Innholdsfortegnelse for January-26-2013 i Billboard Magazine

For more than a century, Billboard has informed, empowered and engaged the music world. Today, we relaunch the brand to be the most important and exciting property in music media. ¶ In short, Billboard is investing. And while it’s true that we’re investing in our core products—a more beautiful magazine, websites that start with the notion of community and discovery and build from there, and an app to read the weekly publication—we’re really investing in our faith in music. In our faith in you. ¶ The new Billboard takes in the sweeping changes in the ways that fans experience music and the complexities of the music industry, boils it all down and then lifts it up. The moment that 50,000 people erupt in unison at a concert. The discovery and…

bandier gets paid After pulling all the digital performance rights for Sony/ATV and EMI Music Publishing’s catalog from ASCAP and BMI, Martin Bandier went out and negotiated a 5% rate from Pandora, an increase of 25% over the rate that the radio service had been paying publishers. EMI Music Publishing was the first to pull digital rights from ASCAP for a portion of its catalog, but when Sony/ATV became administrator, it followed in EMI’s footsteps and pulled the remainder of the EMI catalog as well from ASCAP and BMI. keep searching Mark Zuckerberg unveiled Facebook’s much hyped and rumored Graph Search, which was well-received by the tech community for the most part but got something of a shrug from the stock market. Shares trended down 5% soon after as Wall…

A more musically receptive attitude is breathing new life into the adult top 40 format and helping it stand out on the radio. After long relying on mainstream top 40 crossovers to fill its playlist, the format is seizing more hits from alternative and exposing them to a wider audience. Never before in its nearly 17-year history has Billboard’s Adult Top 40 chart shared so many songs with the Alternative tally. The past two weeks, five former Alternative No. 1s roosted in its top 10: the Lumineers’ “Ho Hey” (No. 1), fun.’s “Some Nights” (No. 7), Of Monsters and Men’s “Little Talks” (No. 9), Imagine Dragons’ “It’s Time” (No. 8) and Alex Clare’s “Too Close” (No. 10). Programming executives say the infux is helping adult top 40 get its musical…

TOURING APA talent & literary Agency in New York taps booking agents Alex Chaykin and Andrew Ellis to help expand the firm’s electronic and contemporary divisions, respectively. Chaykin previously spent three years as an agent in William Morris Endeavor’ electronic division and has already signed 20 new acts since joining APA, including MAKJ, Project 46, Matt Nash and M|O|D. “We’re out there actively talking to managers and labels to find acts we can spend time developing,” says Chaykin, who will also serve as a VP in the firm’s concerts department. Ellis, meanwhile, was an agent at Paradigm talent Agency since 2008 and brings with him such clients as Brand New, Rocket From the Crypt, Manchester Orchestra and Dashboard Confessional. Both are based in New York and report to APA president/CEO…

Being a Rolling Stone is nice work if you can get it. And, apparently, they're staying on the job, with sources telling Billboard that the Stones are currently weighing options to follow up their lucrative 2012 mini-tour with more live dates this year. The "home run" status of the Rolling Stones remains beyond debate. Five shows in December, promoted by Virgin Music and Australian promoter Paul Dainty, commemorated the band's 50th anniversary. They grossed $38.7 million and moved 73,702 tickets, according to Billboard Boxscore. The breakdown was a $17.1 million gross and 31,755 attendees for two shows at London's O2 Arena, $7.3 million and 14,471 for a one-off at Barclays Center in Brooklyn and $14.3 million and 27,476 for two gigs at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Dainty didn't…

Ke$ha and Afrojack both took the stage at the iHeartRadio party at Haze Nightclub at the Aria Resort & Casino at Las Vegas’ CityCenter on Jan. 9. At CES, Clear Channel announced that its iHeartRadio will be bringing new-school technology to old-school mobile: cars. IHeartRadio will be added to Chrysler’s Uconnect and select 2014 GM infotainment systems, and a new made-for-driving app called iHeartRadio for Auto just launched to enable aftermarket products to incorporate the app. For more on CES, see page 34.…

“Songs are classic. production comes and goes, like fashion.” There’s not much that would otherwise draw Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, fun., Dido and Lykki Li to an old pool house in Mar Vista, a modest neighborhood near Venice Beach in Los Angeles. But they happily make the trek because that’s where Jef Bhasker’s (actually quite diminutive) Enormous Studios is tucked away. Bhasker—who’s also worked with the Rolling Stones, Jay-Z, Beyoncé and Kanye West on 808s & Heartbreak and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy— believes the intimate space allows a sense of ease that helps generate the performances he’s looking for. “Everyone feels quite comfortable here, so I always lobby for people to come by,” he says. “You don’t get a lot of studios with skylights and windows. I love it…

It has taken remarkably little time for A$AP Rocky to ascend to the throne. Today—Tuesday, Jan. 15, the release date of Long.Live. A$AP (Polo Ground Music/RCA Records)— finds him onstage taping “Late Show With David Letterman,” sitting on a golden throne with a mic stand to the side. Next week will likely find him sitting atop the Billboard 200—Long.Live.A$AP is a projected No. 1 debut, with sales tracking at 130,000. But back in August 2011, Rocky was just another unknown rapper uploading a video to YouTube. That’s when he posted the eye-catching, retro-rap-inspired clip for “Peso.” A year and some change later, after a whirlwind of highlights—more than 17 million You-Tube views for “Peso,” an unexpected invitation to tour with Drake, headlining New York radio station WQHT’s Summer Jam, a…

As the world’s largest trade fair for the music industry, MIDEM can be daunting to navigate. Last year’s gathering drew more than 6,850 attendees from 77 countries, representing 3,120 companies, including 155 startups. This year’s event, taking place Jan. 26-29 at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, promises similar robust participation. So, how best to manage MIDEM? Billboard offers this 13-point guide of what to watch in 2013, from a trans-Atlantic perspective. U.S.-based senior editorial analyst Glenn Peoples and U.K.-based contributor Richard Smirke have surveyed the trends, panels, showcases and more coming to Cannes, providing their priority picks. The full MIDEM agenda can be found at midem.com while discussions can be followed on Twitter at #midem. 1. STARTUPS AND VENTURE CAPITALISTS SoundCloud, the Echo Nest and Songkick all received an…

When Local Natives did a radio concert and interview in December for noncommercial KCRW Santa Monica, Calif., the quartet took turns answering the questions of music director Jason Bentley. It was the perfect metaphor for the Los Angeles indie rockers’ one-for-all, all-for-one inner workings. “We always joke that it’s a barely functioning democracy,” says Taylor Rice, who shares lead vocal duties with Kelcey Ayer. “It extends to the songwriting, a process that’s really collaborative, and artwork. We had an intense three-hour meeting on artwork for a single. We take a vote to make decisions.” Score one for democracy: Fueled by word-of-mouth, heavy touring and critical acclaim, Local Natives’ 2009 debut, Gorilla Manor, has sold 117,000 units, according to Nielsen Sound-Scan, peaked at No. 3 on Heatseekers Albums and drew positive…

The 70th annual Golden Globe Awards logged its best Nielsen ratings in six years. The NBC ceremony (Jan. 13) marked Adele’s first public appearance since giving birth in October. During the telecast, Adele and Paul Epworth won best original song for “Skyfall,” from the James Bond flm. (Epworth was absent.) Having peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, “Skyfall” is the first Golden Globe-winning song to have also reached the top 10 since 1998, when Celine Dion’s No. 1 “My Heart Will Go On” earned best original song. 17% 19.7m Nielsen reports that the awards telecast earned 19.7 million viewers overall—its largest audience since 2007 (20 million) and up 17% compared with last year (16.9 million). 101% 7K Robyn’s “Dancing on My Own” earned a 101% sales gain…

Singer/songwriter Chris Tomlin claims his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 as his Burning Lights opens atop the list with 73,000 sold, according to Nielsen Sound-Scan. The Christian music veteran’s new set also arrives at No. 1 on the Christian Albums chart, giving Tomlin his fourth leader on that tally. Tomlin’s debut earns the largest sales week for any Christian or gospel set since Casting Crowns’Come to the Well debuted at No. 2 on Nov. 5, 2011, with 99,000. It’s also Tomlin’s best sales frame yet, surpassing the 63,000 he moved during the Thanksgiving frame of 2010 with Glory in the Highest: Christmas Songs of Worship. But his personal best is also the smallest sales number to claim the No. 1 slot on the Billboard 200 since Sept.…

Your debut album, An Awesome Wave, just climbed into the top 100 of the Billboard 200 for the first time. How much of a priority is U.S. success for Alt-J? Success in America is touted as this Quixotic thing that some [British] bands chase and hardly any ever really achieve. We’re not looking to be the next Beatles. I think we view any success in the U.S. as a bonus and a massive surprise. The album was released in the United Kingdom last May. Is it strange seeing it pick up momentum stateside months later? It is strange, but with the Internet, we were doing shows in America before the album came out, and people already knew all the songs on the album. Once you release an album anywhere, it’s…

This week, Billboard debuts the all-encompassing Streaming Songs chart, which is a breakout of the same streaming music sources that factor into the Billboard Hot 100. The new chart blends Web-radio streams with on-demand streams (see story, page 4). Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Thrift Shop” starts out in the No. 1 position, the same rung it holds on the On-Demand Songs tally in its 13th week. Arriving on On-Demand Songs are the Lumineers, who bow at No. 43 with “Stubborn Love” (400,000 streams). The track is the second radio-promoted single from the band’s self-titled debut album, and follows “Ho Hey,” which remains steady at No. 4 in its 27th week on the tally (1 million streams, up 10%). The rise in popularity of “Stubborn Love” is partially due to its…

Blake Shelton soars from No. 45 to No. 6 in his second week on Billboard’s sales/airplay/streaming hybrid Hot Country Songs chart with “Sure Be Cool If You Did.” Its leap is fueled heavily by a No. 1 bow on Country Digital Songs (see page 70), where it starts with 98,000 first-week downloads sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Shelton scores his first leader on the latter list since “God Gave Me You” in 2011. In addition to its strong sales start, “Sure” claims Airplay Gainer honors on Hot Country Songs, as it charges 32-23 on Country Airplay (see page 69) with a 155% increase to 11 million audience impressions, according to Nielsen BDS. “Sure” marks Shelton’s 16th Hot Country Songs top 10, 12 of which have reached No. 1. Fellow format…

Based solely on two days of airplay, Justin Timberlake’s comeback record, “Suit & Tie” (see story, page 57) debuts at No. 9 on Hot R&B Songs (opposite page) and at No. 27 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Of the 36 million listener impressions it accrued Monday and Tuesday, which counted toward the Hot 100 Airplay chart that these lists are based on, 4.4 million (or about 12%) came from R&B/hip-hop stations. The track is expected to climb higher on the charts next week as digital sales, streaming and a full week of airplay data come into the fold. Atlanta’s B.o.B also debuts high with his mixtape cut “We Still in This B****,” featuring T.I. and Juicy J. On Hot Rap Songs, the rowdy party continuer opens at No. 23, while on…

Phish spent the summer months of 2012 playing outdoor amphitheaters during its tour through u.S. cities, but the jam band ended the year with its annual string of concerts at Madison Square garden in new York leading up to new Year’s Eve. The group played four consecutive nights beginning dec. 28 and earns this week’s no. 1 Boxscore ranking with the $4.6 million gross. live nation produced the four-show run with a combined total of 73,569 tickets sold for all performances. 2012 marked the third year in a row that Phish has wrapped the year at the famed Manhattan arena with sold-out concerts. Attendance was down slightly from the previous year’s four-show stint that drew slightly more than 75,000 fans, but with a slight hike in ticket prices in 2012,…

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ rap track “Thrift Shop,” featuring Wanz, is seemingly a hit everywhere—except radio stations that specialize in rap, that is. ¶ The duo’s ode to the joys of bargainhunting ascends to the top of Billboard’s Hot Digital Songs chart with 279,000 downloads sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The track, up 5-2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and 2-1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, has sold 1.6 million downloads since its release. Parent album The Heist opened at No. 1 on the Oct. 27 Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and has sold 237,000 copies. ¶ Distributed and promoted by Alternative Distribution Alliance (ADA), the group has roared up multiple Nielsen BDSbased Billboard airplay charts with “Thrift Shop.” The song enters the top 10 on Rhythmic (14-9) and bullets on Alternative…

.biz The Skate and Surf Festival will return after an eight-year hiatus to the Plaza Green at iPlay America in Freehold, N.J., on May 18-19, with A Day to Remember as headliner. Other performers include Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Bayside and Andrew W.K. Bonnaroo is getting even greener. The famously earthconscious festival unveiled permanent solar panels to generate 20% of its energy needs. When the $1 billion Barclays Center opened in October of last year with eight sellouts from Jay-Z, the dynamic of the critical New York/New Jersey metropolitan concert marketplace shifted dramatically. Given that the honeymoon period all new arenas enjoy is still ongoing, this story has yet to play out. For its part, Madison Square Garden is undergoing a nearly $1 billion “transformation” that will make it a…

WHAT? SESAC, the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers, has a new majority owner in private equity form Rizvi Traverse. According to reports, Rizvi Traverse paid $600 million for a 75% stake in the company, which would give SESAC an $800 million valuation. Billboard sources say that more likely the price was $450 million for the 75% stake, which would result in a $600 million valuation. An earlier auction yielded bids of only $500 million-$550 million, they say. WHY? Rizvi Traverse probably bought in, due to SESAC’s ability to produce a five-year 13% compound annual growth rate. Some see further growth opportunities in an expanded roster, or from diversifying into administration services, mechanical licensing or maybe even an international play. Beyond that, SESAC’s model leaves plenty of room for…

Claude Nobs, the much-admired founder/GM of the Montreux Jazz Festival, died Jan. 10 following a skiing accident near his home in Montreux, Switzerland, on Dec. 24. He was 76. Immortalized as “Funky Claude” in the Deep Purple song “Smoke on the Water,” Nobs was born Feb. 4, 1936, in the Swiss village of Territet in the Vaud canton, and initially trained as a chef before joining the Montreux Tourist Board in 1960. The following year, he helped launch the Golden Rose Festival of Television (Rose D’Or) and began booking concerts by visiting blues artists. One of his first big shows was a 1964 co-production with British TV show “Ready Steady Go” featuring performances by the Rolling Stones and Petula Clark. In 1966, Nobs traveled to New York and cold-called Atlantic…

MIDEM attendance fell last year to just shy of 7,000. That's down 30% from 2001, when attendance was more than 10,000—one report even suggests it was closer to 12,000, which would be a 42% tumble in 12 years. Either way, MIDEM doesn't draw the way it used to, which begs the question: Is it worth your time? For many industry players it can be a costly pain to go to Cannes when the weather isn't so great and there are beautiful beaches reminding you that you need to come back during the summer when you're not as busy. And, since the majors are self-contained entities, their attendees seem limited to the publishing, licensing and top digital executives nowadays. But for thousands of independent music companies, MIDEM represents an essential hub…

EAT Tribeca's Super Linda is Cobra Starship frontman Gabe Saporta's (@GabrielSaporta) go-to for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week vittles. "The downstairs is vibe-y and lounge-y" says Saporta, who has hit the New York event since he had to crash parties with fashionista friends. "It's fashioned after Argentinian cuisine. I'm from Uruguay, so it's a similar vibe." Saporta also name-checks the Beatrice Inn (above) in the West Village, which Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter recently reopened. “I think that will be the place to go this year.” Meanwhile, Paper magazine’s Mickey Boardman (@AskMrMickey), who writes the life-embracing Hey Mickey column (recent topic: “Celebrity Men I’m Embarrassed to Want to Sleep With”), says his NYFW is all about Indochine in NoHo. “The food is delicious,” he says. “But it’s the high-fashion equivalent of ‘Cheers.’…

IN late 1971, as Led Zeppelin was set to release its massively anticipated fourth album, Alan Meltzer was running a record store in Connecticut called Rainbow Records. Meltzer was 27, still many years away from making multiple fortunes founding and selling CD One-Stop, a music wholesaler; investing in CDNow, an early online retailer; and building Wind-up Records into the most successful independent record label of its era. With the Zeppelin album dropping in a few days, Meltzer bought advertising time on tri-state area radio for a spot he’d created himself, the crux of which he related to Wind-up chief creative officer Gregg Wattenberg years later. “The ad said that for a limited time only, Rainbow Records had arranged with Atlantic to have Led Zeppelin IV shipped directly from Atlantic’s warehouse…

While the big-screen TV sets captured many of the headlines at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, it’s the small screens that will run away with the bulk of consumer dollars in 2013. Sales generated by tablets, smartphones, laptops and notebooks are projected to make up 51.7% of the $1.1 trillion global consumer electronics business this year, up from 46.8% last year, according to the Consumer Electronics Assn., the trade group that puts on CES. Much of that is driven by the mobile consumption of content on what the industry calls “the second screen.” U.S. consumers are spending an estimated 130 minutes a day on tablets and mobile phones, compared with 170 minutes per day watching TV, according to the CEA. But while the amount of time spent…

Tucked away in a homey studio inside a nondescript corner building located deep in North Hollywood, one of 2013’s most promising bids for hip-hop glory is taking shape. “This album is going to surprise a lot of people,” says Big Sean, as he works on his year-in-the-making sophomore album, Hall of Fame. “People will love the honesty of it, the storytelling. It’s just great production with good melodies and good-ass raps. There’s a diferent taste for everybody.” That’s the creative game plan behind Hall of Fame. Initially scheduled for release in December, the hotly anticipated album is now slated for the first quarter. Big Sean began recording the set a year ago during downtime between touring to promote his 2011 debut, Finally Famous—which has sold 366,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan,…

David Bowie Where Are We Now? (4:08) PRODUCER: Tony Viscont i WRITER: David Bowie PUBLISHER: Nipple Music, administered by RZO Music (BMI) LABEL: ISO/Columbia LEGEND & CREDITS Mitchell Peters (albums) and Jason Lipshutz (singles) CONTRIBUTORS: Phil Gallo, Gary Graff, Dan Hyman, Steven J. Horowitz, Jason Lipshutz, Kerri Mason, Jil Menze, Deborah Evans Price, Erika Ramirez, Lindsey Weber All albums commercially available in the Jnited States a re eligible. Send album review copies to Mitchel Petersat Billboard, 5700Wilshire Blvd., Suite 500, Los Angeles, CA 90036and singles 'eview copies to Jason Lipshutz atBillboard,770 Broadway, Seventh Floor, New York, NY 10003, or to the writers in the appropriate oureaus. SINGLE Bowie's Back Leave it to David Bowie to ask the question, in song, that we’d all like to put to him—namely, where the…

What year is it? Last week, two legends that ruled the R&B and pop charts from the late ’90s through mid-2000s made surprise returns to music when both Justin Timberlake and Destiny’s Child released their first original songs in years. Destiny’s Child struck first, on Jan. 10, when Beyoncé broke the news on Facebook. “Nuclear,” the group’s first new song since 2005, arrived 24 hours later on Mashable.com. The Pharrell Williamsproduced track will be included on a new Destiny’s Child compilation, Love Songs (Jan. 29, Legacy Recordings). Timberlake, meanwhile, announced his return on Jan. 11 with a video and clock on his website, which counted down to the Jan. 13 midnight release of his Timbalandproduced single, “Suit & Tie,” featuring Jay-Z. The svelte song, Timberlake’s first new material since 2007,…

LEGEND Bullets indicate titles with greatest weekly gains. Album Charts 0 Recording Industry Assn. of America (RIAA) certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 500,000 albums (Gold). ¡ RIAA certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 1 million units (Platinum). Numeral noted with Platinum symbol indicates album’s multiplatinum level. ™ RIAA certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 10 million units (Diamond). Numeral noted with Diamond symbol indicates album’s multiplatinum level. ) Latin albums certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 50,000 units (Oro). ¢ Latin albums certification for physical shipments & digital downloads of 100,000 units (Platino). Numeral noted with Platinum symbol indicates album’s multi-platinum level. Digital Songs Charts 0 RIAA certification for 500,000 paid downloads (Gold). ¡ RIAA certification for 1 million paid downloads…

At no. 7 on the billboard 200, rock band black Veil brides arrives with its best week ever, scoring a 42,000-unit launch with Wretched and divine: the story of the Wild Ones. the set notches the group its highest rank on the tally and top sales stanza, easily surpassing the no. 17 bow of set the World on Fire (23,000) in 2011. The quintet's latest is a concept album, which also spawned its own film, "Legion of the Black." The movie includes a number of the album's songs, uses actors and also features the band in performance segments. It earned a limited theatrical run in Los Angeles (Dec. 21-23) and played as a pay-per-view event on Jan. 6. The band is on the road with its own headlining tour, which…

One Direction remains at No. 2 on the Social 50 despite a strong surge in overall online activity for the week, held at bay by Justin Bieber. This isn’t the only One Direction title denied by Bieber in the past seven days. During the charting week, the group made a bid to break Vevo’s 24-hour views record with its new music video for “Kiss You,” which debuted Jan. 7. According to Vevo, with 10.4 million views in 24 hours, “Kiss You” fell just 200,000 views short of the record held by Bieber and Nicki Minaj’s “Beauty and a Beat.” —William Gruger…

David Bowie returns to Billboard’s charts, as “Where Are We Now?” enters Hot Rock Songs at No. 20. The song concurrently launches on Rock Digital Songs at No. 14 and Alternative Digital Songs (viewable at Billboard.biz/charts) at No. 10 with 28,000 downloads sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The track also begins on a host of international charts (see pages 80-81). The existence of “Where Are We Now?” remained virtually a secret up until its surprise release on Jan. 8: The day before, Bowie’s son, film director Duncan Jones, tweeted: “Heh heh heh...I know something you don’t know.” The single previews Bowie’s 28th studio album, The Next Day, due March 12. Bowie first drew chart ink more than 40 years ago: In the April 15, 1972, issue, his fourth studio set,…

After vacating the No. 1 spot on Hot Latin Songs last week for the first time since the chart incorporated digital sales and streaming information in October, Wisin & Yandel’s “Algo Me Gusta de Ti” returns to the top for a 14th week. The extended stay at the summit is the longest since Don Omar & Lucenzo’s “Danza Kuduro” reigned for 15 weeks in 2010-11. The duo’s follow-up single, “Te Deseo,” is quickly climbing the chart as well, flying 40-30 this week and jumping 11-7 on Latin Rhythm Airplay (viewable at Billboard.biz/charts) for its record-extending 29th top 10 hit on that list. Further down Hot Latin Songs, Elvis Crespo’s “Pegaito, Suavecito,” featuring Fito Blanko, breaks into the top 10 (13-8), reinforcing his triumphant chart return. The Puerto Rican singer’s previous…

1 CALVIN HARRIS This Week: 28 Last Week: 31 2 Wks Ago: 38 With the song’s 24-20 ascension on the Billboard Hot 100, Calvin Harris has now reached the top 10 on that list with all four of his chart entries as an artist (all occurring within the past 15 months). He hit No. 1 with a featured listing on Rihanna’s “We Found Love,” No. 12 with “Feel So Close” and No. 17 with “Let’s Go” (feat. Ne-Yo). 2 TRINIDAD JAMES This Week: 53 Last Week: 64 2 Wks Ago: 70 New Island Def Jam signee Trinidad James steps up the Hot 100 Airplay chart with his debut effort while holding down a top 10 slot for a second week on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (10-8). On the sales side, “All Gold…

The land rush for on-demand music subscription services is just really kicking into full swing in 2013. First, Cricket Wireless’ Muve Music surpassed 1.1 million subscribers less than two years after it launched. Next, Beats Electronics tapped highly regarded Topspin Media CEO Ian Rogers to be CEO of Daisy, the code name for its music subscription service that will later this year replace MOG, which Beats acquired in 2012. These announcements came a month after the world’s two leading on-demand subscription services revealed improvements to the way their users discover music. Spotify introduced a “follow” tab that allows users to get recommendations from friends, artists, infuencers and media. Similarly, Parisbased Deezer launched artist pages to forge a better artist-fan relationship. Mainstream customers demand mainstream products, and with the possible exception…

As the man who oversees Universal’s operations in Spain, the United States and Latin America, Lopez spends roughly 70% of his time shuttling among his Miami Beach home base, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires and Madrid. 7.00 AM Email and golf. I rarely sleep more than four hours, because I have my different countries emailing me 24/7. The first thing I do when I’m up is turn on my iPad, answer emails and read the New York Times and El Nuevo Herald. I was able to get in nine holes of golf at Miami Beach Golf Club. I try to do that once a week when I’m in town. It takes me an hour-and-a-half. I go alone and clear my head. 9.00 AM My favorite part…

In a single day (Jan. 11), Britney Spears confirmed departures from “The X Factor” and William Morris Endeavor, as well as the end of her engagement to former WME agent Jason trawick. Spears left WME for Creative Artists Agency, CAA managing partner rob light confirmed, with himself and Jefrey Azof as responsible agents. Spears’ last tour in 2011 grossed $37 million and drew nearly 400,000 to 39 shows, according to Billboard Boxscore. The agency will represent Spears worldwide and in all areas. Spears is currently working on a new album, her eighth since 1999’s ÉBaby One More Time, with such collaborators as Will.i.am and Ester Dean, and is rumored to be in negotiations to headline a Las Vegas showÉ Ailing U.K. music and entertainment retailer hMv suspended the trading of…

As the Grammy Awards approach, we are once again looking at the possibility of a ceremony devoid of Latin performers. In the past, this has been attributed to various factors: lack of compelling nominees with crossover appeal, artist unavailability, lack of lobbying from Latin labels and management, and increasing apathy from a Latin community that feels distanced from the Grammy process. Last, but not least, many believe the growth of the Latin Grammys has resulted in the Recording Academy's plunge in interest for the Latin categories. After all, why focus on Latin performers when they have their own three-hour show to shine? But if this is the status quo, then the status quo must change. Hispanics are the largest minority in the country, and growing. Combine that with their increasing…

What did you wake up thinking about this morning? My wife and kids and how fortunate I am. I want to make sure I hit the day with the right attitude. Describe a lesson you have learned from a failure. Of course, I'd rather not give names, but there has been talent that we didn't sign that I later wished we had. When we miss out like that, it only inspires me to be relentless about my focus on attracting the most fantastic artist and songwriter talent and the best executives in the music industry. I am always coming back to how I can improve things with my job so I won't be looking at missed opportunities. What will define your career in the coming year? The success of Warner…

Although its optical character recognition software can’t work miracles, the ScanBizCards business card reader can chew through an exec’s stack of new contacts pretty quickly. Updated last November, ScanBiz Mobile Solutions’ $6.99 business card reader works with iPhone 5, 4S, 4 and 3GS; iPad 3 users; Android 2.2; and Windows Mobile 7.5 and 8. After users download the 11.2-megabyte app, they can snap a photo of a business card to import, then crop, scan, review and add to their address book. Under optimal conditions, imports take less than 25 seconds per card, but business card design has lost its mind in the 21st century. Billboard used ScanBizCards on an iPhone 4S in normal lighting and got mixed results. For one-sided cards featuring large black text in a standard font set…

“I was reluctant to let you come,” says the man sitting in front of me, “until I heard that you’re planning to do a story about ownership.” I have fown out from Los Angeles to the ice felds of Minneapolis (“Well, it’s back to the tundra,” says one of my fellow passengers as we touch down on a crisp 12-degree day) on 24 hours’ notice. I am hoping I will get a chance to discuss the spontaneous touring strategy Prince has raised to an innovative art in the last few years, as well as what plans he may have for his storehouse of unreleased material (his last album was 2010’s 20Ten). And I’m planning to talk with him about his being chosen as Billboard’s 2013 Icon honoree at the Billboard…

Martin Mills, chairman of the Beggars Group, in many ways helped create the idea of the indie label as we know it today. From its London roots as a mobile disco, a small chain of record shops and the Beggars Banquet label, the company has grown into a global force. Beggars is one of the biggest independent music groups in the United Kingdom and, worldwide, the largest owner-run group of labels in the alternative sphere, with a U.S. headquarters in New York, ofices in Los Angeles and nine other international capitals, and joint-venture companies in Spain and Australia, according to a company profile. Today, Beggars comprises four primary active labels: XL Recordings, in partnership with Richard Russell; 4AD; Rough Trade; and Matador. Artists who have thrived through their association with…

The new, more danceable sound on Ra Ra Riot’s third album, Beta Love, was no accident. The disc, out Jan. 22 on Barsuk, shifts away from the orchestral drama of the New York band’s 2008 debut, The Rhumb Line, and 2010’s The Orchard. “Doing something diferent was really deliberate,” violinist Rebecca Zeller says during a break in band rehearsal. “Something that people would have a more physical response to—that was a specific goal.” In many ways, the buoyant new material is a homecoming for the former college band. “The sound reminds me of where we started from,” Zeller adds. “When we formed back at Syracuse [University] we were playing house parties, and the goal then was to have people dancing.” Ra Ra Riot initially began penning Beta Love in the…

Some artists seek to reinvent themselves on each project, but Chris Tomlin is quick to admit he’s not that guy. “The goal has always been the same for my music— to write songs and create them in a way that gives people a voice to worship God,” says Tomlin, whose new Sixstepsrecords album, Burning Lights, debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 73,000 sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It’s Tomlin’s first No. 1 on the chart, and just the fourth Christian album ever to claim the top spot. “Hopefully it’s the next step forward,” the Atlantabased singer/songwriter/worship leader says. “It’s not diferent in vision, because that has remained the same throughout—to make records full of songs of worship. But I do feel this is the best one I’ve…

Two years after its sophomorealbum, American Tragedy, masked rap-rock sextet Hollywood Jndead returns with Notes From the Underground (A&M/Octone), which debuts at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 this week, the band's nighest position yet. 3 MONTHS AGO While mixing Notes, Hollywood Undead released a free download, "Dead Bite," on AOL's Noisecreepon Oct. 19, immediatelyfollowed by a lyric video. The group then teased its newly designed maskson Instagram, revealing the final photo with lead single "We Are" on Oct. 29. After servicing the song to active rock and alternative radio, it released webisodes and gradually rolled out content, like album artwork and the track list. "It's mportantto make fans fee they're part of this process," A&M Octone VP of marketing Nina Webb says. "They fee empowered ... finding out info…

WE GET BORED, SO WE GET MARRIED/JUST LIKE DUST, WE SETTLE IN THIS TOWN/ON THIS BROKEN MERRY GO ’ROUND... —KACEY MUSGRAVES, “MERRY GO ’ROUND” How does it feel to see your single “Merry go ’round” on the Billboard Hot 100? It’s awesome. It always stokes me out when my music gets attention outside of the country genre. I love being an ambassador, though my goal is to make good music no matter the category. What happened the first time you heard it on the radio? The floodgates opened—I immediately started bawling and tried not to veer of the road. You co-wrote and co-produced the song. What was the inspiration behind it? My life. Though it describes a lot of small towns, you don’t have to have grown up in one…

The Mac is back., .on the Billboard 200. The band's Greatest Hits album, which has been absent from the list since last July, returns at No. 195 with a 66% gain in sales, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The set, first released in 19SS, sold slightly more than 2,000 copies thanks to an !Tunes promotion touting best-of compilations for as low as $7.99. 2013 brings big news for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee. On Jan. 29, Rhino Records will release a deluxe reissue of its 1977 album Rumours, while the band itself regroups for a tour that launches April 4 in Columbus, Ohio. It's likely the set list will feature some of the band's biggest-selling digital songs, like "Landslide." Below are Fleetwood Mac's top five digital songs. -Keith…

Fueled by hourly plays at several Clear Channel Media and Entertainment-owned stations on the track’s first day of availability (Jan. 7), Bon Jovi’s “Because We Can” debuts on Adult Contemporary at No. 21 and Adult Top 40 at No. 30 as the Greatest Gainer on both charts. The song previews the band’s 12th studio album, What About Now, due March 26. Kelly Clarkson, meanwhile, widens her lead for the most Adult Top 40 top 10s among women (12), as “Catch My Breath” climbs 12-10. She pushes further ahead of Sheryl Crow, Katy Perry and P!nk (10 each). Among all acts, only Goo Goo Dolls (14), Maroon 5 and Matchbox 20 (13 each) have tallied more top 10s, while Train also boasts 12. On Country Airplay, Tim McGraw’s “One of Those…

As Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Thrift Shop” steps 2-1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, the duo becomes the first act to reach No. 1 with its debut single since Drake in 2009 with “Best I Ever Had.” Despite virtually no urban airplay (see story, page 69), the song picks up Airplay, Digital and Streaming Gainer honors thanks to a 33% increase to 4.4 million overall listener impressions, according to Nielsen BDS. It's also up by 18% in download sales, growing to 279,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Falling victim to the success of “Thrift Shop” is Rihanna’s “Diamonds,” which is dethroned for the first time since the chart was modified on Oct. 20, 2012, to include digital sales and streaming information. Had it been able to fend of its challenger this week,…

Will.i.am and Britney Spears top the debut edition of Dance/Electronic Songs, a hybrid chart of digital song sales, streaming, radio airplay and club play (page 80), with “Scream & Shout,” which edges out Swedish House Mafia Featuring John Martin’s “Don’t You Worry Child” (No. 2) for the inaugural chart crown. “Scream & Shout” registers sales of 189,000 downloads for a No. 1 placement on Dance/Electronic Digital Songs (No. 3 on the overall Hot Digital Songs) and jumps 21-17 on Hot 100 Airplay (53 million audience impressions). The track also enjoys new peaks on Dance Club Songs (No. 4) and On-Demand Songs (No. 10). On Dance Club Songs, the Wanted collects its second No. 1 as “I Found You” rises 2-1. The track, remixed by the likes of Bob Sinclar and…