I.B. on marketshare YTD

TO MARKET, TO MARKET: Five months into the year, Monte Lipman’s Republic (with 9.3%) has taken a slight lead over Peter Edge and Tom Corson’s RCA (9.2%) at the top of the new-release marketshare leaderboard. Their nearest rival is IGA (6.1%), which has continued to inch upward since John Janick took the reins last fall—though Bob Morelli’s RED Distribution actually outpaced all but the top two label groups, with an impressive 7.4%. This message was brought to you by our own I.B. Bad, whose new "Near Truths" column will appear here in its entirety tomorrow. So set that little alarm thingie on your phone. (6/6p)