The Star Online: Entertainment: Music
The Star Online: Entertainment: Music |
| US-based Yuna inks major label record deal Posted: 04 Jan 2013 05:14 AM PST LOS Angeles-based Malaysian singer-songwriter Yuna, 26, is set for a big year ahead after inking a major label record deal with the Verve Music Group in the United States. Yuna's music career is poised for a broader worldwide reach with Universal Music Group's global distribution muscle behind Verve. Yuna also joins Verve Music Group's stable of diverse artistes, which include Diana Krall, Jamie Cullum, Herbie Hancock, Rod Stewart, DJ Shadow and Trombone Shorty. "Yuna has already started writing some new music and is recording in Los Angeles. She is presently in the studio with producer Mike Einziger (Incubus guitarist), who is one of the producers expected to be involved in her new album," said Nor Zaina Wardah (Wawa), the singer-songwriter's manager. "It's still early days in terms of the Verve record deal and we will have to wait for more exciting developments to come," she added. Yuna's debut album for the Verve Music imprint is due in the later half of this year. Meanwhile, Yuna also contributes music on the upcoming 'The Croods' movie soundtrack. The 3D film, produced by DreamWorks Animation, will be released in the March in the United States. After bursting on the local scene in 2008 and releasing two award-winning albums for the local market, Yuna decided to transplant her career and moved to the United States two years ago. Gradually, she built a profile for herself Stateside with an EP ('Decorate') and album (self-titled) release under the New York-based independent Fader label. Her self-titled debut in the United States, with tracks produced by Pharrell Williams, was released in April last year. Her contract with the Fader label expired late last year, leading to negotiations with the Verve Music Group, which was quick to snap up the unsigned artiste. Multiple Grammy-winning producer David Foster, who heads the creative operations of Verve, also recently tweeted: "I'm really excited about the next hot artist to join @vervemusic … Stay tuned and keep an eye out for @yunamusic in 2013." In Dec 2011, Foster was tasked to identify new talent and further developing Verve Music Group's roster of adult music and pop artistes. Over the course of his career, Foster has produced songs by a wide range of artistes including Celine Dion, Andrea Bocelli, Mariah Carey, Seal, Gloria Estefan, 'NSYNC, Neil Diamond, Whitney Houston, Cher, Chicago, Earth Wind and Fire, Chaka Khan, Barbra Streisand, Donna Summer, Kenny Rogers, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Beyonce and Christina Aguilera. |
| Adele's '21' scores again, beating Swift for 2012's top album Posted: 03 Jan 2013 05:20 PM PST LOS ANGELES: British singer Adele's Grammy-winning "21" scored a rare feat in 2012 as it topped U.S. album sales for a second straight year, beating out U.S. country-pop star Taylor Swift's "Red, Nielsen Soundscan said on Thursday. It was the first time a single album had been a top-seller for two years in a row since Nielsen began tracking album sales in 1991, the organization said. But U.S. album sales overall fell 4 percent in 2012 to 315.96 million albums, after 2011 saw a rare 3 percent bump in sales. Adele's "21" sold 4.41 million units in the United States in 2012 to top Swift's "Red," which sold 3.11 million copies. In 2011, "21" sold 5.82 million units. "It's a sort of a once-in-a-lifetime album," Keith Caulfield, associate director of charts at Billboard, told Reuters of "21." "Only a few of these albums come along in history." The heartbreak record, with hits like "Rolling in the Deep" and "Someone Like You," earned Adele six Grammy Awards in early 2012, boosting the profile of the 24-year-old singer and songwriter, who records on indie label XL Recordings. The album sold at a furious pace, reaching the 10 million albums-sold plateau in the span of two years, Caulfield noted. The last album to achieve that feat was boy band 'N Sync's "No Strings Attached," which was released in 2000. "It's really the right combination of artistry and hit singles," Caulfield said of "21's" success. "She really crossed over from pop to Latin to adult contemporary to dance," he added. "Young and old consumers bought it, and because of its mixture of fans, she was able to sell it as well as she did." Adele's success came despite the drop in 2012 U.S. album sales. "Last year (2011) was a fluke," Caulfield said. "A year gain in album sales is a mega achievement. ... It's the way the market works now, people buy songs and not albums." Indeed, digital song sales rose 5 percent in 2012 to a record high 1.336 billion downloads. The year's best-selling albums in the United States had a particularly British flavor as Swift was the lone American in the top five. Swift records for the independently owned Nashville-based Big Machine, distributed by Universal Music Group. British boy band One Direction's "Up All Night," released in 2011 on Sony Music Entertainment's SYCO/Columbia label, placed third with 1.62 million units sold, while their 2012 follow-up, "Take Me Home," took the fifth spot with 1.34 million units sold. Britain's folk revivalists Mumford & Sons, on indie record label Glassnote, placed fourth with their album "Babel" selling 1.46 million units. |
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