12 MusicWeek 01.06.12
BUSINESSANALYSISQ1PUBLISHING EDITORIAL
Sony/ATV takes first crown –with impeccable timing
THE BALANCE OF POWER in terms of who controls the biggest hits in music publishing has been shifting for quite some time. However, those shifts were spelt out in the clearest possible terms in Q1. In the same period in which Sony/ATV finished as top albums
company in the UK for the first time, BMG Chrysalis and Kobalt flexed their own muscles by between them outscoring old powerhouse Warner/Chappell in the albums and singles markets. Sony/ATV’s first quarterly albums victory was somewhat aptly
timed, coming as it did in the same quarter in which the European Commission rubber-stamped its consortium’s purchase of EMI Music Publishing. But while that takeover, if it wins approval from the US and elsewhere, will move even more power towards Sony/ATV, its elevation to the top of the albums league table has been on the cards for quite some time, really ever since Marty Bandier arrived in 2007 as its global chief.
S
www.musicweek.com
INTO NEW TERRITORY Albums triumph for Sony/ATV is a sign of things to come
QUARTERLY ANALYSIS BY PAUL WILLIAMS
ony/ATV captured its highest share yet of the UK albums chart market in Q1 as it finished as the sector’s top publisher for the
first time ever. In a period in which the European Commission
approved its consortium’s $2.2bn (£1.4bn) takeover of EMI Publishing, albeit with concessions, the company claimed a 24.4% share of the period’s Top 50 albums with EMI and Universal left to share second place. Sony/ATV UK managing director
Rak Sanghvi and his team had led the singles market previously on a quarterly basis, most recently during Q3 last year when the likes of Ed Sheeran and Lady Gaga gave it an unrivalled 21.2% share. But its albums victory during the first three months of this year moves it into new territory with a first win in this sector. However, the triumph has seemingly been on the cards for a while now as Sony/ATV recorded its biggest quarterly albums share (18.2%) in Q3 last year, only to beat that record in the following three months (18.6%) and has now done so again. Some of the songwriters who had helped the
Before that almost every quarter Sony/ATV would typically
finish fourth in the rankings, but following a lengthy period of investment and expansion its frontline roster is now one of the most impressive around, including just within the UK the likes of Ed Sheeran (above) and Lana Del Rey collaborator Justin Parker (above right), both of whom won Ivor Novellos at this year’s ceremony. BMG Chrysalis and Kobalt’s rises have been equally swift,
especially in the case of BMG which in a very short space of time has grown into a very significant player largely on the back of acquiring sizable independents such as Chrysalis, Cherry Lane and Stage Three. Kobalt, through what it bills as “music services for the 21st century”, now also has a wealth of top names on its books, including the likes of superstar writer/producers Dr Luke and Max Martin. Going the other way, one of the long-time mainstays of the
publishing world Warner/Chappell has continued to slip down our rankings, having once upon a time been regularly battling for top spot. Things do need to be put into context here because our quarterly and annual market shares only represent one area of music publishing – albeit a fairly important one – in that they track recorded music chart performance. As such, being beaten by BMG Chrysalis and Kobalt in these quarterly calculations does in no way alter the fact Warner/Chappell still has one of the deepest and most impressive catalogues around and its frontline roster has real quality to it, containing as it does countless superstar acts such as Muse. Additionally, our shares do not reflect income streams such as public performance and syncs. But equally, while music publishing is a hell of a lot more than
what is represented by these market shares, there is no escaping the fact the old order is being shaken up, even before we get onto the EMI Publishing deal. Paul Williams, Head of Business Analysis Do you have views on this column? Feel free to comment by emailing
paul.williams@intentmedia.co.uk
publisher perform so strongly on albums during the second half of last year contributed again in Q1, including Ed Sheeran whose album + was 68.8% controlled by Sony/ATV and was the quarter’s fourth top seller. The Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds album, solely written by the Sony/ATV- signed former Oasis man, sold another 124,000 copies to finish as the quarter’s 13th top seller, while it also controlled 55% of Jessie J’s overhauled Who You Are in 10th place. However, Sony/ATV also had significant stakes
in three of the quarter’s biggest new albums, led by Lana Del Rey’s (pictured) Born To Die and Emeli Sandé’s Our Version Of Events. It handled 25.2% of Del Rey’s debut, led by its writer Justin Parker in five tracks, while Naughty Boy helped the company to a 31.7% stake in Sande’s album. It also looked
after 95.6% of Bruce Springsteen’s Wrecking Ball, the quarter’s 14th most popular album. EMI under UK president Guy Moot has been
making a concerted effort to raise its game on the albums market to complement its usual market- leading position on singles and managed to exactly level peg with Universal in Q1, although fell somewhat short of Sony/ATV’s tally. Its 19.3% score – identical to Universal’s – owed much to having on its books both Del Rey and Sandé whose albums were respectively the quarter’s second and third top sellers. Born To Die carried a 64.3% EMI share and Our Version Of Events a 54.7% one, while it capitalised on its deep Sixties catalogue, including Motown’s Jobete songbook, to claim 37.7% of the Be My Baby compilation,
the quarter’s sixth top seller. Having led the albums market
in the four previous quarters,
Universal joined EMI in joint second place with its lowest score since the closing
three months of 2010. Its story was largely one of its 2011 biggest hitters delivering again, inevitably led by Adele whose 21 was the quarter’s top seller and carried a 50% Universal share, but also including a 94.1% stake in fifth-placed Mylo Xyloto by Coldplay. Led by Sony/ATV’s own record-breaking total,
the quarter was one littered with new personal record scores – both highs and lows. Warner/ Chappell dropped to a new low of 6.7% as it was beaten into fourth place by BMG Chrysalis. Below them Kobalt’s 5.6% albums score was a new personal best (as was its 13.8% on singles), while Bucks claimed its best quarterly scores on both albums (2.3%) and singles (4.3%) as Global Talent hit a new albums high of 2.2%.
EMI’s baby: Mary Wells featured on the Be My Baby compilation, 37.7%
published by EMI
SINGLES FOCUS EMI SLIPS BUT SURVIVES
EMI FINISHED AS TOP SINGLES PUBLISHER again in Q1, despite slipping to its lowest score since the closing three months of 2009. In what amounted to its fifth victory in six quarters,
RIGHT Upward flow: Two Flo Rida hits kept EMI in singles pole position
the company controlled the market with a 20.1% share as its signing Sia Furler turned up as both a writer and vocalist on Titanium by David Guetta and Wild Ones by Flo Rida. These finished respectively as the quarter’s second and fourth biggest singles. EMI, whose share dropped from 24.1% the previous
quarter, also cashed in on another Flo Rida hit with a 55% stake in his 10th-placed Good Feeling, while other successes included 50% of its writer Emeli Sandé’s Next To Me, which was the period’s fifth top seller. For the second successive period it was Sony/ATV pushing EMI closest and it narrowed the gap this time
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48