On the heels of the recent revenue-sharing deals involving Big Machine and Glassnote with Clear Channel and Entercom, CBS Radio is following suit to cut similar agreements with record labels. CBS Radio President Dan Mason and EVP of Operations Scott Herman have been meeting with label execs this week discussing future deals and relationships.
Said Mason: “This type of collaboration yields big results. We have great assets to help promote established and up and coming artists, and we’re excited to learn more about the labels’ vision and long term priorities.”
CBS also released comments from industry execs in the talks:
Jon Borris of Columbia Records: “With regards to CBS, specifically their CHR stations, Kevin Weatherly stepped out and really opened the door around Rita Ora’s single ‘R.I.P.’ As Kevin [Weatherly, CBS Radio SVP/Programming] embraced the single, others within the chain felt more comfortable too, and Michael Martin and Tim Rainey were very early champions. What we’ve seen in these markets (and others) is a significant airplay to sales correlation. This week alone (10/17/12), the overall national increase on the single was +5% (rank moving up from #161 to #148), but we saw significant gains above and beyond that in a number of markets where CBS CHR stations were supporting: Boston (+26%), San Francisco (+27%), Detroit (+11%), Tampa (+35%), and Charlotte (+7%) to name a few.”
Richard Palmese of Azoff Music: “The power of radio has never been greater. CBS Radio has been instrumental in breaking so many of our artists. The airplay is everything and the power rotation is really special.”
CBS Radio said the industry should “look for announcements soon about new programming initiatives we’ll be launching that promise to bring music fans closer to their favorite artists.”
RBR-TVBR observation: This confirms yet again the beneficial effect of airplay. The deals, like with Clear Channel, include sharing airplay revenues with labels and their artists in exchange for favorable digital streaming rates. This can also extend over to CBS’s Last.fm streaming site. Bottom line, these deals between labels and radio groups could start to set a precedent for lower royalties in future Copyright Royalty Board proceedings.
