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Facing Flagging Sales, Will Expansion Plans for 'Kidz Bop' Pay Off?

By Ed Christman
4/6/2015
By Ed Christman
4/6/2015
kidz bob video still
Courtesy of Kidz Bop

Kidz Bop compilations have sold 15.4 million albums and 4.3 million tracks since the franchise launched in 2001. But in 2014, sales dipped to 848,000 from 1.1 million in 2013, according to Nielsen Music -- and in October, parent company Razor & Tie bought back the 50 percent stake it sold to a private equity firm in 2006. The brand is looking for a boost by doubling its annual release schedule from two albums to four. Billboard spoke with COO Vic Zaraya to get schooled on the strategy.

The 10 Funniest Lyric Changes on 'Kidz Bop 28'

Will putting more Kidz Bop releases in the market help keep the brand fresh, or oversaturate?

Kidz Bop is not just about the CD release. It's a brand we market year-round. We switched to four releases a year, but that's not all we're doing: We're expanding the touring -- last year we did 50 dates -- and making plans to expand internationally. That, plus expanding our marketing budgets, will drive streaming as well as catalog sales, and help our brand partnerships and touring.

How does the brand perform in the digital space?

We sell a lot of track downloads [656,000 in 2014, down from 743,000 in 2013] and get a lot of revenue from streaming. If you go to iTunes, the tracks that sell well are the most current ones, but our catalog tracks are selling too. Also, we have our SiriusXM channel, and YouTube is a big initiative for us.

Will the brand ever grow stale?

There will always be new music to cover, and kids will always like music. As long as we keep it fresh and don't let our commercials get stale, it should keep going.

By Ed Christman
4/6/2015

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