Retail

1. Jason Aldean 'Looks Good' at No. 1 on Country Radio; Brantley Gilbert Gives An 'Amen'

   July 21, 2015 12:15 PM EDT Jason Aldean 's "Tonight Looks Good on You" jumps 2-1 on Billboard 's Country Airplay chart (dated Aug. 1). His 14th No. 1 score on the list increases by 4 percent to 50.2 million audience impressions, according to Nielsen Musi ...

2. CD-Loving Germany Sees 86 Percent Jump In Streaming, Sales Increase

   July 15, 2015 8:48 AM EDT The German music market increased sales by 4.4 percent in 2015’s first half compared to 2014, according to a report released Wednesday by Germany's Federal Music Industry Association (BVMI).  The revenue from physical and digital music sales ...

3. Martin Scorsese Brings Brooklyn Record Store Back to the '70s for New HBO Show

   July 09, 2015 10:02 AM EDT The Brooklyn arm of British-borne record store Rough Trade -- also a label of high repute -- underwent a vintage makeover for the second time this year. But instead of remembering the '90s and the semi-seminal Empire Records , the shop redesi ...

4. Imagine Dragons' 'Radioactive' is now RIAA Certified Diamond

   July 08, 2015 6:43 PM EDT Imagine Dragons ' "Radioactive" is the longest-running song in the history of the Billboard charts, and it continues to reach new heights: It has hit diamond status. Taylor Swift Brings Dan Reynolds of Imagine Dragons Out for ' ...

5. Amazon Opens Shop in Mexico

   July 01, 2015 10:31 AM EDT Amazon has formally launched full service operations in Mexico, under the URL amazon.com.mx.   The Amazon launch in Mexico -- its first in Latin America -- comes after nearly two years in which the company has tested the market by selling eBooks v ...

6. Nas Teams With Chicken & Waffles Joint Sweet Chick to 'Expand the Brand Nationally'

   June 17, 2015 1:16 PM EDT Sweet Chick, a New York City restaurant specializing in chicken and waffles, has teamed with local rap legend Nas to help boost the brand to the national stage. Co-owner John Seymour made the announcement at a one-year anniversary party for the re ...

7. Hollywood's Vintage-Minded Record Parlour Opens a New Venue, the Americana Lounge: Exclusive

   June 10, 2015 10:39 AM EDT Chris Honetschlaeger , the founder of Hollywood's Record Parlour, has announced the opening of the Americana Lounge, a new music venue set to open in December. The 1,800-foot space located at 1553 Cahuenga Blvd. is around the corner from the ...

8. Country Notes: Blake Shelton Covers Bob Dylan; New Home for Florida Georgia (Fashion) Line

   June 09, 2015 2:15 PM EDT Here's a selection of the goings on in the wide world of country music. -- When Blake Shelton covered Bob Dylan for the forthcoming movie Max , Shelton ended up recording two versions of the song, perhaps creating bonus material for somewhere ...

9. Walmart Employees Victorious -- Execs Agree to Play Less Justin Bieber, Celine Dion in Stores

   June 05, 2015 1:29 PM EDT Sad news for Beliebers shopping at Walmart (great news for everyone else, probably): Walmart won't be playing so much Justin Bieber and Celine Dion in stores anymore, citing employee requests. A s part of a Walmart shareholder meeting, Mike M ...

10. Trans World Entertainment Turns Profit as It Continues Shift From Music

    May 21, 2015 10:56 AM EDT Trans World Entertainment continues its winning ways, posting a profit of $194,000, or one cent per diluted share, on sales of nearly $78 million, in its first quarter ended May 2. That's an improvement on the $386,000 in red ink it posted in ...

11. CEO of Gibson, Long-Time Guitar Home of B.B. King, Remembers the Legend: 'He Was Truly a King'

    May 15, 2015 4:07 PM EDT One name will always be associated with B.B. King: Lucille, the name he gave to his guitar. King got the  name  from an incident at a club in Arkansas in 1949, when a fight broke out during King's performance, starting a fire. King escaped th ...

12. Business

    Retail Briefs: Bob Seger Gets Vinyl, Redeye Goes Worldwide

    May 08, 2015 2:53 PM EDT -- Redeye , the indie distribution company based in Haws River, N.C., has expanded its capabilities to handle worldwide distribution. As part of that it has opened offices in Toronto, Berlin and Sydney, Austraila, Seattle, Nashville to complement ...

13. Music Biz President Jim Donio Previews Annual Meeting With Move From LA to Nashville

    April 30, 2015 9:22 PM EDT With the Music Business Association's annual Music Biz meeting coming up May 12-14, it marks a shift. For the first time, the event formerly known as NARM is moving to Nashville and with that new scenery comes new programming.  Billboard ca ...

14. Corner Office: Designer-Turned-Label Exec John Varvatos on Signing Zac Brown, Respecting the CBGB Site and Why Detroit Is the New Brooklyn

    April 27, 2015 10:22 AM EDT Ask John Varvatos to pinpoint the moment when his -obsession with fashion and music began, and he'll show you a photo of The Stooges taken in 1970. "It was all hippies before these guys," says the Detroit native. "They showed u ...

15. Distro Info: RED Adds Insane Clown Posse, Faith No More Labels to Roster; INgrooves Gets Into It With Emo Label

    April 22, 2015 11:48 AM EDT In the first three months of the year, RED has added five new labels to its roster, which will result in new albums from the Insane Clown Posse and the first album from Faith No More in 18 years, among others. The new distributed labels are Psycho ...

16. SoundScan's Q1: 'Uptown Funk' Best-Selling Song, Universal Music Stays On Top

    April 03, 2015 10:01 AM EDT In a slight turnaround from a year ago, digital album sales in the U.S. are up 2.8 percent to 28.26 million in the first quarter, while overall albums are only down 1.8 percent to 60.6 million, according to Nielsen Music. That digital tally wrappe ...

17. Why Zayn Malik's Departure From One Direction Won't Hurt Band's Music Sales

    March 26, 2015 2:17 PM EDT The departure  of Zayn Malik from One Direction may affect touring numbers, but it probably won't have much impact on recorded music sales. That's because One Direction's recorded music sales almost certainly would continue falling ...

18. Sony to Launch Virtual-Reality Headset in 2016

    March 04, 2015 8:36 AM EST Sony plans on putting its virtual-reality headset on consumers' noggins next year. The gaming and electronics company announced Tuesday at the Game Developers Conference that its VR system nicknamed Project Morpheus will debut in the first ha ...

19. Industry Sets Friday as Global Record Release Day

    February 26, 2015 8:42 AM EST After seven months of semi-public back-and-forth, a conversation instigated in part by Aussie piracy and Beyonce's surprise release in December of 2013 has resulted in the global recording industry accepting Friday as the release date f ...

20. Apple Doesn't Want to Compete -- It Wants to Own the Record Business

    February 13, 2015 10:30 AM EST You didn't have to look too far to spot the action at Clive Davis ' pre-Grammy gala on Feb. 7. Ground zero was table 108, where Apple CEO Tim Cook , senior vp Internet software and services Eddy Cue , iTunes vp Robert Kondrk and Beats c ...

21. German Music Market Up in 2014 on Continued Strength of CDs, Rise in Streaming

    January 15, 2015 1:31 PM EST Sales in the German music market rose slightly in 2014 for the second consecutive year, according to initial projections. This was announced today by the Federal Association of the Music Industry (BVMI) in Berlin and the German market research c ...

22. Pharrell and 'Frozen' Top iTunes' Year-End List, Beyonce Named Best Artist

    December 08, 2014 9:20 AM EST Pharrell 's "Happy" and the soundtrack for Disney's Frozen are the year's top-selling song and album of year on iTunes, the online music store revealed on Monday. Apple announced that John Legend 's "All of Me& ...

23. U2 Copies Beyonce (Again), Releasing Video Album Version of 'Songs of Innocence'

    November 18, 2014 3:59 PM EST After following in the footsteps of Beyonce with the surprise release of their new album Songs of Innocence, U2 are following the blueprint left by Bey again by releasing their new album in music video form . Unlike Beyonce, Bono and Co. will no ...

24. UK Vinyl Sales on Track to Cross Million Mark

    October 16, 2014 7:00 PM EDT For the first time since the mid-1990s, vinyl sales in the United Kingdom look set to cross the one million mark in a calendar year. According to new figures released by the Official Charts Company (OCC) in conjunction with labels trade body BP ...

25. News

    Australia’s Music Retailers Assn Backs Friday Release Date: ‘It Makes Sense’

    October 14, 2014 1:31 AM EDT Australia’s entertainment retail trade association has weighed in on the debate surrounding the IFPI-sanctioned global release date. Friday, according to the Australian Music Retailers Association (AMRA), is good for business. And the Aussies ha ...

26. SoundScan's Third-Quarter Numbers in One Word: Bleak

    October 10, 2014 4:00 PM EDT Bad news keeps mounting with the roll of the tape. So far this year, 60 digital songs have sold over 1 million units as compared to 83 last year. And after nine months, not one artist-album has yet to hit the million-unit mark, although the Fro ...

27. Thom Yorke's BitTorrent Release Hits 1 Million Sales, Free Downloads

    October 02, 2014 8:57 PM EDT Thom Yorke 's surprise album release via BitTorrent Bundle last Friday has surpassed 1 million downloads, according to the file transfer platform .  That figure for Tomorrow's Modern Boxes is actually about 1.1 million, according to th ...

28. Not Just Hype: Latinos Spend More on Music

    August 26, 2014 10:50 AM EDT Marketers are always talking about music being a “passion point” for Hispanics. Now, hard research shows the hype is true -- and measurable. According to Nielsen’s Listen Up, their just released report on Hispanic consumers and music, Hispanics - ...

29. Pharrell's 'Happy' is a Rare Bright Spot in Track Sales This Year

    August 18, 2014 12:12 PM EDT If U.S. track sales in 2014 had one theme, it would be "Happy" versus everything else. Pharrell 's hit song is the only top 200track of 2014 that's outselling its 2013 counterpart. And it's the only track to have bucked ...

30. Godsmack Aiming for Sixth Top 10 Album on Billboard 200

    August 08, 2014 8:35 PM EDT Rock band Godsmack seems set to secure its sixth top 10 album on the Billboard 200 chart next week with its new album 1000HP . Industry forecasters suggest the set, which was released on Aug. 5, could sell around 50,000 copies by the end of the tr ...

31. Maddie & Tae's 'Girl' Jumps Into Top 20 on Hot Country Songs

    August 07, 2014 9:30 PM EDT Rookie duo Maddie & Tae make a notable jump on Hot Country Songs with their counterculture anthem "Girl In a Country Song," which leaps 26-16 with both Digital Gainer and Streaming Gainer honors. The track jumps 28-12 on Country Digi ...

32. Mexican Star's Death Spurs No. 1 Chart Return

    August 07, 2014 7:54 PM EDT Following the death of Banda Los Recoditos' Luis Fernando Muñoz Castro  on July 25, the group re-enters Regional Mexican Digital Songs at No. 1 with "Mi Ultimo Deseo." The track sold 3,000 downloads in the week ending Aug. 3, accord ...

33. Billboard 200 Chart Moves: Jack White’s Vinyl Sales Still Sizzle, Adele’s ‘21’ Nears 11 Million Sales & More

    August 03, 2014 4:29 PM EDT This week on the Billboard 200 albums chart, 5 Seconds of Summer saw its self-titled debut full-length album arrive atop the list , selling 259,000 copies in the week ending July 27, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That sum is not only the third-b ...

34. Eric Clapton, Shawn Mendes Aiming for Top Five Debuts on Billboard 200

    August 01, 2014 8:00 PM EDT Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Eric Clapton is aiming for his 14th top 10 album on the Billboard 200 , as The Breeze: An Appreciation of JJ Cale , should debut in the top five of the chart next week. Industry sources suggest the star-studded tribute ...

35. 5 Seconds of Summer Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200

    July 30, 2014 11:01 AM EDT Pop band 5 Seconds of Summer crashes in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 as the Australian group's self-titled full-length debut album arrives atop the list. The set sold 259,000 copies in the week ending July 27, according to Nielsen SoundScan, ...

36. Why 'Weird Al' Yankovic Means Big Business

    July 25, 2014 1:18 PM EDT "Weird Al" equals big business. The comedian’s latest album, Mandatory Fun , which tops the Aug. 2 Billboard 200, is his 15th chart entry in a career that spans 30 years of parodies -- and his first No. 1. Credit an ambitious rollout in ...

37. Cyber Thieves Compromised 1,000 StubHub Accounts: Officials

    July 23, 2014 11:37 AM EDT Cyber thieves got into more than 1,000 StubHub customers' accounts and fraudulently bought tickets for events through the online ticket reseller, a law enforcement official and the company said. Arrests were expected in a case that sprawled a ...

38. 'Weird Al' Yankovic Gets First No. 1 Album On Billboard 200

    July 23, 2014 10:55 AM EDT After more than 30 years on the charts, comedian-singer "Weird Al" Yankovic earns his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 , as "Mandatory Fun" debuts atop the list. The album is the first comedy set to top the chart since ...

39. Beats' Battle with Counterfeiters Reveals a Mercurial Black Market

    July 22, 2014 9:05 AM EDT Last week, Beats Electronics obtained a restraining order against several copyright and trademark infringing websites alleged to sell counterfeit headphones. The lawsuit, filed July 9, ordered an injunction in Illinois against these online outlets ...

40. New Watermarking Tech Probably Won't Impact Piracy (Which Isn't Even a Big Deal Anyway?)

    July 21, 2014 3:28 PM EDT Watermarking audio files is nothing new, but a team of international researchers think they've found a way to improve it. On June 30, scientists from Sydney's Deakin University and Aizu University in Japan published an article  about the ...

41. Chart Moves: Neil Diamond's 52nd Hit Album Debuts, 16-Year-Old Jacob Whitesides Makes Top 40 Bow

    July 19, 2014 9:00 AM EDT This week on the Billboard 200 albums chart, singer/songwriter Sia claimed her first No. 1 album , as "1000 Forms of Fear" debuted in the top slot. It sold 52,000 copies in the week ending July 13, according to Nielsen SoundScan -- Sia&# ...

42. Billy Corgan Accuses Amazon of Leaking 'Adore' Details Early

    July 17, 2014 10:01 AM EDT Smashing Pumpkins leader Billy Corgan was hoping Wednesday would go as smoothly as his famous pate. Not so, as the planned rollout of full details and track listing for the deluxe reissue of 1998's "Adore" was ruined when Amazon app ...

43. The Persistence of Punk (Analysis)

    July 15, 2014 6:17 PM EDT It will be 40 years in December, 2015, since the release of Patti Smith's "Horses," on Clive Davis' Arista label, arguably the beginning of the punk movement, emanating from New York's underground in the mid-'70s, ush ...

44. Catalog Titles Take a Greater Share of Album Sales

    July 14, 2014 4:16 PM EDT People are still buying albums -- millions of them each week -- but new releases are accounting for a smaller percentage of those sales.   Looking at the last five years of album sales, current release sales have fallen 38.1% while catalog sales h ...

45. Garth Brooks to Finally Go Digital at 'a Stupid Price'

    July 10, 2014 2:23 PM EDT Besides the acknowledgement that Garth Brooks is about to announce a major tour and that he has signed a record deal with Sony Music Nashville  to release his new album, the big news from the country superstar's press conference for music ret ...

46. Billboard Artist 100 Chart Launches; Trey Songz Leads First List

    July 10, 2014 10:03 AM EDT Sam Smith, Ariana Grande, MAGIC! and Luke Bryan among others in the top 10 of Billboard's exclusive new ranking of each week's top acts Today (June 10), Billboard proudly unveils the Artist 100 , the first-ever weekly ranking dedicated t ...

47. What Taylor Swift Failed to Mention In Her Poptimist Op-Ed

    July 09, 2014 1:47 PM EDT It's not every day a music superstar pens an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal and covers a variety of topics in nearly 1,200 words. At a time many artists fret the industry is crumbling, Swift's piece brims with optimism. Taylor Swift ...

48. Ted Joseph To Manage Relaunched Kalimba Music

    July 07, 2014 10:22 PM EDT EWF founder Maurice White created indie label in late ‘90s Ted Joseph has been appointed label manager for Kalimba Music, relaunched last year by Earth, Wind & Fire founder Maurice White. In his new role, Joseph will also be working with Kalim ...

49. Taylor Swift Shares Optimistic View of the Music Industry In Wall Street Journal Op-Ed

    July 07, 2014 10:14 PM EDT Taylor Swift believes there’s still hope for the music industry. In fact, she’s “one of the few living souls in the music industry who still believes that the music industry is not dying…it's just coming alive,” the superstar wrote in an op-e ...

50. SoundScan Mid-Year: Albums Down, Stream Equivalents Nearly Double, Vinyl Continues Gain

    July 03, 2014 11:12 AM EDT While digital streaming revenue growth continues to offset the decline in digital album and track sales, the music industry still has the same problem it has wrestled with for over a decade: physical music's decline is outpacing digital' ...

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