Innholdsfortegnelse for June 8, 2013 i Billboard Magazine

FACEBOOK LOSES FACE More than a dozen advertisers yanked their business from Facebook after activists discovered pages on the site promoting violence against women. The group Women, Action and the Media solicited more than 5,000 emails to Facebook advertisers urging them to take action against what they described as hate speech. In response, Facebook said it would take down the offending pages and make changes to its algorithms that detect such content. Some, but not all advertisers have said they will resume doing business with the site. ‘GANGNAM’ CASH GRAB Four mayors in Denmark are on the hook for $42,000 thanks to their use of PSY’s “Gangnam Style” in a YouTube parody video. Universal Music Group, which owns the copyright, has charged them with using the song to boost their…

Apple. With streaming on the rise, an iRadio service introduced now could capture meaningful market share, but a long delay could cut into that. And while the company has a history of building intuitive services (that help sell more iPhones and iPods) the ad-supported area is a new one for Apple. Music publishers. Publishers like Martin Bandier can take a stand for a better share of the digital pie. Sources suggest publishers are willing to start with an introductory iRadio rate of 10%-15%. If Apple accommodates them, will it come out of Apple’s revenue or the labels’ Pandora. Tim Westergren’ Web radio service hasn’t been particularly successful in selling advertising. But could that work to its advantage? There’s a chance Apple could be so good at selling ads that users…

Jorge PinoVP of Music Venemusic Jorge Pino rose through the ranks in the majors to become CEO of EMI Music U.S. Latin. But when he left the company in 2005, he went to Venemusic, the indie label owned by Venezuelan media giant Venevision. Although distributed by Universal, Venemusic operates like a lean indie where every penny counts, but creative deals—many involving Venevision’s TV operation—are possible and quickly executed. From his Miami base, Pino travels throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, personally scoping out potential deals. 6.30 AM The day begins with a one-hour walk around the Granada Golf Course in front of my house in Coral Gables [Fla.], listening to music and news. I then brew coffee for my family and catch up on overnight emails and tweets. 9.30 AM…

1.8m Average weekly viewership of “La Voz Kids” on Telemundo. 1k Number of hours of original prime-time content produced by Telemundo each year. 46 Number of territories to which the “Voice” format has been sold, according to Talpa TV. EXECUTIVE TURNTABLE TOURING Ticketmaster appoints Jared Smith president of North America. A 10-year veteran of the ticketing company, Smith most recently served as COO. “My major responsibilities were over the client set of the business, which included sales, client support and marketing,” says Smith, who reports to Ticketmaster CEO Nathan Hubbard. “The new role extends that a bit to all of our distribution channels and strategic oversight of the business-to-business products and technology that we’re investing hundreds of millions of dollars in right now.” Smith, who will relocate from Atlanta to…

Hip-hop has become one of the most fertile genres for artist development in touring, driven by a growing cadre of hardworking, Websavvy rappers who frequently rise up outside of the major-label system. Several of these artists are clients of the Agency Group’s Peter Schwartz, who more than a couple of times has discovered regional artists with homemade videos, signed them and successfully put them on the road on national tours. Among the TAG clients touring this summer are Macklemore; Big Boi; Mac Miller; Juicy J and A$AP Ferg on the Stay Trippy tour; and the Under the Influence tour with Wiz Khalifa, A$AP Rocky, B.o.B, Trinidad James and Joey Bada$$. The latter run is showing potential as a shed franchise, with 20 shows beginning in July, up from 11 last…

What did you wake up thinking about? I have a challenging job plus a husband and three kids at home, so I always go from broad to narrow. It starts with all the things we need to accomplish as we’re building our presence here in Los Angeles. Then the next phase is “What do my kids need?” The end of the line, I hate to admit, is my husband. I try to address his needs as well. Describe a lesson you learned from a failure. I take the Samuel Beckett perspective that you should go on failing, only next time fail better. If you’re afraid of failure, you become conservative and complacent. If you learn from failure, you become more self-reflective and focused. The important thing is to maintain an…

GETTING THERE I prefer a flight to Nashville and shuttle bus over driving because it doesn’t exhaust you before you’re out in the sun for four days. —Lindsay Brandt, artist manager, Mick Management From New York, I-81 is most of the 850-mile drive. There’s no way around that. Just leave early to get to Walmart [for supplies] with enough time to relax before getting in the long line to enter the festival. —Lucas Sacks, assistant talent buyer, Brooklyn Bowl STAY HERE Nothing beats staying on the farm for total immersion into the communal feeling of all that is Bonnaroo. But if you’re lucky enough to have access to a dark tour bus bunk or a spot in an RV, go that route for sure. —Phoebe Gellman, product manager, ATO Records…

In May 2012, President Barack Obama became the first U.S. president to come out in favor of same-sex marriage, a significant marker of a year that would see substantial gains in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights, both in terms of concrete policy and mainstream acceptance. Same-sex marriage is now legal in 12 U.S. states, with more than half of the U.S. population favoring it, while countries including New Zealand and France voted for national legalization. On April 29, Jason Collins of the National Basketball Assn. (NBA) became the first active professional athlete in a major U.S. sport to come out as gay. The music industry and artists have played a major part in this cultural progress, both as vocal supporters and members of the LGBT community. In February, industry…

When the Barclays Center opened in Brooklyn last October, adding a new world-class arena to an already competitive marketplace, many felt that the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on New York’s Long Island, at more than 40 years old, would be the odd building out. But, in an unexpected turn of events, all eyes are on Uniondale, N.Y., as the Nassau Coliseum is now the focus of an intense bidding war, with four viable partnerships making a run at this potentially lucrative market. The stakes are high, the competition fierce, and underlying stories are many. At stake is one of the most valuable pieces of business up for grabs in recent years. In the hunt are partnerships led by Madison Square Garden Co. (MSGC); the Nassau Entertainment Committee (NEC), led by…

SZA There are those who dream of being a star their whole life and then there’s SZA, the gifted R&B/pop singer who, neglecting a degree in marine biology, picked up a microphone for the first time a little more than a year ago. On self-released EPs See. SZA.Run and S (released in December and April, respectively), Solana Rowe, 23, makes the polished yet emotionally raw music of someone with many times her experience. “I never sang growing up and wasn’t in the church choir or anything like that,” says Rowe, who was raised as an orthodox Muslim. “Most of the music [my dad] let me hear didn’t have any words to it. It was a lot of Miles Davis and [John] Coltrane.” On the strength of her EPs—and without any…

HANK WILLIAMS JR. Grammy Award-winning country crooner Hank Williams Jr. will set out on a summer trek this June through September, promoting last year’s Old School, New Rules, which featured collaborations with Merle Haggard and Brad Paisley. “There’s a lot of history with him, so it’s not hard for me to figure out where it’s going to work, and where it’s a higher-risk proposition,” longtime booking agent Greg Oswald says. AUDIENCE: As a rule, Williams works a limited number of days each year, which gives Oswald a strict schedule to work with. “He tends to want to work in the summer, which gives him the opportunity to mix some of his favorite outdoor shows with some arenas and casinos—between 20 and 30 cities a year.” Added to the list this…

The last time Ozzy Osbourne fronted Black Sabbath for an entire album was 1978’s Never Say Die! It wasn’t a pretty affair and the discord showed in its tepid grooves. Much has improved since then and new album 13 finds most of the original Sabbath lineup—with Rage Against the Machine’s Brad Wilk forcefully sitting in for holdout drummer Bill Ward—sounding as vintage and heavy as ever on these eight songs. The darkness descends from Tony Iommi’s riffs on the opening “End of the Beginning,” and titles like “God Is Dead?” and the bluesy angst anthem “Damaged Soul” let us know the old Sabbath spirit is still intact. The band is in prime form as it executes sharp tempo changes and elaborate, cinematic arrangements. Iommi’s excellent guitar solos, meanwhile, sound like…

What began as a single with little label promotion has turned into Robin Thicke’s biggest Billboard Hot 100 hit to date. “Blurred Lines,” Thicke’s now Internet-famous (and increasingly famous-famous) single soared 54-12 on the June 1 chart, in its fifth week on the tally. This week, it rises to No. 11. “We didn’t even have a radio plan,” Thicke’s manager Jordan Feldstein says, recalling the R&B/pop hybrid’s humble beginnings. “We just had a song we loved. We halfheartedly tried to tie it to the finale of ‘Real Husbands of Hollywood,’ which [Thicke] was on at the time, but they didn’t really care, either. We went out and made a video without the label. Without anyone, we raised the financing and made a great video.” The infamously not-safe-for-work clip, which features…

BBMA-PERFORMED SONGS SALES WEEK OF MAY 20 973,000 15% RANDOM ACCESS MEMORIES DIGITAL SALES 221,000 65% OF DEBUT WEEK DAVID GUETTA’S ‘PLAY HARD’ SONG SALES 48,000 313% POST-BBMAs As anticipated, Daft Punk barges in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with Random Access Memories, selling 339,000 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The arrival gives the veteran electronic/dance duo its best sales week ever and first No. 1. The set also notches the second-largest sales week of the year overall. Only the debut of Justin Timberlake’The 20/20 Experience logged a larger frame so far in 2013, when it began with 968,000 on the April 6 chart. With 339,000 sold, Random Access Memories also starts with a more robust sales figure than expected. Industry forecasters had projected…

A union of five independent labels sold to U.S. retail by Warner Music Group’s Alternative Distribution Alliance (ADA) is seeking a physical-only distribution deal that could upset the business model for distributors, according to sources familiar with the plans. ¶ The deal sought by Beggars, Secretly Canadian, Domino, Merge and Saddle Creek goes against the grain of the business model most distributors are increasingly trying to impose on labels: tying physical and digital distribution together. As part of that deal, however, they want to retain the ability to directly sell to indie retailers too. In other words, whomever signs the deal would just sell to Anderson Merchandisers, Target, Trans World, Hastings and other large retailers like Hot Topic, Sam’s Club and Toys “R” Us or large wholesalers like Alliance Entertainment…

Ana-mana-guchi. The polysyllabic tongue-twister of a name is on the lips of a swelling army of fans and admirers after several thousand helped propel the DIY, 8-bit electronic group into the pantheon of Kickstarter breakout bands. Anamanaguchi’s campaign, which closes June 2, drew more than 6,000 supporters to the tune of nearly $250,000, making it the second-most successful music project in the site’s history after Amanda Palmer raised nearly $1.2 million in May 2012. “We reached our funding goal [$50,000] in the first 12 hours,” lead songwriter/guitarist Peter Berkman says. “We set the goal at a level that we thought we would be able to hit, but it was a 30-day campaign. We weren’t expecting things to take off so quickly.” The unsigned band chose the crowdfunding site as a…

WHAT: Telemundo and Ryan Seacrest Productions have partnered to produce a new music reality show, “Duelo Musical: Super Estrellas” (Superstar Music Duel), set to launch in 2014. “Duelo Musical” (a working title) will feature two Latin stars facing off weekly in four rounds of music-based games and sing-offs. Audiences will vote after each round to determine a winner, but results won’t be announced until the end of the show. The variety-competition program, developed by RSP, is a rare TV production from a major, U.S. Spanish-language network in conjunction with a major mainstream content producer. It also marks the first time RSP will develop a format initially for a Spanish-speaking audience. WHY: Telemundo, the biggest producer of original Spanish-language TV content in the United States, last year reached out to generalmarket…

Daft Punk has signed a timely music publishing deal with Imagem Music U.K., just as the French electronic duo’s fourth album, Random Access Memories, crashes sales charts around the globe. Imagem will publish Daft Punk’s songs throughout the world excluding France, where the act will be published by Daft Music/Because. Random Access Memories has predictably exploded out of the gate in its first week. In the United Kingdom, the album became Daft Punk’s first No. 1, shifting 165,000 copies to become the year’s fastest-seller thus far, according to the Official Charts Co. Lead single “Get Lucky,” featuring artist/producer Pharrell Williams and Chic’s Nile Rodgers, has become 2013’s biggest-selling single so far, selling upwards of 711,000 copies since it went on sale six weeks ago. In the United States, the album…

.biz About 30% of U.K. Internet users who accessed digital content illegally streamed or downloaded films, TV shows or music at least once in the most recent quarter for which data is available, according to British media regulator Ofcom. “Limbo,” the song Daddy Yankee wrote for fitness program Zumba, topped Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart for 15 weeks (this week it’s No. 2) and has reached No. 1 in several Latin countries. But in Europe, “Limbo” has had a different journey, traveling through social media, clubs, remixes and Zumba classes on its way to hit status. “Right now it’s a national anthem, with all due respect to everybody,” says Ana Maria Jimenez, president of concert promoter Mad Music in Spain. Beginning June 15 in Telde, Spain, Mad will take the…

.com For photos of the music business at work and play, go to Billboard.biz. To submit photos for consideration, send images to backbeat@billboard.com. 1 Yacht life: Onboard Harvey Weinstein’s yacht at the 66th Cannes Film Festival were Joss Stone (left), Access Industries chairman (and Warner Music Group owner) Len Blavatnik and actress Naomie Harris for a lunch thrown by Blavatnik, WMG and Weinstein on May 19. 2 Back to school: Rappers Dizzy Wright, Busta Rhymes, Trinidad James, Action Bronson and Kirko Bangz (from left) class up XXL magazine’s Freshmen 2013 Live concert at the Best Buy Theater in New York on May 21. 3 Up in the sky: British singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran played a pop-up show on May 23 in New York (broadcast by Fuse) to celebrate the opening of…

“I’m interested in distractions,” Justin Meldal-Johnsen says while showcasing his Los Angeles studio, gesturing to an old basketball and an original Nintendo NES that linger in the lounge space. The well-lit studio, which he’s dubbed Chez JMJ, lies in a duplex in the heart of the hipster-filled Sunset Junction area, nestled behind the former Dangerbird Records offices. It’s filled with various items that urge visitor participation—Meldal-Johnsen wants his artists to have instant access to tactile things. “It’s important for me to have things that are immediately gratifying,” the bassist/producer says, noting the plethora of organs and keyboards lining the walls of the lounge. “When people are in my space, I need them to be able to touch things and do things all the time. I don’t want it to be…

“Early on [in my career] I felt, ‘Let’s just get past the female thing,’ and being ‘out’ would come later,” says Kimberly Knoller, who manages Warner Bros. artist Echosmith and has worked previously for Capitol, Geffen and Columbia, as well as in radio, during the past two decades. “I had worked with a lot of artists at the time that were not out, and at some point I felt that the homophobic comments behind many artists’ backs were so inappropriate that I personally couldn’t be silent about it anymore, as I was doing a disservice to the community.” She now feels that “the days of conversations about ‘hiding’ an artist’s sexual identity or an executive still being in the closest are mostly gone. You can see it at industry events,…

Mavis Staples has achieved every one of her life goals—except for starring in a movie. “I told Justin Timberlake, ‘Look, Justin, your next movie, don’t forget about me. I’ll play the grandma,” says the 73-yearold singer, who began her career with family band the Staples Singers as a preteen in the 1950s. “He said, ‘Mavis, there’s no grandma,’ and I said, ‘There’s always a grandma!’” Not that she would have time for the role if she got it. On June 25, Staples will release One True Vine, her second collaboration with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy after 2010’s You Are Not Alone. After six decades as a civil rights and gospel icon, that multigenre set earned Staples her first Grammy Award and highest chart debut at No. 69 on the Billboard 200,…

DJ Tony Gia, Lodi, N.J. Showtek, “Slow Down.” This track is a 100% surefire hit. It’s hard to follow up a record like “Cannonball” but Showtek has done it. On any dancefloor, in any nightclub, this is an absolute staple. Armin van Buuren featuring Trevor Guthrie, “This Is What It Feels Like.” This record is very melodic and inspires emotion. It is one of those tracks whose lyrics take you on a journey. The type of track that can take you by surprise and inspire a positive feeling. Korr A, “Fiyacraka (Sick Individuals Remix).” This one took me by complete surprise. It’s catchy. I find myself singing the chorus from time to time. I’m playing the Sick Individuals remix, which has been doing very well at the venues I play.…

“I don’t need much more than faith,” Magnetic Zeros frontman Alex Ebert sings on his band’s lush new single. And it’s a telling lyric: “Better Days” sounds like a warped Southern hymn beamed in from the Summer of Love, blending church bells, woodwinds, “Age of Aquarius”-styled choirs and a deeply psychedelic bass groove. In typical Zeros fashion, “Better Days” is undeniably corny—especially with Ebert’s cracked tenor soaring over the sprawl, spreading carpe diem one-liners. “Well, that’s some cliché shit, make me wanna cry,” Ebert sings early on. But that’s a bit harsh: “Better Days” is downright charming in its own goofy way, growing more hypnotic as it spirals toward an extended instrumental jam. The Zeros’ latest may be messy, but it certainly has heart. —RR “Better Days” sounds like a…

In what is surely one of the most bittersweet debuts in Billboard Hot 100 history, “Clouds” by late singer/songwriter Zach Sobiech bows at No. 26, fueled largely by strong sales and streaming activity. And, while the gentle, folky song’s national airplay is minimal so far, radio played a key part in its origin. The song concurrently soars to No. 1 on Rock Digital Songs and enters at No. 7 on Hot Digital Songs with 156,000 downloads sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. On Hot Rock Songs, it re-enters at No. 3 after denting the list at No. 48 two weeks ago. Sobiech was also part of the act A Firm Handshake. The group’s EP Fix Me Up, featuring “Clouds,” debuts on the Billboard 200 at No. 20 and re-enters Folk Albums…

Darius Rucker scores his third consecutive No. 1 debut on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart with True Believers (Capitol Nashville), which also bows at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. 7 MONTHS AGO Rucker’s True Believers was originally due Jan. 21, so the title track was released as a single in August. He was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on Oct. 16, and 10 days later Capitol launched the “Party Like a Cock Star” promotion at Rucker’s alma mater the University of South Carolina, which was a big hit with Gamecocks fans. “The prelaunch campaign was a five-state Southeast regional promotion,” says Cindy Mabe, senior VP of marketing at Universal Music Group Nashville. On Oct. 30, Rucker previewed the album at the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Ford Theater…

YOU COULD BE MY LUCK, EVEN IF THE SKY IS FALLING DOWN, I KNOW THAT WE’LL BE SAFE AND SOUND. “SAFE AND SOUND,” CAPITAL CITIES “Safe and sound,” capital cities Q&A Ryan Merchant of Capital Cities “Safe and Sound” was first released two years ago, but it’s No. 81 this week. Is its recent success surprising? It has been a little strange. But I don’t think it’s that unusual today. “Lights” by Ellie Goulding was on top of the charts in the U.K. before it hit the American top 40. Sometimes it’s better that way. There’s already a grass-roots following behind it. We knew that it was a special song and eventually it would find a way to reach the mass audience. Is “Safe and Sound” stylistically similar to your…

.biz Digital sales continue to lose the big yearover-year gains they posted early in 2013. U.S. track and digital album sales have fallen nearly every week through May 26, according to Billboard’s analysis of Nielsen SoundScan data. Nearly 10 months into conversations with the major music labels and publishers, Apple’s vision to launch a Pandora-like radio service is still hung up on negotiating rates. While Apple has signed Universal Music Group’s recorded-music operation to a deal and is far along in discussions with Warner Music Group, publishers present a stumbling block. Apple, led by Eddy Cue, is said to have started out conversations seeking to pay publishers the same rate that Pandora got: 4.1%-5.1% of revenue. But publishers are seeking a rate in the range of 10%-15% of advertising revenue…

.biz The American Assn. of Independent Music (A2IM) has announced that Tom Silverman, founder of Tommy Boy Records, the New Music Seminar and a founding board member of A2IM, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at A2IM’s Libera Awards, set for June 20 in New York. With audio and video streaming leading the way, Internet traffic in North America grew substantially in the first half of 2013, according to a report by networking equipment company Sandvine. In North America, average monthly usage—combining uploading and downloading—grew about 39% to 44.7 gigabytes from 32.1 GB a year earlier. Median monthly fixedaccess usage nearly doubled to 18.2 GB from 10.3 GB, suggesting the heaviest Internet users have increased their usage at a greater rate than all others. Real-time entertainment, or streaming audio and…

U.S. Spanish-language TV. The bulk of programming has long come from Mexico. Now, if “Duelo Musical” garners even similar numbers to “La Voz Kids,” it will be clear that U.S. Hispanic TV is a dependable and profitable breeding ground for new programming. Latin acts. Many major names like Jenni Rivera and Paulina Rubio have already seen a boost in popularity with Latin-American versions of “The Voice.” A domestic show could have even broader impact on reinvigorating careers. Latin labels and publishers. The synch and talentdevelopment opportunities that can rise from shows like “Duelo Musical” bring much-needed revenue to the coffers of Latin labels like Universal and Sony Music. The possibility of ancillary revenue is major.…

‘For Boston’ Ken Casey, bassist and founding member of Boston band Dropkick Murphys, spent the first part of his day on April 15 ignoring text messages and focusing on the Celtic rock troupe’s concert that evening at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz, Calif. It was his birthday, so Casey figured most of the unread messages were well wishes that he could respond to later. As the texts began to pile up, he decided to read a few. Panic ensued. “My wife and kids were at the Red Sox game and that was ending,” Casey recalls. “I didn’t know whether they had gone down to the marathon after the game and I couldn’t reach them.” Casey’s family wasn’t harmed by the bombing that killed three and injured hundreds, but “we had…

During the last two years my job has focused almost exclusively on digital music discovery. Helping people who don’t know what they’re looking for find more music they’ll like. I read everything with “digital” and “discovery” in the headline. I attend every panel on “discovery” I can. Unfortunately, what I have noticed is that 99% of the conversations around discovery focus on “how to help heavy music consumers find more music.” We’re missing the big and critical opportunity. The conversation we should be having is “how to help casual music consumers find some music.” Using a scale of 1 to 10, the digital industry is mostly concerned with moving a customer with an engagement level of 2 or 3 to one of 7 or 10. But no one is focused…

“No one needs to die anymore. No one. The medicine is there.” —Bill Clinton 1 Two kings: Elton John and Bill Clinton confer after both gave speeches at Life Ball 2013, which raised money for AIDS research in Vienna on May 25. 2 Nile Rodgers (center) is riding high on the charts thanks to his contributions to Daft Punk’s No. 1 album, Random Access Memories. He’s also an ambassador for the Assn. for Electronic Music, and celebrates the announcement of new ambassador Jean Michel Jarre (left) and AFEM’s Ben Turner at the International Music Summit in Ibiza on May 24. 3 The fourth annual SoundCtrl FlashFWD Awards, honoring excellence and innovation in music technology, hit the Gramercy Theatre in New York on May 22. From left: In Flex We Trust…

J.Cole flips through pairs of camouflage cargo pants at a sunny photo studio steps away from Manhattan’s elevated High Line park. 2Pac’s 1995 opus Me Against the World blasts from his iPod, and he knows every word. The wardrobe and soundtrack befit a young man about to go to war. “It’s like Michael Jordan in the fourth quarter: A switch goes off,” Cole says, finally settling on a dark green pattern that complements his black suede sneakers (Air Jordans, naturally). “I’m locked in.” Cole’s second album, Born Sinner—due June 18 on Roc Nation/Columbia— is less than a month away, and some big adversaries loom in the distance: massive expectations, fostered by the No. 1 debut of Cole’s first album, Cole World: The Sideline Story, on the Billboard 200 two years…

Talk a Good Game is exactly what Kelly Rowland does on her new album of that name. Rowland’s second set for Republic Records and fourth album overall, due June 18, finds the former Destiny’s Child member fully coming into her own as a solo artist with a renewed focus on R&B and her most forthcoming, hard-hitting tracks to date. “I decided to speak on what I was doing in my life,” Rowland says during an April visit to New York, where she played a livestreamed concert for Courvoisier, her first live gig in support of the album. “There’s so much talking and people are going to be like, ‘Is she really talking about this on the album?’” The set has already been preceded by “Kisses Down Low,” the playfully naughty…

“Positivity from a dark place” is how Amir Amor describes the central ethos behind fast-rising British dance act Rudimental. Based in the less-than-salubrious London borough of Hackney, the four-piece group, which includes Piers Aggett, Kesi Dryden and DJ Leon Rolle, is now reaping the rewards of its feelgood cocktail of vintage soul, catchy pop hooks and kaleidoscopic mix of EDM subgenres house, garage, jungle and drum’n’bass. Having already scored two U.K. No. 1 singles with the 2012 summer smash “Feel the Love,” featuring John Newman, and this year’s equally memorable “Waiting All Night,” featuring Ella Eyre, Rudimental’s studio debut Home entered the U.K. albums chart at No. 1 on May 5 with the highest first-week sales for a debut album this year (63,000 copies, according to the Official Charts Co.).…

David Yow is best-known as the menacing, howling frontman of ’80s and ’90s noise-punk bands Scratch Acid and the Jesus Lizard, two of the most revered acts on the roster of indie label Touch and Go. The Jesus Lizard was briefly signed to Capitol Records, during which time it spent one week on Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums chart with 1996’s Shot. But it was Yow’s unhinged, sweat-drenched performances that ensured both bands’ legacies. His debut solo album, Tonight You Look Like a Spider, turns away from the manic guitar/bass/drums template of his past and plunges deeply into experimental territory. This new direction was something Karl Hofstetter, president and curator of Indianapolis-based Joyful Noise Recordings, eagerly anticipated when he offered to release the record. “It’s an honest, exploratory album,” he says, “which…

Metal too often gets treated like music’s redheaded stepchild: ignored, sometimes unfairly criticized and brushed aside with unconcealed sniggering. But “Louder Than Hell” succinctly explains why, despite— and in many instances, because of—naysayers repeatedly shooting it down, the genre that terrorizes parental sensibilities still endures long after its first rumblings in the ’60s. Helping to tell the story are more than 400 voices of the living (legends like Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica and King Diamond), the dead (such as Ronnie James Dio, Pantera’s “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott and Slayer’s Jeff Hanneman) and the resurrected, those who survived overdoses and addiction (Phil Anselmo and Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine among them). Besides including characters like these heroes, authors Turman and Wiederhorn do the history proud by also providing commentary from influential figures that didn’t always…

Ray Manzarek Following the death of Doors founding member Ray Manzarek on May 20, the legendary rock band tallies big sales gains, while social activity related to the keyboardist grew tremendously. The Doors were one of the most successful groups on the Billboard 200 in the late ’60s and early ’70s, racking up seven top 10s between 1967 and 1971. 121% 13K Sales of the Doors’ album catalog grew 121% in the week ending May 26, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The collected works shifted nearly 13,000 copies (up from 6,000). The best seller of the bunch was 2007’s The Very Best of the Doors, which moved 5,000—its best sales week since August 2012. 208% 34K The band’s digital song sales soared by 208%, rising to 34,000 downloads sold. The Doors’…

Bottoms Up Indie rockers the Front Bottoms debut on Heatseekers Albums at No. 3 with their second full-length album, Talon of the Hawk. With the set’s 2,000-unit start, according to Nielsen SoundScan, the Bar/None Records act easily scores its best sales week. The Front Bottoms kick off a U.S. tour on June 1 in Hoboken, N.J., with dates lined up through July 13. Top 40 Toasts Tiz British pop singer/songwriter Katy Tiz is approaching her first Billboard chart visit, as the RedOne-produced “Red Cup” (Lava/Republic) gains below Mainstream Top 40. WIOQ Philadelphia leads all reporters with 41 plays in the May 20-26 Nielsen BDS tracking week. “If I help one person through what I was feeling when I wrote a song, I’ll be happy,” Tiz says. “I hope I can…

With Daft Punk having waited more than 15 years since first debuting on the Billboard 200 for its first No. 1, this week we look at the last 10 artists to top the list for the first time (with a non-debut album) and how long it took to achieve it. 1 DAFT PUNK Random Access Memories The dance/electronic duo had to wait nearly 16 years for its first No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Debut set Homework bowed on July 26, 1997. Working against Daft Punk’s chances at a chart-topper all these years was its relative lack of releases (Random Access Memories is only its fourth studio effort) and the pair’s general lack of mainstream acceptance. All that changed in the past few years with the act’s buzzy “TRON: Legacy”…