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Welcome to Launch Pad
Wishing everyone an amazing and relaxing 4th
of July Holiday. This last couple weeks have
been incredibly busy here...I am proud to
announce that Motley Crue had their strongest
week one debut, at least since Soundscan has
kept track. A #4 chart debut w/ 98.8K.
Congratulations to Eleven-Seven and of course
to the band, we are proud to be a part of the
success.
Please welcome to the Rocket Science staff Dave
Altarescu who will be heading up our
in-house on-line marketing department
effective immediately.
Some great industry news outlined for you below.
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Nashville Changing Face of the Music Industry
This is my winner for best article of the
month...In the Nashville Tennessean, over the
course of four weeks, this series of articles
has addressed various aspects of the changing
business model. If you read one piece on this
newsletter read this one.
By all standards, 18-year-old country star
Taylor Swift has made it in the music
industry. She's topped the country, pop and
digital charts. Her debut album has sold more
than 3 million copies. And she has won
several major music awards.
But to the nearly 20,000 mostly unseen people
working in Nashville's music industry, Swift
represents far more than the latest young
artist to hit it big on the country music
scene. She illustrates the industry's new
benchmarks of success in an era dominated by
digital music, an explosion of new media
platforms and a decline in album sales, in a
business that has seen a third of its $14.6
billion retail market evaporate since 2000.
Call it the music industry's new normal. Life
has changed - and is changing - for just
about everyone on Music Row, from the
songwriters and musicians to the publishers
and record labels that make up the heart and
soul of this city's most famous product.
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Starbucks dumping CDs
This has been rumored for quite some time.
The news yesterday was dominated with the
Sbux store closings and employee reductions,
so in this context, perhaps the loss of focus
on music isn't a huge surprise. Anecdotally,
its my understanding that the shrinkage with
music was astronomical...that coupled with
the lack of focus instore, this decision
probably makes sense.
Starbucks, which has been scaling back its once-
grand ambitions to turn itself into an
entertainment hub, is about to shrink its
plans yet again. We hear that by September,
the chain will have dumped almost all of its
in-store music retail offerings.
That means no more "spinner" racks offering
multiple CD choices to latte-buyers. And that
also means no more gift cards and promotional
giveaways for Apples iTunes (AAPL).* Instead,
we're told, the coffee chain will offer just
four CD "slots" per store. But it will also
continue to offer free Wi-fi access to
Apple's online music store and may continue
to try to sell entertainment online.
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Lessons from the Mosh Pit
Man, I could not agree with this analysis
any more...I am going to get on my soapbox
here and make the point that every management
company is a 360 deal...makes all the sense
in the world to maintain all revenue streams
in-house to the greatest extent possible.
I generally don't pay much attention to rock
music, but I'm fascinated with changes in
business models. Which is why a news item
late last week about Live Nation caught my eye.
Live Nation's goal has been to dominate the live
music business. By gaining control of the
largest network of music venues in the
country and
involving itself in as many aspects of the music
business as possible, the concert promoter is
crafting a strategy to create efficiencies
and synergies that would generate higher
profits and allow it to attract the best talent.
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Best Buy expecting strong holiday season
Some forwarded looking projections that
should cheer you up in an era of $5.00
Gasoline.
Consumer electronics retailer Best Buy Co
(BBY.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)
is expecting stronger consumer demand for the
holiday season and will likely offer targeted
promotional events for loyal customers.
"For our business, we're planning it to be up
-- that's what our guidance is," Michael
Vitelli, executive vice president for
customer operating groups at Best Buy, told
the Reuters Consumer and Retail Summit.
Vitelli said Best Buy was tracking the sale
of product lines and brands to determine the
right inventory to have in place this holiday
season as higher gasoline and fuel prices eat
into consumers' discretionary spending.
He said video games and the Blu-ray
high-definition DVD format would be "clear
winners" this holiday selling season.
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KISS manager confirms new member rumors
C'mon, you can't make this stuff up! I love
KISS and they are probably the reason I am in
the music business...I love how Gene has
figured out a way to keep making money
touring the band when he's dead!
The manager of rock band KISS has confirmed the
group are in talks to launch a TV talent show
to find replacements for frontman Paul
Stanley and guitarist Gene Simmons - when the duo
eventually retire.
It has long been rumored that founding members
Stanley and Simmons hope to keep the band
running when they decide to quit - but both
men have been evasive when asked about
whether any new members have been signed up
and if the takeover will happen after their
current
world tour.
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EMI's New Boss Sees Cracks in Music World
I am a huge fan and believer in what's
going on over here...at the very least, they
are the most proactive...
One evening last autumn a group of about 10
artist managers, including representatives
for the pop stars Kylie Minogue and Robbie
Williams
as well as an executive who oversees the
Beatles catalog, clustered around a table in
an executive
dining room at the London headquarters of
EMI. The purpose was to size up the new boss,
Guy Hands, and discuss the future of the
record business.
Mr. Hands, the private equity financier who
had made a fortune sprucing up pubs in
England and gas stations on the German
autobahn, told the
gathering that Rupert Murdoch had privately
scoffed at his acquisition of EMI by saying,
"MySpace is
going to be the future of music, not record
labels."
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Music a key element in WWE brand profile
It broadcasts television shows in 130
countries and in 20 languages. It averages a
weekly global audience of 47 million viewers.
It aired tongue-in-cheek videotaped messages
from Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Barack
Obama during an April broadcast. It is a pop
culture phenomenon.
And yet there's something missing that World
Wrestling Entertainment still yearns for: the
respect of the recording industry.
"One of my frustrations is getting the word
out about just how much music is used in our
product," WWE music director Jim Johnston
said. "The labels will stumble over
themselves to get on MTV, but no one's
watching MTV."
The WWE is continuing to develop
relationships with record labels and
publishers to find songs to feature in the
dozen-plus pay-per-view events it produces
each year. Next in line for the WWE
treatment: hard rock band Shinedown, whose
single "Devour" from its forthcoming Atlantic
Records album, "The Sound of Madness," will
be featured during the WWE "Night of
Champions" June 29 pay-per-view event.
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