WHEELS & DEALS: SOME BRIGHT SPOTS IN A DISMAL YEAR

THIS YEAR’S Q4 BUMMER: When he’s not selling lemons at his lemonade stand, HITS’ own Retail Editor Mark Pearson gives us his analysis on the music retail market (so he says). He tells us that the report for overall sales in the fourth quarter of this year looks pretty bleak. We don’t mean to bum you out, but the biz is projected to be at around a 10% decline in sales by the end of the year, compared to the same time last year—and there don’t seem to be enough big albums in the traditionally industry-saving Q4 release schedule to better that number. So while we were sitting in the can the other day, we did our own analysis of this year’s album charts and tallied the number of new artists who reached gold or platinum certifications on their debuts or breakthrough records. On the rock side, the list includes The Killers, Fall Out Boy, Franz Ferdinand, Jet, Switchfoot, Breaking Benjamin, Crossfade, Three Days Grace, Shinedown, Keane, Howie Day, Postal Service and Hawthorne Heights. The big winner of that list is Island’s Killers, who are now north of 2.6 mil, while Fall Out Boy is cranking 43k/week and has just crossed over a mil in sales. Kudos and cigars go out to Island kingpin L.A. Reid and A&R whiz (and new papa) Rob Stevenson for helping keep rock in play. Meanwhile, an extra notable mention goes to Victory Records act Hawthorne Heights, who are fast approaching 600k in sales. As much as Tony Brummel may rub people the wrong way, he continues to sell records without much help from radio. Notable new acts on the Pop and Urban side include Ciara, The Game, T.I., Ashlee Simpson, Jesse McCartney, Mike Jones, Anthony Hamilton, Daddy Yankee, Bobby Valentino, Joss Stone and Lindsay Lohan. Of course, there are a number of new country acts that have sold very well, but you can read about that in R&R… BACK TO THE NEWS: Lots of buzz surrounding the Randy Nichols-managed the Starting Line. As press time, looks like the band will be out of their Geffen deal and become a free agent. We hear label folks are flying to check out the band while they’re on the Nintendo Fusion Tour with Fall Out Boy. Meanwhile, the former label home to the band, Drive-Thru Records, has reportedly been in talks with several majors for a new distro arrangement. The indie has a current deal with Sanctuary, but in light of all that’s been going on over there, it looks like Drive-Thru is starting to search for a new home… More on the Sanctuary tip: Insiders share that the rock/pop management division and the label’s rock catalog are still in place and maintain profitability, which was the backbone for Sanctuary’s success in the first place… Hollywood’s Jason Jordan has signed the Braden Merrick/Larry Little-managed The Drama… Expect big weasel turnouts for the Arctic Monkeys shows in N.Y. and L.A. this week. We’ll keep you posted… New Capitol signing Airbourne is in talks with a number of pubcos for a deal. Stay tuned… Lastly, Universal big-baller/shot-caller Kevin Law, who is also a proud new papa, has apparently been in the meet-and-greet tip with a number of companies for his publishing venture. We hear this one is getting a little hot and heavy… BUZZIN’: Moving Units, Carl Stubner and What Made Milwaukee Famous… Hit me up: [email protected]

BUZZ GIGS:
UNDEROATH Mon., Nov. 21, TBD, House of Blues Sunset
STARTING LINE Wed., Nov. 23, TBD, Ritacco Center, Toms River, NJ
THE CRIBS Mon., Nov. 28, TBD, Mercury Lounge