It is not often that the politically focused online journal Crikey devotes a largish slab of its newsletter to boy bands played on FM Radio, but yesterday it found a twist to report on – one that involves British act The Wanted, DMG group programming director, Paul Jackson and the band’s manager, Richard Park who happens to be Paul’s dad.
Crikey’s Andrew Crook asserts that according to data supplied by radioinfo advertiser AirCheck, “Despite an initially-disappointing chart placing, the clean-cut popsters’ latest single, Glad You Came, has been thrashed hard on Nova’s eight Australian affiliates, with 1025 plays in the six weeks to September 21.”
On top of that, Nova has pushed the band off-air by using it in station sales promotions.
Crook says that Nova insiders told him that Jackson’s relentless pushing of Glad You Came has met with heavy resistance. A quote attributed to an un-named ex-staffer claims, “Every Nova station in the country was given a directive by Paul Jackson to add the song to across the board (24-hours-a-day) rotation…there has been saturation airplay on Nova for this band.”
Crook was told, “Glad You Came’s path to glory was a slow burn with Jackson’s edict coming well before the track had cemented itself in the national consciousness.”
While Jackson doesn’t shy away from accusations that he “championed” the song – “That’s my job,” he says – he rejects the idea that it has anything to do with with nepotism, saying, “The Wanted had been the best-selling band in Britain and Europe for the last 12 months and that it wasn’t just Nova that had jumped on board — the band had also enjoyed a flogging from Channel Seven’s Sunrise and Channel V. Last week Austereo stations, led by Melbourne’s Fox and Sydney’s 2Day FM, also added the track after the initial Nova push.”
A spokesperson for record company UMG, Nadya Balzarolo, implies that the The Wanted’s success has more to do with UMG’s relationship with the band than Jackson’s relationship with its manager. She told radioinfo, “The Wanted have been identified as a Global priority for UMG. Universal Australia took the opportunity to block out a promo timeframe for Australia and brought them in to cover all appropriate media outlets, TV, radio, print, online/social and a showcase. The success is apparent in both exposure and sales – itunes peak (to date) #14 on Friday. The current radio chart (TMN) jumped #33 (63).
“We’re gearing up for the next single and expect full support when serviced with our next planning phase,” says Ms Balzarolo.
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