Retail

1. Big Box Retailers Report Quarterly Earnings, Move on Without Much Music

   August 18, 2016 12:56 PM EDT In a weak retail environment, Walmart managed to eke out gains in earnings and sales for the three-month period ending July 31, when it produced $3.77 billion in net income ($1.21 per diluted share) on sales of $20.85 billion. That compares with t ...

2. Aerosmith's Steven Tyler Nabs No. 1 Country Crossover; FGL's 'H.O.L.Y.' Still Rolling

   July 26, 2016 10:45 AM EDT We're All Somebody From Somewhere , the first solo album from Steven Tyler , bounds in at No. 1 on Billboard 's Top Country Albums chart (dated Aug. 6), selling 17,000 copies in its first week (ending July 21), according to Nielsen Music ...

3. John Varvatos and Bravado Launch Guns N' Roses Bowery Pop-Up Shop: Exclusive Preview

   July 22, 2016 3:00 PM EDT Today (July 22), luxury menswear designer John Varvatos and Bravado, the merchandising arm of Universal Music, launched the fashion brand's first-ever pop-up shop  inside the walls of their Bowery Store in New York City --  fittingly, the for ...

4. Hastings Entertainment Shutting Down All Stores for Liquidation

   July 21, 2016 7:49 PM EDT In what some fans of bricks and mortar retail are calling a sad day for the industry, Hastings Entertainment's 123 stores will be shut down as a joint bid from two liquidators, Hilco Merchant Recourses and Gordon Bros. Retail Partners, was ac ...

5. Inside Sonos' First-Ever Retail Store in NYC

   July 12, 2016 10:00 AM EDT Greene Street in Soho is one of Manhattan's few remaining cobblestone streets, dressed up with Louis Vuitton and Fendi stores on one side and Christian Dior and Jimmy Choo shops on the other. Tucked amidst the high fashion at 101 Greene, Sono ...

6. Wholesaler Alliance Entertainment Acquires ANconnect, Netting Wal-Mart and Best Buy Accounts

   July 11, 2016 12:06 PM EDT Alliance Entertainment has completed its acquisition of ANconnect from Anderson Merchandisers, which means it will now be stocking Walmart and Best Buy with music product. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Alliance Entertainment was already th ...

7. Jon Pardi Gets Started at No. 1; Keith Urban Scores 20th Airplay Leader

   June 28, 2016 11:33 AM EDT California Sunrise , the second LP from Jon Pardi , dawns at No. 1 on Billboard 's Top Country Albums chart (dated July 9), selling 24,000 copies in its first week (ending June 23), according to Nielsen Music. On the all-genre, consumption-ba ...

8. Hastings Entertainment & Allegro Media Corp's Different Strategies for Handling Financial Woes

   June 13, 2016 8:59 PM EDT Two longtime music industry companies, Hastings Entertainment and the Allegro Media Corp, engaged in the physical-end have become insolvent and are taking different routes to deal with their financial difficulties.   Draw Another Circle, the paren ...

9. Skullcandy Founder Mulls Buyout, Prompting a Stock Jump

   June 08, 2016 12:59 PM EDT Shares of headphone maker Skullcandy rose sharply on Wednesday after founder Richard Alden disclosed in a regulatory filing that he is exploring taking the company private. The stock rallied 22 percent in pre-market trading, but has since settled ...

10. Blake Shelton's Double-Take: No. 1 on Top Country Albums, Country Airplay

    June 01, 2016 10:37 AM EDT Blake Shelton has turned in one of the best weeks of his career. Shelton, who just wrapped up his 10th season as a coach on NBC's The Voice , concurrently crowns Billboard 's Top Country Albums and Country Airplay charts (dated June 11). ...

11. Chance the Rapper's Chart Debut Is the Latest Streaming Milestone in a Year Full of Them

    May 23, 2016 3:58 PM EDT Chance the Rapper 's new release,  Coloring Book , debuted May 13 as a streaming-only exclusive on Apple Music without a retail or download option. That rollout strategy set the young Chicago MC on the way to chart history: with its No. 8 deb ...

12. Apple Unveils New-Look Apple Store: Genius Bar Renamed, Multi-Use Areas Coming

    May 20, 2016 11:48 AM EDT Apple is getting ready to unveil a stylish new product that's not for sale -- a new look for its stores. The iPhone maker is overhauling its nearly 480 stores worldwide, starting with its new two-story location in San Francisco. Apple provide ...

13. Alliance Entertainment Becomes Biggest Physical Wholesaler in the U.S.

    May 18, 2016 2:37 PM EDT The negotiations between Alliance Entertainment and Anderson Merchandisers, previously reported by Billboard , has produced a purchase agreement whereby Alliance Entertainment will acquire the music assets and business of ANconnect LLC, a subsidia ...

14. Keith Urban's No. 1 'Ripcord' 
Leads Parade of Top 10 Debuts on Country Albums Chart

    May 17, 2016 11:51 AM EDT Keith Urban 's eighth studio album, Ripcord , bounds in at No. 1 on Billboard 's Top Country Albums chart (dated May 28), selling 93,000 copies in the week ending May 12, according to Nielsen Music. On the all-genre Billboard 200, it arr ...

15. Other Music, Celebrated New York Record Shop, to Close in June

    May 09, 2016 1:42 PM EDT In another blow for independent record store lovers, New York City shop Other Music announced today it will be closing its doors after more than 20 years in business. In a post on social media, the store's owners wrote that Saturday, June 25t ...

16. British Artists Claim Biggest Ever Share of U.S. Albums Market

    May 06, 2016 9:00 AM EDT Huge-selling albums by Adele , Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith helped British artists claim their highest-ever share of the U.S. artist albums market, according to new figures released from labels trade body BPI. In 2015, British artists accounted for mo ...

17. U.K. Distributor Proper Music Group Upgrades Space to Meet Demand for CDs, Vinyl

    May 04, 2016 3:56 PM EDT Proper Music Group, one of the U.K.'s largest music distributors, is to grow its warehouse capacity to meet increased demand in its CD and vinyl business. The expansion follows record revenues for the South London-based company, which saw tur ...

18. Chris Young, Cassadee Pope Crown 
the Country Airplay Chart

    May 03, 2016 11:29 AM EDT Chris Young and Cassadee Pope 's duet "Think of You" rises 3-1 in its 18th week on Billboard 's Country Airplay chart (dated May 14), increasing by 8 percent to 46.8 million audience impressions in the week ending May 1, accord ...

19. CMA Study: Hard Times Create New Opportunities for Country Music With Minorities, Youth

    May 03, 2016 11:14 AM EDT Something dramatic has happened to country music since the Great Recession of 2008. The uncertainty and instability created by the downturn in business sectors, coupled with ongoing technological changes, led large segments of the U.S. population ...

20. How a Chatbot Helped This Vinyl Records Startup Make $1 Million in 8 Months

    April 28, 2016 12:33 PM EDT Chatbots already have a little bit of a bad name. Early reviews for the ones on Facebook Messenger  have been rough  due to apparent malfunctions, and Microsoft's Tay has been an utter disaster, at least on a couple of occasions. But a startu ...

21. Lady Gaga and Elton John Partner for Macy's Clothing Line

    April 27, 2016 9:47 AM EDT Lady Gaga  and  Elton John  love bravery.  As a matter of fact, that's the name of their new collaboration in partnership with Macy's. It's called Love Bravery and it's spelled out like this: Gaga and John have come together fo ...

22. Vivendi to Buy 15 Percent Stake in French Media Retailer Fnac

    April 12, 2016 3:04 PM EDT Universal Music Group parent company Vivendi has acquired a 15 percent stake in leading French music and book retailer Fnac. Vivendi said late Monday that it had agreed to a reserved capital increase to raise 159 million euros ($181 million) at a ...

23. Kanye West's 'Life of Pablo' Will Finally Be For Sale: Sources

    March 31, 2016 1:11 PM EDT UPDATE:  In a statement to The New York Times , Def Jam said that "a newly updated, remixed and remastered version" of The Life of Pablo  would be streaming on all major services by midnight on Friday. It also stated, "In the months ...

24. Cracker Barrel Joins the Vinyl 'Revolution'

    March 23, 2016 5:15 PM EDT Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, the Southern-themed retailer and roadside restaurant chain with a long track record in country, bluegrass and faith-based CD sales, has officially entered the still-booming vinyl market for the first time, with a ...

25. Vinyl Boom Shows No Sign of Slowing as U.K.'s Second Biggest Supermarket Starts Selling Records

    March 18, 2016 4:29 PM EDT Sainsbury’s, the U.K.’s second largest supermarket retailer, is to begin selling vinyl records for the first time since the '80s. From Monday 21 March, shoppers will be able to pick up 12” copies of everything from Adele’s 25 to Led Zeppelin ...

26. What's Behind the Surge in U.K. Brick-and-Mortar Stores Selling Music?

    March 07, 2016 10:24 AM EST The number of brick-and-mortar music retailers in the U.K. has reached an all-time high of close to 15,000, according to new figures from the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA). The upsurge in physical music retailers suggests that a once s ...

27. Concord Bicycle Music Launches Stax of Wax Vinyl-Only Store: Exclusive First Look

    February 09, 2016 10:15 AM EST Concord Bicycle Music is taking advantage of the vinyl resurgence by opening Stax of Wax, a vinyl-only store at the upscale Malibu County Mart in Malibu, Calif.  The 345-square-foot retail outlet carries more than 900 titles, including new release ...

28. Nashville Notes: Roster Shakeup at Sony Music Nashville; 'Classic Eli Young' Album Coming

    February 03, 2016 11:34 AM EST Here is your weekly roundup of goings on -- artist signings, staffing moves, good news and more -- in the wide world of country music. When a Sony Music Nashville publicist escorted independent artist Kane Brown on the Country Music Association Aw ...

29. Inside Rihanna's Long, Rocky Road to Releasing 'Anti'

    January 28, 2016 10:32 AM EST Until the last minute, Rihanna kept the world -- ­including her own management and label, Roc Nation -- guessing. As recently as two weeks before releasing her Drake -assisted single "Work" exclusively on Tidal and to radio on Jan. 27, R ...

30. Beyond Gearheads, Shredders and Rock Stars: NAMM 2016's Bright Spots

    January 25, 2016 1:05 PM EST One could be forgiven for mistaking the sprawling 800,000-square-foot Anaheim Convention Center this past weekend for the cantina scene from Star Wars -- a scene of chaotic pageantry starring all manner of gearhead geeks, goths and withered hessia ...

31. BBC Music Partners With U.K. Record Store Day

    January 22, 2016 11:20 AM EST It's been credited with fueling a revival in vinyl record sales and has undoubtedly helped secure the immediate future of thousands of indie retailers. Now, the U.K. leg of Record Store Day has teamed up with BBC Music to help further promote ...

32. Inside Country Music's Very Real Sales Dip in 2015

    January 14, 2016 1:51 PM EST As the recorded-music business continues its transition from an ownership economy to a digital streaming model, sales of country albums and songs continued to drop in 2015. But 
Universal Music Group Nashville could find a silver lining in that gl ...

33. Discogs' VinylHub Database Wants to Document Every Record Store and Event in the World

    December 15, 2015 6:01 PM EST Record junkies have met their pusher(s). Or rather, are invited to add them. The immense community-built music database known as Discogs has announced a new feature to support its brick-and-mortar database VinylHub, which catalogs over 4,700 shops ...

34. Adele's Label Got 3.6 Million CDs to Stores... But How?

    December 04, 2015 3:14 PM EST Adele’s shipment of 3.6 million CDs of 25 appears to be the second-largest physical shipment of that format ever, after the 4.2 million that NSYNC’s No Strings Attached moved back in 2000. Notice the 'appears' qualifier? While the music ...

35. Chris Young's 'Over' Not Getting Old; AMAs Boost Carrie Underwood, Sam Hunt

    December 01, 2015 12:07 PM EST Chris Young 's "I'm Comin' Over" tops Billboard 's Country Airplay chart (dated Dec. 12) for a third week (50.5 million audience impressions, down 3 percent, according to Nielsen Music). Co-written by Young, the singl ...

36. Adele Is Bringing 'Excitement the Industry Has Sorely Needed,' Retailers Rave

    November 24, 2015 5:16 PM EST What’s the only surprise about the first week sales of Adele ’s 25 ? They’re even bigger than predicted. On Nov. 18, sources told Billboard  that Columbia Records was shipping 3.6 million physical copies of the album to retail stores around the U. ...

37. Report: 91 Million Americans Plan to Make Tech Purchases During Black Friday Week

    November 20, 2015 12:14 PM EST Ninety-one million people — 37 percent of Americans — expect to purchase tech or tech accessories during Black Friday week, according to the Consumer Technology Association's (formerly Consumer Electronics Association) annual pre-Black Friday ...

38. Discogs Celebrates 15 Years at the Forefront of the Vinyl Wave, Shares Data on the Boom: Exclusive

    November 16, 2015 10:35 AM EST As Discogs, the online vinyl and CD marketplace, celebrates its 15th anniversary, Billboard estimates that the site has supported $43.5 million in transactions so far this year. That's based on proprietary data supplied by the site to Billboa ...

39. Justin Bieber and One Direction Vying for No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart

    November 14, 2015 2:45 PM EST It’s a race for No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart next week, as One Direction ’s Made in the A.M. and Justin Bieber ’s Purpose are going head-to-head. Both albums were released on Nov. 13, and are vying for the top slot on the Billboard 200 ...

40. Justin Bieber vs. One Direction: Who Will Win the Sales Race? Industry Sources Weigh In

    November 11, 2015 3:16 PM EST With just two days before the Nov. 13 release of One Direction 's Made in the A.M.  and Justin Bieber 's Purpose , retail and label industry sources tell Billboard the match-up will be close. "It seems that they are running neck- ...

41. With Release of 'Mr. Misunderstood,' Eric Church's Manager Wanted to Respect Indie Shops -- While Keeping a Secret

    November 09, 2015 6:03 PM EST Eric Church ’s surprise album Mr. Misunderstood sold 71,000 units -- 70,000 digitally -- in its first day-and-a-quarter of availability, for the week ended Nov. 5, according to Nielsen Music. That was good enough to come in No. 3 on the Billboard ...

42. Was Eric Church's 'Mr. Misunderstood' a Problematic or Pleasant Surprise to Streaming and Retailers?

    November 06, 2015 11:22 AM EST Eric Church 's new surprise, Mr. Misunderstood -- the singer had CDs arrive unannounced at fan club members' doorsteps the day before the Country Music Awards -- was just as much of a surprise to brick-and-mortar shops and streaming serv ...

43. Amazon Celebrates Vinyl Store by Giving Away Records, Here's One Indie Store's Response

    October 30, 2015 10:16 PM EDT Since last Friday (Oct. 23), Amazon has been celebrating its newly redesigned vinyl store with 13 days of vinyl record giveaways with titles that include the Grateful Dead 's The Best of The Grateful Dead and the Rolling Stones ' Sticky ...

44. Adele's '25' Is a Lock to Sell 1 Million in Its First Week -- How About 2?

    October 29, 2015 10:00 AM EDT "F--ing Adele." So cracked a member of Justin Bieber 's team after "Hello," the 27-year-old British singer's first new song since 2012, premiered Oct. 23, siphoning all attention in its wake and pushing aside highly t ...

45. eMusic Acquired By Foundational Cloud Music Company TriPlay

    October 20, 2015 12:33 PM EDT eMusic, one of the Internet's first digital music stores, has been sold to cloud media startup TriPlay. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed, but in a statement TriPlay maintains that eMusic's employees and executives will be retaine ...

46. Amoeba Records Co-Founder Marc Weinstein on Getting Into the Pot Dispensary Business

    October 15, 2015 1:30 PM EDT "It's one of the few products that a brick-and-mortar retailer can get into and consider making a living at," says Amoeba Records co-founder Marc Weinstein, who has submitted an application to open a 3,000-square-foot medical mariju ...

47. Nashville Notes: Scotty McCreery Pens First Book; Ashley Campbell Signs With Dot

    October 14, 2015 10:30 AM EDT Here is your weekly roundup of goings on -- artist signings, staffing moves, good news and more -- in the wide world of country music. The Judds are making the most of their nine-date, Girls Night Out mini-residency at the Venetian Las Vegas. Foll ...

48. Amoeba Music Eyes Pot Dispensary at Berkeley Store

    October 12, 2015 2:20 PM EDT Can marijuana save the music industry? Ask Dave Prinz , the co-owner of beloved Bay Area record store chain Amoeba Music, and the answer is an emphatic "yes." Actually, Prinz is talking about the health of his corner of the industry, nam ...

49. Amazon to Stop Selling Apple & Google Video-Streaming Devices

    October 02, 2015 9:13 AM EDT Amazon will stop allowing the sale of Google and Apple video-streaming devices on its site as it focuses on its own Prime Instant Video streaming service. Prime Video has become an important part of Amazon's $99 annual Prime loyalty membershi ...

50. What Does the Release-Date Rumble Between One Direction vs. Justin Bieber Mean in the Digital Age?

    September 24, 2015 10:00 AM EDT When One Direction and Justin Bieber release new albums on Nov. 13, it won't be the first time two giants of one genre faced off in a race to the top of the charts. Back in 2007, Kanye West and 50 Cent chose the same Tuesday to drop highly an ...

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