Roundup: Grammy Bumps, Pandora’s IPO, Apple Makes Streaming Moves & More
Mumford sells 31K on Grammy day
While Glassnote Entertainment’s Mumford & Sons didn’t walk away with a Grammy award Sunday night, they did see a huge bump in one-day sales for their debut album Sigh No More. It currently is sitting atop the iTunes album chart at #1. Other winners and performers from the night, which saw the largest ratings for the award show in over a decade, are also getting a sales spike in the wake of the event… As anticipated, Pandora filed for an IPO last Friday seeking to raise $100 million, making it the first Internet-music company to go public since Napster went bankrupt in 2002. In filing, it was revealed, among other things, that the company spends half of its revenues on acquiring content, a fact that AllThingsDigital’s Peter Kafka points out, isn’t a bad thing… Reports over the weekend have Apple considering the possibility of turning its paid MobileMe storage service, into a free “locker” for personal memorabilia such as photos, music and videos – reigniting talk of the company’s move into offering a streaming-music function. Meanwhile today, Apple announced the launch of a content subscription system for music, videos, newspapers, magazines and other forms of content, which will work similarly to app purchases, except that customers choose their type of subscription. As for what it might mean specifically for music, Evolver.fm points out; on-demand subscriptions like MOG, Rhapsody, Napster and Spotify, and the paid version of interactive radio services such as Last.fm, Pandora and Slacker, can now charge you for a subscription right within iTunes, with the same convenience for you — and the same loss of revenue for them... Radiohead has announced details about their new album The King of Limbs, which will see a digital release this weekend, a month ahead of a physical release via XL Recordings. The band’s co-manager explains to Music Week the reason behind not releasing the new album in the same manner as In Rainbows… Former EMI Music A&R prexy Nick Gatfield has been named President Of Music Division for Sony Music UK, reporting to Chairman and CEO Ged Doherty… And does Guy Hands really want to double down and make a bid for both Warner Music and EMI?
12.23.10Indie Dispatches: Chart Bumps, Tour Slumps & Band Overload – Final Missive for 2010
The xx were one of 2010's biggest stories
Whoa, 2010! What a year! Great music, bad music, hypes, bombs, and a whole lotta changes. It seems like everything this year moved at Warp Factor 10 and there were more than a few surprises. Launching the time machine back to January 1st, it would have been hard to predict some of the significant moments of the year ahead.
Arcade Fire top the charts! No, not the indie ghetto, or Heatseekers – the real ones! In fact it wasn’t just the Arcade Fire & their label, Merge Records, making waves in ‘the big boys club’ - Spoon, The National, Sufjan Stevens and a host of other acts signed to independent labels had sales that led to them crashing into the upper echelons of the charts. Heavens, even Best Coast made an appearance! And not to be forgotten is Vampire Weekend, who also hit the coveted #1 position early in the year on the indie XL Recordings. Maybe it can attributed to slumping major label sales leaving the door open for their independent brethren, or it could be the focus on the music community and a dedication to the fans from the indies that the consumers repaid by actually buying the records. Maybe it is just that many indies put out great music that people cared about. Whatever is behind it, it is a reason to celebrate, and set 2010 as a landmark twelve months – to paraphrase Sonic Youth… the year that indie broke.
Is it the 90’s? The host of bands from Gen X/Y that reformed, toured and released records was long and full. Sonic Youth, Superchunk, Soundgarden, Pavement, Vaselines, Teenage Fanclub, Versus, Faith No More, Belle & Sebastian, Guided By Voices, JSBX and Dean Wareham playing Galaxie 500… Even Jeff Mangum from the much revered (and long lost) Neutral Milk Hotel popped up at year-end for his first live show in many, many years. And significantly, this wasnt some tired re-tread as the bands (for the most part) held their own against younger contenders. The Sonic Youth ‘early years’ set at the Hollywood Bowl this year was blistering and Superchunk came back to release one of the albums of the year, and put on a series of shows that were 100% fun and over-the-top great (meanwhile finding the time to run the label releasing that #1 album…)
First #1 in 2010
Speaking of which – who would dispute Merge Records as the best label of the year? The Arcade Fire hit the chart peak, after the label came close earlier in 2010 with both Spoon and She and Him. But there was still a dedication to quality releases – large or small. A conversation with label head Mac McCaughan will see him raving about the marvels of Wye Oak, as much as some of the label’s more storied roster. The Love Language, Caribou, Tracy Thorn, Telekinesis… quite a schedule of releases, and one that should be the envy of other labels, both big and small.
Duke Spirit, Delta Spirit, Kid Sister, Twin Sister, Twin Shadow, Le Sands, Leswitch, La Sera, Deerhunter, Deerhoof, Kisses, Suckers, Sweaters, Cults, Guards, Avi Buffalo, White Buffalo, White Arrows, White Sea, Cloud Cult, Cloud Control, Cloud Nothings, Wild Nothing, WILD FLAG, Mountain Man, MEN, Girls, Women, Felice Brothers, Pernice Brothers, Punch Brothers, Punches, Dead Confederate, Dead Country, Dead Weather, Beach House, Beach Fossils, Crystal Castles, Crystals Antlers, Crystal Stilts, Surf City, Surfer Blood, Pearl Harbor, Pearly Gate Music, Frightened Rabbit, Pepper Rabbit, Magic Kids, Magic Bullets, Here We Go Magic, Gold Panda, Panda Bear, Bear Hands, Bear Hug, Bear in Heaven, Black Angels, Black Mountain, Black Keys… phew! So many bands, so little time! And many with names that seem to just run into each other. So confusing! Who can keep up? (even Pitchfork claimed that maybe it was in overload). You know it is a saturation point when bands that have one 7″ release to their name seem to suddenly spawn a side-project.
Recession? What Re… Oh, yeah – that one. While some shows and tours did well, the story of the year was one of half empty rooms and promoters getting burned. Was 2010 the year that the ‘punters’ rebelled against high ticket prices or was it just over-saturation and the economic malaise? It was grim, as some of the larger venues in Los Angeles (Music Box, Nokia, El Rey) hosted shows that were far from full - RaRa Riot, Brendan Benson/Posies and Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan to name but a few, along with the papering of more than one high profile Hollywood Bowl line-up during the summer season. It wasn’t just LA either, as stories came in from around the country of poor attendance and shows cancelled due to lacklustre presales (with even some Pitchfork-endorsed acts clocking up advance numbers in single digits).
Chillwave! Ugh. Let’s reconvene and debate at the end of 2011 and see if anyone really who cares, shall we?
Hype, what hype? All to often there seemed to be bands appearing in the media after playing one show (or in some cases NONE!), as some of the reputable outlets clamored to be ‘first on the block’ talking about the new flavor of the month. Labels signed up bands for single releases, sight unseen, and without the acts ever having played a show. More than once a slew of A&R folk were out in droves for an act’s first live outing. And as fast as they are latched on to a particular band, everyone was dashing on to the ‘next’ next big thing. The Guardian in the UK seems to be on a mission to tip a new band every day. Are there really 365 quality new artists out there waiting to be discovered? So we have press and radio and blogs all abuzz touting something new and then jumping on the latest bandwagon daily – with the attention span of a gnat. And six months later (or less) it seems the same media outlets have moved on. Career? Seems like it might be a matter on months now…
Though one band that do have a career is British act The xx, who went from strength to strength as each month went by. A 2009 CMJ buzz, great word of mouth, a landmark SXSW, an album that seemingly sold with no mainstream media or radio exposure at all, topped off by a series of jaw dropping live shows populated by fanatical fans. Oh and a little matter of that Mercury Music Prize in the UK. While many major labels acts took the path as the hare, the British trio were the tortoise that quietly became unstoppable. And hence 2010 became twelve months in which The xx took over the world.
So the year comes to a close. But look! On the horizon, it’s 2011! With tales already afoot, like will Warner Bros. actually be releasing the new Iron & Wine record next month? And of course there are new bands to be excited about and that slew of forthcoming albums to watch out for early in the new year – The Get Up Kids, Bright Eyes, Panda Bear, Wye Oak, Duke Spirit, WILD FLAG, Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Mogwai, The Head and the Heart, Middle Brother…
- Cool Hand Luke
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Indie Dispatches: Recent Signings, Free Agents and Year End Lists Begin
L.A.'s Active Child among Vagrant Records latest signings
Somewhere along the line in the last month or two, news of a few indie signings seemed to somehow slip through the cracks. Most particularly Vagrant Records, who has been busy adding much buzzed about LA combo Active Child to their ever expanding and diversifying roster, along with inking one bona fide legend, Polly Jean Harvey, for her new album – quite a coup. The LA label has done an excellent job of branching out beyond the emo niche it was once known for, and have developed an ‘A Class’ stable of indie rock acts that includes Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Hold Steady, STARS, School of Seven Bells, and of course Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes. PJ Harvey’s new album Let England Shake hits stores February 15, while Active Child’s debut should look for a release in the spring.
Meanwhile, what seems like ages ago (and probably was!), blog favorites DOM from Massachusetts signed on with EMI-offshoot, Astralwerks, with a re-issue of the band’s Sun Bronzed Greek Gods EP slated as their first release in early 2011. And now split from EMI and back in the ranks of indie, Mute Records announced that the first artists to sign to the new version of the label include Yeasayer, Londoners S.C.U.M., and Texan singer songwriter Josh T Pearson. Meanwhile in the past week, Sub Pop announced what seems be the 50th new signing for the year, indie-rock supergroup (with members of Man Man, Modest Mouse & Islands/Unicorns) Mister Heavenly… And what of the free agents out there? Rumors are looming of an announcement about The Head and the Heart signing to a certain Northwest indie (which seems public knowledge but still hasn’t officially been announced)… Will Odd Future sign with XL Recordings, who appear to have been laying out the red carpet for the controversial LA hip hop collective (including reportedly flying their entire posse to the UK)… What will become of Bright Eyes? This past week details of their forthcoming album The People’s Key (due February 15) were announced. Following the record, which is their last for Saddle Creek, will the project be done, or will Conor Oberst follow the path of his solo projects by bringing Bright Eyes to Merge? Or will it be another indie (such as was the case with Monsters of Folk)? And slowly emerging (and pricking up people’s ears) is the fact that critically acclaimed Seattle singer-songwriter Jesse Sykes (and the Sweet Hereafter) is in the market for a new label home, after a number of much beloved releases on Seattle’s Barsuk. Sykes supposedly has avid fans at both small and large labels, indie and major, and a with a new record in the can, chances are she won’t remain unsigned for long.
Of course, since we are now in the waning days of 2010, most of the news in the music media concerns the ubiquitous year-end lists – one of the first being NME’s top 75 albums. There is no disputing the UK rag’s choice for their album of the year – These New Puritans Hidden – was baffling, and has had more than one pundit scratching their heads (possibly even the band’s label), but hats off to Domino Records for nabbing that top spot… Subsequent lists from Spin and Rolling Stone (and surely many others) have been released, and as to this column’s picks for the year’s favorites? Well, that will just have to wait until next time…
- Cool Hand Luke
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Indie Dispatches: Omissions, Additions & What’s Moving this Summer
Avi Buffalo's Debut Album Out this Week Ahead of Big Summer Dates
In our 2010 indie chart busting wrap up last week, there was of course a notable omission – the sophomore album by Vampire Weekend that was released in January on XL Recordings. Not only did the New York band crack the top five, they debuted at the #1 spot, which is quite an achievement for any label in the current climate let alone one of the world’s true independents. But XL is on a roll this year. Did you realize the xx album from The xx, on XL (now that’s a tongue twister) in a very stealth fashion has sold over 100,000 copies domestically? Not bad for a release that has barely blipped on the radar of most mainstream media. As with Vampire Weekend, a lot of blog mentions and a hefty dose of love from Pitchfork can go a long way, but such attention is not a guarantee of success. Looking at sales for some of the other blog favorites such as Neon Indian and UK buzzy acts Hot Chip and The Big Pink, they have all ambled along a similar sales plateau recently in spite of a significant blog presence. In all, that makes the sales for The xx even more impressive. The London trio is sure to spread the gospel even wider coming off a much talked-about dusk slot at Coachella and more upcoming US dates, including two sold-out shows in Los Angeles and appearances at the upcoming Sasquatch and Bonnaroo festivals. Also expect many to come out for support act Phantogram on the West Coast dates, as the highly rated Brooklyn duo are turning heads right now with their album Eyelid Movies on Barsuk Records and current tour with The Antlers.
One band that has a slew of high profile live dates ahead of them is Long Beach teen sensations Avi Buffalo. Coming off a recent runs with both Japandroids and Rogue Wave, the summer will see them sharing the stage with everyone from Modest Mouse and Sub Pop label-mates Blitzen Trapper to My Morning Jacket. Avi Buffalo’s self-titled debut album is out this week and has already garnered a 9/10 rating in Britain’s NME magazine.
- Cool Hand Luke
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