Wednesday Bits & Pieces: Idol & UMG, eMusic’s new CEO and Chart Highlights
Idol's New Deal with UMG
The big news coming out yesterday was 19 Entertainment’s decision to align American Idol with Universal Music Group for a new distribution and marketing deal, letting their previous deal with Sony Music lapse after 9 seasons. While the move is being portrayed as “dropping a bomb” by many media outlets, the decision comes as much less of a surprise within the industry. The show itself is undergoing many transitions heading into the 10th season, not to mention that creator Simon Fuller’s relationship with new UMG co-CEO Lucian Grainge is well known, performance of Idol finalist releases have been in decline, and uncertainty about what lies ahead for some of Sony’s top brass all pointed to a likely change – as was rumored in past weeks… eMusic has announced a new CEO in Adam Klein, who has previously held positions at MTV and EMI; a new upcoming cloud-based “locker” system has also been tipped. Klein replaces JDS Capital Management/Dimensional Associates head Danny Stein who was running the music service temporarily after the exit of eMusic’s former CEO David Pakman. JDS/Dimensional also recently finalized their acquisition of The Orchard… Elsewhere, Avenged Sevenfold sees their first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Charts with their new release Nightmare, bumping Eminem’s Recovery from the top spot. Another impressive chart story comes from L.A. locals Best Coast, whose new release Crazy For You debuted at #36 selling over 10K in its first week… And will Spotify move into the shadows of the new digital music era, at least in the U.S., with the public launch of Rdio this week?
03.5.10In Case You Missed It: Reading Recap
Apple Sets Sights on Amazon Daily Deal Promotion
Unlike the recent hoopla over Abbey Road, no public outcry surrounding EMI’s recent sale of Olympic Sound Studios, birthplace of classic recordings from The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, The Who and Queen… Apple is starting to flex its iTunes market share muscle with labels over their use of Amazon’s Daily Deal promotion that features deeply discounted albums for new artist releases… Music start ups MOG and Spotify to go toe-to-toe at SXSW, MOG to announce new mobile app… Time Magazine profiled soon to be Universal Music Group head Lucian Grainge…And Peter Gabriel’s The Filter has announced a new deal with video site Dailymotion…
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In Case You Missed It: Reading Recap
Changes Happening at Universal Music Group
More news out of MySpace this week with the departure of CEO Owen Van Natta after less than one year in the position; situation at the social networking company being described by some as a “hot mess”… Vivendi announced on Wednesday that Lucian Grainge would in fact become the next CEO of Universal Music Group in 2011. It took no time for the Brit to make comments to the New York Times and Wall Street Journal regarding the future of CD’s and his favor for anti-piracy laws. Naturally this caused a torrent of commentary, though nothing of a ‘07 Doug Morris Wired Magazine proportion… Veoh has announced it will be shutting down as a result of a “financially draining and distracting” legal bout with UMG, even though the video site was victorious in the precedent setting case; a closer look finds other possible factors involved with its bankruptcy… Elsewhere, Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr made comments that rekindled talk of the company’s interest in EMI… Google is receiving a lot of flak for shutting down a handful of music blogs over DMCA complaints, though some are raising questions about where the blame should be put… And Universal Music Publishing CEO David Renzer explains why he thinks 2010 might be the most challenging time yet for publishers.
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The Brits Are Taking Over
With today’s announcement from Vivendi on the appointment of Lucian Grainge as Chief Executive Officer of Universal Music Group, expect the rumor mill to pump up the volume on what changes we can expect to happen within the UMG labels in the coming months. But before we delve into conjecture on the UMG side, it’s significant to point out the number of British executives running US major labels. Outside of Warner Music Group, the remaining three major label groups are run by Brits. The UK presence is quite prominent at the Rob Stringer-run Sony Music, particularly with the addition of Amanda Ghost at Epic, the recent addition of Ashley Newton at the Steve Barnett-helmed Columbia Records. And the Terra Firma-owned EMI Music Group maintains its US operations under Nick Gatfield, who served under Grainge during his stint as President of Island Records UK prior to his EMI post. Aside from Ghost, the aforementioned execs have solid working experience in US music companies. Barnett has been in the Sony US system for years, Newton’s previous post at RCA and his tenure co-running Virgin Records US makes him a very well-respected US exec, while Gatfield ran Polydor Records in the states during the ‘90s.
Back to UMG, Grainge will assume his new post on Jan. 1, 2011, succeeding current UMG CEO Doug Morris. Rumors of Grainge assuming Morris’ position have been swirling for months. Grainge is scheduled to relocate to NY in July as part of the transition. Industry insiders share that Universal Republic head Monte Lipman and brother Avery will have an expanded role at the music group, as well as Mercury Records head David Massey. It leaves to question the future roles of Island Def Jam ruler LA Reid and Universal Motown head Sylvia Rhone, who was a longtime Doug Morris protégé. And it’s fair to expect no major changes to happen at Jimmy Iovine’s Interscope label. Stay tuned…
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