Chris Stapleton‘s latest album, Starting Over, has landed at No. 2 on Spotify’s all-genre Top 10 U.S. Album Debuts. Pluto x Baby from Future, Lil Uzi Vert is at No. 1. Starting Over is also No. 5 on Spotify’s Top 10 Global Albums Debut chart.
Luke Combs‘ “Forever After All” is currently at No. 17 on Spotify’s Top 50 Songs chart (Nov. 6-12).
Thomas Rhett. Photo: Nick Rau
Thomas Rhett has notched the highest chart debut of his career with his latest track, “What’s Your Country Song,” which debuts with 150 stations on board, entering Billboard‘s Country Airplay Chart at No. 18 and the Mediabase chart at No. 25.
“What’s Your Country Song” is the first track from Thomas Rhett’s upcoming fifth studio project for The Valory Music Co.
Taylor Swift. Photo: Beth Garrabrant
Monday afternoon, Variety reported that Scooter Braun‘s Ithaca Holdings sold the rights to Taylor Swift‘s first six albums recorded under her former label home, Big Machine (which Ithaca Holdings acquired last year) to an undisclosed investment firm, which paid approximately $300 million for the rights to the master recordings.
Swift herself offered an update to her fans regarding the situation with her master recordings, and confirmed that Shamrock Holdings is the investment company that has purchased her catalog of recordings. In a social media post, Swift said she “received a letter from a private equity company called Shamrock Holdings, letting us know that they had bought 100% of my music, videos and album art from Scooter Braun. This was the second time my music had been sold without my knowledge. The letter told me that they wanted to reach out before the sale to let me know, but that Scooter Braun had required that they make no contact with me or my team, or the deal would be off,” Swift said in a note to fans.
Been getting a lot of questions about the recent sale of my old masters. I hope this clears things up. pic.twitter.com/sscKXp2ibD
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) November 16, 2020
“As soon as we started communication with Shamrock, I learned that under their terms Scooter Braun will continue to profit off my old musical catalog for many years. I was hopeful and open to the possibility of a partnership with Shamrock, but Scooter’s participation is a non-starter for me.”
She also said in the note that she has begun re-recording her older music, which she has been free do beginning this month.
Swift noted that in her earlier attempts to enter into negotiations with Braun and his team, “Scooter’s team wanted me to sign an ironclad NDA stating I would never say another word about Scooter Braun unless it was positive, before we could even look at the financial records of BMLG (which is always the first step in a purchase of this nature). So, I would have to sign a document that would silence me forever before I could event have a chance to bid on my own work. My legal team said that this is absolutely NOT normal, and they’ve never seen an NDA like this presented unless it was to silence an assault accuser by paying them off. He would never even quote my team a price. These master recordings were not for sale to me.”
Swift also included a letter of response she sent to Shamrock Holdings on Oct. 28, 2020.
Swift says in the letter: “I was thrilled with the idea of working with people who value art and understand how much my life’s work means to me. I immediately began to plan all the ways we could work together on expanding and protecting my music while maximizing the outcomes for all involved, especially my fans. So, regardless of the fact that it was the second time my masters have been sold without my knowledge while I was actively trying to purchase them, your letter brought me a great deal of hope for my musical legacy and our possible future together.
“This is why I was so disappointed when I learned that under the terms of your acquisition, Scooter Braun and Ithaca Holdings would continue to receive many years of future financial reward from my music masters, music videos, and album artwork. If I support you, as you request, I will be contributing to these future payments to Scooter Braun and Ithaca Holdings. I simply cannot in good conscience bring myself to be involved in benefiting Scooter Braun’s interests directly or indirectly.
“As a result, I cannot currently entertain being partners with you. It’s a shame to know that I will now be unable to help grow the future of these past works and it pains me very deeply to remain separated from the music I spent over a decade creating, but this is a sacrifice I will have to make to keep Scooter Braun out of my life. I’m very sorry he has put you in this position. I wish this could have had a better outcome and please do let me know if your firm is ever completely independent from Scooter Braun and his associates.”
She also said, “I feel the need to be very transparent with you. I will be going forward with my original re-recording schedule and will be embarking on that effort soon. I know this will diminish the value of my old masters, but I hope you will understand that this is my only way of regaining the sense of pride I once had when hearing songs from my first six albums and also allowing my fans to listen to those albums without feelings of guilt for benefiting Scooter.”
Josh Osborne
Josh Osborne moves to the top of the MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart this week, with co-writer credit on “Next Girl” (Carly Pearce), “Never Be Sorry” (Old Dominion), “Happy Anywhere” (Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani), “7 Summers” (Morgan Wallen), “Beers And Sunshine” (Darius Rucker), “How They Remember You” (Rascal Flatts), and “Breaking Up Was Easy In The 90’s” (Sam Hunt).
Luke Combs moves down to the No. 2 spot, and Randy Montana takes the No. 3 spot.
The weekly MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart uses algorithms based upon song activity according to airplay, digital download track sales and streams. This unique and exclusive addition to the MusicRow portfolio is the only songwriter chart of its kind.
Luke Combs. Photo: John Russell/CMA
CMA Male Vocalist of the Year and Album of the Year winner Luke Combs earns this week’s top streaming song, as “Forever After All” tops the Country On-Demand Audio Streaming chart, with 11 million streams this week, according to Nielsen. Gabby Barrett‘s “I Hope” is at No. 2 with 7.6 million streams, while Morgan Wallen‘s “More Than My Hometown” earns 7.5 million streams to land at No. 3. Combs appears again in the Top 5, with “Better Together” landing at No. 4 with 6.7 million streams. Jason Aldean‘s “Got What I Got” is at No. 5 with 6.5 million streams.
Combs again tops the Country Albums chart, with What You See Is What You Get earning 46K in total consumption. He also takes the No. 2 spot with This One’s For You at No. 2 with 19K. Carrie Underwood‘s My Gift is at No. 3 with 16.5K, followed by Wallen’s If I Know Me at No. 4 with 16K. Chris Stapleton, who just released his latest project Starting Over on Friday (Nov. 13) is at No. 5 this week with his 2015 album Traveller earning 12K.
Tower Records has relaunched as an online shop selling vinyl, CDs and cassettes, with a website that will also feature livestream concerts and a digital version of the company’s Tower Pulse! magazine. While there had been plans to offer pop-up stores during SXSW earlier this year, those plans were interrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leading Tower Records to relaunch as a virtual store.
Founder Russ Solomon opened the Tower Records chain in Sacramento, California in 1960. Over four decades the record retail chain grew to 200 stores around the world, before shuttering in 2006 (with the exception of Japanese locations). Solomon died in 2018 at age 92. Tower Records was the focus of the 2015 documentary All Things Must Pass.
Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood are set to appear on CBS on a new one-hour concert special, Garth & Trisha Live! A Holiday Concert Event, on Sunday, Dec. 20 at 8:30-9:30 PM, live ET. The special will also be available to stream live on CBS All Access.
Following up on the success of their CBS concert special on April 1, Brooks and Yearwood will perform live by request from their home recording studio, Studio G, singing songs of the season for viewers. The special will be filmed without a live studio audience, and will involve a minimal crew practicing social distancing and will be filmed with extensive safety precautions in place.
Brooks will share details about how viewers can make song requests for the special on his weekly Facebook Live show, “Inside Studio G,” in the weeks leading up to the special.
“Our viewers loved reaching out directly to Garth and Trisha to request their favorite hits back when the pandemic first hit. It brought some fun and joy directly into their living rooms as they were hunkered down with their families,” said Jack Sussman, Executive Vice President, Specials, Music & Live Events/Alternative & Reality for CBS. “Now, nine long months later, who better to bring some holiday magic, performing some of the greatest holiday songs of all time than Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood.”
FGL. Photo: John Shearer
Florida Georgia Line has inked an exclusive, multi-year touring deal with Live Nation in North America.
“This past year has given us a chance to spend more time writing, producing, and being creative. But, we are itching to get back on the road. We miss our fans, and the live energy and connection we have with them when we hit the stage. Our Live Nation family has been a great partner in the past, and we’re excited to be teaming up like this together. Getting back on tour and being able to share our new music can’t come soon enough!” said the duo’s Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard.
The duo recently signed as writers with their own Tree Vibez music publishing company, and joined Irving and Jeffrey Azoff’s Full Stop Management in February. FGL is signed with WME for booking.
Walter C. Miller on set during rehearsals for “The 36th Annual CMA Awards” at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry House on Nov. 3, 2002. Photo Credit: Theresa Montgomery/CMA
Producer/director Walter C. Miller has died at age 94.
As the impresario behind the CMA Awards for more than 40 years, Miller arguably put more eyes on country music than anyone in history. He created televised anniversary celebrations for the Grand Ole Opry, directed more than a half dozen Johnny Cash network specials and brought stars from Perry Como to George Burns to Music City for all-star country TV events.
He worked on the annual CMA shows from 1970 to 2004. He directed the Grammy Awards 15 times between 1984 and 2009. He had an unbroken 10-year run as the director of the Tony Awards, 1987-97. Walter Miller also orchestrated TV coverage of the Emmys, the People’s Choice Awards, Comic Relief and other extremely challenging productions involving multiple stars, sets and crews.
He was the definitive director of the award show/live event television genre. Miller wrote the book when it came to multi-camera coverage of events, a logistical nightmare for most directors. He could simultaneously watch 20 cameras “in the booth,” quickly calling which shots to air, live. As a violinist, he was sensitive to musicians’ moments, allowing millions of viewers to feel as if they were at the shows in person.
Miller was nominated for 19 Emmy Awards and won five of them. He was also a three-time Directors Guild of America award winner. He was presented with the CMA President’s Award in 2007, its Irving Waugh Award in 2009 and a Grammy Trustees Award in 2010.
Born Walter Corwin Miller in New York, he served in World War II, then began his television career in the late 1940s. He was the lighting director for NBC’s Horn & Hardart Children’s Hour. Other early television credits included The Bell Telephone Hour, Startime and Sing Along with Mitch.
By the mid 1960s, he was directing specials. One of his early big ones was with Barbra Streisand in 1967. He went on to craft specials for Frank Sinatra, John Denver, Mac Davis, Stevie Wonder, Kathie Lee Gifford, Donny & Marie Osmond, Roy Acuff, Andy Williams, Bobby Rydell, Sammy Davis Jr., Irving Berlin, Sha Na Na, Tennessee Ernie Ford and magician Doug Henning, among many others.
He was particularly noted for comedy specials. He was at the helm of shows starring Rodney Dangerfield, Steve Martin, Minnie Pearl, Sam Kinison, Bill Cosby, Rich Little, Rosie O’Donnell, Alan King and Bob Hope.
He directed the televised musicals You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Dames at Sea, The Will Rogers Follies and George M! In 1995 he created the Soul Train 25th Anniversary TV celebration. In 1989, he directed the Presidential Inaugural Gala. He appeared in the 1991 Bette Midler movie For the Boys. He worked on projects with everyone from Al Green to Justin Timberlake.
Ken Ehrlich, who worked alongside Miller on numerous Grammy telecasts, eulogized his friend in a loving tribute in Variety. He recalled Miller’s special fondness for the country music family. Miller loved working in Nashville and always praised its television production community as being the equal of any in New York or L.A.
While in production, Miller was wildly funny and often profane. As Ehrlich remembered, “We might have been doing a G-rated show, but it was an X-rated headset, as we were all to discover one year when a highly censored couple of minutes of Walter’s headset wound up on Rick Dees radio show and almost brought the Recording Academy and the network to its knees. Apologies and mea culpas followed, but Walter was back in the [director’s] chair the next year.”
He was a master at dealing with both crews and artists, able to charm even the most difficult divas. He could tug at the heartstrings by presenting Alan Jackson’s first public performance of “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning).” Or he could howl with laughter backstage with K.T. Oslin. He could throw his spotlight on a favored up-and-comer like Mary Chapin Carpenter as effortlessly as on a superstar like Garth Brooks.
A master of the one-liner, an encyclopedia of jokes and a fabulous raconteur, Miller loved to regale listeners with his TV tales. He was particularly entertaining talking about the early days of live television dramas and variety shows.
He tickled the ribs of everyone from Dolly Parton to Jack Lemmon. An avid golfer, Walter Miller was particularly fond of Vince Gill, with whom he worked many times.
“Walter Miller was unique,” wrote Ehrlich. “Loved by almost everyone he worked with….the picture of a person not often found anymore in this or any other business. I often said—to his face—that beneath that gruff exterior was an even rougher interior. But that’s the kind of joke Wally loved.
“I loved him and miss him very much. We won’t see another one like him. Ever.”
Walter Miller died on Friday evening (Nov. 13) surrounded by family and friends. His son is television director Paul Miller, who is also a veteran of CMA telecasts, as well as Saturday Night Live, In Living Color, A Capitol Fourth, two Super Bowl halftime shows and more.
Steve Earle is holding his sixth annual John Henry’s Friends benefit concert, virtually, on Dec. 13. Performers for the special concert include Steve Earle & The Dukes, Emmylou Harris, Graham Nash, Jackson Browne, Lucinda Williams, Jason Isbell & Amanda Shires, and more.
Earle has been gathering a group of world-class friends and performers for the one-night-only concert, which raises money for The Keswell School, an educational program for children and young adults with autism, for the past five years. On December 13th, with the help of Luck Productions and City Winery, this year’s concert is expanding its audience, making the annual fundraiser a world-wide affair. One hundred percent of the donations go to The Keswell School, an institution near to Earle’s heart, and at which his son and the event’s namesake, John Henry, is a student.
“Well, 2020 has pretty much sucked so far,” said Steve Earle. “It’s been tough on everybody, including those of us in the performing arts, who, after all, depend on the patronage of live audiences for our very livelihood. Therefore, I’m especially grateful that some of my favorite people have come together against all odds to support a cause that is near and dear to my heart, the Keswell School. Since we’ve been doing these shows, they are always my favorite day of the year…good music, good friends, and a good cause. This year’s performers are alumni, one and all, and I’m eternally grateful to each and every one for suiting up and showing up in the hour of our school’s greatest need.”