Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Artists Looking to Expand Beyond Music


The relationship between music and sports has always been a close knit one. As the market for music is becoming less profitable artists are looking to venture into the sports market. Recently Jay-Z received his sporting agent license and already signed big name athletes, such as Kevin Durant, Robinson Cano, and Skylar Diggins. Now other artists including Drake, Nelly, and Jennifer Lopez have some form of ownership or partnership with a sports team. This should be something to expect from more artists down the line.

Indy Artists on the Rise


Who said you needed a major record deal to be a mainstream success? Over the years we have seen independent artists tap into the mainstream market without the backing of a major record company. None have reached the heights that Macklemore and Ryan Lewis had this past year. The duo landed three singles off their platinum debut album, The Heist on the Billboard Top 100 year end chart with “Thrift Shop” at No.1 and “Can’t Hold Us” at No. 5. It doesn't stop there; Macklemore and Lewis are nominated for seven Grammy awards at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards next year. 

The internet has allowed artists to breakout and distributes their music. Major labels are no longer needed if artists can build a solid fan base. As seen with another artist like Mac Miller, independent artists are able to sell plenty of albums and perform on tour without being signed to a label.


Every artist may not be able to reach the level of success of Maclemore and Lewis, but it does prove that independent artists are able to generate profit on their own. Major labels should also be a little concern however given how many artists may follow their formula and go the independent route. What do you think, are more artist inclined to go the independent route to sell more records.





Female Pop Prowess


Who run the world…Girls! Okay, not necessarily, but they are running the world of pop music especially in 2013. With new music from everyone from Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, to Lorde the female pop fan base should be more than satisfied with the plethora of new music in the genre. In fact there’s at least one female pop artist nominated for a Grammy for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year. Also not that four of the top five biggest YouTube hits of the year is from a female pop artist. Last week Beyonce added to the star power by dropping a surprise album which has already broke the iTunes first week sales and is likely to break the first week sales of this year. 









Pharrell Is For Real



Is there anyone who had a bigger year than Pharrell this year? Whether he was producing or behind the microphone he was featured in some of the biggest records this year. This comes to no surprise as he is nominated for seven Grammys and has won countless of awards already. And if you think he’s finished just wait until next year where he is slated to release solo album through Columbia. Here are just a few of the records that Pharrell was a part of in 2013.

Pharrell teams up with Daft Punk for their Grammy Nominated Record Get Lucky.

 Pharrell produces and provides some vocals for one of the biggest songs of the summer and the year.

















Pharrell also dropped a song included in the Despicable Me 2 Soundtrack.
















New Forms of Music Marketing in the Digital Age

Last week the music industry shook up when Beyoncé dropped a surprise album. The album consists of 14 new songs and 17 videos. It didn't take long for the album to break the iTunes first week sales and is likely to outsell every other album this year.


Not only is this a big move for Beyoncé, but a very clever one. Artists have to find new ways to get their fans excited about releasing a new album. We have seen other artists use new ways of promotion this year. Jay-Z released a million copies of his album for free through his deal with Samsung. Eminem announced the release the release of his new album and music video during a college football game. Respectively, both albums did very well going gold within its first week. 
Presuming that Beyoncé new album outsells everyone else we may see a change in how artists market their new music. Can you see more artists using new forms of promotion when releasing an album or are the days of high record sales dead? 










Top Album Sales of 2013

With 2013 coming to the halt and the Grammys just 50 days away it’s time to take a look back at this past year in music that has been nothing less than impressive. Some of the biggest names have topped the charts this, but who had the biggest opening week so far? Take a look back on who cashed in the biggest sales week of the year.

5. Luke Bryan struck platinum with his fourth studio album, Crash My Party, which released on August 13, 2013. The album had great commercial success selling 528,000 copies in its debut, but as of October 23, 2013 has sold 1,069,000 copies in the U.S. Its leading single, Crash My Party, was just the push the album needed topping the charts on the U.S Billboard Country Airplay and Canada Country Billboard.

4. Rap artist Jay-Z seen similar numbers this summer with the release of his twelfth studio album, Magna Carta Holy Grail. It was able to sell 528,000 copies despite making it available for free for Samsung customers. The album was certified platinum on the day of its physical release with the shipment of a million copies through the Samsung deal.




















3.Everything is the same for Drake as his third studio album goes gold in its opening week. Drake had the third highest opening week selling 658,000 units. Nothing Was the Same was assisted by six successful promotional singles leading up to its release on September 24, 2013. Nothing Was the Same was certified platinum just five weeks after its release.




















2.Speaking of everything staying the same, Eminem picked up where he left off with the highly anticipated Marshall Mathers LP 2. This is the second installment to the MMLP series, selling 792,000 units in its debut week. The MMLP 2 only took four weeks to go platinum.





















1.Nine months later Justin Timberlake’s 20/20 Experience still has the biggest sales week of the year, with 968,000 copies sold back in March. It was quite the comeback for Timberlake who released three singles, released two albums, and collaborated with Jay-Z in the Legends of the Summer Stadium Tour to further promote the album. 20/20 Experience is Timberlake’s best selling debut week of his solo career and second number one album on the chart.










Growing Competition of Music Streaming Services

When it comes to streaming music the choices are almost unlimited because of the many different services available. Everything from Pandora Radio to Spotify gives listeners a large library of music to access both online and on a mobile app. Itunes Radio and Google Play Music All Access came a little late, but both companies are big enough to make a major impact in the market.
 Most people are listening to their favorite songs using one of the many streaming services available without downloading it. Streaming services takes pressure off of record companies since they don’t have to worry about people illegally downloading music. Many services offer a free and paid service with extra cost if they want to access their music on their phone.