CMJ RECAP ISSUE 1318 --Week 41

Can you believe there are only 7 more ADD weeks after the one we just had.  Kind of crazy right?  Everyone will be rushing to get their records out before the end of the year although at this point I would rather just wait until closer to the end of the year. With Arcade Fire going for adds next week could we have our first ever record to debut at #1 on the ADD week??? ( no we won't but it is fun to think about )  Speaking of, how many weeks will it take to get there and how many will it stay there?  I think it goes to #1 the week after ADDS and stays there for 6 weeks so until the end of the year.  I hope I am wrong for the sake of my records but who isn't going to play this record?

We have a lot we can talk about today.

Lets start with the CMJ music festival.  While some ( Consequence of Sound  ) thought the festival was on the downturn and not worth much I thought it was great.  It is a festival with many goals and depending on who you are it may or may not of satisfied those goals. If you are a New yorker looking to just checkout new bands I don't think it is really worth it as "bigger" bands come in the week before or the week after.  If you are looking to connect with the people that make college radio run across the country then well it was a huge success. Three or four years ago was one of the worst CMJ's I can remember. Very few MD's everyone kind of saying is this worth it?  Then something happened CMJ started giving Badges to subscribers of the magazine and sure enough more people from schools came. This year I met more new music directors than I have had in a long time. An awards ceremony that was once mostly empty was packed. It felt really good ( we will talk more about that in a bit)  So yeah overall I disagree with the statement that the festival is in its decline.  

The same might not be said for CMJ overall.  On the Wed of CMJ we were all a BUZZ of the news that CMJ was being sued for A million dollars.  Story here over at Pitchfork  I wont pretend to know what this means for the future of college radio. I have been here for a while and seen CMJ at some pretty weak moments that I thought for sure would end its long run as the trade magazine for college radio.  Through every one they have somehow made it through. This one seems worse.  There was a lot of talk about what we would do next year when CMJ did not exist.  Half Jokingly half serious we really have no idea what could happen.  The overall attitude was that something else would step up.  For the most part college radio is a tight knit group and we all want to see college radio succeed and all think it is an important part in the growth of a band and I think most would want to see that continue.  There are alternatives out there and we have talked about them here before but the problem with them is they lack a legitimacy that CMJ, for whatever reason, continues to have.   So I have no answers but I think this could be bad. Only time will tell.

I hesitate to talk about the CMJ awards even though many of you have asked me what I am going to say about them. I remember when I won the first 4 CMJ promoter of the year awards. It felt real good to win the first few and then it felt silly. I felt bad for winning.   I wanted to give others a chance and so I told my stations please do not nominate me but to nominate someone else.  I have not won since and I am fine with that.  I have heard a lot of things about this years CMJ awards from a lot of people and some people were pissed even some stations expressed to me their disappointment that it looks rigged.  Rigged is a strong word and I don't think it is rigged I think The Syn did a great job making sure they won every category.   I am not going to complain or be bitter though but rather hope that in the future there is a level playing field.

So we had our first charts in 2 weeks this week and the numbers were pretty much the same as two weeks ago. Thats a great sign I think for the next few weeks to come.  Another week above 300 reporters is a great thing to have.  Arctic Monkeys took the #1 spot for the 2nd week but charging up to #2 was DR DOG jumping over CHVRCHES.  The big move though has to be Of Montreal coming in at #4!!! Granted last week would of been its add week but man that is aggressive.   We also see some nice moves from Yuck, Best Coast, Haim, Fuzz, and Dismemberment Plan. All of these records have a goal to get to #1 and by my calculations they have a week to do it!

This weeks #1 most added was Cass McCombs powered behind a few indies working it to both AAA and College took the #1 spot by 2 adds over the Head and the Heart with Cults coming in third. All having over 100 adds. Seeing a lot of weeks with a bunch of records having over 100 adds. Lots of big records, and many more to come over the next few weeks.  

Thank you for reading. Lets talk more about all of this on the twitter hit me up @theanimalarrg

Go RED SOX!!!