Here we go GoJu Nation. Another week, another chart listing for the people. Its been an interesting couple of weeks since the Grammy’s. With the passing of Whitney Houston creating a purchase frenzy, with new artists getting their say so along with the established ones making sure they aren’t forgotten in today’s landscape, it has created an interesting mix of albums making their mark. The most important thing that I take from this weeks listing is that demographic pockets of fans exist that seemingly follow artists in a way that mainstream has yet to quantify. What that creates is projects like WZRD audibly popping out of nowhere to make a serious dent on da charts. Well that’s the beginning, lets see what else da charts have to offer…
We continue Ras Benzo and his top 5 list of what you shouldn’t be doing as an artist in 2010.
3. Beefing with your label in public
Even Nas, in his bitter relationship with Def Jam understands that beefing with your record label is so 15 years ago. The artist is responsible in this era of being mindful in negotiating a deal that supports his aspirations and potential. We all know that labels can be shady, unsupportive and down-right nasty, but they can also be the back bone of what holds you together. Rappers beefing with labels is like over-paid athletes complaining about their jobs/teams/salaries. There are so many people who would quickly take their place, who are lined up for the opportunity to be used and “abused” by the system. Being an artist is not a special talent. Working as a professional musician is a job – just like working in a factory. It might seem glorious, but those moments are the grand total years of hard work by tons of OTHER people. When the person with the least amount of sweat equity invested, often the newest person on the team (the artist) has the audacity to start a public beef with a system that has been working just fine for so long without them, The system does just that – it goes on to working just fine without them.
I was 1st introduced to Marsha Ambrosius when in my previous life I discovered that she was the writer (along with fiyah producers Dre & Vidal) of Michael Jackson‘s last hit single “Butterflies”. To this day I marvel at the writing matching Michael’s vocal range perfectly. My next introduction was when a former colleague mentioned them (Floetry the group she was in) as a potential duet match for an artist we were dealing with. I pish-poshed it thinking there were better candidates. That same day I found myself falling in love with this obscure Neo-classic soul song called “Say Yes”. I was embarrassed to admit it, but I tripped over Marsha Ambrosius the artist/writer again.
Apr 242010
One of the music industry commandments: Thou shalt not leak new albums!!!. Instinctively it makes sense: “If I get it early I don’t have to buy it”. OR “If I listen to it early, I can decide if it’s good enough for me to purchase or not”.
The sheet music to a classic....
- Mive Content
I believe that GoJu Nation has a strong sense of what happened in the past week. But for those new to GothamJungle here’s what went down. With the country marketing the biggest shopping days of the year (Black Friday/Cyber Monday etc.) this is the bigges sales week of the year in the music industry. Only one other week comes close. (that’s another blog). But this is the core indicator of what an artist represents in this market. So lets do winners and losers
What has been the theme of this year GoJu Nation? Quality over quantity. We’ve seen a pattern this fiscal year that screams if it’s quality, we’ll invest in it. If your up to your re-packaging, trying to sell us the same stuff twice with minimal qualitative content, it will stay on the shelves and we aren’t downloading. The number 1 album in the county (Bon Jovi) dictates/proves that point. Yes that record you’ve not been able to escape since the baseball playoffs started is Bon Jovi. Vintage/qualitative Bon Jovi. Hence #1 album in the country Bon Jovi. Other notes: I’m predicting a run off with 3 albums. Michael Buble, Andrea Bocelli’s Christmas album & Carrie Underwood with an honorable mention to Michael Jackson’s “This is It” project. These will be the run away albums for the holidays. Stay tuned to see if I adjust my prediction. Otherwise hit me with your comments and Max/Lalonne you know what it is. Enjoy the top 20! 1…
Ok, MJ has the # 1 movie in the country, and following suit the #1 album in the country. The “This is It, Soundtrack” moves over 330K this week. So the marketing exercise taking advantage of the musical icon has succeeded. Nuff Said. There is a new album charting barrage this week. 12 of the top 20 this week are album debuts. We have some new heat and some classics that still hold water. On the classic front: Creed, Rod Stewart, Sting & Brian McKnight crack the top 20. And on the new heat side: Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Jack Johnson, Tech N9ne, Swell Season, Wolfmother, Train & Atreyu are making their mark jumping in the top 20. This is a great sign (especially with overall sales declining in this market). This trend should continue as we slide into the holiday season. Hopefully we’ll get some better overall numbers. Anyway, here’s your top 20. Lalonee/Max, love is love and enjoy. 1…
It’s Monday so you know what that means.. Movie time. Now did you expect the 1st movie post Michael Jackson to be anything but the #1 movie in the country. Fascinating what a documentary about preparations for a concert tour that never happens can do. Icons are Icons right… Good things about the charts this week: Paranormal Activity & Couples Retreat are enjoying nice runs as they are both closing in on 100M in less than 10 weeks. Nniiicccceeeee. Bad things about the charts this week: Saw VI, Astro Boy & Amelia are horrid disappointments in their 1st couple weeks earning a lil more than 40M combined in 6 weeks total. Not what their perspective movie distributors anticipated. I’ll let you be the judge. Here are the top 10. Enjoy…
Britney Spears is very close to being this (and lasts) generations “Madonna”. Look at the stats/timeline & hits, it’s very obvious when you put it under that microscope… Owl City (love this record) is doing what I predicted which is shoot up the charts. “Fireflies” is now #2 in the country. Black Eyed Peas is doing what their 1st two single have done: sell a shit load of singles. “Meet Me Halfway” is up 11 spots from last week to take the #5 spot on the digi-singles chart. And only an artist of John Mayer’s caliber can debut his 1st single “Who Says” smack in the middle of the digi-charts at #8. Now let’s remember John Mayer has appeared on Alicia Keys last album (duet “Lesson Learned”), performed at the public wake of Michael Jackson (“Human Nature”) & performed “D.O.A.” with Jay-Z at MSG on 9/11. So Mr. Mayer has made the urban rounds with his mainstream self. Will be very interesting to see how his new projects rates at the end. Annndd done. Enjoy the Digi-singles chart…1
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