Arista shows record sales of $420 mil

Label nabs 15 top slots in '98

By ADAM SANDLER

Arista Records posted record sales of nearly $420 million for the calendar year 1998, making it the biggest sales year in the label's history and its sixth consecutive year of record revenues.

The latest results illustrate that Arista continues to post impressive results with a relatively small roster when compared with most competitors.

During 1998, the label released 35 albums: 21 from Arista, six from its Arista Nashville subsidiary, five from its LaFace Records joint venture and three from its Bad Boy Entertainment joint venture.

For much of 1998, Arista dominated the sales and airplay charts with a diverse contingent of artists in the R&B, rap and pop genres.

It put an impressive 71 entries on the album and singles charts, slots that were led by acts including Usher, Next, Sarah McLachlan and Monica, to name a few. The label also owned five of the year's Top-10-selling singles, according to SoundScan and BDS.

Arista nabbed the top slot in more than 15 categories, such as top R&B label and top rap label, and closed the year with a number of multimillion- unit-selling albums, spanning several genres.

"We're starting the year with two Top-10 singles." Arista Records prexy Clive Davis told Daily Variety, referring to Monica's pop chart-topper "Angel of Mine" and McLachlan's Adult Contemporary hit "Angel." " 'My Love Is Your Love' is going to be Whitney Houston's bestselling album of her career -- we've already sold more than 1 million copies.

"We're successful because we make every one of our releases count by being selective about the songs on the albums and making sure each one has several hits, not just one or two."

Although the company does not break out profits, industry observers suggest Arista's touched $42 million for the 12-month calendar period.

Arista's Nashville outpost -- led by Tim Dubois -- contributed multimillion-unit sales of discs from Alan Jackson and Brooks & Dunn (plus their respective "Greatest Hits" sets), while discs from the Tractors, BR-549 and Diamond Rio rang cash registers.

Arista's pacts with LaFace Records and Bad Boy Entertainment also substantially contributed to the label's coffers during the year.

The Bad Boy association gave Arista such big-gun releases as Puff Daddy's "No Way Out," which topped 5 million units, in addition to the quartet of singles from the disc which collectively crossed into multimillion-unit territory.

Notorious B.I.G.'s "Life After Death" disc has sold more than 8 million copies (more than 2 million were sold in 1998), and Mase's "Harlem World" has topped 3 million units.

The LaFace pact saw "My Way," the album from Usher, top almost every sales list and is closing in on 5 million copies sold (3 million during 1998). Outkast's "Aquemini" topped 1 million units.

"It's very rewarding when we can be so successful and so diverse," Davis said. "It shows that if you develop artists and focus on the longevity of their careers, you'll create albums that large numbers of fans will embrace."

Two years ago, Arista had Toni Braxton's "Secrets" adding to the bottom line by topping 5 million units, but a contract dispute sidelined the artist through much of 1998.

Arista and LaFace settled the dispute with the songstress in December, and Arista expects to have a Braxton record out later this year.

Perhaps exemplifying artist development, McLachlan's slow and steady record sales continue to impress industry insiders. Her "Surfacing" album topped the 5 million-unit plateau and spawned three hits that collectively have sold more than 2 million units. Her latest track, "Angel," is gaining widespread radioplay and has the earmarks of the biggest single of her career.

Thanks largely to Arista releases, BMG Entertainment, the label's owner, closed 1998 as the market share leader in singles with a whopping 27.1%, according to SoundScan.

The label also helped the conglom post a healthy 17% market share in R&B albums, second behind Polygram's 19.9%.