As the second quarter begins, there’s a heated battle for #1 in total marketshare between
John Janick’s
Interscope Geffen A&M and last year’s champ,
Atlantic, which could remain neck-and-neck throughout the year. At this point, this matchup is analogous to a pair of elite
NBA teams trading baskets and seizing the lead back and forth from each other, as high scorers like
Eminem,
Billie Eilish,
DaBaby, 10 Summer’s
Mustard and talented
Alamo rookies
Rod Wave and
Trevor Daniel battle it out with the likes of
Roddy Ricch and
Lil Uzi Vert. Think of this battle of 10.5s as 2020’s championship contenders.
As it happens, two more heavyweights,
Steve Barnett’s
Capitol Music Group and
Monte Lipman’s
Republic, are slugging it out for #3, with 7.7% apiece. This one could also generate multiple lead changes, as Capitol leans on
QC/Motown’s
Lil Baby,
Halsey and
Lewis Capaldi, but Republic has a bit more momentum at this point behind
The Weeknd and his 2020 top seller YTD, reawakening megastar
Drake and the remarkably consistent
Post Malone.
Ron Perry’s
Columbia has the #5 position all to itself at the moment, thanks to a typically eclectic batch of power hitters that includes
Harry Styles,
BTS and up-and-comer
Arizona Zervas. Can Big Red find a way to pick up half a percentage point and make it a three-way battle for #3? Perry has amply demonstrated a knack for pulling rabbits out of his hat, so who knows.
Peter Edge’s RCA and
Bay-Schuck/Corson’s
Warner, both in the 4%+ range, comprise the next tier. Nipper holds a slight lead, paced by
Doja Cat and
BROCKHAMPTON, but the Bunny is heating up behind
Dua Lipa, the late
Mac Miller and
PARTYNEXTDOOR.
Looking 2-ish are
Sylvia Rhone’s
Epic, with
Camilla Cabello,
Travis Scott and
Jackboys, at 2.9%;
Def Jam, headed by interim chief
Jeff Harleston, with
Justin Bieber and the breaking
Jhené Aiko, at 2.4%; and
Randy Goodman’s
Sony Music Nashville, with country-crossover king
Luke Combs,
Miranda Lambert and
Kane Brown.
We calculated all of this with our trusty abacus from the deck of our luxury mega-yacht, where we continue to self-isolate.
