12 MusicWeek 17.08.12
BUSINESSANALYSISRADIOAIRPLAYQ2 EDITORIAL
Let’s hope Global keeps this proposed buyout Real
RARELY HAS A DEAL created as much intense debate in the record industry as Universal’s planned £1.2bn takeover of EMI. By contrast, a buy-out happening in UK commercial radio that would have similar consequences in terms of market control has hardly warranted a mention by labels. However, Global’s acquisition of Smooth and Real Radio
owner GMG Radio is extremely significant in the sector as it means even more power concentrated in the hands of the overwhelming market leader. In clear parallels with how the balance of power stacks up in the record business, Global is commercial radio’s equivalent of Universal in the UK, already a long distance ahead of second-placed Bauer and with these new assets – if regulators allow it – will move even further in front.
Perhaps the music industry’s
“Our analysis of both brands’ most-played 100 tracks of the last quarter demonstrates they are much more enthusiastic supporters of new music and new acts compared to equivalent other commercial stations in the market”
lack of comment is down to its understandable preoccupation with Universal’s EMI pursuit, but more likely it is because Smooth and Real rarely, if ever, even warrant mentions when leading industry execs talk about useful radio outlets. But while these brands will clearly never have the influence of Radios 1 and 2 and Capital, or the industry love 6 Music attracts, both are big listener draws and for the right kind of artists can provide very useful promotional support.
Real Radio Scotland, for example, was Scotland’s most
popular commercial station yet again in the Q2 Rajars, while the Welsh service outscored every other station in Wales. As for Smooth, the quasi-national service has around 3.3 million people tuning in every week with 2.4 million listening to Real. As well as its healthy audience numbers, Smooth also
provides backing for the sort of acts that outside Radio 2 much of UK radio just ignores. In the past quarter this has included such names as Katie Melua, Ren Harvieu and Rumer. Real, meanwhile, gave useful exposure to new tracks by the
likes of Keane and Scissor Sisters at a time when Radio 1 appeared to have moved on from these acts and they failed to win favour at Capital. Our analysis of both brands’ most-played 100 tracks of the
last quarter demonstrates they are much more enthusiastic supporters of new music and new acts compared to equivalent other commercial stations in the market. If their buy-out does gets rubber-stamped by the
competition authorities let us hope they are allowed to continue on this path because their approach flies in the face of the common industry myth that commercial stations are homogenised, all playing the same artists.
Paul Williams Head of Business Analysis Do you have views on this column? Feel free to comment by emailing
paul.williams@intentmedia.co.uk
www.musicweek.com
CARLY CALLS FOR ATTENTION
The Canadian sensation follows up her sales success with airplay domination in Q2 as Call Me Maybe triumphs
QUARTERLY FOCUS BY PAUL WILLIAMS
R
adio and downloaders’ tastes were in perfect unison in Q2 as they agreed Carly Rae Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe and Fun’s We Are
Young were the two biggest tracks of the quarter. While selling an unrivalled 845,938 downloads,
Rae Jepsen’s Interscope/Polydor debut also attracted the highest radio reach of the period with an audience of 773.1 million people across the three months, according to Nielsen Music. This was around 165 million higher than the Atlantic/Fueled By Ramen-issued We Are Young featuring Janelle Monae in second place. Call Me Maybe was both Radio 1 and Capital’s
third most-played track of the quarter, topped Real Radio Scotland’s listings and ranked 20th at Kiss and 46th at Radio 2, while at Radio 1 only Rudimental’s sales chart-topping Feel The Love gained more spins than We Are Young. There were two further common tracks among
radio and retail’s top fives of the period with Nicki Minaj fourth on airplay and fifth on sales with Starships and fellow Island track Somebody That I Used To Know by Gotye featuring Kimbra ranked the other way round. The exception to the rule at radio was another Island cut, Jessie J’s Domino, which had been the top airplay track of Q1 and thanks mainly to being Capital’s most-spun track was the third biggest radio hit over the following quarter. It finished a more modest 32nd on the Official Charts Company’s sales rankings.
Capital was also the main reason why Global
Talent/Island’s The Wanted turned up in eighth place on the quarter-end radio chart, 21 positions higher than it finished on the sales countdown. It was Radio 1’s 44th most-played track and Capital placed it as its fourth favourite hit of the quarter. One of the big talking points of the previous
quarter had been Capital and its sister Global Radio outlets dropping The Wanted’s big rivals One Direction from the airwaves after the Syco act accidentally failed to mention Capital in their Brits acceptance speech for best single. The category had been voted for by listeners of the network. However, Capital started playing the band once more as Q2 progressed, enough to make What Makes You Beautiful its 75th top track. It was placed 83rd for the quarter at Radio 1. Capital again lived up its home of the hits
mission mantra with an unchallenged 63 of its 100 top tracks of the period also registering among radio’s overall 100 most-played cuts of Q2. This compared to 52 of Bauer brand Kiss’s top tracks the same as the all-comers chart and 45 of Radio 1’s with Capital high-rotation support policy in particular helping the likes of Starships and Virgin releases Part Of Me by Katy Perry and Turn Me On by David Guetta featuring Nicki Minaj register high up the rankings. Radio 1 shared 36 of its Top 100 tracks of Q2
with Capital, but it was far more in synergy with sister station Radio 1 Xtra where 45 releases were the same, including sharing the Asylum/Black Butter-issued Feel The Love by Rudimental
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