Alan Jackson Viral Campaign Earns Award Nomination

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Alan Jackson, Capitol Records Nashville and Eventful have earned a nomination for Viral Campaign of the Year at the fifth annual Mashable Awards.

The campaign allowed music fans the ability to vote for a free Alan Jackson concert in their city by using Eventful’s Demand it! service. The winner with over 31,000 votes was Mineral, VA (pop. 490), which was struck by the Aug. 23 east coast earthquake. The concert is being planned for 2012 and details will be revealed once the date is set.

Other campaigns nominated in the category include Occupy Wall Street, NoH8, Coca-Cola’s “Where Will Happiness Strike Next?,” Old Spice, Kraft macaroni & cheese Twitter, and Diesel’s Facebook/QR code campaign. Other categories for the digital news/culture site’s annual Awards include Best Branded Mobile App, Best Music Service/App, Must-Follow Musician on Social Media, Best Smartphone and more. Individuals can login through Facebook or Twitter to place votes here. Winners will be announced on December 19.

Lee Ann Womack Treats Social Club Members For Holidays

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Lee Ann Womack

Lee Ann Womack was in Las Vegas for a three-night stand earlier this month to coincide with the National Finals Rodeo. While she was there she hosted the 3rd Annual LAWS Balls Holiday Chat for all her Lee Ann Womack Social Club & Country Music Appreciation Society members.

“You always want to make these things a little special,” explains Womack. “What can you do to make the fans realize how much they mean to you? And I was taking out our decorations at home a few weeks ago, and it struck me! This year, we’re not only going to decorate a tree in Las Vegas… but everyone who asks a question or RSVPs is going to have their name on an ornament I’ve made. Then when we take the tree down, because we’re not going to leave your balls in Vegas, we’ll send them to each of you as a special gift to remember this past year!”

Womack’s Social Club is an especially close-knit group. This year they sold out GAC’s CMA Fan Festival Kick-Off Breakfast at the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Weblinks: YouTube Buys RightsFlow; Verizon Eyes Movie Services

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• YouTube acquired music publishing administration company RightsFlow last week. The Google-owned video site is making moves to better track and process music royalties for its catalog of more than 150 million user-uploaded videos. More here.

• Speculation about Verizon is swirling around the web. Numerous reports point to the wireless company’s plans to enter the movie streaming business. Techcruch sees a partnership with Redbox in Verizon’s future, while Cnet indicates a Netflix takeover is more likely.

CMA Pledges $10 Million to Hall of Fame

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Sketch for the planned CMA Theater at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

The Country Music Association has pledged $10 million to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s capital campaign Working On A Building: Country Music Lives Here, which will help finance its expansion to over 350,000 square feet. The donation is the largest in the Hall of Fame’s history.

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum opened in 1967, and the CMA has supported it with contributions of nearly $5 million since then, including a $1 million endowment to the Hall’s education program Words & Music. The Country Music Hall of Fame honor was established in 1961 by the CMA, which voted in 1964 to establish a museum and archives for country music through the Country Music Foundation.

“CMA and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum are connected by history and our shared interest in preserving the legacy, rewarding excellence, and advancing the future of the format,” said Steve Moore, CMA Chief Executive Officer. “This donation is the latest example of CMA’s longstanding commitment to the Hall of Fame. We are proud to support the growth of the Hall and we look forward to using the CMA Theater in a variety of ways that will shine a spotlight on the Country Music industry and format.”

Included in the expansion will be the 800-seat state of the art CMA Theater, which will be used for concerts, films, lectures, and corporate meetings. The room will boast a 500 seat main floor and two 150-seat balconies, as well as a lobby entrance connecting to the Omni Hotel and access from the Music City Center.

“Beyond the impressive amount of this gift, it represents a major milestone in the life and history of the place known around the world as ‘Music City,'” said Museum Board Member John Seigenthaler, founder, First Amendment Center. “It reflects back on this community’s cultural history and the contributions of the Country Music Association and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum as we envision a future enriched by our legacy as a center of music, entertainment, and tourism.”

“We are indebted to the CMA for a gift that serves our educational mission, benefits Music City, and serves a worldwide audience,” said Museum Director Kyle Young. “In Nashville, the CMA Theater’s seating capacity is unique and will fill a gap in available performance halls. It is sure to become a coveted venue for touring artists in many genres of music and it will be recognized as one of Music City’s cultural crown jewels.”

The Museum launched its $75 million Working On A Building campaign in July 2011 with $56.8 million in cash secured. The expansion is expected to be finished in 2014.

GAC Debuts “Hit Exchange”

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(L-R): Sonny Lemaire, J.P. Pennington, Marlon Hargis, Les Taylor, Trace Adkins, and Steve Goetzman

GAC is launching new show Hit Exchange with an installment pairing Trace Adkins and Exile. The show premieres Thurs., Dec. 15 at 9:00 p.m./ET.

Hit Exchange allows Adkins to live out a longtime dream of getting together with the band to record its ‘70s hit, “Kiss You All Over.”

Fans joined them in the studio for the recording of the song. GAC’s Nan Kelley hosted the show, which also featured Adkins’ wife Rhonda, and artist manager Clarence Spalding.

“I’m just a fan getting to sing with Exile,” Adkins explains. “Nobody had a bigger song in the late ‘70s than ‘Kiss You All Over’ and the thing we liked about it was that it was just a little naughty.”

Exile followed “Kiss You All Over,” with nine consecutive No. 1 hits.

Bottlenose Set to Revolutionize Social Media Admin

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The wave of social media awareness is covering the music industry like the moon covers   the sun during a solar eclipse. And everyone knows that engaging fans is an integral part of the recipe for success. But with the number of social networks expanding rapidly, the bigger question is becoming how to properly balance the process. And that is what new launch Bottlenose hopes to help users accomplish by offering a healthy menu of tools to organize, categorize and streamline the process of interaction and analysis.

Check out the video above to get an idea of the raw power which this tool brings to the social media experience. It allows a variety of screens, including multi-column, single column and a sharing view that blends all your posts into one stream. Currently the system supports only Twitter and Facebook, but more choices are on the way.

Also supported is a new view/concept called “sonar.” Using something the site calls language analysis technology, written in javascript, it gives the system the ability to “understand” what you are seeing and sort it according to your designs.

According to Mashable, Bottlenose has already turned down “a big offer” to purchase this application.

Because Bottlenose is still in beta to be allowed to sign up you must either have a “Klout” score of over 40, or use the code <mashable> which is set to allow 1,000 readers to sign up. (I successfully signed up this morning 12/13/11 using the code…)

Neal Coty Inks New Publishing Deal

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Dune Grass Music has inked an exclusive songwriter deal with Neal Coty. He’s written several singles, including the title track for James Wesley’s new Broken Bow release (“Real”), as well as cuts by Craig Morgan (“Every Friday Afternoon”), Blake Shelton (“Playboys of the Southwestern World”), and Mark Chestnutt (“She Was”).

Dune Grass General Manager Paul Compton says, “His talents as a gifted lyricist and craftsman put Neal at the top of his class and will bring an added level of experience to the entire Dune Grass roster. We’re excited and fortunate to have him on the team. ”

Dune Grass Music is a Nashville based publishing company whose other writers include Don Scott Hare, Chris Harris, Red Marlow and Amber Leigh White.

Kingsley To Be Honored At Country Radio Hall of Fame Ceremony

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Bob Kingsley

Radio veteran and syndicated countdown host Bob Kingsley will be honored with the President’s Award at the Country Radio Hall of Fame Awards and Dinner Feb. 21. The event takes place at 6 pm in the Nashville Convention Center Ballroom and leads into Country Radio Seminar 2012, Feb. 22-24.

The President’s Award is presented to “an individual who has made a significant contribution to the marketing, production, growth, and development of the Country Radio Seminar and the multiple services that Country Radio Seminar provides to the country radio and music communities.”

“Without the hard work and innovation of Bob Kingsley, Country radio today would be very different,” says CRS President Mike Culotta. “Bob Kingsley has been an avid supporter of Country radio, and he has been the most consistent advocate of Country Radio Seminar throughout its history. We are excited to present Bob with this year’s CRS President’s Award.”

Additionally the ceremony will honor 2012 Country Radio Hall of Fame inductees Beverlee Brannigan, Moby, Ron Rogers, Eddie Stubbs, Rusty Walker and Bill Whyte.

• • • • •

The CRS staff recently took a break from planning the 2012 Country Radio Seminar to celebrate the holiday season with its annual industry party.

(L-R): Kristen England, Creative Services Director; Sheree Latham, CRS Agenda Coordinator; Bill Mayne, Executive Director; Cheri L. Martin, Brand Marketing & Strategic Partnerships; Leah James, New Media; Chasity Crouch, Business Manager; Kristen McRary, Event Support Director; Michelle Tigard Kammerer, Brand Marketing & Strategic Partnerships; Heather Martin, Event Operations.

Artists Engage Fans With Successful Contests

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Pictured at Bentley's free concert (L-R): Derek Freeman, Pershing Center; Steve Albertsen, PD/Froggy 98; Andy Ruback, GM/Froggy 98; Dierks Bentley; Corey Smith; Stephen Linn, Sr. Director of Music Programming & Promotion, CMT; and CMT Radio Live’s Cody Alan.

Dierks Bentley and Keith Urban engaged fans with recent promotional contests.

Bentley and CMT partnered for the “Bring CMT Radio Live and Dierks Bentley to Your ‘Home’town” competition, and listeners in Lincoln, NE along with affiliate KFGE 98.1 FM/Froggy 98, won the free acoustic concert. Over 6,500 fans crowded the Pershing Center in Lincoln on Friday, Dec. 9 to see Bentley and opener Corey Smith. The event was held in conjunction with CMT Radio Live With Cody Alan On Tour, presented by Frito Lay.

Urban teamed with People.com to launch a nationwide contest to create a thirty second commercial spot for his new cologne, Phoenix. After receiving hundreds of fan-made video entries, Urban selected Eric Noffsinger of Littleton, CO as the Grand Prize Winner. Noffsinger’s commercial will air on national network television during ABC’s The View on Dec. 21. Catch a sneak peek below. Noffsinger will also receive tickets and airfare to an Urban concert in 2012 and a Phoenix gift pack. The cologne is the season’s best-selling new men’s fragrance in mass distribution.

Black Keys’ El Camino Not Licensed For Streaming Services

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Nashville-via-Akron rockers The Black Keys released their seventh full-length album El Camino (Nonesuch) last week to some seriously high expectations. Recorded in Nashville with producer Danger Mouse, El Camino follows the Keys’ 2010 breakthrough Brothers (featuring the breakout hit “Tighten Up”). It retains their typical soulful grit and mixes it in a stew of peppy raveups, glam rock stompers, and instantly familiar hooks.

But if you’re hoping to hear it on Spotify, Rdio, or Rhapsody, sorry, not happening. Digital Music News reported last week that El Camino wasn’t available on any of the streaming services, a move that echoes the release of Coldplay’s Mylo Xyloto earlier in 2011. The album is however readily available for purchase through digital retailers such as iTunes and Amazon. There’s no official word if El Camino will be made available at a later date.

There’s a reasonable argument to be made for both sides, and the question seems to be how much sales will the band have generated/missed because of the strategy?

It’s hard to believe a band wouldn’t want expose its music as widely possible through all available (and legal) services. People naturally want to check stuff out before they plunk down $10.99 at iTunes, so they have some idea what they’re getting. In fairness, you can listen to a handful of the Keys’ new tracks on their website in exchange for your email address.

But on the other hand, it might be an attempt to position the album as a “classic” artistic statement that must be heard in its entirety rather than as isolated tracks. And as revenue goes, the common criticism of streaming services is that it takes hundreds of plays to equal the revenue generated by a purchased album download.

While Spotify and the like aren’t really an answer for declining sales, they can still be used as effective marketing tools to generate interest in an artist. Hopefully, that also helps bring some people out to the shows, where they buy some merchandise, join the mailing list, and start to build some brand loyalty.

The Black Keys were highly visible in the days leading up to El Camino’s release, including performance slots on Saturday Night Live and The Colbert Report. El Camino currently sits at No. 2 on the iTunes album downloads chart, and first week sales totals will be in this Wednesday (12/14/11).