With album releases looming… - JamaicaObserver.com

Saturday, November 21, 2009 7:33 PM

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With album releases looming.

Major acts to battle for the top

By Steven Jackson, Observer writer

Friday, June 26, 2009

Three of the biggest names in dancehall/hip-hop - Sean Paul, Sean Kingston and Matisyahu - will battle for the top of the charts with the impending and almost simultaneous release of their respective albums. While some may see this as a case of "too close for comfort" as it relates to sales, two stakeholders are of the opinion that album sales won't be cannibalised.

Sean Kingston

The pressure is such that each artiste needs to hit number one and go platinum in order to equal or better their previous release. The problem is that they have each other to fight against as Sean Paul's Imperial Blaze will be released on August 18 whilst Matisyahu's Light and Kingston's Tomorrow will be released on August 25. Stakeholders yesterday downplayed the impact arguing that sales are less affected by simultaneous releases and more by the label's marketing spend and the album's quality. But in a recession, Americans - the largest record market - may choose the best amongst the three.

"We don't pay too much attention to other artistes that are releasing at the same time. At any time there will be someone else out there," Sean Paul's manager, Jeremy Harding, told Splash. He added that if Paul's album was pushed back to September it would go up against rap star Jay-Z's.

"What is more important is whether the date allows us to get the maximum resources from the label. Because if another big artiste is releasing from the same label then the resources will be split."

These albums missed a summer release and fall is their last chance for the year to receive precious radio play. "By Thanksgiving (in the US) they lock their playlists for Christmas... and if you release an album in October or December you might get iTunes (online) charting but you won't get the songs added to the radio playlists."

Sean Paul

Radio is still important as it pushes physical CD sales. Online sales still only made up 28 per cent of major label sales up to March this year, based on Observer analysis of the big four labels - Warner, Sony, Universal and EMI.

Andrea Davis, convenor of International Reggae Day and music entrepreneur, argued that release dates are "hype" and what is more important is the "album's quality".

"The release date is the promotional hype behind the product," she told the Observer. "The sales are not driven by the release date but how good the album is and the live support that supports the album."

She added that heavy-selling albums such as Bob Marley's Catch a Fire, Shaggy's Hot Shots and Richie Spice's Spice In Your Life were not instant hits.

All three artistes have released singles this month to support their upcoming albums. Sean Kingston's Fire Burning is now on the iTunes hip-hop charts at number(#)1 in Canada, #2 in US and #5 in Sweden. Sean Paul's So Fine (which premiered Thursday on BET's 106&Park) is now on iTunes reggae charts at #1 in Canada, #2 in the Netherlands, #3 in Sweden, # 9 in Norway, #10 in Portugal. Matisyahu's One Day has yet to tick on iTunes.

The popularity of each artiste is such that their MySpace views have Sean Kingston at 35.8 million; Sean Paul at 17.1 million and Matisyahu at 6.1 million. Sean Kingston and Sean Paul have album sales over 1,000,000, whilst Matisyahu has sold over 500,000.

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