There are a lot of rumours that the Beatles catalogue will be released on iTunes within the next 30 min. While Apple, EMI and the Beatles estate have yet to announce the partnership officially, Billboard has stated that they believe from their own Music industry sources that a deal is in place and ready to come about.
Those of you not lucky [Ha ha] enough to live in the UK may have missed this Easter Monday’s broadcast of The People’s Artist Chart on the Beeb. Based on plays reported to Phonographic Performance Limited, AKA PPL, a body that licenses broadcast and other performances of tracks that are signed up to its catalogue (and charges mysteriously priced licensing fees to venues), the chart detailed the artists that had most plays in the decade 2000-2009. Here they are:
1. Madonna
2. The Beatles
3. Robbie Williams
4. Queen
5. Take That
6. Sugababes
7. Elton John
8. Elvis Presley
9. Abba
10. Coldplay
Incredible to see Elvis still topping the play charts after almost 40 years since his death, and that the pop bands of yesteryear are still more active on the airwaves than current acts. Does this list really define the decade? Listen to the programme via the BBC iPlayer here, and make your own mind up.
Smoke without fire, storms in teacups and cries of “Wolf” abound; despite all the discussion of and online about the potential sale of Abbey Road studios to try and help ease EMI’s cash crisis (yes, we squawked [should that be tweeted?] with the rest of the giddy hens), which included such notables as Sir Paul McCartney and the National Trust, there is no truth to the rumour that they are looking to sell the iconic recording venue – in fact they rejected an offer to buy it just last year…
EMI (actually it’s parent the Gramophone Company) bought the house atNo. 3 Abbey Road in 1931, at the bargain price of £100,000 (around £20 million in today’s money) and turned it into a custom built studio complex capable of recording a full orchestra. The first of such being Sir Edward Elgar conducting the London Symphony Orchestra in recording sessions of his music. It is one of two that the company own, the other being Capitol Studios in L.A., and is most famous as the namesake of the Beatles album. Now it is being rumoured that EMI are considering the sale of the studio to help meet the financial targets imposed by the massive loan that their owners Terra Firma took out against the value of the company.
Neilsen gathers information from both bricks and mortar and online stores in the US, and has released a full report of music sales in 2009. The album charts are more or less what you might expect, apart from the last minute addition of Susan Boyle, who sold almost as much in the 5 weeks after her debut was released as Taylor Swift, the next biggest selling artist of 2009. Michael Jackson’s death in the Summer undoubtedly caused his high chart position, but dear old Lady Gaga has smashed into the number 4 position from practically a standing start. Shows what you can achieve if you’re prepared to take your clothes off in a college bar, dole out some pizza and start selling your hair.
In terms of an artists’ overall units, rather than single albums, MJ topped the list, with the Beatles (whose catalogue is owned by the Jackson estate) making a surprise appearance at number 3, presumably supported by their Rock Band license deal.
2009 TOP TEN SELLING ARTISTS
(based on Album sales from 12/29/2008-1/3/2010)
Another widely expected, but still pleasing phenomenon is that while the CD slides sickeningly into obscurity, vinyl sales are up: 33% in a single year, to 2.5 million albums. The Beatles and Jackson feature high on the list in the vibyl format, resting on a bed of heavy listening, serious music fan music like Fleet Foxxes, Animal Collective and Radiohead.
2009 TOP TEN VINYL ALBUMS
(12/29/2008-1/3/2010)
Abbey Road/ Beatles ~ 34,800
Thriller/ Michael Jackson ~ 29,800
Merriweather Post Pavilion/Animal Collective ~ 14,000
Wilco/ Wilco ~ 13,200
Fleet Foxes/ Fleet Foxes ~ 12,700
Backspacer/ Pearl Jam ~ 12,500
Veckatimest/ Grizzly Bear ~ 11,600
Appetite for Destruction/ Guns N’ Roses ~ 11,500
Big Whiskey & the…/Dave Matthews Band ~ 11,500
In Rainbows/ Radiohead ~ 11,400
2009 TOP TEN VINYL ARTISTS
(based on vinyl album sales from 12/29/2008 – 1/3/2010)
Radiohead ~ 45,700
Beatles ~ 38,800
Michael Jackson ~ 30,400
Metallica ~ 30,200
Wilco ~ 29,600
Bob Dylan ~ 24,500
Animal Collective ~ 20,600
Pearl Jam ~ 19,900
Bon Iver ~ 17,100
Iron & Wine ~ 16,600
|
2009 TOP TEN SELLING ARTISTS (based on Album sales from 12/29/2008-1/3/2010) |
||||||||||
|
Title/Artist |
Units Sold |
Artist |
Units Sold |
|||||||
| 1 |
Fearless/ Taylor Swift |
3,217,000 | 1 | Michael Jackson | 8,286,000 | |||||
| 2 |
I Dreamed A Dream/ Susan Boyle |
3,104,000 | 2 | Taylor Swift | 4,643,000 | |||||
| 3 |
Number Ones/ Michael Jackson |
2,355,000 | 3 | Beatles | 3,282,000 | |||||
| 4 |
Fame/ Lady Gaga |
2,238,000 | 4 | Susan Boyle | 3,104,000 | |||||
| 5 |
My Christmas/ Andrea Bocelli |
2,207,000 | 5 | Lady Gaga | 2,813,000 | |||||
| 6 |
Hannah Movie Sndtrk/ Hannah Montana |
1,823,000 | 6 | Andrea Bocelli | 2,668,000 | |||||
| 7 |
E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies)/ Black Eyed Peas |
1,787,000 | 7 | Michael Buble | 2,280,000 | |||||
| 8 |
Relapse/ Eminem |
1,735,000 | 8 | Eminem | 2,166,000 | |||||
| 9 |
Blueprint 3/ Jay-Z |
1,515,000 | 9 | Carrie Underwood | 1,895,000 | |||||
| 10. |
Only By the Night/ Kings of Leon |
1,398,000 | 10. | Black Eyed Peas | 1,881,000 | |||||
Harmonix who are the makers of The Beatles: Rock Band and of course the original Rock Band are soon be releasing the new Rock Band 3. So far there has been a lot of talk that users are slowly getting a little bit bored of the games, because they cant see how Harmonix can beat The Beatles Rock Band game.
Dhani Harrison, son of Beatles‘ George Harrison has let a little secret slip out as most musicians do during interviews, whether it’s on purpose or not.
According to an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Harrison (who also helped develop The Beatles: Rock Band) shared the fact that Rock Band 3 may be more than just a game to scratch the surface of the brain. Rock Band 3 may actually teach non-musicians how to play real instruments!
We’ve all played Guitar Hero before. They’re just a bunch of buttons you have to click in synchronization with what you see on the screen. Rock Band 3 will somehow go beyond that since Harrison states:
“I’m workin on [...] making the controllers more real so people can actually learn how to play music while playing the game. [...] Give me a couple years, it’s going to happen.”
This may also explain why Scott Guthrie told IGN that the Rock Band empire was in for some drastic changes:
“We aren’t standing still – we will keep moving into new areas and look at new technologies that our platform holder partners are also developing, such as Project Natal from Microsoft.”
Don’t expect a new tracklist to be your final news for Rock Band 3. If they actually pull this off, it might take a lot longer and be a lot harder.
