YTD MARKETSHARE:
NEARLY A WRAP
With 10 months in the books, the marketshare standings for 2019 are all but set in stone. The pecking order is nearly identical to what it was in mid-May, when we last took a snapshot of the business, and so are the individual marketshare percentages of the Big Three and the majors. Which brings to mind the immortal words of then-Arizona Cardinals head coach Dennis Green: “They are what we thought they were.”
Sir Lucian Grainge’s UMG maintains its double-digit lead on the macro level with 38.1% in total activity and 38.7% in audio streams. Sexier still, Uni occupies 55% of the Top 50 streaming-songs real estate, with a 46% share of the Top 50 albums, including the top four and seven of the Top 10.
Drilling down further, the Top 5 labels—Warner Music’s Atlantic, UMG’s Interscope Geffen A&M, Republic and Capitol Music Group, and Sony Music’s Columbia—control 43% of the market year-to-date. And this Top 5 truly stands apart; more than two percentage points separate #5 Columbia from the rest of the field in total activity.
John Janick’s Interscope has solidified its #2 status behind Billie Eilish’s 2m+ debut album, the second-biggest of 2019, while her previous EP is currently #20, along with Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born ST (#8), Juice WRLD (#18 and 25), DaBaby (#22), Roc Nation/Dreamville/Interscope’s Dreamville & J. Cole (#24) and Ella Mai (#48). Joie Manda’s fingerprints are all over IGA’s flamethrower year.
Monte Lipman’s Republic may be #3, but it’s dominating both Top 50 YTD chartss, with five of the Top 10 albums: Post Malone at #1 and 6, Ariana Grande at #3, Taylor Swift at #4 and Drake at #10. Not only are all three of Post’s albums on the chart, they’ve moved an astonishing 4m+ combined this year. The label has 11 Top 50 entries in all, one short of Atlantic. It’s a similar story singles-wise, as Republic’s dozen entries are matched only by Interscope, with Post’s “Sunflower” (#2) and “Wow.” (#6) and Ariana’s “7 rings” (#4) leading the charge.
Steve Barnett’s CMG has a pair of Top 10 singles with Halsey’s #7 “Without Me” and Marshmello & Bastille’s #10 “Happier” (Astralwerks), while a pair of QC/Motown/Capitol acts make the Top 50: Lil Baby & Gunna at #21 and City Girls at #41. Sam Smith’s collab with Normani, meanwhile, is #48. Lil Baby & Gunna also have the #33 album, as QC co-heads Coach K and P continue to move the needle.
Ron Perry’s rebuild of Columbia was emphatically spiked by Lil Nas X’s history-making chart-topper, “Old Town Road,”—the year’s biggest single by a country mile—while his debut EP sits at #7 on the YTD album chart. It was followed by “Pop Out” from fellow rookies Polo G and Lil Tjay, now #22 on the year, fast-tracking the venerable label’s youth movement, as have K-Pop breakouts BTS, whose BigHit/Columbia album sits at #39.
Also at Rob Stringer’s Sony Music, Sylvia Rhone’s Epic has Top 50 albums from #13 Travis Scott, #23 21 Savage, #36 Future and #46 DJ Khaled, while the big story at Peter Edge’s RCA is #5 Khalid. And The Orchard has solidified its #8 ranking, under Brad Navin’s leadership, rolling a 3.7% YTD.
At Max Lousada’s WMG, as Aaron Bay-Schuck and Tom Corson continue their revamping of Warner Records and its roster, Dan + Shay, on John Esposito’s Warner Nashville, are country’s current crossover kings, most recently scoring with “10,000 Hours,” their collab with Justin Bieber, which debuted at #4 on the Hot 100.
Elsewhere in Music City, there’s very little separation between Randy Goodman’s Sony—with newly minted superstar Luke Combs leading the way—and Mike Dungan’s rock-steady UMG.
See you in the end zone. Feel free to dance, assuming there's something to celebrate.
