Nielsen Holdings (NLSN) concluded a successful IPO today with gains of over 9% as the company surged to $25.00 during trading hours on the New York Stock Exchange.
The company which measures consumer behavior, and also gathers the SoundScan bar code information from music sales, originally offered to sell 71.4 million shares at $23 for a minority stake of about 20%.
Underwriters for the IPO were J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley. Over 53 milion shares changed hands during the day.

Hollywood entertainment blog TheWrap.com, usually content to bluster over the world of film and TV has issued a pair of music industry articles offering dire 2011 predictions.
“Has the music stopped for the broken record business?” asks writer Johnnie L. Roberts, who arrives at TheWrap via stints for Newsweek and the Wall Street Journal. Roberts quotes an unnamed major label senior exec who says, “No other industry will go through as much change as the music industry will in the next six months.”
Roberts notes that the recent arrival of CEO Lucian Grainge to Universal came with an imperative to cut expenses. Unofficial sources peg those cuts at anywhere from $50 million all the way to a seemingly impossible $400 million. Leadership changes are also in play at Sony with Rolf Schmidt-Holtz out in April. Will the Sony seat be filled by Doug Morris now leaving Universal or could it be Tom Whalley, recently of Warner Music Group who will fill the vacant chair?
“The business of selling music is over as we knew it,” a former label chief said to TheWrap. “And the future of it is yet to be determined by anyone.”
Roberts says that shrinking sales and narrowing margins are finally catching up with companies and points to EMI’s Guy Hands as another troubled example saying, “Unable to earn enough to avoid breaching billions of dollars of loans piled atop the music company, EMI is already essentially in play — to be traded all or in parts to the highest bidder.”

Total U.S. Album sales (in millions) have dropped 58.5% from 2000 to 2010. Source: Nielsen SoundScan.

It’s no secret that music sales have tanked over the last several years, and today’s LA Times examines how media consumption is shifting as Hollywood also feels the hurt.
All kinds of media purchases are on the decline, ranging from CDs and DVDs to video games and movie theater attendance. Another major factor impacting the film business is the popularity of renting movies instead of buying them. But according to the newspaper, the most ominous sign of trouble is that the pay-television industry recently suffered a net loss for the first time in history, signaling that consumers no longer see cable as a necessary expense on par with electricity and water.
“The studios and the content companies have become increasingly aware of the problem, but they seem collectively paralyzed about what to do about it,” Craig Moffett, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., told the Times.
The article goes on to point out that technology is making content cheaper and easier to access, but while there has been an increase in online consumption it hasn’t resulted in a corresponding revenue increase. Some analysts believe this may be a permanent shift in the way fans consume media.
According to the newspaper:

Consumers have proved that although they are willing to shell out for gadgets, they view content as cheap filler and are less willing to pay to own it. Because video is seemingly ubiquitous, consumers no longer feel they need to own a DVD or digital downloaded file to watch a movie or TV show.

Another major factor is economic conditions, which the paper says is “widening the gulf between the haves and the have-nots.” Those who are being more negatively impacted by the economy are simply spending less on entertainment.

The “other half” encompasses the lower 40% of American earners, who, after paying for food, housing and transportation, are left with just $100 a month to pay for healthcare, clothing, phone service — and entertainment, Moffett said.
“Right now it is a tale of two cities,” Moffett said. “On the high end, people can’t go up-market fast enough,” he said, referring to affluent consumers who are buying the latest in mobile phones, portable tablets, or Internet-connected TV sets. “Then you have this other half of the country that is being largely ignored in this discussion.”

Sounds like Nashville is singing the same tune.

GameMill Entertainment recently announced Country Dance for the Nintendo Wii, a one of a kind interactive dance video game featuring over 25 country hits. Slated for a Spring release, Country Dance will include the following songs and more:
Carrie Underwood – “Cowboy Casanova”
Brad Paisley – “Water”
Sugarland – “Stuck Like Glue”
Trace Adkins – “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk”
Zac Brown Band – “Chicken Fried”
Rascal Flatts – “Life Is A Highway”
Blake Shelton – “All About Tonight”
Miranda Lambert – “White Liar”
Johnny Cash – “Ring of Fire”
Developed by High Voltage Software, Country Dance will support up to four players in both collaborative and competitive modes. Players will use the Wii Remote to replicate onscreen dance moves, and new songs and rewards will be unlocked as play progresses.
“With the popularity of country music and the dance genre, it seemed fitting to come out with a dance game featuring some of country’s most popular artists and songs,” says Gary Miller, President at GameMill Entertainment. “Between the top-notch choreography and chart-topping hits, this game is sure to get the entire country dancing!”
Now might be a good time to start perfecting the choreography from the “Cowboy Casanova” video.