32 MusicWeek 04.05.12
BUSINESSANALYSISRADIOAIRPLAYQ1 EDITORIAL
Styles made a Capital gaffe – but it needs an amicable conclusion
SOMETIMES ARTISTS JUST DON’T KNOW WHEN to keep their mouths shut and, as a result, the consequences can be disastrous. Perhaps most famously of all, John Lennon managed to get The Beatles’ records banned by US radio stations in the Deep South and elsewhere when he rather unwisely suggested that the Fab Four were bigger than Jesus Christ. Over the last couple of months another British group – One
Direction – have had to deal with their own airplay ban after member Harry Styles made what some believe was a truly outrageous remark. His crime? In the heat of the moment at the Brit Awards he managed to get his radio stations muddled, accidentally thanking Radio 1 for the group’s best single win but forgetting to mention at all Capital, whose listeners had actually decided the category. It was a very dumb mistake and has proven to be a costly
one with Capital’s parent group Global so outraged that its brand had been so publicly snubbed that it decided to ban all the group’s records quicker than you could say Mike Read and Relax. The ban covered not just the Capital Network but the entire group, including the bigger Heart Network. As Global is the leading commercial radio operator in the country that instantly shut out a mountain of potential airplay for One Direction and that sanction remains firmly in place today. Since the Brits gaffe their records have had zero spins on
any Global stations and apparently no mentions either, even though the period in question covered them making history by becoming the first UK group ever to debut at No.1 on the Billboard 200 with their first album. This US breakthrough has happened at the same time as
another UK boy band, The Wanted, have scored one of the biggest hits of the year in the States with Glad You Came. Rather awkwardly, they happen to be signed to Global Talent, part of the same group as Capital that banned their rivals from the air. Styles is quite probably kicking himself that he made this
horrendous mistake but, while he might now be an international pop star, he is still little more than just a kid, having celebrated his 18th birthday shortly before the Brits. And, given his age and inexperience, perhaps there should be some understanding he made a silly – rather than mischievous – mistake in the pressure cooker of a big awards ceremony being broadcast live across the nation. We are all human after all. The kind of success being enjoyed overseas by One
Direction is unusual for any UK band and unprecedented in terms of their instant US No.1. That is something we should be celebrating back home. In that context then, we hope there are some wise heads around who can finally bring this matter to some kind of amicable close, which would be best for all parties. It means at present listeners to Capital, which rightly bills itself as the hit music station, cannot hear the hits from one of the UK’s biggest acts and that cannot be good. Paul Williams, Head of Business Analysis
Do you have views on this column? Feel free to comment by emailing
paul.williams@intentmedia.co.uk EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Jessie J’s Domino biggest radio hit of Q1 with audience of 879,697 and is also Capital’s top tune UK acts provide 46 of quarter’s 100 biggest radio hits, while 36 are by Americans, seven by Europeans and 11 by artists from the rest of world Quarter’s top download seller Somebody That I Used To Know by Gotye is both Radios 1 and 2’s most-played song of Q1, while second favourite at Absolute and XFM DJ Fresh’s (left) Hot Right Now is second-most-played track of quarter at Radio 1, 1 Xtra and Kiss Universal claims 40 of the quarter’s 100 most-heard tracks, including three of the top five with Jessie J’s Domino, Gotye’s Somebody That I Used To Know and Maroon 5’s Moves Like Jagger
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JESSIE J DELIGHTS IN DOMINO EFFECT
Jessie J starts 2012 on radio on a high – as she did 2011
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