Muse to Perform at ‘World War Z’ Film Premiere In London
Muse, whose music is being used in Paramount’s “World War Z,” will perform for 15,000 fans after the premiere of the film on June 2 in London.
In an unprecedented marriage of a full-scale concert and a film premiere, Muse will perform at Horse Guards Parade Ground, St. James’s Park, after the film screens in London’s Leicester Square. Tickets for the live performance will be available May 28 at www.worldwarz.co.uk/MUSE.
The filmmakers are using about 14 minutes of Muse music in the film, mostly the song “Isolated System.” Muse’s music will be used in trailers on all platforms. The only soundtrack release, however, will be for Marc Beltrami’s score.
“It made the movie feel and sound really cool,” Paramount Pictures president of motion pictures music Randy Spendlove says. “After we layered in the music, we reached out to their management in the U.S. (Q Prime) and the U.K. (Anthony Addis) to see how we could reach beyond the movie. We wanted (the relationship) to be bigger than that.”
Paramount will film the concert and expects to make footage available soon. Spendlove expects to see talk shows from several counties in London reporting the events.
“Isolated System” and other music from Muse’s latest album, “The 2nd Law,” are featured in the film, which opens in theaters June 21. Starring Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos and James Badge Dale, the story revolves around a former United Nations investigator Gerry Lane (Pitt), who races around the world trying to stop a pandemic that is threatening to decimate the human race. [Billboard.biz]
Ann Tausis Joins Kobalt
On June 1, former Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) director Ann Tausis will join Kobalt Neighbouring Rights Limited (KNRL) as managing director.
KNRL focuses on neighboring rights within the industry, offering services to clients through the use of secondary data to check accuracy of collecting societies.
Tausis was previously director of European regional administration at UMPG after a seven-year stint as global copyright director. Her 20 years of experience in rights management administration will cross over into her position as Director at KNRL, taking on day-to-day operations of boosting staffing as well as lead of the neighboring rights industry at policy level.
In under 18 months, KNRL has accumulated many prominent artists such as Bob Dylan, Bjork, Gotye and the estate of Michael Jackson. KNRL is a part of Kobalt Music Group, which in 2012 purchased digital distributor AWAL, and added two new divisions — Kobalt Artist and Label Services and KNRL — to it’s expanding services. [Billboard.biz]
How To Create Reverb Effects from Delays – Into The Lair #74
Tired of the same old reverbs? Dave Pensado shows you a cool trick to create interesting reverb effects with the help of some delay plug-ins and creative panning.
Brian Michael Cox – Hip-Hop and R&B Producer
Bryan Michael Cox is a GRAMMY award winning American songwriter and record producer. He has co-written and co-produced hit singles including: Mary J. Blige’s “Be Without You, Mariah Carey’s “Shake It Off” & “Don’t Forget About Us”; Monica’s “Still Standing” & “U Should’ve Known Better”; Jagged Edge’s “He Can’t Love You”, “Walked Outta Heaven”, “Let’s Get Married”, & “Where the Party At”; Danity Kane’s “Ride For You”; Toni Braxton’s “Just Be a Man About It”, “Trippin’ (That’s the Way Love Works)”; Janet Jackson’s “Nothing”; Marques Houston’s “Circle”; Ginuwine’s “Stingy” & “Last Chance” and Usher’s “U Got It Bad”, “Burn”, & “Confessions, Pt. 2″. Cox has been professionally producing since 1998, receiving his first formal credit on 1999′s “Get Gone” by the R&B Houston-based group Ideal. In September 2009, Bryan Michael Cox was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. Concluding the first decade of the new millennium Cox was named by Billboard Magazine as one of the top 10 producers of the decade. “Be Without You” co-written and produced by Bryan Michael Cox and performed by Mary J Blige was also cited as the number one R&B song of the decade.
Keith McMillen Instruments’ QuNexus Controller Now Shipping
Keith McMillen Instruments has just announced that they have begun shipping their QuNexus Smart Sensor Keyboard Controller to customers around the world.
The QuNexus features KMI’s Smart Sensor technology which transmits pressure, tilt, polyphonic aftertouch, and velocity. QuNexus also supports CV, MIDI, USB, and OSC, for maximum flexibility.
“QuNexus is the most important evolution in keyboards since the Erard Escapement was introduced to pianos in 1821,” said KMI founder, Keith McMillen. “QuNexus gives keyboardists forms of expression that were only available to string and horn players. Although playful in appearance, it performs and feels like a serious instrument.”
QuNexus Details:
- 25 Smart Sensor keys detect velocity, pressure, and tilt
- Polyphonic pitch bend and aftertouch
- 2 CV/Gate inputs; Gate and 3 CV Outputs (16-bit)
- Pitch bend pad
- Octave up/down buttons provide a 7 octave range
- USB powered, receives power directly from iOS device or Mac/PC
- Class compliant for iOS, Android, Mac OS, Windows and Linux, no drivers required
- Portable: 3.3″ (84 mm) x 12.8″ (325 mm) x 0.43″ (11 mm), 0.76 lb (345 g)
QuNexus has a suggested retail price of $149.00 US. Learn more about QuNexus at the KMI website.
Read Synthtopia’s recent Keith McMillen interview to learn more about the QuNexus and McMillen’s approach to instrument design. [Synthtopia]
Twitter #Music Launches Charts
Via Hypebot:
A month after launch, Twitter #Music is certainly not setting the world on fire, In fact ,as of yesterday it had fallen out of the top 100 free music apps. They are, however, already iterating to improve the offering. Today, Twitter added charts that look very similar to those previously found on WeAreHunted, the innovative music discovery startup that Twitter acquired to power much of #Music.
Users can toggle through 10 genres and examine #Music activity on artists categorized as Supertsars, Popular, Emerging, Unearthed and Hunted. There are also tabs for Suggested (“music you might like”), #NowPlaying (“Tweeted by people you follow”) and Me (“arists you follow”).
Rdio and Spotify users can play full tracks from the chart after sign-in.
#Music Charts is not yet available on the iOS app, but is viewable on the web now.
Terrible Records, XL Recordings Sign Joint Venture Deal For Select Releases
Under the deal, select albums will be branded as Terrible but backed by XL/Beggars Group infrastructure around the world. The partnership is non-exclusive, with decisions about what future releases will be included remaining at the discretion of both parties. Terrible, which has released albums by artists including Solange Knowles and Twin Shadow since being founded in 2009, remains wholly owned by Taylor and Silverman.
“The idea is for Terrible to start having more of a presence in territories where we haven’t really had footing in in the past,” Silverman tells Billboard.biz. “I’ve been a huge fan of XL for a long time, and to have their machine at our disposal was a really good deal for us.”
The seeds of the partnership were planted in March 2012, when Silverman was in London for the wedding of his friend Caius Pawson, owner of XL subsidiary label Young Turks. Pawson introduced Silverman to XL founder/owner Richard Russell and label manager Ben Beardsworth, both of whom expressed an interest in artists Terrible was working with. Terms of a deal further solidified in January of this year when Silverman returned to London on a tour stop with Solange (who has since signed her own label deal with Sony).
XL Recordings, whose artists include Adele, Vampire Weekend and M.I.A., will claim the lion’s share of profits from albums released under the partnership, while Terrible will receive an A&R royalty fee. In the case of the Callinan album, (which is being handled by Siberia Records in Australia and New Zealand because of a pre-existing deal), masters are owned by the artist.
Two future Terrible/XL releases are currently in talks, but not yet finalized. Candidates include recent Terrible signings Empress Of, the project of Brooklyn-based bilingual singer and multi-instrumentalist Lorely Rodriguez, and Kindness, (aka Adam Bainbridge) a singer/songwriter/producer from London.
“We’re focusing on artists that we both are really excited about that Terrible might need some help with either financially or in terms of the rest of the world,” Silverman says. “Right now the label is just Chris and I, so to have a team that you enjoy working with and that you know is going to be excited about every project was really important to us. This felt like the right fit.” [Billboard.biz]
Daft Punk’s ‘Random Access Memories’ Set for No. 1, 300,000-plus Debut
As previously reported, Daft Punk is heading for its first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart with its latest album, “Random Access Memories.”
The Columbia Records set, released on May 21, could sell upwards of 300,000 copies by week’s end on May 26, according to industry prognosticators. That could earn the second-largest debut week this year, according to Nielsen SoundScan, following Justin Timberlake’s monster start of 968,000 for his “The 20/20 Experience.”
The new Billboard 200 chart’s top 10 will be revealed on the morning of May 29.
In one week, “Random Access Memories” will have sold more to date than Daft Punk’s last studio release, “Human After All.” The latter, released in 2005, has shifted just 125,000 in the United States.
The new album is led by the single “Get Lucky” (featuring Pharrell Williams), which climbs 15-10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart this week. It’s the first top 10 for Daft Punk and only the duo’s third single to chart.
Other albums bound for top 10 debuts next week include the National’s “Trouble Will Find Me,” Thirty Seconds to Mars’ “Love Lust Faith + Dreams” and Darius Rucker’s “True Believers.” The National may sell around 70,000, Thirty Seconds to Mars and Rucker could both move 60,000. [Billboard.biz]
Billboard Music Awards Push Big Sales Gains
The 2013 Billboard Music Awards pump big sales gains on the charts this week, thanks to blockbuster performances from the likes of Bruno Mars, Jennifer Lopez and Ed Sheeran. The show aired on May 19 from 8-11 PM on ABC.
In the week ending May 19, the broadcast spurred an overall 15% gain for the 18 previously-released songs performed on the broadcast, according to SoundScan. That increase handily beat the overall song download market’s 1% gain this past week — an impressive feat considering there were only a few hours left in the tracking week before the close of business on Sunday night.
Combined, the 18 tunes sold 842,000 downloads — up from the 733,000 the week previous. Those songs include Mars’ “Treasure” (24,000; up 220%), Lopez’s “Live It Up” (65,000; up 53%) and Sheeran’s “Lego House” (56,000; up 134%).
“Treasure,” which is the third single from Mars’ Unorthodox Jukebox album, also debuts on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at No. 71. It follows the album’s two previous No. 1s: “Locked Out of Heaven” and “When I Was Your Man.”
Other gaining songs include Chris Brown’s “Fine China” (35,000; up 41%), Selena Gomez’s “Come and Get It” (164,000; up 15%), will.i.am’s “#thatPower,” featuring Justin Bieber (81,000; up 3%) and David Guetta’s “Play Hard,” featuring Akon and Ne-Yo (12,000; up 164%).
Even a-ha’s classic Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Take On Me” earned a 30% gain, following its surprise performance on the show. The group’s singer, Morten Harket, joined Pitbull and Christina Aguilera during their rendition of “Feel This Moment,” which samples “Take On Me.” The latter cut moved 3,000 downloads for the week. [Billboard.biz]
Kirdis Postelle Named SVP of Marketing at Capitol Music Group
Kirdis Postelle, the former general manager and 17 year veteran of Dr. Dre’s label Aftermath Entertainment, has been named Capitol Music Group’s new SVP of marketing, it was announced today.
“Kirdis is an extremely talented and well-rounded executive who brings an enormous wealth of experience to her new position,” wrote Greg Thompson, EVP at CMG and Postelle’s new boss. ”I have no doubt that our artists will benefit greatly from Kirdis’s expertise and enthusiasm, and that she will be making a valuable contribution to the Capitol Music Group for years to come. All of us at the company welcome Kirdis to the Tower and congratulate her on this well-deserved appointment.”
Postelle characterized her enthusiasm for the new gig:”To work with Steve Barnett, Greg Thompson, Michelle Jubelirer and the great team that’s building the new Capitol Music Group is my second once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of something extraordinary in the music business. I am excited to lead this full service marketing team while also helping the company expand its Urban music infrastructure. I’m grateful that they’ve put their faith in me, and I thank them for this monumental opportunity and their ongoing support.”
Postelle began in the music business in 1992, working for LaFace Records’ Artist Development office. [Billboard.biz]
‘Can’t’ Stop Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Atop Hot 100
After performing their breakthrough Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 “Thrift Shop” on the Billboard Music Awards Sunday night (May 19), Macklemore & Ryan Lewis spend a third week atop the survey with “Can’t Hold Us,” featuring Ray Dalton. Daft Punk, meanwhile, darts to its first Hot 100 top 10 and Justin Timberlake lands his first Radio Songs No. 1 as a lead artist since 2006.
“Hold” registers a third week atop the Digital Songs chart, decreasing by 4% to 231,000 downloads sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It leads the subscription services-based On-Demand Songs survey for a fifth frame and rebounds to its peak (3-2) on Streaming Songs, drawing 5.9 million streams (up 1%), according to Nielsen BDS. It pushes 4-3 on Radio Songs with 126 million all-format audience impressions (up 4%), according to BDS.
“Hold” collects a fifth week at No. 1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Rap Songs charts.
Down less than 1% in overall chart points, “Hold” maintains the Hot 100′s top spot over P!nk’s former three-week Hot 100 No. 1 “Just Give Me a Reason,” featuring fun.’s Nate Ruess (down 9%), which spends a third week at No. 2. “Reason” retreats 1-2 after a week atop Radio Songs, although up 1% to 137 million; 2-3 on Digital Songs, which it led for four weeks (193,000, down 16%); and 7-10 on Streaming Songs (3.6 million, down 9%).
P!nk’s slip on Radio Songs means that a new leader crowns the list, an honor that goes to Justin Timberlake’s “Mirrors,” which holds at No. 3 on the Hot 100. The track lifts 2-1 on the airplay-based ranking with a 7% gain to 141 million. It’s Timberlake’s fourth No. 1 on the chart and first since he spent seven weeks at the summit as a guest on T.I.’s “Dead and Gone” in 2009. He previously led with “SexyBack” (four weeks) and “My Love,” featuring T.I. (five), both in 2006. As previously reported, “Mirrors” tops the Pop Songs airplay chart this week, pushing Timberlake into a lead with Bruno Mars for the most No. 1s among males (six each) in the tally’s 20-year history.
“Mirrors” dips 3-6 on Digital Songs (156,000, down 7%) and rises 10-9 on Streaming Songs, although with a 2% backslide to 3.6 million.
The Hot 100′s top five remains static, as Mars’ former No. 1 “When I Was Your Man” and Rihanna’s No. 3-peaking “Stay,” featuring Mikky Ekko, hold at Nos. 4 and 5, respectively.
Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise” charts a new peak (10-6) in its 33rd week on the Hot 100. The song surges by 25% in sales to 189,000, bulleting at No. 4 on Digital Songs, and sails 15-11 on Radio Songs (52 million, up 8%) and 25-18 on Streaming Songs (3 million, up 41%). The track tops Hot Country Songs for a 12th week. It crowned Country Airplay for three weeks in December; remixed with vocals by Nelly, it’s since crossed to pop radio, pushing 15-12 on Pop Songs and 21-20 on Adult Pop Songs this week.
Selena Gomez regresses 6-7 on the Hot 100 with her first top 10 on the chart, “Come & Get It.” Still, following her performance of the song on the Billboard Music Awards, it charges 6-5 on Digital Songs (164,000, up 15%) and 24-13 on Radio Songs (49 million, up 16%). It loses momentum only in streaming, dropping 4-8 on Streaming Songs (3.9 million, down 31%); the song had roared 36-4 on the list last week following the premiere of its video on May 7.
Imagine Dragons’ “Radioactive” remains at No. 8 in its 38th week on the Hot 100, and rules Hot Rock Songs for a ninth week, aided by a 41-33 jump on Radio Songs (36 million, up 14%).
Yet another BBMA performer bullets in the Hot 100′s top 10: Icona Pop, with “I Love It” (featuring Charli XCX), which holds at No. 9, powered in part by an 8-6 lift on Radio Songs (75 million, up 6%).
Daft Punk, meanwhile, scores its first Hot 100 top 10 (approximately two decades after the duo’s formation), as “Get Lucky,” featuring Pharrell Williams, vaults 15-10 as the chart’s top Streaming Gainer. Assisted by the buzz of the release of the pair’s album Random Access Memories on Tuesday (21), its first full-length studio set since 2005, the track bounds 12-5 on Streaming Songs (4.5 million, up 30%); 17-10 on Digital Songs (118,000, up 45%), marking the act’s first top 10 on the chart; and 46-29 on Radio Songs (41 million, up 32%).
Daft Punk had charted two previous Hot 100 entries: “Around the World” (1997) and “One More Time” (2001), each of which reached No. 61.
In addition to his guest spot on “Lucky,” Williams’ current prominence is evident just outside the Hot 100′s top 10, as Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines,” on which he and T.I. are featured, rockets 54-12 with top Digital Gainer honors. The track soars 23-2 on Digital Songs (206,000, up 204%) after Thicke performed it last week on NBC’s “The Voice.”
The Hot 100′s Airplay Gainer award goes to Mariah Carey’s “#Beautiful,” featuring Miguel, which climbs 24-20 in its second week. The lead single from Carey’s forthcoming 13th studio album coasts 44-28 on Radio Songs (42 million, up 33%) and debuts at No. 41 on Streaming Songs (1.5 million, up 223%), although it drops 10-15 on Digital Songs (97,000, down 14%). Carey sang the song as part of a medley of her hits on last Thursday’s (16) “American Idol” season finale. [Billboard.biz]
Weekly TEA
IGA retains the top spot for the same reasons it topped last week’s competition: The Great Gatsby soundtrack (93.9k in week two) and its hot-selling Lana Del Rey single (121k), along with Imagine Dragons’ hit album (25.2k) and single (141k)—plus the added firepower of Robin Thicke’s exploding “Blurred Lines” (206k; see next item). Doing the addition, we get a total with TEA of 145.3k on the two projects—which, for reference, trumps Vampire Weekend’s 135k chart-topping LP (XL Recordings), whose lead single hasn’t yet kicked in sales-wise. The John Janick-led label group also repeated at #1 in weekly overall share sans TEA. Universal Nashville, #1 in new-release share on the week (see 5/22 item below), is #3 overall but #7 with TEA included, as singles sales on Darius Rucker (88k) and Luke Bryan (60k) failed to give the total a significant boost. As for how Republic managed to hit #2 without a Top 15 album (highest charter: #18 Florida Georgia Line with 21.1k) and just one Top 15 single (the same group’s #4 “Cruise,” with 189k), it must have something to do with Charlie Walk’s ability to turn water into wine. As for the big picture, album sales were down 8% vs. last week, flat vs. same week last year and down 5% (or 6m units) year to date. Track sales were up 1% vs. last week, down 2% vs. same week last year and down 3% (or 14.1m units YTD). TEA sales were down 5% vs. last week, flat vs. same week last year and down 4% (or 7.4m units) YTD. [HitsDailyDouble]
Top 10 Tracks of the Week
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis stay in the top perch, on which they’ve taken a long-term lease, while P!nk, Florida Georgia Line, Selena Gomez, Justin Timberlake and Imagine Dragons and Icona Pop enjoy another week on the leaderboard. But what’s noteworthy is the influx of newcomers, led by Robin Thicke, whose Blurred Lines” makes a stunning 204% sales jump in its eighth week, thanks in large measure to that sexy new video. Lana Del Rey (+57%) and Daft Punk (+45%) are also kicking in big-time.
1. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, “Can’t Hold Us” – 231k
2. Robin Thicke, “Blurred Lines” – 206k
3. P!nk f/Nate Ruess, “Just Give Me a Reason” – 193k
4. Florida Georgia Line f/Nelly, “Cruise” (remix) – 189k
5. Selena Gomez, “Come & Get It” – 164k
6. Justin Timberlake, “Mirrors” – 156k
7. Imagine Dragons, “Radioactive” – 141k
8. Icona Pop f/Charli XCX, “I Love It” – 128k
9. Lana Del Rey, “Young and Beautiful” – 121k
10. Daft Punk f/Pharrell, “Get Lucky” – 118k
Following a #10 debut, Mariah Carey’s Miguel-featuring “#Beautiful” experienced a slight second-week cool-down with 97k (-14%), putting it at #15. The top debut was Idol-winner Candice Glover’s similarly titled “I Am Beautiful,” which sold 48k, putting it at #39. [HitsDailyDouble]
Getting Started in the Music Business with Neil Jacobson
Neil Jacobson is the Senior Vice President of A&R for Interscope Records, but his journey to getting there started out of very interesting means. He knew he wanted to be in the Music Business ever since he was in high school and pursued a degree in college at the Berklee College of Music. He even started his own record label in college as an experiment but couldn’t find a job to save his life after graduating college. This led into an interesting path as a Carpet Salesman and as a Caddy, which he used to sharpen his networking abilities along with his ability to sell. Through his connections, Neil was able to finally get the attention of the right person to finally put him into the Music Business. Listen to Neil’s crazy path of how he became a top A&R executive here!
Latest Negotiations Between Apple and Sony
With negotiations ongoing between Apple and Sony Music for their proposed iRadio streaming service over payments from listening to fragments of songs, among other items, Sony/ATV and BMG Rights Management have now emerged as roadblocks as well. Both music publishers are holding out for better terms from the tech giant, as download sales slow in favor of streaming. Pandora was able to obtain recorded music and publishing clearances through blanket licenses from the labels and performing rights organizations, respectively, which the industry is currently trying to renegotiate. According to figures, music publishers get approximately 12% from Amazon, Google and iTunes for their scan-and-match cloud services, while the labels pull in 58%. If Apple continues to come to an agreement, it might force them to drop plans to debut the service at next month’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference. Speaking of Pandora, the Internet radio service just introduced a simple one-click method of publishing music listening activity on your Facebook Timeline via its website, iPhone or Android apps…which now allows the world to know you’ve been listening to Psy when you’re supposed to be working. [HitsDailyDouble]
Weekly Marketshare
Whaddaya know, there’s an upstart in the latest new-release Top 10—the Beggars Group, home of XL Recordings, which in turn is the home of chart-topping band Vampire Weekend. See how that happened? XL—which also has the not-insignificant distinction of being the label that signed Adele—joins nine major labels on the chart, the top three and #6 Capitol Music Group all part of Lucian Grainge’s Universal empire, as is the UMG-distributed Disney Music Group, which returns to the leaderboard under new leader Ken Bunt and BFF Demi Lovato, who bowed at #3 with 112k. Mike Dungan’s Uni Nashville led the way, thanks primarily to #2 George Strait (122k) and #5 Lady A (55k in week two), edging ahead of the John Janick-led IGA, which had a surprisingly strong second week from The Great Gatsby ST (#4, 94k) and another solid showing from the rock-steady Imagine Dragons (#14, 25k). Tomorrow, we’ll see how things look with TEA stirred in. [HitsDailyDouble]
Rara.com With BMW Launches European In-Car Streaming Service
The next generation of in-car music entertainment has moved up a gear following the announcement that U.K.-based music streaming service rara.com has partnered with BMW to launch what is billed as the first direct-to-car music streaming service in Europe.
Exclusive to the new range of BMW’s 5 Series, the in-car ConnectedDrive Online Entertainment pack, featuring the rara.com music streaming app, launches this week with in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands. The service will roll out to Spain next year.
Unlike most other in-car streaming services currently available throughout Europe, rara.com’s fully integrated offering is built into the vehicle allowing users to instantly stream music without needing to plug in a smartphone, SIM card or dongle. Earlier this year, Spotify announced that it had partnered with car manufacturer Volvo to launch its own in-car streaming service via the voice-activated Sensus Connected Touch in-car entertainment system. However, the Spotify service requires a mobile phone, or 3G or 4G dongle to enable access. Other in-car music streaming services available in Europe have also typically required connection with a smartphone, SIM card or dongle to function.
Rara.com’s service, which is powered by Omnifone and underpinned by European mobile network Vodafone, provides users with 12 months unlimited access to rara.com’s catalog of 14 million tracks and over 200 specially curated music channels, including repertoire from all the major labels, global rights agency Merlin and leading independent distributors, including The Orchard, INgrooves, Believe Digital, [PIAS] and VidZone Digital Media.
Thanks to an international deal between rara.com, BMW and Vodafone – the first of its kind in the automotive industry, according to rara.com – subscribers will also be able to access instantly cached music offline, as well as stream uninterrupted music while travelling across all five launch markets (and Spain) without incurring extra data charges or roaming costs.
“The automotive industry is one of the last bastions of uncharted territory for the digital music industry,” rara.com CEO Jez Bell tells Billboard.biz. “When you look at research as to where consumers predominantly listen to music, the car is quite often No.1. It’s a critical place for music listening and for many of our target consumers. The thing that has been missing up till now has been a really seamless experience. BMW’s ConnectedDrive Online Entertainment pack with rara.com will allow people to have a fully on-demand music service within the car for the first time.”
Negotiations between rara.com and BMW took several years with a view to building a fully integrated in-car music streaming service, says Bell, who cites multi-territory licensing and establishing seamless in-car data connectivity across borders as just two of the hurdles that rara.com has overcome with BMW to bring this service to market.
Launched in the December 2011, London-based rara.com currently operates in 33 international markets, including U.S., U.K. France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Canada. Australia, Mexico, Brazil and South Africa. In addition to its new BMW offering, the service is available to access via the web and on Windows 8, iOS and Android devices.
“Universal Music Group is very pleased to support this partnership between rara.com and the new BMW 5 Series,” said Bill Campbell, SVP of global digital business, Universal Music Group in a statement. “They have developed an elegant and fully-licensed streaming solution to the challenge of integrating digital music services into cars, with no need to plug in your smartphone or player, which is both innovative and very positive for our artists.”
VidZone Digital Media founder and CEO Adrian Workman added in a statement: “This is a great day for digital music; the first music streaming service for the car in Europe. Replacing out dated and limited in-car CD players, music streaming will help to drive the uptake of legitimate music consumption in the car.” [Billboard.biz]
Google Launches Free YouTube Creator Academy Courses
YouTube now offers free online courses to help serious users create better videos and improve their channel with the launch of the Creator Academy. Maximize Your Channel is the first course that they will offer. It is a two week course that will start on June 3 and will teach how to:
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Build subscribers: “Find out how to draw new viewers to your channel and get them to subscribe.”
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Make a channel a daily destination for viewers: “Curate and organize content so viewers will find what they’re looking for and keep coming back for more.”
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Optimize the channel across every type of screen: TVs, laptops, tablets, mobile, gaming consoles.
Sign up for the course here. [AlLindstrom]
Pandora Premieres
Via FastCompany:
“Radio stations used to play a record all the way through. You’d anticipate that eagerly. That’s exactly what we’re trying to do.”
That’s Pandora CEO Tim Westergren on the online radio giant’s newly launched Pandora Premieres, a new T-Mobile sponsored station aimed at reengaging listeners by luring them in with album previews.
Because Pandora Premieres offers a limited-time preview and users listen to a whole album beginning to end, Pandora Premieres falls outside the compulsory licensing under which Pandora typically operates. For this feature, Pandora is contracting directly with music labels (on-demand services such as Spotify and Rhapsody base most of their businesses on deals with labels).
There are no limits to the number of times you can skip or listen to particular tracks within Premieres. The only “limit” is the amount of time the station is available for listening. Typically, Pandora Premiere stations will be available for a week–or less–before an album’s street date; the album will disappear once the street date hits–and new album previews will appear.
New album previews will hit the Pandora Premieres station up to a week before their U.S. debut dates, and will span a mixture of genres and include both well-known and emerging artists, Westergren says.
The new feature nudges Pandora into more of a lean-forward type of experience–where users more actively seek out specific artists or albums. It’s a behavior more native to Spotify or Rdio, or even the new Google Play Music All Access and, presumably, the forthcoming music service from Beats Electronics dubbed Daisy.
Westergren says Pandora, which is scheduled to announce its earnings on Thursday, has always had its main competition in terrestrial radio–especially when it comes to local ads–rather than on-demand streaming services. Scott Borchetta’s Big Machine Label Group made a deal with Clear Channel Communications last year that would pay the label’s artists royalties when their recordings aired on Clear Channel stations. Pandora recently partnered with Strata and Mediaocean to launch digital tools to make it easier for advertisers who usually buy ads on terrestrial radio to shop on Pandora and compare ratings.
For launch, Pandora Premieres is featuring new albums from John Fogerty and Laura Marling. [AlLindstrom]
Lil’ Durk Signs To Coke Boys
Not one to shy away from controversy, French Montana has signed Chief Keef affiliate Lil’ Durk to his Coke Boys label. There’s a lot of label intertwining here but just know that although Lil’ Durk is already with Glory Boyz Entertainment, he is now also a Coke Boy, which is itself under Def Jam. The more teams the better.
Via HipHopDX.
Mac Miller – Incredibly Dope Part 2
This week the homie Emilio Sparks kicks it with the young superstar Mac Miller. In this interview they talk about REMember Music, his new album, why he thinks people don’t take him seriously, and much more. For more great videos, log on to Allindstrom.com today!
Ticketmaster Names New President
Not sure if it has any correlation, but after the lawsuit that Ticketmaster settled, things had to change.
Live Nation’s massive subsidiary Ticketmaster announced today the appointment of Jared Smith as president of Ticketmaster North America. Smith has been with Ticketmaster since 2003, initially overseeing venues in Georgia and Illinois before going on to become the company’s COO.
“Jared continues to be a transformational leader in Ticketmaster’s evolution. His dedication to clients has consistently resulted in a greater than 100% net renewal rates and his innovative thinking has led to the creation of value-added services and products to better support them and the fans they serve,” wrote Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino in a statement.
Vampire Weekend Debuts At No. 1 On Billboard 200
As predicted, Vampire Weekend notches its second No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 as Modern Vampires of the City debuts atop the list this week. The set sold 134,000 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan, which is a record-high sales week for the act.
The group’s last album, Contra, previously held the act’s one-week sales record when it started at No. 1 in January 2010 with 124,000.
Modern Vampires of the City is the 19th independently distributed album to reach No. 1 since the Billboard 200 began incorporating SoundScan sales data in 1991. The set is released on XL Recordings and distributed by Warner Music’s indie distribution arm Alternative Distribution Alliance.
The new album is the first indie set to debut at No. 1 this year. The last indie to start at No. 1 was Jason Aldean’s Night Train on the Nov. 3, 2012, chart. A few weeks before Aldean, Mumford & Sons’ Babel opened at No. 1. It returned to the top this year after it won the Grammy Award for album of the year.
At No. 2 this week is country legend George Strait with Love Is Everything. It debuted with 120,000 sold, which surpasses the start of Strait’s last studio release, 2011′s Here for a Good Time (91,000).
Love Is Everything is Strait’s 18th top 10 album on the Billboard 200, tying him with Paul McCartney for the fourth-most top 10s among male artists in history. Only Frank Sinatra (33), Elvis Presley (27) and Bob Dylan (20) have logged more top 10s among the gents.
Over on the Top Country Albums chart, Love Is Everything extends Strait’s record for the most No. 1s on that list, upping his total to 25. In a distant second place are Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard, who each have 15 No. 1s.
At No. 3 on the Billboard 200 is the third and final debut in the top 10: Demi Lovato’s Demi. The singer/actress’ fourth album is her fourth straight set to debut in the top four, and it scores her best sales week yet (110,000).
Lovato’s last album, 2011′s Unbroken, started at No. 4 with 96,000. She previously opened at No. 1 with her sophomore set, Here We Go Again, in 2009. (It debuted with 108,000, her previous best sales week.) Her first album, 2008′s Don’t Forget, debuted and peaked at No. 2 with an 89,000 launch.
As for the rest of the top 10 this week, last week’s No. 1, Lady Antebellum’s Golden, falls to No. 5 with 56,000 (down 67%). Right above it is the soundtrack to the film “The Great Gatsby,” which slips from No. 2 to No. 4 in its second week with 95,000 (down just 30%).
The Now 46 compilation falls 3-6 (52,000; down 43%), Justin Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience descends 6-7 (44,000; down 34%), and Michael Bublé’s To Be Loved dips 4-8 (40,000; down 53%). Pistol Annies’ Annie Up drops 5-9 (30,000; down 64%), and Blake Shelton’s Based on a True Story . . . steps down 9-10 (28,000; down 26%).
On the Digital Songs chart, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Can’t Hold Us” is still tops, selling another 231,000 downloads (down 4%). Charging fast right behind is Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines,” featuring T.I. & Pharrell, which vaults 23-2 with 206,000 (up 204%). Last week, the song was performed on NBC’s “The Voice” (May 14) and “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” (May 16).
P!nk’s “Just Give Me a Reason,” featuring Nate Ruess, slips 2-3 with 193,000 (down 16%); Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise” holds at No. 4 with 189,000 (up 25%); and Selena Gomez’s “Come & Get It” climbs 6-5 with 164,000 (up 15%).
Falling 3-6 is Timberlake’s “Mirrors” with 156,000 (down 7%), while Imagine Dragons’ “Radioactive” is steady at No. 7 with 141,000 (up less than 1%). Also standing still is Icona Pop’s “I Love It,” featuring Charli XCX, though it’s up by less than 1%. Jumping 19-9 is Lana Del Rey’s “Young and Beautiful” with 121,000 (up 57%), thanks to exposure gleaned from its use in the film “The Great Gatsby” and on its soundtrack.
Completing the top 10 is Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky,” featuring Pharrell Williams, which rises 17-10 with 118,000 (up 45%).
Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending May 19) totaled 5.10 million units, down 8% compared with the sum last week (5.6 million) and up less than 1% compared with the comparable sales week of 2012 (5.09 million). Year-to-date album sales stand at 111.4 million, down 5% compared with the same total at this point last year (117.4 million).
Digital track sales this past week totaled 24.4 million downloads, up 1% compared with last week (24.3 million) and down 2% stacked next to the comparable week of 2012 (25 million). Year-to-date track sales are at 531.2 million, down 3% compared with the same total at this point last year (545.3 million). [Billboard.biz]
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