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Experts answer your questions. For
February 13, 2009
Ask Billboard is updated every Friday. Submit your burning music questions to Gary Trust at askbb@billboard.com. Please include your first and last name, as well as your city, state and country, if outside the U.S.
VIDEO EVOLUTION
Hello Gary,
As Eminem approaches his "Relapse" in rap music (readying his forthcoming album of the same name), his comeback song "Crack a Bottle" has reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 without a music video. I was wondering your observations on the importance of music videos as a promotional tool in today's music.
Thanks,
Randy Palag
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Hi Randy,
Record labels still believe that videos are effective in helping to sell albums. What's mostly different about videos today when compared to the past is the ways in which they're consumed.
Last November, MTV's "TRL" aired its last episode after 10 years of broadcast and, though the show helped spur the careers of several rising stars, decreased ratings contributed to the series' cancellation. Videos are no longer a major part of MTV or VH1's programming, and even offshoot channels like VH1 Classic often schedule concerts and other special programming.
Like so many other forms of entertainment, videos have segued to more on-demand usage. Instead of waiting for a video to air on TV, now you can simply view a clip online for free or go to iTunes and download a video that you can then view on your computer or iPod whenever you like. Where Dire Straits once sang of MTV, Mariah Carey now references YouTube …
Putting videos further into the hands of the public, social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook enable users to feature videos prominently on their pages. And if you search for an official music video online, you're just as likely to find a homemade version, or a cover recorded in someone's living room.
But no matter how they're viewed, videos still have the power to propel a song or artist into further pop culture awareness. OK Go created a buzz with its famed Grammy Award-winning treadmill-heavy video for "Here it Goes Again." Sugarland's cover of Dream Academy's '80s classic "Life in a Northern Town," with Little Big Town and Jake Owen, became a country radio hit last year after repeated airings of the live concert video on CMT. And most recently, Beyonce's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)," with its striking dance moves, inspired numerous parodies, including her own humorous take on "Saturday Night Live."
Going forward, the issue of online videos continues to be a thorny one for record labels, as Billboard reported here.
'AMERICAN IDOL' FAMILY FEUD
Dear Gary,
Although they have both enjoyed huge success, can you please settle a big family dispute about two "American Idol" winners? Who has sold more albums, Carrie Underwood or Kelly Clarkson?
Thanks,
Robert Becker
Knoxville, Tennessee
Hi Robert,
I'd hate for things to be contentious at the dinner table tonight, so here goes.
Sales for Kelly Clarkson's three albums to date are as follows, according to Nielsen SoundScan:
"Thankful" (2003), 2,715,000
"Breakaway" (2004), 6,044,000
"My December" (2007), 785,000
Carrie Underwood's album sales look like this:
"Some Hearts" (2005), 6,695,000
"Carnival Ride" (2007), 2,631,000
So, Clarkson leads, with her albums having sold 9,544,000 copies, just ahead of the 9,326,000 units Underwood's have sold. Those who guessed Clarkson, thus, win bragging rights. The original "Idol" queen will pull even further ahead with the release of "All I Ever Wanted" March 17.
Then again, the artists' sums are close, and Clarkson's career started before Underwood's, so she's had more time, and one more album, to add to her totals.
Oops, I may have just kept the argument going instead of settling it…
BEGINNING OF 'THE END'
Hi Gary,
I'm a big fan of the Black Eyed Peas and I can't wait to buy their new album. Do you know its release date? It has apparently been pushed back many times.
Sincerely,
Sebastian Huth
Munich, Germany
Hi Sebastian,
Although no exact date has been confirmed by label sources, Billboard recently reported that the Peas' new set, to be titled 'The END,' is due in March.
The group is slated to tour, as well. You can read the entire story here.
The Black Eyed Peas' Billboard Hot 100 chart history comprises eight titles between 2001 and 2005. Two of those songs reached the top five: "Don't Phunk with My Heart" and "My Humps," both of which reached No. 3.
Since then, Fergie passed the act's top five output with her solo set "The Dutchess." That album sported five top fives, making Fergie the first solo female to score that many top five tracks from one release since Paula Abdul in 1989-90.
The Black Eyed Peas' four studio albums, dating to their 1998 debut with "Behind the Front" (Fergie didn't join until their third album, 2003's "Elephunk"), have sold 7,806,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
"The Dutchess" has sold 3,755,000 copies since its 2006 release.
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Gary Trust is Billboard's pop/adult chart manager. He oversees the Pop 100, Mainstream Top 40, Adult Contemporary and Adult Top 40 charts. He also edits the Billboard Canadian Update and manages the pop and adult charts for sister publication Radio & Records. Before joining Billboard, Gary spent 14 years in New England radio. He graduated with a bachelor of science degree in communications from Boston University, where he worked at student-run station WTBU (home of Howard Stern's first on-air job).
Note: Questions regarding the Recording Industry Association of America's gold and platinum certification program can be answered by visiting RIAA.com.
Send all your burning music questions to Gary at askbb@billboard.com
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