www.musicweek.com FEATURE RADIOFESTIVAL TURN ON TOTHETALENT
David Joseph called on radio chiefs – particularly those in the commercial sector – to help back breakthrough talent with a greater share of airplay. Music Week research suggests he’s right
EVENTS BY PAUL WILLIAMS
S
ome of 2012’s biggest new acts are struggling to win support at key UK radio stations.
In a speech at last week’s Radio Festival,
Universal UK chairman and CEO David Joseph urged radio to devote more airtime to new talent as he highlighted a group of breakthrough artists this year who had won scant airplay backing compared to how many albums they had sold. His criticisms are underlined by Music Week
research into the support leading UK stations and brands have given to the new acts Joseph identified in his speech as having broken through since January after domestically selling more than 100,000 copies of their debut albums. The acts in question, according to Official Charts Company data, are (pictured right) Emeli Sandé, Lana Del Rey, Gotye, Ben Howard, Military Wives, Labrinth, Michael Kiwanuka, Maverick Sabre and Rita Ora. Since Joseph’s speech Alt-J have subsequently also reached the same landmark. “You can’t deny the fact these nine acts exist
and they have sold more than anyone else and there is curiosity for them,” he told the annual event at the Lowry Theatre in Salford. “There are three acts that have been supported well by UK radio, but when I delve down to the other six – and this is for BBC radio and commercial radio – these acts are enjoying very, very little support from both the BBC and commercial radio.” The three acts who have been strongly backed
are Island’s Gotye, Virgin’s Sandé and Syco signing Labrinth, while Columbia/Roc Nation’s Rita Ora has also won respectable support across a number of stations. In Gotye’s case he has the second top airplay track of the year, according to Nielsen Music, with Somebody That I Used To Know, while Sandé’s Next To Me ranks fourth up to last week, Labrinth’s Earthquake 23rd and Ora’s R.I.P. 40th. However, none of the other five acts registers anywhere among Nielsen’s 100
23.11.12 Music Week 17
10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
0 74% 53% 29% 23% 21% Source (above): YouGov SixthSense Music Consumption Survey
TOP UK OR UK-SIGNED BREAKTHROUGH ARTISTS OF 2012 ARTIST/ LABEL
ALBUM SALES
EMELI SANDE VIRGIN LANA DEL REY POLYDOR MILITARY WIVES DECCA BEN HOWARD ISLAND GOTYE ISLAND
MAVERICK SABRE MERCURY LABRINTH SYCO
0.87 MILLION 0.62 MILLION 0.25 MILLION* 0.23 MILLION 0.22 MILLION 0.21 MILLION 0.15 MILLION
RITA ORA COLUMBIA/ROC NATION 0.12 MILLION MICHAEL KIWANUKA POLYDOR 0.10 MILLION
Source: Official Charts Company
DAVID JOSEPH: STILL COMMITTED TO ON AIR/ON SALE
“I’m completely convinced it’s the right thing to do. Every fan we speak to in research – do you want music when you hear it – 100% say ‘yes’” DAVID JOSEPH
Event photos: Andrew Stuart
LEFT / RIGHT The year to date’s most successful UK or UK-signed breakthrough acts based on album sales up to chart week 46 2012 and (right) where they rank among the most-played acts on UK radio in the year to date
* =sales of two albums combined
RADIO AIRPLAY RANKINGS OF BREAKTHROUGH ATCS POS.
ARTIST 6
12 33 49
107
EMELI SANDE GOTYE
RITA ORA LABRINTH
LANA DEL REY
248 MICHAEL KIWANUKA 260 MAVERICK SABRE 262 BEN HOWARD Source: Radiomonitor/Universal
DAVID JOSEPH reckons Universal’s artists are divided over On Air/On Sale but he remains fully committed to it. The policy of tracks being made commercially available at the same time as they debut on the radio was launched with a huge fanfare by Universal and its main rival Sony in early 2011, but it was quickly abandoned as labels and stations went back to new releases being played weeks before the public could buy them. The Universal UK chairman and
CEO told the Radio Festival last week there was no consensus in
the music business, but added: “I’m completely convinced it’s the right thing to do. Every fan we speak to in research – do you want music when you hear it – 100% say ‘yes’.” In terms of artists, however,
there was a split, he suggested. “A number of artists, if you don’t
make a song available, say, on iTunes or Spotify when they are available on YouTube or pirate sites, they are bothered about it,” he said. “There are certainly other artists
who want a No.1 single so they want [their track] held back.”
21%
RADIO
HOW OVER 16s ACTIVELY SEEK OUT NEW MUSIC
WORD OF MOUTH
MUSIC TV CHANNELS
SPECIFIC MUSIC SHOWS
EXPLORING DIGITAL SALES
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Festival front: Nick Grimshaw, Ben Cooper and Miranda Sawyer air their views
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