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THE
UPFRONT
LATEST
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FROM
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Global hit: HOWIE MANDEL hosting ‘Deal or No Deal.’

growing talent on the record been aired outside the United

>>>RECORDING
ACADEMY
HONORS BLUE
NOTE
Blue Note Records
received the President’s
Merit Award from the
Recording Academy, in
recognition of the jazz
label’s 70th
anniversary. In that
time, Blue Note artists
have ranged from
Thelonious Monk and
John Coltrane to Anita
Baker and Norah Jones.
Blue Note was honored
as part of the 2009
Grammy Salute to Jazz
at the Club Nokia in Los
side of the business,” says En-
demol North America chair-
man David Goldberg. “I think
the process in television is very
similar—you’re looking for tal-
ented people, you’re looking for
great ideas . . . If you have the
ability in media to spot trends,
have your fingers on the pulse
in one genre, my feeling is you
can do it in other genres.”
CWE has several projects
under way, one of which is
“NAIL’d,” a reality show set in
a Miami nail salon that Walk
is developing with MTV.
“We found an amazing
TV BY CORTNEY HARDING AND ANN DONAHUE character that runs an actual
salon where a lot of celebrities
States, although it also pro-
duced ABC’s short-lived “The
One: Making a Music Star” in
2006.
Walk says “NAIL’d” will fea-
ture music but he and Goldberg
say that music-themed shows
won’t be his primary focus.
“Charlie understands what
consumers want,” Goldberg
says. “He’s a big fan of televi-
sion, he’s studied television,
and the ideas that he’s come to
us with thus far actually have
very little to do with music.”
Whatever the format, Ende-
mol’s specialty is developing
TV concepts that can be
adapted for multiple interna-

Take A Walk
Angeles, which
included performances
by Herbie Hancock and
Cassandra Wilson,
among others.
>>>ASCAP LATIN
AWARDS SET
FOR MARCH
ASCAP will host its 17th
annual El Premio ASCAP
March 3 at the Ritz
Carlton in San Juan,
Puerto Rico. The gala
event honors the
songwriters and
publishers of ASCAP’s
most-performed songs
in Latin music for 2008.
Endemol Signs Deal With Former Epic President
The Dutch TV production com-
pany Endemol, the producer of
the game show “Deal or No
Deal” and edgy reality fare like
“Fear Factor” and “Big Brother,”
has been on a multiplatform
media expansion spree.
Since the start of the year, the
company has announced plans
to develop a new online reality
series with MySpace, launched
a new production subsidiary in
Brazil, acquired a TV produc-
tion and distribution company
in Australia and signed a deal
in Egypt to produce a local ver-
sion of “Fear Factor.”
In its latest move, Endemol
signed a deal with former Epic
president Charlie Walk that
calls for Walk’s newly launched
company, CWE Media, to de-
velop and produce reality and
scripted TV programming
for Endemol.
“For years, Charlie has had
a knack for identifying and
and locals go,” Walk says.
“What we’re going to do is cre-
ate our own physical nail salon
brand and nail salon products
and create an environment
where it’ll be not just the char-
acters of the show but real peo-
ple going in and out and
capturing the essence of what
happens in a nail salon.”
Endemol and CWE are shop-
ping around “NAIL’d” to U.S.
broadcast and cable networks.
Most of Endemol’s music-
themed programming has
tional markets. “Fear Factor”
and “Deal or No Deal” origi-
nated in the Netherlands, while
the ABC reality series “Wipe-
out,” which was produced by
Endemol USA, is being
adapted for markets in Europe
and the Middle East.
“The real philosophy is to
create content and television
formats in as many countries
as we can and then exploit the
original idea in as many coun-
tries as we possibly can,” Gold-
berg says. ••••

This year, ASCAP will
honor Ricardo Montaner
with its Latin Heritage
Award for his “unique
and enduring
contributions to Latin
music.”
>>>ACTIVISION
CEO: ‘DJ HERO’
GAME IS COMING
Activision CEO Bobby
Kotick confirmed the
much-rumored “DJ
Hero” game during a
CNBC interview at the
Davos conference in
Switzerland. It is slated
for release before the
end of the year and will
include turntable-based
controllers that gamers
can use to spin and mix
songs. Activision is the
publisher of the hugely
successful “Guitar
Hero” franchise.
Compiled by Chris M.
Walsh. Reporting by
Antony Bruno, Leila
Cobo, Jonathan Cohen,
Ann Donahue, Mitchell
Peters, Reuters and Ray
6
network as it related to the audi-
QUESTIONS ence, depending on the platform
that they had to offer. And what
I learned from that experience is
with CHARLIE WALK that it’s really about the platform.
by CORTNEY HARDING There are great artists out there
right now, signed to major labels,
that have trouble breaking be-
After two decades at Sony Music, Charlie Walk left his post as president of Epic Records in Decem- cause they don’t have the plat-
ber to launch Charlie Walk Entertainment Media, a multimedia production company. At Epic, Walk form. And my thinking as it
promoted his acts through a variety of nontraditional deals, including a Rhapsody advertising cam- relates to CWE and partnering
paign that helped break Sara Bareilles and an unusual partnership with ABC under which the net- up with the right people on the
work featured music by the label’s artists in its shows. While he declined to discuss his tenure at up to me, it will have new music side on the TV side, [is
Sony, he spoke with Billboard about CWE Media’s deal with Endemol and what he has planned. music in it. If you look at what that] I want to figure out the ap-
“The Hills” has done or what propriate platforms to break
●
1 Why move to TV now? different than most in the sense I think it’s a case-by-case basis. “The City” has done now, it television shows with visual
For me, it’s not just about mov- that he’s looking for content . . . There will be music concept- has fabulous new music in it. concepts and music, where you
ing to TV—it’s about participat- and have that content not just based shows that we think What I’d like to be able to do get as many eyeballs or “ear-
ing and creating the future of play in the U.S. but plug it into someone is going to want to with our shows as I get more balls” as possible.
content across all platforms. And the Endemol system, which are watch. I still have a hunger for into the music side of it even-
that means not leaving the music global formats that can be breaking new talent. tually is to be able to have ●6 What are some branding
business per se and that means tweaked and tuned for a specific more artists that we’re part- initiatives you’ve seen that
partnering up with an amazing market. Not only does it work, ●4 Talk a little bit about the ners with and plug them into you really like?
company like Endemol that un- it evolves as the technology show “NAIL’d.” the shows. One of the greatest examples
derstands the future of content evolves and it evolves as the con- Should you go to a nail salon was 50 Cent and Vitamin Water.
as it relates to digital launches sumer moves through different anywhere in the U.S.A., you ●5 When you were at Epic, Together they worked on a cam-
and streaming to networks or ways of viewing content or ab- end up seeing the same peo- you had a great partnership paign that was real and made a
cable. The truth is, wherever sorbing content. I felt it was the ple that go at the same time with ABC that really remained difference because he drank the
there’s a screen and the masses best place to quickly and effi- and they have a relationship underground. Did the success product and incorporated it into
are going to watch something is ciently execute some of the ideas with their manicurists. And of that, especially with the his brand at the time. I think
TOP: TRAE PATTON/NBC PHOTO

Waddell. where we need to be.
●2 Why did you decide to
go with Endemol?
For 24/7 news and First and foremost, their chair-
analysis on your
mobile device, go to: man David Goldberg is open for
mobile.billboard.biz.
business. His attitude is very
and concepts we have in play.
●3 Because you come from a
music background, are the
shows you develop for En-
demol going to have a big
music component to them?
not only is there a relation-
ship, but there’s gossip,
drama, and what happens in-
side that nail salon sometimes
takes on a life of its own. And
by the way, that show will have
great music in it. And if it’s
Fray on “Grey’s Anatomy,” af-
fect what you wanted to do in
terms of getting music and TV
to synergize?
I think our partnership with ABC
was revolutionary and important.
We made exclusive deals with the
those types of situations can
work in the future as long as it’s
authentic and real and it’s not
all about the quote-unquote
check per se. You’ve got to have
an artist who actually believes
in the brand. ••••

8 | BILLBOARD | FEBRUARY 14, 2009