2012: Physical Music Sales Aren't Dead, Country Rules, Adele is Still Queen, and UMG Dominates.

Well, it's that time of year again.

The time of year when most Americans are in the gym, at least for a month, because they all made the same New Year's resolution.

That time of year when you have your first heart attack because you haven't been in a gym for eleven months, or because you got that first credit card bill itemizing all of your holiday purchases and the interest you will be paying on them until next Christmas.

And it's that time of year when Nielsen Company & Billboard serve up their Music Industry Report, and we learn once again that physical sales are down, digital sales are up, and the music industry is still in turmoil.

Go ahead and read this year's report here.

Here is what this music business insider surmised after reading this year's report:

1. Physical albums are dying, but they aren't dead just yet.

Here's a big surprise physical album sales fell 12.8% in 2012 continuing the decline of tangible music transactions. But the funny part is that even though this category continues to decline at rapid numbers it still controls the market share. Physical sales were at 198 million units, and of that CD sales were at 193 million, while digital units were at 118 million.  So even though we all think physical music transactions are completely dead. They really aren't.


2. Country is king (or queen).

This isn't your granddaddy's country music anymore. Gone are twangy songs about loosing your dog, your trailer, or your wife. Today's country is closer to pop and classic rock with artists such as Jason Aldean and Taylor Swift boosting the entire genre to new sales heights.

Here's looking at Country's amazing numbers:

Total Album Sales: +4.2%
Digital Album Sales + 37.8%
Digital Track Sales + 12.8%
Taylor Swift: #2 for Top Selling Albums, Top Artists, Top Digital Albums, Top Physical Albums, #3 for Top Internet Albums, and #3 for Top Artist Airplay, and #1 for Top Streamed Artists.

3. Adele's success of 2011 was so massive it boiled over to 2012.

“Adele’s album, 21, is the first album ever to be the top seller of the year for two consecutive years."

Adele released 21 in 2011 and the album's success was so huge that it actually propelled it to top the 2012 sales charts. The new British mum took first place in Top Selling Artists, Albums, Digital Albums, Physical Albums, Internet Albums, and #2 in Top Artist Airplay.

4. The album continues to die.

In the digital world TEA stands for Track Equivalent Album. It takes ten tracks to make one full album. This helped push digital album sales up 14.10% for 2012, however when we factor in physical albums and true digital albums into the mix total album sales fell 4.4% for 2012.

5. Purchasing EMI payed off big for UMG.

With a controlling interest in EMI's assets UMG dominated the market share of the remaining major labels. They beat out their nearest competitor Sony Music Entertainment in all six categories between two and seven percent.

Give Ska Drummers Some Love

This week I am prepping to audition for a local band called Teflon Don. This will be a new musical experience for me because it is in a completely opposite musical direction than I am used to.  The group is a Ska band, more particularly a Third Wave Ska band.

Now, I am very meticulous when I approach a new project. I download the music and listen to it constantly. I practice nothing, but that genre while I prepare, and I do research into the style I am playing. In that research I usually seek out the best drummers of the genre and YouTube their videos and pick apart their recordings to see what makes them the leaders of their style of music.

When I was told Teflon Don was a Ska band I immediately thought of traditional Ska music, but this is far from the case in Third Wave Ska. Traditional Ska is played much slower with more "lift" in between hits. To see what I mean watch the current master Gil Sharone  in the video below.

Third Wave Ska is completely different. First, it is faster, much, much faster. In fact, in my opinion I see Third Wave Ska closer to traditional punk rock than its original Reggae roots. The traditional lift between hits is removed to facilitate the brisker tempos and with that any type of swung eighths are converted to straight eights.  Get that right hand ready for a workout on the hi-hat!

As I dove deeper into the genre I was disappointed to find that the drumming community doesn't give the masters of this style more props. When you break apart what is required of them it is down right amazing. First, the speed required would challenge any drummer out there. Next, their fills must be just as fast and just as tight thus requiring a superior level of technique.  From a musical standpoint these bands tend to "move around" in a song changing speeds, styles, and sometimes time signatures on the drop of a dime. This can be a huge challenge to any drummer who is used to just laying in the pocket even in a basic 120 bpm tune, never mind trying it at Third Wave Ska speed . And finally these drummers are playing with larger bands that include horn sections. That means they must be prepared to set-up and then match the brass hits at those blazing speeds.

Watch this video of Streetlight Manifesto's Chris Thatcher and you will see what I mean.

I will leave you with this video from Third Wave Ska's poster boys Reel Big Fish. This live cut of their hit mainstream tune "Sell Out" helps demonstrate the speed, tight hits, and changing tempos and styles the drummer must hit while performing in this genre.

So I encourage you to give these Third Wave Ska drummers some love, and if you need a good workout on the kit. Throw on some Streetlight Manifesto, Mad Caddies, or Reel Big Fish and be prepared to sweat!

Managers. Remember Why You Are Doing This.

Last weekend I headed down to Tampa to watch my friend perform an acoustic set with rock legend Marty Balin. For those of you who don't know, Marty is the real deal when it comes to the music industry.  He was one of the founders and lead singers of Jefferson Airplane, the psychedelic rock group that graced the original Woodstock stage in 1969 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

Marty's performance last week in Tampa was much more intimate. Together with a small acoustic group he performed for an intimate crowd at the home of his lead guitarist for a Christmas party. My friend brought me along to watch him play hand percussion with the rock legend. On the way to the gig he asked me if I would run sound for the group.

Now, I have a degree in music business, and I have been on the road long enough to know my way around a soundboard. I possess "just enough" sound knowledge to know how to get the best possible mix for a band, as long as they are in a small room and there aren't too many wires or requests for "more of "me"" in the monitor. So I said yes, and for the entire evening I made sure Marty sounded as best as he possibly could.

I am not sharing this experience with you to tout my own sound engineer horn. I am sharing this with you to promote another point. A point about the evolution of the music business.

When Marty and Airplane were coming up in the early sixties there were no college trained music business majors, sound engineers, or even musicians to help them out. Bands during this era came together mostly through chance. When the Beatles needed a new drummer they didn't hold weeks of auditions. They just found the next closest guy with a kit and a decent voice. John Entwistle was asked to join Roger Daltrey when the future Who singer saw him walking down the street with a bass guitar hung over his shoulder.

And back in those days it was easier to find band mates than managers or sound engineers.  Michael Jeffery went from a fledgling club owner to the manager of The Animals and Jimi Hendrix. Peter Grant went from a small time actor to the manager of The Yardbirds and eventually Led Zeppelin. And Owsley Stanley went from LSD supplier to sound man for The Grateful Dead.

These happenstances played heavily into every realm of the early development of rock and roll from performance to management. For now let's take a look at the management side of the equation.

When I started my first company, my business partner and I were just 20 years old. We had no idea how to properly run a business. What we did know was that we needed to "make money" so we did everything we could to get more customers, more orders, and thus more cash in than we were spending.  Simply put, we were hungry.

These untrained managers shared those same traits. Many lacked formal business training and thus had to make up the difference with sheer determination and will. They probably didn't understand a balance sheet, or a profit and loss statement, but did know they needed to make more money than they spent for their artists. Like us they were hungry, and that hunger carried over to pushing their bands to play better, challenge the status quo, and perform as much as possible.

During the 80's large corporations started buying up record labels and replaced these "down and dirty" managers with stuffed suits concerned only with the bottom line. And with that the music business management style change drastically.  Artists soon found themselves being managed by people who didn't necessarily enjoy their music, or even listen to it.

So how did this change the music business?

When your manager is so concerned with business and not as much with your music he, or she, will encourage you to do everything, but play out live. As someone who holds a degree in music business management, I can tell you we spent far more time on licensing, contracts, and balance sheets than on developing a great show, theory, or performance.

Those earlier managers lacked this formal training so they had to make up the difference in an other avenue of their business model. Because they truly loved the music they were representing they pushed their artist to make more of it, either live or in the studio. The net result was the development of superior musicians and songwriters because they had played more shows and recorded more albums.

Last weekend I was reminded about that fact. Watching a true rock legend from that era surrounded by people who absolutely loved his music trying to help him out. His manager was there running a video camera, his girlfriend decorating, fellow band mates brought food, and an unknown fan ran sound for the evening.

If you are in the music business I encourage you to take a moment and remember why you got into this gig in the first place.  Hopefully it is for the love of the music. If that is the case than take a page from the history of rock and follow that down and dirty management style where managers wanted to see their bands play more and encouraged them to do it. You may be surprised by the end result.

Here are some Spotify links to some great Airplane!

Jefferson Airplane – White Rabbit
Jefferson Airplane – Somebody To Love
Jefferson Airplane – Leaving On A Jet Plane

Classic Rock is Here to Save the Day!...Again

During last evening's 121212 Concert for Sandy Relief classic rock and rollers once again proved why they will never be forgotten and that they can still help change the world.

The sponsors of last night show didn't ask Bruno Mars, Rihanna, or Ke$sha. There was no Lady Gaga,  Maroon 5, FUN, or Bieber. Instead they brought out the big guns, rock's royalty if you will, with The Rolling Stones, The Who, Eric Calpton, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, Roger Waters, Billy Joel, and Sir Paul McCartney.

In fact there were only three artists unqualified for AARP last night. Chris Martin, Alicia Keys, and Kanye West, and only one of them wore a leather skirt.  Thanks for the endless jokes and future Saturday Night Live sketch Kanye.

So why bring in rockers of yesteryear?

How awkward was it to see a 68 year old Roger Daltrey jump around with his leathery chest hanging out during The Who's set?

The Twittersphere was on fire during Billy Joel's performance with countless tweets comparing him to Darh Vader and Walt from Breaking Bad.  One Tweet by comedian Jeffrey Ross had many in stitches by spoofing a Joel classic with his elderly age: "Billy Joel is gonna have a heart a tack ack ack ack."

And how about all the parents who had to explain to their technology driven children that Dave Grohl used to play drums for another band called Nirvana? And the guy with the lime green pants was the bass player.

So why do these sponsors choose rock and roll relics over younger shinier models? 

You can ague all you want, but when Sir Paul McCartney ripped into "Live and Let Die" you were probably either singing along or swaying in your seat.  And after watching Kanye run around screaming obscenities in a leather skirt you were blown away by Billy Joel's performance with real music, real harmonies, and a killer band.

I give huge props to today's artists. Many work hard, and they are facing a radically different industry and consumer base with interests that change by the Tweet. All of this has led to a different style of musician.  Today's artist must stand out in a huge sea of competition.  To do that they must promote how great they are every day via marketing, social media, and any other means necessary.  They must capture consumers with everything BUT music.  Is it any wonder that today's artists go through costume changes during a show and yesterday's just change their guitars?

The artists that made up last night's bill were brought up in a different musical era.  To stand out they needed to play their instruments better than the next guy.  That's why Eric Clapton could kill it with a power trio and nothing else at last night's show. These artists needed to create songs that stuck with you for years to come.  I think everybody was singing along with Billy Joel during his set. And finally these AARP rockers came up during a time when the youth believed they could change the world...and they actually did. That's why The Who is a statement and not a question.

Sponsors seek out these aging rockers for a number of reasons.  First, they know a bill with Eric Clapton, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Billy Joel, and Sir Paul McCartney will easily fill seats with virtually zero marketing effort. Second, they know the music will be good...real, real, good.  And finally they know that these acts have already helped change the world so they have experience when it comes to doing it once again.

Regardless, I encourage all of you to drop a few bucks to the Sandy relief effort.  These people need our help. You can still donate to the Sand Relief effort by visiting their website at http://www.121212concert.org. And soon you can purchase the show from iTunes with proceeds going to the cause. 

What will you do without your own music library?

For years I collected tapes, then CD's, and then digital downloads to build my own personal music collection. When I got hold of a third generation iPod back in 2003 I started to dump all of that music into my iTunes library. Today that library holds about 15,000 tracks.

But over the past year I, like most of you, have switched over from purchasing new music to streaming it through an online music provider. There are many of these services out there. Most notably Spotify, Pandora, and MOG. I choose the later, MOG, and pay about $10 per month so I can download as much music as I want to my fourth generation iPod Touch and iPhone.

Now, I have been pretty impressed with streaming over downloading.  It has allowed me to investigate new music, find new indie bands, and catch up on some old favorites, all without having to drop 99¢ per track or $10 per album. It just seems to make financial sense in these tough economic times.

But with every great idea comes some sort of risk.

I have been following music industry related news for a while now and have noticed two reoccurring themes that trouble me when it comes to my music collection. The first started in October of this year when financial analysts deemed Spotify's business model "unsustainable". You can read the article here.

"In almost a one-for-one scenario, every dollar Spotify is generating immediately exits the company due to licensing fees..."

The second reoccurring theme that is troubling is what is happening right now on Capitol Hill in regards to intellectual property. For months now Pandora has been leading a charge to get Congress to reduce the online royalty payments for artists. It seems investors for the online streaming service need the business to make more money, and they have deemed the best way to do that is by lobbying our Nation's leaders to reduce royalty payments do to the musicians' whose works they are exploiting for profit. Former TuneCore CEO Jeff Prince wrote a great article on this conundrum for Hyperbot. You can get to it here.  

So what do these two themes mean for us streamers?

The answer is simple. The two biggest leaders in the streaming market have been deemed unsustainable. Spotify is surviving through the assistance of venture capital and Pandora is trying to create a stronger business model by challenging the artists they rely on for product. Eventually the venture capitalists backing Spotfiy are going to want out, especially if their forecasts continue to demonstrate they may not get a return on their investment. Investors invest to make money, not for charity. And if Pandora continues to challenge the royalty payments of their artists, those artists are going to stop providing the second giant with product. And if you think musicians need Pandora, just ask Taylor Swift and her management team who proved streaming is a benefit, not a necessity.

This could lead to consumers without a decent streaming service. And for those of us who haven't purchased a CD in months that could lead to thousands of consumers with stale music collections. Imagine what would happen if Spotify and Pandora fell off the map. Sure other companies would take their place. That is the power of capitalism, but consumers would be scared, and chances are they would go back to downloading their favorite music through services such as Amazon and iTunes in record numbers. Maybe Apple and Amazon stock isn't a bad idea at this moment.

Now, I am not saying that streaming will fall off the map, and to be honest I am still streaming over downloading as I write this article, but imagine what would happen if these companies disappeared. How much would you have to charge to your iTunes account in the day after, the week after...the year after?

A Drumming Thankful List

This Thanksgiving I wanted to make a list of things drumming related that I am thankful for. Some items on the list may appeal to every drummer, others to just a few of you, and the remaining are special to me. Enjoy and Happy Turkey Day to all.

1. Buddy Rich - I am thankful for Buddy because he continues to inspire me to this day.
2. Modern Drummer Magazine - Thanks to all involved for giving the drumming community our monthly Bible.
3. Ludwig - For giving us the first bass drum pedal in 1909, paving the way for future generations of drum set players across the globe.
4. Steve Gadd - Thanks for giving us the white whale of drumming with the groove to "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover."
5. Kenwood Dennard - Thanks for never giving me a perfect grade during my private lessons, thus teaching this young drummer there is always room for improvement in everything he does.
6. Steve Jobs and the iPod - Thanks for giving me a convenient spot for all my albums so I can jam anywhere my kit takes me.
7. Amazon Kindle - Thanks for giving us drumming instructional books in digital format. Finally I can have all the lessons of the masters with me wherever I travel.
8. Electronic Drums - My neighbors thank you, and I thank you for giving me a way to practice without getting evicted from my apartment. 
9. Duct Tape - Thanks for giving me a way to fix my kit on the fly, help kill overtones, and for the million other uses you supply while on the road.
10. All the musicians I have and will play with - Each of you has and will continue to help me evolve into a better player and happier human being.

That's my list. What are you guys thankful for?

The Drumming Community... Another Reason it's Great to Play the Drums

I was on a mini vacation this past weekend and making my way around a small seafood festival with a margarita in my hand when another patron stopped me and said "hey man nice shirt".  Now, I had forgotten that I was wearing my Modern Drummer t-shirt and took a quick look down to remind myself, before giving him a heartfelt thanks followed by the appropriate question: "so are you a drummer too?"

That question opened up a small conversation between us. In a short time span we talked about the local music scene, the music scene from his hometown, who I was playing with, who he was playing with, and the types of tubs we used. It was nice to run into a fellow drummer on my mini vacation.

As I walked away I couldn't help but think that this is something very unique to us drummers. We seem to share a community that is open to anyone who bangs those skins. I believe we have more clinics in more towns than the players of any other instrument. We have strong magazines with long histories such as Modern Drummer and Drum! that are dedicated to our craft, and we have a plethora of websites that enhance our knowledge of that craft including www.drummersorld.com, The Drummer Cafe, and VicFirth.

It seems that drummers, more than any other musician, want to share their passion and the lessons they have learned with the future generations of players. You have Steve Gadd on his popular clinic tours across the U.S., Rich Redmond hosting his technical and business based Crash Courses for Success, and Tommy Igoe crafting manuals that help the next generation of drummers step up their game. This is something I am proud to be a part of, and why I developed my own book Rudimental Technique and Analysis.

I think the biggest reason the drumming community is so open and welcoming has to do with the nature of our instrument.

Drums were the first instrument on this planet. In fact drumming is even older than the human voice. This happened because the drum represents the heartbeat, and what early tribesmen saw as the soul of the body. To this date the most indigenous tribes in Africa still revere the drummer as the only member capable of speaking to the Gods. In their world the drummer is more powerful than our president.

I like to think that even today this tradition carries forward in every drummer out there. We are the heartbeat of the band and we still represent that pulse that gives music life. We are all part of the eldest instrument on the planet, and it seems we are all proud of what we do. No matter how big or how small.

Here's to the drummer!