Streets Is Watching: WMG Shares Boom 27%...

Streets Is Watching: WMG Shares Boom 27%...

Guess the Street loves a juicy 'for sale' sign, especially when Goldman is pulling the strings. In early morning trading on Friday, shares of Warner Music Group (WMG) boomed past 25 percent, and ultimately finished up 27.33 percent to $6.01.

Late Thursday, word leaked on a possible purchase by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), though apparently other suitors are knocking. Either way, the potential buy screams 'buy' to traders, who all want an easy, overnight payout.

Separately, something else is happening in France, where WMG chairman Edgar Bronfman has been handed a hefty fine for illegal insider trading. This goes back to a 'past life' involving Vivendi, and a Paris court has now saddled Bronfman with a 5 million euro ($6.7 million) bill. Of course, Bronfman is planning to appeal, though this seems like a separate stage of drama.

More ahead.

Major Layoffs at Universal Music Group; As Much as 50%...

Universal Music Group has just completed massive layoff round, according to information from roughly a dozen sources. A spokesperson for the label has also confirmed the round, though specific numbers were not revealed.

So who's saying what? One source pointed to a chop as deep as 50 percent 'across the board,' which seems a bit high, though another pointed to a similar percentage reduction at Interscope. Another high-ranking partner pointed to something "big, very big," and a distribution partner pointed to sales executive Mike Davis as "the first casualty". According to information shared, Davis was most recently Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Universal Music & Video Distribution (UMVD).

The list of sources saying "huge" and "massive" goes on and on. Separately, both Variety and the New York Times are pointing to a chop of 60 in North America, though that seems only relevant to staff-level employees. Ongoing, Digital Music News is getting emailed with unconfirmed dribs-and-drabs, with most pointing to a rather extreme downsizing.

Full List of Stuff White People Like

found this and got a chuckle out of it
#134 The TED Conference
#133 The World Cup
#132 Picking Their Own Fruit
#131 Conan O’Brien
#130 Ray-Ban Wayfarers
#129 Banksy
#128 Camping
#127 Where the Wild Things Are
#126 Vespa Scooters
#125 Bob Marley
#124 Hating People Who Wear Ed Hardy
#123 Mad Men
#122 Moleskine Notebooks
#121 Funny or Ironic Tattoos
#120 Taking a Year Off
#119 Sea Salt
#118 Ugly Sweater Parties
#117 Political Prisoners
#116 Black Music that Black People Don’t Listen to Anymore
#115 Promising to Learn a New Language
#114 America
#113 Halloween
#112 Hummus
#111 Pea Coats
#110 Frisbee Sports
#109 The Onion
#108 Appearing to Enjoy Classical Music
#107 Self Aware Hip Hop References
#106 Facebook
#105 Unpaid Internships
#104 Girls with Bangs
#103 Sweaters
#102 Children’s Games as Adults
#101 Being Offended
#100 Bumper Stickers
#99 Grammar
#98 The Ivy League
#97 Scarves
#96 New Balance Shoes
#95 Rugby
#94 Free Healthcare
#93 Music Piracy
#92 Book Deals
#91 San Francisco
#90 Dinner Parties
#89 St. Patrick’s Day
#88 Having Gay Friends
#87 Outdoor Performance Clothes
#86 Shorts
#85 The Wire
#84 T-Shirts
#83 Bad Memories of High School
#82 Hating Corporations
#81 Graduate School
#80 The Idea of Soccer
#79 Modern Furniture
#78 Multilingual Children
#77 Musical Comedy
#76 Bottles of Water
#75 Threatening to Move to Canada
#74 Oscar Parties
#73 Gentrification
#72 Study Abroad
#71 Being the only white person around
#70 Difficult Breakups
#69 Mos Def
#68 Michel Gondry
#67 Standing Still at Concerts
#66 Divorce
#65 Co-Ed Sports
#64 Recycling
#63 Expensive Sandwiches
#62 Knowing What’s Best for Poor People
#61 Bicycles
#60 Toyota Prius
#59 Natural Medicine
#58 Japan
#57 Juno
#56 Lawyers
#55 Apologies
#54 Kitchen Gadgets
#53 Dogs
#52 Sarah Silverman
#51 Living by the Water
#50 Irony
#49 Vintage
#48 Whole Foods and Grocery Co-ops
#47 Arts Degrees
#46 The Sunday New York Times
#45 Asian Fusion Food
#44 Public Radio
#43 Plays
#42 Sushi
#41 Indie Music
#40 Apple Products
#39 Netflix
#38 Arrested Development
#37 Renovations
#36 Breakfast Places
#35 The Daily Show/Colbert Report
#34 Architecture
#33 Marijuana
#32 Vegan/Vegetarianism
#31 Snowboarding
#30 Wrigley Field
#29 80s Night
#28 Not having a TV
#27 Marathons
#26 Manhattan (now Brooklyn too!)
#25 David Sedaris
#24 Wine
#23 Microbreweries
#22 Having Two Last Names
#21 Writers Workshops
#20 Being an expert on YOUR culture
#19 Traveling
#18 Awareness
#17 Hating their Parents
#16 Gifted Children
#15 Yoga
#14 Having Black Friends
#13 Tea
#12 Non-Profit Organizations
#11 Asian Girls
#10 Wes Anderson Movies
#9 Making you feel bad about not going outside
#8 Barack Obama
#7 Diversity
#6 Organic Food
#5 Farmer’s Markets
#4 Assists
#3 Film Festivals
#2 Religions their parents don’t belong to
#1 Coffee

NIELSEN BDS TOP 10

Urban
Friday, May 14 2010

POSITION ARTIST TITLE
1 Trey Songz Neighbors Know My Na...
2 Usher Feat. Plies Hey Daddy (Daddy's H...
3 Monica Everything To Me
4 Timbaland Feat. Drak... Say Something
5 Rihanna Rude Boy
6 Ludacris Feat. Nicki... My Chick Bad
7 Gucci Mane Lemonade
8 B.O.B. Feat. Bruno M... Nothin' On You
9 Usher Feat. Nicki Mi... Lil Freak
10 Jay-Z Feat. Swizz Be... On To The Next One

Rap Was the Only Genre That Gained In 2010...

So what do rappers know that the rest of us don't? Actually, that's a lengthy discussion, and one explored in-depth last October (see 'related article' below). But maybe a culture of rapid releases, mixtapes, DJ influencers, and modular production is proving a cockroach in this nuclear winter.

A curious stat just popped up. Just looking over Soundscan numbers for 2010, most genres suffered catastrophic declines. Rock dropped 16 percent, Alternative slumped 21 percent, and Classical tanked 26 percent. Country, which shed 5 percent, was the only genre spared a double-digit decline.

Yet Rap managed a 3 percent gain on US-based sales of 27.3 million albums. And, keep in mind that overall, albums decreased 12.7 percent.

Sounds great, but will it last? Perhaps this bubble deserves a pricking early on. Subtract out Eminem - whose Recovery scored sales of 3.4 million - and it looks like Rap is just another loser. And, digging back into previous years, it turns out that Rap has suffered its fair share of double-digit plunges. In fact, the genre commanded album sales of 75.1 million in 2005, only to drop 20.7 percent the following year.

Rejected! Supreme Court Refuses to Toss Price-Fixing Suit Against Majors...

A suit accusing the four major labels of price-fixing will proceed, thanks to a blunt Supreme Court decision. That upholds an earlier ruling by a Federal Appeals Court in New York, based on significant evidence of pricing collusion starting in the early days of digital distribution.

How early? Well, this would be caveman times in the compressed scale of digital music civilization. The consumer lawsuit starts with label ventures pressplay and MusicNet, both aggressively-priced and extremely limited products. Of course, very few music fans bit, especially given limited catalogs, ponderous DRM restrictions, and oh-so-easy and free P2P alternatives.

But the price-fixing continued even when consumers came around, according to the suit. The drama ensued with allegedly-corroborated download pricing floors of 70 cents, though labels are of course denying this. The cooperation levers include 'most favored nations' (MFN) agreements, which essentially require any service to extend the most favorably-negotiated terms to all major label partners. That avoids a smokey room collaboration, but ultimately results in the same outcome.

The label request was denied without comment. Reference Supreme Court case Sony Music Entertainment v. Kevin Starr, No. 10-263.

If Major Labels Are Bleeding So Badly, Why Are They Still Creating the Biggest Artists?

Do we have to talk about the demise of the major label system again? Perhaps this is just a four-car pileup that demands a slow-down and stare. The lights are dimming at EMI, political upheaval is tainting UMG and Sony, and WMG is often considered 'next' for the wolves. But if the majors are bleeding so badly, then why are they still creating the biggest artists? And, perhaps more importantly, why aren't indies and DIYers even close to taking the lead?

Sure, indies and DIY artists have more fan access and traction than ever before. And major label artists are selling less every year. But manufactured acts like Katy Perry, Bruno Mars, and Lady Gaga are still perched atop the charts, and casting a long shadow over anything with indie cred. This isn't the way it was supposed to work out, and it's harder than ever to blame some Soundscan skew.

Why? For starters, Soundscan isn't the only chart barometer anymore. Take a gander at the BigChampagne Ultimate 100, and a somewhat-similar list of big-label priorities emerges. In fact, the latest Ultimate 100 lineup has less indie cred than a Celine show in Vegas. On the latest ranking, the top ten artists were Bruno Mars, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Ke$ha, Eminem, Daft Punk, Taylor Swift, Black Eyed Peas, Lil Wayne, and Enrique Iglesias, in that order.

But how can that be? After all, BigChampagne is blending a broad number of online, offline, traditional, interactive, non-interactive, and physical elements into its rankings. Yet it still regularly produces chart toppers like Jason Derulo and Katy Perry, not Pomplamoose and Amanda Palmer. In fact, most of the top 100 are serious major label priorities.

Maybe the fantasy was that somehow, a total chart upheaval would result from all of this digital disruption. That big bullhorns like terrestrial radio wouldn't matter anymore, or that do-it-yourselfers would rise to superstardom without any serious backing. That artists like Corey Smith were dyed-in-the-wool DIYers, not musical careerists. Or, that the idea of big, mainstream artists would somehow vanish.

How naive we were.

-pr.

Join the early discussion at
http://digitalmusicnews.com/stories/011011majorlabels

Music Marketing and Promotion 102

Posted By Musician Coaching

In Part 1 of this article I outlined the importance of having prepared properly for a new music release. This covers everything from having captured video, stills and writing about the making of your new music to making sure you have your social networks and website sorted so you have places where said footage can live and work to your advantage. I also neglected to mention that it is important that your bio, press clippings and photos are up to date at least several weeks if not months prior to your release date. Long story short – there is a ton of set up to do for any well marketed and promoted release and there are a ton of moving parts to keep your eyes on.



Yes, like a game of whack a mole. If you are releasing your record 100% on your own- chances are you are going to miss some of these metaphorical moles but I thought it would help if you at least knew them by name. An easy way for me to go over this believe it or not is to go over in very broad strokes the way record companies functioned around their releases over a decade ago. It is easier to break them down from their old terrestrial functions because the digital age has blurred the lines of what is PR vs. marketing vs. sales vs. anything else that moves the needle for an artist’s career. The solutions the different record label departments use today (and that you will use on your own) are very different than they were ten years ago but the needs that these departments addressed are still the same. You will note of course I am leaving out finance, business and legal, art, A&R – because they are slightly less applicable and there is no mention of a film and TV department or digital / online departments because ten years ago such departments were very tiny if they existed at all. They will be covered in a follow up article.

Meet the old moles:

Marketing:

It was the job of the marketing person to have relationships with various other entertainment entities and brands, to find interesting opportunities for their artists, to communicate with the band’s management and agent and make sure that all of the other departments at the label were performing their functions on a schedule that maximized the impact of everyone’s efforts.

Sales:

Sales departments at labels made sure..... this post is continued at

http://musiciancoaching.com/music-business/music-marketing-and-promotion-102/




Privatizing Taste on the table to balance budget

August 26, 2010|By John Byrne and Todd Lighty, Tribune Reporters
Mayor Richard Daley is looking at getting the city out of the festival business and handing off curbside recycling to a private company as he scrambles to fill a big budget hole without raising taxes before February's election.

The nearly $655 million record shortfall is so severe, the mayor is even willing to consider tapping into a previously untouchable pool of development money to make ends meet.

"People don't want to see government growing. They don't want to see their taxes growing," Daley said Thursday at a City Hall news conference. "This is very, very difficult economic times."

But Daley provided no details on how much money the privatization efforts could fetch or how many city workers could lose their jobs. And observers noted all of the ideas Daley floated won't balance the budget. They wondered what else the mayor might put in play before he presents his financial plan to the City Council in mid-October.

"The mayor is giving away too much, and yet these proposals won't begin to address the shortfall we're looking at," said Ald. Robert Fioretti, 2nd.

As Daley rolled out his patchwork of potential budget solutions, he once again warned that service cuts can't be ruled out next year. Slicing services before voters go to the polls could prove problematic, however.

Daley is limiting his options this time around after raising property taxes in 2007, selling off parking meters and raising fees in 2008 and spending reserves last year. The mayor reiterated Thursday that he won't be increasing taxes or fees or auctioning off other assets to balance his new budget as he awaits an economic turnaround.

Despite the financial maneuvering, Daley's budgets have failed to stay balanced the last few years, resulting in unpaid days off and concessions by unionized city workers. The mayor wants more of that next year.

Daley also suggested putting out for bid all of the city's lakefront festivals, including the mammoth Taste of Chicago. Hiring a company to run such events could save the city money, and the mayor said there's already been interest by potential bidders.

In addition, City Hall will seek to privatize the curbside recycling program that now reaches about 241,000 homes in 29 of 50 wards. Daley said he hopes privatization will bring enough savings to expand the household blue bin program, which has stalled in recent years in a blow to his image as a "green mayor." But he acknowledged citywide recycling is not in the cards for the foreseeable future.