Weekly Chart Report (12/03/10)

/by

Warner Bros. Records’ Frankie Ballard recently wrapped up the Texas portion of his opening slot on Uncle Kracker's club tour and stopped by the local FOX affiliate to appear on morning show "Good Day Dallas." Ballard's single "Tell Me You Get Lonely" is at No. 43 on the CountryBreakout Chart and he is currently finishing up his debut album, expected for release next year. (L-R): FOX 4 Good Day Anchors Tim Ryan, Ballard, Good Day Anchor Lauren Przybyl

RADIO NEWS
Citadel’s WOGT/Chattanooga has flipped to a Classic Hits format. As of this week, it will no longer be a part of the CountryBreakout Reporting panel.

SPIN ZONE
Reba’s on a roll. “Turn On The Radio” is very likely causing people to do just that, and it sits at No. 1 for a second consecutive week. This is Reba’s third straight CountryBreakout No. 1 song after “Consider Me Gone” and “I Keep On Loving You”; both topped the chart over the previous year. Two men of Capitol Records–Keith Urban and Luke Bryan–cover up spots No. 2 and 3 with triple digit spin gains. New to the Top 10 are Eric Church’s “Smoke A Little Smoke” (No. 9) and Kenny Chesney’s “Somewhere With You” at No. 10.

Several new singles are on the move at the year’s end. Taylor Swift’s “Back To December” sits out front just at No. 19, and Darius Rucker’s “This” is a few steps back at No. 24 after a 482 spin increase. Perhaps the most quickly moving of all is Brad Paisley’s “This Is Country Music,” which moves 74-36 after a 692 spin surge. Not quite on the same pace, but moving rapidly up the chart are “Don’t You Wanna Stay” by Jason Aldean with assistance from Kelly Clarkson at No. 37, and “Little Miss” by Sugarland at No. 40.

New singles debuting this week include Matt Gary’s “I’m Just Sayin’” at No. 73, followed by Alan Jackson’s take on “Ring of Fire” at No. 74. Point of Grace’s “Love & Laundry” clocks in at No. 76, with Brantley Gilbert’s “My Kind of Crazy” a mere one spin behind at No. 77. Looking outside the Top 80, expect the arrival of Steel Magnolia’s “Last Night Again” to make an impressive debut on next week’s chart.

Upcoming Singles
December 6
Chuck Wicks/Old School/RCA
LeAnn Rimes/Crazy Women/Curb
The Harters/If I Run/Bigger Picture
Alan Jackson/Ring of Fire/Arista
Crossin Dixon/Goodbye To Henry/Stoney Creek
Steel Magnolia/Last Night Again/Big Machine

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

•  •  •  •

New On The Chart—Debuting This Week
Artist/song/label — chart pos.
Matt Gary/I’m Just Sayin’/Quarterback Records — 73
Alan Jackson/Ring of Fire/Arista — 74
Point Of Grace/Love & Laundry/Word/WMN — 76
Brantley Gilbert/My Kind of Crazy/Average Joe’s Entertainment — 77
Kelly Parkes/Nothing/Lofton Creek — 78
Karli Whetstone/I Didn’t/Ohio Records — 80

Greatest Spin Increase
Artist/song/label — spin+
Brad Paisley/This Is Country Music/Arista — 692
Taylor Swift/Back To December/Big Machine — 548
Jason Aldean w/Kelly Clarkson/Don’t You Wanna Stay/Broken Bow — 492
Darius Rucker/This/Capitol — 482
Sugarland/Little Miss/Mercury — 315

On Deck—Soon To Be Charting
Artist/song/label — spins
Josh Abbott Band/Oh, Tonight/PDT — 227
Steel Magnolia/Last Night Again/Big Machine — 213
David St. Romain/Live, Laugh, Love And Drink — 199
Taylor Made/Quiet Kind of Crazy — 195
Jadi Norris/Home Is Where The Heart Is — 190

Two Week Most Added*
Artist/song/label — New adds
Brad Paisley/This Is Country Music/Arista — 41
Jason Aldean w/Kelly Clarkson/Don’t You Wanna Stay/Broken Bow — 28
Sugarland/Little Miss/Mercury — 21
Darius Rucker/This/Capitol — 19
Steel Magnolia/Last Night Again/Big Machine — 14
Easton Corbin/I Can’t Love You Back/Mercury — 13

Republic Nashville's The Band Perry stopped by KX96 FM in Oshawa, Ontario to play a few songs and discuss their No. 1 song "If I Die Young." Pictured (L-R): Reid and Kimberly Perry, KX96's Ellis and Archer and Neil Perry.

Christian/country group Point of Grace joined WSIX's Gerry House and Mike Bohan on-air to kick off Gerry's last 12 days. The trio's has just released a new single "Love and Laundry" as well as a Christmas CD "Home for the Holidays." Pictured (L-R): Mike Bohan, Denise Jones, Shelley Breen, Gerry House and Leigh Cappillino.

Exclusive Strait Album Available; Kelley EP Out This Week

/by

Exclusive Strait Album at Wrangler Retailers

George Strait’s exclusive album release with Wrangler is now available at select Wrangler Specialty Apparel retailers nationwide. The collector’s album, which is free with a $50 purchase of Wrangler apparel, is entitled George Strait Cowboy Love Songs and features hits such as “Check Yes Or No” and “You Look So Good in Love.”

The full track listing is as follows:

“You Look So Good In Love”
“The Chair”
“I Cross My Heart”
“You’re Something Special To Me”
“Carrying Your Love With Me”
“Run”
“Check Yes or No”
“If You Ain’t Lovin’ (You Ain’t Livin’)”

George Strait Cowboy Love Songs is available until December 31st. To find a retailer or for more information, visit www.wrangler.com or call 888.784.8671.

A Teaser From Kelley

MCA artist Josh Kelley released a three-song EP this week, piquing interest for his spring 2011 release Georgia Clay. The EP includes his current single and title track from the upcoming album, building on the buzz that Kelley has created in anticipation of releasing the album he’s been working on for the past two years.

“I am super excited about these songs,” Josh says. “These are the perfect three songs for a three-song EP to give people a little taste of what’s to come.”

Kelley wrote the song “Georgia Clay” with his brother, Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum, and was inspired as the two reminisced about high school. “I asked Charles whatever happened to that old truck Dad used to let us drive,” Josh says. “He said it was in a junkyard somewhere. I said, ‘Man, if there’s still some Georgia clay underneath it, if that Georgia clay could speak what would it say?’ It would have seen our childhood and seen Charles and I experiencing our first everythings.”

Kelley, who made his Opry debut on November 12th, is currently on tour with Miranda Lambert and Eric Church.

CMT Artist Of Year Premieres Tonight

/by

Photo: Rick Diamond/WireImage

CMT’s first Artists of the Year presentation will feature Carrie Underwood, Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum, Taylor Swift and the Zac Brown Band. Hosted by Kevin Costner the show will premiere Dec. 3. Taped in Franklin, TN at The Factory, the 90-minute special also features presenters such as Celebrity Chef Cat Cora, Hayley Williams of Paramore, Boston Red Sox’s Josh Beckett, Kid Rock, Kix Brooks, Luke Bryan, Martina McBride, Alabama’s Randy Owen, Randy Travis and Smokey Robinson.

Over the past 12 months, Carrie Underwood, Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum, Taylor Swift and Zac Brown Band have collectively received over 2.5 million plays of their current songs; sold over 8.5 million copies of their current albums; sold over 21 million individual downloads of their current singles; and topped both the touring and CMT.com charts, proving themselves to be the top country artists for 2010.

CMT Artists Of The Year is produced by Audrey Morrissey and Chad Hines. John Hamlin and Margaret Comeaux serve as executive producers for CMT.

Billboard Launches Social 50 Chart

/by

Billboard is expanding its chart offerings to include a new chart, the Social 50. Presented by ZYNC from American Express, the Social 50 chart will track and rank the most active artists on the world’s leading social networking sites including MySpace, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and iLike. Data from these sites will be tracked by Next Big Sound, a provider of online music analytics and insights.

The Social 50 will rank each artist’s popularity through a formula that blends artist page views, song plays, and additions of friends/fans/followers on a weekly basis. It will emphasize friends and fan behavior above other metrics and will include a unique metric which measures the ratio of page views to fans. The inaugural chart slates Rihanna as the top artist, followed by Justin Bieber, Eminem, Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj, respectively, in the top five.

“The Social 50 provides a weekly snapshot of the artists that music fans engage with the most in the social arena, which in today’s world is a significant validation of their investment in an act,” says Silvio Pietroluongo, Billboard Chart Director.

“We continue to adapt the way we chart the changing landscape of music,” adds Bill Werde, Billboard Editorial Director.  “The Social 50 is yet another step in the evolution of Billboard and an important response to our changing times.”

The Social 50 will be updated on Billboard.com and Billboard.biz every Thursday and in each issue of Billboard magazine.

Swift Named “Entertainer” by Entertainment Weekly

/by

Entertainment Weekly magazine announced today that Taylor Swift is their 2010 “Entertainer of the Year.” Swift will be featured on the cover of the December 10th issue, which hits newsstands today. Swift is the youngest celebrity to receive this honor.

Entertainment Weekly stated that Swift was chosen due to the fact that she earned “a career’s worth of commercial and critical success in just 12 short months.” Swift kicked off 2010 with a hit single, “Today Was a Fairytale,” a hit movie, Valentine’s Day, and four Grammy wins. Her October 25th release, Speak Now, garnered the highest first-week sales of any album in the past five years.

2010 was certainly the Year of Taylor, as she continues to dominate the digital world as well, reaching a milestone with over one million unique visitors to her website in November. She has over 4.7 Twitter followers and more than 14 million Facebook friends.

McBride at NASCAR and Urban Supports St. Jude

/by

Martina McBride To Perform at NASCAR Ceremony

Multi-platinum and award-winning artist Martina McBride will perform “America the Beautiful” at NASCAR’s 2010 Sprint Cup Series Awards Ceremony. McBride joins a lineup that includes Rascal Flatts, Colbie Caillat, comedian Frank Caliendo and a special performance by Cirque du Soleil’s “Viva Elvis.”

“I’m looking forward to singing for the NASCAR drivers and teams at this year’s awards ceremony,” said McBride. “NASCAR and country music go hand-in-hand and have one very important thing in common—the fans. They are the most loyal of any I’ve ever known and it’s always a thrill to perform live for such an enthusiastic and supportive audience.”

The 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards Ceremony will be held on Friday, December 3, at the Wynn Las Vegas. This event culminates NASCAR’s Champion’s Week, a postseason celebration offering fan-friendly activities in Las Vegas.

More information is available at www.nascar.com.

Urban for St. Jude

For the ninth year, Keith Urban has teamed up with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to produce a 2011 calendar. This calendar features photos of Urban, taken by members of his fan club, and is part of the Country Fans Care for St. Jude Kids fundraising program.

This program unites country music fans and fan clubs from across the world to raise money for the life-saving work of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Through the program, donations to St. Jude are made in honor of the donor’s favorite celebrity, allowing fans to show support for their favorite entertainer while helping the kids of St. Jude at the same time.

To date, Urban’s calendars have raised over $500,000 for the kids of St. Jude, as 100 percent of the net proceeds benefit the hospital.

The calendar is available for purchase for $15 here.

Country Sales Thunder Toward Holiday Finish

/by

The graph shows 2010 YTD album sales for all genre (purple) and country (red) compared with the same period in 2009. Country began the year up 18% on 3/14 but quickly started slipping. Note the strong uptick between 9/5 and 11/28 showing country's gaining from -13.2% to -6.1%.

With the warm buzz of family and friends gathered round the holiday table still in our hearts, it gives us added joy to note that country sales also had a robust holiday, resounding in the sweet sound of registers ringing. According to Nielsen SoundScan, country album sales for the period ending 11/28/2010 were up 12% compared with the previous week. The increase also had a nice effect on shrinking the 2010 sales deficit (see graph) which is now -6.1% compared with the same period in 2009. With five weeks remaining, country needs to shift 2.1 million album units each week to equal last year’s total album sales of 46.13 million units. (This week’s album tally was 1.574.) Attaining the 46.13 million unit mark appears a stiff challenge and inside odds-makers are predicting a finish down 5-7%. Country labels would like to be in positive territory, but when compared with all-genre album sales which are down 12.8% we’re ahead of the group. That’s the big picture, now let’s delve into some of the week’s highlights.

Albums
One could call the country album chart, “Swift’s List.” Riding her T-day, TV special, Taylor’s Speak Now CD jumped up 64%—almost 100k units—to sell over 240k (20k in digital format). Her Fearless disc also got a 72% bump of almost 20k. Alan Jackson’s 34 Number Ones was the only significant debut of the week landing at No. 7 with sales slightly over 32k. (Over on the Top 200 chart, however, Swift’s buddy Kanye West ruled with a strong debut of 496k units.)

Country consumers also stuffed acts like Sugarland (No. 4; +31%; 63k+), both Lady A discs (No. 6; +52%; 50k–No. 19; +260%; 14k+), and Darius Rucker (No. 14; +29%; 21k)  into shopping carts in record numbers. Rascal Flatts (-50%) and Keith Urban (-53%) saw lighter than normal week two declines and landed respectively at No. 2 and 3 on the country album chart.

Digital Tracks
Country track sales dropped 6% this week to about 963k total on the Top 100. This week eleven songs were downloaded over 20k times. The Band Perry narrowly topped Sugarland, both selling slightly more than 58k units to land at No. 1 and 2 respectively. Swift (No. 3, 4) and Jason Aldean (No. 8, 9) claimed two spots each on the Top 11. Others included Zac Brown Band (No. 5), Tim McGraw (No. 6) and Kenny Chesney (No. 7). Blake Shelton (No. 10) and Eric Church (No. 11) closed out the over 20k crowd.

Roxstarz Launches in Nashville; AirPlay Direct Joins Forces With CD Baby

/by

Roxstarz Launches in Nashville

Matchless Management’s Shawn Pennington and business partner Andrew Fishbone announced the launch of Roxstarz, a private air charter brokerage firm headquartered in Nashville. Roxstarz, which caters to the needs of the music, movie and sports industries, will offer various luxurious yet affordable air charter options to clients. Among the services that Roxstarz will offer is negotiating the lowest rates amongst multiple carriers, handling all of the logistics on behalf of the client.

“A large section of our target client base doesn’t even realize how affordable private air travel can be, and how much the convenience of it can drastically raise their productivity level and quality of life,” says Pennington, a pilot himself. Pennington’s new venture resolves the disconnect between traditional services provided by the travel industry and the often daunting logistical needs of high profile celebrities and industry executives.

Roxstarz’s initial launch will focus on air charter services, and future rollouts will include promotional and sponsorship opportunities in addition to traditional concierge services. “Roxstarz will offer a service that appeals directly to the entertainment business, unmatched by any competitor, with an edge that will push Roxstarz into business spaces never before breached in the travel industry,” Fishbone explains.

AirPlay Direct Joins Forces with CD Baby

Global music delivery service AirPlay Direct has formed a strategic marketing partnership with CD Baby. AirPlay Direct services radio and the entertainment industry with downloadable content from both label and independent artists. This partnership with CD Baby, the world’s largest online distributor of independent music, will benefit clients of each respective company with discounts on services and other cross-marketing opportunities.

“We are very excited about the strategic partnership with CD Baby,” says  Robert Weingartz, CEO and Founder of AirPlay Direct. “AirPlay Direct and CD Baby were both founded on common principals: to assist in the growth and development of the independent music movement. In the ever-changing landscape of today’s music business world, we are pleased to join forces with a company who shares our desire to find solutions that will benefit the rising independent musician.”

“AirPlay Direct is an excellent option for DIY artists who want to have hands-on involvement in the promotion of their music to radio,” states CD Baby President, Brian Felsen. “We’ve heard artists voice their praises after working with AirPlay Direct on their radio campaigns, so we’re excited to offer CD Baby members a 50 percent discount on APD’s services. Plus, we’re always trying to think green around here, and the fact that AirPlay Direct handles music and press kit delivery digitally is good for the environment, simpler for the radio programmers, and cheaper for indie artists.”

Jimmy Wayne Featured in Upcoming CBS Special

/by

Valory Music artist Jimmy Wayne will be featured in the entertainment special, “The 12th Annual A Home for the Holidays,” to be broadcast on Wednesday, December 22 at 8:00 pm ET/PT on CBS. This program celebrates the joys of adoption, sharing inspirational stories about foster care and adoption. Performances by artists including Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Nelly and Melissa Etheridge will accompany these evocative stories, which will be presented by celebrities who have their own adoption experiences.

Wayne, who knows firsthand about living in foster care, will share his incredible story of being abandoned at a bus station at the age of 13. After shuffling through 12 schools and nearly as many foster placements, Wayne found a home with Russell and Bea Costner, a couple in their 70s who opened their hearts to him.

“I was 16 years old and that family changed my whole life, every cell in my body,” Wayne explains. “I wouldn’t be who I am today if it weren’t for them.”

After settling in with the Costners, Wayne graduated from college and soon after signed his first recording contract. He continues to be very involved in supporting foster children in the U.S. who are awaiting adoption and the acceptance into permanent, loving homes. Earlier this year, he completed a 1,700-mile “Meet Me Halfway” walk, reaching his goal of walking halfway across the country to raise awareness of at-risk youths in the foster system.

Other celebrities who will appear on this special program include Julie Chen,  Sharon Osbourne, Holly Robinson Peete and Mira Sorvino.

NEEDTOBREATHE To Join Taylor Swift on Tour

/by

Taylor Swift announced that NEEDTOBREATHE will be a featured artist for the North American dates of her Speak Now World Tour 2011.

NEEDTOBREATHE, who released their debut album on Atlantic Records in 2006, have had multiple hits across the rock, Christian and Triple A radio formats with “Something Beautiful,” “More Time,” and the various cuts from their third and most recent album, The Outsiders. Additionally, their songs have been featured in several movies and television shows.

Known for their unique brand of atmospheric yet epic, Southern-infused rock, NEEDTOBREATHE’s rapidly expanding fan base has had the opportunity to catch them live at one of their 1,000+ shows in the past few years. The hardworking band is especially excited to bring their music to Swift’s massive audience.

“It means a lot to us that Taylor hand-picked us for her Speak Now tour,” NEEDTOBREATHE guitarist and co-songwriter Bo Rinehart says. “Everyone knows she has amazing fans, and we thrive on performing live, especially in front of new audiences.”

NEEDTOBREATHE, who previously toured with artists including Train and Collective Soul, will join the Speak Now tour on May 27th. They will be featured in all shows in the U.S. and Canada. NEEDTOBREATHE plans to record and release the follow-up to their Billboard Top 20 album The Outsiders in 2011.