Innholdsfortegnelse for Mar-01-14 i Billboard Magazine

CC MEDIA REVENUE FALLS Clear Channel parent company CC Media reported a wider loss in the fourth quarter than in the year-ago period, losing $309.2 million compared with a loss of $191.3 million in 2012. Total revenue for the quarter was stagnant at $1.7 billion. Clear Channel, the country’s largest owner of AM and FM radio stations, faces continued pressure from online competitors Pandora and Spotify. However, in a recent earnings call CEO Bob Pittman cited the sustained popularity of terrestrial radio and the company’s radio personalities as competitive advantages. ITUNES FESTIVAL HITS SXSW For the first time, the iTunes Festival will take place on U.S. shores, at the South by Southwest music conference in Austin on March 11. The five-day American edition of the annual fest, previously hosted in…

A few seconds on a hit record can add up to a few years in a courtroom. Just ask TuffAmerica, a New York label that on Feb. 7 sued Universal Music Group over a sample used on Frank Ocean’s “Super Rich Kids.” After more than three decades of litigation , music lawyers know that even the smallest lift of a previously released song typically requires licenses from the owner . They also know that artists often press their luck without a license, hoping the sample is minuscule enough to qualify as “fair use.” TuffAmerica found itself in a situation that illustrates the diffculty of applying copyright law to sampling. It owns rights to one song (The Honeydrippers’ “Impeach the President”) that wound up on another (Audio Two’s “Top Billin’ ”)…

JOHN VARVATOS’ MUSIC BIZ DESIGNS Fashion designer John Varvatos has launched a record label with Republic Records. The eponymous label, created in a deal negotiated by William Morris Endeavor agent Jon Rosen , will sign acts and release reissues and compilations. Music has always played a big part in Varvatos’ menswear brand, with rock icons like Kiss featured in ad campaigns. One of its New York stores occupies the old space of CBGB ; Varvatos also hosts a SiriusXM show. “John is a trend-setter, and his passion for music is inspiring,” says Republic executive vp Charlie Walk. “That was the spark that ignited this partnership.”—Alex Gale VP LIGHTS A FIRE Queens-based reggae independent VP Records has relaunched U.K. reggae label Blood and Fire, which shut down in 2007. Known for…

1 Boy George at the BRIT Awards at London’s O2 Arena on Feb. 19. 2 Beyonce, stunning the O2 crowd with the TV debut of “XO.” 3 Ellie Goulding, Lorde and Katy Perry (from left) at Universal’s BRITs afterparty at Soho House Pop-Up under Waterloo Bridge. 4 The night’s first presenter, Prince. 5 John Newman, who was nominated for three BRIT Awards. 6 Iggy Azalea on the BRITs red carpet. 7 Lily Allen, who’s readying her first album in five years, was at the BRITs. 8 Arctic Monkeys’Matt Helders, Alex Turner, Jamie Cook and Nick O’Malley (from left) won two BRIT Awards: best British group and British album of the year. 9 Haim’s Alana, Danielle and Este Haim (from left) were up for best international group at the BRITs. 10…

Behind every music tour—from Beyonce’s Vegas-styled extravaganzas to Phish’s weedand-’ shroom-fueled odysseys—is an unsung individual who’s equal parts f eld marshal, political f xer, armchair psychoanalyst and bag man. The tour manager on a major artist’s outing is often responsible for shepherding more than 100 musicians, gafers, carpenters, lighting technicians and accountants on voyages that span the globe and entire seasons. At the same time, they have to anticipate hundreds of demands from not-always-appreciative employers while keeping the entourage happy, safe and out of trouble. Billboard recently gathered some of the music industry’s most decorated road warriors for a no-holds-barred roundtable discussion. Participating were Stuart Ross, who’s toured with Tom Waits, Metallica, George Michael, Weezer and Spinal Tap, and was a cofounder of Lollapalooza; Patrick Stansfield, who worked for legendary…

You spent 14 months working with multi-instrumentalist Owen Pallett as Her was developed. Spike Jonze said it felt like he was jumping into the band. How did it feel for you? It was awesome to be there for the whole arc of it — like collaborators, not guns for hire. I joke about putting out a 10-CD Her soundtrack boxed set. Did the soundtrack change when Joaquin Phoenix’s co-star Samantha Morton was replaced by Scarlett Johansson during postproduction? Yes, radically. The movie got less highconcept and became more about these two people. The music did the same thing: It started in a Blade Runner world and slowly became more piano-centric and less epic, with strings and warm synthesizers. What was the toughest scene to write for? The last six minutes.…

WET During a Feb. 6 performance at the Westway in New York, Brooklyn alt-R&B trio Wet entertained a close-knit crowd that included teenage girls singing along, prominent artist managers and reps for Atlantic, Universal and Columbia. The group’s self-titled debut EP, released last October on Neon Gold Records, has sold 1,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. But judging by the industry figures who braved the cold to see Wet perform, it may be the precursor to something much bigger. “We’re talking to a lot of people,” Kelly Zutrau says about the act’s label situation. Guitarist Marty Sulkow chimes in: “Right now it’s like, ‘Just keep working until something becomes clear.’ ” The EP features a mix of dreamy electro beats and fragile vocals that recall the xx and Grimes. Shortly…

If imitation is the sincerest form of fattery, Amazon gets down on its knees and worships Apple’s iPad with the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9-Inch—a me-too tablet with a comparable music ecosystem and the ability to seamlessly order new printer toner, or anything else, to one’s front door. Apple and Amazon’s tablet diferences are primarily philosophical: The iPad is the unobtrusive, Swiss Army knife for your life, while the Fire HDX admits to playing catch-up by presenting itself as a product “as good as the iPad.” In some ways, however, the HDX is better. The tablet is specifcally optimized to be a custom terminal for consuming Amazon goods and services in both digital and physical form. Although Amazon’s music store has only 20 million songs to Apple’s 26 million, Amazon’s store…

Cedric Gervais can take a slow-burn single and transform it into a red-hot hit. It happened last year, when the EDM DJ’s jubilant remix of Lana Del Rey’s “Summertime Sadness” fueled a surprise 23-week run on the Billboard Hot 100. In its original form, “Summertime” was more pajamas than party; it was never offcially released as a single in the United States. But placed in Gervais’ hands, the track rose to a summit of No. 6 on the Hot 100, selling 2.1 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. And if that wasn’t enough, the song earned Gervais his first Grammy Award for best remixed recording this year. Now he’s poised to do it again. After Gervais was heavily courted by Miley Cyrus, his 2-week-old dance remix of her ballad “Adore…

Eric Church’The Outsiders debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, selling 288,000 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It’s the largest sales week of the year, and the biggest since Beyonce’ selftitled album sold 310,000 in its second week of release last December. It’s also Church’s best frame ever. The Outsiders is Church’s fourth studio album and second No. 1, following his last studio efort, 2011’s Chief. The latter bowed with 145,000—his previous best sales week. (In between Chief and The Outsiders, Church released the live album Caught in the Act: Live, which debuted and peaked at No. 5.) The Outsiders also logs the biggest week for a country album since Luke Bryan’Crash My Party debuted at No. 1 with 528,000 on Aug. 31, 2013. Church’s…

Eric Church’s The Outsiders is the No. 1 album in the country for the week ending Feb. 16, but when he picks up a beer to celebrate, it may be a locally brewed Guinness. That’s because he’ll be in Dublin, the first of a 12-show European tour starting Feb. 24. ¶ “We are not in the same position in Europe as we are in North America,” Church’s manager John Peets told Billboard in December. “So it was important to go over there closer to the record so we could capitalize on the momentum.” In the United States, Church headlines arenas. In the United Kingdom, he’ll be playing 1,000- to 2,000-capacity rooms. ¶ Why do it? Because the earning potential for a touring artist expands exponentially at the global level. And…

Cee Lo Green’s Feb. 18 announcement on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that he would not be returning to The Voice raised two important questions: Who will take over his chair, and what’s next for the multihyphenate performer? NBC, reportedly surprised by Green’s departure, is scrambling to find an official replacement for the seventh cycle this fall, after Usher and Shakira return to fill Green and Christina Aguileras chairs on Feb. 24. But Green isn’t exactly at a loss for what to do next. First on his list is a tour with Lionel Richie, which begins May 30 and wraps Aug. 2, that conflicts with The Voice’ fall production schedule. “The Voice has been good to him. The exposure certainly did not hurt,” says Larry Mestel, Green’s manager and founder/CEO of…

In 1997, my brother Michael introduced me to his good friend Maggie Estep, the spitfire spoken word artist extraordinaire. She was interested in having me direct the music video for her sublime interpretation of Lou Reed’s “Vicious,” from her powerful second album, Love Is a Dog From Hell. Much of the album set her spoken word rants to powerful music, but this reversed the process, drawing out Reed’s lyric slowly until it seemed like one of Maggie’s poems. Honestly, I was a little intimidated by Maggie, the intense stage persona, not to mention the violent wit she employed in her previous video “Hey, Baby.” She could not have been more down to earth, and her easy-going manner put me at ease. Maggie was amazing to watch, captivating in a slightly…

The 2003 South by Southwest showcase by Austin rockers Those Peabodys didn’t go down in history. But these days the band’s drummer Aaron Franklin commands lines out the door: His Franklin Barbecue boasts the best brisket in Texas. What does cooking have to do with music? They’re “both creative,” says drummer Julia Hungerford of the food truck Shhmaltz. “One of them pays the bills, and one of them doesn’t.” Sometimes that means trading gear for the smoker, as in Franklin’s case. For others, picks, licks and amps are never far away from the mixing bowl. Here are Austin’s best musicians making grub. Franklin Barbecue Franklin upended the Texas barbecue establishment with the notion that great smoked meat could come from a muttonchopped former musician in the city. The proof is…

JUST TWO YEARS AGO, THE Academy Awards telecast didn’t feature a song performance -perhaps producers thought better of having a furry puppet croon “Man or Muppet.” This year, the broadcast will showcase a contest as competitive as any best picture race, and less traditional to boot. How do you top Frozen’ soaring, kid-friendly ballad? Sing atop Rockefeller Center on Jimmy Fallon’s first Tonight Show. Or even better: Wear a hat that even Arby’s tweets about. If you’re keeping score, the Oscars (airing on March 2) haven’t seen this much pop music relevance since 1984, when all five nominees hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 and Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called to Say I Love You” won. The last time it came close was when Aerosmith’s “ I Don’t Want…

For far too long, music’s relationship with the Oscars has been a one-way street. You can’t argue the importance of an Oscar to an artist’s career, whether it’s conferring mainstream respectability to Eminem, burnishing the legend of Elton John or Bruce Springsteen, or turning the undeniable talent of Randy Newman and Danny Elfman into solid bankability. But why is Oscar so standofish when it comes to recognizing the importance of music in the many ways it helps define a movie or support a narrative? As much attention as this year’s song nominees have generated, there are so many standout uses of music that went unacknowledged. Traditionally, music is the last step before the picture locks. For the filmmaker and editor, it could be a useful tool — like much-needed glue…

Inside a dim, cavernous studio space in Manhattan’s SoHo district, the world’s fashion elite jostle for rickety chairs while Annie Clark, 31, the singer-guitarist known as St. Vincent, fixes owl eyes on the runway. Recruited by Diane von Furstenberg as musical accompaniment for her Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week show, Clark eases into captivating renditions of “Every Tear Disappears” and “Prince Johnny” from her self-titled album (due Feb. 25 on Loma Vista), as models Karlie Kloss and Karen Elson bobble down the catwalk. She’s never performed at a fashion show before, but you wouldn’t know it: Clark’s cool and fluid, with a shock of wild silver hair. Like the amazons parading around her, she wears a signature Furstenberg wrap dress. Fittingly, however, Clark’s version is customized. “I had it hemmed,” she says…

From the birth of his son to the death of his father, Dierks Bentley has been through a lot lately, and his introspective new LP is proof. He sounds gritty and time-tested, particularly on “Damn These Dreams,” where he sings about leaving his family to tour. “Here on Earth” questions life’s meaning with some of the strongest lyrics he’s ever recorded. But Bentley doesn’t abandon his lighter side: The standout here is the hilarious kiss-of “Drunk on a Plane,” one of the catchiest choruses country has heard in a while. Even after seven albums, Bentley finds new ground on Riser, and it’s fertile. Dierks Bentley Riser PRODUCERS: Arturo Buenahora Jr., Ross Copperman LABEL: Capitol Nashville RELEASE DATE: Feb. 25 ALBUMS ROCK SKATERS Manhattan PRODUCERS: John Hill, Skaters LABEL: Warner Bros.…

Country star Eric Church’s The Outsiders proves to be the ultimate insider this week as it tops the Billboard 200 with a resounding 288,000 copies sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The tally is the highest opening frame since Beyonce’s self-titled album bowed in mid-December with sales of 617,000. Even more impressive, it’s nearly double the 145,000 copies that Church’s last album, 2011’s Chief, sold in its first week. In an era when individual song downloads often trump album sales, Church, 36, says his fans buck the trend. “The fans trust that we’re going to make the best possible album that we can make,” he says, “and if you’re going to buy a complete project and not just download a song or two, this is the one to buy. Our fans…

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 (Platinum). Numeral noted with platinum symbol indicates…

A new front opened in the ongoing battle over digital income with a lawsuit fled in New York federal court on Feb. 20 by 19 Recordings against Sony Music. The complaint, which seeks at least $10 million in damages, could have far-reaching implications for the music industry. 19 Recordings was founded by American Idol creator Simon Fuller and is now controlled by the show’s owner, Core Media Group. In the lawsuit, 19, and by extension all of the artists—including Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Chris Daughtry—who have entered deals with the label via their participation on Idol, claim that Sony has been systematically robbing them of millions of dollars in royalties. The lawsuit was fled after 19 exercised the right to audit Sony’s books pursuant to recording agreements, and the…

Grainge Trumps Morris As Glassnote Moves To Universal The battle between Lucian Grainge and Doug Morris heated up again in mid-February when Daniel Glass jumped ship from Sony to Universal Music Group for global distribution of his Glassnote label. Sources suggest the deal could be valued between $10 million and $15 million, a figure that proved too high for Sony—whose RED has distributed Glassnote for the last seven years, re-signing a year ago for an $8 million advance—and also for another suitor, Warner Music Group. But sources with knowledge of the negotiations say that money was less of a sticking point than Sony and Warner’s demand for equity in Glassnote, a nonstarter. UMG chairman-CEO Grainge, 54, and Sony chairman-CEO Morris, 75, have swapped blows the last three years. After Morris…

No song spent more time atop the Billboard Hot 100 last year than Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines,” which logged 12 weeks at No. 1 and set the all-time record for radio audience when it reached 229 million listeners in a week. It did so by tapping the sound of classic R&B, which has sparked both controversy— its groove is close enough to Marvin Gaye’s 1977 No. 1 hit “Got to Give It Up” to have sparked a since-settled suit involving the Gaye family—and ongoing discussion. That’s because 2013 was also a year that didn’t have a single black artist top the Hot 100 as a lead performer—the f rst time that’s happened in the chart’s 55-year history. Why? The increasing dominance of pop at radio—across all formats—is one reason. But…

You could argue that during Fleetwood Mac’s 40-year run and her own solo success, Stevie Nicks has never needed a comeback, because she never reall19y went away—or at least her jet-set gypsy style never has. But in the last 12 months, the 65-year-old singer has been practically inescapable, popping up alongside Dave Grohl for his Sound City documentary and subsequent tour, and taking center stage on FX’s American Horror Story: Coven, playing— appropriately enough—a fctional “white witch” version of herself. Not to mention Fleetwood Mac’s 2013 34-city U.S. tour, which wrapped up recently. Through the decades, Nicks’ fowing, bohemian look has infuenced other musicians as much as her signature sound. Her style is so iconic and enduring, it’s hard to believe it started with her having nothing to wear. The…

New Yorker Shauna Figuera did a double take as she watched Pharrell Williams on the Grammys telecast. Like millions tuning in, she was riveted by his headgear, which was the night’s biggest fashion statement and trended thanks to cracks by such Twitter luminaries as Patton Oswalt and Ronan Farrow as well as the unexpected: Arby’s and Gain detergent among them. The “Mountain Hat,” designed by Vivienne Westwood for her Worlds End line in 1982, had personal resonance for Figuera. She sported it as a street-savvy 16-year-old who turned up at a grafti-tagged handball court on 98th Street in New York to dance in Malcolm McLaren’s “Bufalo Gals” video. “I’m an original bufalo gal,” says the 48-year-old Figuera, who’s suddenly cool in the eyes of her two teenage sons. “I couldn’t…

The backstage lounge at last summer ’s three-day Belgian festival Tomorrowland , often called “the dance music Olympics,” was teeming with DJs of all stripes. There were house godfathers Mark Farina and Derrick Carter mugging for each other’s cellphone cameras; Tiësto holding court at the bar, with his toothy smile and imposing height; bubbling-up buddies Carnage and Porter Robinson, talking about how they secretly want to work with Soulja Boy (“More secret to him,” Robinson said. “I let people know I want to work with Soulja Boy.”); and Steve Angello, Steve Aoki and Afrojack —so much star power, testosterone and net worth in the air that it might as well have been an All-Star Game after-party. But there was a promising rookie in the midst—a new kid, just 17 years…

Norwegian DJ/producer Todd Terje has earned a rep as the prince of Scandinavian EDM, but his new single suggests global domination. The first taste of his debut LP, It’s Album Time, the seven-minute “Delorean Dynamite” is part Martian disco jam, part krautrock epic, and occupies that sacred sonic space between the very late ’70s and the very early ’80s. It doesn’t seem that revolutionary at first: The track opens in a cloud of synths, bass pulses and electronic whooshes. Then Terje lights the fuse, with funky guitar licks, cloud-parting keys and proggy keyboards. The loveliest moment is the coda, the EDM equivalent of the post-coital cigarette—one minute of spacey electronica drifting into orbit. With “Delorean Dynamite,” Terje makes the entire galaxy his dancefoor. —RR Todd Terje “Delorean Dynamite” (6:57) PRODUCER:…

Wild’s World After weeks of steady increases, Snootie Wild’s “Yayo” (featuring Yo Gotti) debuts at No. 50 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and No. 40 on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop, marking his first two airplay chart appearances. The Memphis native’s breakout hit won over hometown station KXHT, which first played the melodic song on July 2, 2013, and has spun it the most (nearly 500 times to date) of any Nielsen BDS-monitored station. Snootie signed with fellow Memphis rapper Yo Gotti’s Cocaine Muzik Group (under Epic) in October. Getting Their Shot Andrew Taggart and Alex Pall, aka The Chainsmokers, debut on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs at No. 19 with “#Selfie” (Dim Mak). With uncredited comedic vocals from Alexis Killacam, the synth-filled track bows with 9,000 downloads sold (up 250%), according to Nielsen SoundScan, and is…

7 MONTHS AGO After the finale of the second season of HBO’s Girls, Atlantic Records Group executive vp Kevin Weaver determined the first soundtrack volume, which has sold 41,000 copies (according to Nielsen SoundScan), had enough of an impact on Atlantic artists to warrant a second. Once third-season scripts started coming in, music supervisors Manish Raval and Tom Wolfe targeted “big moments that would hold music well,” Weaver says. “We wanted to get as much cool stuff as possible.” The team targeted exclusives. Girls creator-star Lena Dunham made a personal (and successful) plea to Miguel for an original. 2 MONTHS AGO The track listing and sequence was finalized, split almost evenly between songs from seasons two and three of the series. Among the new recordings were Vampire Weekend’s cover of…

“The band is vague about its origins. Rather it of ers its ‘deevolution’ theory as the magnet behind the members’ union and the origin of its name.” That’s how Billboard did its best to explain inf uential new wave band Devo in the Sept. 6, 1980, issue, in which “Whip It” rose 85-75 on the Billboard Hot 100. In reality, the five-piece from Akron, Ohio, had formed in 1972, unleashing a f erce parody of macho rock hashed up by art school students who mixed punk with robotics. Their 1978 debut, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo, went gold. “Whip It,” a “quirky melange of robotic rock and danceable synthesizer rhythms,” as Billboard called it, would peak at No. 14 for three weeks that November, and its…