Analysts and Industry experts worry that Nicoli the new CEO of EMIÂ won’t steer the mother ship to safety. Nicoli focused on food, with a stint at sweets group Rowntree Mackintosh and then almost 20 years at United Biscuits, eight of them as CEO. Nicoli’s expertise appears to be on the business side of EMI rather than in spotting new talent and managing artists.

• Rumors tell us that MTV may cancel its show TRL (Total Request Live) which is broadcasted from Times Square studio. The show, which has been airing on MTV for about nine years, may be cancelled because of the low ratings.
• Jewel has departed from Atlantic Records. She had a successful career as a singer songwriter but it began to dwindle when she attempted to cross over to pop. You need to stick with a vision because people really want to believe in something. Be who you are and say what you feel.
• American Idol Host Simon Cowell, says he has never bought a Bob Dylan record because he “bores me to tears.” Simon also said he would plug his ears and run in the other direction if he were to see a 21-year-old Dylan singing “Blowin’ in the Wind.”

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V2 has cut the staff including President Andy Gershon. V2 will retain the White Stripes catalog, but will no longer issue new music from artist’s including Moby and the Raconteurs. The only genre the company plans to participate in the frontline going forward is gospel. The company is looking for ways to grow business digitally.

Again, we have a problem with new music. Labels cannot fund themselves and turn profit with new music. You will continue to see the labels downsize and disappear until people are excited to purchase music again. Rather than focusing on artist development and new platforms, music industry executives continue to preoccupy themselves over digital distribution. Distribution doesn’t work if you don’t have consumers buying anything.

The last day is Friday for EMI’s most senior executives , the most powerful executives in the global music industry Alain Levy and David Munns. Expect hundreds of lay offs.

Chairman Eric Nicoli was hoping Robbie Williams and a Beatles remix album which were launched during Christmas could help rescue the company, but both albums dissapointed.

If artist development is not the future of the music business then major label layoffs and consolidation is.

(The Financial Times)

The music industry heavily relies on aging rockstars to pay salaries, turn profits, and fund new artists. The LA Times analyzed the record and merchandise sales of 2006. The top 10 include:

Celine Dion
Madonna
The Rolling Stones
Rascal Flatts
Kenny Chesney
Barbra Streisand
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Nickelback
Tim McGraw/Faith Hill
Bon Jovi

Old artists still have a grip on the music scene. Why? Because their careers were developed over the course of 10 years+. This is why Celine can gross 43.9 million in 6 months. One avenue of the future of the music business is artist development. Developing………………….