Davidson Named Hot Country Songwriter of the Year

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(L-R): EMI’s Hannah Post, Missy Wilson, Josh Van Valkenburg, Dallas Davidson, EMI EVP/GM Ben Vaughn, Laura Wright, and “Big” Tom Luteran.

EMI Music Publishing’s Dallas Davidson will be honored in this year’s Billboard year-end issue as the Hot Country Songwriter of the Year. The award recognizes his nine charted country singles including multiple No. 1 country hits “That’s How Country Boys Roll” (Billy Currington), “Rain Is A Good Thing” (Luke Bryan), “Gimmie That Girl” (Joe Nichols), “All About Tonight” (Blake Shelton), and “All Over Me” (Josh Turner). Davidson also received multiple BMI Awards this year with additional chart-toppers including “Start A Band” (Brad Paisley/Keith Urban), “Put A Girl In It” (Brooks & Dunn), “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk” (Trace Adkins), and “Barefoot and Crazy” (Jack Ingram).

Davidson recently appeared in the TODAY Show Weekend’s “Secrets of Songwriters” special to talk about the tricks of his craft and was also awarded the CMA Triple Play Award earlier this year for “Rain Is A Good Thing,” “That’s How Country Boys Roll” and “Gimmie That Girl.”

Additionally, Davidson recently celebrated the release of the full-length album, Michael Waddell’s Bone Collector: The Brotherhood Album featuring Rhett Akins and Dallas Davidson (Warner Bros.), a collection of songs written by Davidson and Rhett Akins.

Benefits: Toys For Tots, Music City Community Chorus

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This event has been canceled (12/13): Toolpusher recording artist Jason Sturgeon will host “Jason Sturgeon and Friends,” benefiting Nashville’s Toys For Tots on Monday, December 13. The show, featuring Sturgeon with guests Matt Stillwell, Andy Griggs, and Sherrie Austin takes place 6-7:30 pm at The Listening Room. Attendees are asked to bring new toys, unwrapped, for Toys For Tots and a chance to win a $250 gas card.

Toys For Tots will get a second dose of holiday love on December 16 when the Women’s Music Business Association hosts its 6th Annual Tunes For Tots Benefit from 6:30-8:30 pm at Red Rooster. Wil Nance, Bo Bice, and Ty Brown are scheduled to perform. Admission is free with an unwrapped present or a donation to Toys For Tots.

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The Music City Community Chorus will perform its annual free winter concert to benefit the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, 7:30 pm on December 16 at the Cathedral of the Incarnation. Under the direction of vocal coach Renee Grant Williams, this year’s selection will be Rachmaninoff’s All Night Vigil. Audience members are asked to bring canned and non-perishable items for donation.

CMA Songwriter Series; CMT Radio Live On Tour

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CMA SONGWRITERS SERIES PLAYS LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Bob DiPiero, Brett James, Little Big Town and Lori McKenna headlined the most recent CMA Songwriters Series, held in the Coolidge Auditorium of the Library of Congress in Washington, DC on December 4. This was the second CMA-produced songwriters event held at the Library in 2010, with plans in the works for another one in Spring 2011. (L-R): DiPiero; Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild; James; McKenna; Library of Congress’ Chief of the Music Division Sue Vita; Pres./CEO The Smith-Free Group and CMA Ex-Officio Board Member Jim Free; Library of Congress’ Head of Acquisitions and Processing Section Denise Gallo, Ph.D; Special Asst. to the Librarian of Congress Suzanne Hogan; and Little Big Town’s Jimi Westbrook, Kimberly Schlapman and Phillip Sweet. Photo: Mitchell Layton

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CMT RADIO LIVE WITH CODY ALAN ON TOUR
CMT Radio Live with Cody Alan was in Decatur, Ill Wednesday night (12/8) as part of the CMT Radio Live with Cody Alan on Tour. The city won the opportunity to host this free concert with the “Bring CMT Radio Live with Cody Alan to Your City” competition on Eventful. Alan and affiliate, WDZQ/95Q-FM in Decatur, were broadcasting live and hosted a concert featuring Justin Moore along with Thompson Square and Brett Eldredge at the Lincoln Square Theater. (L-R) back: Westwood One’s Sue Falco; WDZQ’s Tricia LeVeck; VP Radio MTV Music Group Lori Megown; Eldredge; WDZQ’s Rhiannon; CMT’s Sr. Dir. Music Programming & Promotion Stephen Linn; Thompson Square’s Shawna Thompson; and WDZQ’s Toby Tucker. Front: Moore; Alan; WDZQ’s Kimmy K; and Thompson Square’s Keifer Thompson. Photo: Dingo O’Brien

Paisley Plans New Album, Offers Free Download

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Brad Paisley’s “This Is Country Music” had a big platform when he debuted it at the 44th Annual CMA Awards in November, and it is already rapidly climbing the charts. It will also be the title track to the newly crowned CMA Entertainer of the Year’s new album, which is due out April 19, 2011. Paisley will be offering the song as a free download at www.thisiscountrymusic.com for one week beginning Monday, December 13.

Fans visiting the site will also have the opportunity to pre-order This Is Country Music, which will grant access to exclusive content before the album’s release. The digital single for “This Is Country Music” will be available for purchase at digital retailers and thisiscountrymusic.com on December 21.

Warner/Chappell Acquires 615 Music

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(L-R): Randy Thornton, CEO, Non-Stop Music; Randy Wachtler, 615 Music Pres./CEO; and Brian Roberts, Sr. VP/CFO Warner/Chappell Music.

Warner/Chappell Music, the global music publishing arm of Warner Music Group Corp. and parent company of Non-Stop Music, today (12/10) announced the acquisition of 615 Music, a Nashville-based production music company. In addition, 615 Music’s President and CEO, Randy Wachtler, will take on the role of EVP, North America, for Warner/Chappell’s production music business.

The agreement establishes Warner/Chappell’s first Nashville production music operation and expands their presence in the sector of the music publishing business. As part of the agreement, 615 Music’s team of producers and composers will continue to create library content that will be owned, exclusively marketed and distributed by Warner/Chappell.

In making the announcement, Brian Roberts, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Warner/Chappell Music said, “We are delighted to welcome 615 Music founder Randy Wachtler to our management team and look forward to the addition of the talented 615 Music Nashville group as they bring their unique sound and energy to the Non-Stop Warner/Chappell family.”

Wachtler commented, “I’m extremely excited to join the Warner/Chappell family and work with Brian Roberts and Randy Thornton, as well as Warner/Chappell’s Chairman and CEO, David Johnson. I’ve known Randy Thornton for over 20 years through my work at the Production Music Association and I am thrilled we’ll be working together on the same team.”

Randy Thornton, CEO, Non-Stop Music said, “615 Music is an incredible force in the music production space with a long roster of impressive clients, particularly in the broadcast television promotion and news arena. This is an exciting and wonderful way to walk into the New Year and we couldn’t be more pleased.”

For more than 25 years, 615 Music has worked for network and cable clients and earned countless prestigious awards. The company is one of the world’s leading providers of production music to the entertainment, broadcast, advertising, and corporate industries, and is the recent recipient of an Emmy Award for “Outstanding Original Song” for NBC’s Today Show.

Lynn Honored with Van Lear Rose

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Overton and Lynn

A new rose has been named in honor of country legend Loretta Lynn. The “Loretta Lynn Van Lear,” named after the Grammy-winning album Van Lear Rose, will be delivered to Lynn’s ranch in the spring of 2011 and will be available for purchase by the fall of 2011.

“Roses have always been so special to me—I’ve loved them since I was a girl,” said Loretta. “So to have a rose named after one of my albums … well, I’m not sure I quite have the words for that! I’m just very, very honored. I can’t wait to have those Van Lear roses blooming in my yard!” she added.

The rose is classified as a floribunda, an ever-blooming hybrid with a deep apricot color. The plant will grow to roughly two feet, making it an ideal size for gardens and large containers.

Sony Music Nashville Chairman and CEO Gary Overton presented Lynn with the rose in celebration of her 50-year career and the recent release of Coal Miner’s Daughter: A Tribute to Loretta Lynn. The album, released on November 9th, features artists Alan Jackson, Martina McBride, Gretchen Wilson, Kid Rock and Paramore, among others, covering Lynn’s beloved songs.

The Loretta Lynn Van Lear

2010 was an exciting year for Lynn. She was honored with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in January, recognizing her legacy and considerable career achievements. The Coal Miner’s Daughter album was one of 25 sound recordings chosen for preservation within the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress, noting its cultural, historic and aesthetic significance. In October, the Recording Academy presented Lynn with the President’s Merit Award, honoring her contributions to country music. 2010 also marked the 50th anniversary of Lynn’s chart debut in 1960.

Weekly Chart Report (12/10/10)

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Cody McCarver (center) made a stop recently at WYVY and visited with PD Don Willson (R) and weekend air personality D.T. Rogers (L).

The holidays are upon us, which means its almost time to take a break from number crunching and chart compiling. Next week’s chart, to be published on December 17, will be the final one of 2010. We’ll start back strong in 2011 on Friday, January 7.

SPIN ZONE
Slight changes occur in the penultimate CountryBreakout Chart of 2010, as Keith Urban’s “Put You In A Song” ascends to No. 1 over Reba’s multi-week chart-topper “Turn On The Radio.” This is Urban’s third No. 1 song of the year, following “‘Til Summer Comes Around” and “I’m In.” Soon to be vying for that top spot are Luke Bryan’s “Someone Else Calling You Baby” at No. 3, Tim McGraw’s “Felt Good On My Lips” at No. 4 and Carrie Underwood’s “Mama’s Song” at No. 5.

Jerrod Niemann’s “What Do You Want” jumps into the Top 20 for the first time at No. 18, followed by Stoney Creek’s Thompson Square with “Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not” at No. 19. James Otto’s “Soldier’s & Jesus” also cracks the Top 20 threshold, moving up a spot from No. 21. Quickly on their way toward the top are Darius Rucker’s “This” at No. 21, Brad Paisley’s “This Is Country Music” at No. 24, Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson’s “Don’t You Wanna Stay” at No. 30 and Sugarland’s “Little Miss” at No. 34.

New arrivals to the chart this week include Steel Magnolia’s “Last Night Again,” nabbing the week’s highest debut at No. 76, and Josh Abbott Band’s “Oh, Tonight” at No. 80.

Upcoming Singles
December 13
Alabama/Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?/Valory
Brad Paisley/This Is Country Music/Arista

Holiday Airplay
Jason Michael Carroll/Christmas On The Farm/Stray Records/Quarterback
Danny Gokey/Tennessee Christmas/19/RCA
Deborah Allen Feat. Cledus T. Judd/Redneck Christmas/GMV/Aristomedia
Kenny Rogers/The Chosen One/Joy To The World (Live)/DCE
Rachel Holder/Christmas Eve
Burns & Poe/Hear The Angels Singing/Blue Steel
Rodney Carrington/Camouflage and Christmas Lights/EMI Records Nashville
Darius Rucker/Candy Cane Christmas/Capitol Nashville
Mishavonna with Crystal Gayle/Christmas Everywhere/Redrum/GrassRoots
Sandy Kastel/Santa Baby/Silk and Satin Records
Williams Riley/Celebrate Me Home/Wide Open Music Group

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New On The Chart—Debuting This Week
Artist/song/label — chart pos.
Steel Magnolia/Last Night Again/Big Machine — 77
Josh Abbott Band/Oh, Tonight/PDT — 80

Greatest Spin Increase
Artist/song/label — spin+
Brad Paisley/This Is Country Music/Arista — 500
Taylor Swift/Back To December/Big Machine — 297
Sugarland/Little Miss/Mercury — 264
Jason Aldean w/Kelly Clarkson/Don’t You Wanna Stay/Broken Bow — 263
Darius Rucker/This/Capitol — 232

On Deck—Soon To Be Charting
Artist/song/label — spins
Jadi Norris/Home Is Where The Heart Is — 221
Taylor Made/Quiet Kind of Crazy — 209
D.J. Miller/A Snowman In Birmingham/Evergreen — 200
David St. Romain/Live, Laugh, Love and Drink — 200
Mickey Utley/Cry Like Memphis/Mick-Armour Records — 191

Two Week Most Added*
Artist/song/label — New adds
Brad Paisley/This Is Country Music/Arista — 16
Trace Adkins/Brown Chicken, Brown Cow — 15
Sugarland/Little Miss/Mercury — 8
Darius Rucker/This/Capitol — 7
Craig Campbell/Family Man/Bigger Picture — 7

Brett Eldredge recently visited KRST. (L-R): Eldredge, Kristina Carlyle and Eddie Haskell.

Columbia Nashville's Josh Thompson played in his hometown of Milwaukee, WI last Thursday (12/2) at the Riverside Theater with Jamey Johnson. Thompson's new single, "Won't Be Lonely Long," is at radio now. (L-R): Songwriter Phil O'Donnell, Thompson, Sony Music Nashville EVP A&R Renee Bell, Columbia Nashville's Bo Martinovich, Songwriter Shane Minor, Dir. Programming for Clear Channel Milwaukee/WMIL PD Kerry Wolfe.

Twitter, Music and You

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Pew Research Center released a report today, stating that eight percent of American adults who use the Internet are also Twitter users. Twitter, which launched in 2006, serves as both a never-ending tournament in which users attempt to outwit each other in 140 characters or less and a thriving, active community ripe for sharing news and media.

Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project conducted surveys throughout 2008—2010, studying the use of the Twitter and other services to share or see updates about others on the Internet. As 74 percent of American adults are Internet users, six percent of the entire adult population in the U.S. is on Twitter.

Not surprisingly, young adults—Internet users aged 18-29—are “significantly” more likely to use Twitter than older adults, and urbanites are twice as likely to use Twitter than their rural counterparts. Minority Internet users are also more than twice as likely to tweet.

The level of commitment to one’s Twitter account and the content varies widely; as roughly one quarter of Twitter users check the site multiple times a day, yet one in five users “never” check for new material. Seventy-two percent post updates that relate to their personal life, activities and interests and 62 percent post updates relating to their work life, activities and interests. While a portion of users may indulge in navel-gazing, 55 percent also share links to news stories, and 53% retweet material posted by others.

The results from this report were culled from telephone interviews conducted by the Princeton Survey Research Associates International, among a sample of approximately 2,250 adults, aged 18 and older.

While the report tracked activity pertaining to sharing photos, videos, or user location, it did not track music sharing.  Last month, Twitter formed a partnership with iTunes’ Ping service, allowing users to preview songs and link directly to purchase music. Earlier this week, Twitter announced several new content partnerships, including Rdio, a paid subscription music streaming service which allows full-length streaming songs. Launched in an effort to drive traffic to Twitter.com, these partnerships, which also include video and photo sites, followed a September redesign of the website.

While these partnerships are too new to discern the impact upon music discovery and purchasing through Twitter or Twitter.com, we expect to see more activity in this area. Stay tuned, and stay tweeting.

Sales Engine Whirring As Holiday Looms

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Fa-la-la-la-la_____        la–la-la-la.
That familiar melodic snippet nicely sums the panoramic view from your Scribe’s lofty perch, high upon the holiday hilltops watching the SoundScan ticker tape turn. A dozen CDs passed the 20k benchmark on the Top Current Country chart this week, and country’s album sales YTD deficit continued to improve from -6.1% to -5.7%.

There’s been a lot of talk about the balance between digital and physical for country consumers. According to Nielsen SoundScan, 15.74% of 2010 country album sales have been digital. Up about 5% or so from last year, but clearly physical sales continue to own a large share of the sales pie. Loss of shelf space at retail outlets, is certainly an issue to watch going forward.

Tim McGraw’s Number One Hits, caps the hefty onslaught of mainstream country debuts this holiday season. McGraw lands at No. 6 on the Current Country list with sales of over 40k. Ms. Swift tops the chart, by a huge margin shifting over 182,000 units followed in the next two positions by Keith Urban (No. 2; 59k+) and Rascal Flatts (No. 3; 57k+) both enjoying third week sales of their new packages. Jason Aldean’s new project, in its fifth week, is No. 4; moving 47k+ with an RTD (release-to-date) total of 438k. Sugarland’s Incredible Machine now completing its 7th week (No. 5; 47k) has RTD of over 570k.

Also deserving mention is The Band Perry logging in at No. 12 this week and ringing the registers with over 22k album units. TBP is also No. 1 on the country tracks chart. The sibling trio’s “If I Die Young” enjoyed over 47k downloads this week and the song has an impressive RTD total of almost 1.05 million!! Other top track tossers in chart order include Sugarland, Kenny Chesney, Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw, ZBB, Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton and Aldean (again).

Four weeks remain, three of which should post “up” numbers as we approach Dec. 25. Currently (through week ended 12-5-10) country has tallied about 37 million album units leaving about nine million more to go to reach last year’s year-end 46 million total.

Give the gift of music!

Artists and Songwriters Perform Good Works

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Ty Herndon has partnered with former NFL player Kevin Turner to raise awareness about Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, and its emerging connection to athletes exposed to repeated head trauma. Turner is a former NFL fullback with the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles who was diagnosed with ALS in 2010. After meeting Herndon at an ALS benefit concert, the two discussed using Herndon’s single “Journey On” as the signature song for The Kevin Turner Foundation. Directors Flick Wiltshire and Steven Goldmann shot the song’s video, which can be seen here.

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As part of Jack Daniel’s “Toast To The Troops” program, 10,000 USO care packages will be assembled by military spouses and volunteers Friday, December 10 at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. Once all the packages are completed, BNA artist and Army Veteran Craig Morgan will hold a base-wide free concert for all involved. “It has been an honor and privilege for me to perform for our military service members and their families, and the Toast to the Troops program is one way of letting them know how much we love, respect and appreciate everything they do for us,” said Morgan.  “Their sacrifices, both abroad and on the home front, cannot be measured, and we all owe them a tremendous debt of gratitude.” Morgan’s single “Still A Little Chicken Left On That Bone” is currently climbing the charts.
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Hit songwriters Kendell Marvell, Danny Myrick, and Bridgette Tatum will be part of a guitar pull at the Statesville, NC home of NASCAR star Ryan Newman Friday, December 10. The annual charity dinner event benefits the Ryan Newman Foundation, which encourages and educates people on responsible pet ownership as well as conservation. The following day (12/11), celebrities and pro fishermen will participate in a celebrity fishing contest.

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Santa Claus will be making a stop at John Rich’s home in honor of the student-run Vanderbilt University Dance Marathon organization, which raises funds for Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital. On Saturday (12/11), Joan and John Rich will host the annual Dance Marathon Party for “Miracle Families” whose lives have been touched by Children’s Hospital. The Dance Marathon is the largest student-run philanthropic organization at Vanderbilt, and Rich and his wife have pledge to match the top student fundraiser’s total up to $10,000.