2020 YEAR-END MARKETSHARE
The winner and new champion in the annual marketshare competition is John Janick’s Interscope Geffen A&M, as it concludes a record-breaking year—a remarkable achievement considering Interscope’s three decades of consistent dominance. IGA pulled off this historic feat with a balanced attack that featured core artists Eminem and Lady Gaga alongside next-gen stars Billie Eilish, Juice WRLD, DaBaby, Rod Wave, Summer Walker and Moneybagg Yo, collectively snagging no fewer than 13 of the year’s Top 50 albums. And like the Biden-Harris ticket, IGA extended its lead over 2019 champ and 2020 runner-up Atlantic in the late returns, finishing the year with a 10.2% share to Atlantic’s 9.9.
IGA is the pacesetter for Sir Lucian Grainge’s steamrolling UMG, whose 38.4% share is nearly 13 percentage points above the field. Monte Lipman’s Republic is a solid #3 with 7.9%, with four of the year’s Top 7 albums: Pop Smoke’s debut, which has just passed 2 million in total activity; Taylor Swift’s folklore and The Weeknd’s After Hours, each of which will be hitting the 2m milestone any day now; and Post Malone’s Hollywood’s Bleeding, the latest of his three albums, all of which seem to be permanently lodged in the Top 50. What’s more, Swift’s evermore, her second smash album in five months, has given the scorching-hot label an unexpected finishing kick.
In Steve Barnett’s final season as the head coach of Capitol Music Group, the Tower of power posted a solid 7.6%, good for #4, and scored the year’s biggest album in Lil Baby’s 2.5m+ My Turn (QC/Motown). Jeff Vaughn and Michelle Jubelirer are taking over a winning team. Def Jam is showing signs of life under Jeff Harleston’s leadership, with Album of the Year Grammy nominee Jhené Aiko becoming the label’s newest star, while Justin Bieber released another million-seller. And Mike Dungan is having continued success with Chris Stapleton and Sam Hunt at UMG Nashville.
At Rob Stringer’s Sony Music, #2 of the Big Three with 25.7%, a revitalized Columbia has once again become a power in Ron Perry’s third year at the helm, climbing to 7% and solidifying the label’s #5 status. The primary 2020 contributors were superstars Harry Styles and BTS, along with sophomore sensation Polo G and rookie phenoms 24kGoldn and Jawsh 685. Peter Edge’s RCA made a big splash with Best New Artist nom Doja Cat; Future, Travis Scott/Jackboys and 21 Savage led the way at Sylvia Rhone’s Epic; and Luke Combs finished the year with two albums in the Top 25 for Randy Goodman’s Sony Music Nashville.
Steve Cooper’s WMG has 16.7% of the market, as Warner’s Bay-Schuck and Corson showed off the dance moves they picked up from newly minted superstar Dua Lipa; the Bunny also got an unanticipated boost from Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 LP Rumours. Meanwhile, Espo’s Warner Music Nashville has launched a pair of potent crossover acts in Gabby Barrett and Dan + Shay.
