From American Idol to Disney Channel crossovers, Reality TV now breaks more major hits than most any label

By Peter Lonergan & Eve Schwartz

Can you tell which Mouseketeers are Gosling, Aguilera, Timberlake and Spears

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 11/26/2009  — Josh and JB Welch are following in the footsteps of music sensations like Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus whose music careers originated mostly on Reality TV and eventually reached superstar status.  Josh and JB Welch have developed their syndicated show, In the Industry (ABC/CBS) to help realize their dream of music stardom.

Consider that “American Idol’ top 20 stars, led by 10M + sellers Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson, have gone on to make a collective $111 million in solo album sales, not including videos, iTunes, singles sales, AI special discs, soundtracks, etc. It didn’t even matter if they did not win their year, some were as low as No. 7 in AI voting (see chart below).

That’s only a teen blush compared to Disney, who’s Teen Machine has created billions in income for the House of Mouse as well as the artists on solo efforts. Miley Cyrus, “High School Musical” and the Jonas Brothers are the current hits, though Spears, Timberlake and Christine Aguilera are the milestones.

That is enough to make any major label, with huge A&R and talent scout staffs and budgets go green with envy.

Television shows have become one of the most effective avenues for young talented musicians to begin their careers.  Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears and JC Chasez all began their careers as Mouseketeers on Disney’s Mickey Mouse Club. ; The show was in production until 1994 and produced many young talented musicians.  It goes back to first incarnation of the show in 1955 with Annette Funicello. Reality television shows like American Idol have now become the outlets for finding and showcasing musical talent. American Idol and In the Industry’s approach allows the public to screen music before it is ever recorded and this approach has changed the future of not just the music industry, but the entire entertainment industry.

Top Chef, America’s Next Top Model and The Ultimate Fighter are all successful reality televisions shows that utilize this multi-faceted approach.  They use their viewers as a focus group to help determine who will be the next big stars. Reality shows are able to get instant feedback from their audiences due to the wide appeal of online social media sites.  These sites, including Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace, have become marketing tools for both the shows as a whole and the individual cast members themselves. In the Industry, American Idol and almost all other successful reality shows draw on these online social media sites to gather and distribute priceless information.

Josh and JB hope their own record label will get RRs and golf courses but will of course settle for making fans happy

Josh and JB Welch have recognized the potential of reality television, as well as online social media sites, and are using these two mediums to open doors for themselves and for more young talent yet to be discovered. The brothers are members of a teen rock band and they are using those social sites and production company, Junior Records, to help build their entertainment careers. The multi-faceted plan that Josh and JB approach is not new but has proven to be extremely effective.

When Simon Fuller created American Idol, he already had an existing entertainment agency – 19 Entertainment.   Having various avenues for both promoting and discovering talent allowed Fuller to become one the most influential players in the entertainment industry.  Josh and JB are using a similar approach by attacking the entertainment industry with both a reality television show and a record label.

In the Industry, was syndicated to over 85 million homes every Saturday afternoon on CBS, ABC and other network stations around the US. Now, coupling the show with their record label, Junior Records, the brothers are becoming some of the fastest growing stars and are following in the footsteps of many iconic musicians before them.

Mickey Mouse Club
The Disney Channel started in 1983, and in 1989 it revived an old staple: The All New Mickey Mouse Club. It ran for five years and incubated such superstars-to-be as (can you spot them?) Ryan Gosling, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears.

As far as music goes, digital sales still represent only 5 percent of Disney’s revenue–the other 95 percent results from physical album sales. But the virtual side of the business is growing fast. Digital album sales were up 52 percent last year; and digital tracks were up 122 percent, according to Whiteside in Time Magazine.

Mobile sales are also growing fast–a market that didn’t exist for Disney even a year ago. Disney estimates 40 percent of tweens own cell phones; and more than half of those kids use the phone to buy music, ring tons, and other content. The company’s ring tone sales were up 722 percent last year, thanks to the tween market.

The Disney Teen Machine has become a finely tuned profit pump in an industry rife with unpredictability. The result is that Disney’s cable networks represent the one slightly solid piece of earth among the entertainment giant’s sinking properties. ABC is struggling, sales are way down at Disney’s theme parks and stores, most of its non-Pixar movies have been wan performers, and revenue from DVDs is shriveling. The cable networks, which in addition to the Disney Channel include ESPN, ABC Family, Soapnet and Disney XD, brought in 26% of the company’s $26.3 billion in revenue and 58% of its $4.8 billion in operating income during the nine months ending June 27. In the past three years, they have represented 80% of Disney’s revenue growth. (See pictures of Miley Cyrus’ budding career.)

ESPN does rule sports with ever higher-priced program rights, but as an incubator, Disney Channel is more important, a fact amply displayed by its High School Musical franchise. The channel made the original TV movie for about $5 million. It took off, leading to a sequel, a sound-track album, a motion picture, books and video games. “So far, the franchise has generated $150 million to $200 million in operating income,” estimates Barclays Capital analyst Anthony DiClemente. If the company leverages all aspects of the brand, he says, the teen franchises are a formidable force.

American Idol Stars on Disc: Solo Sales Since Season 1:

Carrie Underwood
(Season 4, Winner)
10,396,000 Some Hearts
(November 15, 2005)
Arista Nashville
6,867,000^[1]
7x Platinum^[2]
Peak: #2 Carnival Ride
(October 23, 2007)
Arista Nashville
2,997,000^[1]
2x Platinum^[2]
Peak: #1 Play On
(November 3, 2009)
Arista Nashville
532,000^[1]
N/A
Peak: #1 2. Kelly Clarkson
(Season 1, Winner)
10,389,000 Thankful
(April 15, 2003)
RCA
2,730,000^[3]
2x Platinum^[4]
Peak: #1 Breakaway
(November 30, 2004)
RCA
6,104,000^[3]
6x Platinum^[4]
Peak: #3 My December
(June 26, 2007)
RCA Records
800,000^[3]
Platinum^[4]
Peak: #2 All I Ever Wanted
(March 10, 2009)
RCA Records
755,000^[1]
N/A
Peak: #1 3. Chris Daughtry
(Season 5, 4th Place)
5,278,000 Daughtry
(November 21, 2006)
19 Recordings/RCA Records
4,529,000^[5]
4x Platinum^[6]
Peak: #1 Leave This Town
(July 14, 2009)
19 Recordings/RCA Records
749,000^[1]
N/A
Peak: #1 4. Clay Aiken
(Season 2, Runner-Up)
4,850,000 Measure of a Man
(October 14, 2003)
RCA Records
2,780,000^[7]
2x Platinum^[8]
Peak: #1 Merry Christmas with Love
(November 16, 2004)
RCA Records
1,370,000^[7]
Platinum^[8]
Peak: #4 A Thousand Different Ways
(September 19, 2006)
RCA Records
530,000^[7]
Gold^[8]
Peak: #2 On My Way Here
(May 6, 2008)
RCA Records
163,000^[7]
N/A
Peak: #4 Playlist: The Very
Best of Clay Aiken
(March 31, 2009)
Sony Legacy
7,000^[7]
N/A
Peak: #173 5. Ruben Studdard
(Season 2, Winner)
2,543,000 Soulful
(December 9, 2003)
J Records
1,790,000^[9]
Platinum^[10]
Peak: #1 I Need an Angel
(November 23, 2004)
J Records
483,000^[11]
Gold^[10]
Peak: #20 The Return
(October 17, 2006)
J Records/19
238,000^[9]
N/A
Peak: #8 Love Is
(May 19, 2009)
19 Entertainment/
Hickory Records
32,000^[12]
N/A
Peak: #36 6. Fantasia Barrino
(Season 3, Winner)
2,289,000 Free Yourself
(November 23, 2004)
J Records
1,770,000^[9]
Platinum^[13]
Peak: #8 Fantasia
(December 12, 2006)
J Records
519,000^[14]
Gold^[13]
Peak: #19 7. David Cook
(Season 7, Winner)
1,250,000 David Cook
(November 18, 2008)
RCA Records
1,250,000^[3]
Platinum^[15]
Peak: #3 8. Kellie Pickler
(Season 5, 6th Place)
1,155,000 Small Town Girl
(October 31, 2006)
BNA Records
817,000^[16]
Gold^[17]
Peak: #9 Kellie Pickler
(September 30, 2008)
BNA Records
338,000^[1]
N/A
Peak: #9 9. Jordin Sparks
(Season 6, Winner)
1,154,000 Jordin Sparks
(November 20, 2007)
Jive
1,026,000^[3]
Platinum^[18]
Peak: #10 Battlefield
(July 21, 2009)
Jive
128,000^[3]
N/A
Peak: #7 10. David Archuleta
(Season 7, Runner Up)
802,000 David Archuleta
(November 11, 2008)
Jive Records
735,000^[3]
Gold^[19]
Peak: #2 Christmas from the Heart
(October 13, 2009)
Jive Records
67,000^[1]
N/A
Peak: #30 11. Josh Gracin
(Season 2, 4th Place)
779,000 Josh Gracin
(June 15, 2004)
Lyric Street
701,000^[20]
Gold^[21]
Peak: #11 We Weren’t Crazy
(April 1, 2008)
Lyric Street
78,000^[22]
N/A
Peak: #33 12. Jennifer Hudson
(Season 3, 7th Place)
776,000 Jennifer Hudson
(September 30, 2008)
Arista Recordsa
776,000^[23]
Gold^[24]
Peak: #2 13. Taylor Hicks
(Season 5, Winner)
745,400 Taylor Hicks
(December 12, 2006)
Arista Records
704,000^[12]
Platinum^[25]
Peak: #2 Early Works
(August 12, 2008)
Modern Whomp Records
4,400^[14]
N/A
Peak: did not chart The Distance
(March 10, 2009)
Modern Whomp Records
37,000^[12]
N/A
Peak: #58 14. Bo Bice
(Season 4, Runner-Up)
734,000 The Real Thing
(December 13, 2005)
RCA Records
672,000^[26]
Gold^[27]
Peak: #4 See the Light
(October 23, 2007)
StratArt
62,000^[14]
N/A
Peak: #150 15. Elliott Yamin
(Season 5, 3rd Place)
672,000