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Steve Barnett (music executive)

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Steve Barnett (born February 19, 1952, Wolverhampton, England) is the Chairman and CEO of Capitol Music Group.[1]

Early career

Barnett began his music career as an agent in London in 1970, working for the Bron Agency (Gerry Bron) and dealing with bands such as Colosseum and Uriah Heep. He became an agent for NEMS Enterprises, the company originally formed by Beatles manager Brian Epstein. While there from 1972 to 1974, Barnett represented artists such as Elton John, Black Sabbath, and Deep Purple. He briefly managed Rough Diamond in 1977, a short-lived British band that featured David Byron (ex Uriah Heep), Dave Clempson (ex Colosseum) and Geoff Britton (ex Wings). In 1980 he became a manager and partner in the UK artist management firm Part Rock, where his clients included AC/DC, Cyndi Lauper, Foreigner, and Gary Moore. In 1988 he established Part Rock's U.S. company, Hard to Handle Management, where he served as President.

Epic Records

Barnett joined Epic Records in 1996 as Senior Vice President International, and was named Senior Vice President Worldwide Marketing for the label in 1997, then Executive Vice President/ General Manager in 2001. He was named President of Epic in 2004. At Epic Barnett took a role in marketing artists including Pearl Jam, Audioslave, Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Franz Ferdinand, Modest Mouse, Good Charlotte and Natasha Bedingfield.

Columbia Records

In December 2005 he was named Chairman of Columbia Records, with responsibility for overall management of the label.[2] During his tenure, Columbia's marketshare rose consistently, resulting in a 50% increase in current marketshare between 2009 and 2012 and attaining the #1 slot among all labels in 2011 and 2012.[3]

Barnett has presided over successful campaigns for Adele, Beyoncé, John Mayer, Jack White, The Shins, One Direction, Maxwell, Foster the People, J. Cole, AC/DC, Susan Boyle, soprano prodigy Jackie Evancho and the marketing and release of the Glee soundtracks. He oversaw critically acclaimed and commercially successful albums by artists including Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond, Celine Dion, and Harry Connick Jr.

Adele's 21 was the first time that an album reached the RIAA Diamond plateau since Usher's Confessions, which was released in 2004 and Diamond certified in July, 2012.[4]

Barnett was instrumental in bringing AC/DC to Sony Music, where the band achieved the label's biggest first-week sales figure in its history when it sold more than 784,000 copies of Black Ice in 2008.[5] The band has since sold over 38 million albums worldwide.

This period also saw Bob Dylan score back-to-back #1 albums with Modern Times and Together Through Life, as well as Neil Diamond receiving the first #1 album in his career with the release of Home Before Dark. During this time, Barbra Streisand set the record as the only artist to achieve a #1 album in every decade from the 1960s through the 2000s with her album Love Is the Answer.

Capitol Music Group

2012 - 2014

In November 2012 Barnett became Chairman and CEO of the Capitol Music Group.[1] Barnett broadened the company's portfolio of labels in 2013, inking high-profile deals with T Bone Burnett (Electromagnetic Recordings) and Troy Carter (Atom Factory), as well as a partnership with Arcade Fire for that band's Reflektor album.

In October 2013, it was announced that Beck signed to Capitol Records.[6] On January 21, 2014, Barnett announced the signing of Neil Diamond to a long-term recording agreement with Capitol Records. The contract united Diamond's Columbia, UNI/MCA, and Bang catalogues of recorded music for the first time, encompassing the artist's entire body of recorded work.[7]

In December, 2013, Barnett completed a year-long renovation of the Capitol Records Tower in Hollywood, California.[8]

On July 24, 2014, Capitol's Sam Smith made U.S. pop music history when his debut album In the Lonely Hour sold more copies in its first week of release – 166,000 – than any other debut album by a UK male artist in the 23-year history of Soundscan. The album entered the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart at #2.[9]

Capitol Recording artists 5 Seconds Of Summer became the first Australian artists to enter the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart at #1 with its first full-length album on July 30, 2014. The band's self-titled debut album sold 259,000 copies in its first week of release, achieving the third largest weekly sales tally of the year, to date.[10]

On December 5, 2014, Capitol Music Group artists and recordings received 44 Grammy nominations for 2015, including multiple nominations for Sam Smith (6 nominations including Album Of The Year for In the Lonely Hour and Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year for "Stay with Me"), Beck (4 nominations, including Album Of The Year and Best Rock Album for Morning Phase), Ryan Adams (3 nominations, including Best Rock Album for 2014's Ryan Adams), Rosanne Cash (3 nominations, including Best Americana Album for The River & the Thread), Robert Glasper Experiment (2 nominations including Best R&B Album for Black Radio 2) and Katy Perry (2 nominations, including Best Pop Vocal Album for Prism).[11]

2015 - 2016

On January 9, 2015, Billboard Magazine announced that Capitol Music Group ranked #2 in Industry Market Share plus TEA for the 2014 calendar (7.91%), as tracked by Nielsen SoundScan.[12] It marked the company's highest such ranking in decades, and highlighted CMG's successful turnaround over the previous 24 months since the company was purchased by Universal Music Group in 2012 as part of its acquisition of EMI. In 2012, Nielsen Soundscan ranked CMG at #5 with 6.61%, and the company's leap to #2 quantified a growth in market share of 20%.[13]

On February 8, 2015, Capitol Music Group artists won 12 Grammy Awards, marking the first time in Grammy history that one label swept the big four categories: Album Of The Year (for Beck's Morning Phase) and Record Of The Year (Sam Smith's "Stay With Me"), Song Of The Year ("Stay With Me") and Best New Artist (Sam Smith). Beck also received a Grammy for Best Rock Album (Morning Phase), while Sam Smith won his fourth Grammy in the category of Best Pop Vocal Album (In The Lonely Hour). Blue Note recording artist Rosanne Cash won Best Americana Album for The River & the Thread, plus Best American Roots Performance and Best American Roots Song for "A Feather's Not A Bird." Additional CMG artists to win Grammys included Robert Glasper, who was awarded a statue for Best Traditional R&B Performance for "Jesus Children" from his Black Radio 2 album, and Smokie Norful, who won Best Gospel Performance for "No Greater Love." The 57th Annual Grammy Awards telecast featured performances by numerous CMG artists, including Beck, Annie Lennox, Katy Perry and Sam Smith.

On August 16, 2016, Barnett announced that Paul McCartney had signed a worldwide recording agreement with Capitol Records and that the deal encompassed the artist's entire body of post-Beatles work, as well as new recordings. McCartney is currently working on a new studio album, and working with Capitol on a comprehensive plan for his back catalogue.[14]

On November 1, 2016, Barnett announced a slate of activities related to Capitol Records' 75th Anniversary celebration beginning on November 15 and continuing through 2017. Events include a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the proclamation of November 15 as Capitol Records Day in the city of Los Angeles, and release of a 75-album vinyl collection of historic recordings.[15][16]

In December 2016, TASCHEN published 75 Years Of Capitol Records, an official account of Capitol Records, from its founding year of 1942 through the present day. With a foreword by Beck, essays by cultural historians and music and architecture critics, as well as hundreds of images from Capitol’s extensive archives, the book follows the label’s evolution and the making of some of the greatest music of the 20th and 21st centuries. Through pop, rock, country, classical, soul, and jazz, the photographic and musical history includes the label’s "most successful, cool, hip, and creative stars, as well as the one-hit wonders who had their all-too-brief moments in the spotlight."[17]

Barnett was interviewed extensively by Tim Ingham of Music Business Worldwide in December 6, 2016 article, during which they discussed Barnett's tenure at Capitol Music Group and the company's November 15, 2016 gala event celebrating its 75th Anniversary. At that event, Capitol welcomed chart heavyweights past and present into its Studios A & B, including Katy Perry, Ryan Adams, Halsey, Neil Diamond, Bob Seger, Beck, Niall Horan and Tori Kelly – plus business players from Capitol’s halcyon days such as Bhaskar Menon, Joe Smith and Rupert Perry. As Ingham wrote about Barnett, four years into his tenure, he is deeply serious about returning Capitol to its former glories. “From the outset of this journey, we’ve always been very respectful of the past, but it’s really the future we’re excited about,” he told MBW. “For us to get to where we want to get to, we’ve still got a lot to achieve.”[18]

2017 - 2018

On February 5, 2017, hip-hop trio Migos earned their first Number 1 album in America, with Culture selling 131,000 equivalent album units in the first week of its release (with 77,000 of those stemming from streaming). It marked the first Number 1 for the trio.[19]

On February 10, 2018, as hip-hop trio Migos celebrated their second No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, with their Quality Control Music/Motown/Capitol release Culture II debuting with 199,000 equivalent album units, according to Nielsen Music, they also made Billboard chart history: The trio tied The Beatles for the most simultaneous entries on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart among groups, with 14.[20]

On March 24, 2018, rapper Lil Yachty earned his highest-charting effort on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart as his album, Lil Boat 2, opened at No. 2 with 64,000 equivalent album units earned, according to Nielsen Music. The set surpassed his previous chart high, achieved with Teenage Emotions, which peaked at No. 4 last year.[21]

On August 8, 2018, Capitol Music Group held its fifth annual Capitol Congress at the Arclight Theater in Hollywood, highlighted by a daylong session of product presentations, panels, musical performances and a live podcast featuring Paul McCartney and WTF host and GLOW star Marc Maron. Artist showcases included promising Asbury Park singer/songwriter Fletcher (“Undrunk”), Ypsilanti MI and R&B vocalist Queen Naija (“Medicine”). Rapper NF was recognized for more than 3 million adjusted albums sold, including 3.5 billion streams, while Caroline - CMG's independent distribution and label services arm - announced that it had doubled its market share in 12 months to more than 3 percent; and video sizzles touted other new artists including critics’ darling Christine and the Queens and teenpop star Loren Gray.[22]

Other highlights included a 30th anniversary celebration of MC Hammer’s 22-million-selling breakthrough album, “Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt Him,” with an interview conducted by UMe VP Urban Catalogue Andre Torres.[22]

An Ethiopia Habtemariam-hosted panel on culture as the new mainstream included Live Nation Urban’s Shawn Gee (The Roots, Jill Scott), manager Chase Johnson (A$AP Rocky, Playboy Carti), Capitol Music Group EVP Dion “NoID” Wilson, former Cornerstone and Beats brand market expert Kristen Fraser and Quality Control founder Kevin “Coach K” Lee, the man behind Migos and Lil Yachty, both of whom accepted awards for outstanding sales.[22]

References

  1. ^ a b Steve Barnett to lead Capitol Music Group
  2. ^ "Steve Barnett Named Chairman, Columbia Records". FMQB. Dec 2, 2005. Retrieved Oct 23, 2012.
  3. ^ "Columbia COO Steve Barnett in Line to Head Up Universal's New Capitol Label Group: Source". Billboard Magazine. Oct 5, 2012. Retrieved Oct 23, 2012.
  4. ^ "Albums Can Top 10 Million In Sales, Eventually". USA Today. July 18, 2012. Retrieved Oct 23, 2012.
  5. ^ "Sony's Barnett Gets His Due". New York Post. December 2, 2009. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved Oct 23, 2012. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ http://pitchfork.com/news/52801-beck-announces-new-album-morning-phase-signs-to-capitol-records/
  7. ^ Staff, Billboard (January 20, 2014). "Neil Diamond Signs With Capitol Records (Exclusive)". Billboardbiz.
  8. ^ Halperin, Shirley. "Inside Capitol Records' Newly Redesigned Digs (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.
  9. ^ Forman, Olivia (June 25, 2014). "Sam Smith Sings His Way To U.S. Sales Record". Spin.
  10. ^ Grein, Paul (July 30, 2014). "Chart Watch: 10 Facts About 5 Seconds Of Summer". Yahoo News.
  11. ^ "57th Annual GRAMMY Awards Nominees". Grammy.com. December 5, 2014.
  12. ^ Christman, Ed (January 9, 2015). "Music In 2014". Billboard Magazine.
  13. ^ Lewis, Randy (February 3, 2015). "A Revitalized Capitol Records Forges A New Path Forward". Los Angeles Times.
  14. ^ Lewis, Randy (August 17, 2016). "Paul McCartney signs new contract returning his solo career to Capitol". Los Angeles Times.
  15. ^ "Tower 75: Cue Fanfare)". Hits Magazine.
  16. ^ "Capitol Records Celebrates 75th Anniversary With Vinyl Reissues, Essay Book & Docuseries)". Billboard.
  17. ^ "75 Years Of Capitol Records)". TASCHEN.
  18. ^ "Steve Barnett On Running Capitol: 'Your Faith Has To Be Greater Than Your Fear')". Music Business Worldwide.
  19. ^ "Migos' Culture Is the No. 1 Album in America)". Pitchfork.
  20. ^ "Migos Tie The Beatles for Most Simultaneous Hot 100 Entries Among Groups)". Billboard.
  21. ^ "Lil Yachty's 'Lil Boat 2' Sets Sail at No. 2 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart)". Billboard.
  22. ^ a b c "Capitol Congress Corrals Global Music Team, Migos and a Beatle)". Variety.
Preceded by
first
 Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Capitol Music Group
November 2012–present 		Succeeded by
incumbent
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