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SM 14011 010btO4b0246f7 MAkBF MONT VkEEtiLY New chart tracks 9740 LI tv 12 -inch singles sales L:f.ACH CA 90rO7 LurL, See pages 3, 58 Phil Collins jumps to top 10 on Pop Albums, Hot 100 charts See pages 68, 72 "Star Trek Ill" reaches No. 1 in Video Sales See page .1/ r MARCH 16, 1985/$3.50 (U.S.) VOLUME 97 NO. 11 THE INTERNATIONAL NEWSWEEKLY OF MUSIC AND HOME ENTERTAINMENT Performance Picture Changes INSTITUTES CD ALLOCATION Country Promoters, Agents ABS Label `Wipes Slate Clean' in Pressing Crunch Face Tougher Marketplace This story prepared by Is Horowitz vere shortfall than other majors be- assigned amounts. and Fred Goodman. cause of its reliance largely on do- The system is expected to remain and sustaining- revenues and in- mestic manufacture. in force for "two or three months," BY EDWARD MORRIS come. NEW YORK CBS Records abrupt- But Digital Audio Disk Corp., the or at least until production rates This is the second article in a se- A survey of promoters and ly cancelled all retailer orders for pressing facility set up by CBS/ narrow the shortfall gap. ries about problems facing the agents finds that country music Compact Discs last week to impie- Sony in Terre Haute, Ind., has so Early dealer response to the new country music industry, and that shows have not generally suffered ment an interim fulfillment policy far failed to meet anticipated pro- plan is mixed. Agreeing that long - industry's strategies to solve them. a decline in popularity comparable that will accept new orders only for duction levels. Despite the dropping term unavailability of several hot The first report appeared last to the downturn in the genre's rec- product actually on hand and avail- of new custom work at the plant CBS titles has already created a week. ord sales (Billboard, March 9). Nev- able for immediate delivery. (Billboard, Feb. 9), delivery is still problem, stores hope the system NASHVILLE Live performance ertheless, there have been changes. "We'll wipe the slate clean and below expectations. In addition, will bring an end to needless frus- continues to be a staple of country Club business is conceded to be start fresh," says one label source, shipments from the CBS /Sony (Continued on page 76) music, even as the evolving market- down. Escalating ticket prices have who confirms that orders have accu- plant in Japan have been slim, as de- place challenges those in the con- taken their toll on attendances mulated at rates that bore no mand in Japan has also snowballed. cert business to become more flexi- across a range of venues. And tradi- chance of early satisfaction given Under the new plan, CBS ble and innovative in generating- tional country artists are not pulling the current production crunch. branches will be allocated quanti- NEW PRINCE crowds the way they used to. While the industry has generally ties of CDs, title by title, based on Strategies being employed to been trying to cope with an expo- what is already on hand at the corn- Studio Album counter these and other market dif- nential growth in public demand for pany's warehouse in Pittman, N.J. Video Rentals ficulties include lower talent prices; CDs that has far outpaced world- Each branch manager may then au- Scheduled for an emphasis on "soft ticket" events wide production capacity, CBS is thorize new orders from accounts in Wallop Sales, (Continued on page 76) thought to have suffered a more se- his territory that may not exceed his April Release ADVERTISEMENTS New Study Finds BY SAM SUTHERLAND LOS ANGELES Warner Bros. Records will ship the next Prince BY TONY SEIDEMAN studio album sometime during NEW YORK The average home April, sources at the Burbank -based video specialty store's sale /rental label have confirmed. No firm ship- ratio may be even more skewed ping date has been set for the sin- against sales than previously esti- gle- pocket set, reportedly titled mated. "Around The World In A Day." According to the just -revealed With Prince & the Revolution's preliminary results of a survey of "Purple Rain" album still in the top video stores by A.C. Nielsen, the av- 20 on the album chart, and the home erage number of rental transactions video version of the feature motion at its sample video stores came to picture still high on the video- 1,506 a week, while there were only cassette chart, the arrival of a new 21 sales transactions, creating a album from the superstar would sale /rental ratio of 98.6%. also coincide with the end of his cur- Figures for the median sales and rent concert tour. rental of videocassettes came in at Although the label's plans for the 1,000 sale transactions versus five new album are still under wraps - rental. A median is a measure of with one source admitting, "We had how the stores in the middle of a a shipping date set for about 20 min- sample behave; an average can be O: What do you get when you combine SYLVIA with new songs. America has been taken by storm with "Thunder In The East" utes, but that's now sketchy" -it's considerably more skewed a new band and a new producer? (90246), the LS. debut from Japan's LOUDNESS. With airplay known that several tracks were pre- by high A: "ONE STEP CLOSER ", a superlative new album that cap- building, sales skyrocketing, a video of "Crazy Nights" currently numbers at either end of the scale. tures the excitement and endless possibilities all highlighting the airing, and a major American tour imminent, LOUDNESS lends viewed for WEA personnel during The numbers come from a prelim - superstar status of Sylvia (produced by Brent Maher). RCA Rec- truth to the acage, there are some things you just can't turn recent meetings in Scottsdale, Ariz. (Continued on page 76) ords & Cassettes (AHL1 /AHK1 -5413) down! On Atc3 Records and Cassettes. (Continued on page 76) TEARS FOR FEARS "SONGS FROM THE BIG CHAIR Songs F-om The Big Chair the first all -new collection of THERE NO TEARS FOR FEARS songs since their acclaimed debut album. Featuring * "Everybody Wants To Rule The World "and "Shout." This is the album that's going BACK THE to bring everyone to TEARS Manufactured ano Marketed by og PolyGram Recordt DIGITAL 1985 POLYGRAM RECORDS, INC. TEARS. Album #824 300-1 'Single #880 659-7 > ADVERTISEMENT www.americanradiohistory.com WE DON'T CARE IF YOU HATE IT 90242 Actually, at Island we think that's a good sign. We've learned about the evolution of a sound. Music that's really different takes time to find its niche. A year ago, Island released Frankie Goes To Hollywood. We tried to share our excitement with the industry. The response? Less than enthusiastic. "Sounds interesting, but not right now," you said. "Maybe later." Today, Frankie's top 10. So we're not too upset that you've rejected our first offering of FANS, Malcolm McLaren's newest creation. Not upset at all. 1985 Atlantic Recording Corp.O A Worrer Communications Co. www.americanradiohistory.com BERTELSMANN, RCA OUTLINE PLANS N S SSUE Details of Proposed Worldwide Joint Venture Revealed prominently in German charts, mann board member responsible for BY WOLFGANG SPAHR "We in the VOLUME 97 NO. 11 MARCH 16, 1985 didn't disguise the weakness of the music activities, says: HAMBURG Bertelsmann and company's own repertoire. A link music business recognize the strong RCA last week provided further de- with RCA, it claimed, would give ac- trend from audio to audio /visual ac- increasing 1 NEWS 0-CBS cancels all retailer Compact Disc orders, imple- tails of the proposed worldwide cess to international product, pro- tivities, together with an ments interim allocation policy. 0-Country promoters, agents are joint venture involving their music viding a solid base without being internationalization. facing a tougher marketplace. New study finds video rentals dra- activities. The merger was given the harmful to rival company prospects. "The future of our business lies matically ahead of sales. New studio album from Prince due in go-ahead, to the surprise of the rec- Bertelsmann's turnover in the fi- in better opportunities for our art- well April. 0-3 /Bertelsmann and RCA reveal the details of their pro- ord industry here, by the West Ger- nancial year 1983 -84 was $2.1 billion, ists, writers and producers, as posed worldwide joint venture. Wham! sets concert dates in Chi- man Cartel Office (Billboard, Jan. an increase of 8% over the previous as in creative work. It is our joint to re- na. Sales chart for 12 -inch singles debuts. 0-4 /The Adventure - 19). year. Group chairman Mark understanding under this pact land Video franchise chain holds its first convention and unveils However, a final and legally bind- Woessner says that Ariola had its tain the independence and autono- ambitious growth plans. 0-6 /A CBS Records lawyer says parallel ing realization of the joint enter- best results so far in that year and my in all creative and artistic areas imports are still a problem. 0-78 /Despite high manufacturer's prise depends on the completion of takes an optimistic view of future with, however, joint use of the ser- prices and tight margins, wholesalers have opted to carry the USA various detailed contracts and prospects. vice possibilities within the infra- For Africa charity single. agreements, in particular on the or- Monti Lueftner, president of the structure of the individual compa- in Bertels- nies." 4 Executive Turntable 63 Newsmakers ganizational structure several Ariola record group and the countries.