In its year-end wrap, Billboard (12/18/10) proclaims 2010 The Great Pop Boom noting that pop’s percentage of the Top 10 songs on the Hot 100 chart had soared to 74% compared with just 28% in 2005. Popsters such as Lady Gaga, Ke$ha, Justin Bieber and Black Eyed Peas were headline grabbers. Nashville’s Taylor Swift and Lady Antebellum also enjoyed high enough levels of sales, press, airplay and chart positions on the Hot 100 to qualify them as pop sensations, too. One thing the pop acts have in common is their highly evolved communication skills designed to keep them front and center in the public’s mind.
Besides the pop success, it was also a year in which some basic industry assumptions were trampled. The touring industry, thought to be bulletproof, was derailed by the weak economy and digital track sales growth, long touted as the savior of falling album sales, slowed to a crawl.
For example, Live Nation and Ticketmaster merged to become Live Nation Entertainment, but sagging ticket sales and tour cancellations caused its stock to drop 50% from April through mid-August. U.S. digital track sales, according to Nielsen SoundScan set an all time record at 1.172 billion sold, but only increased 1% over 2009. The tracks increase was particularly disappointing when contrasted with total album sales which dipped 12.7%.
Train frontman Pat Monahan told Billboard that radio’s role in exposing pop music is also changing. “My manager has a great baseball analogy,” Monahan says. “He said that radio used to be the starting pitcher, and now it’s the closer. You’d better have all your other stuff dialed in—your online fan base, your touring—if you think radio is going to come together.”
Billboard writer Monica Herrera cleverly offers several explanations for the pop-ularity of music-driven TV show, Glee. “A common explanation for the appeal of Glee is its constant championing of earnestness over cynicism,” she says, “coupled with the fact that the cast consists of diverse, relatively unknown faces. It’s no coincidence that some of the year’s most embraced talents, from Bieber to Susan Boyle to Greyson Chance, have equally wholesome back stories, as viral sensations who constantly stay on message about their remarkable rise to fame. Even the always-costumed Gaga talks often of her pre-fame days, and a quick Google search lets fans see her in full struggling artist glory. Horatio Algers for the YouTube age, these new pop stars are the realization of a dream that perhaps resonates more than ever for a logged-on, recession-addled public.”
Analysis: If pop exploded in 2010, what format will shine in 2011? One thing is sure, the challenges are already stacking up. All formats will face unresolved retail sales, radio and touring issues.
In 2010 radio groups got serious about extending their reach beyond the terrestrial towers and using online strategies such as mobile phone apps and streaming. But pure-play Internet radio alternatives such as Pandora were also stretching. Pandora now claims over 65 million users and during 2011 will interface with Toyota, BMW and Ford automobiles. Free and paid subscription services like Spotify, set to finally launch in the U.S. this year, are also likely to cut into time spent listening to traditional signals. Eventually all Internet channels will find a way to reach into the coveted auto dashboard, where so much of radio listening takes place and terrestrial radio will have to evolve to meet these challenges.
The outlook for retail sales is equally complex. Almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy, as physical sales continue to droop (48 million fewer albums in 2010), retailers respond by shrinking music shelf space. As Nashville marketers grapple with CD format extending ideas such as six or eight track albums, opportunities to enjoy streaming music are growing exponentially. Looming larger each year is the question—Do consumers really need to purchase music anymore? Combine a myriad of channels such as Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, Last.FM, Yahoo and Rhapsody with improved 4G mobile wireless and one gets an on-demand, 24/7, instant-access media world where one is always on the grid.
Pop music may continue to rule in 2011, but all formats are finding that music revenue streams and the pathways along which those dollars flow, are rapidly changing.

The New York Post is reporting that European music provider Spotify is “days away from signing a deal with Sony Music,” and has gained support from another major U.S. music company as well making a 2010 launch imminent. Spotify offers users a free account with advertising to listen to unlimited music or a $10/month option without advertising.
U.S. labels have not warmed to the service despite its having gained a solid reputation in Europe. The U.S. music leaders don’t like the word “Free” attached to music and apparently demanded extremely high upfront payments in the past. Has this changed?
Spotify first planned to launch in the U.S. in 2009, but was unable to get the necessary deals ratified to do so. Then 2010 was the “sure thing” launch date, and that has also passed.
A Spotify spokesperson told the Post, “”Negotiations are progressing well, but [we have] nothing to confirm at this stage.” Reportedly, both Apple and Google have also had talks with Spotify.
Spotify’s software interface contributes to what makes it unique. Users can create playlists and share tracks with friends, put Spotify on mobile phones and use a sophisticated search function making it easy to create lists of many kinds. Premium Spotify users can also listen to music when they are offline. The site includes many artist biographies plus artist radio stations which help consumers discover new music. Of course it also connects with Facebook.
Analysis: Album sales continued to slide in 2010 dropping another 12.7% which may well be a force for bringing the parties back to the table. The record labels have yet to find a sales model to stem the annual losses which have become commonplace for the last ten years. The Spotify model has been criticized, not for lacking cool features, but because the conversion rate from free to paid has been lower than hoped for, rasing questions about the service’s ability to survive long term. How it will fare in the U.S if/when it debuts is yet to be seen.

As part of its popular monthly songwriter showcase at the Bluebird Cafe, ASCAP Nashville presented BMG songwriters Brett James, Neil Thrasher, busbee and other guests at a sold-out show on January 11. James was ASCAP’s 2010 Country Songwriter of the Year (he also won this award in 2006, along with the Song of the Year award for “Jesus, Take the Wheel”). Thrasher claimed the ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year title in 2004 and his song “Why Wait” (Rascal Flatts) recently topped the country chart. busbee celebrated his first country No. 1 in 2010 with Lady Antebellum’s “Our Kind of Love.”

Nashville’s music community is gathering in support of “I Am Strong,” a song raising awareness about childhood cancer. The song was written by The Grascals band member Jamie Johnson and his wife Susanne Mumpower-Johnson along with Jenee Fleenor after the group visited the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. One version of the song was recorded by The Grascals, with special guest Dolly Parton. Another version includes The Grascals, Parton, Randy Owen, Joe Nichols, Darryl Worley, Terri Clark, Charlie Daniels, Tom T. Hall, The Oak Ridge Boys and Steven Seagal.
A music video was directed by cancer survivor David Corlew of d. corlew films and is available below and at several online outlets. Clear Channel Digital and Citadel Digital are hosting the video on the homepage of all their country radio station websites.
Cracker Barrel is donating a percentage of the proceeds from The Grascals & Friends—Country Classics With A Bluegrass Spin to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.