Innholdsfortegnelse for April 13, 2013 i Billboard Magazine

RDIO WELCOMES VDIO Rdio has become the first independent music subscription company to get into the video business with a new on-demand movie and TV streamer called Vdio. The service is exclusively available to subscribers of Rdio’s paid unlimited tier at launch, and leverages the user’s profile information and social connections automatically. Unlike Rdio, Vdio is pay-to-play and not subscription-based. The company says this will allow it to offer new titles sooner, given the traditional extended waiting period movie studios impose on services like Netflix. REDIGI REBUFFED ReDigi, a company that sought to allow customers to resell “used” copies of digital songs, is up against the ropes after a U.S. District Court judge declared its business model illegal. Judge Richard J. Sullivan says the “first sale doctrine,” which allows for…

Artists. Bands like OneRepublic and Imagine Dragons are getting customcreated events at premium hotels tied to their album cycles, with additional exposure and content extensions on Live Nation and Starwood’s social media channels. Hotels. The hospitality industry is amping up its music activity in recent years, from Hard Rock starting its own record label in 2012 to Stay You, a music imprint from Holiday Inn and McCann Erickson in 2010. Starwood’s expanded partnership with Live Nation raises the bar on defining the average hotel gig for touring artists and competitive hotel properties. Rewards programs. Brands like Delta and Coca-Cola are revamping their rewards programs in recent years to incorporate marketing partners and social media. Both have also teamed with Starwood Preferred Guest for points programs that may eventually incorporate “Hear…

Together In Concord WHAT: Wood Creek Capital Management has acquired Concord Music Group, one of the leading independent labels that owns the Stax, Fantasy and Rounder catalogs. While terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, sources say Wood Creek paid between $121 million and $123 million for the label, putting in $60 million-$70 million in equity and financing the rest through debt. Wood Creek has been a player in the music business since 2006, when it began acquiring publishing assets. According to sources, Concord has annual revenue of about $90 million and produced nearly $14 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, while its publishing assets have produced about $3.7 million in net publisher’s share. WHY: Village Roadshow Entertainment Group sold Concord because it wants to concentrate on its…

Were the Cutting Edge Group to place a “help wanted” ad for film composers, it might sound like an unrealistic come-on: “No experience necessary. Work from home. Five-figure income. Unlimited potential future earnings.” Cutting Edge built its business financing film scores—it has more than 70 in its library and regularly points to the success of “Drive” and “The King’s Speech”—and has begun to expand by offering financing for original songs, music supervision and a soundtrack release. Its outreach, through meetings with composers’ agents and musicians’ managers, has largely piqued the interest of songwriters and producers who have previously not ventured into film. “Big, sweeping John Williams scores, which work fine for certain movies, is not really the future of independent films,” Cutting Edge head of music Andy Ross says. “They…

GETTING THERE From Los Angeles, try the 60 Freeway through the Inland Empire instead of the dreaded 10. Or Palm Springs International Airport is a good way to go. —Jason Bentley, music director/host, KCRW Los Angeles Leave on Thursday night. There’s no substitute to waking up in the desert Friday morning and beating all the traff c that day. —Alex Black, A&R, Warner Bros. Records STAY HERE Rent a house as close to the festival site as possible; we reserve ours one year in advance. Or try hotels in Palm Springs: The Ace Hotel (above) is hip and popular, or Saguro is a less expensive option. —Tom Windish, president, the Windish Agency Everyone either stays at La Quinta or f nds a house to rent, or someone else who’s renting…

The three members of Paramore—singer Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York and bassist Jeremy Davis—are gathered around a long table in a conference room on the fifth f oor of Los Angeles’ Orlando Hotel. The small, windowless space is in exact contrast to the band’s raucous late-night performance at South by Southwest (SXSW) a few days before, where the trio debuted “Still in You,” the buoyant second single of its new self-titled album, out April 9 on Fueled by Ramen/Atlantic. Still, despite the fact that the band members are anxious to get out of small, windowless rooms, they’re doing everything they can to entertain themselves—something the Franklin, Tenn., group has learned to do since the release of its last disc, 2009’s Brand New Eyes. Davis has scrawled “This is a meeting…

If Glassnote bands, including flagship acts Phoenix and Mumford & Sons, are notorious for their slow evolutions, the label’s current outlier is Scottish synth-pop trio Chvrches, which began producing fizzy hooks in September 2011 and signed to the label in March. After releasing debut single “Lies” last May, the group opened for Passion Pit in the United Kingdom, landed on the BBC’s “Sound of 2013” list and played two sold-out headlining shows to ravenous crowds at the Mercury Lounge in its inaugural trip to New York in March. Chvrches’ debut three-song single, “Recover,” starts at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Singles Sales chart after receiving positive press from outlets like Pitchfork and NME. “We’re absolutely aware that things are moving at an accelerated pace,” Glassnote head of promotion Nick Petropoulos…

On Sept. 19, 1970, one day after Jimi Hendrix’s death, Michael Eavis staged the first Glastonbury festival (or Pilton Pop, Blues and Folk Festival, as it was then known) at his family-owned Worthy Farm, near the village of Pilton, several miles outside the historic British town of Glastonbury. In its inaugural year, 1,500 revellers paid £1 ($1.50 at today’s rates) to attend the event, which was headlined by Marc Bolan and included the offer of free milk for everyone. From those inauspicious beginnings, Glastonbury—or the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, to use its full title since 1990— has grown to become the largest green-field music and performing arts festival in the world, regularly attracting A-list talent (despite paying smaller artist fees than its competitors) while also retaining a strong…

In mid-September, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals will take over Burlington, Vt.’s Waterfront Park for two days for the third annual Grand Point North Festival. Grand Point North is an artist-run festival, and from the start Potter herself has been involved in everything from the lineup to the logo. “All the concepts of the whole festival—the compass with the wings logo, the name of the festival—that was all me, sitting at the drawing board into the wee hours of the morning,” she says. Why do it? For the chance to not just curate a lineup, but create an environment for “our friends and fan community to experience music the way we feel it should be experienced.” The artist-run festival can be equally demanding and rewarding for acts that want the…

The show can’t go on without them. The companies that provide the means of travel for touring artists, the transportation of their equipment and the production of every night’s concert are the unheralded support acts of the live music business. For this special feature, Billboard surveyed a select number of leaders in this sector for their views on the state of the market. While economic uncertainty may still dampen the national fiscal outlook, the industry experts charged with getting artists and their gear from Point A to Point B say the touring business is still strong—if you approach it with the proper mind-set. Artists continue to tour both domestically and internationally while these service providers constantly adapt to changing needs. J.B. Dolphin, whose Mojo Barriers is celebrating 25 years of…

It’s an unusual sight: A pair of new tap shoes sitting next to a floor tom on a throw rug in Hollywood’s Ocean Way studio’s largest room. Alex Ebert, founder of Southern California band Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, was looking for a unique percussion sound on a new song, “Life Is Hard,” hence the tap shoes, which were intended to replace the looped sound of a basketball being dribbled, which had replaced the sound of water dripping into a bowl. “I can really hear tap dancing on this song, but it’s not right—it’s too ridiculous,” Ebert says. “I felt embarrassed that I went and tried that. Most of the lastminute stuff—this was a pretty far-out idea—does end up sticking.” The band’s third album, potentially titled Please, is at…

There’s nothing about Will.i.am’s “#that-POWER” that doesn’t sound familiar: From the Justin Bieber-sung chorus that manages to reference both Chris Brown’s “Beautiful People” and Daft Punk’s “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger,” to the chunky beat pitched just a few notes lower than the rapper/producer’s previous hit “Scream & Shout,” the song treads previously paved, heavily Auto-Tuned territory for all involved. The new single does, however, feature some entertaining attempts on Will.i.am’s part to make couplets out of words that don’t otherwise rhyme: “Who cares what the haters think/They hate on me cuz I’m doin’ what they can’t,” he raps at one point. As a producer and the leader of the Black Eyed Peas, Will.i.am has fashed an effortless skill for creating far-reaching anthems, but for some reason hasn’t found the right…

There will be no sophomore slump for Thompson Square, whose album Just Feels Good debuts at No. 4 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart and No. 13 on the Billboard 200. Lead single “If I Didn’t Have You” is No. 7 on Hot Country Songs. The duo’s Keifer and Shawna Thompson penned six of the album’s 13 cuts. “The songs came out really easy for this project,” Keifer says. “The first album showed everybody what we sounded like. On this album, we feel it’s going to show people who we are and how we got together.” The pair spent nine years bartending and playing for tips at the Wheel on Nashville’s famed Lower Broadway before signing a deal with Stoney Creek Records. Their career exploded with “Are You Gonna Kiss…

LEGEND Bullets indicate titles with greatest weekly gains. Album Charts ● 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 ● RIAA certification for 500,000 paid downloads (Gold). ▴ RIAA certification for 1 million paid downloads…

AEG Live could add as much as $100 million in gross revenue in 2013 after being confirmed as the North America promoter on the Rolling Stones’ 50 and Counting tour in a last-minute deal reached just four days after the promoter’s parent company AEG was pulled off the market by owner Philip Anschutz. According to a source familiar with the deal, the Stones’ camp reached out to AEG Live with financial terms on March 18, and Anschutz quickly approved a deal that day worth nearly $80 million in cash and a letter of credit. In an extremely rare turn of events for a band known for strategic planning, the Stones had a new promoter less than two months before the tour would begin. AEG Live’s Concerts West division, steered by…

It’s safe to say that the vast majority of drivers aren’t streaming Spotify, Pandora or most other digital music services through their car audio systems. But that’s likely to change as in-dash infotainment systems become more widely available, making it far more convenient for drivers to rock as they roll. ABI Research analyst Dominique Bonte projects that 62% of the estimated 100 million cars shipped in 2018 worldwide will come with built-in connected infotainment systems like Ford Motor’s Sync and General Motors’ OnStar. That’s up from less than 10% in 2012. For many of these vehicles, drivers will have the option of buying a data plan for their cars, as if they were giant cellphones on wheels. GM, for example, has a deal with AT&T to provide high-speed 4G LTE…

When Recording Academy president/CEO Neil Portnow was about 7 years old, he saw an Elvis Presley performance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” that changed his life. “It kind of blew my mind,” Portnow recalls. “The day after, I told my mom and dad that I wanted to play guitar like that.” Soon after, Portnow started receiving guitar lessons from Stan Solow, who introduced him to influential guitarists like Wes Montgomery, Jimmy Raney and Andrés Segovia. During his address at the 55th annual Grammy Awards in February, Portnow noted Solow’s influence on his musical career when announcing the Recording Academy and Grammy Foundation’s first Music Educator Award, an honor that recognizes the positive influence of music teachers on their students. “As I said on the telecast, ‘I never became a guitar…

What did you wake up thinking about this morning? The journey that I have been on with Fitz & the Tantrums—all the things we have to do to get them to where they need to be. We’re on the eve of their second album coming out [May 7] and we have this incredible single out. They’re a band important to me personally, professionally and, as a fan, musically. Obviously we were able to bring them to Elektra from Dangerbird [Records, co-founded by Castelaz], so that’s a very important bridge for me. We’ve come up together. I have to do right by them. Describe a lesson learned from a failure. Failure for me is not how far I fall, but how quickly I can get up and continue running. If I…

“So many studios are very sterile,” John Hill says during a tour of his working environment that is anything but. Vintage instruments, analog outboard gear and the occasional skateboard clutter his Los Angeles digs: Its feng shui proves as all over the place as Hill’s disparate résumé. The producer/mixer/songwriter often works with superstars like Shakira and P!nk and has written songs with Rihanna and Christina Aguilera—yet he’s also produced mavericks like M.I.A., Santigold and Devo. Most recently, he produced the acclaimed new album Afraid of Heights from indie-rockers Wavves, and is in the studio with buzz band Skaters, whose members are currently playing basketball around the hoop installed in the parking lot. “The haphazardness is what makes it sound like me,” he jokes. Two years ago, Hill moved from New…

While it’s never wise to read too much into firstquarter sales data, many executives will not feel great about the fact that album sales are down 5%, compared with a dip of 4.4% for the same period a year ago, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That said, in recent years, a bad first couple of quarters hasn’t necessarily always played out as being a down year. All this after 12-18 months of consolidation, led by Universal Music Group’s takeover of EMI. And there’s more to come after Warner Music Group’s acquisition of Parlophone from UMG closes in the current quarter. Many long-term music business watchers have taken consolidation as a move to build market share in a shrinking market. But there’s another school of thought that questions whether this focus on…

Is the stage set for the live music business to return to the record levels the industry saw in the first part of this decade? A wide range of indicators point to another robust year for live music as the sector gears up for the meat of the season. Most stakeholders agree that 2012 was a healthy year for touring, and Billboard Boxscore numbers concur. The slump of 2010, more than ever, seems a perfect storm of a bad economy and an industry that didn’t batten down the hatches, and ever since the clouds have been clearing. Of course, those clouds could form again, but the lessons about pricing and strategic planning remain fresh. Those precepts, along with healthy trends in music, the growth of festivals and international touring, and…

Imagine Dragons sold out their May amphitheater play in the Denver market before their March theater play ever came of. This is what a rock band blowing up looks like. The Las Vegas-based band, booked by Corrie Christopher and Adam Brill at the Agency for the Performing Arts (APA), is exploding on a global level after “grinding it out in clubs” for the past three years. Driven by dazzling live performances and radio heat, the new headliners are quickly climbing the venue cap ladder. Imagine Dragons—Dan Reynolds (whose brother Mac is the band’s manager), Wayne Sermon, Ben McKee and Daniel Platzman—are touring in support of Night Visions (KidinaKorner/Interscope Records), which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and has sold 714,000 copies in the United States, according to SoundScan.…

At a point on the career arc when many pop-rock bands hit a wall, Maroon 5 is in the improbable position of having its biggest touring year ever. The 2005 best new artist Grammy Award winner went clean on all 31 dates of the first leg of its North American arena tour, which wrapped April 6 in Chicago. Before that trek ended, tickets went on sale for the band’s headlining role on this summer’s Honda Civic tour, which encompasses 31 amphitheater dates Aug. 1-Oct. 6. Live Nation is the national tour promoter for both runs, and brought its considerable marketing clout to the party. “Far and away this will be the biggest touring year the band has ever had,” says Jordan Fieldstein, Maroon 5’s longtime manager. Maroon 5 is touring…

Their high-end clientele are the artists and agents who drive the global touring business. So how do leading travel, transportation and production companies live up to the expectation of their customers, and how do they win new business? Billboard put that question to a select number of leaders in these sectors. CLAIR GLOBAL Founded: 1966 Justin Weaver, account executive How we’re winning customers: “In a business where ‘deep pockets’ can buy almost any product or technology in our industry, you need to look beyond the equipment at what’s really important to maintaining a successful touring business: exceptional service and a knowledgeable, educated staff willing to do whatever it takes to satisfy a client’s needs. Clair has always been a pioneer in the development of high-quality, industry-standard touring solutions. This, along…

It’s the first day of South by Southwest’s music portion and Charli XCX is about to play her second of what will be 10 shows in a four-day span. It’s a daunting itinerary that can fry many buzzworthy hopefuls’ nerves (not to mention energy), but not the plucky 20-year-old, born Charlotte Aitchison in Hertfordshire, England. “I’m just going to party through it,” she says at Austin’s Belmont. “Last year I came and I did two shows, but I felt I haven’t experienced South By properly.” Later that night, not only will Charli XCX perform a 30-minute set previewing songs from her Atlantic/Iamsound debut True Romance (April 16), including lead single “You (Ha Ha Ha),” she’ll later join Atlantic labelmate Icona Pop onstage for its performance of current top 40 hit…

After playing a supporting character on Nickelodeon’s “Victorious” for the past three years, Ariana Grande is taking center stage as both a singer and an actress in 2013. While filming a starring role in new Nickelodeon series “Sam & Cat,” the 19-year-old Florida native has logged the first mainstream hit of her recording career with “The Way,” featuring Mac Miller. After hitting iTunes on March 26 through Republic Records, the song sold 219,000 downloads in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and debuts at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 (see page 50). Grande recorded the firtatious R&B-tinged single, which samples Big Pun’s 1998 hit “Still Not a Player,” after meeting with U.K. producer Harmony Samuels earlier this year and immediately connecting with the slinky beat. “I cut…

5 MONTHS AGO With the group nearing the end of the recording process—which had been documented through a series of YouTube webisodes—Sevendust held a listening party for fans to preview what was coming. Drummer Morgan Rose says the sessions were similar to ones with Call Me No One, his side venture with Clint Lowery. “For that album we went in with very little material, and it was really exciting and we had a good time doing it,” Rose says. “So we kind of sold the rest of [Sevendust] on trying to do it that way. We were maybe a little apprehensive going in, but it worked exactly the way we had hoped.” 2 MONTHS AGO “Decay” debuted Jan. 11 on Billboard.com, with the group filming a video for the song…

Trend Report: Second-Week Performances For 500,000-Plus Debut Albums This issue we look at the Best and worst second-week % changes for alBums that deButed on the BillBoard 200 with 500,000 or more units. 1 Justin Timberlake, The 20/20 ExperienceIn its second week, the album declines by a relatively moderate 67.2% in sales. It’s a soft fall when compared with all of the No. 1-debuting albums of the past 12 months. Of the 33 earlier No. 1 bows stretching back to Madonna’s MDNA (April 14, 2012), 21 had a greater second-week percentage decline than Timberlake. JT’s former group, ‘N Sync, had one of the steepest falls for a No. 1 debut with 500,000 copies, however, when its final studio set, Celebrity, dropped by 75.5% in its sophomore frame. 2 50 Cent,…

Bands and hotels used to be synonymous with trashed rooms and debaucherous partying, the kinds of behavior that could get an artist banned from certain establishments. Yet a partnership between Live Nation and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide has not only been established by creating artist experiences, but turning its signature hotels like the W, Westin and St. Regis into venues themselves. The partnership is launching a series of nine acoustic performances by top artists at different Starwood-owned hotels around the world starting May 18 with Sara Bareilles at Element Dallas Fort Worth Airport North. “On Tour With SPG: Hear the Music, See the World” is the latest program of Live Nation and Starwood’s multiyear partnership, built around Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG), a guest-rewards program and exclusive to rewards members.…

The Windish Agency has seen rapid growth in the past year, adding a tour marketing department and performing arts division, relaunching its licensing company in partnership with Hidden Track Music and hiring several new agents. It’s based in Chicago with more than 600 clients—including Foster the People, Gotye, the xx and Alt-J. Later this month Windish will head to the Coachella festival, where more than 20 of his clients are performing. 8.00 AM I’m visiting our Los Angeles office today. I woke up to approximately 150 emails from promoters who want to book my bands or have offers in and emails from others in the Windish offices. 9.30 AM Meetings through noon with M83 manager Eric Harle, Smith Westerns manager David McDonough, James Blake manager Dan Foat and a couple…

Had Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield looked at the RIAA’s latest industry numbers, they may have written the song “Breaking Even Is Hard to Do.” U.S. recorded-music revenue dipped 0.9% in 2012 after rising a slight 0.3% a year earlier, according to RIAA year-end data. Total recorded-music revenue was $7.07 billion in 2012, down from $7.13 billion in 2011. The most compelling storyline from the report was the growth of “access” models, or those services that allow consumers to access music rather than purchase it. After hitting a plateau of around $200 million per year from 2006 through 2010, both streaming and subscription services leapt to $359 million in 2011 and $571 million in 2012. (Part of the increase is due to the inclusion of ad-supported streaming revenue in 2011,…

1 Double take: Artist Nick Cave (left) greeted Aussie alt-rocker Nick Cave at the former’s art show at New York’s Grand Central Terminal on March 29. 2 “American Idol” judge Mariah Carey shared the love with Smokey Robinson backstage at the Fox show in Hollywood on March 27. 3 Singer Juanes met with fans as he signed copies of his book “Chasing the Sun” at Books and Books in Coral Gables, Fla., on April 1. 4 Industry members gathered at the “Reel to Reel: Downloaded at the Grammy Museum” event in Los Angeles on April 1. From left: Grammy Foundation VP Scott Goldman, Henry Rollins, director Alex Winter and Collective Music Group’s Jordan Berliant. 5 Prince Royce juggles his accolades after winning a songwriter of the year statuette at the…

The outpouring of affection that followed news of the death of producer/engineer Phil Ramone told a unique story about the character of a leading light in the field of recording. He was beloved by all who worked with him, whether their connection was in the early ’60s, when he was deep in the world of jazz; in the ’70s and ’80s, when he became the “pope of pop”; or in more recent years, when his work with Ray Charles won six Grammy Awards and he produced “Glee” star Matthew Morrison. Much as Ramone affected people’s lives from behind the glass in recording studios and through his forward-thinking approach to technology, his storytelling, jokes and companionship set him apart from so many others in the field. Ramone died March 30 in…

On April 13, when Phoenix takes the stage to headline the first Saturday of Coachella, it will be the linchpin moment in the rollout of its new album, Bankrupt!, a process that will have already encompassed a “Saturday Night Live” appearance and a truncated North American tour. Not bad for a quartet of mild-mannered French hipsters whose charged collision of dance energy, bright melodicism and indie-rock guitar sold 710,000 of their last album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (according to Nielsen SoundScan), turning them into one of the biggest and freshest sounds on alternative radio. But as big as that night in the California desert will be, it won’t quite be Phoenix’s crowning glory. That came almost two-and-a-half years ago, in October 2010, when the band capped its inaugural headlining performance at…

Long a mainstay in Europe, music festivals are now the most robust sector of the U.S. touring market, with fans embracing the immersive experience and opportunity for music discovery and the industry tapping into massive audiences and proven artist-development platforms. While festivals on U.S. shores number in the thousands and cover a wide expanse of genres, demographics and concepts, these four rock festivals are leading the charge in terms of influence, revenue and the highest levels of fan experience. The common theme: focus on the fan, creative programming and, most important, the site rules. COACHELLA Launched: 1999 Producer: Goldenvoice 2013 edition: April 12-14, 19-21; Empire Polo Grounds, Indio, Calif. Vibe: California cool, stately palms, primo grass Music: Indie rock with increasing EDM influence, spiced with reunions Beyond music: Compelling visual…

Ironically, as electronic dance music has surged in popularity, there’s also increasing interest in artists who play real instruments and save the Macbook for social networking and fan outreach. Acoustic warriors like Mumford & Sons, the Avett Brothers and the Lumineers are headlining large venues this summer and are on the bills of many mainstream music festivals. Mumford & Sons (booked by Billions Corp.) sit near the top of the bill of Sasquatch, Osheaga, Glastonbury and Lollapalooza, and will headline at Live Nation amphitheaters this summer. The Avett Brothers (booked by New Frontier Touring), who deserve credit for jump-starting the scene, will play Governors Ball and Kanrocksas, and mix arenas and amphitheaters among their headlining dates. The movement’s newest darlings, the Lumineers (Paradigm Talent), follow up an Australian tour by…

Both the Rolling Stones and the Beatles played their first notes for live U.S. audiences in 1964. In a testament to their enduring catalog and the thrilling nature of their performances, almost a half century later both the Stones and Paul McCartney will be touring the United States and churning millions in boxoffice revenue this summer. McCartney will headline Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tenn., in June, and will tour a fair number of dates beyond that, including July 9 at Fenway Park in Boston. McCartney has enjoyed remarkable latter-day touring success, clearly feeding of the energy from adoring audiences. In this millennium, he has grossed nearly $300 million in North America, performing in front of more than 2 million fans at 122 shows, according to Billboard Boxscore. Meanwhile, the Stones remain…

The creation of the first safety handbook for concert production professionals and a new severe weather alert system for the outdoor touring business are among the accomplishments in the past year of the Event Safety Alliance, which was created in response to a string of concert tragedies in 2011, including seven deaths at the Indiana State Fairgrounds when a wind storm caused stage rigging to collapse at a Sugarland concert. The goal of the ESA is to educate touring professionals on best practices in event management. The group has made “significant progress” in the last year, according to executive director Jim Digby, who also is the production manager for Linkin Park. Following the events of 2011, Digby and other industry experts created the ESA to share information to help increase…

Talib Kweli always has something insightful to say on the social and political fronts. But Prisoner of Conscious, due May 7 on Javotti Media/Caroline Distribution, travels beyond the issues that established Kweli as a rap pioneer and gets more personal. Throughout his career, the Brooklyn-based rapper has channeled his creative muse through various incarnations: As half of Black Star with Mos Def, partnering with producer Hi-Tek for Reflection Eternal and, most recently, teaming with singer and longtime collaborator Res as Idle Warship on 2011’s Habits of the Heart. Kweli notes, however, that his socially and politically charged reputation sometimes means that people don’t “necessarily understand the musicality behind what I do.” So with Prisoner of Conscious, he “tried to stretch my wings a bit and bring something that was less…

The start of the fourth season of NBC’s “The Voice” has spurred social buzz for new coaches Shakira and Usher, as well as impressive sales for the show’s contestants. Perhaps even more telling, with 25.6 million viewers taking in the new season’s first two episodes (March 25-26), “The Voice” boasted a higher weekly audience than Fox’s “American Idol” for the first time. 8.8% The number of viewers who tuned in for the March 25 season premiere of “The Voice”— 13.6 million—is a gain of 8.8% compared with the previous season’s bow in September, according to Nielsen. For the week ending March 31, the episode finished as the fourthmost-watched prime-time broadcast (behind two “NCIS” airings on CBS and ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars”). 36% Usher’s 19-8 rise on Billboard’s Social 50…

The Easter Bunny hipped and hopped all over the Billboard 200 chart this week, leaving behind baskets full of sales gains. While Justin Timberlake’The 20/20 Experience fell by a not-too-shabby 67.2% in its second week (down to 318,000 from its 968,000 start, according to Nielsen SoundScan), nearly every title in the top 50 this week posts a gain thanks in part to the Easter holiday (March 31). The only decliners in the top 50 are recent releases: Timberlake’s 20/20, luke Bryan’Spring Break . . . Here to Party (4-12, down 3%), Kacey Musgraves’Same Trailer Different Park (2-31, down 60%), Bon Jovi’What About Now (7-34, down 44%), David Bowie’The Next Day (11-45, down 45%) and Jimi Hendrix’People, Hell and Angels (20-48, down 30%). It’s natural to see these new arrivals decline,…