Big Wig
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album sales
RJD2 “The Colossus” – 4,275 (60% Digital)
There were some other sales figures from last week, but nothing that really sold more than a few hundred units. As usual, if there are any albums that you’re curious about, hit me up with a comment and I’ll get the numbers.
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industry news
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Not to be all gloom and doom, but…
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Def Jux, one of the great indie hip-hop labels, was reported to be folding on tuesday. As of 10:45 last night, the piece linked above was posted on Def Jux’s site. I don’t know what’s more interesting (from a music business perspective): the label closing, or how fast the news spread across twitter and the internets without any type of official statement. There have been rumors floating around for a while now (as confirmed by multiple sources on twitter) about the status of the company, at least enough so that to some, this news should not come as a surprise. I think that El-P’s statement is worth a read. It’s certainly well written, and I certainly understand the difficulty of having to put out a large number of releases to stay afloat, and the strain and drain that puts on any reasonable human being. What’s not being said here (and I can’t blame the guy for not throwing this out there) is that in addition to time and energy, what they don’t seem to have any of is money to invest in new releases. It’s a sad day, but unfortunately, I can’t say I’m too surprised to see this coming.
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• EMI to report $2.2 Billion loss
It’s not just the indies who are hurting right now. EMI is in danger of being in default on it’s $4.5 billion loan from Citibank. There’s about $160 million that will be due shortly, and if they can’t pay it back, Citi might take over the company. Ugly.
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• Sony to Slash 6.5% of it’s staff
It’s not just music indies who are hurting also… Sony Pictures will be laying off hundreds of workers in the coming weeks. It’s ugly out there.
why aren't talented getting smart about things? I hear about good labels folding like stray cats being born. It's unfortunate cuz just like stray cats not finding a home, good mcs, djs, producers and any person that helps create music as art, can't find a home either.
I feel that record labels need to step up the innovation and get into the gig side too. Ticket Master just merged with Live Nation cuz Live Nation owns venues and most important, talented musicians (or at least what America THINKS is talent). N guess wut ticket master is now calling themselves? well, heres a hint, it aint Ticket Master anymore.
Labels need to get hip with not only finding amazing musicians and artists BUT also the spot that will always get people to hear the music: the live entertainment side. Putting out a million CDs will kill somone, or atleast crush their creative spirit, but putting out a few great albums and putting on a tour will bring great music to the people and bring home some cash… Think about it…
No doubt. However, a lot of artists are reluctant to get into these “360 deals” because, especially with declining revenue from traditional music sales, artists are relying more and more on playing gigs as their bread and butter, and no one wants another hand in the honey-pot.
But I'm def on the same page that the synergies between intelligent and tasteful labels putting out recorded music, AND helping artists get live shows has a lot of potential, both as a vehicle to expand exposure, and as a way to produce exciting art that fans will enjoy consuming.
Does it make sense to invest in the creation of anything if you don't share in all of the fruits of that investment?
What are 50 cent numbers now,,,