The Industry Goes Purple

In the physical record business when you sell 500,000 albums you go “Gold”. Sell a million and you go “Platinum”. But in the age of the Internet less albums are earning these titles every year. What are going to go on the walls of the studios and above the mantles of the pool houses? Thankfully, Yahoo! Music has the answer:

We’re pleased to announce the Purple Award, a heavy, sexy pair of purple headphones given to superstars which manage to achieve 10 MILLION plays on Yahoo! Music. These plays could be from any of our fabulous digital music offerings, Music Videos, LAUNCHcast Radio, or Yahoo! Music Unlimited, or any of our original programs such as Live Sets, SMASH, Who’s Next?, and Get Your Freak On.

But we’re not just giving these away, we’re setting high standards and using a third party to verify the numbers. Since the onset of SoundScan (the music sales charts) and BDS (the song tracking service that makes up the Billboard charts), the music industry has become much more about the real instead of the old-school smoke and mirrors way of trying to fool/hype music fans into believing something is hot when it really isn’t. Even in this new generation of the music industry, other web sites count plays even if you only heard a couple seconds of a song/video before stopping it or navigating to another page. It’s no coincidence that many of the top artists on some social networking sites are scantily clad women as people are going to their pages to look at their pictures instead of listening to their music. We feel it’s imperative to only count a “play” as a song or video that’s been heard/watched for at least 60 seconds. That way we know for sure you’ve heard the core of the song. Anytime you skip a song or video before the one-minute mark, we don’t count it as a play and it doesn’t count towards the 10 million needed to receive a Purple Award. Also, we’re using BDS to count the plays, so all plays are validated by a third party. All on the up and up, baby.

But let’s get on to the part you’re all waiting for, the winners! We’re announcing ten winners from the last year to kick off the award, and will then be announcing winners as they hit the 10 million mark. So here’s our initial batch of Purple:

Akon f/Eminem, “Smack That”

Beyonce’, “Irreplaceable”

Ciara f/Chamillionaire, “Get Up”

Ciara, “Promise”

Evanescence, “Call Me When You’re Sober”

Fergie, “London Bridge”

Justin Timberlake, “SexyBack”

Justin Timberlake, “What Goes Around…Comes Around”

Nelly Furtado, “Say It Right”

Shakira f/Wyclef Jean, “Hips Don’t Lie” 

All the best,
John Lenac
Yahoo! Music

Help Write Ne-Yo’s Next Hit

This one’s for all the haters that blogged about my hip hop speak in the Sansa Connect post a few months back…

“Yo, son, you’re a beast on the mic. Why don’t you put down that broom and take it to the stage?”

“Man, I been hustlin’ in this small town for ten years, ain’t nobody ever given me a shot.”

“Dude, have you seen Yahoo! Music LyricMakers? They’re giving some lucky ghostwriter-in-waiting the chance to pen Ne-Yo’s next joint.”

“Word?”

“Straight up, son. Get over there and get yours.”

“Aight. Hold this broom. I have to get over to Yahoo! Music.”

Yahoo! Music, McDonald’s, Ne-Yo. Ne-Yo makes the beats, you write the lyrics, Ne-Yo records the song.

When you think lyrics, think Yahoo! Music.

ian c rogers
Yahoo! Music

Yahoo! Music and Billboard’s Hot 100 Chart

A monumental shift in the music industry has been happening in the last few years. Yesterday’s announcement by Billboard to integrate the radio and video spins on Yahoo! Music into the Billboard Hot 100 chart marks the beginning of a new era. As of next week, the combined radio and video spins from Yahoo! Music and AOL will define 5% of the Hot 100 chart. For many years, only FM spins and CD sales numbers made up the chart. In 2005, Billboard started to include digital downloads as well. With next week’s changes, digital downloads will affect the Hot 100 chart more, increasing to 40% while physical CD single sales decrease to less than 1% (FM airplay makes up the remaining 55%). This means that for many songs/videos you hear/watch, your musical experience is four times more important on the biggest chart in the music industry than all of the CDs sold in the US (four times more because our spins are so much greater than AOL’s, we’ll have 4% of the chart in many cases).

This chart integration formally recognizes what’s been happening for years; people like you are discovering bands and consuming your favorite music online and through Internet-connected players. Think of the music industry as the line between a music fan and an artist. That line used to be very long and now is just two points: you and the artist. Sites like ours connect you directly to them. When an artist sends us a song or video for you to watch and experience their art without having an “in” in the music industry, you can now help get their song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart by watching their video or rating their song high so that it plays more in your customized LAUNCHcast station or more in stations you see on the station guide. This is a massive change in the business and affects how the power paradigm has been shifting, giving music fans more direct power. Now that there are thousands of radio and video outlets across the web and monsters like us music fanatics at Yahoo! Music (we play 4 BILLION music videos each year), ALL artists and ALL labels can get their music played and see the passion of their fans directly result in a spot on the most-coveted chart in the biz.

Thanks and keep watching/listening.

John Lenac
Yahoo! Music

Sean Kingston’s “Beautiful Girls” was #1 on both Yahoo! Music and Billboard’s Hot 100 the first week of this updated chart: