Eye On Idol (4/22/11)

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The men are finally starting to pack up and leave American Idol, which has got to make the two remaining females feel a little better.
Stefano Langone, Jacob Lusk, and Haley Reinhart were Thursday’s (4/21) Bottom Three after the Post Millenium-themed performance show. Langone ended up being the latest guy to depart, after trying on his contemporary digs with Ne-Yo’s “Closer.”
It’s probably safe to say it wasn’t a huge shock. Since the Top 13 started singing March 10–seven weeks in all so far–Langone has made four trips to the Bottom Three, which is the season’s highest. Well, except for Reinhart, who has also made four trips and survived to sing another week.
I pretty frequently mention the “dreaded” opening spot on the longer performance shows early in the season, and there is interesting statistical data where that’s concerned.
In the seven weeks thus far, four of the opening slot contestants have been in the bottom three: Naima Adedapo (3/17), Casey Abrams (3/24), Jacob Lusk (4/6), and Paul McDonald (4/13). McDonald and Abrams were both sent home, though the judges revived Abrams with the season’s lone save.
On the flip side, by looking at the three weeks where the opening slot performer was not sent to the Bottom Three, it reaffirms who the season’s strongest contestants are. Country crooner Scotty McCreery has been given the opening slot twice this season, and still hasn’t been in the Bottom Three. Similarly, Lauren Alaina had an opening slot early in March and still hasn’t faced the possibility of elimination.
The only other contestant who hasn’t been in the bottom three is James Durbin, who continues to rise to every challenge with a big production and memorable performances. His take on Muse’s “Uprising” featured marching band percussion and space age costuming befitting the song’s over-the-top theatricality.
I wonder if the other contestants are secretly thinking, “Dude! You’re making us look terrible!” Because, let’s face it, he kind of is.
So Durbin, Alaina and McCreery are the likely Top 3 right now, but Abrams is enough of a wild card that he could spoil all the fun. Since his near-elimination, he hasn’t spent a turn in the Bottom Three. The performances haven’t all been winners, but he’s got serious guts. Never mind the performances, who else would dare sneak a kiss off Jennifer Lopez?
There’s only six left, so a really wild season of Idol is about to get even more so.
As a final interesting point, it might all be changing next year. Billboard reports that Idol producers are considering changing next season’s voting process to make it more fair and possibly limiting the number of times a contestant can use an instrument.
I can hear the mob chanting now, “Justice for Pia! Justice for Pia!”

Hollywood Growing Pains Echo Music Industry

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Like a mariner lost in the fog searching for dry land, the music industry wandered into the digital zone over ten years ago. Since then, it has been zig zagging, sailing in circles and only sometimes moving closer to the goal of evolving its business model to fit new realities. The film industry looked on from a distance, content that movie files were too big to be traded and swapped as easily as music.
But as the Walrus and the Carpenter smiled at the hapless oysters [before eating them] in Lewis Carroll’s classic poem, technology has now arrived to visit the film industry. The widespread adoption of high speed bandwidth means that downloading or streaming a movie file is becoming common. So is Hollywood managing change more efficiently than the music industry? Not so much, judging by the latest tussle between film studios and theater owners.
The flare up between studios and theaters is over a plan to offer VOD high definition premium movies only eight weeks after a film hits the big screens and months before it is normally available via Netflix, or Redbox. The cost will be $30. DirectTV began offering several titles under this plan (4/21). The economics are such that VOD is lucrative for the studios, but according to some analysts, it could be disastrous for the theaters. And theaters are also concerned that the eight-week window could get even shorter…
“How seriously would a 5 percent drop in attendance hurt them [theaters],” asks Edward Jay Epstein, author of the The Hollywood Economist in an article for TheWrap.com. Epstein quotes an unnamed senior executive familiar with the numbers who says, “In 2000-2002 just a 3-5 percent drop in tickets sold caused almost half of all the theaters in the U.S. to file for bankruptcy. A 10 percent drop in ticket sales, and the attendant decline in concessions income and advertising income, will close over two-thirds of the American movie theaters — and they will never re-open.”
“If so” Epstein notes, “the studios are undertaking a highly risky business. They are offering the public the possibility of watching new movies at home without the hassle and expense of hiring a baby-sitter, driving to a megaplex, and buying food at the concession stand.”
A followup Wrap article presents the other side of the argument saying that predictions of doom are premature since most box office runs are largely over by the time the new windows would take effect. Paramount and Disney have not signed on to the plan, leaving Warner Bros., FOX, Universal and Sony to face the wrath of the theaters. Theaters have fired back at studios by demanding to renegotiate ticket percentages for movies that are part of the new plan.
Music observers will likely see some parallels between the two entertainment industries. The film group is in the process of realizing they will have to give consumers what they want, when they want it or suffer the consequences. Today’s increasingly on demand media world means this issue will not go away simply by ignoring it. Theaters are going to have to find ways to make the big screen experience so attractive they can compete with watching at home and shorter windows of exclusivity. Digital piracy will also exert a stronger influence over release schedules as the ability to toss feature film files across the Internet continues to improve.
Exactly how the ending will play out for the film industry is unclear, but they are right to experiment and find better ways to meet consumer needs. The music industry was slow to embrace change and has spent over a decade suffering falling sales and decreasing revenues. Let’s hope Hollywood has learned from those mistakes.

Ticketmaster To Try Dynamic Pricing

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Ticketmaster will introduce dynamic ticket pricing this year, which will change the cost based on consumer demand. The company has partnered with MarketShare to develop a suite of tools to help clients adjust prices before and after the on-sale date. The tools will use a wide range of data sources, such as historical ticket sales, search and video activity, and social media data.
Ticketmaster CEO Nathan Hubbard says that with the new system “clients will be able to retain economic value that is normally siphoned off by the secondary market, and to sell more of their tickets that go unsold today. Meanwhile, more fans will have more opportunities to enjoy live entertainment events because tickets will be more accessible and pricing options will broaden.”
Ticketmaster plans to roll out dynamic pricing starting with sporting events and concerts. As part of the initiative it has launched its own LiveAnalytics.

MarketShare is a leading company that has worked with entertainment outfits as well as numerous global brands.

"Paper Airplane" Glides To No. 1

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Paper Airplane, the latest from Alison Krauss and Union Station, glided into the No. 1 spot on both the Country and Bluegrass album charts moving 83,000 units in its debut week [Nielsen Soundscan]. It marks a career best for the band who hadn’t offered new music in seven years.
Meanwhile, the Country Strong soundtrack got a boost from the movie’s DVD/home rental release. The album landed at No. 3 on the Country chart with almost 19,000 units sold, for a RTD total of 213,000. At least three songs from the flick are on the digital tracks chart. And a companion volume offering more music debuted with 6,500 units.

Aldean and Clarkson on "Idol."


On the digital tracks chart, downloads of Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson‘s “Don’t You Wanna Stay” jumped 64% following their American Idol performance last week. Even before the added 59,000 units, the track was already past the platinum point.
Other debuts include Brad Paisley’s “Old Alabama” which sold 56,000 downloads. He played the song on the recent ACM Awards.
All-genre album sales are down 2.9% YTD, while Country album sales are hurting more with a 10% slide.

Swift Leads Digital Download Sales Race

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According to the RIAA’s latest tally, Taylor Swift is the top-selling digital single artist with over 22.5 million career song downloads to date.
Though it is early in 2011, she is facing competition for the most career downloads from Lady Gaga (20 million digital singles as of February), Rihanna (19 million) and the Black Eyed Peas (17.5 million).
Swift sold more digital downloads during the past decade (2000-2009) than any other RIAA certified artist.
Additionally, all three of Swift’s Big Machine Records albums are RIAA certified triple-Platinum or higher with Taylor Swift (2006) 4x multi-Platinum, Fearless (2008) 6x-multi Platinum, and Speak Now 3x multi-Platinum.
 

Capitol Promotes Allison Hardy

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Allison Hardy


Capitol/EMI Records Nashville has promoted Allison Hardy to Manager, Media & Public Relations. She has been part of the label’s team since interning with the company in 2008 and has worked in the promotion and marketing teams over the last three years. Her most recent stint was Coordinator of the Marketing Department, reporting to Cindy Mabe, SVP, Marketing.
“Allison Hardy is such a valuable team member at Capitol, having experience within promotion, marketing, and digital and social media,” explains Mabe. “Her work ethic, love for the music and artists and desire to learn and grow make her the perfect candidate for the job. I really believe she will bring a unique perspective and skill set to our aggressive media team. I am really excited and proud to have Allison join Lori and Taryn as we take the media department in a new focused direction with our incredible roster of talent.”
In her new role, Hardy will report to Lori Genes Christian, Senior Director, Media & Public Relations and help to oversee media campaigns for the artists on Capitol/EMI Nashville which include Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Walker Hayes, Alan Jackson, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Jennette McCurdy, Troy Olsen, Jon Pardi, Eric Paslay, Roy D. Mercer, Kenny Rogers, Darius Rucker, Keith Urban and Tim Wilson.
Hardy can be reached at [email protected] or 615-269-2031.
Capitol/EMI is now looking to fill the New Media Coordinator position. Resumes can be sent to [email protected].

Blake Shelton's "Honey Bee" Treats The Single Like A Full Length Album Release

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Peter Strickland


This year’s post-Academy of Country Music Awards sales showed little, if any, overall sales bump (week ended 4/10/2011) according to Nielsen SoundScan. Country album sales inched a meager 1% over the previous week. However, Warner’s Blake Shelton, who debuted “Honey Bee” on the show and co-hosted with Reba, was a notable exception. His new single lodged firmly at No. 1 on the  country digital tracks chart selling almost 139k downloads, more than double the sales of the No. 2 track. Shelton, also posted six additional country digital tracks in the Top 100 all of which showed growth from the previous week of 10%-135%. “Honey Bee” is now the highest selling debut single by a country male soloist—ever.
“Singles often take big jumps based upon TV,” says Warner Music Nashville Sr. VP Brand Management and Sales, Peter Strickland. “Even when a track is played within the context of a show and not necessarily only with a performance, we see big digital spikes.”
Digital tracks usually have a Tuesday debut, but this writer noticed that immediately after Shelton’s Sunday night ACM debut, an email arrived alerting that the song was available at iTunes for purchase. Clearly, a plan was in place. And when SoundScan revealed the single’s impressive sales results, we wanted to find out more. MusicRow “tracked” Strickland while on the road in New York City where he graciously shared some of the behind-the-scenes elements leading to Blake’s strong showing.
“The timing was perfect for a premiere on the ACMs,” explains Strickland. “It gave us some breathing room after the last single to lead into a new single from a new project. Once the performance was confirmed on the ACMs we began building our plan. Knowing how people react to a TV appearance, performance or a song being featured we said, ‘This song has to be available digitally at the same time that the performance takes place.’ We went to our partners and gave them the opportunity to have the track available ‘off cycle’ which would be anything other than a Tuesday.”
Strickland notes, “It was delicate because radio wouldn’t have the single either. So the add date was based around the TV show as well. We delivered the song to radio on Sunday just before the performance, so they could immediately play it. Everything was timed around the performance and making the single available for people to buy. Part of the strategy was that if I could get Blake into the Top 10 overall digitally it puts him on the front page everywhere and then the curiosity factor happens. You know Katy Perry is No. 1 and Blake is No. 2 or 3. People ask, ‘Who is that guy?’ People shop off of the chart.
“All our online strategy was put in place as well. We bought advertising online, engaged the socials, the email database and put some of the older tracks on sale. We actually treated the single like we would a full length album release. We went out and bought TV spots in the Top 10 Blake Shelton markets advertising the single during the show. So people saw the performance and then heard, ‘You Can Buy It Now.’ Those things are hard to measure. If we didn’t buy TV advertising would we still have been at that number? It is hard to say. But taken collectively, it gave us a huge debut, and continued Shelton’s momentum growth.”
All marketers would rather sell an album unit with its higher revenue/profit as compared to a track unit. But with album sales, and the shelf space the physical portion of those sales require, shrinking faster than an over-dried Wal-Mart t-shirt the question arises: Are we entering a new phase for track strategy? “Digital singles are funny,” says Stickland. “You usually release them without a mass audience which means you are not going to have a big first week. It’s not treated like an album in the sense of getting the record all the way up the charts to reach critical mass before making it available in order to get big first week numbers. But we have to figure out how to do things differently. Treating this single as we would an album was a new way of thinking. We are still collecting pennies, but at the end of the day it’s going to lead to a bigger place. It might be an early upfront investment on the full length release in the future or maybe it is about selling five to seven million singles. Either way I’m not going to try and stop the consumer. I want to learn from their habits and hopefully give them more of what they want, when they want it.”
Over a year ago when WMG announced they would release a series of six track album packages on Shelton, there was a lot of marketplace discussion, not all positive. But Shelton’s star has undeniably risen and he’s received an avalanche of publicity. “It was March 2010 when we released the first six pak and wanted to do something different for Blake,” says Strickland. “It appears our decisions were fruitful in many areas, especially increasing Blake’s overall exposure in the marketplace. His appearance on The Voice is a tribute to this career building. Putting him in front of the country consumer and the fringe country consumer has created opportunities. Finally, people have had the opportunity based upon the number of press hits he’s had in the last 12 months to see his personality in addition to the music that he delivers to his base. If you are going to grow a career you have to hit that fringe audience.”
Can treating a single release as if it were a full album make economic sense in some way? “Yes,” says Strickland. “If you aren’t careful with the spend you can be losing money, but at the end of the day it is an investment and part of the marketing strategy for our format’s artists and the various revenue streams they produce. As an industry, we are investing in the artists and more than just record sales.”

Eye On Idol (4/15/11)

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Wednesday (4/13) night’s American Idol was themed Songs From the Movies, and kicked off with appropriately dramatic footage of Pia Toscano’s surprise elimination last week. Y’know, like a pivotal scene in a movie. So I figured we were in for a white knuckled, mind-bending results show on Thursday (4/14).
The result, however, proved anti-climactic.
Nashville-via-Huntsville, Ala. native Paul McDonald wound up being the first guy to exit the Top 13 competition, which I hate to say wasn’t a huge surprise. He faced the unenviable task of singing in the first slot on Wednesday night, which past results have shown to be a disadvantage. He then turned in a less-than-inspired version of Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock & Roll.” Tough odds to overcome.
But I genuinely like Paul, and could see him making a career  fronting a Wilco or My Morning Jacket type outfit. He’s probably not destined to compete with Katy Perry for pop radio airplay, and thank goodness for that.
Joining McDonald in the bottom three were Stefano Langone and Haley Reinhart, both of whom have spent some time there already. If this was American Idol 1993, Langone would be killing it. But as he seems to traffic almost exclusively in a brand of R&B that hasn’t been widely popular since the Clinton presidency (like Boyz II Men’s “End of the Road”), his chances don’t seem too great.
Reinhart, on the other hand, has started to pick up a little steam after big performances of “Bennie and the Jets” and “Piece of My Heart,” but still got the judges’ only criticism on Wednesday. After a solid interpretation of Blondie’s “Call Me,” the judges seized on her song choice and said it wasn’t the best showcase for her voice. Which the American public hears as “You don’t deserve to be here” when compared to the soft praise given to everyone else.
Thankfully Reinhart got a chance to redeem herself on the results show, partnering up with Casey Abrams for the jazz standard “Moanin’.” The two played off one another wonderfully, Reinhart’s voice alternating between a silky coo and that trademark throaty growl. In the middle breakdown, both got a chance to show off their improvisational scat-singing skills to the audience’s delight. A memorable performance.
Scott McCreery and Lauren Alaina have both still avoided the bottom three so far by sticking to their instincts. McCreery teased us a little bit this week with a couple bars of Nilsson’s “Everybody’s Talkin’,” which would have been amazing, but opted instead for the safer “I Cross My Heart” by George Strait. Alaina chose to tackle the Miley Cyrus hit “The Climb,” and sang it winningly. I suspect both will be around for some time yet.
Jacob Lusk gave one of his better performances with “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” a song that Iovine actually suggested to him during rehearsals. I don’t see him winning the competition, but it was enough for the night. And Abrams took yet another left turn with “Nature Boy” a la Nat King Cole, which was strangely subdued for him but interesting nonetheless.
But for now, it looks like James Durbin is trying to run away with this thing. He tried out Sammy Hagar’s “Heavy Metal” from the film of same name, and was joined by guitarist extraordinaire Zakk Wylde of Black Label Society. We’re talking serious metal cred, folks. And what’s more, voters no doubt got a kick out of seeing him tell Jimmy Iovine (respectfully) that he wasn’t going to change his song choice, and proceeding to knock it out of the park.
It’s the story of a one-time underdog, overcoming the odds to emerge victorious. Now that’s a movie I’d watch.

Natalie Kilgore Leaving BMLG To Launch Division of GPJ

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Natalie Kilgore


Natalie Kilgore is leaving her post as Head of Publicity for the Big Machine Label Group to create and lead a new Public Relations Division for George P. Johnson’s Entertainment Marketing Group.
GPJ is a premier experience and event marketing agency working with brands including Coca Cola, RAM, Swarovski, Nissan, Blackberry and the Olympics. In the past year, it has worked with Jason Aldean, Zac Brown Band, Jewel, Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, wil.i.am, and Stevie Wonder.
Kilgore says, “BMLG has been my life over the last four years and is comprised of some of the hardest working and most talented individuals I’ve known. I have the utmost love for Scott, the phenomenal staff and its amazing artists. However, I was offered an extraordinary opportunity that I couldn’t refuse…GPJ’s Andre Gaccetta is one of the most brilliant, innovative and tireless forces in this business and, together with his amazing team, has emerged as a leader in the changing landscape of artist and entertainment marketing. I am ecstatic to be joining the GPJ family and look forward to working with my Music Row family on exciting new opportunities.”
Erin Burr and Nikki Burns will helm the BMLG Publicity Dept until a replacement is named. They can be reached at [email protected] and [email protected].
Kilgore’s last day at Big Machine is today (4/13). Until she is in place at GPJ, she can reached at [email protected].
The Nashville office of George P. Johnson is located at 4000 Centre Pointe Drive, La Vergne, TN 37086. Phone: 615-768-3200

Awards Sales Bumps Fading Fast

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Backstage at the ACM Awards; Two Ft. Fred and Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Edition cover girl Brooklyn Decker.

Once upon a time, Nashville sales execs enjoyed a great amusement ride called the “Post Awards Bump.” Marketers would line up to ride this thrilling machine a few times each year immediately following a high profile televised award show featuring country music. But alas, like the long-defunct Opryland amusement park, the “Sales Bump” ride also seems to have closed up. Yes, things have changed.
For example, last week’s ACM Awards show (4/3) got great reviews for its pacing and strong performance lineup. But nevertheless, according to Nielsen SoundScan, country album sales nudged up an anemic 1% from the previous week. (The Top 75 Current Country rose 2.9%.) Perhaps this is the result of change arriving at retail country music outlets in the form of shrinking shelf space? And although it’s yet to be officially announced, Best Buy, (like Wal-Mart) has agreed to use Anderson Media to rack its stores with music product instead of dealing with the labels directly, a transition which will likely exert added pressure on label margins. [You heard it here first.]
Fortunately, country track sales did light up the consumer scoreboard, posting a gain this week—and really the only overall ACM bump to be found—of 6%. (Top 100 country tracks jumped 17.7% or only 220,261 units.)
But even in today’s world of diminished expectations, there are some individual highlights. Blake Shelton immediately comes to mind. His personality sparkled as new ACM co-host and “Honey Bee” performance stung its way into most viewer’s hearts. Shelton’s Loaded: The Best of… received a modest 15% hike to almost 7,000 units, but his single flew to the top of the country tracks chart boasting more than twice as many units as the No. 2 track—almost 139,000. The track was released on Sunday so that fans could achieve instant gratification and buy it immediately after hearing it on the ACM show. Warner Sr. VP Brand Management & Sales Peter Strickland was on a plane this morning and unavailable for comment, but his Sunday release strategy (tracks usually get released on Tues.) paid off handsomely. And who’s counting, but Shelton also placed six additional tracks on the top 100 country tracks list.
Numerous artists enjoyed album bumps of about 20%, but in real numbers these meant only a few thousand additional units at best. A strange example is Sugarland. They hosted the Mandalay Bay venue during the show and Ms. Nettles got two performance slots. The unexpected result was a 5% drop in album sales, and even the duo’s top selling track “Stuck Like Glue” faltered, sliding 19% to just below 25k units. (Did the Rihanna pairing upset Jennifer’s fan base?)
Zooming out to the larger view, as we close the week of 4/10/2011 all genre album sales are only off 4.1%. Country album sales are in a deeper trough, down 11.7%. However, the year is young and country’s real sales test will develop later in the year when release schedules heat up and efforts to entice consumers begin in earnest.