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13.04.12MusicWeek 3
THE WANTED FOCUS ON MAINSTREAM RADIO IN STATES – AND ENJOY NO.1 AIRPLAY TRIUMPH
Global Talent shows there’s more than One Direction to US success
LABELS BY TIM INGHAM
G
lobal Talent and The Wanted are reaping the benefits of a markedly
different US campaign to rivals One Direction. 1D famously topped the US
Billboard 200 chart last month with album Up All Night - making them the only UK group in history to debut at No.1 with their first LP. Sony circumvented mainstream radio to build interest, via a campaign focused on teen TV, social media and online airplay. The Wanted – signed to
Global Talent and Mercury on a JV in the US – this week carved out their own chunk of history, rising one place to No.1 on the Nielsen/Billboard Top 40 Mainstream Airplay Chart with Glad You Came. The group became the first
boy band to top the list with a debut single since Hanson spent eight weeks at No.1 with MMMBop in 1997. Neither N*Sync nor the Backstreet Boys managed the feat – each needing seven chart visits before reaching the airplay summit. “We’ve broken The Wanted
on airplay, whilst One Direction was an online strategy,” said Global Talent chief Ashley Tabor, whose Group also owns radio station Capital FM. “It brings things into stark contrast and highlights the differences between the two bands. “I’d have probably done the same thing if I was with One
Direction, because the kind of records they make are less ‘radio’. When we make records with The Wanted it’s with a laser radio focus. It’s no surprise really, given my background.” He added: “We’re making
records for radio with The Wanted, whereas One Direction’s positioning is probably more Nickelodeon or Disney-focused. That tends to be less radio [reliant] – so I can understand why [Syco and Columbia] focus on that sort of TV, as well as online and social media.
Wanted all over: The Global-signed boy band (above) are enjoying US airplay success with single Glad You Came
“We always felt Glad You
Came was a radio record and that this was a radio act. That’s been proven in the UK, not only at Global [stations], but across the board. Just listen to the records - you can hear it.” When asked if The Wanted’s
“The Wanted make records with a laser focus on [airplay]. One
Direction songs are less ‘radio’.” ASHLEY TABOR, GLOBAL TALENT
slightly older target audience could prove to be more loyal in the long-term than One Direction’s tween-centric fanbase, Tabor replied: “The two different approaches do spawn a different
profile of audience and a different career pattern traditionally if you look back over time. We’ll have to see how things map out. Both bands right now are doing very well indeed. They’ve had a No.1 album in the US - we’ve had a No.1 airplay. We’ve had a Top 3 Billboard [single] - we’ll see where their single ends up in terms of its position.” The Wanted will release a
“catch-up” EP in the US at the end of April, featuring a collection of the band’s UK hits to-date. Tellingly, their next single release, the Example-penned Chasing The Sun, will be globally promoted: hitting the UK and US on the same date in May. Tabor confirmed a new
The Wanted album would be released internationally at the end of this year. “Of course [a No.1 US album]
would be wonderful but we have a long-term view,” he said. “We’re taking it step-by-step. It’s very much our ambition is to continuing making top-class records that lead these boys into a long-term career. We’re not here to just have one hit: Chasing The Sun has already had some brilliant reaction at US radio.” Tabor said that the broadsheet
US media has begun picking up on the ‘British battle of the bands’ angle – which was boosting the popularity of both groups. “It helps that there’s a healthy
competition,” he said. “With my UK industry hat on, how amazing is this? Two British bands slugging it out in America - and both succeeding.”
UK Festival Awards makes management changes
UK Festival Conference and Awards owner, Festival Awards Ltd, has shaken up its management – with MD James Drury leaving the company. Original
founders and figureheads Steve Jenner and
Chris McCormick will now head up the operation,
alongside Justin Chadwick. In addition, Music Week
understands that the group is close to securing a round of third-party capital investment to help develop the company’s
offering in 2012. The UK Festival Awards was launched as a poll of readers of
the Virtual Festivals website in 2004, which was founded by Jenner. Festival Awards Ltd also runs
the Europe Festival Awards, which recently took place as part of the Eurosonic Noorderslag event in Holland. Last year’s UK Festival
Awards were hosted in November at The Roundhouse, central London. Glastonbury took home
the award for Best Major Festival, while Secret Garden Party and End of the Road were crowned Best Medium and Small Festival respectively.
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