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Industry Ink: Record Setting ‘Girl Crush,’ Capitol CMG Publishing, Drummers To Be Honored

July 10, 2015/by Sarah Skates

A Monster Crush

Little Big Town’s “Girl Crush” is at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart for the eleventh consecutive week. This is the longest run by a group (of at least three members) in the chart’s history, ousting the previous record set by The Browns with “The Three Bells” in 1959.

“Crush” additionally logs its third consecutive week and eleventh week overall as the No. 1 country download on the Nielsen SoundScan Digital Country Songs Chart. It is the most downloaded song in country music for 2015 with sales totaling nearly 1.4 million.

“Girl Crush” reached the top of MusicRow’s CountryBreakout Chart on June 11 and received the MusicRow Award for Song of the Year.

Lindsay Gum

Capitol CMG Publishing Adds Lindsay Gum

Capitol CMG Publishing has hired Lindsay Gum as Creative Manager. While she will have a distinct focus on the country market, she will also bring creative support to the Christian market. She will report to Capitol CMG Publishing’s VP of Creative, Jimi Williams.

She most recently worked at the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) and, prior to that, Blacktop Music. She has seven years of experience working with songwriters, catalog development, music companies, and events. Gum is a music business graduate of MTSU.

Drummers To Be Celebrated

Drummers D.J. Fontana (drummer for Elvis Presley), WS Holland (drummer for Johnny Cash) and Richie Albright (drummer for Waylon Jennings) will be honored tomorrow (July 11) in Nashville at the World’s Fastest Drummer Church’s Chicken Legends Series Award. Radio and TV celebrity host Charlie Chase will do the honors.

The 2015 World’s Fastest Drummer (WFD) World Finals, an extreme sport drumming competition, will take place July 9-11, 2015 at the Music City Center as part of the Summer National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) show.

Michael Ray Sets Release Date For Self-Titled Debut

July 10, 2015/by Lorie Hollabaugh

Michael Ray played the Opry recently. Pictured (L-R): Tony Conway (Ontourage Management), Justin Luffman (VP Brand Management), Michael Ray, Pete Fisher (VP & GM, Grand Ole Opry), Jeff Bates

Michael Ray is gearing up for the Aug. 7 release of his self-titled debut CD by offering up a pre-order option to fans beginning July 17 at MichaelRayMusic.com. The project will of course include Ray’s Top 10-and-climbing hit “Kiss You In The Morning.”

The Atlantic Records/Warner Music Nashville album was produced by hitmaker Scott Hendricks.

A video for the single features the Florida native in his element among his hometown family and friends racing cars, driving airboats and generally loving life. Ray developed much of his profound love for country’s old school sounds thanks to his grandfather, who passed away earlier this year. He dedicated his first performance on the Grand Ole Opry to him, playing one of his guitars on stage, and performed on the hallowed stage earlier this week in celebration of the release of his new CD.

“2015 has been one of the best years professionally of my life,” said Ray. “Coming from the kid that grew up in Eustis, FL in a double wide trailer on ten acres of land to releasing my debut album worldwide is such a surreal and ‘I can’t believe it’s happening’ feeling. Many people have put a lot of hard work into making this a reality and I hope everyone enjoys the record.”

Nancy Jones Unloads Williamson Estate, Completing $4.4M In Transactions

July 10, 2015/by Eric T. Parker

Photos: Lynsey Culwell

Nancy Jones has reportedly sold the property she and her husband, late country icon George Jones, once lived in Franklin, Tenn. for $1.98 million.

The 24 acres was sold to Nathan and Patricia Overton. The couple and members of their extended family plan to live on the property, noted the couple’s attorney John O. Belcher to The Tennessean. The Overtons were awarded nearly $700,000 in a recent lawsuit against billionaire David Siege‘s Westgate Resorts.

At almost 10,000/sq. ft. the estate features four bedrooms, seven and a half bathrooms, salt water pool, two garages housing up to 11 cars, barns, a tour bus garage, and pond.

Realtor Laura Baugh of Worth Properties listed the final parcel of Jones’ Country Gold Estate, previously totaling approximately 77 acres in the Nestledown Farms subdivision off Highway 96. The earlier land was unloaded in 2013 to Raeni Rinker-Dumford and her husband, who paid $2.4 million for the 54 acres with plans to build a home and a large horse-riding arena.

George Jones died at age 81 in 2013. In April, his widow opened the George Jones Museum in downtown Nashville.

Industry Pics: Megan Barry, SoundExchange, CMHoF Concert

July 10, 2015/by Kelsey_Grady

Female Music Industry Leaders Support Mayoral Candidate Megan Barry

Music industry leaders Mary Ann McCready (Flood, Bumstead, McCready, McCarthy), Nancy Shapiro (The Recording Academy), Leslie Fram (CMT), and Debbie Linn (Leadership Music) hosted a gathering in support of Nashville mayoral candidate Megan Barry for women in the Nashville entertainment community. Barry shared her love for the arts and her vision to continue the remarkable progress that has been made by the current administration in bringing together the music industry and the city.

Pictured (L-R): Leslie Fram, Nancy Shapiro, Megan Barry, and Mary Ann McCready. Not pictured: Debbie Linn. Photo: Clark Thomas

CMHoF Hosts Free Downtown Concert

Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum hosted its first free annual outdoor concert July 7, featuring a talented lineup paying tribute to the acts featured in the museum’s Dylan, Cash, and the Nashville Cats: A New Music City exhibit. Performers included Nashville Cats Charlie McCoy, Mac Gayden, and Norbert Putnam; The Monkees’ Michael Nesmith; Ron Cornelius; Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Jeff Hanna; Tracy Nelson; artists with family members featured in the exhibit, including John Carter Cash; Britt Rondstadt; Oceana Gayden; and additional performers Bill Lloyd, Pete Finney, Kathy Mattea, Al Kooper, Radney Foster, Jason Ringenberg, and Ana Christina.

"Dylan, Cash, And The Nashville Cats: A New Music City" Album Release Concert, Presented By The Country Music Hall Of Fame And Museum

Pictured (L-R): Nashville Cat Norbert Putnam, The Long Players’ Steve Ebe, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Jeff Hanna, The Long Players’ Bill Lloyd and Steve Allen, Kathy Mattea, Radney Foster, Al Kooper, Jason Ringenberg, Tracy Nelson, Pete Finney, Ana Cristina, Nashville Cat Charlie McCoy, John Carter Cash, Julie Christensen, and The Long Players’ Brad Jones. Photo: Jason Davis/Getty Images

SoundExchange Visits Capitol Hill

New SoundExchange board member David Byrne and CEO Michael Huppe visited members of Congress including Rep. Jerry Nadler to discuss digital music and artist rights.

Pictured (L-R): David Byrne, Rep. Jerry Nadler (NY) and Michael Huppe.

Inductees For Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame To Be Revealed

July 10, 2015/by Sarah Skates

The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Foundation will host a press conference to announce this year’s inductees on Thursday, July 16 at 10:00 am CT. The event is not open to the public.

The induction dinner will be held Oct. 11 at the Music City Center in Nashville. It will be the 45th anniversary event. The gala evening will feature tributes and performances of inductees’ songs by special guest artists. Annual awards will be presented for the year’s top songs, as selected by fellow songwriters’ organization NSAI.

Mark Ford is Executive Director of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

For more information, visit the redesigned nashvillesongwritersfoundation.com or facebook.com/NashvilleSongwritersHOF.

CD Release Change to “New Music Fridays” Begins Today

July 10, 2015/by Lorie Hollabaugh

The switchover to New Music Fridays, the new universal day for CD and single releases worldwide is complete and begins today. From this point on, labels, retailers, and artists internationally in more than 45 countries will put out music at the same time across the globe.

The changeover will affect charts in many countries as well. The switch was made in part because fans expressed an interest in being able to purchase music on the weekends vs. early in the week or at other times.

“The switch to New Music Fridays is about getting new music to fans at the time they most want to enjoy it, whether that be in physical stores or online,” said Frances Moore, chief executive of IFPI. “It’s also an opportunity to recreate excitement around the release of music—the message is ‘Think Friday, Think New Music.’ The global release day also helps artists, labels and retailers by limiting the time between releases in different countries and thus narrowing the gap on piracy. The move made today has been a great example of cross-sector cooperation, involving labels, artists, retailers and others across more than 45 markets.”

The switch to “New Music Fridays” was overseen by an international steering group made up of the IFPI, WIN-Impala, the FIM, the Featured Artists Coalition, the Entertainment Retailers Association, and Music Biz.

Weekly Chart Report (7/10/15)

July 10, 2015/by Troy_Stephenson

Click here or above to access MusicRow‘s weekly CountryBreakout Report.

MusicRowPics: JB And The Moonshine Band

July 9, 2015/by Troy_Stephenson

JB And The Moonshine Band

JB and the Moonshine Band visited MusicRow to preview tracks from their new album, Mixtape. The album was written, recorded, performed, arranged, and produced entirely by lead singer JB Patterson and the band. Patterson bought a 100-year-old cabin outside their hometown of Tyler, TX. It was built into a studio and led to the creation of Mixtape. “We wanted to make an album that we’d like to listen to,” said Patterson.

JB And The Moonshine Band

During the visit, JB and the Moonshine Band performed the title track along with another album cut titled “Mess Outta Me.” They ended with a song co-written by Allen Shamblin called “Where’s Woody Guthrie.” Patterson told the story of a chance meeting on an airplane that led to an opportunity for him to write with Shamblin at his Tennessee farm.

The lead single from Mixtape is called “Shotgun, Rifle, and a .45” and is at radio now.

Earlier this month, the band hosted a sold-out album release party in Texas.

JB and the Moonshine Band’s 2012 release, Beer for Breakfast, was named one of the Top 5 ‘Country Albums of the Year’ by Rolling Stone. They currently average about 175 shows a year spanning across 40 states.

JB And The Moonshine Band with MusicRow staff

CMA Music Festival Generates Record $46.8 Million in Spending

July 9, 2015/by Sarah Skates

Chase Rice performs at the Chevrolet Riverfront Stage on Friday, June 12 during the 2015 CMA Music Festival in downtown Nashville.

The 2015 CMA Music Festival generated a record $46.8 million in direct visitor spending, an increase of $7.5 million over last year according to numbers released by the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp (NCVC) today (July 9).

“The CMA Music Festival is a big part of our brand as Music City, and the event’s enormous economic impact through direct visitor spending is a great thing for Nashville,” Mayor Karl Dean said. “The CMA Foundation’s contribution of instruments to Metro Schools students further strengthens the festival’s positive impact. I appreciate both the CVC and CMA as incredible partners in bringing more visitors to Nashville and congratulate them for the continued growth and success of CMA Fest.”

This year’s CMA Music Festival sold out seven months in advance prompting a record-setting daily attendance of 87,680 fans—besting 2014 numbers by 9.6 percent, the CMA reported in June. According to the NCVC, the estimated number of room nights for festival attendees was 158,000—up from 150,000 last year—and the average length of stay was 5.2 days.

“As the city’s largest event, CMA Music Fest continues to outperform itself year after year, generating more visitor spending than any other event and providing prime-time national TV exposure for Music City,” said Ken Levitan, chairman of the NCVC board of directors and president of Vector Management. “The CMA’s expansion of the footprint, offering more free music than ever before and extending event days all resulted in record spending, record attendance and record room nights sold. These figures show the CMA’s strategy of keeping the event at an affordable value is important to the overall growth of the event.”

For the first time, the NCVC was able to calculate non-ticket holder direct spending, which represents an additional $13.6 million in direct visitor spending, driving total spending to $60.4 million.

“We worked very hard this year to let local and regional residents know that you don’t need a four-day ticket to enjoy this event,” said Sarah Trahern, CMA Chief Executive Officer. “There were seven free stages throughout downtown and it’s rewarding to see our attendance increase in those areas. It is especially nice when you consider the positive impact on the city, which has been an outstanding partner.”

In addition, the NCVC’s survey results showed:

83 percent of attendees traveled more than 50 miles
46 percent of attendees were attending for the first time
87 percent indicated they were likely to return next year
55 percent have an annual household income of $75,000 or more
10 percent of visitors were from international markets

The figures are based on the NCVC’s onsite/in-person surveying of 2,219 attendees during the event in June.

Nashville’s Recording Academy Chapter Names 2015-16 Leadership

July 9, 2015/by Eric T. Parker

The Recording Academy has elected new leadership for the 2015-2016 term, starting with songwriter/producer Shannon Sanders as President.

MusicRow’s longtime contributor Robert K. Oermann has been elected Vice-President, and Sony Music Nashville Vice President, Media & Corporate Communications Allen Brown will serve as Secretary.

Trustees include Jeff Balding, Fletcher Foster, Daniel Hill and Chandra LaPlume.

Advisors will be Phil Thornton and Jessica Tomasin.

Governors for the term include:
Lori Badgett
Mark Bright
Joanna Carter
David Corlew
John Esposito
Trey Fanjoy
Tim Fink
Ben Fowler
Leslie Fram
Garth Fundis
Tracy Gershon
Kevin Griffin
Jeff Hanna
Lisa Harless
Terry Hemmings
Brett James
Allison Brown Jones
Julian King
Jim Lauderdale
Frank Liddell
Martina McBride
Scott McDaniel
Daniel Miller
Keb’ Mo’
Erika Wollam Nichols
Tree Paine
Nick Palladino
LeAnn Phelan
Michael Rhodes
Alan D. Valentine