Billboard is going to have two charts with data from Eventful, an events website that tracks demand for specific artists and concerts. The two are "Eventful Hottest Demand" and the "Eventful Weekly Most in Demand."

While there is most certainly a correlation between Eventful-measured demand and actual attendance, I think it's a bit weird to create a hypothetical chart. One issue facing a touring industry that wants to sell more tickets is there are only seven days in a week -- and average people prefer to go out on only two of them. (I say "average" because people in cities like New York go out five or six nights a week and think nothing of it. Even Sunday shows by third-rate bands can get a good crowd in New York.) Eventful might as well offer different qualifications to its "Play My Town" feedback: only on a Friday night, only at an all-ages club, only if the weather is good, only if parking isn't a problem, only if I don't have an important meeting at 8am the next morning, only if the entire ticket price is under $20.

A few more telling chart would be one that shows the "Eventful spread," the difference between those who urged an artist to "Play my town" and those who actually bought a ticket and showed up. That would capture the flake factor of the artist's fans and indicate what percent of demand had actually been realized. For digital start-ups like Eventful and iLike, services that provide fans customized information on concerts in their areas, this would be a constructive way to gauge success in motivating people to get out and see live shows.

Posted by Glenn at 11:18 AM | Link
|Touring|

• Kevin Morrow will replace Bruce Moran as president of Live Nation New York. Moran is now president of the company's Latin American division. (Billboard.biz)

• It's closer to official: Guitar Center's filed a proxy statement that should lead to an acquisition by VH AcquisitionCo, Inc, a division of private equity firm Bain Capital Partners. Shareholders are being offered $63.00, an 8.4% premium over yesterday's close and 26% higher than the price the day before the deal was announced. (Schedule 14A at SEC.gov)

• It's not completely official, but word is that eMusic and AT&T will launch a mobile download service on July 31. Subscribers will get five downloads per month for $7.49. Four handsets (three Samsung and one Nokia) will initially support the service. The tracks will be DRM-free, as is the standard with eMusic. Thanks, but I'll stick with my 65 downloads for $15 plan online. (Boy Genius Report)

• "No genre has been better at developing arena-level headliners in the past decade as has country music." (Miami Herald)

• Clear Channel reported a 19% increase in earnings in spite of flat radio revenues. (AP)

• "It's money over music for many players in today's hip-hop world." (Hartford Courant)

Posted by Glenn at 8:35 AM | Link
|Touring||eMusic|

• More on the CISAC Copyright Summit in Brussels: British Telecom CEO Ben Verwaayen was brutally frank with the audience. "Your industry has not changed for 20 years, maybe 50 years," he said in his keynote address. "You have to rethink how you work in the digital age. Are you just a rights administrator that sends me a bill, or are you something more?" Sounds like the Lawrence Lessig panel was pretty lively, too. (Hollywood Reporter)

• Ethan Smith covers Lala.com's interoperable, free-of-charge subscription service that launched today. (Go here to download player application.) "It's like a subscription music service, but without the monthly subscription fee. Lala is betting that in return for getting all that free access to music at home, listeners will pay to buy the songs they want to take with them on iPods and other music players. The prices will range from $6.50 to $13.50 for an album." Lots of interesting details in the article. Big difference here is that the subscription service works with the iPod. Give it a read. (Wall Street Journal)

• Melodio plans a mobile service that allows users to stream songs from their iTunes library. (Reuters)

• eMusic will offer Paul McCartney's new Hear Music album, Memory Almost Full. This means two things: Fans can get the album in MP3 format without Apple-style information embedded in the file, and the low price should help pad McCartney's SoundScan numbers. (Bit Player)

• Universal Music Publishing acquired the catalog of songwriter Michael Masser, who wrote the Whitney Houston hits "Saving All My Love For You," "The Greatest Love of All" and "Didn't We Almost Have It All." (Press release)

• Miami's Jackie Gleason Theatre inked a ten-year deal with Live Nation and will bear the Fillmore Theater brand name. (Billboard.biz)

Posted by Glenn at 8:25 AM | Link
|Mobile Music||Online Stores/Services||Touring|

• It's not just Doug Morris who has a beef with YouTube. Indie labels are reportedly angry over YouTube's attitude and terms offered. Said Simon Wheeler, head of digital at Beggars Group, "We fully expect to be compensated fairly and on par with the larger companies, we will not accept second rate terms because we are smaller companies. If we have to take legal measures to protect our rights we will do so." A post at Hypebot says some indies have delivered cease and desist letters to YouTube. Billboard's article makes it clear that Merlin, the new indie label trade group, is not behind the cease and desist letters. (Read article at Billboard.biz)

• XM Radio is moving online. The satellite radio company announced yesterday that XM Radio will be included with the new Windows Vista operating system. Web users will be able to sign up for a free, three-day trial. The regular rate for unlimited listening is $7.99 per month. Current satellite subscribers will receive XM Online at no charge. Why would anybody pay for Internet radio when so many free streams and podcasts are available? Programming and branding. (Read press release)

• Billboard asks which artists will jump to larger venues in 2007. The short list: Gym Class Heros, Mute Math, Joanna Newsom and Paolo Nutini. (Read article at Billboard.biz)

• Controversal online music store Burnlounge is preparing to launch the next version of its software. (Read press release)

• Warner Music Group will release earnings its fiscal first quarter ending December 31, 2006 on February 8, 2007. With so much pain felt over the holidays, I'm curious to see how WMG fared. (Read details at press release)

Posted by Glenn at 9:31 AM | Link
|Touring||XM||YouTube|

• Live Nation has reorganized and Bruce Eskowitz has been promoted to CEO, North America. The company's concert promotion, venue operation and sponsorship and alliances divisions are now a single business unit. Among Eskowitz's roles will be the management and expansion of House of Blues. (Read article at Billboard.biz)

• Hip hop producer David "Disco D" Shayman commited suicide yesterday. He was 26. Disco D produced such songs as 50 Cent's "The Ski Mask Way" and Trick Daddy's "I Pop." He also composed the music for commercial and TV shows. (Read article at All Hip Hop)

• Mainly book-related, but could have far-reaching implications: A U.S. Court of Appeals upheld copyright law on orphaned works. The plaintiff in Kahle v. Gonzales argued that out-of-print and orphaned works should not be protected for the 67-year duration that is allowed for copyrighted material. (Read article at News.com)

• On April 3, Punk label Stiff Records will return with five out-of-print titles. One is Tracy Ullman's You Broke My Heart in Seventeen Places, which was released before she found greater fame through comedy and television. All five releases have been remastered and will contain bonus material. (Read post at Harp)

Posted by Glenn at 1:27 PM | Link
|Indies||Touring|

• Vivendi's chief executive, Jean-Bernard Lévy, underscored his company's focus on media over telecom. "In telecoms, the opportunities are rare, and there are no real cross-border advantages." He said the company will seek future growth from Universal Music Group, Vivendi games (online gaming), and programming created by Canal Plus. (Read article at International Herald Tribune)

• The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has found that Sony BMG discriminated against black employees when it "overwhelmingly" targeted black employees in a series of 2004, post-merger layoffs at a Manhattan office. Later this week, a lawyer for one of the former employees will file a suit against Sony BMG. (Read article at New York Post)

• The Los Angeles Times' Randy Lewis combined concert grosses an album sales to arrive at the Ultimate Top Ten. They are, in order, The Rolling Stones, Tim McGraw & Faith Hill, Rascal Flatts, Kenny Chesney, Madonna, Barbra Streisand, Celine Dionne, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bon Jovi, Nickelback (Read article at Los Angeles Times)

• Toshiba has partnered with MTV's URGE digital music service. Nothing of substance is mentioned in the press release, though. No details of the partnership. No info on collaborative branding efforts. Nothing. (Read press release)

• Shane Allen, formerly a national director of promotion at Universal South, has been hired as VP of radio strategies and field marketing at Capitol Nashville. (Read article at Billboard.biz)

Posted by Glenn at 7:30 AM | Link
|Legal||Sony BMG||Touring||Universal Music Group|

• The Department of Justice cleared the Live Nation acquisition of House of Blues. (Read article at Billboard.biz)

• Martin Bandier, who just retired from EMI Music Publishing, is reportedly in talks with Warner Music Group to assume a similar position. The Times threw out a scenario in which Bandier would benefit from an EMI/Warner Music Group merger: "He may hope to position himself to lead a buyout of the Warner/Chappell publishing arm should it be offloaded in a merger with EMI." (Read article at The Times Online)

• EMI Classics signed British soprano Kate Royal and Swedish soprano Nina Stemme. (Read article at Playbill)

• The Rolling Stones have changed more concert dates due to Mick Jagger's throat problems. Three West Coast dates were delayed, and Hawaii's date was cancelled altogether. (Read post at Pollstar)

• Digital Music Group has added seven more labels to its catalog. Music For Little People, DM Records and The Cryptic Corporation signed long-term deals. Four labels signed short-term deals: ProgRock Records, Takeover Records, DRT Entertainment and FILMguerrero. (Read press release)

• Apple's next iPod Shuffle will be available this Friday. The device will have a 1 GB capacity and a $79 retail price. (Read post at Engadget)

• Japanese music download service Orion is ditching PC downloads for the greener pastures of mobile downloads. A spokesman put the company's ills on the iPod. "If iPod users could download music from our site, we may have waited to see if the tide turns from mobile phones to online downloads." Chalk up another vote for interoperability. (Read article at Reuters, via paidContent.org)

• An interview with Scott Cohen, founder and vice-president of digital distributor The Orchard. "Full track downloads will be massive as consumers discover MP3 capability in their mobile phones. This is the natural way that music will go. We just aren't there yet. Sure, there's money to be made today. But it's not the explosive opportunity today that many want to make it to appear." (Read article at eMarketer)

• Digital Music Group has added seven more labels to its catalog. Music For Little People, DM Records and The Cryptic Corporation signed long-term deals. Four labels signed short-term deals: ProgRock Records, Takeover Records, DRT Entertainment and FILMguerrero. (Read press release)

Posted by Glenn at 7:16 AM | Link
|Publishing||Touring|

• "The CD is dead," said EMI chairmand and CEO Alain Levy to an audience at the London Business School. What he meant is the plain CD is no longer viable. "By the beginning of next year, none of our content will come without any additional material." Here's a good question: What makes CDs more attractive, a lower price or more content? Hard to say, honestly. If EMI is going to jazz up CD content, it's going to need more than a few videos and a screensaver. (Read article at Marketwatch)

• Just when Andy Slater's A&R efforts come into doubt, Capitol Records goes and signs Roxette for the U.S. Kings of A&R posted this, then I found an article with more details. A new album will be released on December 26th....gift certificate season.

• There's been talk on The Velvet Rope about layoffs at Sony BMG. Tower's demise means fewer employees on the payroll. Best of luck, Eddie. (Read thread at The Velvet Rope)

• Chalk up another advertising revenue-sharing agreement: Warner Music Group signed a deal with Internet TV provider Brightcove that will provide video content through ad-supported video players. The Brightcove video player requires no download. Fans will be able to put the player on websites and blogs and, I assume, MySpace pages. (Read press release)

• Music blogs are business: Word is out about Stereogum's investment deal with the Pilot Group. Financial terms are not out, but it's said that blog founder Scott Lapatine will retain creative control. Naturally. (Read post at paidContent.org)

• Through September, 2006 touring dollars are up 10.5% over last year. Attendance figures were down 1.2%. (Read article at Billboard.biz)

• For you Long Tail fans: Harvard's Working Knowledge on video sales: "Consumers can find videos online that they can't find anywhere else. And yes, there is a shift in sales to the tail—but there is also an increasing number of titles that do not sell at all." (Read post at Working Knowledge, via Digital Audio Insider)

• An interview with Steve Kaneko, Design Director, Entertainment and Devices Division for Microsoft's Zune. (Read post at Zune Insider)

Posted by Glenn at 8:53 AM | Link
|A&R||EMI||Sony BMG||Touring||Warner Music Group|

• A concert promoter tells the Houston Chronicle that country radio refused to promote the Dixie Chicks' tour and wouldn't even accept the promoter's advertising money. In response, one station manager said the station doesn't advertise bands not on its playlist. How logical. (Pollstar)

• Research group Screen Digest predicts throught 2010 "online sales alone are not going to be enough to halt the decline in music sales." (Reuters)

• All of a sudden the ol' income statement is looking a lot better: Apple and Creative settled their patent dispute. Apple will pay Creative $100 million and will welcome the company's products into the "Made for iPod" series of accessories. (MacDailyNews)

• Mike Curb, founder of Curb Records and former lieutenant governor of California, gave California State University, Northridge a gift of $10 million. (Daily News)

Posted by Glenn at 8:23 AM | Link
|Apple||Research||Touring|

Promotions aren't just for the young. Bob Dylan is involved in a few specials that tend to be offered for young artists. iTunes and Bob Dylan are modifying the strategy of selling albums used by Prince during his tour two years ago. The music legend has teamed up with iTunes to offer the opportunity of a pre-sale to those who pre-purchase his new album, Modern Times.

He's also giving an exclusive to XM Satellite Radio. Modern Times will be previewed on three XM channels on Monday, September 28th. A pre-order of that album from Dylan's Columbia Records website will get the consumer a CD titled Theme Time Radio Hour With Bob Dylan, Baseball Sampler, a recording of a performance on XM, plus a 10% discount on additional Dylan purchases. Some physical retailers will also give away copies of the CDs with purchase of Modern Times.

Posted by Glenn at 1:32 PM | Link
|Apple||Touring||iTunes|

• Singer-songwriter Joseph Arthur will launch his new label, Lonely Astronaut, on September 19th with the release of his album Nuclear Daydream. Lonely Astronaut will be distributed by Sony-owned RED. (Paste)

• The LiveNation shopping spree continues. The live event company, which recently bought House of Blues, purchased a majority stake in Musictoday. The Charlottesville, VA-based company is an online portal for fans and a offers artists a slew of services, such as list management, digital downloads and wholesale fulfillment. (Billboard.biz)

• Geffen Records has partnered with DIC Entertainment to create a brand for teens and pre-teens (a.k.a. "tweens") called SPG. And I quote: "The cornerstone of the SPG brand is a multi-talented, multi-ethnic entertainment group, Slumber Party Girls, featuring a triple threat of five talented teens who sing, dance and act, and were chosen from more than 1,000 who auditioned." The group will be featured on AOL and CBS. Ron Fair, Chairman, Geffen Records, & President, A&M/Interscope Records, is co-producer of a 26-episode dance competition the group will host. No word is given on an eventual album release. (Press Release)

• Online Latin download store Musica360.com has launched a hip hop blog by Glock Deniro. (Glock DeNiro The Godfather)

• Sections of France's copyright law that aimed to open up the iPod/iTunes walled garden has been declared unconstitutional. The law will create a DRM licensing authority, which sounds like a recipe for a horrible mess. At some point the market is going to work out the interoperability problem, and it won't be a moment too soon. (News.com)

• Posts will be sparse for another day or so as Coolfer is in the process of moving to Nashville.

Posted by Glenn at 9:04 AM | Link
|Indies||Touring||Universal Music Group|

They may have the number one album in the country and won over a new group of blue state and rock fans, but it seems the Dixie Chicks' upcoming national tour isn't meeting projections. Billboard's Ray Waddell has a story on how low sales in some markets has the tour's route in question. Not surprisingly, the sub-par markets are in what used to be the group's stronghold.

"The plug was pulled on public on-sales for shows in Indianapolis (Aug. 23), Oklahoma City (Sept. 26), Memphis (Sept. 27) and Houston (Sept. 30) because of tepid pre-sales in a national promotion with Target stores. The Memphis show has been pulled off the route and the status of the shows in Indianapolis, Houston and Oklahoma City remains uncertain. Industry speculation has it that much or all of the tour may be postponed. At the very least, it is likely routing and capacity will be reconfigured.

Sales in Philly and Toronto, on the other hand, are doing just fine.

An article at the LA Times quotes group spokeswoman Kathy Best as saying "there is a reshuffling of dates" and "there will be some cancellations due to rerouting and additional dates being added." I dunno...kinda sounds like Spinal Tap's manager, Ian Faith, when his band's concerts were cancelled.

Through it all, Arkansas Times writer Jim Harris showed how offended he was that Little Rock was left of the tour schedule but Memphis got a gig. "Some day, these tour management guys are going to start paying attention," he insisted.

Posted by Glenn at 9:29 PM | Link
|Touring|

Remember when Pearl Jam testified before a Senate committee about Ticketmaster's alleged monopoly on concert tickets? Even a "fists in the air" band with ideals can't stay mad forever. The band and the monopoly look to have a strategy for selling tickets that rewards some and punishes others.

From the 9:30 Club's message board comes a description of a ticket/CD bundle that results in a better seat to a Pearl Jam concert than if the ticket is purchased without the CD (emphasis is Coolfer's):

"when i first went on this morning to get tickets for the verizon show, there were absolutely no floor tickets available . . . i guess there was a super secret squirrel pre-sale for club members, or something and they all got snatched . . . because i know that 'fists in the air' pearl jam would never allow their good seats to go to the big wig power (rats) that be. but the real funny thing was that they (ticketmaster) were offering pearl jam's new cd for 17.00 with ticket purchase, if you chose that option; if you did, you got better ticket selections than if you chose not to buy the disc. i would pull up seats in the 100's with the cd, and 400's/sometimes 200's (in the back of the center) without the cd option."

On a semi-related note, here's a thread at the message board at the Ten Club, Pearl Jam's website, about the avocado album cover on the group's upcoming J Records album.

Some comments:

• "I am not a big fan of avacado. However, I have the new album as my screen saver and you cannot believe the number of coworkers who have commented on the avacado."
• "I thought it was the pod from Spinal Tap with a band member trapped inside, waiting to make his big stage entrance."
• "I think the avocado is based on an argument I studied in a philosophy class. ... Or maybe Stone loves guacamole."

(Thanks to Information Leafblower for the tip.)

Posted by Glenn at 5:12 PM | Link
|Touring|

Princeton economist Alan Krueger has studied the U.S. touring market going back to 1981, and he has some interesting observations. BBC News has a nice article on Krueger and the current state of ticket prices (which came to Coolfer via Camille Acey).

In the past, Krueger says, live concerts were about throwing a party, not selling a product. Money was made from music sales, so artists had more incentive to underprice concerts. Over time sales of recorded music has dropped and illegal downloads have taken off, he says, and the connection between recorded music and live concerts is gone. Artists and managers are compelled to make more money from concerts. Since 1996 ticket prices have outpaced inflation -- 8.9% though 2003 versus 2.3% inflation.

This news article at Princeton's website has some interesting items not included in the BBC article. For one, Krueger found that female bands command the highest prices in the concert industry, and that jazz and pop tickets cost more than reggae or folk.

Krueger's reasons for the increase in price:

(1) Production costs have increased,
(2) Music industry consolidation, though Krueger downplays this one,
(3) A slowing of album sales, and
(4) Ticket prices were too low to begin with.

Today the top five percent of artists generate 84% of concert revenues. This says to Coolfer that the bands that draw the most people are getting those 98% of Americans who go to two or fewer concerts a year. A concert is a big night out for them, and the price tag for a big night out can be high.

But what about the bands that play for those 2% of Americans who are avid concert goers? While the Internet has caused ticket prices for premium concerts to rise, it's also enabled a flourishing market of lesser known acts and small clubs. And prices at those small venues are very affordable. The sequence of events is no longer: buy music, buy ticket, see band. Now it's often: visit band's MySpace page, buy ticket, buy t-shirt or CD at merch table.

Posted by Glenn at 1:43 PM | Link
|Touring|