EMI: It appears that the company, in play for well over a year, will soon have new ownership, as it accepts a buyout proposal from Guy Hands’ private equity outfit Terra Firma, keeping it in British hands. The sale caps a busy six months for EMI Music topper Eric Nicoli, who began 2007 with a bang, abruptly terminating the Levy-Munns regime and consolidating Capitol and Virgin U.S. into the Capitol Music Group under the oversight of Jason Flom, completing the picture by installing Roger Ames to run North America. Bruce Lundvall’s Blue Note Label Group has the year’s #2 seller in Norah Jones (1.4 million), while Flom, who is having success with Corinne Bailey Ray, Lily Allen, 30 Seconds to Mars and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, has CMG up to 4.6%—making it the #6 label in new-release marketshare.
Warner Music Group: Linkin Park’s album rescued WMG from the doldrums of three down quarters, enabling Warner Bros. Records to claim the #2 spot in the six-month label competition with 6.2%. Otherwise, the situation remains dire, as Atlantic’s problems continue unabated, WMG announces 400 more layoffs, its leadership continues to be erratic, intra-company politics remain cutthroat and positive press releases are regularly concocted in an effort to spike the stock.
Sony BMG: On the Sony Music side, Rob Stringer and Steve Barnett opted to make improvements while business was good, scoring a major coup by extricating Rick Rubin from his deal at WB in order to transform Columbia into a creative mecca while maintaining the label’s status as a commercial heavyweight. As Rubin and new head of day-to-day Mark DiDia settle in, Columbia boasts a 5.9% new-release share, up half a point from a year ago and good for #3… Meanwhile, business is good at the house that Clive built, as RMG (#4 in new-release marketshare at 5.2%) notches the #1 and #5 sellers of the year in Daughtry and Carrie Underwood, and American Idol continues to gift-wrap potential stars for Davis to develop. The only pressing problem at the moment appears to be the Kelly Clarkson fracas... At Barry Weiss’ Zomba, Justin Timberlake continues to be the big story, as his album approaches 1 million units on the year, putting it at #6.
UMG: After an atypical down year, Jimmy Iovine’s Interscope is back at #1 with 6.4% and continuing to heat up, thanks to Robin Thicke, one of the year’s most intriguing success stories, with 800k and counting, along with Fergie, Gwen and Maroon 5, which will likely wind up as one of 2007’s biggest sellers. Iovine and Doug Morris’ acquisition of Octone and its flagship act is looking more shrewd by the week... Mel Lewinter’s two-headed Universal is having quite a year, with a #5 ranking at 4.8%. Akon (#3, 1.3 million) is pacing Sylvia Rhone’s Universal Motown, and Monte Lipman’s Universal Republic is breaking Amy Winehouse, who appears to be on the verge of superstardom. The big winner at L.A. Reid’s IDJ is Fall Out Boy (#7, 900k)…
The other big winner of 2007 is—who else?—Apple, as the iTunes Music Store continues to go head-to-head with the big-box retailers while assuming the role of deep-catalog leader following the dismantling of Tower Records. As Steve Jobs uses his ever-growing leverage to apply pressure on the other majors to drop copy protection, everyone is waiting to see what the new deals between Apple and the Big Four will look like.
COLDPLAY CROWNS U.K. CHARTS WITH HUGE DEBUT WEEK
The Rolls Royce of British rock (10/11a)
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THE GRAMMY SHORT LIST
Who's already a lock?
COUNTRY'S NEWEST DISRUPTOR
Three chords and some truth you may not be ready for.
AI IS ALREADY EATING YOUR LUNCH
The kids can tell the difference... for now.
ALL THE WAY LIVE
The players, the tours, the enormous beers.
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