Artist Updates: Easton Corbin, Brad Paisley, Chris Janson

Mercury recording artist Easton Corbin released his new music video, “All Over The Road” today to all outlets, following exclusive premieres on VEVO and YouTube. The Roman White directed video was shot last fall near Saint Augustine, Fla. and showcases Corbin in a “theatrical movie trailer.” See it here. Corbin will be “all over the road” this summer as he joins Blake Shelton on the Ten Times Crazier Tour, launching July 19.

 Pictured (L-R): Easton Corbin, Roman White. Photo credit: Stephen Shepherd

Pictured (L-R): Easton Corbin, Roman White. Photo credit: Stephen Shepherd

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Brad_Paisley390Brad Paisley‘s new single “Beat This Summer” arrived at country radio today (Feb. 25). It is from his self-produced album, Wheelhouse, due in stores April 9. “Beat This Summer,” the follow-up to his No. 1 hit, “Southern Comfort Zone,” was co-written by Paisley, Chris DuBois and Luke Laird.
“This song is about that feeling we’ve all had at some point in our lives—when you’re young, you’ve fallen in love, maybe you’re on the beach or working near the boardwalk,” explains Paisley. “You’re thinking there may never be a summer to compare.”

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Bigger Picture Group’s hot newcomer Chris Janson made his Grand Ole Opry debut on Feb. 15. He opened with new single “Better I Don’t,” which was the second most added song at country radio the week of release. He also teamed with pal James Otto to perform their co-write, “When I’m Holding Her.” Both songs will be on Janson’s full-length debut album produced by Keith Stegall, which is expected to release later this year.

Photo Credit: ©2013 Grand Ole Opry, Joel Dennis, Hollo Photographics, Inc.

Photo credit: 2013 Grand Ole Opry, Joel Dennis, Hollo Photographics, Inc.

Country Artists Were Top Money Makers in 2012

kenny chesney1Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum, Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Eric Church, Rascal Flatts, Toby Keith, Miranda Lambert, Zac Brown Band and Blake Shelton all ranked among Billboard‘s all-genre list ‘Music’s Top 40 Money Makers 2013.’ The list tallies the gross income produced artists, including income from touring, album sales, ringtone sales, digital downloads and other non-touring revenue.
Madonna topped the list, with $34,577,308.62, followed by Bruce Springsteen at $33,443,606.64.
Kenny Chesney is the top country moneymaker, ranking at No. 5 on the list and bringing in $19,148,525.24. His Brothers of the Sun tour with Tim McGraw grossed close to $100 million. His latest album, Welcome To The Fishbowl, brought in non-tour revenue of nearly $3 million. He also garnered sales of over 64,000 ringtones and over 4.6 million digital downloads in the U.S. Revenue from merchandise sales and such sponsors as Corona were not included in the figures.
Other country artists on the list include (by rank):
No. 7–Tim McGraw–$18,329,167.89
No. 8–Jason Aldean—$17,578,651.96
No. 12–Lady Antebellum–$12,968,992.17
No. 14–Brad Paisley–$12,848,724.84
No. 15–Taylor Swift–$12,695,783.32
No. 16–Carrie Underwood–$11,942,956.65
No. 18–Eric Church–$11,015,773.11
No. 19–Rascal Flatts–$10,777,282.68
No. 23–Toby Keith–$9,805,764.04
No. 27–Miranda Lambert–$8,818,536.04
No. 37–Zac Brown Band–$6,682,797.58
No. 40–Blake Shelton–$5,914,591.11
 
 
 

AIMP Panel: B2B Social Media Strategy, Tactics And Tales

AIMPcrop

(L-R): Wayne Leeloy, John Allen, John Barker, Jewel Coburn, Randy Wachtler, Michael Martin, Jill Napier (Admin. Director/AIMP), Walter Campbell, Ariel Hyatt, Marcus Whitney, David Ross, Denise Nichols and Kevin Lamb (President, AIMP).

AIMP, the Association of Independent Music Publishers sponsored a sold-out luncheon/social media panel on Feb. 20 in Nashville at ASCAP, titled Reap The Rewards. Bios for the panelists and moderator can be found here. Participants included John Barker (@clearboxrights), Ariel Hyatt (@cyberpr), Wayne Leeloy (@fmgnow), Marcus Whitney (@marcuswhitney) and moderator David M. Ross (@davidmross).

Moderator, David M. Ross: Studying our AIMP.org audience today I notice a room full of publishers, songwriters and royalty accountants. So a fair question might be, “Why social media for me? I’m not selling laundry detergent or Starbucks coffee to consumers.” True. In fact most of us here are involved in a business-to-business (B2B) experience. But social media can still be an important tool to help us make wider industry connections and keep the talents we work with top of mind within our peer group. Within a B2B context, we aren’t concerned with massive numbers of consumers, instead we are building a highly focused insider group. So as you listen to our panelists, try to get a handle on the strategies discussed and how to implement them. And if you are already active in the space, hopefully you’ll grab a few tactics that can make your efforts more effective. Social media can be like a lemonade stand. Connect with people thirsty for what you have to offer and you will prosper. So let’s start…
Ariel Hyatt: A big problem arises when we put the word “reward” anywhere near social media. There’s a giant conversation at every level from Fortune 10 companies to tiny independent artists like the type my firm represents—“What’s my ROI? If I’m going to spend a herculean amount of time Facebooking, Tweeting and more then how much money am I going to make?” This is like asking how much money do I make if I go to a great holiday party or to the gym. You don’t do those things to make money. You go for other reasons and there is a halo effect that happens and eventually money will happen. Especially, if you are a publisher, you need to realize that making an investment in this space will take money even though the platforms are free. Strategy takes money, and you won’t necessarily see the money come out the other side on a one-to-one basis. But everyone on this panel will tell you social media has helped us in ways that are incredibly tangible. I’ve been to Iceland, Norway, Denmark and Australia because of Twitter. I didn’t realize where it might lead the first day I hired someone to teach me how to use it in 2007. I sat at my desk hysterically crying because I thought it was the stupidest thing. For those of you in a state of panic because you didn’t come to the party in 2007, don’t worry. There’s still plenty of time to get your strategy right.
Wayne Leeloy: Define what you really want to achieve. A lot of folks are trying to build an audience and create awareness around a tour, a record release, a brand, or a product. But as publishers, “awareness” may be the biggest reason to leverage social media. Social gives you a simple platform to share. When thinking B2B, it’s not so much about how wide I cast my net, but how detailed I make my content. It’s a more targeted conversation.
aimpsocialMarcus Whitney: My social networks involvement is more on the technology side—watching these platforms grow in influence and dominance and evolve as businesses. MySpace was the genesis of social networking at scale. At its height in 2008 (100 million users), it clocked annual revenue of about $800 million but soon suffered a steep decline as it faced competition from Facebook (FB) which left the college-only segment and expanded into the larger population. By way of comparison, FB’s most recent Q4 revenue was $1.53 billion and they have a billion people on the platform (631 million active users every day). Another big difference is MySpace let you sign in with an alias, but FB requires your real name so you end up connecting with your family, saying when you are engaged, celebrating your birthday. It’s created an identity infrastructure that we’ve never experienced before. And mobile access to FB has outstripped desktop access, so FB is becoming a primary method for communication. Then there’s the revenue piece. Of FB’s $1.53 billion in revenue, 95% of what they earned was in advertising and 25% of that was from mobile ads. You used to be able to reach 100% of the people that liked your page on FB, but now you can at max reach 15% of them without paying. Twitter is introducing a similar system. These platforms are the new identity and communications infrastructure utility and totally wired into everything we are doing. FB is also a commercial entity on the public market and therefore has to make money. These considerations are important when you think about a strategy for using these tools today and over the next 2-5 years to make connections and capture data that will be valuable to your business.
Ross: Except for LinkedIn, you don’t get to capture data about your social media connections. What strategies can we use to counter that?
Hyatt: Who uses email every day? [everyone] So the plan is not just tweeting three times a day or Facebooking for 15% of everyone to see it if we are lucky. Where’s your email list, newsletter and website? A few publishers have called us lately wanting to catch up with other companies who are good at social media. When I’m running strategies and writing plans I notice the sexier companies are establishing themselves as thought leaders for their specific area. A thought leader is someone doing something cutting edge and worthy. The overarching reason you want to get into this is to establish yourself as a thought leader in whatever domain you specialize in, even if it is only for 50 people.
Ross: Let’s look at a few examples of people in the community using these tools. Publisher/writer manager Dale Bobo represents hit songwriters and sends out a monthly newsletter. “It’s about raising the profile of my writers in the industry,” says Bobo. “I try to tell a story, make it fun and involve the community.” Twitter is his network of choice but he also uses Soundcloud for music links. Panelist John Barker started his company blog and newsletter in December.
John Barker: Most of the people on this panel are early adopters, but I’m definitely not one of them. Ariel learned Twitter in 2007, I learned it ten weeks ago. I got her book, Music Success In 9 Weeks where she talks about setting goals and becoming recognized as a thought leader. ClearBox is a new company. Many people just didn’t know about us, so we hoped to connect with the focused few potential clients, which in my world means publishers, songwriters and people who own intellectual property. Consumers are not important to me right now. Rather than going after the thousands I’m going after the hundreds. About ten weeks ago we connected our website to a FB company page, started a Twitter account, introduced a WordPress blog section and began reaching out to people on LinkedIn. We are trying to blog once every week and become a thought leader that people will recognize and think about when they have issues or interests in the area of copyright administration or publishing. So far we’ve done about a dozen blogs.
Ross: How did you begin your email list?
Barker: We compiled addresses from everyone in the office plus other connections then sent out emails asking folks to consider signing up for our new blog. David, in your book, Secrets Of The List, and in Ariel’s book, you both talk about the commitment of engaging and staying engaged at the right level, in our case writing weekly blogs! It’s not an easy thing to do, but as the rookie of the panel I must say it has been an incredible success compared to the goals we initially set. But I know we’re only just starting…
Ross: John, it’s great to see someone getting down and dirty and making social media work for them.
Leeloy: For folks that don’t come to social naturally there is an intimidation factor and a learning curve that can stall the process. You’ll see hundreds of bells and whistles that pop up every day, but you just need to discover what works for you. Make it your own, find your voice and people will respond.
Whitney: It is much easier to build habits when you set goals you can achieve. Make the hurdles low early on. Once you begin creating content, social media becomes just part of the picture and it gets harder to pinpoint exactly where the benefits are coming from. Blog posts create better SEO. People begin sharing your work on FB and you are pushing out to Twitter. Eventually you become a channel people tune into for a unique kind of information and/or perspective. You begin shaping the conversation and it drives so much business.
Hyatt: But remember, if all John blogs about is his goals, his work, and focuses on just one thing he could be tuned out quickly. There needs to be a part of him we feel connected to. This doesn’t mean sharing inappropriate private things. But something. Is there a charity you support, are you spiritual? Do you bake or eat healthy or have a great dog? These are all things people like. You might be having a conversation on one level that is interesting, but has lots of big words. I’m interested, but perhaps not quite ready to commit at that moment. But when I see a photo of a chocolate Lab now I can relate cause I have one too. On average the open rate on a good newsletter is about 15%. But remember the 15% that open it in January aren’t the same ones opening it in February, so consistency is key.
Leeloy: Funny how much of this becomes psychology. One barrier to entry is the ability to create some kind of personable connection, knowing how to get people to respond. Creating a connection then opens up the door for you to add, “And here’s what else I really want to say.”
Ross: I like to paraphrase what Ariel and Wayne just said as, “Be personable but not personal.” What we haven’t talked about is frequency. Should my newsletter come out every day? Once a week? Do I tweet five times a day? Always at the same time?
Leeloy: Frequency will vary from audience to audience. Make sure you have something relevant to say. Organic and natural often works best. For example if something is happening with one of your writers, celebrate or congratulate them. Don’t beat people up, but make them aware.
Hyatt: There is a science to social. The average FB post lasts about 2—2.5 hours because the average person has about 130 friends and that is how long a post will hover on their wall, if they see it at all. The average Tweet lasts about 45 seconds. You really can’t over tweet. For those tweeting every three days, no one is seeing it, I promise you. Heavy tweeters tweet as much as 22 times a day and can have millions of followers. Understanding who your followers are and when are they looking at this stuff can also be measured. I recommend Crowdbooster.com for example. It’s an app that shows the best times to tweet, when the most followers are on your stream. Another fact is that 90% of the uplift that has happened on FB posts in the last quarter came from visual images, not videos. So get photos into what you are sharing. Another thing we found is that company pages on FB tend to have a lift between 8 pm and 6 am. People are at home at night, they put the kids to bed and tend to have some free time to surf. If you are hiring a social media management company make sure they work at night so your company can respond when necessary. If you are going to invest, keep on top of the science, too.
Whitney: Some people get depressed because they post with the expectation their content is deeply engaging, but no one responds. Some stuff sticks and some doesn’t. Don’t be too attached to the outcome of any one tweet. These are technology platforms and they have bugs. There can be reasons why someone didn’t see your post that might not have anything to do with you.

JD Souther One of Songwriters Hall of Fame 2013 Inductees

JD Souther1JD Souther joins Tony Hatch, Mick Jones & Lou Gramm, Holly Knight, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry as one of the latest inductees into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. “Each of our 2013 inductees has been responsible for captivating the world with their creativity for decades, serving up a rich variety of songs for our global soundtrack,” said SHOF Chairman Jimmy Webb. “We are looking forward to celebrating their contributions at our Annual Awards Gala.”
All of the artists will be inducted during the organization’s 44th Annual Induction and Awards Dinner, to be held June 13 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.
An architect of the Southern California sound and an influence on modern songwriting, JD Souther has written and co-written many Eagles hits including “Heartache Tonight,” “Victim Of Love,” “New Kid In Town,” “Best Of My Love,” Don Henley’s “The Heart Of The Matter,” and the Eagles hit from 2007, “How Long.” Linda Ronstadt recorded ten of his songs, including “Faithless Love,” “Simple Man, Simple Dream,” and “Prisoner In Disguise.” His hit “You’re Only Lonely” reached the top ten followed by “Her Town, Too” with James Taylor.  He has written with Warren Zevon, Paul Williams, Burt Bacharach, Brian Wilson, Arthur Hamilton, Roy Orbison, Will Jennings, and Jackson Browne. His songs appear on more than 150 million records worldwide including Hugh Masekela, Bonnie Raitt, Glen Campbell, Crosby, Stills, & Nash, Najma Akhtar, George Strait, India Arie, Trisha Yearwood and Bernadette Peters. Souther has released eight solo albums. In 2012 he was cast as a guest star on ABC’s Nashville. Souther has received Grammy® nominations, Academy of Country Music and American Music Awards, 21 ASCAP performance awards, and the prestigious ASCAP Golden Note Award in 2009. He is currently writing and recording and believes in “music without boundaries.”
 
 
 

Industry Ink (2-25-13)

napa1Top Napa Valley winemakers and Nashville songwriters will come together to pair music and wine with stories behind their creations. Napa in Nashville will be held March 7 at Nashville’s Hard Rock Cafe, beginning at 6 p.m. The evening will include wine tasting with the winemakers and performances from several top songwriters.
Currently confirmed songwriters include Pat Alger (“Unanswered Prayers,” “The Thunder Rolls,” “Small Town Saturday Night”), Tony Arata (“The Dance,” “I’m Holding My Own,” “Here I Am”) and Dave Berg (“If You’re Going Through Hell,” “These Are My People,” “Stupid Boy”), with additional performers to be announced.
Proceeds from the event will benefit Notes For Education, supporting arts education for today’s youth and the continued development of the artists of tomorrow.

 $60 includes wine tasting, food and live music. Visit www.notesforeducation.org for tickets and more info.

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tatemusiclogo1Tate Music Group has added Doug Briney to its roster.

 “We are happy to be partnering with the good people at Tate Music Group,” said Doug’s manager, Michael Stover of MTS Management Group. “Tate has worked with some of Doug’s biggest influences, including Lee Greenwood.  So, to have him on the same label is a real dream come true for him. We are looking forward to getting Doug in the studio to cut his Tate Music Group debut.”
Briney, known as the Alaskan Cowboy, is based in Anchorage, Alaska. He is a 2012 Independent Country Music Association award nominee. His debut CD, It’s All Country has received international airplay and chart success, placing in the Top 20 of the Roots Music Report charts for several months. His next release, his first for Tate, will be recorded in the coming weeks. He will be singing the national anthem for the beginning of the Iditarod Trail race in March.

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ticket-summit-logo1Ticket Summit®’s  Executive Director, Dr. Molly A. Mérez, was recently honored by both Collaborate Magazine and EXPO Magazine. Collaborate included Mérez in its ’40 Under 40′ list while EXPO recognized her on its Elite list for the second year in a row. More information about this announcement can be found in the attached press release.

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renegade radio1Renegade Radio Nashville has partnered with Curb Records for an informative music industry radio show, The Road To Music Row. Featuring Taylor Childress, VP of Curb and Sidewalk Records, as well as station co-owner and voice Captain Jack Aponte and radio personality and country recording artist Lindsay Lawler, the show airs every Wednesday night from 5-6 p.m. and provides listeners with an in-depth discussion about the inner workings of the music industry.
“We’re always trying to be innovative and take Internet radio to the next level,” said Aponte. “We’re excited to offer listeners a glimpse into what goes on behind the scenes in the music industry with our new show. It’s especially exciting to have the label’s perspective that Taylor Childress offers.”
To learn more about The Road to Music Row, visit www.renegaderadionashville.com

 

MusicRowRecess: Country Does the Harlem Shake

scotty-sliderIt seems that the U.S. is caught up in the new dance craze, the Harlem Shake, and country artists and singer-songwriters are no exception. Scotty McCreery and songwriting trio The Peach Pickers (Dallas Davidson, Rhett Akins and Ben Hayslip) have caught the dance fever.
 
 
Watch Scotty McCreery and his band do the Harlem Shake during his 2013 Weekend Road Trip Tour.

 
Watch The Peach Pickers turn a relaxed music-filled gathering into a fun dance party.

MusicRow No. 1 Song

TSWhile North America waits for Taylor Swift’s road show to “Begin Again,” she has delivered a No. 1 song by that title to this week’s MusicRow CountryBreakout chart before setting out on her Red tour next month (March 13).
The self-penned single came as the first promotional track from Swift’s October 2012 Big Machine Label Group release Red. A week after its release, “Begin Again” was announced as the second–and more subdued–radio single to follow “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.”

During release week (Oct. 3, 2012) MusicRow’s Robert K. Oermann bestowed the “Disc of the Day” award for the title, noting: “This intimate ballad whispers of the warm, wafting winds that carry a disillusioned heart into the climate of new romance. Marvelously evocative and expressive. Not to mention extraordinarily well written.”
Take a peek at the tastefully classic music video below…and congratulations to the Swift team for their work on yet another No. 1. We’ll see ya on the road!

Eddy Arnold Tribute Album Coming This Spring

Eddy Arnold

Eddy Arnold


A new Eddy Arnold tribute album will be released in time for what would have been his 95th birthday. Cheetah Chrome (originally of punk band The Dead Boys) and author/music historian/Belmont University professor Don Cusic produced the album You Don’t Know Me: Rediscovering Eddy Arnold. It will be released May 14 on Plowboy Records. Arnold would have turned 95 on May 15.
Contributing to the project are Chuck Mead, Melinda Doolittle, Pete Mroz, Frank Black, Mandy Barnett, Bebe Buell, Alejandro Escovedo, Lambchop, Jason Isbell, Chris Scruggs, Pokey LaFarge, Bobby Bare Jr., Peter Noone, Jason Ringenberg, Sylvain Sylvain, The Bluefields, Cheetah Chrome, Drivin’ n Cryin’ and Mary Gauthier.
Many of the tracks were recorded at the Sound Emporium studio, and many others were recorded at famed RCA Studio B, where Arnold often recorded. See a video here.
Known the world over as The Tennessee Plowboy, Eddy Arnold is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry. He released over 100 albums and placed 147 songs on the Billboard country music charts, including 28 No. 1 hits. He had at least one charting single for the past seven straight decades, hosted The Eddy Arnold Show for CBS, guest-hosted Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show and starred in two films.
Plowboy’s founders are Cusic, Chrome, and Arnold’s grandson and musician Shannon Pollard. You Don’t Know Me is the label’s second full-length release, following Bobby Bare’s Darker Than Light.
Alphabetical track list:
“Anytime” – Chuck Mead
“Bouquet of Roses” – Melinda Doolittle
“Cattle Call” – Pete Mroz
“Don’t Rob Another Man’s Castle” – Frank Black
“How’s The World Treating You?” – Mandy Barnett
“I’ll Hold You In My Heart” – Bebe Buell
“It’s A Sin” – Alejandro Escovedo
“Jim, I Wore A Tie Today” – Lambchop
“Johnny Reb, That’s Me” – Jason Isbell
“Just A Little Lovin” – Chris Scruggs
“Love Bug Itch” – Pokey LaFarge
“Make The World Go Away” – Bobby Bare Jr.
“Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue” – Peter Noone
“Texarkana Baby” – Jason Ringenberg
“That Do Make It Nice” – Sylvain Sylvain
“That’s How Much I Love You” – The Bluefields
“What Is Life Without Love” – Cheetah Chrome
“Wreck of Old ’97” – Drivin’ n Cryin’
“You Don’t Know Me” – Mary Gauthier

Nashville Firm Launches New Music TV Series

dolly32311Brentwood-based company TH Entertainment, owned by Barb and Greg Hall, will launch Song By Song, a new series being broadcast on the Ovation channel.
The series begins airing March 10, with the first group of shows centered on the music of Dolly Parton. The programs feature exclusive interviews with Parton, as well as stars Brad Paisley, Kenny Rogers, Miranda Lambert, Lily Tomlin, Miley Cyrus, Carrie Underwood, Vince Gill, Marty Stuart, Janis Ian, Mac Davis and Kristin Chenoweth.
“I admire Dolly so much as both a music talent and a business person, and working with her made me respect and love her even more,” says Song By Song producer Barb Hall. “Also, the eagerness of people to participate far exceeded our expectations. She is truly a beloved and revered figure.”
Dolly Parton: Song By Song will consist of six episodes, focusing on such iconic hits as “Coat of Many Colors,” “I Will Always Love You,” “Jolene,” “It’s All Wrong But It’s All Right,” “9 to 5” and “Travelin’ Thru.” Dolly Parton: Song By Song will launch with “I Will Always Love You” and “9 to 5” on March 10, “Coat of Many Colors” and “Jolene” on March 17 and “Travelin’ Thru” and “It’s All Wrong But It’s All Right” on March 24.
The series was created entirely with Nashville-based personnel. Barb Hall is the series producer/director. Robert K. Oermann is the writer. Stacy Kline serves as associate producer, and the shows were edited at Rock Creative by Eddie Hales and Brian Humphreys. The director of photography was Tom Zaleski.
Founded in 2001, TH Entertainment LLC has previously produced programming for A&E, Bravo, PBS and multiple broadcasters around the world. Stars featured in the company’s documentaries have included Reba McEntire, Patsy Cline, The Mamas & The Papas, Willie Nelson, Blondie, Carrie Underwood, The Monkees, Waylon Jennings, Roy Orbison, The Lovin’ Spoonful, Billy Ray Cyrus, Jerry Lee Lewis, Loretta Lynn and The Band.
 
 
 

MusicRowPics: Charlie Worsham

Charlie Worsham visit at ACM OfficeWarner Music Nashville’s Charlie Worsham stopped by the MusicRow office last month (Jan. 31).
He shared several songs, including his current single “Could It Be.” A music video for the single recently released.
Worsham also played “Rubberband,” “You Gotta Be Young to See” and “Mississippi in July.” Of “Mississippi…” he said, “This is the song I’m most proud of as a songwriter.” Rightfully so.
You can catch Worsham locally at his upcoming show Feb. 25 at Nashville’s 12th and Porter. For more information visit charlieworsham.com.
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