BET Produces Hip Hop Awards

Move over Source and Vibe, BET just carved out another niche: the premier of its first now-to-be Annual Hip-Hop Awards show. And it looked like BET got it right out the gate. First up, they hosted the show in November from Atlanta—the South—where most of today’s most successful hip-hop acts are originating. Secondly, BET produces television shows by trade, so they weren’t out of their element by putting this together. Lastly, the show served to further enhance the already popular BET brand and brought some added economic kick and clout to the city of Atlanta. One low point, too many male-driven performances (unless you were a video girl). We need more female rappers out there. I’m also wondering what effect, if any, the hip-hop show will have on the yearly award show normally held in June.

Changes, Firings and Layoffs at Sony Music

Now, if you remember during the month of March, earlier this year, Mr. Donnie Ienner was named Chairman of the Sony Label Group, overseeing all matters musical on the Sony side of the SonyBMG merger. So, imagine to all of our amazements when we heard that he and his main lieutenant, Michelle Anthony, were let go come early June. Of, course the issue wasn’t dead, as the company looked to downsize its Classical and Urban Music Division towards the end of the year. Other than select successes with Beyonce, Three 6 Mafia and John Legend, like the overall industry, sales were soft for the record label behemoth (e.g. Ginuwine, Jagged Edge, and Kanye West’s Good Music label are no longer with Sony). What’s next for Sony Music? We’ll simply have to wait and see.

Clear Channel to be Acquired

This was a biggie! Clear Channel Communications, the world’s larger radio group, announced a merger agreement with a group led by Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. (think Warner Music Group) and Bain Capital Partners, LLC. The transaction is reportedly worth approximately $26.7 billion. According to the Los Angeles Times, this deal ranks as the fourth-biggest leveraged buyout in history. We’re hearing more sooner than later that the investment group has plans to sell off as many as 448 of its radio and television stations in selected smaller markets. Of course, such a move sends shockwaves through the industry. Could this be an opportunity to see a sizable increase in independent and minority ownership? Let’s not get eagerly optimistic! Once again, we will have to wait and see what the turn-out with be.

Executive Musical Chairs

A firing or resignation by an influential executive at one major record company can cause a flurry of hirings around the industry. Earlier this year, music industry veteran Step Johnson was named President of Black Music for Interscope Geffen A&M—an organization which for the most part never necessarily doted on job titles. But with a triumvirate of labels that includes Dr. Dre, The Game, 50 Cent, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Common and Mary J. Blige, the buck had to stop somewhere before it got to Chairman Jimmy Iovine’s office. Well, VP of Rap Promotions, Kevin Black, left earlier this fall for Warner Bros. Records—while Troy Marshall (who held a similar post at Universal-Motown) replaces Black. Who knows how the Virgin Black Music Division will fare without J.D., and as of presstime how a presumed shake-up of the Sony Urban Music division will end up. Stay tuned!

Jay-Z Comes out of Retirement

We knew this self-imposed retirement couldn’t last forever. Jay is afterall rap royalty. He went out on top and the demand is just too great for an artist of his caliber to work entirely behind the scenes. With that said, he took his brand and aligned with companies such as Hewlett Packard and Budweiser, released a highly-anticipated album that opened up with nearly 700,000 units sold in its first week, and shot a hot video featuring two of the most prominent NASCAR drivers—further crossing over his brand into an arena not traditionally known for supporting hip-hop, and allowing some of his core audience to see him alongside celebrities they may not be as familiar with in the car racing world. In addition, avid sports fans get to hear the “Show Me What You Got” smash on the NFL and NBA TV bumpers. With all of this song activity (including contributions on the Platinum Beyonce album), Jay’s licensing and publishing ops have gotta be off the charts!

Jermaine Dupri Exits Virgin

Unless you were living in a cave, we all knew that Mr. Dupri (Janet Jackson’s beau) was none to happy with the lukewarm results of his girl’s first and second week 20 Y.O. numbers. With the exception of MTV (who pretty much boycotted the singer due to the Super Bowl 2004 incident until about mid-way through the life of the album’s second single, “So Excited”), Ms. Janet managed to appear practically everywhere from the Today Show to Oprah, to two major appearances on BET’s 106 & Park. Still, Dupri, ended up stepping down as the Head of Black Music for Virgin Records, and is supposed to be maintaining a separate deal through the company where he will continue to sign and develop talent as he sees fit. Virgin did break Dem Franchise Boys this year—and the way I see it, Janet, was hardly a flop at all, when considering the length of her career and her ability to still open up in the Top Ten, especially alongside these young artists today who at best have a very fickle and un-loyal audience. It will be good to see J.D. doing what he does best though: developing artists and churning out hits!

Radio One Celebrates 25 Years

While some radio groups are being acquired and selling off stations, others continue on a path of significant growth. Earlier this year, Radio One’s founder, Ms. Cathy Hughes was named one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business by Black Enterprise magazine. It was a timely accolade for a company celebrating its 25th anniversary with a year-long series of events—capping things off with a star-studded gala at the JW Marriott in Washington, D.C. Among the notables in attendance were Beyonce, Janet Jackson, Jay-Z and a host of others. Radio One now proudly owns and operates more than 70 stations in 22 urban markets.

Return of the Urban Musical, Idlewild & Dreamgirls

Isn’t the day of the big movie musical supposed to be dead? Well, apparently no one told the major film studios. After successes with Moulin Rouge and Chicago, 2006 saw two musicals produced featuring top African-Americans stars. Idlewild (starring OutKast) received mixed reviews by the audiences who saw it, and in many circles (depending who you talked to) thought the film was very good. But the numbers certainly didn’t reflect it. Personally, I think it was just timing. I can guarantee you that audiences will love Dreamgirls (having seen an early screener of the movie, all I gotta say is Jennifer Hudson, Jennifer Hudson, Jennifer Hudson). While Jamie Foxx, Beyonce and Eddie Murphy were nothing short of incredible, too, the movie is a visual tour de force. Hopefully Oscars will be in tow for Best Picture, Costumes, Supporting Actress, and Score.

Tower Records Goes out of Business

You think some things are going to last forever; yet, the most venerable music retailer in existence will be closing its doors upon the liquidation of its product. The 89-store Tower chain had been signaling signs of trouble for years, what with filing Chapter 11 and all, but many had hoped that a suitor would come along and bail out the 35-year old retailer. Well, one did, sort of, the Great American Group, which took over the company in early October and immediately declared that it would no longer buy new product, sell off the existing inventory and let go the company’s 3,000 employees. Not only are Tower employees affected by this move, but think of all the sales people employed by the various major labels and distribution companies that exclusively serviced Tower accounts. In many cases, there is no where else for them go—adding further to the layoff pool. The one silver lining is that the Tower Records brand could live on in cyberspace via Tower.com. Still it’s the end of an era!

Zune Player’s Launch

We’re not entirely sure of how the Zune device and its musical experience will affect the overall marketplace, but it will offer some healthy and well-needed competition to Apple’s iPod and the iTunes experience. Launched during mid-November, music lovers are able to purchase a 30GB digital media player, with access to Zune’s music service and growing online music community. Even the major labels and their artists are able to get in on the action—in addition to receiving a royalty for each downloadable song sold, Microsoft (creators of Zune) will pay labels such as the Universal Music Group (the first in its line of label clients) a portion of Zune device sales.