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In what appears to be a key concession on Faxon’s part, the Beatles and EMI are said to be splitting revenue 50-50, with iTunes paying the Beatles directly.

TRANSITION TIME IS APPROACHING, SAYS I.B. BAD

The Coming Action at UMG and Sony Music, an 11-Month Scorecard, a Tale of Two Apples and the End of an Era in the Publishing Biz
UMG had another strong week, as Kanye West and Nicki Minaj racked up nearly 900k between them. Compared to the typically middling first weeks of even the most high-profile female artists, Minaj’s 371k is truly impressive, as the hot streak of Cash Money’s Williams brothers continues… Following weeks of rumormongering, many inside Sony and UMG now believe that Barry Weiss will take a key job within Lucian Grainge’s revamped East Coast operations. Grainge has reportedly been telling his New York label heads there will be someone in place between himself and them, and conventional wisdom suggests this someone will be the current RCA/Jive chief. According to Sony sources, Weiss’ deal is up in June, but are there other factors at work that could lead to a possible early exit prior to the announcement of Rolf Schmidt-Holtz’s replacement?… While the new roles of UMG’s ranking East Coast executives—L.A. Reid, Steve Bartels and David Massey at IDJ; Monte Lipman and Jason Flom at Universal Republic; and Sylvia Rhone at Universal Motown—are still unknown, it’s expected that most, if not all, will be part of Grainge’s team. But the hottest topic of conversation is: what will Doug Morris be doing after the first of the year? Most of those close to Morris believe retirement is a non-starter for this legendary record man, who appears to still have plenty of gas in the tank. How much longer is Morris contractually bound to UMG, and are there other opportunities for him?… With 11 months now in the books, UMG has a commanding lead in new-release marketshare with 33.8%, while also tallying six of the year’s 10 million sellers to date. Jimmy Iovine’s IGA leads the way with Eminem (who has the year’s top-selling album at 3.05m), Lady Gaga (#5, 1.58m) and Black Eyed Peas (#9, 1.11m this year). Reid’s IDJ has #3 Justin Bieber (2.05m), with West a good bet to finish the year in seven figures. Drake (1.19m) is at #7 for Rhone’s Universal Motown through Cash Money, while a surging Taylor Swift (up 71% this week with 255k following her Thanksgiving special, for a total of 1.98m in five weeks) is now at #4 for Universal Republic’s Big Machine. Sony Music (26.7%) is led by Epic’s Sade (#6, 1.25m), LaFace/JLG’s Usher (#8, 1.14m) and RCA/RMG’s Ke$ha (#10, 1.04m). Amazingly, the biggest seller for Warner Music (14.1%) is the 2008 LP from Atlantic’s Zac Brown Band (#11, 940k), while Capitol Nashville’s Lady Antebellum (#2, 2.85m) is the prime mover for EMI (9.9%)… Aside from West, the only album on course to break the million-unit mark by year’s end is Columbia’s Susan Boyle (900k), with labelmate Jackie Evancho (390 in two weeks), Minaj and Bieber’s first LP strong possibilities… More details are emerging about the BeatlesiTunes exclusive, which stands as Roger Faxon’s biggest coup since taking the reins at EMI. In what appears to be a key concession on Faxon’s part, the Beatles and EMI are said to be splitting revenue 50-50, with iTunes paying the Beatles directly, as opposed to the standard arrangement, wherein EMI would get the money and then pay a royalty to the band. No big advance reportedly was paid, but the EMI/Beatles bet was that the iTunes marketing campaign would also impact physical sales of the Beatles catalog. In terms of initial results, iTunes’ first-week U.S. tally of 313k albums was 33% of the first-week physical sales of the remastered albums in September 2009 (953k). Interestingly, Google is said to have offered tens of millions for the exclusive but was turned down. iTunes’ exclusive window supposedly closes in December 2011… Following BMG Rights Management’s pick-up of Chris Wright’s Chrysalis for the bargain price of $168m, wonderers are wondering about the status of London-based company head Jeremy Lascelles and U.S. chief Kenny MacPherson. Some speculate that BMG topper Hartwig Masuch will consider the leadership skills and solid relationships of the two respected executives while deciding on their futures… Linkin Park’s disappointing performance at retail (the LP has sold a modest 515k) has led to much finger-pointing at Warner Bros. by the band’s inner circle. But former top WBR execs are grumbling that the poor on-sales for the upcoming tour point the finger back at the Linkin Park team, and asking how the label can be blamed for a poor tour setup. The band appears to be struggling on all fronts without longtime manager Rob McDermott… Names in the Rumor Mill: Jack Sussman, Clive Davis, Simon Cowell, Julie Greenwald, Daniel Glass, Mel Lewinter and Tom Whalley.
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The latest tidbits from the bustling live sector (3/28a)
CITY OF HOPE TAPS MARCIANO FOR TOP HONOR
This year's philanthropic model (3/28a)
TRUST IN THE TOP 20
Hip-hop is no longer hibernating. (3/28a)
UMG BROADENS SPOTIFY OFFERINGS
Sir Lucian and Daniel are in harmony. (3/28a)
THE NEW UMG
Gosh, we hope there are more press releases.
TIKTOK BANNED!
Unless the Senate manages to make this whole thing go away, that is.
THE NEW HUGE COUNTRY ACT
No, not that one.
TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN PLAYLIST
Now 100% unlicensed!
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