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THE BUSINESS OF MUSIC www.musicweek.com


NEWS 03


Why The Wanted’s US success differs to One Direction’s


BIG INTERVIEW 10


Label MD Jim Chancellor on Elbow, Snow Patrol – and taking your time


FORMAT’S Q1 SALES PLUMMET • INNOVATE OR LOSE OUT, ERA TELLS LABELS


‘Save the CD’ T


SALES  BY PAUL WILLIAMS


he Entertainment Retailers Association has issued an urgent rallying


call for the CD after its sales slipped by an unprecedented 25.4% in Q1. ERA chairman Paul Quirk


said the decline in business of what still remains the album market’s leading format had now got to a point where either the industry had to embrace CD “or see it in terminal decline”. “We’ve been saying this for


five years or more: don’t take your eye off the physical product. It’s where the money is coming from. This is what’s been happening for years, and we’ve suffered,” he said. As its own


response ERA has teamed up with the BPI to undertake in- depth consumer research into the UK’s physical music retail market to find out if there are new ways to boost sales. BPI chief executive Geoff Taylor said the study came out of his organisation’s Innovation Panel that tried to


support innovation right across the business, although until now has been largely focused on digital. “Whatever that format looks


“It’s definitely a format worth investing in. The units Adele


sold last year show that if you have the right record, CD is a relevant format” BRIAN ROSE, UNIVERSAL


like, we’re doing a bit of research into what consumers buy and entering into a dialogue with the companies about how we can innovate in terms of


physical sales,” he added. Quirk suggested it was not a


matter of consumers choosing between CD and download – and said the industry had to educate consumers about the merits of both. “Digital is mobile, accessible


and very useful for music on the move and for devices, but the CD has value in the car and in the home,” he noted. The drop in CD album sales


from 20.5 million in Q1 2011 to 15.3 million in the same period this year came as digital album sales rose 19.6% on the year to 7.6 million units, while total album sales dropped 14.7% to 23.0 million. The physical decline put


further pressure on the High Street, which Quirk noted was also having to contend with more general challenges like rising shop rents and too many potential customers staying away from town centres because of high parking charges and reduced disposable income.


Universal commercial


division managing director Brian Rose welcomed the BPI and ERA research and said the major had undertaken a lot of work itself in the sector over the last couple of years introducing CDs to additional high street outlets, such as BHS. “It’s definitely a format that’s


worth investing in,” he added. “The units Adele sold last year show that if you have the right


record, CD is a relevant format.”  Read Music Week’s full Q1 analysis on pages 22-25


Tong: don’t let big business ‘destroy’ the EDM scene


It’s spawned world-beating artists like Deadmau5, Skrillex and David Guetta – but the electronic dance music (EDM) movement must remain vigilant against the tempting yet corrupting influence of corporate interest. That’s according to legendary


DJ Pete Tong, who has warned the scene against “selling dance music short”. Writing exclusively in today’s Music Week, International Music


Summit presenter Tong describes how EDM took over Miami at The Ultra Music Festival last month – publicly demonstrating its power to the world. “For three nights in front of


60,000 people per show, the likes of Afrojack, Avicii, Skrillex, Tiesto, David Guetta, Fatboy Slim and Chase & Status tore into the audience with slick aural and visual assaults to rival the best in stadium rock,” he says.


However, this display of


popularity won’t have gone unnoticed by potentially damaging commercial interests, according to Tong: “Success inevitably attracts attention – and now numerous extremely wealthy individuals, big business and VC funds are eager to buy into the EDM action. “If allowed to run riot with


their corporate machinery, these same people will destroy the


scene. Wikipedia the word ‘stampede’ and I think you’ll get the picture.” He adds: “Dance music’s


history should come as a warning shot to all about selling the genre short and being seduced by chequebook-waving billionaires with no care or vision for the


long-term game.”  Turn to page 27 to read IMS presenter Pete Tong’s Body Talk column in full


13.04.12 £5.15 16 PROFILE Frank Turner talks to


Music Week ahead of his giant Wembley Arena show


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