How a majority of music sales are controlled by Simon Fuller

[stellium]

I went back to read editor James Shepherd's excellent editorial from the end of May today to see if I could find any new ideas in the light of new circumstances today.

This jumped out at me. We have heard from several artists with complaints their albums were controlled in their distributions which affected sales.

James said:
(BEAVERS ON IDOL, MAY 20, 2005)
......The music industry is a huge one, but the major players in it are becoming fewer by the year. If you want your new CD to be distributed into retail, you have about three major players in distribution that handle almost 80% of the distribution and Simon Fuller, the brains behind 19E and Idol, has links to at least two of these three. "

Something important to remember as we hear sales numbers today. An album cannot be sold if it is not unpacked and put out in the store, but instead sent back to the company marked Unsold. An album cannot be sold if a small number ends up being delivered to the outlets. The advanced notices of these albums is also controlled, and the availablility of ordering and delivering. Publicity displays in the stores may not be displayed. Orders may be given for various reasons to limit an album's exposure to the public.

The monopoly of the music industry is another dirty little secret that no one who wants to be paid and make a living at it is willing to talk about. But it is does exist today, in contrast with the large number of distributors in the past, and the public has a right to know.

[ACcountryFan]

Something important to remember as we hear sales numbers today. An album cannot be sold if it is not unpacked and put out in the store, but instead sent back to the company marked Unsold. An album cannot be sold if a small number ends up being delivered to the outlets. The advanced notices of these albums is also controlled, and the availablility of ordering and delivering. Publicity displays in the stores may not be displayed. Orders may be given for various reasons to limit an album's exposure to the public.

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 Stellium, the part i underlined is what i find scary!! I don't understand what Shepherd was talking about. It's a wacky theory and i find it counter-productive. It sounds almost like the music industry or music stores don't want SOME artists or CD's to be successful!!? I have always found it kind of screwy that some CDs are shipped in limited supplies while other CDs are filled to over-flowing!! Back in the early '90s, at Wal*Mart specifically, Garth Brooks CDs were cluttering the entire A-C section of the CD rack during debut week!! And yet, you could barely find 30 copies of a George Strait CD during the debut week for HIM!?!

I probably need to re-read the article a couple of times but the idea of the music industry purposely causing a CD or an artist to flop commercially is how it came across to me the first time i read it.

[stellium]

Right,  Countryfan,  so I don't understand why you find Shepherd's statements wacky and counterproductive when they are so obviously true?  

James Shepherd is the editor of Beavers on Idol and he is Canadian..  The fans of both country's Idols in Canada can tell you a lot about their artists being denied distribution in the United States,  and yet our CD's flood their markets.   The good thing about Shepherd is that he knows first hand many of the manipulations of American Idol,  and his site addresses these all the time.  

I admire the Canadian fresh viewpoint on many subjects.   They have had to live next door to us for too long and have a long history of having to put up with our ego,  our greed,  and our dominating ways.    I find them open and courageous in their views and have for many years.

But these selling issues aside,   the main point of this thread is that Simon Fuller and his group of cohorts control 80% of the distribution of CD's in a wide area of the English speaking world.   Now that IS scary.   It has become a monopoly where in the past there was a wide assortment of distributors and choices.  

To me this makes the top selling charts so bogus and unreliable.   We already know that there are stores who refuse to report their numbers to Neilsen Soundscan or to go along with the majority distribution monopoly,  as Providence Bookstore does not report its numbers,  and some convenience stores that now sell an artist's album for a special promotion do not.   There are also mom and pop stores all over this country and in Branson, Missouri that operate who do not take part in this bigger monopoly.    

The record companies have to know how many are ordered and purchased,  but then they have to be careful not to make the  monopoly angry for their own security.  

I wish the American public were not so naive and quick to accept what is fed to us in the media and on our holy Lists and Charts,    just as Canada and other countries look at them with an amused eye and shake their heads.      Too much money corrupts.    Period.

What is left in our hearts and minds,  after all,   is the music itself.   I still remember the effect that Norway's Kurt Nilsen had on me in the World Idol program and in his songs I downloaded,   a magnificent talent,  but he was never invited over here to appear on our Idol show and his recordings were not allowed to be circulated here.    The same with England's first Pop Idol Will Young,  wow such a genius and jazzy talent.   Who knows how many others we would love from other countries?   They have our CD's,  but we are not allowed to sell  and buy theirs here.

Remember the 70's anthem "We won't be fooled again"  ?    Everything happens for a good reason,  and every unfortunate thing can be a valuable lesson to improve our lives.    I am learning quite a bit from the manipulations and lies and blackballing of American Idol.    I won't be fooled again.

[mainer]

Ladies -- large corportations are now dictating govenmental policy in this country and around the world  to a most-alarming extent, and we sure are feeling like helpless "pawns in the game."  It is definitely time for a grassroots effort to end the monopolies, and where else to begin but with the music industry and Claymanics?

 It seems foolish, in light of his success, to suggest that Clay has also been limited by corporate greed -- and yet we all saw ways in which Idol manipulated AI2 for a Ruben win (and, if they didn't really get one, still got one).

Ok -- the Smoking Clay Pipe takes on the smoking gun -- here is my latest conspiracy theory:  

1)strange that Amazon gave "Red" such great spotlight reviews and gave "Corey Clark" two bogus one star reviews (in spite of the fact that many of his real reviews are 5 Star) -- I suggest that someone at Idol/19 agreed to ask Clay to do the Amazon Birthday delivery, then -- quid pro quo, and unknown to Clay  -- got Amazon to do the spotlight axe job on Corey Clark.

2)Corey lost loads of fan support by not coming out with his CD last year, losing two years for fans to forget him and be rewired by two more Idol seasons.  Why? because someone at Idol got the plug pulled on his record deal. Timing is everything, so they got him thrown out. Why?

3)Although she admits to having had an affair with Simon Lithgoe, K Locke insists it started once on the road, after the contest.  We know KLO is unreliable -- she had an affair with a married man with a baby, brought people in to see Clay's digs without his permission when he was away, etc. -- she is not seen as honest or trustworthy .Others in the Idol mansion say the affair started as soon as Carmen's mom went home and Simon Lithgoe moved into the room she'd used.  The rssidents in the room above would hear KLO and SL having sex below.

4)Kimberley suddenly has the judges rooting for her.

5)OK.  All the bet makers had Kimberley fairly to the back of the crowd of contestants.  She was the only one who really broke with expectations, which she attributed to hard work.  WHO stood between Kimberley and a third place win?  Corey Clark, whom Simon Cowell described, by the way, as always a gentleman, and whom Simon expected to place in the top three; and Trenyce, who was initially stronger than KLO.

6)Now -- who does SL have to get out of the picture, so his beloved -- at the time -- KLO can place in the final three?  YUP -- Corey and Trenyce.  Get them out of the way, KLO moves into third place (unless she is really lucky and places higher) and Josh moves up the line to fall into the newly vacant  fourth place.  It's only a game --like Tetris -- except that it isn't, because they are playing with real people.

7)Next year -- Corey has a record deal (and I think it is with Curb, but I may be wrong and this theory may be less-interesting on this one point). KLo should also be working on  a CD, but has been turned down by two or more record companies.  Corey is too competitve with KLO, anyway, so even if she had a recored deal,  Idol/19 couldn't risk having Corey -- a popluar Idol contestant who was NEVER voted off, and who was better than KLO, coming out with a CD the same year.  SL or someone else from 19 or Idol gets Corey nixed from his deal, and KLO gets the Curb deal (maybe Corey's deal, if his was to have been with Curb).  The Paula stuff is all real, but has Corey blindsided to what was really going on -- and the whole PA thing is now a very convenient red herring.

just a theory -- but something is very rotten in Denmark -- coming from Maine, I suspect it is fish -- just smells very fishy.

This IS only a theory, and I apologize to those I've theorized about -- in advance -- if I'm wrong.But the puzzle pieces just seem to fall into place.

[ACcountryFan]

Right,  Countryfan,  so I don't understand why you find Shepherd's statements wacky and counterproductive when they are so obviously true?

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Oh, I was meaning the concept of what Shepherd was talking about is wacky and counter-productive, not that Shepherd's statements are. I was meaning the truth he was speaking of, the monopoly and the bullying of smaller businesses that Fuller's people do, was wacky and counter-productive because it is...but it's true unfortunately. I didn't address it quite right in my earlier post...    
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To me this makes the top selling charts so bogus and unreliable.

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Here's something ironic! I'm approaching this SoundScan thing from a country music fan's point of view. Before SoundScan was invented, there were people in country music screaming and yelling because the sales numbers weren't reliable on the Hot 100, the chart that ranked the popular selling singles in ALL formats...many country singles and albums that were well-known couldn't find any air-space on Top-40 pop radio because, based on several country journalists, many stores and perhaps many radio programmer's refused to pay attention to a country single's popularity in the mainstream.

Look at country radio now...and several country singers...they're routinely placing CDs and singles on the Hot 100 and Billboard Top-200 because that SoundScan method shows country products are selling as much as pop/rock. So, in some area's of the music industry, SoundScan is a good thing...but it's never totally accurate.

The thing i hate about radio is this airplay monitoring method...which i think has ties with the Fuller group. They rank singles based only on airplay-only and not how well they're selling in stores...this as you might know leads to corruption and only a select handful of artists get airplay as well...and like you said, it makes the most-watched charts look unreliable since it's only a representation of a select and minimized play-list.
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I wish the American public were not so naive and quick to accept what is fed to us in the media and on our holy Lists and Charts, just as Canada and other countries look at them with an amused eye and shake their heads. Too much money corrupts.  Period.

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Back when country CDs were selling in the millions during the early and mid '90s, country radio tasted the money and so they denied airplay to proven greats and only played certain artists who they felt could ALSO sell in the multi-millions...most of this marketing scheme was targeted at the 18-35 demographic and anyone that didn't appeal to that age group, no matter how popular they were in concert sales and no matter how much of a fan base they boasted, they weren't given airplay because they didn't appeal to a pre-determined target audience!! This has been going on in country radio for years and years and only recently it's made it's way to the pop/rock airwaves.

I've always spoken out on many country message boards about the corruption, Clear Channel domination, and the age discrimination country radio admittedly practices. They don't wanna play an artist "too old" for fear it'll scare off younger listeners and they don't wanna play a singer who's "too country" for fear it'll scare off the pop-country demographic...it's money, power, corruption, greed, like you said!!!

With reference to foreign acts not being accepted or promoted widely in the U.S. but OUR acts seem to be everywhere...i've always thought it was because the labels wanted to compete internationally but the act's from over-seas didn't want to promote themselves in the U.S.!? You can tell i'm naive when it comes to this...however, i DO think it was awful the way American Top-40 radio treated this "AQUA" group that was being promoted in the U.S. They had a single called "Barbie Girl". Now, it was a novelty song of course but the radio DJs and the press here destroyed that song and in their own way told the group to go back to Denmark. So, i'm just learning about the American music domination internationally yet our culture seems to deny acts from over-seas...there's just so much corruption from the Fuller people; Clear Channel; and radio consultants; radio programmer's...the media in general!!

I'm sorry if i wasn't being clear in my last post...i say things without realizing how it's coming across. I didn't mean Shepherd's statements were wacky...i meant the way things are is wacky and counter-productive.

[mainer]

I sure appreciate your both being so well informed, even thought the news is not good.

A Country Fan -- your remarks on ageism in Country remind me of that wonderful full newswpaper page Johnnie Cash bought with a full page photograph of him giving the finger to Nashville.  He had had new material and couldn't get anyone in counctry music to do his record, because they thought he was too old.  Well, the rest is hiistory and he swept the grammies, as I remember.

Are there any Clayaniacs who are lawyers or just good detail people who would want to take on a thread to help lead a non-partisan group of Claymaniacs willing to fight for fair access to airwaves, retailers' shelves, fair numbers, etc.?  Are there any or enough Claymaniacs who care about the domination of radio and the recording industry, willing to take enough time to send an occasional rant to state legislators?  Or is the purpose of the site more just to have fun? In which case, is there another site that antitrust dogooders can go to to get with the movement? Does it exist yet?

[ACcountryFan]

A Country Fan -- your remarks on ageism in Country remind me of that wonderful full newswpaper page Johnny Cash bought with a full page photograph of him giving the finger to Nashville.  He had had new material and couldn't get anyone in country music to do his record, because they thought he was too old.  Well, the rest is hiistory and he swept the grammies, as I remember.

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YEAH! I REMEMBER THAT! IT'S IN BILLBOARD MAGAZINE AND HE'S THANKING NASHVILLE AND COUNTRY RADIO FOR ALL OF THEIR SUPPORT

[stellium]

Somewhere deep deep down in our heritage,  we are still a nation of rebels and risk takers,  or we would not be on this continent in the first place,  although it is hard to find it sometimes.  

I remember when the country artists were the Cinderella of the music industry,  the "stepchildren",  without a chart on Billboard at all.   Public demand and outrage improved that situation.   Radio's Grand Ole Opry sure did a lot to help over the years,  or they would never have been noticed at all  except in local communities.

This giant corporation called a music industry today is against everything that a  "free society"  represents and fights for.   I know the trend is the opposite direction in gov't,  but I have faith in the truth that sooner or later the wicked get theirs and get out.     Blackballing careers just makes me furious,  no matter who it is.   But first the public have to wise up and quit following along like sheep just to get a good laugh or have another target to kick.  

It is scary how the situation has deterioated to the point there are only 3  music distributing groups now,  and Simon Fuller and his friends control two of them.    Like a king granting favors and dismissing others.

[stellium]

Reminds me of Clay's statement in his book on page 208:

"Clive Davis is the emperor of the recording industry in this country."

[stellium]

Cedoux of CB sent me these examples of these limiting technique that she witnessed herself in the early days of Clay's career when the Idol producers saw him as competition for Ruben's sales.  This is the period of time where I actually heard Simon Cowell attacking Clay's sexual orientation on a radio talkshow  and started crying realizing they would ruin Clay if they could.   In fact,  this is what prompted me to write to Fred Bronson for the first time,  since he has just interviewed Clay in a long two part interview for Billboard and I thought he  might be sympathetic in trying to help.

Cedoux says:

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Quote:
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An album cannot be sold if it is not unpacked and put out in the store
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I experienced this at our Walmart for MCWL. I had to ask for it because it wasn't out on the shelves. The department manager said that they did not have room for all of the CD's that they had, so they only put out the best sellers. I actually told her that if she got Clay's CD out on the shelves, that it would be a great seller.

Quote:
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The advanced notices of these albums is also controlled
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This was also the case with MCWL; Walmart usually has a sign up for "coming soon" and Clay's CD was not listed.


The more I learn about the music industry, the more determined I am to make Clay's next CD successful!
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[stellium]

I never got back here about the monopoly situation of the distribution control by Simon Fuller on the music industry, up to 80% of all of it here on this continent, says editor James Shepherd.

James has told me since then that what is included in these distribution controls are extended throughout the entire world!

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"As for Simon Fuller, he has dealings with two of the major distributors - Sony-BMG and Universal. These two together control 50% of music distribution in the world."
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BMG, of course, would be Clay's RCA, and Universal would be
Corey's Bungalo Records.

Any business that makes their money selling and distributing CD's would take their lead and the suggestions from the controlling powers , or face too many problems to survive.