1. Susan Boyle "I Dreamed A Dream"

Sales this week: 136,566
Weeks on: 6
Cume: 3,103,828

TV didn’t sell this album, the narrative did.

My point is, just because you’re on television, that doesn’t mean anybody will want to buy your music.  Otherwise, Snooki would be number one!

But here we have a story.  Unattractive wannabe makes it solely on her talent.  In a world topsy-turvy with haters, frustrated by those blessed with good looks or good money, is it a surprise that the public wants to root for an underdog?

Does this portend an end to the bitches and ho’s hip-hop ethos?  I.e. I’m rich and I fly on a private jet and party with an exclusive class, buy my record and by the way, fuck you?  Turns out, being humble just might be the answer to success these days.  Hey, isn’t it interesting that the Dave Matthews Band was the number one touring band of the decade?

2. Lady GaGa "Fame"

Sales this week: 82,148
Weeks on: 62
Cume: 2,387,666

Is the same thing that’s made her famous going to be her downfall?

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta is not without talent.  But her notoriety is based to a large extent on her sartorial adventures.  And does anybody want last year’s fashion collection?

Furthermore, Stefani makes dance music.  The club hits tend to drive booties to bump, but don’t insure long term careers.

The Spice Girls showed us people will want to see a hit act once.  But thereafter?

For GaGa to have legs, she needs to risk.  Because this paradigm has nowhere to go.  Next year at the VMAs, you change outfits twenty times?  In other words, maybe she has to sacrifice short term success for longevity.  The same way after purveying soft rock hit after soft rock hit John Mayer formed a blues rock trio and shredded.  The result may not have played well on Top Forty radio, but it did wonders for his credibility.  And live business.

5. Taylor Swift "Fearless"

Sales this week: 59,701
Weeks on: 60
Cume: 5,329,167

The new "Tapestry".  Taylor is that rare bird who’s broken through the twenty first century clutter without killing somebody, going into rehab or making an ass of him/herself on reality TV.  And, having broken through, the album sells as a cultural item, without needing to be sustained by radio and other high-priced media coverage.

But, unlike "Tapestry" or "Jagged Little Pill", this is Taylor Swift’s second hit album.  Her first, the eponymous "Taylor Swift", has been on the chart for 167 weeks and has sold 4,622,024 copies and is still number 38, moving 15,858 units this week.

Taylor’s here to stay.  As long as she continues with the same formula.  Telling her story to hooky songs.

What a concept.  SuBo and Taylor have this in common.  We’re bonded to their lives, the real them.  SuBo won’t have legs, because there’s nothing behind the facade, but Taylor Swift is just coming into her own, as an adult, she’s got plenty more to say.  And her audience wants to hear it.

Expect another bump after the Grammys.  Assuming the much older members of NARAS give Taylor her due, as the artist of the year, the beacon of hope for this industry.  Because believe me, with Taylor Swift, it’s all about the music.

6. Justin Bieber "My World"

Sales this week: 51,837
Weeks on: 7
Cume: 727,914

Just like milk, this comes with an expiration date.  It’s just a matter of when.

So, if you can time your efforts to his career arc, you can make a ton of bread before you get out.  But he won’t be playing a month straight at the Beacon years from now.

25. Zac Brown Band "Foundation"

Sales this week: 20,953
Weeks on: 59
Cume: 1,456,148

That’s what Zac’s built. A  foundation.

Isn’t it funny that the acts with the longest legs, with the most credibility and longevity, are country artists?  It’s about both the music and the individual.

Zac’s cooking efforts help enhance his career.

His roadwork has built a base.  Something TV can never supplant.   You can fall in love with a picture, but what are the odds you’re going to love that person once you finally meet them in person?

Build it on the road, and you’ve got something solid.

34. Adam Lambert "For Your Entertainment"

Sales this week: 17,236
Weeks on: 6
Cume: 433,834

The story overwhelmed the music.  Adam Lambert was seen as a celebrity more than a musician.  His exploits chronicled on gossip as opposed to music blogs.  AI losers are better off following the Daughtry paradigm.  Start with the music.

42. Darius Rucker "Learn To Live"

Sales this week: 14,785
Weeks on: 68
Cume: 1,240,902

That’s a hell of a lot of records.  And it’s still selling more than a year in.  This is what’s right with the industry.  After all, Darius isn’t making it on his good looks and charisma, and he didn’t even use the name "Hootie".  It started with the music, and was built by a ton of glad-handing and roadwork.  But, if you don’t fit the country format, I’d add in a ton of social media networking.

50. Shakira "She Wolf"

Sales this week: 14,101
Weeks on: 6
Cume: 237,994

A stiff.  Because she followed trends instead of being herself.

Have you ever seen Shakira live?  There’s charisma, energy, she’s a star.  But now, like a politician making choices via polls as opposed to his gut, Shakira’s changed herself for the English-speaking market and ended up so bland as to be irrelevant.  She’s me-too instead of unique.

Never sacrifice your uniqueness.  That’s what keeps us coming.  And the modern music business is all about keeping people coming.

52. 30 Seconds To Mars "This Is War"

Sales this week: 13,071
Weeks on: 4
Cume: 133,297

Wow, Jared Leto should have stuck to his guns, he should have left EMI and gone to a real record label.

It took this band too long to make a new record.  The audience forgets you.  And, the label didn’t help.  A disaster.

89. Paul McCartney "Good Evening New York City"

Sales this week: 8,502
Weeks on: 7
Cume: 234,106

This album came out why?

Do we really need to hear live versions of classic songs one more time?

Paul needs a single.  Like "Junior’s Farm".  Or "Coming Up".  A bundle of energy.

There’s no one more talented.  Paul likes money, but he thrives on success.  One track that we can all rally around, please.

124. Rosanne Cash "The List"

Sales this week: 5,810
Weeks on: 13
Cume: 153,828

I found the hype offensive.

How does a complete has-been with no traction sell an album?

Well, we need an angle.  Let’s trade on your famous deceased father and trump up something irrelevant, like this list, and get a great press story!

And the album?

Some of the production was offensive.  And I actually like Rosanne’s music, especially the first two albums.

But, it worked.  Publicity sold this record.

But if you’re listening to it, you probably bought the SuBo album too.  Oh, you’re too hip.  Too hip to search out the originals?

172. Puddle Of Mudd "Volume 4: Songs In The Key Of Love & Hate"

Sales this week: 4,016
Weeks on: 4
Cume: 35,075

If you’re offensive, you must make good music to survive.  (See John Mellencamp…)

Everybody hated this guy.  And now with MTV and AOR radio dead, is it any surprise no one wants to support his retread music?

Ticketmaster and Live Nation need to merge for their bottom lines, not to screw you.

Let me tell you how this works.  TM has been spun off from IAC, its stock stands (or falls) on its own.  What’s going to make the stock go up?

Is TM suddenly going to sell many more tickets?  Is America gonna wake up and start going to twice as many events?  No.  Which is why TM bought Irving Azoff’s Front Line management company.  
To gain another revenue stream, with potential upside.

Why did Irving merge with Ticketmaster?  For the money!

Did Bob Sillerman roll up concert promoters because he loved the live music business?  Of course not.  He did it for the money.  Bob’s such a great salesman, he laid the whole thing off on Clear Channel, claiming some kind of synergy.  And after running away with his cash, Clear Channel wrote off billions and then spun off Live Nation as a separate company.

But there’s only one problem.  Live Nation’s upside is limited.  Because the acts get all the money from live shows.  As the "Wall Street Journal" so eloquently put it, Live Nation is "a river of nickels".

So how is Live Nation going to increase its bottom line?

By selling merch, by utilizing the artist to create new revenue streams.  But there’s a problem.  Almost none of the artists will cough up these streams, so Live Nation’s stock can’t grow.

But suddenly, Ticketmaster has all the acts, with Front Line. Suddenly, the impediment is gone.  If they’re all working under the same roof…

Furthermore, as bad as the financials might be, by merging the two companies you end up with an unknown quantity that you can hype to Wall Street.  Will the stock go up and stay up?  Unclear.  But one thing’s for sure, it can’t be much worse for these two companies than it is now.

And you’re sitting there at home, bitching about ticket add-ons.

Like Deep Throat said, FOLLOW THE MONEY!

The money is generated by the acts.  And if Live Nation won’t pay the acts, then AEG or JAM or IMP will.  So, there’s no downward pressure.  The acts rule.

But the acts don’t want to APPEAR greedy, so they utilize Ticketmaster to generate more dollars.  By adding fees, that are kicked back to themselves, or starving concert promoters, or utilizing TicketExchange/platinum packages to in essence scalp their own tickets. Because, you see, the acts are greedy, they want more money!  But they don’t want you to know this…

The ticket brokers are up in arms, knowing that the acts and Ticketmaster want to squeeze them out, getting all that revenue for themselves, utilizing paperless ticketing amongst other techniques.  So what do the ticket brokers do?  They start a Website, http://ticketdisaster.org/, imploring you to block the TM/LN merger.  Why?  So you can buy overpriced tickets from them!

But you are angry.  Because ticketing is a disaster.

Mainly because the acts are afraid to tell you the truth, that they’re breadheads.  They take the money from AmEx for pre-sales, they form fan clubs so theoretically you can get good seats, even though you’re paying extra for this privilege.

You want transparency.

Then again, do you?  Do you really want to pay $1500 for a front row seat, or would you rather bitch that you can’t get the same seat for $15, because you’re a fan?

Will the TM/LN merger be successful?

Wow, who knows?

Maybe it’s like the Telecommunications Act of 1996.  Allowing radio chains to merge, ruining terrestrial radio.  Driving sales of iPods, satellite, Pandora and Slacker.  If TM/LN really ends up being that bad, do you expect it to survive?

As for ticketing, you can bet that there will be concessions allowing others to enter the sphere in order for the merger to be approved.  If they can do it better than TM/LN, they’ll get traction.  If not?

Citadel Broadcasting went bankrupt.  Clear Channel is tottering.  Maybe you let TM and LN merge and they’re so inept that the way is paved for the future!

The loser in a merger?  The major labels.  Suddenly, they’re barely necessary.  You’ve got a manager, with relationships with the tour promoter, you can license your music yourself, do you need a major label?  The same labels who insist on a piece of 360 degrees of revenue, taking so much money for doing so little poorly?

Please stop complaining about this merger with the knee-jerk position that you just can’t get a good seat, right down front, for under fifty bucks, to see a superstar.  Can you buy a brand new BMW for ten grand?  Is an iPhone free?  Wake up and see that it’s business.  All about the money.  And if you want change, you’ve got to dig down a hell of a lot deeper than the merger of two companies that show little growth individually.

But one thing’s for sure.  If you create something of value, that everybody wants, the doors are open for you.  Yup, every label, concert promoter and manager wants to make a deal with a hit act.  If you’re talented enough, and business prospects are good, you can even dictate the terms.  And when you become successful, are you going to let everybody in for free?  Or very little?  Are you willing to require ID to get in, to combat scalping, like NIN and Metallica?  Or would you rather use TM as a front to generate further riches.

Maybe, years ago, acts were willing to forgo the cash.

Then came Peter Grant and Led Zeppelin.

And what did the Eagles sing?  The doctor say he’s coming, but you gotta pay in cash?

Are you willing to sacrifice part of your salary for the common good?  Are you willing to pay more tax?  Seems most people aren’t.  Why do you expect the acts to be any different from you?

What kind of crazy fucked up world do we live in where Jay’s return to late night is broken by TMZ?

Where was the "New York Times"?  The "Wall Street Journal"?

I know, I know, you’re saying it’s trash news, entertainment, who gives a shit about entertainment news.  Just let me know about Afghanistan.

Wow, are you out of touch.

The world is driven by entertainment.  Which is why Ronald Reagan triumphed, his communication skills trumped those of Jimmy Carter.

And more people get their news from television and the Web than newspapers.

So, what does this ultimately mean?

Change ownership and you get a new bite at the apple.

If Ticketmaster and Live Nation merge, does Irving Azoff get rid of Michael Rapino?  He got rid of Sean Moriarty.  Rapino’s doing a good job of stewarding Live Nation, it’s just that all his acquisitions…amount to naught.

Comcast is in charge now.  So, Leno can go.

And all that crap about ageism…  Who gives a shit if the audience for Conan is younger if no one is watching.  The same way an album by a frumpy middle age woman that sells millions of copies is better for Sony’s bottom line than the musings of an overproduced, wannabe twenty year old who sells a million singles on iTunes, but no albums.  And, money knows no age.  Even if a youngster could sell as well as SuBo, income is the same…but no youngster on Sony can move SuBo’s units.

As for all those Leno haters?

They hated him at 11:30 too.

But commentators don’t count, the same way movie reviewers no longer count.  We make our own decisions now.

In all the run-up to Leno’s 10 o’clock show, no one commented on the effect on affiliates, the lead-in to the local news.  Because the press likes to think it knows everything, but is more interested in hobnobbing with the media titans.

It’s a brand new era.  Everything’s up for grabs.

Make decisions quickly.  It’s one thing to stay with a band if numbers are showing development.   If not, pull the plug!

NBC Shakeup — Jay Leno Comes Out on Top

From: RZA (Wu-Tang Clan)
Re: World Domination

Not a bad view. Yet don’t overlook that all the above could be by design. Music cost to makes so it should have a turn around. Even a corner beggar with a guitar or voice makes coins and dollars with his music. Music being free on the internet is a subtle way of stealing from the artistic community. Music is free to be herd by any one but recorded music done by a recording artist should have a point of compensation from the listener of the recorded product. Especially if the product becomes part of the listeners possession such as in his I pod or laptop etc.

The main thing I think we all are over looking is the fact that black music has been the victim of robbery for decades and according to the artist of the 60’s we just started getting our due in the 90’s with the emergence of hip hop and rnb. Now the hip hop generation is on the brink of extinction. Yet these internet free sites such as napster myspace and you tube just to name a few has sold for billions of dollars. I once read that the music industry was a 4 to 6 billion dollar a year industry and that money was spread out across many labels publishers and artist. Now that money has been put into the hands of just a few individuals who figured a way to get the product to the public for free yet the banks reward them for stealing our culture with supreme wealth. I mean how is napster one moment a guy who just wanted to do something for free end up with nearly a billion dollars. All the music he stole probably produced that much in royalties or pub. Yet the artist got nothing. Same for you tube. I have seen my song l a rhumba get nearly 5 million views yet I haven’t received a dime for it because you tube suppose to be a free domain yet it sells for a billion. Now many artist who were feeding their families off music now must tour more or find ways for income when the thieves walk away with wealth.

This is just some more food for thought. Peace.

Original article: World Domination