Atlantic Group is No. 1 label for second straight year: Artists, company score wide array of Billboard honors: Hootie's "Cracked Rear View" is No. 1 Album of the year.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 18, 1995--Capping off another twelve months of genre-spanning success and breakthrough artist development, The Atlantic Group is the music industry's No. 1 label for the second consecutive year.

As of December 10th, according to the SoundScan retail tracking system, The Atlantic Group ranks as the No. 1 label year-to-date -- with a 10.34% market share year-to-date for current releases, and a 9.33% market share year-to-date in current and catalogue sales combined. Driving the company's success is the strong performance of new and developing artists spanning an extraordinary diversity of genres -- including rock, pop, R&B, country, alternative, jazz, rap, folk, and classical.

Atlantic's No. 1 status is dramatically reflected in Billboard magazine's year-end survey, where Atlantic ranks as the No. 1 Pop Label, the No. 1 Billboard 200 Albums Label, the No. 1 Hot 100 Singles Label, the No. 1 Pop Charts Label, the No. 1 Hot Album Rock Tracks Label, and the No. 1 Distributing Label for R&B Albums. All told, The Atlantic Group and its artists top a total of 18 separate categories, while ranking in the top three in an additional 35 categories.

Atlantic Group President Val Azzoli commented: "I would like to thank all of our artists and staff for their phenomenal work over the past year. The nurturing of fresh talent is the lifeblood of our industry, so it is especially gratifying to note that much of our current success is based on new and developing artists. This wealth of young talent will form the foundation for our continued growth in this decade and beyond. As we enter 1996, I am happy to say that we have a fresh crop of new artists poised for similar breakthrough success. Needless to say, I am thrilled with this year's performance, and I am looking forward to even bigger and better things in the years ahead."

An array of Atlantic Group artists garnered No. 1 honors in Billboard's year-end results. Atlantic recording group Hootie & The Blowfish's "CRACKED REAR VIEW" was the Top Billboard 200 Album, while the group is the Top Billboard 200 Album Artist overall, the Top Billboard 200 Album Artist (Duo or Group), and the Top Hot Adult Contemporary Artist.

Atlantic Recording artist Brandy is the Top New R&B Artist, and the Top R&B Female Artist, as well as being the No. 2 Hot R&B Singles and No. 2 Black Charts artist. Atlantic Nashville recording artist John Michael Montgomery is the Top Country Artist, the Top Country Male Artist, and scored the No. 1 Top Country Singles/Track (for "Sold (The Grundy County Auction Incident)"). In addition, Montgomery was named the No. 2 Top Country Albums Artist.

Atlantic recording group Collective Soul's "December" topped the Hot Album Rock Tracks chart, while the group came in second in the Hot Album Rock Track Artists category. Finally, The Three Tenors' Atlantic release, "CARRERAS, DOMINGO, PAVAROTTI WITH MEHTA: THE THREE TENORS IN CONCERT" (the national pop chart's highest-ranking classical release ever in the history of the rock era) was named the No. 1 Classical Album of the year.

The company's ability to break new artists was dramatically reflected in SoundScan's "Top New Artist Albums" chart for the week ending Dec. 3, where Atlantic Group artists occupied five of the top 15 spots: Seven Mary Three (Mammoth/Atlantic) at No. 1 (where it remains this week as well), Mandy Patinkin (Nonesuch/Atlantic Classics) at No. 4, The Corrs (143/Lava/Atlantic) at No. 10, Jewel (Atlantic) at No. 14, and Edwin McCain (Lava/Atlantic) at No. 15 (and which debuted at No. 1 on the chart upon its release in August). Two other new artists making strong headway as the year draws to a close are The Bottle Rockets (East Side Digital/TAG/Atlantic) and Poe (Modern/Atlantic), who have tracks rapidly climbing the Album Rock and Modern Rock charts, respectively.

1995 has also proved to be a banner year for Atlantic Group RIAA certifications. Several artists have experienced multi-platinum sales, most notably Hootie & The Blowfish, with their record-breaking Atlantic debut, "CRACKED REAR VIEW." To date, the album has been certified 11-times platinum by the RIAA, making it the biggest - and fastest - selling debut album in Atlantic Records history; it is now close to becoming Atlantic's top-selling album ever. "CRACKED REAR VIEW" ranks among the RIAA's top five best-selling debut albums of all time, as well as being one of the top twenty-five albums included on the RIAA's "Highest Certified Artists" list (based on all recordings certified by the RIAA since the establishment of its awards program in 1958).

Brandy's self-titled debut album, released in September 1994, was recently RIAA certified triple platinum. The album has spawned a platinum single ("Baby") and two gold singles (her current single, "Brokenhearted," and "I Wanna Be Down," certified last year). Brandy won all four of the categories for which she was nominated in Soul Train's first annual "Lady Of Soul" awards.

Grammy-winning Blitzz/Atlantic recording group All-4-One has earned RIAA platinum for their second hit album, "AND THE MUSIC SPEAKS," which spawned the gold single "I Can Love You Like That." Collective Soul's self-titled sophomore album was also certified platinum, driven by the album's debut single, "December," which tied a weeks-at-No. 1 record set by both their own RIAA gold single, "Shine," and Pink Floyd's "Keep Talking." And Bette Midler's latest Atlantic album, "BETTE OF ROSES," has just passed the U.S. gold mark.

It was an exceptional year for Atlantic's Nashville division. John Michael Montgomery's 1995 self-titled album was certified double platinum, while 1994's "KICKIN' IT UP" and 1992's "LIFE'S A DANCE" were both certified triple platinum this year. Montgomery also garnered "Single Record Of The Year" and "Song Of The Year" honors for "I Swear" at the 1995 Academy of Country Music Awards. Tracy Lawrence weighed in with three certs as well: his third LP, "I SEE IT NOW," and 1991's "STICKS AND STONES" were both certified platinum, while 1993's "ALIBIS" reached double platinum. Neil McCoy's "YOU GOTTA LOVE THAT" was certified gold, while his 1994 album "NO DOUBT ABOUT IT" was certified platinum. Confederate Railroad followed its platinum debut with "NOTORIOUS," which was certified platinum as well.

Yet another reflection of the diversity of The Atlantic Group's success was the dual RIAA gold certification of Junior M.A.F.I.A.'s debut album, "CONSPIRACY" (Undeas/Big Beat/Atlantic), and its first single, "Player's Anthem."

Two unique Atlantic collections garnered major RIAA success: the soundtrack to the Warner Bros. hit film "BATMAN FOREVER" scored platinum honors, while the Led Zeppelin tribute, "ENCOMIUM," was certified gold.

CONTACT: Patti Conte

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Sandy Sawotka

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Laura Gold

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