No. 1 Party: Hunter Hayes "Somebody's Heartbreak"

/by

BMI toasted the team behind Hunter Hayes’ No.1 smash “Somebody’s Heartbreak” on Tuesday, June 25 at BMI Nashville. Hayes co-wrote the song with Andrew Dorff and Luke Laird. This is Hunter’s second No. 1 off his Atlantic Records debut album. He released its follow-up last week, Hunter Hayes (Encore) and announced his CMT On Tour: Let’s Be Crazy Tour which kicks off Oct. 10. Dorff and Laird celebrated their first and thirteenth No. 1 songs, respectively.

Pictured (Top row, L-R): Lou Ramirez, Peter Strickland, Chris Stacey, Kevin Herring Bottom row, (L-R): Scott Hendricks, HH, John Esposito

Pictured (Top row, L-R): Lou Ramirez, Peter Strickland, Chris Stacey, Kevin Herring (Bottom row, L-R): Scott Hendricks, HH, John Esposito


Hunter Hayes Somebody's Heartbreak No. 1 party111

Pictured are (Front row, L-R): co-writer Luke Laird, Hunter Hayes, co-writer Andrew Dorff, and producer Dann Huff; (Back row, L-R): Martingale Entertainment’s Betsy McHugh and Ansel Davis, Universal Music Publishing’s Kent Earls and Cyndi Forman, Warner Music Nashville’s John Esposito, and BMI’s Jody Williams and Clay Bradley. Photo by Rick Diamond


 
 

On The Cover: Shane McAnally (June/July 13)

/by

JuneJuly13Shane McAnally came to Nashville from his hometown of Mineral Wells, Texas to pursue a career as an artist, and his debut album for Curb Records produced three charting singles, including the Top 40 track “Are Your Eyes Still Blue.” But his reputation as one of the city’s most talented writers really kicked off when Lee Ann Womack recorded his song “Last Call” in 2008, which earned her a Grammy nomination.
McAnally went on to co-write a string of  No. 1 hits, including Kenny Chesney’s “Somewhere with You” and “Come Over,” Jake Owen’s “Alone with You,” Luke Bryan’s “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye,” The Band Perry’s “Better Dig Two,” Lady Antebellum’s “Downtown” and Miranda Lambert’s “Mama’s Broken Heart.” He co-produced Kacey Musgraves’ major label debut, Same Trailer Different Park, and co-wrote nine of the album’s twelve tracks, including the first two singles: “Merry Go ‘Round” and “Blowin’ Smoke.”
An ASCAP member for over 15 years, McAnally marks his 100th major label song cut with “Come Back to Me,” recorded by Keith Urban for his upcoming album, Fuse, due out this fall. He recently completed production work on new country music for Kelly Clarkson, including her single, “Tie It Up,” which he also wrote. In addition, McAnally is working with emerging acts Sam Hunt and Old Dominion.
McAnally’s many recent successes landed him on the Top 10 Billboard Songwriters Airplay Chart for the first quarter of 2013, alongside a diverse list of fellow ASCAP members including Max Martin and Bruno Mars. He was nominated for Songwriter of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards in April and was featured in Billboard and The New York Times in May.
Asked if he has any advice for young songwriters, McAnally said, “Please be sure you have exhausted all other avenues…I tried everything and I just couldn’t make anything work except for music. When I hear people say, ‘I’ve been thinking about writing songs,’ I say, ‘Well then, think about something else.’ If you just decided you’re going to be a songwriter, you’re not a songwriter. It chooses you.”
Read more about McAnally, co-writer of MusicRow Song of the Year “Merry Go ‘Round,” here.

Industry Celebrates George Strait's 60th No. 1 Song

/by

Pictured (L-R): UMG Nashville's Mike Dungan, ASCAP's Michael Martin, HoriPro Entertainment's Butch Baker, co-writers Mark Bright and Tim James, Tony Brown, BMI's Perry Howard, co-writer Phil O'Donnell, Delbert's Boy Music's Kirsten Wines, and Warner/Chappell's Alicia Pruitt and Ben Vaughn. Photo by Ed Rode.

Pictured (L-R): UMG Nashville’s Mike Dungan, ASCAP’s Michael Martin, HoriPro Entertainment’s Butch Baker, co-writers Mark Bright and Tim James, Tony Brown, BMI’s Perry Howard, co-writer Phil O’Donnell, Delbert’s Boy Music’s Kirsten Wines, and Warner/Chappell’s Alicia Pruitt and Ben Vaughn. Photo by Ed Rode.


ASCAP and BMI celebrated George Strait‘s 60th No. 1 single, “Give It All We Got Tonight” on Monday (June 24) at the Country Music Association offices. The ballad became Strait’s 115th career single and was the first release from his 40th studio album, Love Is Everything. The song was penned by ASCAP member Mark Bright and BMI’s Tim James and Phil O’Donnell. It marked the first No. 1 song as a songwriter for Bright, who is well-known for his success as Carrie Underwood‘s producer. Bright received ASCAP’s customary gift to songwriters who earn their first No. 1, an ASCAP guitar.
Strait’s longtime producer and former MCA Nashville CEO Tony Brown was on hand for the celebration. This marks Brown’s 19th album with Strait. Current UMG Nashville CEO Mike Dungan was also on hand to honor the artist, label staff and the songwriters. “It’s an honor to work with George Strait, and to experience the 60th No. 1 is spectacular,” said Dungan. “I want to recognize the marketing team for the promotion 60for60. We have the best staff in the world,” he said before giving awards (affectionately known as “The Impaler Award”) to the songwriters and to Brown. MCA Nashville’s “60for60” promotional campaign, designed to give Strait 60 No. 1 songs while he was still 60 years old, pushed “Give It All We Got Tonight” to No. 1 on the Mediabase chart the week of May 12- 18, 2013 — just days before Strait’s 61st birthday.
Publishers Delbert’s Boy Music, Butch Baker of HoriPro Entertainment and Ben Vaughn from Warner/Chappell were also on hand to congratulate the group.

MusicRowPics: 2013 MusicRow Awards

/by

MusicRow Magazine presented its 25th annual subscriber-voted MusicRow Awards on June 25 during a ceremony hosted by ASCAP at the organization’s Nashville offices. The event recognized the 2013 Breakthrough Artist, Breakthrough Songwriter, Song of the Year, Producer of the Year and Top Ten Album All-Star Musicians. Enjoy the MusicRowPics below and see the complete winners list or Bobby Karl’s exclusive party coverage.
[slide]

Weekly Register: SoundScan Discounts Jay Z Promotion; 'The Voice' Reigns

/by

Screen shot 2013-06-26 at 1.15.48 PMBillboard Editor Bill Werde took an easily defendable position this past week regarding a daring marketing promotion that involved artist Jay Z, and Samsung. The concept involved the artist’s new album Magna Carta Holy Grail, set for release the week of July 8, 2013. Essentially, Samsung customers would download a free artist-branded app and after engaging with some content, receive the new album at no cost. Samsung agreed to pay the artist $5 for each of the million albums it plans to give away. So in effect, the artist nets $5 million and immediately “sells” one million units.
But questions quickly arose over whether this promotion would/should count for SoundScan chart totals. “Our role as the chart of record is to set the rules, and hopefully even raise the level of play,” said Werde. “It is in this spirit that I say it wasn’t as simple as you might think to turn down Jay-Z when he requested that we count the million albums that Samsung ‘bought’ as part of a much larger brand partnership, to give away to Samsung customers.”
weeklygrid6-23-13The main sticking point according to Werde was that fans weren’t actually buying anything. For example, if the album were sale priced at $3.49 (minimum new release pricing threshold) or higher, then it would definitely count. But Werde notes, “In the context of the promotion, nothing is actually for sale.”
SoundScan has always been based purely on sales, but in today’s changing environment, new paid subscription services are also creating revenue streams that in some ways resemble retail sales. Will they someday find their way onto the sales charts? “Just because the Billboard 200 has been based purely on sales of an album for the entirety of the life of the chart doesn’t mean it must always remain so,” Werde says wisely, promising to consult with industry leaders over these questions. “Rest assured,” he concludes. “Billboard will find the right balance.”
And now let’s count the Weekly Register...
hunterAlbum Shopping
Hunter Hayes fans received a special treat this week in the form of a special Encore (edition) of his first album with added material. The new Encore set includes 12 tracks from Hayes’ original self-titled release plus additional music and video material. On Amazon (June 26), Encore was priced at $11.88 CD or $12.49 MP3 album. iTunes had Encore for download at $14.99. Fans applauded the release by boosting it to the No. 1 position on the Current Country Top 75 with sales of almost 40k units. Feeling the Hayes heat, Florida Georgia Line stepped back to No. 2 this week, adding about 33k units to the duo’s impressive RTD total of 760k.
Danielle Bradbery debuted a Complete Season 4 Collection of songs she performed on The Voice. It landed at No. 6 with sales of almost 18k (100 percent digital). I have been writing about this talented 16-year-old quite a bit lately, and admittedly I am quite a fan, but her recent victory on the singing show, plus weekly single sales have been nothing short of amazing. The Swon Brothers, also Voice alums, debut with a similar season collection at No. 18 with over 6k units (100 percent digital).
And finally, LoCash Cowboys enter our list with a self-titled collection that debuts at No. 25 with almost 4.5k units.
A quick look at our weekly grids shows country’s lead fading like a pair of old denims as it frays from up 2 percent to up .9 percent. This still compares nicely against the industry overall which is down 5.3 percent. One reason for country’s slide is last year’s Kenny Chesney debut which arrived at this time (Welcome To The Fishbowl) and shifted a whopping 193k.
weeklygrid6-16-13Tracking The Hits
The Digital Genre Tracks chart this week also pays solid tribute to The Voice [again]. Ms. Bradbery debuts at No. 5 with “Born To Fly” (68k units) and gets to No. 10 (50k) with “Maybe It Was Memphis” now in its 7th week on the chart. The Swon Brothers grab No. 7 with “Danny’s Song” (63k) and No. 12 with “I Can’t Tell You Why” (44k). In all the duo has four tracks that charted in the Top 100 and Bradbery owns nine positions. These are incredible stats for such new acts.
Hunter Hayes supports his new album release with the No. 3 track (110k) this week, “I Want Crazy,” and six additional tracks. Remaining at No. 1 are Florida Georgia Line, adding a stellar 244k new downloads to an RTD now over 4.5 million. Also notable is Blake in the No. 2 spot with “Boys Round Here,” selling almost 115k downloads.
Comparing this week to last week, country track sales rose 6 percent, giving the country genre a 13.5 percent market share of overall all-genre track sales YTD.
Next week is the end of the second quarter, stay tuned…

Americana Conference Will Offer Entertainment Law Symposium

/by

Americana_Music_Association_logo1The Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville and the Americana Music Association will welcome the American Bar Association Forum On Entertainment and Sports Industries to present its annual Nashville Entertainment Law Symposium during the Americana Music Festival and Conference, to be held September 18-20, 2013 at the Downtown Nashville Sheraton Hotel.
The CLE program provides attorneys with the ability to obtain 12+ hours of CLE credit during the three-day conference. The Nashville Entertainment Law Symposium will present panels on touring and personal appearances, current topics in entertainment litigation, licensing, film and television and legal ethics. The panels will feature national and local speakers including Christine Lepera of New York (current Chair of the Forum), Richard J. Idell (Incoming Chair of the Forum), Nashville Forum Committee Members Henry Root (Los Angeles), Kirk Schroder (Richmond, Va.), Todd Brabec (Los Angeles), Mike Milom (Nashville) and Jim Zumwalt (Nashville).
logoRound5“The Arts & Business Council is truly delighted to bring the ABA Forum on Entertainment and Sports Industries and its Nashville Entertainment Law Symposium into this successful partnership with the Americana Music Association which will allow us to offer new sophisticated content from some of the leading entertainment law practitioners across the country,” said Casey Summar, Arts & Business Council Executive Director. “This partnership provides our family of attorneys an excellent opportunity to earn all of their CLE credit for the year, network with professionals in the Americana community, plus enjoy the Music Festival in the evenings.”
A portion of the proceeds from the CLE program will go to benefit the Arts & Business Council’s Volunteer Lawyers & Professionals for the Arts program, which provides free legal advice to low-income artists of all disciplines, as well as emerging arts nonprofits. With a roster of over 250 generous volunteer lawyers and professionals, this program has provided $1.2 million worth of pro bono services to the creative community since opening six years ago.

Dr. Ralph Stanley To Launch Farewell Tour in October

/by
Dr. Ralph Stanley

Dr. Ralph Stanley


Dr. Ralph Stanley will launch his farewell tour, billed as Man of Constant Sorrow Tour: The Dr.’s Farewell, on Oct. 16. The tour will include more than 80 shows at festivals, folk clubs and performing arts centers, and will run through December 2014. Accompanying Stanley will be his band, the Clinch Mountain Boys.
Stanley holds an honorary doctorate in music from Lincoln Memorial University and has worn that title since it was awarded in 1976. Stanley’s career began in 1946 with older brother Carter; the pair recorded and toured as The Stanley Brothers. Ralph began a solo career after Carter’s death in 1966.

“What an honor it is to be a part of a musical legend and to work with my all-time hero’s final musical journey,” says Josh Trivett, Stanley’s co-manager. “Dr. Ralph is an American and an international musical icon who has influenced so many modern stars with his trademark mountain sound. Man of Constant Sorrow Tour: The Dr.’s Farewell will be a fantastic celebration of the life of Dr. Ralph, the mountain music he’s made famous and his legacy that will endure through the course of time.” 

Over his lengthy career, the entertainer has earned three Grammy awards. He was the distinctive sound behind the seven-million-selling O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack album. Dr. Stanley is a member of the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and a recipient of the National Medal of Arts, and he was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 2000. As a bandleader, Stanley shepherded the careers of Ricky Skaggs, Keith Whitley, Larry Sparks and Charlie Sizemore.
Dates for the opening weekend of the Man of Constant Sorrow Tour:

Oct. 18  The Dunn Center – Rocky Mount, N.C.
Oct. 19  Morehead Center – Morehead, N.C.
Oct. 20  The Birchmere – Alexandria, Va.
Oct. 21  The Arts Center – Carrborro, N.C.

Arturo Buenahora, Jr. Launches Little Louder Music

/by

Arthur Buenahora

Arturo Buenahora


Veteran music publisher and Nashville native Arturo Buenahora, Jr. has announced his new publishing company, Little Louder Music, will be opening July 2013. First songwriter signings are Jeff Hyde and, through his overall publishing deal with Sony/ATV, Eric Church.
“I feel like my whole career has been building up to this company and I am excited to represent some of the most talented people in the world,” said Buenahora. “To me, this business is about two things, great music and talented people and I am excited to be working with both.”
After graduating from the University of Tennessee, Buenahora began his career at Sony/ATV where he stayed for 10 years and ultimately held the position of Sr. Director of Creative Services and Production. While there, he signed and developed Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert, Taylor Swift and Eric Church, paving the way for A&R stints at Capitol Nashville and Universal South Records. Buenahora most recently was the GM of Ole Music Publishing where he signed Ryan Tyndell and Charlie Worsham, who just released his debut single on Warner Bros. Records. In addition to Worsham’s debut album, Buenahora has recently worked on Dierks Bentley’s forthcoming album Riser on Capitol Records Nashville and he will continue his Executive Production role on Church’s next studio album. Church’s last album, Chief, is the reigning ACM and CMA album of the year.
Buenahora is a 2007 graduate of Leadership Music and was recently named to Billboard’s “40 under 40” list. He can be reached at [email protected].

BMG To Represent Rolling Stones Catalogue

/by
rollingStones2_2373537b

The Rolling Stones. Photo: PA

The legendary Rolling Stones have selected BMG to represent their music publishing catalogue. Starting July 1, BMG will handle publishing for songs written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards since 1983. ABKCO maintains ownership of the Stones’ 1963-1971 catalog and EMI Music Publishing owns the 1971-1983 catalog.

The songs to be directly published by BMG span the albums Dirty Work (1986), Steel Wheels (1989), Voodoo Lounge (1994), Bridges To Babylon (1997) and A Bigger Bang (2005) as well as future compositions. They include classic Stones tracks such as “Mixed Emotions,” “Love Is Strong,” “You Got Me Rocking” and “Doom And Gloom.”
“This deal is incredibly important for BMG,” says BMG CEO Hartwig Masuch. “Keith and Mick have clearly created one of the most outstanding song collections in rock ‘n’ roll history. They have not only created the soundtrack of all of our lives, they have been a dynamic and constant force for cultural change. They could sign to any company they wanted to. The fact that they have chosen to sign with BMG is a significant vote of confidence in our team and in our creative and administration services. We will justify their trust in us.”
The Rolling Stones are currently in the US performing on their 50 & Counting Tour.

DISClaimer: Sizzling Music For A Hot Summer

/by

the henningsens11

The Henningsens


Hot enough for you? Summer weather has arrived in Middle Tennessee a little later this year, but no less muggy and oppressive than usual. Appropriately, our disc makers are turning up the heat as well. In this column, you’ll find outstanding work, tailored to the season, from Craig Morgan, Tim McGraw, Philip Claypool and Mark McKinney. The duet of Sherry Lynn and Crystal Gayle is also cooking with gas. Our Disc of the Day award goes to a non-summer themed outing, “I Miss You” by The Henningsens. These three folks sound starward bound with this dynamic single. Sidewalk Records is a Curb imprint that is introducing our DisCovery Award winner, a promising singer-songwriter named Dylan Scott. So bon voyage to him.
GRETCHEN WILSON/Crazy
Writers: Vicky McGehee/Rachel Farley/Brian Davis; Producer: Gretchen Wilson; Peermusic III/February 4/Rockin Rose/Mike Curb, BMI; Redneck (track)
-She sings so well. Why bury her performance with grinding, wailing electric guitars?
SHERRY KENNEDY/Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean
Writers: Lance/Singleton/Wallace; Producer: Mark Moseley; Publisher: Sony, no performance rights listed; Sheaken (CDX)
-Ruth Brown, who sang the original 1955 r&b version of this, was known as “Miss Rhythm.” This must be “Miss Anti-Rhythm.”
CRAIG MORGAN/Wake Up Lovin’ You
Writers: Josh Osborne/Matt Ramsey/Trevor Rosen; Producer: none listed; Publishers: Want a Fresh One/Black River/Music of RPM/Sonic Geo/Unfair Entertainment/Songs of Bims/Calhoun Enterprises, ASCAP; Black River
-This steady stomper begins with the sound of an alarm clock, and the production work is stellar throughout. Yet nothing detracts from his completely gripping, electrifying vocal performance. This guy gets to me every time. Play him.
TIM SWEENEY/Baby I Try For You
Writer: Tim Sweeney; Producer: Kim Copeland; Publisher: Tim Sweeney, BMI; Old House (track)
-He sings in an earnest, airy tenor. The ballad is bland.
TIM MCGRAW/Southern Girl
Writers: Jaren Johnston/Lee Thomas Miller/Rodney Clawson; Producers: Byron Gallimore and Tim McGraw; Publishers: Sony-ATV Harmony/Texa Rae/Writers of Sea Gayle/Itchy Baby/Big Red Toe/Amarillo Sky, ASCAP/BMI; Big Machine (track)
-The bouncy song name-checks New Orleans, Tupelo, Memphis, Savannah, Daytona and other Dixie spots while praising the virtues of Southern ladies. But Tim’s personable vocal and the catchy, effects-dotted production are the real stars here.
Dylan Scott

Dylan Scott


DYLAN SCOTT/Makin’ This Boy Go Crazy
Writers: Dylan Scott/Forest Glen Whitehead; Producer: Jim Ed Norman; Publishers: Curb/Want a Fresh One/Black River, ASCAP; Sidewalk
-He’s a country baritone effortlessly negotiating tongue-tripping verses and then rounding the corners into the choruses with terrific elan and confidence. Absolutely worth your spins.
PHILIP CLAYPOOL/Strong One
Writers: Philip Claypool/Jeff Silbar; Producer: Michael Lloyd; Publishers: Heyday/Silbar, BMI/ASCAP; Heyday
-This former Curb artist of the 1990s is back with a chin-up, positive-think rocker. I love his drawling phrasing on this driving, relentless production. The icing on the cake is that it is extremely well-written.
SHERRY LYNN AND CRYSTAL GAYLE/Beautiful Life
Writers: Danny Wells/Jose Luis Pagan/Sarah Lenore; Producers: Ted Hewitt & Christos Gatzimos; Publishers: Cauley Music Group/BMG Chrysalis/Songs of Universal/Money Mack/Warner-Tamerlane, BMI; Steal Heart
-Sherry and Crystal trade lines with equal fire and finesse on this dandy country-rocker. It’s a really commercial and radio-ready toe-tapper. Co-producer Gatzimos is Crystal’s grown-up son.
THE HENNINGSENS/I Miss You
Writers: none listed; Publisher: none listed; Producer: none listed; Arista (track)
-This family trio latches onto this driving, thumping slab of wistful longing with enormous energy. The vocals are simply stunning, and the backing track has superb intensity and pent-up power. The finale, three-part harmony chord will break your heart.
MARK McKINNEY/Stolen Cash
Writer: none listed; Producer: Eric McKinney and Mark McKinney; Publisher: none listed; MM
-It’s a gently rolling, easy-going, good-time thang. The catchy ditty is about falling giddy in love while summering at the beach. It goes down mighty smoothly.