BMLG Promotes Sandi Spika Borchetta, Announces Two Hires

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Sandi Spika Borchetta

Big Machine Label Group has promoted Sandi Spika Borchetta to the position of Senior Vice President, Creative. Since the company’s inception more than seven years ago, she has overseen the creative vision for the group’s three imprints, Big Machine Records, The Valory Music Co. and Republic Nashville. In her new role, Borchetta will continue leading design elements for album and single-related projects, as well as various tour performances, award shows, red carpets and more.

“It is an honor to be recognized in this way for a job that is always inspiring and artistically challenging,” said Borchetta. “It’s a fabulous opportunity to work with talented artists and equally talented co-workers daily. The excitement and energy level at our record label is at an all-time high.”

“Every day it is evident to me how passionate Sandi is in her work for this company,” said BMLG President and CEO Scott Borchetta. “Her creative vision for BMLG has played a key role in our success over the past seven years. I am so honored to be able to call her my wife, and now SVP of one of our fastest-growing departments within the company.”

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Tali Giles, Photo: Ivan Clow, BMLG

Big Machine Music has added Tali Giles in the newly created position of Publishing Coordinator. Giles will assist in all aspects of daily creative operations. Big Machine Music’s songwriters include The Valory Music Co. artist Justin Moore, Republic Nashville artist Greg Bates, Broken Bow artist Dustin Lynch, Sunny Sweeney, Don Poythress and Aaron Scherz.

“On behalf of our whole team, we are excited to have Tali join Big Machine Music. Her experience with songwriters and Nashville’s creative community will be a tremendous asset to the company,” said Big Machine Music Vice President Mike Molinar.

Most recently, Giles served as Membership Director at the Nashville Songwriters Association International. Her previous music industry experience includes work as a Creative/Administrative Assistant at Full Circle Music and internships at Full Circle Music Publishing, Killen Music Group and Lyric Street Records. Giles is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University.

Giles will report to Molinar and Martha Earls. She can be reached at [email protected].

•••

Ashley Sidoti

Ashley Sidoti has been added as Promotion Coordinator at The Valory Music Co. Sidoti will assist the label’s radio promotion staff and artist roster, which includes Reba, The Mavericks, Brantley Gilbert, Justin Moore and Thomas Rhett.

Sidoti, a Belmont University graduate, interned with Big Machine Label Group in 2008. She formerly served as a Creative Assistant with Better Angels Music and as a Client Manager for Harris Business Management.

“Ashley learned a lot during her internship with The Valory Music Co. and she returns with that knowledge and a great passion for music. Her personality and creativity make her a great addition to the team,” commented George Briner, VP of Promotions for The Valory Music Co.

Sidoti can be reached at 615-574-7827 or via [email protected].

 

Weekly Register: Vetting ‘The Voice’ Sales

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The Voice—soap opera or talent incubator? Final four contestant Cassadee Pope.

Country sales continue to outpace the overall industry with only four weeks remaining in the 2012 sales calendar. This week albums with the Music City Made moniker increased Y/Y from 3.9% to 4%, while all-genre slid from -3.9% to -4% Y/Y. Country needs to sell a total of 42.923 million albums or 1.2 million per week to break even with 2011. (This post-Thanksgiving week, country album sales totaled 1.12 million.)

The 3-car holiday choo-choo continues to ring registers as Lady A (59k), Blake Shelton (53k) and Scotty McCreery (41k) chug into this week’s No. 2, 3 and 4 country album positions.

At the top of the list is Taylor Swift’s Red (137k) which after six weeks has total sales of 2.216 million. It may seem almost unbelievable, but the Big Machine elves and Santa Scott are celebrating as Red sales outpace Swift’s previous Speak Now outing which hit week six on 12/5/10 with 2.147 million in sales. (Dear Santa, I’d like a Macbook Air for Christmas.)

As we lunge into seasonal sales, the popularity of plastic over digital grows as evidenced by the W/W decline for both country and all genre in the Digital Album Sales % of Total Album Sales. One possible explanation is that some gift buyers are not regular music purchasers and still conditioned to buying something they can wrap and place under the tree (which outweighs a gift card).

Over in the Tracks Trenches, the Digital Country Chart shows Florida Georgia Line and The Band Perry in the top positions with “Cruise” (67k) and “Better Dig Two” (53k). Taylor Swift “We Are Never Ever…” (40k) and Hunter Hayes “Wanted” (39k) fill spots No. 3 and 4.

Vetting The Voice
Country Tracks position No. 5 brings us to an interesting bend in the road filled by The Voice contestant Cassadee Pope, who last night was voted to move into the final four. Pope’s version of “Over You” topped the country digital tracks chart last week with sales of 152k! This week it added 39k downloads for a two-week total of almost 200k.

Regular readers will note that Pope is coached by Voice judge Blake Shelton and the CMA Song of the Year she performed was written by Shelton and wife Miranda Lambert. A careful chart search shows that Pope also has a self-titled EP on the Top New Artist Albums chart (No. 80) that scanned 462 units this week and digital track “Are You Happy Now?” which entered the Digital Tracks list at No. 27 with 43k downloads. A spectacular showing by anyone’s yardstick, but is this art or commerce? Are we seeing the birth of a new superstar or merely the careful cultivation of this year’s crop of contestants? Pope’s version of “Over You” truly connected with TV viewers, but this morning, after her lackluster showing last night, she fell outside of iTunes Top 10 and behind fellow contestants Terry McDermott and Nicholas David.

Now in its third season, The Voice has had excellent ratings, been a springboard of media exposure for its judges (especially Mr. Shelton), but has utterly failed to launch any new artist careers. Frankly, it looks like this year’s final four might again prove the rule. And the rule is that TV talent shows have become more like soap operas than talent incubators. Contestants are artfully showcased amid lavish sets, state of the art lighting and with the benefit of high-dollar hair, makeup and styling. But listen carefully to details like vocal mixes and how instruments and backup voices are being used to find clues as to what the future might really bring for each performer. It’s a rare moment when a Miranda Lambert or Carrie Underwood steps out on the TV stage.

In the meantime, stay tuned as we count down the final four—not the final four contestants of course—the final four sales weeks!!!

Chris Young Cancels Weekend Shows

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Chris Young has been placed on precautionary vocal rest, forcing the postponement of his Liquid Neon Tour shows this weekend in Huntsville, Ala. (12/6), Savannah, Ga. (12/7) and Chattanooga, Tenn. (12/8).

Tickets for the canceled run, which includes special guests Thomas Rhett and Joanna Smith, will be honored during forthcoming rescheduled dates. If ticket holders are unable to attend the rescheduled dates, refunds are available at the point of purchase.

“I hate to disappoint everybody but my voice is pretty ragged out,” said Young via a statement. “Thanks for understanding and I look forward to seeing y’all next year.”

Young is slated to present during tonight’s (12/5) Grammy Nominations concert in Nashville.

Swift’s ‘Red’ Certified Triple Platinum; Adds Appearances

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Taylor Swift’s fourth studio album, Red, has been certified triple platinum by the RIAA for three million U.S. shipments.

International sales have exceeded 1 million units to date, pushing the singer’s overall worldwide numbers past 26 million albums and 75 million song downloads.

For Swift’s North American tour, tickets continue to be a hot commodity, having sold-out Philadelphia’s July 20 Lincoln Financial Field stop in five minutes. Due to the demand, an additional date at the stadium has been added for the night prior (7/19). A complete listing of tour dates and on-sale information, is available here.

On Monday (12/3), Swift received The Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights’ Ripple of Hope Award in New York, recognizing her international leadership for social change. Twenty-two-year-old Swift is the youngest winner of the prestigious award, alongside other recipients Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Bono and George Clooney.

Tonight, Swift will co-host The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!! – Countdown to Music’s Biggest Night, with LL Cool J, airing from Nashville at 9 p.m. CT on CBS. At the end of the year (12/31), she will headline New Year’s Rockin’ Eve 2013, live from Time Square in New York.

Christian Music Manager Norman Miller Passes

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Norman Miller

Prominent Christian music manager Norman Miller passed away on Monday (Dec. 3). He was 69.

In 1970, Miller started his own record label in the UK, which was later purchased by American-owned Christian music label Word Records, with Miller becoming the Executive Director of Word Europe. Miller founded his management company, Proper Management, in 1983. Proper Management represents Anthem Lights, Casting Crowns, Fireflight, Francesca Battistelli, Leeland, Nichole Nordeman, and The Afters, among others. Proper Management has previously produced and managed tours for numerous artists, including 2nd Chapter of Acts, Brandon Heath, Family Force 5, Michael W. Smith, Natalie Grant, Newsboys, NewSong, Point of Grace, Steven Curtis Chapman, Tenth Avenue North, Third Day and tobyMac, among others.

Miller is responsible for putting together several well-known groups in Christian music, including Avalon, ZOEgirl, Jump5 and PureNRG. He has also been the creator of several best selling Christian albums, including the Andrae Crouch Tribute Album as well as Soulful Celebration (a Gospel version of Handel’s Messiah). Miller won a GRAMMY Award for each of those albums.

Several prominent Christian artists expressed their condolences via Twitter.

Bart Millard of MercyMe: “A true hero of the faith passed away today. Norman Miller will be missed.”

Steven Curtis Chapman: “Praying for comfort for family of dear friend Norman Miller, a brilliant man who loved to tell THE STORY w/all he did..& his has only begun!”

Casting Crowns’ Mark Hall: “Yesterday afternoon, our close friend and manager Norman Miller went to be with Jesus. He was a hero for Christian music and for us. Please pray for his family during this time.”

Francesca Battistelli: “Heartbroken over the loss of my dear friend, mentor, and manager Norman Miller. Yet even as we mourn him, we rejoice that he is with Jesus.”

Jody McBrayer (formerly of Avalon): “My friend and manager Norman Miller passed away tonight. He was a unique, upright man and he will be missed. My heart is heavy. I know he is with The Lord whom he took such pleasure making music about. There would have been no Avalon without his nurturing and leadership. It’s difficult to imagine what my life would have been like had he not taken a chance on me. Norman, there is no one else like you and you will be missed.”

Miller’s memorial service will be held Monday (Dec. 10) at 3 p.m. CT at Brentwood Baptist Church, located at 777 Concord Rd. in Brentwood, Tenn. There will be no visitation.

Those who wish to send flowers can send them to Brentwood Baptist Church prior to 2 p.m. CT on Monday (Dec. 10). For those who wish to make a donation in lieu of flowers, the family has requested that all donations be made to World Vision.

Artist Pics (12/5/2012)

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••• The Band Perry recently returned from a tour in the United Kingdom where they played to sold out venues in Glasgow, Manchester and London. Each night, the sibling trio introduced fans to new single, “Better Dig Two,” which has already sold well over 250,000 downloads in the United States. The Band Perry’s highly-anticipated sophomore album is slated for release in April 2013. They will perform at tonight’s (15/5) Grammy Nominations Concert LIVE on CBS.

Rocking the house in Manchester.

••• Craig Morgan headlined the charity event Budweiser Presents Happy’s Birthday Bash at The Fox Theater in Bakersfield, Calif. The event benefited the Kevin Harvick Foundation and included special performances by Bridgette Tatum and Matt Stillwell. “I’m glad to be back in Bakersfield, (Calif.),” Morgan said prior to the show. “The Kevin Harvick Foundation has done a lot for the local community, so I’m glad to be part of this event and hopefully help the foundation raise some funds to keep the programs going that help so many kids.”

(L-R): Kevin Harvick, Craig Morgan, Bridgette Tatum, Matt Stillwell

••• Baseball Hall of Famer Don Sutton was the guest of Country Music Hall of Famer Bill Anderson on Nov. 30 at the Grand Ole Opry. “I’ve dreamed of coming to the Opry since I was a kid listening to the show on the radio down in Alabama,” Sutton said. “And to get to see it at the Ryman is really special. This is a big item I can now mark off my bucket list.”

(L-R): Don Sutton, Bill Anderson, Photo: Pete Fisher

 

No. 1 Party: Lee Brice’s ‘Hard To Love’

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(L-R): Founder and Chairman of Curb Records Mike Curb, CMA Senior Manager of Membership and Balloting Brandi Simms, songwriter Billy Montana, Curb recording artist Lee Brice, CMA CEO Steve Moore, songwriters John Ozier and Ben Glover, CMA Senior Coordinator of Member Relations and Services Betsy Walker, and CMA Membership and Balloting Assistant Brenden Oliver. Photo: Christian Bottorff, CMA

Curb Records’ Lee Brice celebrated his second No. 1 single, “Hard To Love,” with songwriters Ben Glover, Billy Montana and John Ozier during a party held at the CMA offices on Tuesday (Dec. 4).

Presentations were made by CMA’s Brandi Simms, Country Radio Seminar’s Bill Mayne, Avenue Bank’s Cooper Samuels, BMI’s Bradley Collins and ASCAP’s Ryan Beuschel. Drew Alexander, Director of Publishing at Curb Records, congratulated Mike Curb on the 317th No. 1 record of his career.

“Hard To Love” marks Glover’s first No. 1 country hit, though he has had considerable success in Contemporary Christian music. He was named ASCAP’s 2012 Christian Songwriter of the Year and has had 15 No. 1 Christian songs in his career. His songs have been recorded by artists including Brandon Heath, Britt Nicole and Kari Jobe, as well as Steve Holy, Trace Adkins and Gloriana. “These guys are some of my dear friends,” he said of Brice, Ozier and Montana. “That’s one of the cool things [about working as a songwriter] is working with your friends.” He later told Brice, “You hope your song gets sung by someone who can sing really well, so thank God for you.”

Brice was quick to pass on praise to the songwriters. “This day wouldn’t have happened without my buddies,” said Brice. “This party is about them.” He also thanked fiancee Sarah, saying “Thank you for letting me work so hard. I’m gone a lot and it’s hard, so thank you for being so supportive.” He also thanked the promotion team at Curb Records. Producers Kyle Jacobs and Matt McClure were among those in attendance, as well as Jacobs’ wife and recording artist Kellie Pickler.

It was the first chart-topper for Ozier, who is also Curb Records’ VP of A&R. He wrote the song on his father’s 1967 Martin guitar. Montana, marking his fourth No. 1 single, perhaps best summed up the mood, saying, “Music speaks to people. Let’s not forget that music affects their lives and that’s a beautiful thing.”

Both “Hard To Love” and Brice’s previous hit, “A Woman Like You,” are platinum-selling singles.

(back row, l-r): Curb Records’ Mike Curb; Curb Music’s Drew Alexander; producer Matt McClure; and ASCAP’s Ryan Beuschel (middle row, l-r): Lee Brice; co-writers Billy Montana, John Ozier, and Ben Glover; and Ariose Music Group’s Jeremy Ash; (front row, l-r): BMI’s Bradley Collins; producer Kyle Jacobs; and Ariose Music Group’s Eddie DeGarmo. Photo: Erika Goldring

 

Grammy Nominations Add to Tonight’s Lineup

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The lineup for tonight’s (12/5) The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!! — Countdown To Music’s Biggest Night continues to grow, including Little Big Town, Chris Young, Sheryl Crow, The Lumineers and Janelle Monáe.

The one-hour show — which announces Grammy nominations in several categories — will additionally feature Hunter Hayes, The Band Perry, Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, The Who, FUN., Maroon 5 and Ne-Yo. The Who, The Band Perry and Dierks Bentley will perform together in a special tribute to Johnny Cash. Immediately following the televised segment, Maroon 5 is set to perform an exclusive concert for attendees.

Taylor Swift will co-host the one-hour concert special alongside LL COOL J, who is also a show producer. Swift co-hosted the first Grammy nominations special with the rapper in December 2008.

For the first time, the show will air from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, live on CBS at 9 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available online. Fans can view live backstage coverage of the evening on the web or on the Grammy Mobile App.

Capitol Records will release the 2013 GRAMMY Nominees album. The music from this year’s nominated artists and songs will be available Jan. 22, 2013 with a portion of album proceeds benefiting the Grammy Foundation and MusiCares Foundation.

The 55th Annual GRAMMY Award Show will be held in Los Angeles on Feb. 10, 2013.

Read MusicRow’s exclusive interview with President/CEO of The Recording Academy, Neil Portnow, about tonight’s show.

DISClaimer: Train Teams With Ashley Monroe

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Train's Pat Monahan and Ashley Monroe in video for "Bruises."

How interesting: The two best country platters of the week both come from bands who are considered to be outside the country format.

The British folk-rock combo Mumford & Sons has definitely earned its acoustic bona fides while rising to Platinum and Grammy-nominated status. Now it is knocking on country music’s door with “I Will Wait.” I, for one, would open it.

The San Francisco pop rockers Train have also attained Platinum and Grammy recognition. They’ve also appeared on CMT with Martina McBride. They perform super catchy songs and lead singer Pat Monahan blends fantastically well with mountain soprano Ashley Monroe. All of that is why “Bruises” is the Disc of the Day.

And since Mumford & Sons have never appeared in this column before, that qualifies them for a DisCovery Award.

Mumford and sons

HANNAH BETHEL/No Where Left to Roam
Writer: Hannah Bethel; Producer: Andy Sheridan & Hannah Bethel; Publisher: Hamywyn, BMI; Hannah Bethel (CDX) 
—She sings splendidly, with just the right blend of sweetness, ache and hillbilly heart. The softly brushed drums, scampering fiddle, plaintive dobro and stacked vocal harmonies are all pluses, even if the title seems buried in the lyric.

RANDY HOUSER/How Country Feels
Writer: none listed; Producer: none listed; Publisher: none listed; Stoney Creek (track) 
—The title tune to Houser’s upcoming CD is a solid stomper that places his bruiser voice right up front, where it belongs. The man can sure-nuff sing. Play it.

CLAYTON BELLAMY/Straight Into the Sun
Writer: none listed; Producer: none listed; Publisher: none listed; MDM (ERG) 
—I think it’s meant to sound slow and sultry. It put me to sleep.

TRAIN & ASHLEY MONROE/Bruises
Writer: Pat Monahan/Espen Lind/Amud Bjorklund; Producer: Espionage & Butch Walker; Publisher: EMI April/Ptimon/Stellar, ASCAP; Columbia 
—Train writes such catchy tunes. No wonder it has a shot on country playlists. Especially when collaborating with a hillbilly angel like Hippie Annie. This little sparkler is an addictive audio delight.

JASON KIRKNESS/Leavin’
Writer: none listed; Producer: none listed; Publisher: none listed; MDM (ERG)  
—This Canadian has a slightly folkie bent, but with all the earnest “heart” that good country singing requires. The mid-tempo song is loaded with hooks, and the production is stellar. In short, come on down.

MUMFORD & SONS/I Will Wait
Writer: none listed; Producer: none listed; Publisher: none listed; Glassnote (ERG) 
—It’s a frothy, banjo-and-guitar driven track with loads of energy. Their haunting vocal harmony work captures your full attention. I have been smitten with this folk-rock band for quite some time and think this format could do itself a big favor by inviting the Mumfords to the party.

WAYNE WARNER/The Journey
Writer: none listed; Producer: none listed; Publisher: none listed; B-Venturous (ERG) 
—His quivering, quavering vibrato is either a welcome novelty or an audio irritant. Take your pick.

PAT GREEN/Even the Losers
Writer: none listed; Producer: none listed; Publisher: none listed; Sugar Hill (ERG) 
—His voice sounds as urgent and rousing on a semi-ballad like this as it does on his crowd-pleasing rockers. I remain a fan.

ELVIS BEFORE NOON/Best Year
Writer: Daylon Greer; Producer: Eric Racy; Publisher: none listed, ASCAP; EBN (track) 
—This Arizona four-piece jangles like The Byrds, twangs like The Eagles, rocks like Creedence and crafts tunes that sound as good as familiar oldies. A classic country-rock sound.

KEVIN DEAL/There Goes the Neighborhood
Writer: none listed; Producer: Lloyd Maines; Publisher: Piedrero, ASCAP; Blindfellow (track)
—This perennial Texas favorite is back with a new collection this year. Its bouncy, banjo-backed title tune and lead track lets you know you’re in for a good-natured ride. Ragged but right, as they say.

 

Portnow Discusses Grammy Nominations Concert Decision

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Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy, gave an exclusive interview with MusicRow about the decision to bring the GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!! to Nashville earlier this year. This is the first time the event has ever taken place outside of Los Angeles.

MR: What went into the decision to move the concert from LA to Nashville?
PORTNOW: The way I’ve been explaining it is that it begins with a business management principle, which I embrace and I encourage our staff and our elected leaders to embrace, which is if asked the question “Why do we do this?” If the answer is simply “Because we’ve always done it this way,” that’s really not an acceptable or smart approach to what you might be doing at any given time.

What that informs is a constant re-evaluation in taking a look at things to make sure that however we’re doing it that it’s the right way, it’s an interesting way, it’s unique and it really represents the values and the missions of the academy.

That’s a basic principle to this particular project and it’s fairly new one, it’s something we conceived of five or six years ago, after years of traditional press conferences to announce the nominations. I always thought that was okay, but it’s cruel and unusual punishment for artists to be up at seven in the morning to do that and then frankly at some point it gets a little bit dull and a little predictable. We realized if we’re going to celebrate music then let’s do it in a venue and an environment that really speaks to that celebration and let’s have some music. So that led us to moving from a press conference in a hotel ballroom to a music venue. That kind of inspired, “Well if we’re in this space where music is played, let’s play some music and let’s put it on TV. Let’s have this as a way to really set up and introduce Grammy season in a way that is very involving and empowering for the fans.”

When we got to the five-year mark of that adventure, it was time to take another look to see if there’s anything about it that we might change. We have been changing the content and format a little bit, we’ve been out to a few different venues in LA and so the next thing to consider was “what about somewhere other than LA?” And that’s what got us thinking about this and down this path.

MR: So why Nashville?
PORTNOW: First of all, Nashville has a lot of intersection with the Academy. The first one as basic as that when the Academy was formed 55 years ago, one the concepts was that it have the ability to incorporate the diversity that’s found in music centers around the country and not try to have one size fits all, programmatically or even culturally. One of the very early chapters, aside from Los Angeles and New York, is Nashville and we have a long history there as an organization and we have a very successful vibrant chapter, one of our largest memberships comes from that region.

Number two, to the credit of Mayor Dean and the whole team in Nashville they wisely recognize, and I applaud them for it and support them in it, that creativity and the arts are key components to a broad and enlightened culture, and specifically music is a key element to the success of Nashville on so many levels.

I’d met with the mayor for quite a few years and was very familiar with his desire and the community’s desire to ramp up, to spread the word, to paint Nashville beyond a country music city, but just music city with the diversity and the great music population that’s there. So that became a factor.

Additionally, our current chairman of the board of the academy is George Flanigen. George is in the last lap of the first chair to ever have a 4-year term and so having our chair on the ground and being part of the community really opened a conduit of information and enthusiasm for getting this done.

MR: Do you see the concert moving around the country? Returning to LA? Staying in Nashville?
PORTNOW: The great thing for us is that we view most of what we do as an artist would view a fresh canvas. So we have fresh canvas to paint on on an annual basis. I like that fact that we have no restrictions or requirements that can’t be evaluated regularly. This is the first move for this particular project and we’ll see how it goes. I’m hopeful that it’s going to be a major homerun and a great experience. So afterwards we’ll come back and take a look at it and see what makes sense for the following year.

*****

The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!! — Countdown To Music’s Biggest Night airs tonight (12/5) on CBS live from the Bridgestone Area at 9 p.m. CT. For details on tonight’s event, click here.