RCA THE VICTOR AT FOUR-MONTH MARK

New-release marketshare in correlation with chart activity is the most accurate barometer of how a given company is operating, and with one-third of 2013 nearly in the books, several intriguing storylines are developing.

For starters, the race between Peter Edge and Tom Corson’s RCA and Monte Lipman’s Republic for #1 in new-release marketshare remains nip and tuck, with more lead changes than a tight NBA playoff game. RCA, with 9.9%, has edged about three-tenths of a percentage point ahead in recent weeks, thanks primarily to Justin Timberlake (the top seller year-to-date with 1.5m+) and P!nk (429k this year, putting it at #7, and 1.4m since its release last September), compared to #5 Taylor Swift (492k; 3.6m) and #9 Les Misérables for Republic (9.6%, with 400k of its 578k total coming since January 1). This race will likely remain too close to call well into the fourth quarter.

There’s another four-way battle going on for #3 among Jimmy Iovine and John Janick’s IGA (5.9%), Rob Stringer’s Columbia (5.7%), Atlantic (5.6%) and Steve Barnett’s Capitol (5.5%) though the release schedule for Atlantic in the coming months looks pretty barren.

No such drama surrounds the music group competition following the Lucian Grainge-helmed UMG’s acquisition of EMI, whose share has vaulted the company to 36.8% in TEA, almost seven full percentage points ahead of Sony Music’s 29.9%. That’s despite the stellar sales performances of Timberlake, P!nk and Glassnote’s RED-distributed Mumford & Sons (737k YTD, making it 2013’s #2 seller, and 2.2m in all). Universal has countered with Big Machine’s Swift, UMe’s Pitch Perfect soundtrack (#6, with 438k of its 650k total sales coming this year) and Les Miz, along with Rihanna (#11, 373k/927k) and Justin Bieber (#15, 352k), both from IDJ.

Here's a complete look at the marketshare standings: