MARKETSHARE UPDATE:
ROUNDING SECOND

Seven months down and five to go—it’s the middle of summer, and even though it’s been an undeniable bunt of a year so far, the hits keep coming. And with 0.58333333 of the year under the industry’s collective belt, it’s interesting to note that we can still talk about who’s got what share of the business, whatever 100% of that business happens to represent.

Among the Big Five music groups, Universal Music Group’s marketshare lead, of course, remains unchallenged—at least as long as Warner Music Group and BMG still have deal points to hammer out. UMG’s share for the year stands at 29.4% for non-catalog albums (through 7/20). That’s down slightly from last month, and down 1.3% from the same point last year. But it’s still over 12 points ahead of #2 WMG.

By theoretical comparison, if WMG and BMG got together today, they’d put UMG in second place by 3.7% with a massive 33.1% share.

As things stand for now, however, WMG is second with 17% (up 2.5% over last year), BMG third with 16.1%, Sony fourth with 13.4% and EMI fifth with 9.8% (up 2.4% over last year).

The biggest seller for UMG so far this year continues to be 50 Cent’s Get Rich or Die Tryin’ (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope) at 5.5 million and counting. WMG’s biggest is Linkin Park’s Meteora (Warner Bros.) at 2.3 million. Sony’s hottest seller is the Dixie Chicks’ Home (Open Wide/Columbia) at 1.8 million, while EMI claims mega-upstart Norah Jones, whose Come Away With Me (Blue Note) has moved over 3.9 million to date.

On the label side, Interscope Geffen A&M continues its #1 run, leading the pack by three and a half points at 9.8%, thanks to 50 Cent. Warner Bros. again scores #2, bagging 6.3% on the strength of the ’Park and Cher, while Columbia, with 6.1%, moves up two positions since last month to #3, with the Chicks, John Mayer and Beyoncé all pitching in. Island Def Jam and Epic tie for #4 at 6.0% apiece, with Ja Rule and Ashanti leading for the former and the Chicago soundtrack and Celine Dion ahead for the latter.

In the bottom half of the Top 10 labels, meanwhile, it’s Atlantic (4.8%) at #6, Universal (4.6%) at #7, RCA/J (4.3%) at #8 and Capitol (3.4%) at #9, with Arista and Elektra tied at #10 (2.8% apiece).

MUSIC GROUPS (%)
1. UMG 29.4 30.7 1.3
2. WMG 17.0 14.5 + 2.5
3. BMG 16.1 17.1 1.0
4. Sony 13.4 14.8 1.4
5. EMI 9.8 7.4 + 2.4

TOP 10 LABELS (%)
1. IGA 9.8 9.4 + 0.4
2. Warner Bros. 6.3 6.0 + 0.3
3. Columbia 6.1 6.9 0.8
4. IDJ 6.0 8.9 2.9
4. Epic 6.0 6.7 0.7
6. Atlantic 4.8 3.7 + 1.1
7. Universal 4.6 4.6 0.0
8. RCA/J 4.3 2.7* + 1.6
9. Capitol 3.4 1.9 + 1.5
10. Arista 2.8 4.3 ­­­ 1.5
10. Elektra 2.8 1.8 +1.0

*Combined, pre-merger