$5.95 (U.S.), $6.95 (CAN.), £4.95 (U.K.), Y2,500 (JAPAN) IN MUSIC NEWS IBXNCCVR **** * ** 3 -DIGIT 908 1190807GEE374EM0021 BLBD 576 001 032198 2 126 1256 3740 ELM A LONG BEACH CA 90807 Fogerty Is Back With Long- Awaited WB Set PAGE 11 THE INTERNATIONAL NEWSWEEKLY OF MUSIC, VIDEO AND HOME ENTERTAINMENT r APRIL 19, 1997 ADVERTISEMENTS Labels Testing Chinese Mkt. Urban Acts Put New Spin Liaison Offices Offer Domestic Link BY GEOFF BURPEE pendents: America's Cherry Lane On Spoken -Word Genre Music, Taiwan's Rock Records, and HONG KONG -As a means of Hong Kong's Fitto. However, these BY J.R. REYNOLDS itual enrichment. establishing and testing ties within companies (and others that would Labels are bowing projects by China's sprawling, underdeveloped like a presence) must r e c o g n i z e LOS ANGELES -A wave of releas- such young hip -hop and alternative - recording restraints on es by African- American spoken -word influenced artists as Keplyn and industry, their activi- acts will soon Mike Ladd, a- the "repre- SONY ties, such as begin flowing longside product sentative" EMI state con- through the retail by pre- hip -hop or "liaison" trols on lic- pipeline, as labels poets like Sekou office is be- ensing music attempt to tap Sundiata and coming an increasingly from outside of China and into growing con- such early -'70s valuable tool for interna- SM the lack of a developed sumer interest in spoken -word pio- tional music companies market within. the specialized neers as the Last Such units also serve as an As early as 1988, major recording genre. OYEWOLE WATTS PROPHETS Poets and the Rivi in Billboar' A &R antenna, a promotion center, and Hong Kong -based music companies In an effort to Watts Prophets. Pone, Entertainment a licensing connection. to by People and/ began enter the mainland setting overcome spoken -word's traditional- "Those acts only represent the tip The foreign firms thus represented up representative offices or joint -ven- ly esoteric nature, the labels are min- of the iceberg, in terms of quality include three multinationals -BMG, ture Chinese music production enter- ing talent across several generations black poets that are out there," says EMI, and Sony -and a trio of inde- prises. In recent years, the much - and often setting their words in rich Amaechi Uzoigwe, co-founder of New hyped prospect of China "opening up" musical beds. The themes, though, York multimedia outfit Ozone Enter- Country Artists Facing A has been seen in sharper focus, as the remain timeless: social strife and spir- (Continued on page 16) (Continued on page 109) Competitive Marketplace German Labels, Acts The This story was written by Phyllis Stark, managing editor of Country Changing Radio Landscape Share In Market Gains CANNES Airplay Monitor. CLASSICAL BY WOLFGANG SPAHR NASHVILLE -The instant success Affects `Modern Rock' Acts AWARDS stories of country music artists like HAMBURG -The German record Mindy McCready, Deana Carter, This story was written by Marc Around With You)" debuted at No. market, the world's Presented LeAnn Rimes, Trace Adkins, and Schiffman, managing editor of Rock 36 on the mainstream rock chart for third largest, grew January 20th, 1997 Kevin Sharp-who were gold or plat- Airplay Monitor. the week that ended March 23 and 2.2% in value terms Best Label inum sellers on their debut albums held that spot the following week. last year to achieve (Specialty or Repertoire) and broke at radio with their first sin- NEW YORK-More than two years Helmet's "Exactly What You Want- total revenues of gles both heartening and memo- it nearly I1 -are after became impossible to ed" debuted on the mainstream $3.5 billion at retail NAXOS rable. But far more common are the distinguish between the modern and rock chart March 16 at No. 33 and prices, according to artists who get signed, release a few active rock radio formats, a new pro- moves to No. 25 this issue. Neither figures just released by industry asso- singles, either have a few minor chart gramming wrin- of those songs ciation BPW. records or fail to make a dent at radio, kle has recently NEWS ANALYSIS have charted on Though the growth rate may be (TA release albums that sell poorly, and emerged. the modern modest, the figures contain two pieces are quickly dropped or ask to be re- Bands such as rock chart. (Continued on page 101) CANNES CLASSICAL AWARDS leased from their labels. Columbia's the Offspring, Island's The Offspring's "Gone Away" is Presented January 20. 1997 at MIbEM (Continued on page 99) Local H, and Interscope's Helmet No. 7 on Modern Belt Label - this issue Rock George Strait (Specialty or Repertoire) rooted in the modern rock revolu- Tracks and No. 5 on Mainstream Naxos tion -find themselves doing better Rock Tracks; it made the main- NASHVILLE MUSIC on the Mainstream Rock Tracks stream rock chart's top 10 three Sticks With \ g chart than on Modern Rock Tracks. weeks before it reached the top 10 for F, rr'1t1 (Active rock plays harder and modern rock. Tradition on younger -leaning tracks than the Two reasons cited for this format- wider mainstream rock format.) shifting phenomenon are a lack of cur- MCA N'ville 11111 11111 IIIII 11111 11111 Local H's "Fritz's Corner (Messin' (Continued on page 95) PAGE 30 SEE PAGE 35 ::.;e RHSSUE '.'' A BILLBOARD SPOTLIGHT i' SEE PAGE 71 i 1,1Ar 1.1141101 101611.C, the essential electronic .' music collection. $5.95 US 56.95 CANADA out in the chemical brothers * fluke * underworld 16> the future sound of london * photek * aphex twin 350,000 shipped ' * * * orb tal tranquility bass goldie prodigy * josh win the crystal method * atari teenage riot i i street date: b may 1997 i caroline ASrzY+ivvEw.S o 748 08 025 2 7 . ADVERTISEMENT www.americanradiohistory.com MY LIFE - DOUBLE PLATINUM #1 R &B & TOP 10 POP ALBUM a? WHAT'S THE 411 - DOUBLE PLATINUM #1 R&B &TOP 10 POP ALBUM GRAMMY AWARD rox "You're All I Need" DUET WITH METHOD MAN F O U R N U M B E R O N E S I N G L E S TWO GOLD SINGLES & THREE TOP TEN POP SINGLES O M U L T I P L E S O U L T R A I N A W A R D S v GRAMMY AWARD NOMINATION FOR "Not Gon' Cry" FROM THE WAITING TO EXHALE SOUNDTRACK Management Steve Lucas and Assoc. Inc. & Steve Stoute Management www.americanradiohistory.com THE NEW ALBUM featuring "LOVE IS ALL WE NEED" with NAS PRODUCTION BY BABYFACE JIMMY JAM & TERRY LEWIS MTUME R. KELLY TRACKMASTERS BRYCE WILSON MALIK P '" TON and RODNEY JERKINS www.americanradiohistory.com Bob Batscha and Michael Bolton invite you to join us in honoring SIrances Preston Presider and CEO es v The Music & Broadcast, Cable, Video Divisions of UJA- Federation of New York Wednesday, June 18, 1997 at Noon The Essex House, New York City Join us as we 'toast' Frances and recognize her dedication to meaningful philanthropic activities. Frances' steadfast support of UJA- Federation and The New York Music for Youth Foundation demonstrates her commitment and leadership to making the world a better place. For Luncheon Reservations and information on placing an Ad in the Commemorative Journal, please call Ron Brien at (212) 836-1126 or Nicole Walker at (212) 836 -1853. Entertainment & Music Industries Division Chairs Vice Chairs Honorary Chairs Edward Bleier Harold Akselrad Mel Ilberman Martin Payson Stephen Swid Marty Pompadur Charles Feldman Sy Malamed Sumner Redstone Laurence Tisch Bob Meyers Bernard Myerson Lou Weiss Music Division Chairs Honorary Chair Jerry Gold Mel Ilberman Joel Schoenfeld UJA FEDERATION OF NEW YORK www.americanradiohistory.com PG. No. 'I IN BILLBOARD NO. VOLUME 109 NO. 16 Thomson Joins Ranks Of DVD Suppliers THE BILLBOARD 200 106 * UFE AFTER DEATH THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G. BAD BOY Nat'l Software Rollout May Affect Hardware Strategy CLASSICAL can be found in only 55 BY SETH GOLDSTEIN software to authorized Thomson dealers. "I hardware and software * PLAYS RACHMANINOV doesn't make DAVID HELFGOTT RCA VICTOR don't have an answer" as to whether player seven cities ?" Pesce asks. "It NEW YORK- Thomson Consumer Elec- shipments will widen, Pesce told Billboard. sense." CLASSICAL CROSSOVER 55 tronics formally entered the DVD lists with However, he doubts the Columbia TriStar Things are different in the seven mar- * SHINE SOUNDTRACK PHIUPS announcements April 9 here and in Los Ange- release schedule by itself will force a change. kets-Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Dallas, New York, and Washington, o COUNTRY les that it has begun shipping RCA players to Warner -distributed titles, with movies from Chicago, THE EARLY YEARS 34 outlets in the seven markets earmarked for MGM Home Entertainment, New Line D.C. -where Thomson is promoting a street P * UNCHAINED MELODY / LEANN RIMES CURB Warner Home Video -distributed releases. Home Video, and HBO Home Video, will price of $499 for its least expensive player The effort to focus its firepower max- dominate in -store displays until uncommit- and Image is delivering a 24- title, 72 -disc dis- A HEATSEEKERS -and 21 may ted studios like Disney and 20th Century Fox play to hardware outlets. Almost 300 have * KENNY LATTIMORE KENNY LATTIMORE COLUMBIA imize early sales -on the rollout cities L not last more than a couple of weeks, howev- begin DVD deliveries. bought a pre-pack, says Pesce, who expects B JAZZ er. Underscoring just how closely DVD play- Less than a year ago, Thomson was pur- the number to rise to 500 "when the dust set- * BEYOND THE MISSOURI SKY 56 ers are yoked to software availability, Thom- suing an aggressive DVD strategy based on tles." u CHARUE HADEN & PAT METHENY VERVE son could be forced to go national, in part Hollywood's wholehearted participation.