BATTLE OF MIDWAY
Distribution-wise, Universal Music Group maintains its dominance. How dominant are they? They have nine of the Top 20 records YTD, 27.5% of the market and the #2 and #4 labels in Interscope Geffen A&M and Island Def Jam.
In second place is Sony’s 18.7%, with #1 label Columbia and #3 Epic.
Beneath the top two spots is where things really get interesting. Warner Music Group has moved up to third place with 14.8%, while BMG slips to fourth with 14.6%. With BMG’s owned-and-operated labels totaling less than 9% and the company dropping from #2 to #4 in a year, what will the Germans do to end the slide?
Bringing up the rear is EMI with 11.5%.
In the label race, Columbia is on top with 8.9%, but IGA, with 8%, is making a move. Further down, keep an eye on Virgin. The label is riding high on Lenny Kravitz and Janet Jackson. With new sets from Mariah Carey, Kravitz and Aaliyah—and lots of life left in the Janet record—it’s got gas for the second half. Also looking good is MCA, which has seen a big turnaround in recent months, thanks to Shaggy and Blink-182.
For the year, the biggest records include Shaggy (just shy of 4m), Beatles (2.3m), Dido (2m, plus 1.2m last year) and "Now Vol. 6" (2.3m). Huge albums that are still going and should battle it out with the big guns of 4Q for best-selling records of the year are RCA’s Dave Matthews Band (2.2m so far), Columbia’s Destiny’s Child (2m), Flip/Elektra’s Staind (1.5m in its first month), Virgin’s Janet (1.6m) and WB’s Linkin Park (2m over all, with better than half coming this year).
If those weren’t enough numbers for you, don’t forget that there are only 172 days till Christmas vacation. Thank you.
MUSIC GROUPS
1. UMG 27.5
2. SONY 18.7
3. WMG 14.8
4. BMG 14.6
5. EMI 11.5
TOP 10 LABELS
1. Columbia 8.9
2. IGA 8.0
3. Epic 7.1
4. IDJ 5.8
5. Warner Bros. 5.1
6. Universal 4.2
7. Jive 4.0
8. Arista 3.8
9. MCA 3.8
10. Capitol 3.6
10. Virgin 3.6
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