Innholdsfortegnelse for September 14, 2013 i Billboard Magazine

SUPER DUPER D Indie onestop music wholesaler Super D has acquired competitor Alliance Entertainment, forming the second-largest music wholesaler in the United States. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but the purchase is estimated to have cost between $85 million and $125 million. The new entity formed by the combined companies will have music sales of approximately $450 million and a market share of 6.6%, making it the fourth-largest music account in the States overall after iTunes, Anderson Merchandisers and Amazon. ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY’ HAGGLED The war over “Happy Birthday,” the most recognized song in the English language, is heating up as Warner/Chappell has sought to dismiss a class action lawsuit that aims to declare the song as part of the public domain. The suit, filed in June by a filmmaker…

.biz Katz Media Group, the first media representation firm in the United States and a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications, named former Current Media CEO and MTV Networks president Mark Rosenthal CEO of its Katz Radio Group division. Here’s some good news for social marketers in the music business: Your efforts to get people to buy concert tickets are working. Survey data from Live Analytics, Live Nation’s analytics division, shows that concert-goers are especially receptive to the sharing and social features of today’s ticketing platforms. They’re likely to buy through social links, and those who do attend more events than other types of ticket buyers and spend more money. Music represents a large portion of Ticketmaster sales. According to information shared exclusively with Billboard, concerts accounted for 62% of all…

Since 2006, Taco Bell’s Feed the Beat program has supported more than 600 rising music acts with $500 in gift certificates to help keep them fed on the road. And in more recent years, the company has extended its outreach to the music industry by including Feed the Beat bands and their music in its national TV advertising—most notably with Passion Pit, whose single “Take a Walk” began its long stint on the Billboard Hot 100 last September as a direct result of its use in a Taco Bell commercial that aired during last year’s MTV Video Music Awards. As a sequel of sorts to that breakout moment, Taco Bell used the date of this year’s VMAs to premiere “Hello Everywhere,” a featurelength “rockumentary” film directed by Sam Jones (“I…

WHAT: BMG has signed a definitive agreement to acquire most of Primary Wave’s publishing assets and has initiated a joint venture with the latter in a deal valued at $150 million. Of that, $130 million was in cash for the acquired publishing assets, which include the writer’s share of high-profile catalogs like those of Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, Kurt Cobain, Holland-Dozier-Holland’s Lamont Dozier and Julian Lennon’s share of both John Lennon’s Beatles songs and Hall & Oates songs. The deal calls for Primary Wave to remain involved in the marketing of the sold catalogs as well as BMG master recordings released in the United States, and in joint ventures that will sign songwriters and sign and issue albums recorded by established acts. The latter elements of the deal are assigned a…

ON THE ROAD RAY WADDELL @BILLBOARDTOUR In its second year as a two-weekend event with identical lineups, Coachella posted the largest gross in Billboard Boxscore history ($67.2 million) and fine-tuned its strategy to keep bands working in between their two weekend plays. In Austin, the Austin City Limits Music Festival, produced by C3 Presents, will also go for a double for the first time, Oct. 4-6 and Oct. 11-13 at the city’s Zilker Park. But C3 is upping the ante—C3 talent bookers shrewdly turned shows by ACL bands (and others) in the market for 10 days into branded events. These Official Late Night Shows take the ACL brand beyond Austin, to venues in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. In all, there will be 60 additional shows from ACL acts like…

.com To learn more about Bleona, go to Billboard.com. Bleona Qereti is the most famous pop singer from the small European nation of Albania, where the press have likened her to Madonna, in her bold visual style and attitude. At the age of 14, the young diva performed at Albania’s National Music Festival, an annual musical summit, like Albania’s take on the Grammy Awards. “I wore a patterned blue leather one-piece suit with short pants and a black cape,” recalls Bleona, as she’s known professionally. “I took off the cape in the middle of the performance. The next day I was in all the magazines: ‘Who does she think she is to do with this? She’s like the Madonna in America—she does whatever the hell she wants. You can’t even…

Rock in Rio is expected to bring more than a half-million fans—as well as elite acts like Bruce Springsteen, Alicia Keys, Metallica, Beyoncé and Justin Timberlake—to Brazil’s iconic cultural capital. This year, the annual megafestival, which has expanded to Madrid, Lisbon and, starting next year, Buenos Aires, will take place on two extended weekends in Cidade do Rock (that’s “City of Rock”), the massive venue built for Rock in Rio’s inaugural edition in 1985. For visitors and the city itself, the festival will be the perfect warmup for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics. “Rio has always been a magic city, but getting ready to [host] major international events is having a huge positive impact,” says Marcelo Castello Branco, former chairman of South and Central America for EMI…

Apple’s direct licenses with labels give iTunes Radio some financial advantages over its competitors. Although iTunes Radio will probably pay out larger royalties than Pandora, Apple won’t have to pay for numerous kinds of streams. In the early years, until Apple generates significant advertising revenue, labels will likely be paid the minimum rate under the iTunes Radio licensing agreement. At $21.25 per 1,000 listener hours ($22.25 after the first year), and assuming an average song length of four minutes, the average per-stream royalty will be 0.142 cents. That’s barely more than Pandora’s weighted royalty of 0.137 cents per stream. A weighted royalty reflects that subscriptions accounted for 17.4% of Pandora’s revenue in the first half of the year. The company pays 0.22 cents for each subscription stream and 0.12 cents…

One of the main reasons Lorde landed at Lava Records and began her U.S. chart rise is because Natalia Romiszewski was having a terrible day on a rainy afternoon late last year. The veteran music supervisor, who founded consulting company Sound Language in 2009, says she was “hating life and bitching about it” one day in November when her friend Victoria Tsigonis, who works in artist management and online marketing at Weapon of Choice, sent her a link to “Royals.” Lorde’s The Love Club EP had been released for free in the singer’s native country less than a week earlier, and Tsigonis had a friend in New Zealand who had passed it along to her. “She said, ‘Listen to this. It will make you feel better,’” Romiszewski recalls. “I heard…

“We need to go swimming—it’s been the whole fucking summer, and I haven’t gone swimming once,” HAIM bassist Este Haim says. Growing up in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, Haim and her two younger sisters, Danielle and Alana, would head to a local pool or Venice Beach as often as possible to enjoy some swimming and sunbathing. Of course, the downside of spending the summer touring the world is that the Haim sisters have what Este describes as “swimming pool blue balls,” and have even resorted to hunting down fans who can provide a body of water. “It’s become a thing where at every show I’ve played, in the middle of songs, I’ve been like, ‘Who has a pool?’” A noticeable lack of swim time is possibly the only trouble…

Francisco “El Travieso” Morales, regional Mexican WNVL Nashville. Intocable, “Nos Falto Hablar.” Intocable presents a really fresh song, with soft touches of electronic guitar, which give a special flavor that will be really attractive for listeners. I have no question that it will be a hit. Regulo Caro, “Voy a Pistearme el Dolor.” Regulo Caro touches upon a popular topic on this song: a broken heart and the way of drowning sorrows with drinks. “Voy a Pistearme el Dolor” has a rhythmic sound and invites you to be happy. Noel Torres, “Me Interesas.” Noel Torres has a very distinct voice that identifies his music. “Me Interesas” is a romantic track with a mix of different rhythms. Fans of Torres will be attracted to this new effort due to its very…

Jennifer Nettles “That Girl” (4:00) PRODUCER: Rick Rubin WRITERS: Jennifer Nettles, Butch Walker PUBLISHERS: Jennifer Nettles Publishing/EMI April Music/I Eat Publishing for Breakfast, administered by EMI April Music (ASCAP) UMG Nashville COUNTRY Nettles A Solo ‘Girl’ Now For her first outing as a solo artist, Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles enlisted a powerhouse team, as “That Girl” finds the country artist toying with understated pop sensibilities courtesy of producer Rick Rubin and co-writer Butch Walker. Rubin’s beat is subtle yet pronounced, allowing Nettles’ vocals to rightfully remain the focus on her debut single. Here, Nettles’ narrator calls a woman to tell her that her man has been doing them both wrong: “I don’t want to be that girl/With your guy/To fool you/Make you cry,” she confesses. There’s a sultry, mysterious quality to…

An unassuming love letter-turned-song has become a historic hit, as “Oh Sweet Lorraine” by Green Shoe Studio featuring Jacob Colgan and Fred Stobaugh debuts on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 42. The song swells to 100,000 downloads sold (up from 6,000), according to Nielsen SoundScan. Stobaugh, the song’s writer, is 96 years old, making him the oldest artist to appear on the Hot 100 in the chart’s 55-year archives. He bests Tony Bennett, who was 85 years and two months old when “Body and Soul,” with Amy Winehouse, spent a week on the survey (No. 87; Oct. 1, 2011). Beyond any records, however, “Lorraine” seems most meaningful for its subject matter. Stobaugh wrote “Lorraine” for his wife of 72 years, who died in April, and entered it in Peoria,…

OVER THE COUNTER KEITH CAULFIELD Rock band Avenged Sevenfold comes flying in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The group’s sixth studio album, Hail to the King, sold 159,000 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It’s the second-largest sales week for the rock band, just shy of the debut of its last album, 2010’s Nightmare (No. 1 with 163,000). The new album’s title track has climbed to No. 12 on Billboard’s Hot Rock Songs chart, and spent the past four consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Active Rock airplay tally. Avenged Sevenfold’s opening is also the largest week for a hard rock album in more than a year. The last such release to sell more in a week was Linkin Park’Living Things, when it launched…

There was abundant free water, trained security guards, roving medics, regular harm-reduction announcements and multiple medical tents. But even those measures couldn’t keep tragedy from striking the Electric Zoo Festival on New York’s Randall’s Island during the holiday weekend of Aug. 30-Sept. 2, when the drug-related deaths of two young attendees and hospitalization of three more cut short the 5-yearold EDM festival. Promoter Made Event called off Sunday, the third and final day, after intervention from city government agencies. ¶ Cities have shut down nightclubs and raves over drug concerns throughout dance music’s 30-year history. But that was before the arrival of EDM with its giant and young audience, and the massive investment it attracted. Live Nation, Yucaipa and Robert F.X. Sillerman’s revived SFX have all anted up hundreds of…

.biz Boy George is following in the footsteps of Prince, the Pet Shop Boys and Nick Cave by teaming with Kobalt Music Group to release This Is What I Do, his first new album of original songs in 18 years. The set will arrive on Boy George’s Very Me imprint through Kobalt Label Services on Oct. 28, followed by a string of U.K. concerts in November. Irving Azoff has done it again. He has just parlayed his bevy of big-name acts like the Eagles and Christina Aguilera into another big-money deal, this time as part of a new joint venture with MSG Entertainment called Azoff MSG Entertainment (AMSGE). Azoff and business partner Howard Kaufman began rolling up management companies in 2005, funded in part by stakeholders and initial Front Line…

.biz Vevo has named Nielsen veteran Jonathan Carson as its firstever chief revenue officer, a position that will see him leading Vevo’s global sales team across advertising and brand partnerships. The Canadian music industry is in a state of turmoil after a news report revealed a change to the Conservative government’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program that could affect artists from the United States and elsewhere who tour Canada. A Change.org petition gathered 100,000 names in a matter of days. Some promoters wouldn’t talk on record, worried that all the media attention would cause border crossing guards to be extra tough. The non-industry-specific regulation quietly put into effect on July 31 by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) requires an employer to pay $275 per person to hire a worker…

Songwriter Allee Willis thinks big. Case in point is her latest project: “The D.” That’s the title of a song Willis— known for Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September” and the theme from “Friends,” among many others—cowrote about Detroit that has morphed into a monthlong singalong party in the Motor City. It all started when Willis and co-writer Andrae Alexander penned “The D,” an exuberant tune in the vein of “September.” Following Detroit’s recent bankruptcy filing, Willis wanted to showcase Detroiters’ indomitable spirit, and raise funds for two arts organizations. “Detroit is totally alive, filled with artists who are completely reimagining the city,” Willis says. “And I love hosting massive events. So coupled with my party-throwing skills, I decided the best way to record this song was with every single person…

SOUND & VISION PHIL GALLO @PHILGALLO58 When Dr. Luke’ name hit the radar as a potential “American Idol” judge, the idea sounded genius. This was clearly the missing piece—a producer with a sense of what goes into a contemporary pop hit and what type of artist can be molded to fit contemporary tastes. Not surprisingly, his deal with Sony and the show’s deal with Universal kept them from becoming bedfellows. Let’s be honest: The idea that a TV show can introduce the world to an unknown singer whose voice alone is enough to get the public to buy singles and albums is long gone. There will not be another Kelly Clarkson or Clay Aiken, and if recent history is any indication, the only way to become a competition show success…

.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 Love on top: Rapper Wiz Khalifa made like Miley Cyrus backstage following his set on day two of Made in America, during which he serenaded his new wife—and South Philly native—Amber Rose on tune “Roll Up.” 2 Anheuser-Busch VP of marketing /chief marketing officer Paul Chibe, Jay Z and Translation founder Steve Stoute chilled in the shade backstage. Attendance for the festival’s second year was up 50%, according to organizers, with an average of 60,000 per day and “no incidents,” said Stoute, who helped coordinate the festival with Anheuser-Busch and Jay Z. “Nine Inch Nails crushed it, Phoenix crushed it . This was another great year…

GO TIME TRAVEL ESSENTIALS Rock in Rio founder Roberto Medina knows a thing or two about international travel. The ad man started the festival in 1985, when Brazil was emerging from a military dictatorship. Convincing American and British stars including Rod Stewart, James Taylor and Queen (pictured below perofmring at the festival) to play in Rio de Janeiro required months of overseas meetings . After Rock in Rio proved to be a huge success, it expanded to Lisbon and Madrid—cities Medina made a point of getting to know well. “I lived for four years in [each],” he says. “When I work somewhere I want to feel like a person who comes from those streets.” As Rock in Rio returns to its hometown later this month (see story, left), Medina is…

Some companies innovate while others fail to launch successful products that address changing marketplaces. Why does this commonly happen in business? There are two types of innovation, according to James Allworth, a fellow at the Forum for Growth and Innovation at Harvard Business School. Sustaining innovation requires that a company improve existing product lines. Products become better, faster or smaller. Disruptive innovation is more difficult. The term “disruptive innovation” was introduced by Clay Christensen, Allworth’s colleague at Harvard Business School and author of the seminal book “The Innovator’s Dilemma.” A disruptive innovation requires a company to be willing to sacrifice profitable products for a lesser one. Given the incentives that companies have to maintain profits, sustaining innovation is by far the more common of the two. Why do companies have…

How the wide-ranging format of 1988 turned to a mainstream hard rock sound over time, and then found its way back to its roots The alternative radio format is built upon the promise of what’s coming next, so it’s no surprise that the music played by alternative stations has experienced multiple changes during the last 25 years. Some of those changes, though, have as much to do with the radio landscape as musical trends. In 1988, after a short-lived format boom in the early MTV era, alternative radio was again attracting the attention of major-market group broadcasters. In the late ’80s and early ’90s, the core acts of alternative were still very much the Smiths, Depeche Mode and the Cure—in fact, British groups take up seven of the top 10…

ARTIST: Parquet Courts ALBUM: Tally All the Things That You Broke EP RELEASE DATE: Oct. 8 LABEL: What’s Your Rupture? PRODUCERS: Parquet Courts, Jonathan Schenke MANAGER: James Oldham, Rough Trade Management PUBLISHER: Universal/Copy Control BOOKING AGENT: Timmy Hefner, Ground Control Touring CHART HISTORY: Light Up Gold (2012), No. 30 Heatseekers Albums, 13,000 “You’ve Got Me Wondering Now,” the first single off Parquet Courts’ new EP, debuted in an unusual way. The raucous track appeared on a cassette mixtape that the Brooklyn punk band mailed unexpectedly to 250 fans last month, a curated collection of music the musicians feel is connected to what they’re doing as a band. For the group, the mixtape was a palpable way for the band to connect with fans, after it decided early on not to…

ARTIST: The Blind Boys of Alabama ALBUM: I’ll Find a Way RELEASE DATE: Sept. 30 LABEL: Sony Masterworks PRODUCER: Justin Vernon MANAGER: Charles Driebe, Blind Ambition PUBLISHERS: various BOOKING AGENT: Eric Hanson, Rosebud Agency CHART HISTORY: Go Tell It on the Mountain (2003), No. 1 Top Gospel Albums, 55,000; There Will Be a Light (2004) (Ben Harper and the Blind Boys of Alabama), No. 1 Top Gospel Albums, No. 81 Billboard 200, 197,000 TWITTER: @blindboys For the four octogenarians in the Blind Boys of Alabama, settling down isn’t part of their plan. After 70-plus years of existence, the last dozen have seen the non-sighted gospel quartet at its most inventive, experimenting with blues, country and hip-hop and collaborating with Lou Reed, Willie Nelson, Tom Waits, George Clinton, Ben Harper and…

.biz The Human Rights Foundation has criticized Kanye West for performing at a wedding in Kazakhstan, joining a chorus of detractors who say he legitimized the human rights violations of the nation’s president. The rapper performed at the wedding of Nursultan Nazarbayev’s grandson on Aug. 31. The human rights group compared the appearance to a similar visit earlier this summer by Jennifer Lopez to Turkmenistan, which has its own history of human rights violations. About a year ago, independent label Think It’s a Game nurtured the career of Trinidad James, prodding him into stardom off the strength of the single “All Gold Everything.” Now, TIG is doing the same with Atlanta native Rich Homie Quan, who possesses a streetcertified edge. Around the time James was taking off, TIG founder Fly…

10 MONTHS AGO While the album wasn’t finished until six weeks before release, Average Joes VP of marketing and promotion Tony Morreale and his team began working on the project last October. “We really wanted to increase their profile in touring, from a sales standpoint, online with video consumption, the whole nine yards,” he says. Working on recording the album through the new year, the act hoped to capitalize on its previous two albums, which both had a slow-burning sales effect. (2011’s Country Boy’s Paradise has sold 110,000 copies, while 2012’s 190 Proof has moved 88,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan.) 1 MONTH AGO Morreale and the band produced a video for the title track/single, filming the duo “mudding” on ATVs in its native Southern Georgia. Setting up a premiere partner…

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…

SFX. With an IPO looming and potential 2014 sponsors being courted, the timing couldn’t be worse. If the IPO doesn’t perform, Robert Sillerman might not have enough cash to close pending deals, including his 70% buyout of Made Event. And if sponsors sour, his primary revenue model could disintegrate. EDM promoters. If other cities follow the Big Apple’s lead to close events quickly, festivals and their promoters, like Made Event’s Mike Bindra, could face wary audiences and uncertain futures. More stringent policing and tougher standards could reduce crowds, drive up costs— and drive away sponsors. EDM fans. The media attention has highlighted molly as a mystery chemical with significant risks. Made Event’s proactive security was lauded by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, opening the door for a possible union of harm-reduction strategies…

Artists. An aggressive posture on the publishing rights front, and the promise of synergy with touring and other elements of an artist’s career, will no doubt be appealing to content creators, particularly those with deep catalogs like Irving Azoff client the Eagles. Azoff says many acts are already onboard, and expect more to follow. Management firms. Put simply, other managers like to work with Azoff, who offers deep resources and a cache of ideas while not interfering with manager/artist relationships and dayto-day decision-making. He signed up a bevy of powerful managers in building Front Line, and he could do it again. The music industry. Azoff and Dolan/MSG make for a powerful, deep-pocketed team. It’s a safe bet that AMSGE is already rattling some cages, but the firm’s impact beyond its…

Jeff Price is best-known for creating TuneCore, the digital music distribution company that allowed just about anyone to sell their songs on iTunes. Price is now launching a service that aims to simplify another big platform for artists—YouTube. His new company, the New York-based Audiam, which has just raised earlystage funding, was co-founded with Peter Wells. It lets artists start making money by putting ads against useruploaded YouTube videos that feature songs they own. 7.30 AM I am woken by calls of “Daaaadyyyy, is it wake-up time yet?” from my three-and-a-half-year-old daughter from her room. 8.00 AM Download and reply to first batch of emails while instant-messaging with Peter Wells to line up priorities and go over the previous day’s open issues. 9.00 AM On home phone with David [Willen],…

LATIN NOTAS LEILA COBO @LEILACOBO While network music competitions like “The Voice” and “American Idol” have been slowly incorporating Latin celebrities into their shows, no Spanish-language versions of those programs have yet been produced for U.S. Hispanic TV. Instead, the Latin market has embraced pint-sized versions of those formats. In the last year alone there have been “La Voz Kids” (on Telemundo), “Idol Kids” (produced by indie channel Wapa TV in Puerto Rico), “El Factor X” (on new network Mundo Fox) and, most recently, “La Academia Kids,” which began airing Sept. 1 on Azteca America with Luis Coronel, Alicia Villarreal and Lola Cortes as judges. All four are being produced domestically in Spanish for the first time. There are no general-market versions of these formats featuring children in the United…

What did you wake up thinking about this morning? I wake up every day excited about the next challenge or opportunity that I’m going to face when I walk into the office at Clear Channel. The great thing about this company is that because we reach 240 million people a month, there is really no business in pop culture that we can’t be in. So every morning when I go online or I turn on the radio or I look at the newspaper, immediately ideas come to mind of how we can somehow interface at iHeartRadio or through our Clear Channel properties. Describe a lesson learned from a failure. Some of the best jobs I’ve ever had in my life were those where you were allowed to fail. One that…

The bawse backs off: Billboard hit up Atlantic Records’ New York offices recently to hear Self Made 3, the third compilation from Rick Ross’ Maybach Music Group. Rockie Fresh’s “What Ya Used To,” featuring and produced by Hit-Boy, was a standout—and a perfect jump-off for Fresh’s solo album later this fall. A&R rep Dallas Martin told us Ross took a back seat in order to give his protégés more room to shine. “It’s a platform to get music heard,” Martin says. “It’s hard for artists to break without being a part of the movement.” Catch a fire: What’s Capitol got to do with the next Arcade Fire album? Depending on whom you ask, a lot. The Canadian collective switched label-services partners from Warner’s Alternative Distribution Alliance to Universal Music Enterprises,…

Apple’s new era in digital music is expected to arrive Sept. 10. ITunes Radio, first unveiled during the keynote presentation at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in June, has been highly expected for more than a year. Although the service may end up overshadowed by the fanfare of new iPhone devices, iTunes Radio is an important step for the world’s leading music retailer. In the short term, iTunes Radio will help Apple’s download business. But in the long term, iTunes Radio looks like the beginning of the end for the download. Apple faces an innovator’s dilemma: Should it create a streaming service that could ultimately kill its download business? Now, iTunes Radio isn’t a download killer. Internet radio is commonly considered to be accretive to music purchases, and NPD Group…

“In a perfect world, I would never do any interviews,” Ella Yelich-O’Connor says, “and probably there would be one photo out there of me, and that would be it.” Pausing a photo shoot in Auckland, New Zealand, for an interview, the 16-yearold singer better-known as Lorde delivers this without a hint of standoffishness. She’s less distraught about the promotional trappings of a flourishing music career than she is clear about her desire to retain some mystique. In a generation of endless selfies and attention-hungry YouTubers, Lorde courts enigma, harking back to the mid-’90s heyday of alternative dark-stars like Mazzy Star and Portishead that preferred to let their music do the talking. She’s always been attracted to the small corners of inscrutability that hold fast in this time of digital ubiquity:…

Lloyd Price has been successful for more than 60 years. He’s a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and winner of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation’s Pioneer Award. He’s had his own record companies and nightclub, developed real estate, promoted boxing matches, served in the U.S. Army, lived in Africa and even designed his own sweet potato cookie for Walmart. He is 80 years old, has a 201 bowling average and has bowled six perfect games. You might know him for the bold shout, galloping rhythms and full-bodied horn arrangements of his classic rock’n’roll hits “Stagger Lee,” “Personality,” “Where Were You on Our Wedding Day?” and other tunes that dominated Billboard’s pop and R&B charts from 1958 to 1960. But none of those accomplishments would’ve been possible without the…

GOODING Have music, will travel. That’s the mantra of Gooding, which has been touring for about 10 years—and counting. “I don’t know what’s wrong with us,” group namesake Gooding says with a laugh. “But we’re still loving it. We consider ‘road dog’ to be an affectionate term.” The Los Angeles trio has been playing its energetic brand of soul- and blues-stirring rock’n’roll from the plains since the members were students at the University of Kansas. The toll: 800 shows in 157 cities (plus every state in the lower 48 in 2010). Now the act is hitting the road to continue promoting its latest album, Buffalo (April 29, S3 Records). The set features the triple A first single “Mountain” and new follow-up “Hey, Hey.” This leg begins Sept. 3 in Cheyenne,…

SARA BAREILLES Singer/songwriter Sara Bareilles is prepping a headlining tour in October in further support of The Blessed Unrest. Booked by Marty Diamond and Larry Webman at Paradigm, the trek will run Oct. 6-19 following co- headlining dates with OneRepublic Aug. 29-Sept. 20. Routing: Webman and Diamond focused mostly on theaters with an average capacity of 2,500. “The smallest we’re doing is 1,200 in [Washington] D.C. at Lincoln Theatre [on Oct. 7],” Webman says, “and the biggest is Radio City Music Hall in New York [on Oct. 9] with 6,000.” Having played some of the venues before, like Philadelphia’s Electric Factory (Oct. 10) and Chicago’s Riviera Theatre (Oct. 13), Webman coordinated mostly new buildings due to continuing growth and fan demand. “The rest are new venues, bigger and/or seated theaters…

Eminem blasts onto the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 3 with “Berzerk,” the first single from The Marshall Mathers LP 2. The set is due Nov. 5 and is the sequel to 2000’s The Marshall Mathers LP, which is his highest-selling album (10.7 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan) and his longest-running No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart (eight weeks). 362K “Berzerk” sold 362,000 downloads in its first week (ending Sept. 1), enabling its No. 2 start on Hot Digital Songs. The song’s sales are comparable to the first-week performance of his last album’s first single, “Not Afraid.” That 2010 song, which ushered in Recovery, bowed at No. 1 on Hot Digital Songs with 379,000. 184% 3K “Berzerk” samples Billy Squier’s “The Stroke,” which reached No. 17 on the…

Big ‘Things’ Southern California band the Colourist has its sights set on the Alternative chart, as its single “Little Things” is building at the format. With support from KNRK Portland, Ore.; KBZT San Diego; and SiriusXM’s Alt Nation channel, the tune could soon reach the Alternative tally. The Republic-signed quartet, which played Coachella earlier this year, will support the Naked and the Famous on tour in late September and through October. Record Promotion After breaking through to the top 10 on multiple Canadian charts in 2010 as Edward Maya’s duet partner on “Stereo Love” (Vika Jigulina joined him on the U.S. version, which reached No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100), Mia Martina is building toward her first Mainstream Top 40 appearance with “La La.” The New Brunswick native is…

This week we look at the No. 1 song of each summer during the last 10 years, highlighting the week the tracks reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, how long they remained on top and where each title eventually ranked at year’s end. R & B POP DANCE/ELECTRONIC 1 Mariah Carey “We Belong Together” (2005) The track is the only top summer song of the last 10 years to also earn the honor of Billboard Hot 100 song of the year. The feat is impressive, given that hits that peak earlier in a year have more time to accumulate points as they descend the survey. (In about three months, Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” will cross the year-end finish line.) 2 Katy Perry “I Kissed a Girl” (2008) Speaking…