uk marketing push for ramazzotti - worldradiohistory.com · 1991. 2. 16. · will eros ramazzotti...

EMI Profit Estimates 4

Radio 1 Evaluates Playlist 5

French Music Sales Results 7

Sting's No. 1 Debut In Italy 8Rete 105 Special R2

Off The Record 22

Europe's Music Radio Newsweekly. Volume 8 . Issue 7 . February 16, 1991 . 3, US$ 5, ECU 4

EC ExploresSubsidisingRadio Group

by Paul Andrews

The EC may offer financial back-ing to the Association ofEuropean Radio (AER), as plansto relaunch the private radiolobby group develop.

Speaking on January 31 at thePrivate Radio And EuropeanInformation conference held inLuxembourg, European Com-mission social affairs directorFranco Chittolina said his de-partment was seeking closer co-operation with local radio stationsthroughout the EC. He also pro-mised to support the aims of theAER, which could include a fi-nancial subsidy.

"Local radio is an importantmedium throughout Europe,"Chittolina told the conference.

(continues on page 22)

END OF AN ERA - Sony Music Entertainment UK manufacturing direc-tor Lionel Smithers shows off the last piece of vinyl pressed at its plant inAylesbury. The company, through CBS, first got involved in manufactu-ring whet, it bought the small Oriole label on January 1, 1965. Thename of the last pressed record: "Motorhead - 1916".

UK Marketing Push For Ramazzottiby Machgiel Bakker

Will Eros Ramazzotti be the firstItalian pop artist to conquer theUK market? Ramazzotti's latestalbum, In Ogni Senso ("ht EverySense"), is currently close to threemillion sales across mainlandEurope where it has collected 12platinum and seven gold awards.The UK has remained unmovedby these feats.

Last April, the artist's fifthalbum was released on the labelDDD throughout the Continent. Itis marketed and distributedworldwide by BMG Ariola (ex-cluding Spain, where the artist issigned to EMI Hispavox). BMGRecords UK followed in

October. No less than four inde-pendent promotion companies arecurrently employed to give thealbum an extra push.

Connie Filippello Publicity ishandling the Italian press promo-tion; Matters Media is tackling

Italy through restaurants, footballclubs and discos; Jackie GillPromotions is working London -based radio; and MusicEnterprises is pitching the singleon all regional UK stations.


Peterson Sacked By Jazzby Hugh Fielder

Jazz FM/London presenter anddirector Gilles Peterson has beensacked following a complaint tothe UK Radio Authority over hisSaturday PM programme onJanuary 12 which he dedicated topeace in the Middle East.

Peterson says he had also beenasked to resign as a director, buthad not done so at press time. Heacknowledges that he has been inother disputes with Jazz FM's ma-nagement over policy.

The Radio Authority says it re-ceived one written complaint


Public Radio Wins KeyRuling In Germany

by Mal Sondock

Germany's Supreme Court inKarlsruhe on February 6 reaffir-med the right of the country's pu-blic broadcasters to continue ac-cepting advertising and to investin private radio and TV stations.

Comments a spokespersonfrom the North Rhine-Westphaliastate attorney office, "We are veryhappy about the decisions. NorthRhine-Westphalia has achieved a10-1 victory in this legal battle."

The case was originallybrought by congressmen of theruling Christian DemocraticUnion party against the state ofNorth Rhine-Westphalia and pu-blic station WDR. The case wasthen taken up by the Court. It wasthe sixth session the Court hadspent dealing with radio lawssince private radio started inGermany.

By mostly upholding currentlaw, the Court has strengthenedthe public station's grip on the

M&M Debuts

'The Bottom Line'M&M this week launches TheBottom Line', its first businesspage dedicated to tracking fi-nancial developments in themusic and radio industry.

Published in the first issueof each month, 'The BottomLine' will provide executiveswith in-depth analysis on keyindustry deals.

M&M's new 'Bottom Line'appears on page 4.

broadcast media. That's especiallytrue in radio, where Germany'spublic radio stations grabbed72.2% of the ad cake, whereas inTV ARD and ZDF earned49.6%.

Net advertising income for pu-blic radio last year reachedDM650 million (app. US$445million) for the public stations,with private operators earningabout DM250 million (app.US$171 million).

Radio ffn/Lower Saxony sta-tion manager Gunther Drossartsays he finds "some of the deci-sions surprising. In these earlyyears of private radio, how canthey allow public broadcasters toown a share of the private sta-tions?

"I expected the decision on pu-blic radio advertising. About 25%of the public station's entire bud-get is covered by advertising in-come and several former deci-sions by the Supreme Court had

(continuer on page 22)

No. 1 in EUROPE

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European Top 100 AlbumsSTINGThe Soul Cages(A&M)

SUSANNA HOFFS "my side of the bed"now playing on these stations

A: OE 3 B: Radio 21 CH: Radio 24, Radio Forderband D: SWF3, Radio TON, Bayern3,WDR1/Hit Chips, SFB2, Radio Regen Bogen DK: Radio ABC E: SER I: Deejay Network,Radio Babboleo, Rete 105, Radio Peter Flowers N: NRK, Radio Nord, Radio Vest,Radio 102, NI: TROS, Veronica, KRO S: Riksradion P3/Klang + CO, Radio P4, RadioOrebro, Radio Gotenburg, Radio Malmo Hus, Radio Hugginge SF: Radio Musa, Radio 1

New entry at no. 47 on the European Airplay Top 50

COLUMBIAAmericanRadioHistory.Com

RICK ASTLEY

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new compact disc cassette albumINCLUDES THE EUROPEAN CHART HIT "Cry For Help"

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JaMUSICuMEDIA CONTENTS "'MEDIAUK: Radio 1 Explores LP -Based Playlist 5

G/A/S: VPRT Outlines New Media Law 6

FRANCE: 1990 Music Sales In 7

BENELUX: CLT Gets Berlin Radio Frequency 6

ITALY: Sting's 'Cages' Hits No. 1 8

SPAIN/PORT.: Talent Sings For Peace 9

SCANDI: Elap Debuts First Metronome LPs 9

NEW RELEASES/NEW TALENT 12

SPECIAL: Rete 105 R2

STATION OPERATIONS/MAKING WAVES ..10STATION REPORTS 14

EUROPEAN HIT RADIO 17TOP 10 IN EUROPE 18

HOT 100 SINGLES 19EURO & NATIONAL AIRPLAY 20TOP 100 ALBUMS 21OFF THE RECORD 22

MUSIC & MEDIA BUSINESS CALENDAR

February 18-22 - AudioEngineering Society's 90thConvention, Paris, France. February 20 - 33rd AnnualGrammy Awards, Radio CityMusic Hall, New York City, US. February 25 - Music WeekAwards, Grosvenor House Hotel,London, UK. February 26 - UK RadioAcademy's "Getting On -Air...And Staying There", Ken-sington Town Hall, London, UK. Feb. 26 -Feb. 27 - FinancialTimes Conference onCable Television & SatelliteBroadcasting, InterContinentalHotel, London, UK. Feb. 27 -March 2. - SanRemo Festival, San Remo, Italy. March 12-15 - 6th AnnualWinter Music Conference,Marriott Hotel, Fort Lauderdale,Florida, US. March 22-25 - 1991 NARMConvention, San FranciscoHilton, US. April 15-18 " - NationalAssociation of BroadcasterSpring Convention, Las VegasConvention Center, US.

April 21-24 - Broadcast Fin-ancial Management Asso-ciation, Century Plaza Hotel, LosAngeles, US. April 29 - Sony RadioAwards, Grosvenor House Hotel,London, UK. May 19-25 - The USNational Association OfBroadcasters (NAB). The confe-rence will be moved fromLondon to Paris after three days. June 5-7 - Association ofProfessional Recording StudiosConference, Olympia Centre,London, UK. June 9-15 - NAB RadioExecutive Management Devel-opment Seminar, University ofNotre Dame, South Bend,Indiana, US. June 16-19 - BPME & BDAConference & Exposition, Bal-timore Convention Center, US. July 3-7 - InternationalBroadcasting Convention, RAICongress Centre, Amsterdam, theNetherlands. July 5 -July 21 - 25thMontreux Jazz Festival,Montreux, Switzerland.

Philips Schedules DCCLaunch For April 1992

by Machgiel Bakker

Philips will be launching its newDigital Compact Cassette (DCC)in April 1992. This was announ-ced during a European demonst-ration of the new soundcarrier or-ganised by the electronics giant atits Dutch -headquarters atEindhoven on February 4.

The meeting was chaired byMD Philips Audio, WimWielens and senior product ma-nager, Jerry Wirtz. It followedthe presentation for the US tradepress at the winter ConsumerElectronics Show (CES) in LasVegas in January.

Backed by all major recordcompanies --but currently exclu-ding Sony Music --the new musicsoftware format combines the fe-atures of compact cassette (intro-duced in 1963) with those of1982's introduction of the CD.The launch of the new carrier willbe supported by about 500 pre -re,corded DCC titles. First DCCplayers will retail for an estimatedDfl1.000 (app. US$581).

Widens says market researchon all variations of audio casset-tes shows that 75% are used forplayback only. He says, "DCCwill not be positioned as a new

recording format but as a 'new thatmusic software format'. Musicsoftware should, therefore, be thelocomotive for a new carrier. Thatis why we are involving themusic industry at a very earlystage. One of the disadvantagesof DAT was there was no pre-re-corded software available."

However, Widens emphasises

DCC should not be seen asoverlapping with DAT. "DAT wasnever meant to be a new carrierfor music, but as a recording sys-tem equal to a reel-to-reel recor-der. DAT is aimed at a small seg-ment of the market, thesemi-professional user. DAT andDCC should be able to co -exist inperfect harmony."

isald64'orarrtiOpti

LE QUATTRO STACIONI""""

1 MUSia

A sample digital compact cassette from Philips.

DCC AdvantagesThe main advantages of DCC over the current analog cassette are: Digital sound quality. Backwards -compatibility: DCC players will playback traditional

analog tapes. Existing tape collections can t bepreserved. Main advantages of the analog cassette are maintained like size, weight

and portability. DCC boasts a new, high-tech design, with sleeve graphicson the front of the cassette.

Easier track access. With DCC's autoreverse function, trackselection is facilitated. As on a CD, a pre-recorded DCC will containextra control information recorded on subcode channels. This means thatthe text mode of a DCC player can display artist, song titles and lyrics.

CNN Promotes Radio ServiceUS firm Cable News Net-work(CNN)/Atlanta, which hasbeen winning high acclaim for its

Artists Unite For Rainforest Appealby Jeff Green

A star-studded line-up of recor-ding artists are participating in a spe-cial CD and cassette project aimedat preserving the endangered tropi-cal rainforests. Organised by theLondon -based Earth Love Fund(ELF), the "Rainforest Appeal" be-nefit effort will also include PSAsand a 60 -minute documentary TVprogramme to be broadcast world-wide.

More than 16 tracks have beencontributed to the album, includingsongs by Sting, Paul Simon,Michael Jackson, Peter Gabriel &Kate Bush, Elton John, Was (NotWas), Queen, Pink Floyd, Bob

Dylan, REM, Midnight Oil andmany others.

At least three singles are ex-pected, including "Spirit Of TheForest", a collaboration of 50 artistssuch as Bonnie Raitt, JoniMitchell, Fleetwood Mac, IggyPop, the B -52s and BelindaCarlisle. Another group effort, TheSamples, features BranfordMarsalis.

Certain national artists will re-place some of those mentionedabove with special compositions orexisting recordings in their nativelanguage. The CD and cassette areexpected to be released in early tomid -May.

Explaining radio's role in this pro-

ject, ELF trustee Kenny Youngsays, "It is very important that thiscrucial environmental issue isbrought to the attention of the publicand that the effect rainforest destruc-tion is having on global weatherconditions is not forgotten duringthese anxious times. "

ELFs advisory council includesofficers of Friends of the Earth,Rainforest Alliance, GALAFoundation, World Wildlife Fundfor Nature, Rainforest ActionNetwork and United NationsEnvironment Programme.

For information about this pro-ject, contact the ELF RainforestAppeal: 18 Well Walk, LondonNW3 1LD. Fax: 44-(0)-60-885-269.

Gulf reportage, is claiming a drama-tic increase in the number ofEuropean radio stations taking itsTV service as audio -only.

But the news channel would nowlike these self -same stations toswitch to its specially repackagedsubscription CNN Radio.

Explains London -based broadcastrelations executive Beverley Niel-sen, "CNN Radio is available as anon -the -hour headline service, fol-lowed by 22 minutes of detailed re-porting. Its separate Atlanta news-room uses exactly the same reportersand filed audio stories as television.Stations can take it from a sub -car-rier on the Intelsat satellite."

Nielsen says the cost package inEurope for CNN Radio is based on astation's audience figures. She decli-ned to reveal a price -per -thousand.

Stations already taking a sub-scription for CNN Radio includeRadio City/Helsinki, SWF3 Baden-Wurttemburg and AntenneNiedersachsen/Lower Saxony. HS

dierks studios

20 years and many more tofollow.

Thanks for the partnershipin the past and in the future.

Re -opening of Studio III- SSL 64 channel, G -series

- Sony 3348 digital- Neil Grant acoustics

dierks studios gmbhtel. (49) 22 38-20 04/33 33

fax (49) 22 38-34 99

MUSIC & MEDIA FEBRUARY 16 1991 3


Radio

Javier Agusti has been appoin-ted MD of private Spanish stationCadena SER, replacing SilvioGonzalez. The former lawyer andadvertising executive has beenwith Spain's top radio network aspersonnel manager since 1986.Former MD Gonzalez, moves tothe same post at Canal Plus TV.The private pay -TV network isalso partly owned (25%) by SERmajority stockholder PRISA (fullstory page 9).

Jose Ramon Pardo replacesEmiliano Alaiz as new head ofmusic programming at Antena 3(full story page 9).

Terry Hourigan has been pro-moted to director of VOA Europe,the Voice Of America's 24 -hoursatellite radio network. He for-merly served as acting director ofthe same company.

Kiss FM has appointed twonew producers. Richard Hopkinswas formerly with WNK Radioand George Ergatoudis was pre-viously with BBC Radio 1. Seniorproducer in the talks department isLorna Clarke.

Hallam FM/Sheffield has ap-pointed a new sales director,Harry Dunne. He was formerlywith TFM/Stockton.

Music

Michiel Bakker and MarcConneely have both been appoin-ted deputy directors of networkdevelopment at MTV Europe.Bakker will continue to expandMTV in Europe. Conneely will bespecialising on syndication andother distribution areas. MTVEurope has also named M.Anthony Garland as director ofresearch, market planning and bu-siness development. Garlandoversees all aspects of the compa-ny's business developments and

market planning in Europe. He re-ports to MTV MD and CEO BillRoedy.

Marc Conneely

Music Box has appointed LouPearce and Chris Sharp to thesales team. They will be working ondistribution and sponsorship. Newpublicity and promotions co-ordina-tor is Brenda Tuohy. Paul Sandlerhas been appointed production con-troller and Lola Borg joins him asassociate producer.

Julie Heathcote joinsPhonogram marketing departmentas product manager. She was pre-viously with AVL.Ian Grenfell joins Phonogram's in-ternational department as interna-tional marketing manager. He waspreviously UK marketing managerwith Polydor.

Rob Stringer has been promo-ted to A&R director at Columbiafor Sony Music UK.

Mike Weller has been appoin-ted manager of Sony MusicPublishing Germany, replacingUdo Kornmeier. Weller has heldseveral positions in A&R and mar-keting within the company since1980.

Hartwig Masuch, whoheaded the Cologne office ofWarner Chappell for five years, isjoining BMG February 1 as GMand will be VP and MD from April1. Josef Bamberger is leaving hispost as MD of BMG UFA's pub-lishing arm after 28 years with thecompany.

Send news and photos of company appointments to Karen Seekingsat M&M's editorial office: Rijnsburgstraat 11, 1059 AT Amsterdam,The Netherlands or call (20) 669.1961; Fax (31) 20 669 1951.

"When is the new Lisa Stansfield coming out?"

Find the answer in M&M's

QuarterlyMusic Monitor

Music Monitor II will be published April 6, 1991 ((issue 14).Advertising deadline closes March 12.

EMI Musk Eludes Thorn's Profit Bluesby Steve Wonsiewicz

Thorn -EMI might have the pro-fits blues, but its record divisionis rockin'.

The UK entertainment to ligh-ting to electronics conglomerate --which also includes EMI Music --issued a profits warning onJanuary 18, but stresses the musicdivision continues to "performoutstandingly". That's evident inprofit projections by CountyNatWest analyst Julie Feaver.She has forecast that the musicdivision's operating profits willincrease 21% to £120 million onsales of an estimated £1.3 billion.

Comments Feaver, "The mainreason for such a large increase isthat the company has had a fan-tastic year in the US in particular,but that increase has crossed overto Europe as well." Feaver citesthe blockbuster success of artistssuch as MC Hammer, VanillaIce, Sinead O'Connor andWilson Philips, all especiallyprofitable because they are newacts.

Another plus: economies ofscale in the music publishing ope-rations, which she says bring inabout one third of the division'sprofits. "It usually takes about ayear for efficiencies to take effect.Thorn -EMI bought SBK in 1989,and now it's beginning to see thebenefits," adds Feaver.

For Thorn -EMI's 1991 fiscalyear, which ends March 30,Feaver has forecast that total ope-rating profits for the whole com-pany will decline to £258 millionon sales of an estimated £4.75billlion.

Feaver is not the only analystto be bullish on the music divi-sion yet downgrade profits for theentire company. Barclays deZoete Wedd analyst JaneAnscombe is predicting opera-ting profits of £121 million (in-cluding Thorn -EMI's stake inThames TV), up 22% from lastyear. But for the entire companyshe's calculating pre-tax profits of£256 million, down from last ye-ar's £317.5 million.

Says Anscombe. "One of the

PolyGram Gets $200m Equity InfusionUS. investment bank GoldmanSachs announced on January 29 thatit had raised US$200 million inexchangeable subordinated notes formusic multinational PolyGram. Thedeal helps PolyGram shore up its ba-lance sheet after the purchase ofIsland Records and A&M Recordsfor US$272 million and US$460million respectively, and provide ahedge for currency fluetations.

The private placement is a com-bination of fixed and floating rate,with varying maturities of fi c.seven and 20 years and will be tre-ated as equity on the balance sheet.The notes, which will not dilute cur-rent investors' holdings, can also beconverted into auction rate prefe-rence shares any time after the ini-tial maturity date. They also carryno voting rights. The issue will alsonot dilute existing shareholders'ownership.

Transworld's ProfitsWarning

Look at the ratings and not the incomestatement. At least that is whatTransworld Communications hopesits investors and bankers will do.

The company warned analysts earlierin January that it expects a pre-tax loss ofsome £500.000 for the second half of theyear. Transworld. which in early Januarysold Miss World to founder Eric Morelyfor £800.000. has already suffered a £1.16million loss for the first six months.

However, the company turned instrong ratings gains at its three main sta-tions: Piccadilly/Manchester. RedRose/ Preston and Radio Aire/Leeds.

PolyGram has set up aLuxembourg subsidiary to handlethe transaction because of the prefe-rential tax treatment investors re-ceive in the country.PolyGram also says the deal will

allow the company to write off anestimated US$300 million in good-will that was acquired in the acqui-sitions and reduce short-term debt.Dutch law requires goodwill bewritten off from equity.

Starstream Buys 80%of Polton

Houston, Texas -based StarstreamCommunications Group has acquired80% of PZ Polton, the holding com-pany for the record and animation com-pany Polton Records. The deal in-volved cash and stock valued in the highsix figures.

Starstream plans to expand Polton'sdistribution in the country and hopes tohave licensing deals with several recordcompanies completed by the end ofFebruary. The company will also distri-bute Polton's music library in the US.

Former MCA Records presidentRobert Siner has joined Starstream'sboard to help manage the purchase.

Virgin Sells 20% ofEuro Retail Unit

Richard Branson's privately heldVirgin Group has sold a 20% stake inits European retailing operations forUS$27.2 million to a group led byFrench pay -TV company Canal Plus.investment bank Paribas and Germanretailer Asko.

The deal values the three megastoresstores in France at US$136 million.

Send news and queries to Steve Wonsiewicz at M&M's editorial office: Rijnsburgstraat

11, 1059 AT Amsterdam, the Netherlands or call (20) 669.1961; Fax (20)669 1951.

main reasons for the improved re-sults in the music division is thatin the last three to four years thecompany has invested heavily inartist repertoire." That move,says, Anscombe, is paying big di-vidends.

However, Anscombe warned itcould be difficult to meet thosenumbers next year. Reasons cited:royalty rates probably will be hig-her and the difficult market con-ditions in the US and UK.

"It may not be far from mee-ting last year's figures. But evenif it does, will would be doingvery well indeed."

The company's shares droppedabout 6% the week the profitswarning was issued, but reco-vered slightly, to end the monthdown 4.6'

Music & Media Stocks

GREAT BRITAINCompany Carr. High Love Dec. 31 11,11,31'S chg.

Transworld (pl 483 79 97 97 ao

Radio Clyde (p1 313 215 224 113 10.4)

Capital (p1 258 115 146 144 1141

Chiltern (p1 300 125 132 178 t3.01

Metro Radio (p1 203 123 175 175 111 /

Yorkshire TV (p1 314 217 247 238 13.61

Pickwick 708 217 200 IL I /

Thom -EMI to 874 5711 677 646 (461Invicta (p1 193 49 55 52 (5.51

Chrysalis (p1 147 41 44 41 (6.81

Midlands I p) 188 84 1112 94 17.81

EMAP (p1 257 179 207 185 (8.4)

WH Smith (p1 401 287 383 340 111.2/

TV -AM (p1 218 158 2181 177 111.51

Radio Trust (p1 123 50 65 53 118.51

GWR Group (p1 585 198 153 198 171.71

Radio City (p1 523 165 226 165 127.111

Crown. fp( 267 23 5 f 32 137.31

Avg. n/a n/a 192 175 18.81

FTSE 2461.7 1590.2 2143.5 2170.3 1.3

FRANCECompany

Hachette

Canal Plus

Europe 1

SRI

Hasa.

g.

CAC 411

Curr.

IFS)

(Fir)

(FBI

(HO

(Fir)

High Low Dec. 28 Jan. 31 tA chg.

489 14(1 158 177 17.8

993 738 823 828 0.6

1.449 841 1.090 1.060 12.81

434 212 238 230 13.41

1.780 361 426 595 (7.7/

rJa n/a 545 538 t 1.31

29 29.3 1441.2 1517.9 1580.7 4.1

THE NETHERLANDSCompany Curr. High Low Dec. 31 Jan. 31 er chg.

Philips I D111 45.2 18.6 20.3 23.4 15.3

PolyGnim (DB( 37.8 26.6 311.1 29.6 (1.7)

Ave. Ida Mt 25.2 26.5 5.2

CBS Tend. 2(16.3 162.3 168.3 167.3 10.61

GERMANY

Compun) Curr. High Low Dec. 31 Jan. 31 q chg.

Springer (DM1 885 605 712 730

PAZ 832.3 569.7 603.1 14(8.6

DAX 1968.6 1334.9 1398.2 1420.1

2.5

0.9

1.6

UNITED STATES

Company Carr. High Low Dec. 31 Jan. 31 ri chg.

Tribune HAS) 40.75 31.25 35.25 43.25 22.7

Starstream 1USS) n/a n/a 1.13 138 22.2

Trine Wm-net-1HW 111.88 66.13 85.75 96.13 12.1

Sony tliSSi 61.50 40.15 43.00 47.63 10.8

Matsushita tUSS1 160.88 114.00 110.00 127.00 7.6

Westwood (555) n/a n/a 1.75 1.88 7.1

WestinghouscHISS1 39.38 22.00 28.50 28.50 0.0

Cap Cities ( US$, 635.00 38000 459.13 454AM (1.11

Viacom (USSI 28.25 15.63 26.25 25.63 (2.41

Avg. n/a n/a 88.75 91.71 3.3

DJ1A 2999.8 2365.1 2633.7 2736.4 3.9

SAP 369.11 2955 330.2 343.9 4.2

4 MUSIC & MEDIA FEBRUARY 16 1991


NEW NAME, NEW LOOK - Columbia MD Tim Bowen displays thefirst cassettes bearing the new name and logo for the UK division ofSony Music Entertainment.

Radio 1 Explores MovingTo Album -Based Playlist

by Hugh Fielder

\ BBC Radio 1 switch from a sing-les to albums -based playlist-a movethe station is now exploring-couldhave a major impact on the record in-dustry's promotional strategies.

The BBC's national pop station isholding a series of informal dinnerswith its producers, presenters andprogramme assistants to discuss thecompilation of a playlist drawn fromsongs which would include albumtracks as well as singles. No deadlinehas been established for any changes.

Commenting on the effects ofsuch a switch, Chrysalis promotiondirector Judd Lander says, "All Iask from radio is that they stick to aplaylist, however they compile it. Atpresent you can find singles on the B -list (medium rotation) getting moreplays than those on the A -list."

Lander stresses that if Radio 1 pro-ducers choose album tracks then theywill be performing an A&R functionnormally undertaken by record com-panies. "Mai be record companies

JICRAR Considers Adding Atlantic 252by Hugh Fielder & Paul Easton

The Association Of Inde-pendent Radio Contractors(AIRC) is considering the inclu-sion of Atlantic 252 in its JI-CRAR audience research.

AIRC director Brian Westsays the issue is on the agendafor the next meeting of theresearch sub -committee and willbe debated next month. But hebelieves priority should be givento the talks currently taking placewith the BBC for a joint au-dience measurement system.

The advertising industry is be-coming increasingly impatientwith AIRC's decision not toadmit Atlantic 252 and include itin JICRAR research. Media

Buying Services associate direc-tor and Association of MediaIndependents spokespersonJane O'Hara says, "Any radiostation on -air should be includedby JICRAR if they are willing topay. If they are excluded it cutsdown their chances of getting onbuyers' schedules."

Country Meath, Ireland -basedAtlantic 252, which was laun-ched in 1989, is excluded fromAIRC because the association'sconstitution stipulates that allmembers must be UK -based.Atlantic 252 says it is prepared topay for JICRAR research and itpoints out that RadioLuxembourg is included in theJICRAR figures even though it isnot an AIRC member.

IRN, ITN Merger Draws CriticismThe proposed merger betweenIndependent Radio News(IRN) and ITN Radio News(operated by IndependentTelevision News) has provokeda strong reaction from several ofITN's subscribers.

KCBC/Kettering programmecontroller, Howard Rose, isplanning to organise a campaignto halt the merger and has writ-ten to all other ITN Radio sub-scribers to ask for help.

Rose says "If commercialradio is developing, then surelyit should have a choice of newsproviders. My objection is notsimply to IRN but to a mono-poly of news provision. We

chose to take ITN for its yearsof experience and its profes-sional attitude to newsbroadcasting."

East End Radio/Glasgowstation manager RodneyCollins says, "I am also veryconcerned because I cannot re-ally see how one news servicecan really serve everybody'sbest interests. RadioLuxembourg is currently sup-plying a news service toAtlantic 252 and I would be in-terested in the possibility ofbeing able to use that. Althoughit is basically a rip -and -readwire service, it still gives us analternative to IRN.'" HF

The long -wave station's trans-mission area covers NorthernIreland, Wales, Central andNorthwest England and Southernand Central Scotland. At the endof 1990 a survey by ContinentalResearch conducted to JICRARstandards gave the station a 12%reach with 2.37 million listeners,stating it was the second-largestcommercial station in the UK.Radio Sales Company, whichhandles Atlantic 252's sales, saysthe station defined its own totalsurvey area. Spokesperson SarahJames says, "We resolutely re-jected any area where the signalwas patchy in order not to weakenour audience figures, which iswhy we market Atlantic 252 onlyin certain ITV regions."

could service albums with selectedcuts, as they do in America.

"It could also cause problems inbreaking new acts which are oftensigned on a three -singles contractwith an option on an album. Andwhat about club records that compa-nies may have licensed from anotherlabel?"

BBC I head of music ChrisLycett stresses, "We have no inten-tion of dropping singles from theplaylist. But as a reflection of currentmarket trends, we are consideringways of increasing album play onRadio 1."

Lycett is concerned the singleschart no longer reflects popular musi-cal taste. "The fact is that singles

sales are declining. In the week thatImn Maiden got to no. 1 recently,the total sales of the Top 40 amoun-ted to 4% of our weekly audience.

"We're here to make radio pro-grammes. We're not here to reflectthe charts." At our weekly playlistmeetings the chart is just one of ourconsiderations. Obviously if a recordgoes flying into the charts it is clearlypopular but the chart is not our bible."

The BBC acknowledges a changeto the playlist system could affectsingles sales. Comments a BBC spo-kesperson. "If singles only exist tomarket albums, a system that in-volved playing more album trackscould mean that the singles marketcould decline still further."

BBC Radio LaunchesPromo CampaignThe BBC's Radio 1 is launching amajor promotional push in Londonand the Southeast to increase itsaudience.

The main thrust is a three-weekcampaign in conjunction withCashcard, which is giving away atotal of £85.000 in prize money.Ten million, individually numbe-red cards are being deliveredthrough letter boxes and givenaway free at newspaper shops.Each weekday, the presenter ofevery daytime show will read anumber and listeners will be ableto ring up and claim a £1.000 prizeif it matches the one on the card.The prize will be shared if morethan one listener has the samenumber. But if no one claims theprize, the money will be added tothe next show.

A Radio 1 spokesperson stressesthat BBC licence payers' money isnot being used to pay for thepromo, since the prize money is

being provided by Cashcard. Therealso is no connection with a simul-taneous promotion with The DailyStar, which is featured on thesame card and which ownsCashcard. The Cashcard promo-tion is being advertised on TV andthe Independent Radio Network.

A spokesperson says, "Cashcardis mentioned as a concept. Ourcatch phrase for the competition is'We have got the number, theyhave got the money'. The competi-tion is part of a "multi -directionalpromotional thrust" which the sta-tion is running through the spring.This includes an advertising cam-paign with posters around Londonand the Southeast and a series oflive lunchtime ,outside broadcastsby Gary Davies .

The latest JICRAR figures rele-ased two weeks ago show that thestation's ratings are slipping. Radio1 has a 29% reach in London, 2%behind Capital FM. HF

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VPRT Outlines NewMedia Law Proposal

by Robert Lyng

Bonn -based VPRT (Associationof Private Broadcasters &Telecommunications), a lobbygroup representing all German pri-vate radio and TV broadcasters,has proposed a new media law forthe five new German states. Thedraft encourages local councils toallow a broadcasting structure re-presenting both the German con-stitution and the High Court. Theproposed draft will offer numerousalternatives and the VPRT hopesto help the new states avoid pro-blems formerly faced in WestGermany.

The major points of the draft in-clude:

Frequencies to be distributed by a special state commission. Both private and public broadcasters to be issued frequencies

from the beginning. Public broadcasters to neither directly nor indirectly hold

shares in a private broadcasting company. Statewide programmes are to be carried out in studios within

the respective state. The production of full programming is to be given priority; the

production of local and regional progranuning is secondary. Advertising and sponsoring regulations are along EC guide-

lines, soon mandatory. Station boards, currently consisting of various representatives

from -socially significant groups, to be replaced by smallereight person boards.

Hessen 3 Plans Music ShowPublic TV station Hessen3/Frankfurt is launching a newweekly music programme fromMarch 4 to replace the cancelledWDRMR co -production"Rocklife". Other German TV sta-tions have been systematically re-ducing the amount of their musicbroadcasts (M&M February 9).

Producer Gerd Schulze says thenew hour-long programme,"Musichall" will present weeklydiffering programmes. Under thedirection of Jochen Filser andHeiner Schoelling of Hessen 3'sentertainment department, Schulze

will present both new and esta-blished artists in a variety of set-tings. His team of editors will in-clude Teddy Hoersch andRoberto Cappelluti.

Schulze says, "On the firstMonday of each month we willpresent two live bands from theFrankfurt Musichall, a live club.We will film the first group's con-cert for broadcast on the fourthMonday of each month. The se-cond group will then be broadcastabsolutely live at 23.10, our regu-lar time . slot. On the secondMonday of the month we will air a

magazine format with local stories,reports and contributions of inte-rest to music fans. On the thirdMonday of each month we willpresent a selection of historicmusic programmes from the archi-ves."

At the moment 30 shows featu-ring pop, rock, blues, soul and rapare planned. "Besides featuring in-ternational acts," explains Schulze,"we will also present at least fivelocal bands. Irmgard Tennagel,Frankfurt's councillor for rock andpop music, will help us choosethem." RL

Born In The DDR - East German entertainer Gunther Emmerich signsa recording deal with BMG Ariola. Smiling next to him is BMG CEOAlbert Czapski.

Private Radio For Magdeburgby Mal Sondock

The state Sachsen-Anhalt hasannounced the launch of the firstprivate radio station in what wasformerly East Germany. This de-cision is in line with most of thefive new federal states, who aimto develop independent state-wide stations and not rely onWest German public stations.Antenne Sachsen Anhalt/Mag-deburg is a team effort between

AVE Radio Gesellschaft/Hanover and a Magdeburg -basedcompany. Managed by Hilmarvon Poser, the station has beenissued a three-year broadcastinglicence.

An independent committeeincluding public interest and re-ligious groups, will be foundedto' ensure the station serves thepublic interest. AntenneSachsen-Anhalt is scheduled togo on -air very soon.

CLT Gets BerlinRadio Frequency

by Marc Maes

The Berlin Kabelrat (BerlinCable Council) has agreed to allo-cate CLT (Compagnie Luxem-bourgeoise de Telediffusion) anFM frequency in Berlin. CLT di-rector of communications KarinSchintgen says, "This is goodnews for the company as it is thefirst time a foreign company hasbeen given an FM radio fre-quency on a 100% exclusivebasis".

The new operation, namedRTL Radio Berlin, will allowCLT to start radio operations fromGerman territory. Until now, allactivities have been undertakenfrom Luxembourg. Although CLTstill has frequencies in NorthRhine-Westphalia and theStuttgart area, it plans to shift the

majority of its activities to the newoperation.

RTL Radio Berlin plans to startbroadcasting in summer, and willoffer a complete format of news,music and games.

In Luxembourg, local gover-nment is currently discussing theintroduction of private radio sta-tions. If, as expected, 40 loe21 pri-vates and three or four bigger re-gional stations are given a radiofrequency, CLTs position couldbe endangered.

Says Schintgen, "We weregiven the exclusive right on allterrestrial frequencies in Luxem-bourg back in 1931. But the newproject allowing privates does notmake us feel happy, as Luxem-bourg is a very small territory andit will be difficult to share thesmall advertising.

Urban Dance Squad's Promo Pushby Machgiel Bakker

BMG Ariola Holland is step-ping up its promotional activitiesto further boost media interest inUrban Dance Squad. Signed toAriola, the band debuted in theautumn of 1989 with the album

Zappa ShowGets CDIndependent record company AVM hasreleased two CDs featuring FrankZappa repertoire, performed by theBRT Big Band and the CucamongaTrio.

Both CDs are a result of the "HonkerRevue", an event staged by BRT Radio1 in May last year and produced byZjakki Willems. The Honker Revuewas a 12 -hour-long event featuringZappa movies, clips and records. It alsohad two concerts featuring the Cuca-monga trio and the BRT Big Band. MM

Mental Floss For The Globe. Thegroup's mix of funk, rap, scratchand blues immediately esta-blished them as one of Holland'sbest bets for export.

Their status has not gone unno-ticed in the US. The band are sig-ned directly to Arista and arecurrently on a 26 -date tour acrossthe US as support act to LivingColour. The single Deeper ShadeOf Soul is at present no. 29 in theBillboard chart while the albumhas reached a no. 63 position.

In Holland. the band's remix of

Deeper Shade Of Soul has beenserviced to key media contacts,followed by the live albumHollywood Live/Pinkpop Live;both are promo -only releases. Inthe first week of March, a newsingle will be commercially rele-ased, entitled Fastlane.

Urban Dance Squad are alsofeatured in a US film, "Pump UpThe Volume"-- together withother acts like Concrete Blonde,Beastie Boys, Was (Not Was)and Stan Ridgway --that will pro-bably hit Europe the end of April.

Radio Park Celebrates 10thTo celebrate its 10th anniver-sary, private station RadioPark/Antwerp plans to giveaway Bfr2 million (app.US$66.000) worth of prizes.The competition was organ-ised in collaboration with a

local Toyota dealer, which ag-reed to donate a Toyota Starletas first prize, as well as launcha special series of the car withRadio Park logos and fre-quency ID on thebody. MM



Music Turnover Up 10%,But Unit Sales Stay Flat

by Emmanuel Legrand

While 1990 was a good year interms of turnover for the Frenchmusic industry, a static growthrate in unit sales has raised someconcern.

Copyright body SNEP saystotal turnover for 1990 reachedFfr5.36 billion (app. US$1 bil-lion), a 9.9% increase over lastyear. Unit sales of recorded musicincreased to 131 million from130.9 million.

Almost 60% of the turnovercomes from CD sales (versus 50%

CD singles doubled to 1.4 millionunits. Cassette sales continue togrow, up 5% to 42 million units.The singles situation is worryingSNEP, with unit sales droppingfrom 42.5 million in 1988 and35.5 million in 1989 to 26.5 mil-lion in 1990.

The international share of themarket is slightly up on the na-tional repertoire (46% against42.5%) compared with the pre-vious year. The LP/CD market isdominated by international actswhile single sales are 60% nation-ally orientated.

"It is clear that the market of pre-record-ed music is at a turning point."

-Jean-Yves Mirski

in 1989 and 7% in 1985), whilecassettes accounted for 28%.Market share for the two vinyl'carriers (singles and LPs) fellfrom 20% to 10% (70% in 1985).

The music video market (videoand CDV Laserdiscs) has seenconsiderable growth, yet still has asmall market share: 1.3% in 1989and 2% in 1990.

The downfall of the vinyl LP isconfirmed with a 58% decreasecompared to 1989 (less than sevenmillion units, as opposed to 20million in 1988). This is offset bya dramatic growth in CD sales(+37% at 56 million units), while

Comments SNEP spokesmanJean -Yves Mirski, "It is clear thatthe market of pre-recorded musicis at a turning point." SNEP presi-dent Patrick Zelnik says the in-dustry goal for 1991 is a 10%growth through a "voluntary po-licy and collective actions". Oneof these actions will be the majorlaunching in April/May of the cas-single, labelled in France as a"Two Tracks Cassette". All themain producers and distributorshave agreed to work on a collec-tive campaign.

The main titles will be releasedon cassingle and a promotions

First Euro Move ForPremiere Radio

by Jacqueline Eacott

Los Angeles -based radio syndica-tor Premiere Radio Networks,which opened a Paris officeDecember I. The group is cur-rently negotiating with severalFrench FM stations with deals ex-pected to be closed shortly. says

Virgin Plans4th MegastoreWith Megastores in Paris, Marseillesand Bordeaux, Virgin has now chosento open its fourth French store in Lille.The location at the Galeries Operawas previously home to a number ofsmaller retail outlets. It is expected toopen for business in September, withan annual turnover of Ffr250 million(app. US$48 million). About 200 jobsshould be created.The site's existing 2.600 square metreswill be expanded to 4.600 and includeoffices and the Virgin Cafe. In linewith the other French VirginMegastores, opening hours will be09.00 -midnight.

Premiere's Paris representative EdMann.

Created in 1985 by DJs fromCHR MIS-FM/Los AngelesPremiere specialises in producingradio programmes for contempor-ary formats. Comments Mann, "Weare used to adapting our packagesto local markets, so we will beready to do the same for differentEuropean territories. Each pro-gramme package will be rewrittenand adapted to suit local needs."

The Doors LP The Legend isone of Premiere's latest offers --two -minute sequences of musicand interviews to be programmeddaily. The package includes inter-views with the director of the up-coming Jim Morrison bio-pic,Oliver Stone, and the survivingDoors members.

The company's biggest successto date is the "Premiere ComedyNetwork" package of shortsketches, used in morning showsand currently aired by 650 sta-tions in the US.

campaign between consumers andretailers will be implemented.Several major companies have tes-ted the format in previous yearsbut results were neither conclusivenor important enough to followup. What is new is that all thecompanies have decided to act to-gether. The decline of singles saleshas prompted this decision.

French Music SalesSales

(Ffr mil.)Units(mil.)

Format 1990 1989 % chg. 1990 1989 % chg.

Singles 349.3 458.7 (23.9) 24.8 33.0 (24.9)

LP 204.4 498.8 (59.0) 6.7 16.1 (58.5)

Cassette 1,512.8 1,466.3 3.2 41.9 40.1 4.6

CD 3,177.2 2,385.7 33.2 56.2 40.9 37.2

Music Video 111.9 63.1 77.3 1.4 0.89 3.0

Total 5,355.6 4,872.6 9.9 131.0 130.9 0.0

Source: SNEP

ONE MORE FOR THE RECORD - CBS/France recording artist Patricia Kaas (centre) receives a double plati-num award at a party in Sain-Avoid for her album "Scene De Vie". The record has sold more than 750.000units in the country. Pictured with Kaas are (14: producer Jean -Jacques Souplet; managers Cyril Prieur andRichard Walter; and Sony Music France president Henri de Bodinat.

Dance A French Tune, Pleads RoyMIDEM CEO Xavier Roy ispromoting the possibility of a"week of French music", aimed topromote national music. Roy putforward the idea to the Frenchmusic industry at the recentMIDEM conference.

With a hoped -for debut atMIDEM '92, the event is slated torun during the Victoires De LaMusique (French music industryawards), which generally takes

place shortly after MIDEM. It isbelieved the event could counter-act traditionally weak mid -wintersales.

MIDEM says if the frameworkproves successful, it can see no re-ason why copycats elsewhere inEurope should not spring up.Details Roy, "The purpose of theevent is to draw attention to all as-pects of French musical produc-tion. The proposal was submitted

to the French copyright body,SNEP, and was greeted withmuch interest."

Adds SNEP president PatrickZelnik, "A working group headedby [Sony Music France] presi-dent Henri de Bodinat has beenset up within SNEP and will eva-luate the feasibility of this project.

"It will oversee all necessaryways to ensure the success of thisimportant event." EL

Sam Plays It By The CDBelgium indie label Play ItAgain Sam (PIAS) has launchedits first major French marketingcampaign since the creation ofthe label's subsidiary last year.Just before the MIDEM confe-rence, PIAS inserted a five -trackmini -CD in the February isue ofconsumer music magazine Best(circulation 110.000).

Acts featured on the CD wereFront 242, New Fast AutomaticDaffodils, Bill Pritchard,Trisomie 21 and Meat BeatManifesto. PIAS France ma-nager Fabrice Absil says thecampaign was also linked with aseries of operations with localradio stations and retailers.

He says, "Our goal was to in-

crease the awareness of the labelin France on both the consumerlevel and the retail level. It wasalso a way to motivatePolyGram Distribution, withwhom we have just signed a li-censing deal for the forthcomingLPs by Front 242 and BillPritchard." EL



ITALY

Sting Rides 'Cages'Straight To The Top

by David Stansfield

Sting is the first international artistto shoot straight to no. 1 in the offi-cial RAI album chart with his newLP The Soul Cages (Polydor). Thesuccess is backed by the division'sbiggest -ever marketing campaign,valued at more than US$1 million.

The campaign includes TV ad-vertising on Silvio Berlusconi'sprivate network channels untilMay, a promotion and advertisingcampaign on the national privatestation Rete 105, plus full -page ad-verts in leading daily newspapers.Drinks company Aperol is partne-ring with Polydor by investingmoney in the campaign and hasalso made a donation to theRainforest Foundation.

Says Polydor GM AdrianBerwick, "Madonna and PhilCollins both achieved sales of750.000 units for their albums onnational territory. That seems to bethe ceiling for international artistsbut we intend to top it with TheSoul Cages."

Berwick admits he is helped bythe fact that Sting's album is the

first of the big international relea-ses expected this year. But he be-lieves the artist's profile is huge."He received pre-release exposureon the TV series 'Rock Cafe'. Andthe fact that it was a much -awaitedrecord led to excellent airplay ofthe single All This Time. The Maydates of the Italian leg of his tourare also perfect timing for us."

Berwick confirms that the singlereceived powerplay on most na-tional stations. "And it was impor-tant that it was released almost fourweeks before the album. It is al-most impossible to concentrate air-play on one song. The gap betweensingle and album was instrumental

in the build-up of anticipation andexcitement for the record. But nowthat we've serviced the album,there is airplay on almost everytrack. That disperses a lot of theconcentration that we feel we needto establish a song. It is hard to ad-vertise an album if you do not havea hit single from it. The hit singledoes not exist in Italy. You eitherhave a radio hit or you have not-hing. But with All This lime wehad a so-called radio hit which washelpful. It assists with radio andTV advertising because the songcan be associated with the album."

A&M product managerGiovanni Arcovito says the singlepresents the artist in a new vein. "Itis light and has nothing to do withpolitics or the environment. Therest of the album has a personaltone, and although the single wasreceived favourably by broadcas-ters, they were also surprised. Thereaction to the second single, MadAbout You, will be much better. Itis the Sting that Italians recogniseand it is perfect for the nationalmarket."

SMILING FACES - Phonogram and Rete 105 celebrate the latest award for Elton John's album "The Very Best ofElton John". The two companies partnered for a promotional and radio ad campaign. The smiling faces belongto (l -r): Phonogram marketing manager Roberto Biglia; Rete 105 public relations manager Jeannine Orrigo;Phonogram head of promotion Dan& Calatroni; and Rete 105 music director Alex Peroni.

Hazan, Ricordi In Joint VentureRete 105, Radio Monte Carloand 105 Classic are to team withretail records chain, Ricordi, for ajoint promotion venture. Finalcontracts have yet to be confirmedbut all parties are confident thedeal --to involve the stations broad-casting live from retail outlets inMilan and Rome --will be finalisedin time for a March launch.

Head of all three stations,Alberto Hazan, comments, "Wewill start by broadcasting livefrom the Milan megastore once aweek. We are building a studioand the choice of station will de-pend on the current specialitiesof each."

Ricordi MD Matteo Rignano,responsible for running 26 na-

tional outlets, hopes the new ini-tiative will not be limited tobroadcasting. "Time will tell, butthe owners of the stations arevery creative. I believe it may bepossible to create somethingcompletely new. We could lookat forms of national promotioncompetitions or maybe even ajoint music magazine." DS

Sting

San Remo FestConfirms ActsTwenty major acts and artists and16 newcomers have been confirmedas contestants at this year's SanRemo Song Festival, Italy's majorshowcase for national talent. Basedon the success of previous shows.event organiser AdrianoAragozzini is attempting to keepthe same formula as last year. At thefestival's 40th anniversary all com-petitors sang live and major conten-ders were partnered with non -com-peting international acts and artists.

Although big names such asKenny Rogers, Earth, Wind &Fire, Gilbert Becaud, DonnaSummer, Tom Jones and RandyCrawford are being touted as li-kely partners, Aragozzini declinedto make any confirmations at presstime. Voices from all sectors of thenational music industry are admit-ting that the current Gulf crisis iscreating problems for securing USacts for the event.

The festival is to be staged fromFebruary 27 -March 2. This will bepreceded by San Remo Internatio-nal, a two-day pop rock event feat-uring national and international ta-lent. It is not expected the US willbe strongly represented there either.

A&M product manager

Giovanni Arcovito confirms thatthe Neville Brothers have alreadypulled out. He admitted their with-drawal would affect other valuablepromotion opportunities. DS

Festival ContestantsMajor Contenders

Al Bano & Romina, GianniBella, Loredana Berte,Pierangelo Bertoli, RosanaCasale, Riccardo Cocciante,Eduardo de Crescenzo,Grazia di Michele, Fiordaliso,Riccardo Fogli, EnzoJannacci, Ladri de Biciclette,Marco Masini, Mietta,Amedeo Minghi, MariellaNava, Raf, Jo Squillo &Sabrina Salerno, UmbertoTozzi, Renato Zero.

NewcomersTimoria, Pat rizia Bulgari,Bungaro-Conidi-Di Bella,Marco Carena, Paola de Mas,Fandango, Irene Fargo, RitaForte, Dario Gai, Gitano,Monica Granai, Stefania laFauci, Rudy Marra, GianniMazza, Giovanni Nuti, PaoloVallesi.

Radio Dimensione SuoneMoves Into A New AgeEHR station Radio DimensioneSuono/Rome is poised to introducenew age music into its program-ming. Programme director BrunoPloyer confirms that a business ag-reement with Monza -based specia-list independent label Les FoliesArts is at an advanced stage.

The label previously had a dealwith Radio Monte Carlo and part-nered the station with monthly ma-gazine New Age And New Soundsdevoted to new age music. It car-ried a CD and was believed to be

the first European specialist maga-zine for music of this genre. Ployersays the station will not formatnew age music in a standard way."We are not interested in a pureand simple new age music pro-gramme. We have to figure outsomething more interesting for ourlisteners. We have to air program-mes that will appeal to them, andnot just to the promotion people atrecord companies. When we do airnew age music we will do it in anoriginal way." DS



SPAIN/PORTUGAL

Ole For Antena 3's 'Country' Stationby Anna Marie de la Fuente

Private broadcaster Antena 3 haslaunched a traditional Spanishmusic station called RadioOle/Madrid. Radio personalityand journalist Jose RamonPardo will serve as head ofmusic programming. At presstime, the name is still pending of-ficial clearance from the gover-nment names registry.

Pardo, an Antena 3 stalwartsince 1985, has hosted severalmusic shows on both Antena 3Radio and TV. He has also colla-borated on a variety of books onmusic and media.

Says Pardo, "Radio Ole is thefirst of its kind in Madrid." He li-kens the music played on the 24 -hour station to American countrymusic. Top Spanish acts IsabelPantoja, Rocio Jurado, ConchaPicquer and Jose Manuel Sotoare among those included on theplaylist.

The gleaming hi -tech studioinstalled for Radio Ole boasts di-gital audio technology (DAT).Antena 3 first introduced DAT toits 24 -station oldies networkRadio 80 last autumn, making it

Jose Ramon Pardo

the first fully digital network inSpain. It had transferred most ofits 2.000 classic oldies from CDto DAT. Preparations are underway for Antena 3 to broadcast viasatellite.

Talent Sings For Peaceby Howell Llewellyn

Twenty-nine Spanish acts have re-corded Spain's first peace singleand video in response to the Gulfwar. The record, United By Peace,was scheduled for release onFebruary 4 by Ati Records.

would get the song out again andgive it a more global treatment.United By Peace is not onlyagainst the Gulf war, but againstviolence as a method of solvingproblems."

The single, recorded in Madrid,will be distributed throughout

"United By Peace is not only against theGulf war, but against violence as a meth-od of solving problems." -Jose Maria Rial

All profits will go to the RedCross and Amnesty Inter-national. The song is a rework ofFarewell To Alms by the bandNoviembre, which is signed to thesame label. The one -year -old inde-pendent label, based in Elche inSoutheast Spain, pressed an initial7.000 records.

Says Ati head of promotionJose Maria Rial, "On the night ofthe first US attack we thought we

Spain by Serdisco. Top -10Spanish artists on the single in-clude Rosendo, Los Ronaldos,Ramonoin, La Trampa and LuisPastor. None received any pay-ment.

"We are ready to print more co-pies immediately," Rial com-ments. "It is a good song. Wecould have got more famous actswith more time but we did notwant to lose the moment."

SCANDINAVIA

Elap Debuts First Metronome Records TitlesDenmark's Elap Music has rele-ased its first title under a majordeal with composer BentFabric's Metronome Records.The 32 -track compilation ofFabric's own Greatest Hits, in-cluding Alley Cat and a numberof film and TV themes, was re-

leased on January 31.The move follows Elap's out-

right purchase of the entireMetronome catalogue (no rela-tion to PolyGram's German sub-sidiary, Metronome Musik) onDecember 18. That deal coversabout 1.500 recordings made by

Metronome between 1962 and1978, mainly of domestic Danishpop and jazz artists such as TheRocking Ghosts and SvendAsmussen. Financial details werenot disclosed.

Elap, owned by the UK'sPickwick International, domi-

Radio West Closes Downby Paul Andrews &

Kari Helopaltio

Finnish MOR private RadioWest/Espoo has gone bankruptafter less than a year on -air.Broadcasts ceased on January24 and the entire staff havebeen laid off. The station is thesecond in the Helsinki area tofold within four months, folio -

say its debts amount to nearlyUS$1 million. First signs of trou-ble came in December, with thedismissal of MD Jyrki Otila.Programme director MattiPaalosmaa resigned shortly af-terwards.

Says former editor -in -chief UlfAhrenberg, "We reached200.000 listeners out of the po-tential one million in the area.

"With hindsight, Radio West could pro-bably have survived if it were smaller. "

- Ulf Ahrenberg

wing similarly formatted RadioSyke.

Backed by a number of localcompanies and both theConservative and SocialDemocratic parties in Finland,Radio West opened in February1990. It targeted the 30-45 agegroup, employing well-knownDJs, but consistently failed toattract local advertisers.

Sources close to Radio West

But of the three private stationsin Helsinki we were alwaysnumber three. The marketingand sales sides couldn't deliveragainst that competition."

Competitors Radio City andRadio Ettan both target ayounger audience withEHR/rock-based formats.These, say industry insiders, arefar more attractive to Finnishadvertisers than the over -30s.

"With hindsight, Radio Westcould probably have survived ifit were smaller," continuesAhrenberg. "From the beginninga lot of money was put into thestudios and staffing --there were20 full-timers and about thesame number of freelancers --sothat the finances were alwaysstretched. If the station had beenallowed to start modestly andgrow with the market, therewould have been no problem."

The fate of Radio West's FMfrequency has yet to be decided,although Ahrenberg says thereare no known plans to revive orreplace the station.

Comments Finnish privateradio association SPRL chair-man Nils Tuominen, "The clos-ures show how hard the industryhas been hit by the recession.There is a decline in business,and even big advertisers such asbanks, car dealers, and restau-rants are pulling out becausethey're going through hardtimes, too."

nates the Danish budget recordand video markets. This year, itplans to re-release some 10 "clas-sic" albums, as well as about 30low -price compilations drawnfrom the Metronome roster.About four titles per month willbe issued. Many will becomeavailable on CD for the first time,retailing at Dkr79 each (app.US$13), as opposed to the stan-dard price of Dkr149.

Says Elap promotion managerChristian Gunbak Kjeldsen,"This deal has brought us a lot ofvery interesting material. It'ssomething of a history of Danishpop from the '60s and '70s. We

themselves able to build up thatlibrary."

Kjeldsen adds that some of theacquisitions also have interna-tional potential, such as jazz re-cordings featuring StephaneGrappelli. These titles will beoffered to Pickwick companiesthroughout the world for release.

Metronome Records was thefirst company founded by BentFabric. Established in the early1960s, it formed the nucleus of agroup which now covers a broadspectrum of the Danish entertain-ment industry. Central activitiesinclude home video, film produc-tion and a Copenhagen entertain -

"We already work with about 60 localstations, and it's quite easy to get mostto play some of our material. "

- Christian Gunbak Kjeldsen

expect it to generate considerableinterest in Denmark and the restof Scandinavia, so we want to dosomething special with it."

Despite their vintage, he hopesradio will be among those inte-rested in the reissues, saying,"We already work with about 60local stations, and it's quite easyto get most to play some of ourmaterial. Many would like toplay more oldies like this along-side new releases, but becausethey are small and only a fewyears old, most don't have them.Especially now that made themavailable on CD, they're finding

ment centre Metronome Recordshas not issued a release since1978.

"We were able to acquire theserights because Fabric no longerhas the time to work with the re-cord company," explainsKjeldsen. "I think he felt we hadthe right organisation, attitudeand ideas to take things on fromhere." He adds that MetronomeRecords will continue to exist,though "not as a record com-pany".

At press time, no Metronomespokesperson was available tocomment on the transaction. PA



Telephone Request Lines:

The Undervalued AssetDiscover a gold mine hiding inside your existing radiostation. A simple telephone request line pays big divi-

dends, both in the search for new listeners or just to incre-ase the listening -time of an existing audience. Let's look

at some reasons why it is such an undervalued asset.

by Scott Lockwood

The telephone request line esta-blishes a link between the listenerand your radio station. Lees notforget we are in the business ofcommunication, and spend 99%of our time talking to listeners viathe microphone. The telephonegives each listener a special andpersonal way of communicatingback to us. Listeners who contactradio stations even just once goaway with an impression that cre-ates a bond to last a lifetime.

It is worth taking a few minu-tes, perhaps half -an -hour, to askyourself if you are really gettingthe most from these lines. Do thephones ring a lot or are theymostly silent? Do presenters often

ning and your audience is gro-wing incrementally. This is not anexact science nor is this a guaran-tee, but it is safe to say that activephones mean an interested au-dience. Getting your audience tocommunicate with you increasesthe chance that they will reportyou in an official rating survey.

The people that call are youractive listeners. These are thepeople who love radio the mostand serve as opinion leaders whe-rever radios are found. Servingthis group is of the utmost impor-tance.

The manner in which they aretreated and served by your radiostation could determine the fateof how they will report you to theratings. Resolve to handle each

"Resolve to handle each phone call as ifit were an ounce of gold."

tell you of new listeners that havecalled during their programme?Or do they complain about thesame group of five people callingevery day?

If you are constantly hearingfrom new listeners and the phonerings frequently, you can assumethere are plenty of people liste-

phone call as if it were an ounceof gold, because it truly is. Evenjust a few phone calls handledwell from survey participants canmake a difference to your results.

Additional BenefitsListener phone calls can also actas a form of inexpensive research

that can be used as a program-ming tool. Presenters or telep-hone operators who answer thephones can obtain valuable basicinformation from callers, such assex, age, location and musicalpreferences.

When presenters answer the te-lephone it can actually help im-prove their performance on theair. As we all know, it can get aw-fully lonely in the studio at times.Presenters often need a link to theoutside world.

Rating surveys are nothing butnumbers games. Answering agroup of phone calls is the same.The more phones that are answe-red then the more listeners are tal-ked to and the more your au-dience is liable to increase. Atypical presenter can answerabout 10 phone calls an hour as aside to their regular on -air duties.In a typical 24 -hour day, thattranslates to 240 calls. This maysound like a pittance to some, butthe numbers multiply surprisinglyfast.

How It WorksA short sales pitch should wrapup each call by inviting listenersto listen longer or at other loca-tions. For instance, if they are cal-ling from home, invite them tolisten at the office. The possibili-ties here are endless. Do not stopuntil you have got them listening24 hours a day and everywherethey go (if you can get away withthat). Have presenters finish each

Five Good Reasons To ImplementTelephone Request Lines

They are a special and personal way for listeners tocommunicate back to us.

They are an inexpensive means of research that can be usedas a programming tool.

The presenter is linked with the outside world. Communicating with listeners makes presenters feel good,

hence their on -air presentation improves. Audience figures are increased through greater station

awareness.

phone call by thanking the callerfor listening and inviting them tocall any time. Allow presenters todo this in any style they like, justbe sure and leave them feelingimportant and sold on the station.

How To Implement APhone ProgrammeSchedule a special staff meetingwith your presenters to discuss thetopic. About an hour should do.Use this time to instil in each pre-senter's mind how important it isto find new listeners and take careof existing listeners on the phone.

Develop a blank form for allpresenters to use to accurately re-cord all information taken fromthe phone.

Do not let presenters get lazyand use scrap paper. Keep anample supply of forms in the stu-dio at all times.

Designate a file for presenters toplace finished request forms at theend of each shift.

Create another form especiallyfor your private use to record rawnumbers of requests taken for eachpresenter's shift. After a shortwhile, not only will you be able tosee who is getting great response,you will also be able to chart somegreat graphs and later see how it

correlates with ratings results.Get a highlighter in your favou-

rite colour to highlight significantsong requests of new recordingsetc. It is not necessary to keeptrack of every single request (un-less of course you want to), justget an idea of the trend of newsongs etc.

Keep up with this task on adaily basis. Be sure to really readeach request form that comes in.

Scott Lockwood is President ofScott Lockwood Enterprises, an in-ternational programming consul-ting firm. Clients include Nur-emberg's Radio Charivari andHitradio NI. Scott can be reachedin Germany on 911-238-727.

Calypso: Refusing To Talk Politics In Hungary Format: Classic rock and

oldies. Core Artists: Beatles, Cliff

Richard, Deep Purple. Audience: 92% reach

(Source: Budapest Uni-versity). Peak time: twomillion.

Target Audience: 15-40. Launch Date: May 1989. Ownership: 78%

Hegedus's Multimedia;22% Hungarian govern-ment.

Frequency: AM 873 kHz. Address: Belgrad Rkp 21,

1056 Budapest. Tel: (1) 1179488. Fax: (1) 138 8925.

by Howard Shannon

MD Laszlo Hegedus says,"Calypso went on -air in May1989 as a semi -national privatestation. It uses an AM frequencyand is 22% owned by the govern-ment. The transmitter actuallytakes in a radius of 120 kilomet-res around Budapest.

"AM is important because mostHungarian retailers have soldonly this type of radio in the past20 years. FM receivers have beenexpensive until of late, and eventhose were tuned to a specialEastern Europe 66-88 MHz fre-quency.

"The secret of success is a uni-que concept which is totally con-centrated on entertainment anddisregards everything which wasstandard to the previously mono-

polised radio broadcasters.Calypso refuses to deal with anypolitics.

"We have a classic rock and ol-dies format, as the '60s and '70sformed an important basis formusical tastes in Hungary. I alsogrew up influenced heavily byRTL and Radio Free Europe.Head of music is Laszlo Toth.

"Research by BudapestUniversity of Economics indica-

tes our weekly reach might be ashigh as 92%, with the strongestage group being 25-35. Anothersurvey, by Szonda, reportsCalypso is listened to by 50%more people than the nationwidenetwork Radio Petofi and 300%more than Radio Danubius.

"I can say with conviction thatin the late afternoon and earlymornings there are about two mil-lion listeners. To be honest, whenwe first started, even our staffdidn't expect such a good re-sponse.

"Only one hour a day do we airtop 40, hard rock and disco.Calypso programmes two charts:the Coca-Cola Eurochart Hot100, and the US Billboard Hot100 Singles chart. Programmingis computerised, created byHungarian software company

NOVITAX."The station carries commer-

cials, mostly local firms. About85% of these local ads are actu-ally our presenters 'endorsing' aproduct from a prepared script.International commercials repre-sent about 8% of total. Peak air-time costs $US500 per minutewith a daily average of five minu-tes per hour.

"I see the Hungarian adverti-sing market growing at around25% annually. However, inflationis running at 28%. But on an an-nual turnover of US$1.6 million,we are in profit.

"Calypso is very keen on 'per-sonality' presenters, often on -airin five -hour blocks. They alsoread the news half-hourly. Manyof our DJs were formerly TV re-porters or rock stars."



SINGLES

Kim ApplebyGLAD - ParlophoneThe well-known PWL-vibe, sometimesknown as 'the sound of a bright youngBritain' strikes back. GLAD. stands. forGood Lovin And Devotion, and is takenfrom Appleby's solo debut album as thefollow-up to Don't Worry. It's solid but notexactly profound.

Digital Underground

digital underground

Same Song - Tommy Boy/IndiscSame as it ever was: more groovy stuff.This EP contains six (!) songs, all as magi-cal as each other. Not your average rapcrew, but a one -in -a -million.

Julio IglesiasWhen I Need You - ColumbiaMadrid calling. In another attempt tocrack the US market, Spanish superstarIglesias covers Leo Sayer's well-knownsong. This time without the help fromAmerican megastars Diana Ross andWillie Nelson.

The Jack Of HeartsCan't Win 'Em 4/I - MunichRather surprising remake of the song thatappeared on their latest album Blue. TheAmsterdam -based rock band team up withthe sensational American gospel trio TheHolmes Brothers. Suitable for top 40 pro-grammers and preachers.

Judas PriestA Touch Of Evil - ColumbiaJust after the notorious court cases, thisbunch continue their evil. Repeatedplaying of the record backwards yieldedno result. No sublimely hidden messages,but pompous cod -piece metal in the dan-ger zone.

MC Fixx ItRock The Discotex - Freaky/CNRDutch rap crew deliver a freaky style overa demanding house beat. The piano solo inthe middle is a real treat. Grooves to setthe dancefloor on fire.

New Kids On The BlockGames - ColumbiaDon't play games with this dangerous lot,especially when "The Kids Get Hard Mix"is involved. Tougher than the rest? Noway, the baseline is recycled from obscureNew York "no wave" act Liquid Liquid.But there are lots of worse crimes:

Grandmaster Flash used the same sampleon White Lines (Don't Do It).

Donny OsmondMy Love Is A Fire - CapitolSince David Cassidy's return, it was only amatter of time for a Donny Osmond come-back. Listening to his new heavy disco di-rection, George Michael seems to be hismain inspiration these days. Listen wit-hout prejudice.

RomanRainy Day - WEADebut single by a promising new Germanact. who play very sophisticated pop.Special, because of the mix of orthodoxand modern electronic instruments.Roman is the pseudonym of multi -talentedBertram Ernst. He sounds like a combina-tion of Lloyd Cole (his voice!) and DavidSylvian (the machinery). Taken from theupcoming album Blue Moonbeam.

Tanita TikaramOnly The Ones We Know - East WestCall it precocious, call it what you want, itremains an amazing fact that such a younggirl plays such mature music. And she'seven started smiling. She should beEverybody's Angel as the title of her newalbum suggests.

VictoriaThis Love Is Not For Sale -Jonathan/Carrere"Can't buy me love" is the message here.Jump to the beat of this Greek productionand dream of your summer holidays in thesun.

Wee Papa Girl RappersBest Of My Love - JiveHumpty hump, and the hip -hop goes on.Nice chorus, but why does all this rappingspoil the soul of this Emotions cover ver-sion? Please, Papa, don't preach.

Ambitious Lovers

ALBUMS

ambitions RIMS

Lust - ElektraComing out of the 1979 against -the -grain,No New York -movement, Arto Lindsayhas developed in a more accessible direc-tion. It's no longer music from the uneasychair; now it's intelligent dance music.Tuck It In and Ponta De lanca AfricanoUmbabarautna are pure hit material.Dance programmers put on your dancingshoes!

BlanchardClochard Milliardaire - EMINot to be confused with Belgian singerDirk Blanchart, this is Frenchman GerardBlanchard. Indeed he's a Genii] Chanteur,and he plays a mighty fine accordeonalongside. His 12 -track set is folky, it'spoppy, and it's perfect for parties.

ChicagoTwenty I - RepriseBusiness as usual. Since these veterans in-vented AOR way back in time, they ha-ven't changed a bit. Never change a win-ning team. Just keep Holdin' On as theysing themselves. Guest musicians includeToto's Steve Porcaro and their former pro-ducer David Foster. New producer RonNevison surely knows how to record an"FM -only" album.

Delta Cross BandTough Times - Medley (Sweden)Basic blues from the Copenhagen -Delta. Mostly recorded in one take, adelight in these modern times, whenmusicians sometimes spend years inthe studio. This reunion album, filledwith covers of blues standards ofMuddy Waters and Robert Johnson, isthe follow-up of 1978's No Overdubs.

Contact tel: (45) 31-171 411: fax:(31) 171 766.

Rakotobalmy Andro - Bird (France)Originally from Madagascar. Bordeaux -based Rakatosings in his mother tongue.His warm-blooded style will appeal toprogrammers tuned in on Sting and PeterGabriel. Contact Bertrand Coqueugniotat tel. (33) - 1 407 101 80; fax: 1 407 10405.

Paul RolandMasque - New Rose (UK)If pop music had existed in the 19thcentury, Paul Roland, "the last eccen-tric", would have been a star.Preoccupied with fantasy and historicalthemes, his folk/rock takes place inVictorian times. Read Edgar Allan Poewhile listening to this fascinatingalbum. Contact Karen or Brian at tel.(44) 71-978 8611; fax: 71-738 5039.

Sun DialExploding In Your Mind - UFO (UK)Are these unreleased tapes by the earlyPink Floyd? This neo-psychedelic/acidrock outfit reflect back to the days ofPipers At The Gates Of Dawn. Thisalbum also tops their "Desert IslandDiscs" -list. Contact Mark Hayward attel. (44) 71-636 1281; fax: 71-6360738.

Susanna HoffsWhen You're A Boy - ColumbiaFormer Bangles leadsinger Hoffs solodebut is a jukebox filled with upcominghits. The first single taken from it, MySide Of The Bed, is pop in the best bubble -gum traditions. But the ultimate pop tuneis the Cindy Lauper- compositionUnconditional Love.

Inner CircleBlack Roses - RASWarm reggae sounds do wonders in thecold areas. The first single taken from thisLP, Bad Boys, is already a smash hit inScandinavia. Carlton Coffie's vocals growwith the years. A fine collection on thisnew album.

LitfibaEl Diablo - CGDMuscular power rock from popular Italianduo. They don't just devil around, theyalso tease with nice melodies. Listen to thetitle track, also the first single. SiamoUmani and Resisti. Hard to resist forwarm-blooded radio programmers.

Mute ArtistsInternational Compilation - MuteDepeche Mode and Erasure are probablythe most famous artists on the Mute label.They are both featured on this compilationamong many others less famous, likeNitzer Ebb and the notorious Yugoslavianband Laibach. A splendid compilation ofall Mute's activities, which range from top40 material typical album rocks. Besttracks: I Have The Gun by Crime & TheCity Solution and The Train Song by NickCave & The Bad Seeds, both bands fromAustralia.

Les NaufragesCa Baigne -Art TraficFolk seems to be the main attraction inFrance these days. These good -timersjump on the Les Negresses Vertes andSoldat Louis bandwagon. Music to partytill daylight with lots of bottles of wineand baguettes. LAccordeoniste really istres, trs iolie.

Graham ParkerStruck By Lightning - DemonOld soldiers never die. God in America,almost forgotten in Europe, Parker hasdone it again. On this new self -producedLP it's back to the semi -acoustic setting of1988's The Mona Lisa's Sister, and itworks wonderfully (She Wants So ManyThings and Weeping Statues). FeaturingGarth Hudson (The Band) on accordeonand harmonica player John Sebastian.

The Tragically HipRoad Apples - MCAIf time could turn backwards, they wouldhave been the fill-in of the gap betweenThe Rolling Stones and CreedenceClearwater Revival. Singer GordonDownie of this Toronto -based swamp rockband is as passionate as Jim Morrison ofThe Doors (Long Time Running). But thisis definitely no revival act.

Singles and albums featured in New Releases are listed alphabetically. Selections include those which have achieved significant airplay within the last four weeks and those releases judged

to have musical merit. Records mentioned in this section are by acts signed to independent labels for which license and/or publishing rights are available, except as noted. Pleasesend your samples to Machgiel Bakker, PO Box 9027, 1006 AA Amsterdam, Holland.



Rick AstleyRick Astley 's 87 Stock, Aitken & Waterman -produced debut album"Whenever You Need Somebody" entered both the UK album chart

and the European Top 100 Albums (January '88) at no. 1. The '88 fol-low-up "Hold Me In Your Arms" reached no. 6 and no. 8, respectively,

a year later. Having sold 10 million albums combined, the release ofhis new RCA album "Free" on February 18, marks a new direction.

by Robbert Tilli

The collaboration between Astley and PWLproducers Stock, Aitken & Waterman wasa success right from the start. The first singleNever Gonna Give You Up, released in July'87, was not only a no. 1 hit in the UK forfive consecutive weeks, but it also toppedthe charts in the US, Germany, Australia and12 other countries worldwide. The secondsingle, Whenever You Need Somebody, fol-lowed a similar course. The magic S/A/Wimprint did wonders again. The combinationof the trio's carefree arrangements, andAstley's gravelly voice, continued on the se-cond album with a good result. This time,Astley was listed as co -producer.

The third album, Free, continues his needfor independence. He split with the PWLteam and chose to sign directly toRCA/BMG. According to ChrissieHarwood, head of international marketingat BMG Records (UK), the two-year recor-ding hiatus was partly due to legal problems.She says, "It cost nearly a year to get thingsstraight. And it took another year to writenew material and record it."

However, the split was amicable.Harwood explains, "Astley didn't leavePWL because he was ungrateful with thesuccess. On the contrary, he was very thank-ful. He only wanted to have a more creativeinput in his music. Everything he did wastheir idea, he didn't want to continue likethat. He wanted to do his own material, witha greater appeal to a more adult audience."

And, indeed, it is a different Astley withnew music and a new image. He has matu-red, and his music has matured with him.The initial radio response on the album'sfirst single, the gospel -framed ballad CryFor Help, has been very encouraging, Atpress time, it held no. 8 in the EHR Top 25and was being played by a total of 44 EHR

stations, including 20 on the A -list. In theCoca-Cola Eurochart Hot 100 Singles, itis moving up with a bullet from 46 to 19 inits second week; in the UK chart it has alre-ady reached no. 7.

"He was very nervous to begin with abouthow people would react," says Harwood."It's like starting all over again. This is hisown work. You can imagine he was over themoon about the radio reception."

During 1990 Astley co -produced and re-corded the album with Gary Stevenson (GoWest) at different locations, includingStevenson's Old Schoolhouse studio on theIsle Of Man. They also visited metropoleslike Copenhagen (Werner Studios) andLondon (Angela Studios).

For the 10 -track album, Astley collabora-ted on two songs --including the currentsingle --with Rob Fisher (of Climie Fisherfame) and on another one with Level 42'sMark King (Be With You). Elton John isfeatured playing piano on the tracks BehindThe Smile and Wonderful You. All the stringarrangements are by Ann Dudley of TheArt Of Noise. Famous sessions singerCarol Kenyon appears on backing vocals.

A major European promo tour (includingall European TV shows of significance, andpress and radio) will run from February 21till March 2, kicking off in Holland.Afterwards Astley continues his businesstrip to the US, Australia and Japan. Themarketing campaign consists of TV adverti-sements in the UK; for the rest of Europe,apart from Italy, this has yet to be confir-med. Radio advertisements are scheduledfor Italy and Austria. Also there is a fullrange of window displays for retail.

A concert tour is more or less confirmedfor Japan, but his management (TonyHenderson/London) is still looking for aEuropean concert tour, probably starting inAugust or September in the UK.

Hanny Signed to Telstar. Publisher: Vader Abraham

Produkten. Management: Total Rocket

Management. A debut solo album is scheduled for

May. New single: Maar Vanavond Heb lk

Hoofdpijn. released on November 9,currently no. 3 in the Dutch Top 40and no. 2 in the National Top 100; no.72 in the Coca-Cola Eurochart Hot100 Singles.

Recorded at Telstar Studios. Producer: Pierre Kartner. Hanny is currently on a Dutch tour. The record is already released in

Belgium (Telstar/CNR) and a Germantranslation is about to be released. The label expects to announce a licensing deal very soon.

Hanny Lomis started her career in 1972as the replacement of Corry Konings,lead vocalist with popular Dutch main-stream band De Rekels. Although she hadan instant hit with the single Mario, shenever achieved the same level of successas Corry Konings. Now that she has em-barked on a solo career, things are chan-

ii

Torfrock Signed to Polydor. Publisher: Pingo Music/Hamburg. Management: Dietmar

Kolk/Hamburg Current album: OST Werner Beinhart

was released on November 19 and hassold, to date, 250.000 copies inGermany. This week it is no. 5 in theGerman album charts and no. 18 in theEuropean Top 100 Albums.

Current single: Beinhart, released onOctober 12, last week no. 1 inGermany (second week in a row), andno. 18 in the Coca-Cola EurochartHot 100 Singles.

Recorded at Hastings/Hamburg. Other chart positions: single is no. 35

in the Swiss charts and the LP is no.27 in Austria.

Producer: Klaus Biichner/RaymondVoss/Achim Gunske.

New album ....Alle An Die Ruder isdue for a February 20 release.

New single Trunkenbold, a cover of aDubliners song, is scheduled forMarch.

Marketing: Radio advertisements inGermany for the new album.

A nationwide tour will start on April18 and lasts until May 4.

Werner Beinhart is a very popularGerman cartoon character. With 4.5 mil-lion at the box office for the BerndEichinger-produced movie of the same

ging drastically. Pierre Kartner akaFather Abraham --one of the world'sbest-selling songwriters ever with the1977 global hit single The Snnuf Song --wrote and produced her current hit single.

The song --in English translating intoBut Tonight I'll Have A Headache --is sel-ling in big numbers and has already re-ached the 50.000 mark. This is the morestriking as it hardly received major air-play. Only Dutch broadcasters TROS,Veronica and NOS put the single on theplaylist.

Belgium is bound to follow as thesingle is already a powerplay on RadioRoyaal, while a TV appearance for theFlemish commercial station VTM, is furt-her cementing Hanny's sales basis.

name it is last year's second most succes-sful film in Germany, following "PrettyWoman". The soundtrack features theband Torfrock on the track Beinhart--their current no. I gold record in Germanywith 330.000 copies sold --and a strangecollection of other, songs.

These include oldies from DelShannon, Chuck Willis, RonnieHawkins and Chris Montez and Germanbands like The F...' Kius Band and BelaB. & Jan (who used to be in famous localband Die Arzte).

Torfrock, the band of mainstay KlausBiichner, are a well -established name onthe German rock scene, since they recor-ded five albums for RCA in the past.Their sixth album --the first in 10 years --istheir debut for Polydor and includes thecurrent Beinhart hit single.

Torfrock are playlisted on Radio Gong2000/Munich, NDR 2 (for several weeksconsecutively on the A -list), WDR l's"Schlager Ralleye", Bayern 3/Munich andRadio Plus/Monte Carlo.

Pan -European Spotlight: Artists featu-red have achieved Top 15 chart status inthe European Top 100 Albums within thelast five years.National Spotlight: Artists featuredhave achieved Top 15 chart status in theircountry of origin.



Interview With Alberto Hazan,President of Rete 105, Italy'sLeading National CommercialRadio Network.

Music Program With a Smile. The Comprehensive Advertising

Approach.

A Music & Media Advertising Supplement. Issue 7. February 16, 1991.


RETE 1050 n February 16, Alberto Hazan will be celebrating the 15th an-niversary of Italy's leading private national station Rete 105.He confesses he was reluctant to get seriously involved at thevery beginning, recalling; "I had tried to form a partnership with AngeloBorra at Italy's first station, Radio Milan International, but that did notwork out. My brother Edoardo was keen to open a station with somefriends and I agreed to participate in a small way. Deep down I wasagainst the idea because I had always thought you had to be the first to dosomething in order to succeed.

"My brother Edoardo was determined and forged ahead. When hisfriends lost interest after a few months, Alberto and sister Jenny steppedin to complete a team that has become a formidable force in the country'sprivate radio sector.

It was never plain sailing, as Hazan explains, "The station was closeddown a hundred times and I was brought before the courts on each occa-sion. Everybody was against us and that includes the government and stateRAI. It was only thanks to our lawyers that we were able to exist. The lawstated there could be no private national station which broadcast live 24hours a day. Even local stations took legal action against us."

Rete 105 was closed down for a full month in 1988, but after winning amajor case in the court of appeal, the Hazans were free to operate. In hisopinion this legal victory encouraged competing stations to develop as na-tional broadcasters too.

Hazan has always taken an active interest in the musiccontent of the station. He says that when Rete 105 waslaunched, all broadcasters were airing the same US produ-ced music. But he noticed that disco music was most popu-lar among young people. Hazan explains, "No other sta-tions would play disco music because it was consideredvulgar. But we introduced it and played it all day.

"We included artists such as Gloria Gaynor, Sylvester,Barry White and Donna Summer. It was melodic musicwith a happy sound, very different from the dance musicplayed today."

After only six months, Rete 105 became the leading sta-

"NRJ is a willingpartner... now isthe time to move."

tion in Milan. Hazan claims that by 1985 all other stations started to copythe music format that they had previously viewed as classless.

"They still do, even today," he says. "They copy our programmes andeven our jingles."

Hazan is adamant his station's rapport with record companies is verygood and professional, explaining, "Sometimes they love us, sometimesthey hate us. It all depends on the promotion that we succeed in doing. Wewould like to be helpful to every record company but sometimes it is notpossible.

"We have 14 hours a day which is useful for promotion and in this timewe have to play about 150 records. Some are rotated two or three times,some are new releases and others are unforgettable old songs that we mustinclude. Sometimes we do not have the airspace record companies want.

"But we are not like a magazine where you can add pages. We aim to beprofessional. If a record does not fit our format we will not play it."

Rete 105 is the undisputed leader in the private station audience ratings.The 1990 Audiradio statistics gave the station an average daily audienceof 1.94 million. The other Milan -based research institut

uk marketing push for ramazzotti - worldradiohistory.com · 1991. 2. 16. · will eros ramazzotti...

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