CoverV4_cover template 29/08/2012 11:23 Page 1 3 5 9 776669 776136 THE BUSINESS OF MUSIC www.musicweek.com 31.08.12 £5.15 NEWS BIGINTERVIEW FEATURE 04 10 17 How are Warner Bros Records Award-winning producer Ethan A special report on the South going to market three Green Johns on how he approaches African music market, its Day albums in five months? the recording process challenges and its successes X FACTOR BOSSES PULL SONG FROM iTUNES - BUT SPRAGGAN STILL DESTINED FOR FIRST CHART HIT On air/off sale QUEST FOR GLORY offline in preparation for some TELEVISION Lucy Spraggan: I BY TIM INGHAM Self-released song hit things coming up. Not my call No.2 on Tuesday Midweeks to make, get it while you can!” Quest, run by Arcade Fire and Factor bosses will be A YouTube video of Paul McCartney manager Scott Rodger (above), has picked nervously awaiting the Spraggan’s X Factor performance up the X Factor management X arrival of this Sunday’s has racked up more than 2.7 account for the new series. Official Charts after asking million views, whilst her album The firm is 50% owned by Live contestant Lucy Spraggan to was still available on Spotify at Nation. Quest is given the option remove her album from digital the time of going to press. to take on any contestants who music sites. An X Factor insider said: “It’s make it through to the X Factor Spraggan’s performance of her a difficult one because on the live stages. own song Last Night (Beer Fear) one hand, we’re delighted for Lucy Spraggan and others on the latest ITV1 show triggered Lucy, and its testament to how entrants in the early stages of a spike in online sales for the great the song is and also what a the competition have officially existing version of the track. huge impact this year’s X Factor dropped any previously associated representation, Music X Factor organisers reacted by is already having on the pop Week understands. asking Spraggan to remove the scene. But on the other hand, Dutch Van Spall, co-director of song and related album Top Room The X Factor is a competition Spraggan’s former management At The Zoo - released and it has to be a level playing team at Big Help, told Music independently last year - from the field for all contestants.” Week: “We managed Lucy to the web, fearing any chart success with more than 22,000 sales competition and, where possible, A spokesperson for digital point [of X Factor], but we are during the programme’s early whilst Top Room At The Zoo receive the same exposure.” music distributor TuneCore told now not officially representing stages could compromise the hit No.7 on the Albums list. Spraggan isn’t the only 2012 Music Week: “We received a her. We knew she had to get on competition. By Wednesday Rule changes on this year’s X contestant to have been asked to message from the account holder TV. She has some great songs, morning, the song and album were Factor allow contestants to have take down material: James requesting the removal of the but she is a visual person with great expression and character. both unavailable on the likes of an agent and sing their own Arthur, who also performed last track from TuneCore. “The one thing X Factor can Amazon and iTunes. compositions. An X Factor Saturday, has removed his “TuneCore’s policy allows give you that no-one else can is However, the move may have spokesperson told Music Week: existing recordings since the anyone to take down their TV exposure. This is only the tip arrived too late to scupper “All contestants have been asked competition began. release at any time, so we of the iceberg. She has more Spraggan’s first chart hit: Last to remove their recordings as it is Sheffield artist Spraggan followed her request.” great songs and her album will Night registered at No.5 on essential that all the contestants warned fans on Sunday: “Oh Apple told Music Week it was definitely be a No.1.” Wednesday’s Midweek charts are treated fairly during the dear. The album is coming not responsible for the decision. Q2’s leading publishers revealed in new Music Week analysis EMI and Sony/ATV claimed Sony/ATV, which led the chart-topping Young and Conor biggest albums of the quarter could individually outscore the leading shares of UK chart consortium to buy the rival Maynard’s Can’t Say No. EMI’s was even greater – 35.0% - with Universal whose 23.8% share singles in Q2 in a period in publishing outfit for £1.4bn. other hits included Train’s Drive EMI on 18.7% and Sony/ATV included albums by Adele, which the biggest deal in music Between them EMI and By and Sony/ATV’s Whistle by on 16.3%, according to Music Nicki Minaj and Coldplay. publishing history was sealed. Sony/ATV commanded a 33.8% Flo Rida and Rudimental Week research. Emeli Sande’s Warner/Chappell, meanwhile, EMI grabbed an unrivalled sales share of the UK’s 100 featuring John Newman’s Feel Our Version Of Events was got back into double figures on 17.1% of the market based on biggest singles over the three The Love. among the albums in which both both singles and albums. I the quarter’s Top 100 sellers with months with both companies The two companies’ had substantial shares. See page 12-13 for the full second place occupied by having songwriters on Tulisa’s combined presence on the However, neither company UK Q2 publishing analysis 02-03 NEWSV2_News and Playlists 29/08/2012 10:06 Page 2 2 Music Week 31.08.12 www.musicweek.com NEWS EDITORIAL SEAL DEAL AND CHART-TOPPER HERALD FRESH ERA Generation X Horn of plenty for given so few chances to shine the resurgent SPZ PUBLISHING IT’S THE CATALYST that drives many modern music successes: the I BY PAUL WILLIAMS “Before I joined, for a immediacy of The Moment; that slender second in time when a long time the publishing fledgling career takes flight and enters the stratosphere. new publishing deal with company in particular Fevered retweets, little blue digital thumb imprints and, soon Seal and UK No.1 single enough, cold hard sales follow suit. The music industry’s smart A with Sam And The had been dormant. cookies - from Richard Russell to Daniel Glass - have clearly figured Womp are signalling a real There hadn’t been new out that it doesn’t pay to try and rush The Moment. It doesn’t renaissance at Trevor Horn’s signings. As soon as happen on your watch. It doesn’t come with a price tag. It refuses SPZ Group. I joined it was very clear to fit in with quarterly bonuses. The Kiss From A Rose star to me the publishing All you can be certain of - whether manager, label president, has agreed to extend his two- publishing guru, live promoter or poised plugger - is that when decade working relationship with was the focus. We would The Moment finally arrives, you owe it to your artist, yourself and Horn after signing a new release the odd thing your bottom line to go hell for leather in its wake. agreement with SPZ’s Perfect on Stiff and ZTT Lucy Spraggan’s Moment crash landed onto ITV1 on Saturday Songs, while Sam And The but focus on the evening. The Sheffield artist’s performance of Last Night (Beer Womp’s Bom Bom has given the Fear) was a triumph; both for the singer/songwriter and for X company a double chart-topper publishing company” Factor bosses, whose decision to permit original compositions on as publisher and label. ALLY HORN, SPZ GROUP 2012’s series was noisily vindicated by a crowd whooping even Bom Bom is the first No.1 louder than when Christina Aguilera beamed pre-watershed smut since Madness’s House Of Fun into The Daily Mail’s disapproving peepers. on the Stiff label, which was revived by SPZ in 2007, while “It’s hard to blame X Factor bosses for blocking Perfect Songs also handles Lucy Spraggan’s ascent: they acted to protect their 100% of the publishing. No.1 property, which is a TV show – not an artist” Among the writers is Trevor’s son Aaron who is a member of Problem is, like thousands of artists across the country, Lucy Sam And The Womp. Spraggan’s been clamouring for her Moment for years. Unlike The new Seal deal and Bom your typical melisma-riddled X Factor karaoke types, she has Bom’s chart-topping success Charts Charts Company/officialcharts.com history in this game. And that history doesn’t fit with the Vaseline- come in a period of renewed lensed X Factor ‘journey’, which begins on that stage, on that focus for SPZ with Trevor’s Official night, in front of Louis Walsh’s effeminate giggles. daughter Ally – a lawyer by trade Photo: For X Factor to work, the public must accept its audition stage Horn kicks: Trevor Horn (top), son Aaron who has just scored – having been brought in last a No.1 single with Sam And The Womp (above) and Seal (right) as year zero; as light entertainment’s fallopian tubes. Barlow, year as managing director Tulisa, Mel B and even squeaky Louis have to remain all-powerful followed by the appointments of “Everybody feels very positive this week. gate keepers to showbiz.