Billboard Spotlights Italy: The Changing Face Of Italian Talent

A silent revolution in Italy's music industry over the past five years is finally making a noise in the country's charts. Artists once regarded as so-called alternative acts now regularly sell platinum quantities (100,000-plus units), compared with a maximum 10,000 copies in the early '90s. Indie-style pop, rock and hip-hop acts are now actively pursued and nurtured by local affiliates of the major labels. The majors have each established trend-tracking sub-labels through which they market the new contenders on Italy's pop scene, a scene previously dominated by traditional acts.
"The '90s have seen a big change in the sociopolitical life in Italy, and this is being reflected in the arts and especially music," says Fabrizio Intra, managing director of Sony Italy's Columbia label. "The new Italian pop is less conditioned by traditional values, with more bands cutting their teeth in small live venues instead of the Sanremo Festival, which is out of touch with today's generation. There is more freedom of expression, and the indie labels have had a great influence in pioneering these changes."
As with the parallel changes in Italian political, economic and social life, this musical revolution has been a velvet one, with the newcomers fitting in alongside their traditional counterparts. While Italy's economy‹and specifically its large public-budget deficit‹is still being turned around (the country only just met the fiscal qualifications for Europe's single currency launch in 1999 by the hook of its boot), a renewed optimism by the Europhile Italian public is being reflected with a vibrant cultural renewal and sustained exports of its music throughout Europe and the world.
ALT-ROCK VS. SANREMO
In the wake of esteemed established international stars from Italy, such as Luciano Pavarotti, Eros Ramazzotti, Zucchero, Laura Pausini and Jovanotti, the past year has seen tenor Andrea Bocelli, singer/songwriter Nek, and dance divas Gala and Alexia adding to the ranks of Italian global million sellers. At home, major domestic stars like Pino Daniele, Ligabue, Vasco Rossi and Litfiba regularly sell over more than 500,000 copies of their albums, with dozens of emergent artists also reaching multiplatinum status.
The biggest shift has been the rise in significant sales for artists only recently regarded as alternative rock and pop. A symbol for change in Italy's music industry has been the decline of the event that represented everything traditional in Italian pop, the annual Sanremo Song Festival. Although the event, which takes place each February, still pulls in more than 15 million television viewers, its effect on public taste-making and sales has been diminishing in recent years.
"Over the past three years, the Sanremo effect has been diminishing," says Gerolamo Caccia Dominioni, president of Warner Music Italy and also president of FIMI, Italy's IFPI-recognized industry federation. "Although Sanremo's huge TV audience remains a golden promotional opportunity, especially for international guests, there is a widening gap between the festival's target audience and the main consumer target of younger record buyers."
In the past, most of Italy's emerging pop stars established huge followings and sales after a winning performance at Sanremo. This year, despite victory in the festival competition by Annalisa Minetti (Columbia/Sony) with a traditional love ballad, the only artists to benefit from a significant sales boost following their appearances were singer/songwriter Antonella Ruggiero (Universal) and ethno outfit Avion Travel (Sugar/Universal), both considered non-mainstream acts.
"This year's first-quarter results confirm the disappearing Sanremo effect, with sales notably weaker than last year," says Caccia Dominioni, pointing out the industry's former reliance on Sanremo as a boost for sales in the otherwise quiet post-Christmas season.
During 1997, the music industry saw the first significant growth in record sales in Italy in several years with unit shipments increasing 12% to 60.4 million and value rising 7% to 1,010 billion lire ($593.3 million). (Sales figures reported to the IFPI by Italy are based on reporting companies only and IFPI estimates. Comparisons to 1996 are also estimated.) For the first time in 10 years, the rise in value was on the back of increased unit sales and not price hikes. Increased sales have resulted, in part, from more competitive pricing campaigns. Those price adjustments came in the wake of an investigation by Italy's anti-trust authority, which last October ruled that the country's major labels were guilty of operating an effective price-fixing cartel. (The ruling is currently under appeal.) The only price increase in 1997 was the result of an unwelcome hike in VAT sales tax on records by the Italian government, from 16% to 20%.
Apart from mid-price catalog sales‹including a series of special-priced double-CD greatest-hits compilations‹more and more albums from emerging artists have been priced at the mid-range 27,000 lire (approx. $15) instead of the top-range price line of 38,000 lire (approx. $22).
TECH, DUB AND HI-NRG
Among the trend acts whose albums not only sold at a premium price but moved more than 100,000 units were the tech-rock band Ustmamo (Virgin), dub-rockers Casino Royale (Blackout/Mercury) trip-hop dub band Almamegretta (BMG), punk trio Prozac+ (EMI), rappers Frankie Hi-NRG MC (BMG) and Neffa (Blackout/Mercury), and hip-hop outfits Articolo 31 (Ricordi/BMG) and Sottotono (WEA).
A symbol for the rise of Italy's new wave in sales terms was the entrance at No. 1 in the FIMI/Nielsen album charts last September of modern-rock band C.S.I.'s new album, "Tabula Rasa Elettrificata" (Blackout/Mercury). Although the album soon slid down the chart, its strong early performance demonstrated a solid fan base built up through live gigs and specialist-press support. PolyGram Italy became the first record company to launch a sub-label, Blackout, specializing in the development of trend acts five years ago. Since then, all the majors have followed, with Warner/CGD-EastWest's Urlo label, BMG Ricordi's Ritmi Urbani, and EMI's Catapulta label launched last year, and Sony's Noys label launched last March.
PolyGram Italy president Stefano Senardi, who oversaw the launch of Blackout, says that Italy has reached a paradigm change in listening tastes. "A few years ago, it was difficult to imagine sales of over 100,000 for a band like C.S.I. We have finally arrived at a generational change in Italy," says Senardi. "It is a fantastic moment for creative new groups with young buyers eager to discover new music even before major media picks up on them."
Another notable shift in Italy's musical landscape has been the emergence of the female singer/songwriter. Despite a strong tradition of exceptional female interpreters, it is only in recent years that a host of women (inspired by their U.S. counterparts, such as Alanis Morissette), have found their voice not only as singers but songwriters as well. Among the leading new female talent to address the gender gap are Carmen Consoli (Polydor), Marina Rei (Virgin), Giorgia (BMG), Irene Grandi (CGD-East West), Elisa (Sugar/Universal), Christina Dona (Mescal), Silvia Salemi (BMG) and Francesca Lago (edel).
MAJORS IN, INDIES OUT
The entrance of Italy's major affiliates into territory traditionally held by the indie labels has coincided with a crisis in the country's independent sector. A shakeout has seen the closure in the past year of the influential Naples-based Flying Records and dance producers Discomagic and Zac. The majority of the survivors have struck distribution deals with the majors, focused on producing a tight roster of artists and specialized in crossover pop/dance. The more specialized dance trends, which had thrived in Italy until two years ago, have generally been dropped.
Max Moroldo, MD of the Milan-based indie Do It Yourself, which broke dance/pop diva Gala across Europe, says that the recent realignment among the dance independents represents a natural evolutionary process.
"In the '80s, every DJ/producer thought that they could have their own record label," says Moroldo. "The market was saturated with too much mediocre material. We have also lost traditional dance-export markets like Spain, who are producing more of their own material. Radio is also more professional and selective, and an advertising contract no longer guarantees airplay. With the disappearance of dance-label advertising, radio is now opening up to other genres."
Giacomo Maiolini, MD of Brescia-based dance indie Time Records, which scored a Europe-wide hit with The Tamperer's "Feel It," concurs with Moroldo. "Before, there was space in the market for average product, but with consumers becoming more selective only the strongest productions sell," says Maiolini. "Strong songs have always sold well, whatever the market conditions. However, with the Italian market being so small, especially for singles, we are producing with the pan-European market very much in mind."
Tony Verde, MD of Rome-based A&D Music And Vision, which scored international success with pop/dance outfit Blackwood featuring Sheila Horne, says that the latest wave of Italian dance should be considered mainstream pop. "Dance has become superficial and transient. We are concentrating on developing artists with strong albums, and the goal is exporting our music," says Verde.
CONTAMINATED GOODS
Universal Music Italy president Piero La Falce says that the globalization of Italian pop does not necessarily mean any loss in cultural identity. "Whatever the genre, whether it is dance or hip-hop, it is a positive contamination from abroad which helps us to conquer the world market. The Italian trademarks of strong melodies and emotions are still applied, and this is what makes Italian music succeed in the global marketplace," says La Falce.
"Italian culture has always been positively perceived around the world," says Birgit Adels, GM, international exploitation, of BMG Ricordi Italy, "and behind the international success of Bocelli, Ramazzotti and Pausini is Italian melody, which communicates Italian feeling even if you do not understand the language."
EMI Music Italy president Riccardo Clary, appointed in March following a successful five years building a fresh repertoire of diverse local acts at Virgin Music Italy (where he remains managing director), communicates the excitement in Italy's reinvigorated music market. "It's like a volcano here in Italy at the moment," declares Clary. "An enormous amount of magma is building up and is ready to explode. A big new wave of artists with innovative music are breaking through, and it is exciting new product which will eventually sustain increased record sales here."n