From the MCRFB NEWS archive: 1966

Ten Reasons Why 1966 Will Set Bar With New Innovations Within Record-Music Trade Over 1965

 

 

 

 

The year that was, 1965, is history, but history affects the course of future events. In a year of many notable events in the record-music industry, Billboard has selected 10 whose impact will probably be more fully realized in 1966.

Over-the-counter record sales will hit an all-time high when final 1965 figures are tabulated. As of several weeks ago, Billboard’s Record Market Division estimated that sales were up almost 8 per cent over 1964, and this estimate preceded the big Christmas buying spree. Dealers checked this week generally stated that Christmas business was considerably ahead of last year –all of which buttresses the view that 1965 will be a record breaker in sales.

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The car tape cartridge development, smouldering for the past three years in
Southern California, erupted on a nationwide scale with the introduction of the Lear Jet Stereo-8 system, spearheaded by RCA Victor and the Ford Motor Co. This opens a vast new market for songs, talent and recordings.

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Rack-jobbing, the U. S.-born merchandising concept, burst upon the British market with vigor this year, with the introduction of the Music for Pleasure label by EMI and the International Publishing Corp. This development promises to revolutionize the market there as it has in the U. S.

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Civil Aeronautic Board granted TWA approval to lower disk air freight rates, after hearing Mercury’s Irwin Steinberg’s plead the case. This is a giant step toward pacing record distribution with the jet age by allowing long overnight shipments from centralized warehouse points. It promises to revolutionize disk distribution.

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The merger of NARM and ARMADA reflects the growing tendency toward centralization of wholesaling functions in the record industry. In the last several years, many distributors entered the rack jobbing field; similarly, there is the tendency of giant rack jobbers to seek distributor status. Therefore, one trade organization covering these facets was a natural development. Jules
Malamud, NARM executive director, is planning a schedule of extended services so as to aid both rack jobbers and distributors.

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Country music moved “uptown” reflecting years of work by the Country Music Association. On the heels of the success of WJJD, Chicago, a wave of new top 40-formatted country music stations sprang up across the nation. These included WIRZ, metropolitan New York; WWVA, Wheeling, W. Va; WOAH, Miami, and WEEZ, Chester, Pa. which reaches into Philadelphia.

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“The Spirit of Chicago,” a new attitude of greater co-operation between juke box operators and record manufacturers, born during MOA’s September convention, creating the Bill Cannon committee for surveying programming needs and conveying this information to the labels. This resulted in intensified activity in their release of little LP’s to satisfy operations’ adult programming needs.

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The repeal of the U. S. excise tax on phonograph records has taken away die
another burden that the record industry has been carrying for many years. It has given records the same educational status which the government has long given books and will help continue the trend to bigger sales.

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A ruling by the Federal Communications Commission for AM-FM operations to operate at least 50 per cent of their programming brought about a tremendous increase in potential exposure for records. Many stations separated their programming all the way. In addition, many stations changed their FM to stereo, a factor that could have vast importance on the stereo record business.

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At year’s end, the record companies began to latch on to the Mariachi sound popularized by Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass. The Mexican-flavored pop music sound will be getting prime platter time and is being looked on in the trade as the “new sound,” for the time being, anyway. END

 

 

(Information and news source: Billboard; January 1, 1966)

 

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