“Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature’s inexorable imperative.[1]” (H.G. Wells). The music industry over the last decade has been in a cyclic state of flux. Record labels new and old have been confronted with challenges regarding sales, changes in markets and taste, and of course the medium on which music is presented. Every business will not survive, but those who have been able to adapt in these days of change or even predict future trends will rise to the top.
Hollywood Records was created in 1989 by the Walt Disney Company as part of the Walt Disney Music Group at their home in Burbank, California. It started as a separate outlet to develop artists and put out soundtracks of Disney films. When Bob Cavallo (responsible for The Goo Goo Dolls and Green Day) became the chairman of Walt Disney Music Group in 1998 he brought together all of the Walt Disney Record Labels, such as Lyric Street (country label which includes Rascal Flats), Mammoth Records, and Buena Vista Records to become the all-inclusive Buena Vista Music Group[2]. Hollywood Records staff now includes Senior Vice President and General Manager Abbey Konowitch (responsible for developing Alanis Morissette and former executive VP of MCA Records), SVP of Marketing Ken Bunt, and SVP of Promotion Justin Fontaine
Hollywood experienced mild success as a pop label for Disney through the 1990s. Like many other labels though, Hollywood experienced a weak entrance into the new millennium along with the rest of the recording industry, due in large part to a decrease in CD sales across the country. Mammoth Records operations were shut down in 2002 as Hollywood took over their artist roster as many employees were let go[3]. It was indeed a dark time for Hollywood as well as the industry.
A turn in the label’s success came with the Hilary Duff’s 2003 release, Metamorphosis. Reaching triple platinum (three million album sales) within its first six months[4], the album proved to be a great boost for the struggling company. This jumpstart can be attributed to Hollywood Record’s theory of synergistic design; utilizing cable, film, and music outlets as promotional tools for success. Duff’s starring role in her Disney show “Lizzie McGuire” and her regularity on the widely popular ‘Radio Disney’ and other top 40 stations around the country coincided with her starring roles in movies such as “Cheaper by the Dozen” and “Cinderella Story[5].” Together, these tools spelled out a recipe for a successful album. It is this synergistic approach that Hollywood has grown to rely on in its developmental years of the early 2000s.
Though Hillary Duff is no longer Hollywood’s top-selling artist, the company has ushered in a new group of cross-marketable teen pop stars. Miley Cyrus, otherwise known as Hannah Montana recently released her second album as a crossover from her Disney Channel television personality to become a solo artist. ‘Hannah Montana 2 (Soundtrack)/ Meet Miley Cyrus’ peaked out at number one on the Billboard Top-200 and remains in the top-15 after 22 weeks on the charts[6]. Vanessa Hudgens became a Hollywood Records recording artist shortly after her starring role in Disney’s High School Musical. She became a “household name” in North America[7] after signing commercial deals with Neutrogena, Ecko, and Old Navy. Hollywood capitalized on her global success and released her debut album ‘V’ that sold over 500,000 copies (gold). Other Hollywood Records artists that have had cross-commercial success include Aly + AJ (MTV and the Disney Channel), The Cheetah Girls (The Disney Channel Movie(s)), Hayden Panettiere (NBC’s Heroes), Corbin Bleu (Disney’s High School Musical), and Raven-Symoné (That’s So Raven – The Disney Channel).
The use of publicity outside the realm of recorded music has been a path of success for the pop label, but it has not been their only method of attaining prosperity. Early in the label’s history, they acquired rights to most of Queen’s recorded material and have subsequently released fruitful greatest hits albums and boxed sets. Hollywood also has recently picked up contracts with Atreyu, Breaking Benjamin, and Indigo Girls, showing their recent accomplishments have brought with them bringing power and that they have branched out into different niches within the pop market.
While the company is experiencing profitable practices in putting out records, Hollywood has not batted an eye from the problems of the present and future. In 2003, Marketing SVP Ken Bunt took Hollywood’s street team to the Internet with some of the first digital song samplers for retailers like WalMart.com[8]. But that was just the beginning. While many wireless carriers were taking in large profits as middlemen within the ring tone market, Hollywood took the scenic route to its customers. Early in 2004, they struck a deal with Xingtone, an on line distributor of ring tones and images of artists, to deliver their digital content directly to cell phones[9]. Hollywood took the first step for labels that want a larger portion of the billion dollar ring-tone and wireless music business. Even more recently, a deal was made with Toothtunes, a toothbrush company, to license Hollywood’s recording artists to be played for two minutes while kids brush[10]. Already this fall 3 million toothbrushes have been sold and are anticipated to be a big hit with parents and children this holiday season.
This past summer, Hollywood Records also made an attempt to recapture CD buyers with the new CDVU+ format[11], which is their try at adding value onto CD in a diminishing market. The CDVU+ format includes digital booklets, extra lyrics, more photos, and other attributes that a fan may desire. Although the CDVU+ has not yet made a noteworthy impact, it demonstrates Hollywood’s willingness to adapt to the fluctuating market. With the digital realm of music has come other means of promotion. Hollywood Records has not shied away from these new methods. In fact, they seem to have embraced them.
“Broadcast yourself”: the slogan of multi-billion dollar web company You Tube. The company profile describes You Tube as a place where people can, “…discover the quirky and unusual.[12]” But what about those who have already been discovered? In today’s latest age of anyone getting their fifteen minutes of fame with a simple reenactment of a famous performance on websites like these, Hollywood Records discovered something on their own about You Tube.
Enter Marie Digby. She first appeared playing a acoustic home-recorded version of Rihanna- Umbrella. Fans flocked to You Tube to try and catch the glimpse of a future star, someone who could reach star-level without the help of a label. But as Marie’s popularity rose, so did concerns about her ‘modest’ beginning: Was she a true diamond in the rough, or had she been a pre-polished product? As it turns out, Hollywood Records came up with the live video idea for Marie. Through their guidance, she posted over a dozen videos in an attempt to look like an undiscovered talent to shyly put herself in front of the You Tube audience. Omitting the information that she was signed to a major label, her Umbrella cover garnered over two million plays in two months and her many other videos totaled well over 10 million plays, countless comments, and nearly 30,000 subscribers. Although the Wall Street Journal claimed her “feigned amateur status,[13]” Hollywood Records and Marie Digby became a very successful test in achieving success in developing a viable buzz solely on You Tube medium.
With other key signings and successes of the last five years, Hollywood Records has become a stable force in the record industry today. An edge that Hollywood has over its competitors like Atlantic, Columbia, and Geffen Records are also its consistent successes with music tied with film. Soundtracks have been the steady hand of the label with hits from Tarzan and Freaky Friday, as well as popular television soundtracks such as Grey’s Anatomy, and Scrubs. However, the true heart that beats Hollywood Records has been its ability to utilize different tools that reside in the marketplace. Within a period of five years, Hollywood Records had gone from being another label stuck in a decrepit industry, to one of the most prominent names on the Billboard charts. The small label that began as an outlet for development and soundtrack distribution has grown to become one of the most powerful record companies of today. Its staff of fifty employees, 275 distributed releases by Universal, and sales of $3 million annually[14] prove it is no longer of struggling potential; it is a tested player. The label’s ability to adapt to the new music business has etched its name into today and shouted out to the record business that Hollywood will stay in the game.
[1] H. G. Wells, English author, historian, & Utopian (1866 – 1946)
[2] Martinez, Carlos “Hollywood Records turns up volume amid downturn.” San Fernando Valley Business Journal. September 29 2003. November 27 2007.
[3] “Billboard Bits: Mammoth/Hollywood, Nelly, Britney/Justin” April 12 2002. November 27 2007.
[4] Recording Industry Association of America. “Search able: Gold and Platinum. November 272007. < http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS>
[5] Billboard. “Hilary Duff: The Team Behind Duff’s Musical Success.” January 31 2004. November 28 2007.
[6] The Billboard 200. (On line Version) Issue Date: December 8 2007. Nov 30 2007.
[7] BBC News. “UK debut for hit High School film.” September 11 2006. Nov 30 2007.
[8] Silverman, Ben. “Hollywood A Hit At Walmart.com.” New York Post. August 4 2003. Nov 30 2007.
[9] Charny, Ben. “Record Label Runs Ring Tones Around Wireless Carriers.” CNet.com News. January 30 2004. Dec 1 2007.
[10] Welch, Josslynne. “A Toothbrush Poised to Top Kids’ Holiday Wish Lists? TOOTHTUNES is Music to Parents Ears.” November 20 2007. November 27 2007.
[11] Hefflinger, Mark. “Disney to Employ Zinio’s CDVU+ Format on Upcoming Releases.” DMW Media. October 30 2007. November 30 2007.
[12] You Tube: Company Info. You Tube, LLC. December 1 2007.
[13] Lattman, Peter, Ethan Smith. “Download This: You Tube Phenom Has a Big Secret.” Wall Street Journal. September 6 2007; Page A1.
[14] “Hoover’s Fact sheet.” October 10 2007. November 30 2007.
