Independents Top Billboard 200

NEW YORK, April 18, 2016: The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) is celebrating a major Independent success this week as The Lumineers' 'Cleopatra' tops the Billboard 200 chart (for the week ending April 14) selling 125,000 equivalent album units, including 108,000 traditional albums. The album also earned a No. 1 on seven additional charts and features the single 'Ophelia', which set a record for the single week spin count at the AAA radio format (source Mediabase).

Released by Dualtone Records (now owned by eOne), the phenomenal opening week of 'Cleopatra' represents the commercial strength of Independents. Over the past decade, Independent market share has grown to 34.4 percent, up by more than 10 percent according to Billboard, with Indies releasing some of the most creative, in demand music.

"Congratulations to our label member Dualtone, eOne, and The Lumineers for their No. 1 debut 'Cleopatra' on this week's Billboard 200. This fully Independent team showcases the power and reach of all Independents, said A2IM CEO Richard James Burgess Ph.D. "Our community of music creators, and the teams that support them are known for, consistently, earning critical praise and sweeping prestigious awards for their work, and it's always gratifying to see them topping Billboard's most respected chart."

A2IM will recognize excellence across the Independent community with their 5th annual, and largest, Libera Awards to date, on Thursday, June 16, 2016 at New York City's Manhattan Center's Grand Ballroom.

About A2IM

Celebrating its 10th anniversary, A2IM is a 501(c)(6) not-for-profit trade organization headquartered in New York City representing a broad coalition of 391 Independently-owned American music labels. The organization represents these independently owned small and medium-sized enterprises' (SMEs) interests in the marketplace, in the media, on Capitol Hill, and as part of the global music community. In doing so it supports a key segment of America's creative class that represents America's diverse musical cultural heritage. Billboard Magazine, using Nielsen SoundScan data, identified the Independent music label sector as 34.4 percent of the music industry's U.S. recorded music sales market in 2015 based on copyright ownership, making Independent labels collectively the largest music industry segment.

The organization's board of directors are composed of the following: Razor & Tie President Craig Balsam, Concord Music Group President Glen Barros, INgrooves General Manager Amy Dietz, Epitaph/Anti- General Manager Dave Hansen, Beggars Group Chairman Martin Mills, Hopeless Records Owner Louis Posen, Dualtone Music Group CEO/Co-Founder Scott Robinson, Kill Rock Stars Owner/President Portia Sabin, Adshare President Jim Selby, Tommy Boy Owner/CEO Thomas Silverman, and Secretly Group Co-Founder/Co-Owner Darius Van Arman. A2IM's president's advisory committee is Curb Records Vice President Taylor Childress, Red House Records Vice President Chris Frymire, and Innovative Leisure Co-Owner Nate Nelson.

http://www.a2im.org