigns to market its Honey Bunches of Oats cereal to the Hispanic marketplace, tapping Jencarlos Canela in 2011 and Prince Royce in 2012. They’ve proved to be so successful that, in an unprecedented move, Post is taking its new campaign to the broader market, using a song by Puerto Rican duo Domino Saints as the basis of both its Hispanic and mainstream media campaigns for 2013 and 2014. This marks the first time Post has turned to music to promote its top-selling cereal to the general market, and the decision to do so is indicative of how brands are increasingly looking at the Hispanic marketplace for cues. “If any partnership has arisen, it’s because there has been Hispanic dollars behind…

Google Lets Nielsen In GOOGLE BY THE NUMBERS 2.8% Projected growth in spending on U.S. TV advertising, according to eMarketer. 43% Projected growth in U.S. online video advertising spend in 2013 (eMarketer). $4.1b Estimate of U.S. online video ad spend this year, compared with $66.3 billion for TV ads (eMarketer). WHAT: Google has let Nielsen test its measurement tools on the company’s YouTube video platform. Google already has allowed Nielsen’s online rival, comScore, to run tests of its analysis tools on the YouTube platform. Once fully deployed, Nielsen and comScore would be able to provide third-party verification for the performance of ad campaigns on YouTube. A Google representative tells Billboard that the two services are expected to be broadly available to advertisers by “early next year.” Google’s arrangements with Nielsen…

Internet radio service Songza has teamed with concert data site Songkick to create playlists featuring music from artists on tour. Songza will have a rolling playlist that will be updated based on a combination of touring data and editorial decisions. Songkick, the 6-year-old London-based company, has compiled more than 3 million upcoming and past concerts and has more than 100,000 set lists in its database. Its concert data has also been integrated into such platforms as YouTube, Vevo, Bandcamp, the Hype Machine, SoundCloud and Spotify. Songkick has reached more than 8.5 million unique fans each month through its mobile apps and website. . . . New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed a tax on digital goods like music files and such subscription services as Spotify, ebooks and video-on-demand services…

RETAIL TRACK ED CHRISTMAN @EDCHRISTMAN If the music business adopted a global street date, all new records would arrive on the same day in every market around the world—not like it is now, where new music arrives on Tuesday in the United States, Monday in the United Kingdom and Friday in Australia. The recent experience of issuing Arcade Fire’ “Refektor” song as part of a “9/9/9” campaign has convinced several senior executives that this is an issue the industry should address. For one, it would help stem Internet piracy. Nowadays, once an album is released in one market, it leaks in others around the world. The gain in having a global street date would be universal messaging so marketers could get in front of an artist’s fans through social media.…

1 Attending the Grammy Museum’s Architects of Sound: Motown event in Los Angeles on Nov. 11 are De Passe Jones Entertainment Group co-chair Suzanne de Passe and Motown founder Berry Gordy, who was honored along with Smokey Robinson. 2 What’s going on? Berry Gordy (right) gets a warm greeting from Recording Academy president/CEO Neil Portnow at the soiree. 3 Delta dawn: Delta Airlines celebrated its expansion in Seattle with a first—hosting a preshow VIP reception and Q&A session with Michael Bublé, who brought his To Be Loved tour to the Key Arena on Nov. 15. “Michael Bublé is a perfect person for us to align ourselves with because he is an artist who appeals to all ages,” Delta SkyMiles director Jarad Fisher said. Bublé manager Bruce Allen, Delta’s Ranjan Goswami,…

You’ve arrived. Now what? We asked our intrepid fliers for other ways to ensure your day-stay is as smooth as takeoff. Just download these free apps from the list below. No need to buckle up. Uber: Hire a town car for about the same cost as a taxi—tip included. Other perks? The app allows you to track the driver so you can estimate arrival time. Uber cars are much cleaner than a typical taxi. And because drivers are rated, they work extra hard to make sure they earn their five stars. Hotel Tonight: Stranded at the airport? It’s a not-so-uncommon occurrence thanks to San Francisco’s infamous fog rolling in first thing in the morning or late at night. Fire up Hotel Tonight, which scours nearby hotels for vacancies. Many hotels…

With the live entertainment industry riding a wave of success, the 10th annual Billboard Touring Conference & Awards was short on controversy but long on optimism and the currency of ideas, as the event sold out in advance for the first time in its history. Held Nov. 13-14 in New York, that optimism echoed through the meeting rooms, hallways and lobby of the Roosevelt Hotel, as attendees packed sessions and sat at tables and in the bar working up the sorts of deals that may end up being part of the discussion as the conference enters its second decade. Here are five big takeaways from the event. BUSINESS IS GOOD, AND GETTING BETTER “It’s a great time to be in the live business,” Live Nation Entertainment CEO Michael Rapino said…

Tech N9ne pauses to examine the still-wrapped box of condoms that has just been generously thrown onstage. It’s a sold-out hometown show at the French baroque Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland in Kansas City, Mo., and the crowd is feverish. Minutes earlier, Tech, born Aaron Dontez Yates, confded to the 3,000 fans in attendance that he’s just beaten a pesky cold and, this being the final stretch of a 50-date tour, fully intends to get some “good pussy” tonight. But it won’t be with the help of the proffered contraceptives. “This ain’t gonna cut it,” he concludes, in the gruff, theatrical baritone of a professional wrestler. Then he offers the box to a hapless cameraman, stage left, and half sings the punch line: “I only use Magnums!” Tech N9ne’s…

While the big boxes and the record store chains may well be turning Black Friday into Red Friday with big sales at razor-slim profit margins or outright loss leaders, indie record stores are once again cruising to “Back to Black Friday”—the promotion that has driven gains in vinyl sales year over year. In the last three years, label support for the event has more than tripled. In 2010, when Record Store Day first expanded beyond its April time slot with Back to Black Friday, the industry supported indie retailers with about 30 releases. This year, labels are releasing about 100 titles. They include specially made limited-edition titles from classic acts like Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead, inheritors of those traditions like Dawes and Band of Horses, kingpins of the…

Australians and New Zealanders travel well, and in recent years a cadre of recording artists from these parts enjoyed fantastic journeys of their own. The likes of Gotye, Tame Impala, Lorde, Kimbra, Cody Simpson, Empire of the Sun, Atlas Genius, the Temper Trap and DJs Havana Brown, Staford Brothers and Tommy Trash have broken through. Veterans Nick Cave, Sia and Keith Urban go from strength to strength, while Hillsong remains a hitmaker in the Christian music community. From behind the scenes, M-Phazes is leading the vanguard of Australia’s hip-hop community: The Melbourne-based musician co-produced with Grammy Award winner S1 the “Bad Guy” track on Eminem’s new album, The Marshall Mathers LP 2. As the Australian music industry gathers for the annual Australian Recording Industry Assn. Awards in Sydney on Dec.…

Darrin Arriens, adult top 40 WGYL Fort Pierce, Fla. OneRepublic, “Counting Stars.” This band has been underrated for too long. “Counting Stars” is the upbeat groove that should break it open for OneRepublic even more. Ryan Tedder’s vocals are unique in sound and lyrics. Great band, great song. American Authors, “Best Day of My Life.” It’s always interesting to hear what a group of Berklee College musicians will end up pumping out of your speakers. “Best Day of My Life” doesn’t disappoint. It’s creative and different and definitely stands out on the air. Daughtry, “Waiting for Superman.” I’m hearing many people say that this is Daughtry’s best work. He’s the closest thing to a rocker in the format, but when combined with his pop fan base and “American Idol” background,…

Lily Allen has achieved chart success in the nearly five years since her last album (2009’s It’s Not Me, It’s You) thanks to appearances on hits from T-Pain (“5 O’Clock”) and P!nk (“True Love”). But on the bitingly witty—and insidiously catchy—“Hard Out Here,” she candidly dismisses all the trappings required to achieve mainstream fame. “If you’re not a size 6/And you’re not goodlooking/Well you better be rich/Or real good at cooking,” she sings. Her vocals are even processed through what sounds like three layers of Auto-Tune, further driving home her point about contemporary pop’s antimeritocracy. But the hooky chorus and expert production from frequent collaborator Greg Kurstin keeps the song from becoming too heavy-handed. —ah Allen dismisses the trappings required to achieve mainstream fame on the bitingly witty—and insidiously catchy—track.…

Three TV placements have played a crucial role in setting up A Great Big World this year. But the biggest boost came when Christina Aguilera heard the band’s song “Say Something,” recorded a new version with the New York-based pop act and debuted it on “The Voice” the same day it hit iTunes. Since that Nov. 4 performance, the song’s two versions have sold 265,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. (The original sold 52,000 previously.) The track is No. 38 on the Billboard Hot 100, down from its No. 16 debut last week. The song’s drop on the charts this week was expected after buzz from “The Voice” ebbed, but a new video that premiered Nov. 19 could spur a rebound next week. “We never thought that would be a…

Radio’s New Vice DJ Vice nears the Mainstream Top 40 and Dance/Mix Show Airplay charts with “World Is Our Playground” (Flight Club), featuring Mike Taylor. KFRH Las Vegas is championing the song, with 46 plays in the Nov. 11-17 Nielsen BDS tracking week, along with KREV San Francisco (41 plays) and KSXY Santa Rosa, Calif. (19). In 1998, radio helped launch Vice’s career, as he began spinning records on rhythmic KPWR in his hometown of Los Angeles. “It really tightened up my skills,” he says of the experience. On Vacation Basic Vacation may have a leisure-themed name, but the pop-rock act is working hard on making its debut Billboard chart appearance. The trio is gaining at alternative radio with its singalong single “I Believe” (Capitol), which is receiving support from…

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 (Platinum). Numeral noted with platinum symbol indicates…