It’s hard to believe that we have already entered the fourth quarter. Where did 2011 go anyway? It’s been another year of changes in the music industry and not so much for the better. Just this week alone we got the word of more downsizes and changes as Jive Records and Arista pretty much shut down are official labels, leaving the remaining parts to something that would resemble an imprint. Such giants just can’t survive in this ever changing landscape so they had to lay off what was left of their dwindling staff and pretty much shut everything down. We also got word over the past couple of weeks that Music Row was making changes and dropped many stations in favor of the Clear Channel and other major radio groups. If this is in fact true, it’s just another slap in the face to those small market stations that contribute so mush to radio and to artists and bands that have always been helped by this outlet.

From looking at the charts and pages of our Fall Music Preview, you would not guess that we are still in an industry “melt down”. Here at New Music Weekly our team is stronger than ever. In fact, as the majors continue to implode, many artists and bands are forced to “jump ship” in favor of their own independent label. They have found a voice here at NMW, where they can continue to build a radio and fan following. Our reporting stations from Top40, Country, Hot AC to College, continue to support and service artists from both the major and independent arena. Just as things are getting worse in many musical directions, they seem to be “rock solid” in our world. As we have always expressed, here all stations and artists are treated as equals. We will continue to be a voice for “leveling the playing field” in the ever changing music industry.

It is also that time of year to start looking at the artists and bands most deserving of award nomination attention. In the next few months we will begin posting our nominations board on the New Music Weekly website. Once again radio programmers and music fans will have a hand in choosing the nominees for our 2011 New Music Awards. The award process is pretty simple as it will reflect the acts that achieved chart success throughout this calendar year. There will be one additional issue, our Best of 2011, before we get to the wire on listing the nominees. Things change rapidly in this industry as you know and you still have time to make notable chart activity to help your cause. Nominations will be revealed before the end of this year and winners will be announced in the first quarter of 2012.

We have seen an amazing amount of great music, most of it coming from the independent arena. Once again, as the majors continue to have their problems, it has only helped the artists and bands on a smaller level to attain greater attention and recognition. Radio really could care less about what record label you are on. What radio really cares about is the music and if you bring them a great record you will get it played. If you are not getting the “love” from Mediabase or Billboard “out of the box”, there a stronger chance that you will get that attention right here.

The holidays are right around the corner and it’s time to get that Christmas song out there. It’s always a good thing as an artist or band to add that to your musical collection. We will be monitoring and charting quite a bit of holiday music and if you need help with servicing, contact us and we’ll make sure that it gets to “all of radio”. Make sure to take a good look at all of the artists and bands that are having an impact on our charts for this Fall Music Preview. Many of them deserve your attention and continued support.