Industry Report Card: Give Arista, Sony High Marks

You know it’s the dawning of a new age in the music business when: The Red Hot Chili Peppers outsell both of Bruce Springsteen’s albums put together . . . Mary J. Blige outdistances Prince and Bobby Brown . . . a G-rated Christmas album by Amy Grant sells more records than ( gasp! ) Madonna.

And, showing the strength of catalogue items appealing to baby boomers, Meat Loaf’s 15-year-old “Bat Out of Hell” easily outsold current records by Bon Jovi and Public Enemy. (Mr. Loaf is now making “Bat II” for MCA.)

What follows is Pop Eye’s annual Record Company Scorecard, which gauges the winners and losers among the industry’s major labels. Our evaluations are based on SoundScan sales estimates and interviews with several dozen key industry executives, who graded labels on both image and performance. Labels are grouped among the six major distribution conglomerates, with individual listings only for the ones with the most distinct identities.

BMG

Arista’s incredible year was the one bright spot for the German-owned Bertlesmann Music Group.

Arista: Clive Davis is back--and his hit factory finally rebounded from its Milli Vanilli fiasco. The array of hits was led by the year’s two biggest-selling soundtracks: Whitney Houston’s “The Bodyguard” and “Boomerang,” produced by the hot LaFace team, which also brought in sassy R&B; hipsters TLC. Arista’s Nashville division also exploded, scoring hits from Alan Jackson and Brooks & Dunn. Arista even revived Annie Lennox’s moribund career.

* Artist to Watch in ‘93: S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M.

RCA: Put this label out to pasture. Even RCA’s country music division has fallen on hard times, with only two acts--Clint Black and John Anderson--delivering strong sales. The label hopes to buy its way back into the market with the $35-million signing of ZZ Top, a long-shot gamble considering the Top’s declining sales figures.

* Artist to Watch in ‘93: SWV.

MCA

The acquisition of Geffen was seen as a major boost for MCA’s distribution wing, but MCA proper provided plenty of moving product itself.

Geffen: Much of the news for the Geffen team was off the court: Axl Rose’s legal wars, Kurt Cobain’s drug use and another sexual harassment suit. On the court, Nirvana emerged as rock’s most influential band since, well, labelmates Guns N’ Roses, who continued to enjoy huge album sales. Geffen cut costs by absorbing its DGC label and trimming budgets, which will improve its profit picture if--and only if--its long-awaited Page-Coverdale and Aerosmith albums are as good as label insiders insist.

* Artist to Watch in ‘93: Counting Crows.

MCA: MCA says 1992 was its biggest sales year ever--and who’s to argue. The heavy-hitters included Jodeci and newcomer Mary J. Blige (both products of MCA Music boss Al Teller’s shrewd joint venture with Andre Harrell’s Uptown Records) as well as country’s two top-selling songstresses: Wynonna Judd and ’91 holdover Reba McEntire. Elton John also enjoyed a huge comeback record, but he’s headed for Polygram after one more new album, leaving MCA with under-achieving superstar Bobby Brown, who has so far been outsold by Elton, making his album a major let-down. Also, the label still needs to build a strong rock roster.

* Artist to Watch in 1993: The Best Kissers in the World.

Polygram

Corporate chief Alain Levy seems to be supervising a revival, with the 1991 purchases of A&M; and Island starting to pay dividends.

A&M;: It’s lucky no one canceled Christmas this year, because holiday-geared packages, most notably Amy Grant’s “Home for Christmas,” provided A&M; with its biggest sellers. The label had continued sales from Bryan Adams, a belated hit from Temple of the Dog (in part on Pearl Jam’s coattails) and a solid Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis-produced “Mo’ Money” soundtrack. The label also built a base for Soundgarden, last year’s Artist to Watch.

* Artist to Watch in ‘93: Dina Carroll.

Mercury: A label on the rebound, even if most observers view Billy Ray Cyrus as Nashville’s answer to Vanilla Ice. Mercury’s rock meal-ticket, Def Leppard, racked up huge sales; Vanessa Williams emerged as a pop diva, and the Soup Dragons were virtually the only young Brit-rock act to build momentum. On the downside, both John Cougar Mellencamp and Bon Jovi need major career overhauls, Ugly Kid Joe’s follow-up to its surprise hit EP has stalled and insiders wonder about the big-bucks deal with Lionel Richie, who is only even-odds to release more than one album before the next century.

* Artist to Watch in ‘93: Mind Bomb.

Motown: Boyz II Men just kept selling albums, even though the group’s smash single was on Arista’s “Boomerang” soundtrack. The label also did a respectable job with Shanice and reaped catalogue rewards from its much-touted “Motown Singles” box set. Label chief Jheryl Busby’s hit formula--sleek, pop-oriented R&B--is; perhaps the industry’s most widely copied commercial recipe, one reason why insiders are bullish on this label’s future.

* Artist to Watch in ‘93: Foley.

Polygram Label Group (Polygram, Island): Once you got past U2’s monster album (from Island), it was a l-o-o-o-ong way down the year-end charts to PLG’s next best-selling new album, Melissa Etheridge’s “Never Enough.” PLG’s real moneymakers were its Bob Marley box set and “Two Rooms,” an Elton John-Bernie Taupin tribute album, which both went platinum. Shakespear’s Sister showed glimmers of star potential.

* Artist to Watch in ‘93: Starclub.

Sony

How much did Sony pay for the former CBS Music in 1990? It almost seems like a bargain now, based on the corporation’s 1992 showing.

Columbia: Except for a lackluster showing by Bruce Springsteen (and a fizzle from Warrant), it was a solid year here, with special credit going to Donny Ienner and his team for boosting Mariah Carey’s career with her “Unplugged” EP and expanding Michael Bolton’s audience with his collection of baby-boomer favorites. Kris Kross and Cypress Hill provided rap hits, Alice in Chains emerged as potential rock stars and Toad the Wet Sprocket had breakthrough alternative-radio exposure, giving the label budding star-power in virtually every pop genre.

* Artist to Watch in ‘93: Gumball.

Epic: Pearl Jam’s “Ten” album outsold Def Leppard, Nirvana, even U2. Virtually every move Dave Glew and his minions made worked to perfection, including strong comebacks from Sade and Ozzy Osbourne, concept soundtracks (“Singles” and “Honeymoon in Vegas”) and a big debut from the Spin Doctors. No matter how you rate Michael Jackson’s mega-platinum “Dangerous” album--and most experts say his future is much brighter overseas than in America--it was still a banner year for the label.

* Artist to Watch in ‘93: Screaming Trees.

Thorn-EMI

Stop Jim Fifield before he spends again. Neither purchases of SBK (and the subsequent merging of SBK, EMI and Chrysalis) nor Virgin have given him many hits.

Capitol: Outside of its Garth Brooks bonanza at Nashville’s Liberty Records, Capitol had a disappointing year. Hammer sold lots of albums, but seemed to lose much of his King of Hip-Hop stature as the year progressed. Richard Marx had three Top 10 singles, but sold fewer albums than the Beastie Boys, who got great reviews, but haven’t gone platinum. The most encouraging signs came from Megadeth, Bonnie Raitt (who kept selling records) and last year’s Artist to Watch, Blind Melon, which won alternative-radio credibility. The big question: Who handed the marketing reins to finance man Art Jaeger, whose rigid controls sparked a staff revolt last year?

* Artist to Watch in ‘93: Charles & Eddie.

EMI (Chrysalis, SBK): Give Charles Koppelman’s corporate publicity machinery credit: Never has a label chief received such glowing press while having such a rotten year. Already notorious as an overspender, Koppelman is now stuck with two overnight flops (Vanilla Ice and Wilson Phillips) who didn’t survive their first blush of stardom. Arrested Development was the rap rookie of the year--and Jon Secada has pop-crooner potential. But former big-sellers Slaughter and Sinead O’Connor produced duds.

Artist to Watch in ‘93: Tasmin Archer.

Virgin: Once viewed as a budding giant, the label suffered a woeful year, coming out of its $973-million sale by Richard Branson to EMI without any sense of vision or direction. The label’s only gold album came from soft-R&B; act After 7. More worrisome was Paula Abdul’s inability to sell concert tickets, a sign that her career may be in trouble. 1993 should bring a new Janet Jackson album, but until then label chief Phil Quartararo will have to tread water, especially with a spate of recent signings, which include Boz Scaggs, Belinda Carlisle and Katey Sagal.

* Artist to Watch in ‘93: The Wallflowers.

Time Warner

Warner Bros. was the star performer here.

Atlantic: Time to sweep out the cobwebs. Of the label’s 17 platinum albums, only two in 1992 were from emerging artists--Mr. Big and the EastWest subsidiary’s En Vogue. The rest were from such defunct or aging dinosaurs as Led Zeppelin, CSN&Y;, AC/DC and Genesis. To make matters worse, the label had mediocre outings from INXS and Skid Row. But the label has patiently championed a pair of newcomers, Tori Amos and Marc Cohn, and signed such critically lauded groups as Eugenius and Melvins, a prototype Seattle-scene group being produced by Kurt Cobain.

* Artist to Watch in ‘93: Melvins.

Elektra: Despite selling a ton of Metallica catalogue (and holdover Natalie Cole albums), it was an off year. Tracy Chapman looks like a one-album wonder and the much-touted Ephraim Lewis never happened. More mysteriously, the Cure had a hit single, but couldn’t expand on its core audience. There are high hopes for recent signing Anthrax, a more far-sighted move than its signing of Huey Lewis.

* Artist to Watch in ‘93: Silk.

Warner Bros. (Reprise, Sire): Warners’ strength--its wide-ranging artist roster--paid off again. The label had two huge records, one from its Young Turks (Red Hot Chili Peppers), one from its Old Guard (Eric Clapton). Other big contributors included R.E.M., Celtic crooner Enya and Travis Tritt, while up ‘n’ comers Mudhoney and Ministry made progress. The label got a lot of ink from its mega-buck deals with Madonna and Prince, who promptly released a pair of lackluster albums. If you’re looking for a crack in the seams, check out the black music division, which continued to have problems crossing over any of its artists.

* Artist to Watch in ‘93: Juliana Raye.