There’s been a big spike in sales of Aerosmith’s music since Steven Tyler joined “American Idol.”
According to Nielsen (via THR), Aerosmith Greatest Hits compilations are up more than 250 percent since the show began on Jan. 19. “Big Ones,” released in 1993, jumped more than 260 percent after “Idol’s” Season 10 premiere. Another, “Devil's Got a New Disguise: The Very Best of Aerosmith,” spiked 146 percent following “Idol’s” second week.
And sales of Aerosmith’s digital singles have more than tripled in the last couple of weeks.the band is rushing to record a new studio album for release “sometime later this year.” They haven’t released a proper one since 2004. (Aerosmith is on Columbia.)
On the other side of the spectrum is Warner Music, which posted an $18 million loss during its fiscal first quarter, the company announced on Monday.
Revenue fell 14 percent (to $789 million) and operating income ($27 million) fell more than $20 million year-over-year.
Warner Music said a 3.5 percent uptick in revenue from digital sales — $178 million, or about a quarter of its total revenue — could not make up for the continued decline in CD sales (or “contracting demand for physical product” in earnings release-speak).
Revenue from recorded music was down 14 percent overall.
The company was also hit with an $11 million restructuring charge, part of chief Edgar Bronfman Jr.’s ongoing efforts to cut costs.
During a conference call, Bronfman declined to comment on speculation that WMG might want to buy rival EMI now that Citigroup has wrestled control away from Guy Hands.
