The Stones’ Zip Code Tour of stadiums was just getting underway during the period covered by the Billboard Boxscore midyear recap (Nov. 12, 2014 to June 2, 2015). But the half-dozen shows reported to Boxscore make the Stones the fifth-highest-grossing act for the period, averaging $6.3 million per night.
Via Billboard
Record label execs have taken a page out of the movie/TV book (explained in detail here) and the practice of windowing has been widely accepted by consumers: Few people complain about the difference between a $10 movie-theater ticket (upon release) and $4 VOD rental (at home, six months later).
Harvesting consumer willingness to pay is a great way for the labels to boost revenue and profitability without shrinking the market. This release strategy works particularly well in the context of music subscription services. I expect record labels to increasingly play off the various providers (Spotify, Apple, Google, etc) against each other, and possibly even use their market clout to force a higher-paying tier (say, $20/month) for subscription plans without any holdouts. It’s worth every bit for the avid music buyer; s/he was spending more than $120 a year on CDs and digital downloads, anyway.
Finally, music subscription services lend themselves much better to monetizing the back catalog. Today, I listen to my old albums on Spotify. Essentially, I am paying again for the same music I already purchased years ago, because many streaming pennies do make up for real dollars. As absurd as it may sound, this is akin to people replacing their vinyl collection with CDs in the ’90s.
In addition, streaming services are also much better at (re)monetizing the back catalog of songs and albums that people would otherwise never have bought (yes, even if only penny by penny again). This revenue is pure profit, since the direct costs are nonexistent: No A&R, virtually no distribution, and no marketing expense.
Via Re/Code
The Beatles become more animated in this collection of cool animated images of their album covers, via Animated Albums’ Tumblr
“Suspicious Minds” was written by American songwriter Mark James, and after his recording failed commercially, the song was handed to Elvis Presley by producer Chips Moman, becoming a number one song in 1969, and one of the most notable hits of Presley’s career. “Suspicious Minds” was widely regarded as the single that returned Presley’s career success, following his ’68 Comeback Special. It was his seventeenth and last number-one single in the United States. Rolling Stone later ranked it No. 91 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
And it’s my favourite Elvis song of all time.
Lonnie Liston Smith learned his trade in the late ’60s and early ’70s playing with jazz giants such as Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Pharoah Sanders, Argentinean saxophonist Gato Barbieri, and the master himself Miles Davis (on Big Fun and On the Corner albums). However, it was as the leader of his Cosmic Echoes band from 1973 onwards that Lonnie really made his name with his trademark Fender Rhodes keyboard sound, and classic fusion compositions such as Astral Travelling, Cosmic Funk, A Chance for Peace, and the all-time dancefloor classic Expansions. In this lecture from the 2015 RBMA UK Tour stop in Bristol, Lonnie speaks about the album alongside longtime supporter and UK radio royalty Gilles Peterson.
SoulPancake brought in people ages 0-100 to answer some of life’s big questions. Well, technically, they couldn’t find anyone 100 years old – but they did find a gentleman who is 105. In this second episode, they asked the question, “how would you change the world?”
Ross Langley made this cassette sharped coffee table with custom made steel legs and removable remote and bottle holders. The label can be used as a whiteboard allowing him to write custom titles in true cassette tape style. I wonder if it comes with a giant pencil.
Only old people will get that.
The Recording Academy is introducing an informative video series, GRAMMY 101. The first episode, “Start Here,” features the Academy’s Senior Vice President of Awards, Bill Freimuth, and Senior Managing Director of Member Services & Industry Relations, Laura Segura Mueller, who offer a quick guide to the nominations and voting process. In the short 3-minute video, Freimuth and Mueller cover everything from online entry to voting, citing several key dates, including the imminent July 31 deadline, when eligible musicians must join or renew in order to submit product in the 58th GRAMMYs online entry process.
The series comes as part of The Recording Academy’s move to demystify the awards process.
“We’re standing here with open arms saying, if you are a music creator, we would love to have you join The Recording Academy — no matter what genre you specialize in or country you live in,” said Freimuth. “To make this a peer award, we need as many qualified people raising their voices as possible.”
https://youtu.be/Qwwyl7-j4E8
Canuck A-lister Jason Priestley (Call Me Fitz, Beverly Hills: 90210, Haven) and celebrated actress Molly Ringwald (The Secret Life of the American Teenager, The Breakfast Club and the upcoming Universal Pictures film Jem & The Holograms) bring the funny to Family Channel, starring as seemingly-flawless parents to five children in the new original series The Wonderful Wayneys. From Aircraft Pictures and Dolphin Entertainment, The Wonderful Wayneys follows Paige and Wayne Wayney as they forge the path to familial greatness. The live-action comedy, created and executive produced by the witty and cheeky Tom Saunders (Arrested Development, The Larry Sanders Show), begins filming in Toronto on July 27 and will deliver 26 half-hour episodes to DHX Television for Spring 2016.
“Exploring family dynamics is a new challenge that we’re looking forward to embarking on with The Wonderful Wayneys and the ability to tell the Wayneys’ story in a comedic fashion brings a new element to our programming roster,” said Michael Goldsmith, Vice President, Original Production, DHX Television. “We have a longstanding relationship with Aircraft and Dolphin, and are eager to see how they utilize the brilliant talent that Jason, Molly and the rest of the cast bring to the show. Being able to offer a comedy that appeals to the entire family is an exciting opportunity and we’re confident that this show will have something for everyone.”
The wonderful Wayneys are an amazing family: good looking, MENSA smart, talented, athletic and popular to boot. Paige (Ringwald) and Wayne Wayney (Priestley) have worked hard at raising “multi-exceptional” offspring and are proud of their children: Adam, Conner, Bentley and Derek. Everyone in town envies them or wants to be them, and you can even find Paige’s book about raising her extraordinary family on the bestseller list. But alas, their fifth child, Emmett, is not marching in lock step on the path to familial greatness. What he lacks academically, athletically and artistically, he makes up for with relentless enthusiasm and curiosity. Emmett knows that one day he’ll find his way, but in the meantime he’s determined to celebrate his C-average status in spectacular creative fashion – no matter how often his best laid plans threaten to destroy the family’s living space, reputation or sense of safety.
“The extraordinary talent assembled for this show both on and off screen is a real testament to the quality of the work created by Tom Saunders,” says Producer Anthony Leo of Aircraft Pictures. “We’re honoured to be a part of bringing it to life.”
“Dolphin Entertainment, Aircraft Pictures and Family Channel have been in business together for over a decade,” adds Executive Producer Bill O’Dowd, CEO of Dolphin Entertainment. “It’s refreshing in this business to be able to work with such close friends.”
Filling the roles of Priestley and Ringwald’s multi-exceptional children in the series are: Luke Bilyk (Degrassi, Lost Girl) as Adam; Katie Douglas (Defiance, Max & Shred) as Conner; Matthew Tissi (Call Me Fitz, Transporter) as Bentley; Jake Sim (The Amazing Gayl Pile, Arthur) as Derek; and newcomer Simon Cadel as Emmett.
The Wonderful Wayneys is produced by Aircraft Pictures (Todd & The Book Of Pure Evil, What’s Up, Warthogs!) with producers Anthony Leo and Andrew Rosen, and Dolphin Entertainment (Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide, Zoey 101, and the upcoming feature film Max Steel, based on the Mattel action-figure franchise) with Executive Producer Bill O’Dowd. Tom Saunders (Arrested Development, The Larry Sanders Show) is Series Creator and Executive Producer. The show is co-executive produced by Steve Skrovan (Everybody Loves Raymond, Hot in Cleveland) and Garry Campbell (MADtv, Kids in the Hall). Tia Ayers, Barbara Haynes, Skander Halim, Max Reid, Josh Gal and Emer Connon round out the writing room.
