Lambert Added To CMA Fest; Summer Tours Name Supporting Acts

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Miranda Lambert

Miranda Lambert is the latest addition to the performance line-up at the CMA Music Festival. Single-night tickets to the Festival’s Nightly Concerts at LP Field go on sale Sat., April 17, for the event running Thursday through Saturday, June 10-13, in downtown Nashville. Individual nightly concert tickets start at $30 and are available by calling 1-800-CMA-FEST (262-3378) or via www.ticketmaster.com.

Artists currently scheduled to appear at LP Field include (in alphabetical order):
Thursday, June 10: Jason Aldean, Danny Gokey, Alan Jackson, Lady Antebellum, Tim McGraw, and Carrie Underwood.
Friday, June 11: Miranda Lambert, Reba McEntire, Josh Turner, Keith Urban, and Zac Brown Band.
Saturday, June 12: Easton Corbin, Billy Currington, Randy Houser, Martina McBride, and Rascal Flatts.
Sunday, June 13: Trace Adkins, Justin Moore, Brad Paisley, Kellie Pickler, Darius Rucker, and Blake Shelton.
Artists and schedules are subject to change. Additional artists will be announced soon.

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Toby Keith’s American Ride Tour launches June 19 with James Otto on board for 16 dates across the U.S. Otto will join Keith, and special guest Trace Adkins, at select shows through August 22.

Chris Young hit the road with Alan Jackson last week (4/8) when the tour kicked-off in Estero, FL. Between dates on the Jackson outing, Young will join Platinum-selling headliner Miranda Lambert, opening a pair of dates May 7 and May 8 on her Roadside Bars & Pink Guitars Tour.

Radney Foster will join Jewel on her acoustic Star Light Café Tour in June. He will open the shows with a solo set in 14 cities beginning June 11 in Atlanta and ending June 27 in Seattle. Foster’s latest CD, Revival, was released in September 2009. 

Genovese To Head New Country Video Network

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Tammy Genovese has been tapped by new video network, The Country Network (“TCN”), to serve as President, TCN Nashville. She has already consolidated the company’s operations to Nashville and will open the principle office at 40 Music Square West, Nashville, Tennessee 37212 on Monday, April 19.

The Country Network is currently airing in HD on WIYC-DT Montgomery, AL and will begin national and international rollout during CMA Music Festival June 10, 2010.

TCN broadcast network will be programmed solely with country music videos, and original programs focusing on artists and fans. The fan-centric, interactive network will offer videos from current and rising stars, as well as heritage artists. Owned and operated by Artists and Fans Network, Inc., TCN is striving to blend local and national broadcasting, mobile devices, and the web, into a seamless music video experience.

Genovese, who was most recently CEO of the Country Music Association, replaces TCN Co-Founder, President and COO Warren Hansen. She will report directly to the executive committee. In this new position, Genovese will be responsible for all non-broadcast operations and will work laterally to the president of the TCN Stations Group. Reporting directly to Genovese will be Kim Bullard, EVP of production; Chad Brock, programming director; and Hansen.

Genovese says the network’s mission is to generate a fan/artist-centric interactive programming schedule with three primary goals: become a primary venue for helping establish successful careers for new artists; provide additional opportunities for country’s mainstream commercial artists to engage their fans; and pay respect to the legends who are still viable and working in the industry today.

Immediately prior to joining TCN she served as the CEO of the CMA, achieving unprecedented growth for the trade organization. She has many honors to her credit including Billboard’s Top Women in Music from 2006-2009, representing the 20 most influential female executives in the music industry, as well as Nashville’s Forward 50 List. She received the Canadian Country Music Association’s Leonard T. Rambeau International Award and the 2009 NAPE award for work on behalf of the CMA for music education in the Davidson Country Public Schools. She is currently serving on the TCN Board of Directors, The Nashville Sports Council, the United Way of Metropolitan Nashville and the Music Business Advisory Council, to name a few.

She can be reached at tgenovese@tcncountry.com.

Big Machine Signs Edens Edge; CMT Radio Hires Jenn Nixon

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Front Row L to R: Edens Edge members Cherrill Green, Hannah Blaylock, and Dean Berner. Back Row L to R: Sandi Spika Borchetta, Big Machine Records VP of Creative; Scott Borchetta, Big Machine Records President & CE0; songwriter Kye Fleming, and Heather Moody of TVX Group

Big Machine Records has added country trio Edens Edge to its label family. The band is comprised of Hannah Blaylock (lead vocalist), Dean Berner (harmony vocals, guitar, dobro) and Cherrill Green (harmony vocals, mandolin, banjo, and guitar), with a style deeply rooted in country and bluegrass.

Scott Borchetta, President & CEO of Big Machine, discovered the band when they performed at the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony last year.

Even though the members of Edens Edge grew up about an hour apart in Arkansas, they didn’t know each other until they were introduced through mutual friends in college. After entering the CMT/ NSAI Songwriters Contest in 2006, the band was discovered by Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Kye Fleming who helped further develop the group’s talents.

Edens Edge is managed by Heather Moody, President of TVX Group Nashville. With the creative direction of Kye Fleming Publishing, the trio is currently writing and recording its Big Machine Records debut.

In recent months the band has opened for Ronnie Milsap and Randy Travis, and is scheduled to support Lady Antebellum, Lonestar and Gloriana on the road this summer.

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CMT Radio Network has added Jenn Nixon as the new morning reporter; it was announced by Jean Williams, director, CMT Radio Network. Nixon will serve as CMT’s live on-air correspondent for more than 30 markets nationwide, including WIRK in West Palm Beach, Fla.; KZSN in Wichita, Kan.; KAJA San Antonio, Texas; KTST Oklahoma City, Okla.; and WSOC Charlotte, N.C. Nixon joins CMT from WJNO in West Palm Beach, Fla. where she was most recently the assistant program director for the Clear Channel station. Nixon will begin her live morning broadcasts on Tuesday, April 13.

The Palm Beach County native has worked in radio since 2002 with stints at 107.9 WIRK and 97.9 WRMF, both in West Palm Beach. She replaces Emilee Warner, who recently joined Compass Records Group as director of publicity and promotions.

NaFF Offers Music Panels, Films

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Music will be a big part of the Nashville Film Festival, running April 15-22 at the Green Hills Cinema. There are more than 220 films from over 38 countries on the line-up, as well as numerous workshops and panel discussions. Here’s a quick run down of the music events at NaFF. Ticket details here.

PANELS/WORKSHOPS (all take place at Green Hills Cinema – Theater 5)

• Music Supervisors: The ABC’s of Song Placement and Licensing–Wednesday, Apr 21, 2010 2:15 PM
Randall Poster (Fantastic Mr. Fox), Maureen Crowe (The Young Victoria), Susan Jacobs (Little Miss Sunshine), and Greg Sill (In Plain Sight) discuss submitting songs, building relationships, and how technology is changing licensing. Jim Scherer (Whizbang, Inc) will moderate.

• Music Licensing for Filmmakers: Avoiding the Pitfalls–Wednesday, Apr 21, 2010 4:30 PM
Panelists will be Aaron Mercer (Sony/ATV), Melissa Love (Songfinder), Randall Foster (Naxos Records), and Jim Scherer (Whizbang, Inc). Attorney Casey Del Casino will moderate.

• One on One with Carter Burwell–Monday, Apr 19, 2010 7:00 PM
The Mike Curb Career Achievement Award For Film Music will be presented to Carter Burwell. He was recently nominated for a Golden Globe for Where The Wild Things Are and is also the go-to composer for the Coen Brothers, creating classic scores such as Fargo and Miller’s Crossing.

• A Conversation with Shana Feste–Sunday, April18 at 2:00 PM
A chance to meet one of Variety’s “10 directors to watch” and a nominee for the Humanitas Prize for her first feature, The Greatest, which is screening at NaFF. Feste recently wrapped shooting on Love Don’t Let Me Down, filmed in Nashville and starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Tim McGraw.

• Film Musicians Secondary Markets Fund–Monday, Apr 19, 2010 2:00 PM
Join local and international industry professionals at an open forum to discuss issues affecting film scoring such as finding work, understanding contracts, union issues, licensing, live scoring and soundtrack albums. Presented by the Film Musicians Secondary Markets Fund. Free Admission.

MUSIC DOCUMENTARIES AND FILMS

Country on Price Is Right, Celeb Apprentice, Idol

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Country celebrities will be popping up all over national television this week.

The Price is Right will have a country themed episode on Fri., April 16 in celebration of the upcoming ACM Awards on Sun., April 18, both will air on CBS. At the long-running game show, 2010 ACM Award nominees Blake Shelton and Bomshel will be on hand to present prizes.

Trace Adkins, Luke Bryan and Emily West are headed to the Celebrity Apprentice for an episode airing Sun., April 18. Adkins, a runner-up on the 2008 season, will act as boardroom advisor to Donald Trump, overseeing the celebrity teams who are competing in a country music challenge.

Bucky Covington and fellow former American Idol finalists will be volunteering at Nashville’s Second Harvest Food Bank on Wed., April 14 as part of the “Idol Gives Back” episode. He will be joined by Melinda Doolittle, Bo Bice, Phil Stacey, and Mandissa. The program airs Wed., April 21 on FOX.

Shelton Tweets: Kiss My Country Ass!

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Mad at your ex-wife? Your girlfriend? Your boss? Let Blake Shelton Tweet Her Right. As part of a radio station viral campaign, fans can send a tweet to their friends (or enemies) that links to a video featuring the singer’s signature bone-dry delivery. Choose a victim type from the drop down menu, tweet them and the link takes them to a video of Shelton delivering one of several customized messages, each ending in the phrase (lifted directly from one of Shelton’s song titles) “you can kiss my country ass.” Just click on http://kmca.blakeshelton.com/ and fire away.

Screenwriters, Smith, Wynette and a Little Tennis

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Neil Landau

Attention Prospective Screenwriters
With more songwriters per capita than any other town in America, it stands to reason that there must some potentially successful screenwriters in the Nashville mix. Any tunesmith looking to expand his or her creative pallet would do well to hop over to Los Angeles film and entertainment industry website The Wrap (www.thewrap.com) and check out writer Neil Laundau’s timely and informative article, Make Your Movie Leap Off the Page.

Landau presents a point-by-point overview of what makes a great screenplay, unwittingly pointing up the many similarities in writing for the screen and composing a hit song. You can check out the article here.

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Songwriters For Music City Tennis Invitational
The Music City Tennis Invitational is right around the corner, and some of Nashville’s best songwriters will gather on April 15 at the Bluebird Cafe to celebrate. James Slater (Rascal Flatts’ “Unstoppable,” Jamey Johnson’s “High Cost Of Living”); Tom Douglas (Lady Antebellum’s “Run to You,” Tim McGraw’s “Southern Voice”); Walt Aldridge (Ronnie Milsap’s “No Gettin’ Over Me” and Travis Tritt’s “Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde”); and Marv Green (Reba McEntire’s “Consider Me Gone” and Lonestar’s “Amazed”) will perform.

Reservations are required. Tickets are $15 plus a $2 registration fee and are available online at www.bluebirdcafe.com or by phone at (615) 383-1461.

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Hall of Fame To Salute Wynette
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum will pay tribute to the legendary Tammy Wynette with the cameo exhibition Tammy Wynette: First Lady of Country Music. Presented by Great American Country Television Network (GAC), the exhibit will open in the Museum’s East Gallery on August 20 and run through June, 2011.

“Tammy Wynette was a true steel magnolia, a daughter of the South whose ladylike appearance and slight physical stature belied the magnitude of her grit, determination and talent,” said Museum Director Kyle Young. “She helped redefine what it means to be a female country singer. Her death at age 55 came far too soon, but Tammy left behind a musical canon that is among the strongest and most influential in American music history.”

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Anthony Smith Brings The Love
Krankit Records artist Anthony Smith is set to release his new single, “Love Is Love Is Love,” from his upcoming album, Sunshine, to radio on April 26. The song marks Smith’s debut single from the album and the first since launching his own record label, Krankit Records, earlier this year.

“Love Is Love Is Love” is a feel-good, yet heart-felt tune that makes you want to enjoy life with a care-free attitude,” Smith says. “This song makes me smile. That is the bottom line.  Actually, I decided that I wanted to shoot the video in the Bahamas and we did. Can’t wait for everyone to see it! It is fun, it is colorful, and it makes you want to feel good about life.”

SoundExchange Announces Big Payout

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SoundExchange, the non-profit performance rights organization appointed by Congress to pay digital royalties to recording artists and sound recording copyright holders, announced today that it has begun sending out checks in its largest-ever quarterly distribution. A total of $51.7 million in royalties from digital transmissions, including Internet radio, satellite radio, and cable TV music channels, are on their way to recording artists and copyright holders. The unprecedented amount represents a 135% increase over first quarter payments last year, and surpasses the previous record distribution by nearly $10 million.

“This was the result of a lot of hard work by our staff, and also represents a new commitment by our registrants to help increase these amounts,” said SoundExchange’s Executive Director John Simson. “In addition to our usual distribution amounts, this total includes millions of dollars which were freed up by our commitment to cleaning up the bad data which is often reported to us by services.”

Simson has spoken publicly about the challenge posed by poor reporting by the digital services which use sound recordings. During this quarter, however, SoundExchange staff worked with registrants to resolve thousands of entries reported as “label unknown” or attributed incorrectly, by encouraging owners and artists to claim the tracks individually. SoundExchange staff also put in many man-hours of research to correct data so that funds could be distributed properly.

The independent label community received its largest-ever portion of digital revenues this quarter. Many individual recipients received their largest checks to date.

“In this time of shrinking revenues from so many other sources, our SoundExchange income was large enough to have paid the production costs of a new album and more,” said Bruce Iglauer, owner/operator of Alligator Records, “Absolutely every label and every recording artist should be a member. It’s simply all positives and no negatives.”

Simson pointed out that the higher payout resulted from more and bigger radio stations simulcasting online, the growth in streaming services like Pandora and a recent increase in satellite radio subscriptions aided by rising cars sales. Simson also credited his organization’s outreach to artists who had not previously received royalties with a portion of the growth. When artists and copyright holders register with SoundExchange, they receive lump sums of the royalties they have accrued since 1996. A flood of new registrations, fueled by SoundExchange’s ramped-up awareness efforts in mid-2009, meant lots of those checks were issued in the first quarter.

“We’re extremely proud of what we do here,” Simson said of the quarter’s achievements, “It’s a challenge and a privilege to be a part of the process that sees the creators of music fairly paid for their invaluable work.”

Lady A Grabs Biggest Slice

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Momentum for Country YTD album sales stumbled this week—despite two debuts—as the format’s gain over last year slipped from 15% to 13%. Alan Jackson’s Freight Train landed at No. 2 on the Current Country Top 75, according to Nielsen Soundscan, with sales slightly over 72k. Also new this week was Gretchen Wilson’s Redneck Records debut, I Got your Country Right Here which scanned close to 15k units for a No. 6 chart position.

Top Selling 2010 Country Albums As Percentage of Total Country Sales

Unfortunately, this week’s two debuts (total of 87k units) were not enough to balance debuts last year from Keith Urban (172k) and Rodney Atkins (34k) which more than doubled the added units this year.

The consolidation trend in recent years has given rise to an endless parade of sayings such as “flat is the new up,” “doing more with less,” “circling the wagons,” etc. Today’s graph sheds some enlightenment on why standing inside the “shrinking circle of profits” is becoming ever more challenging. Through the week of 4/4/2010 total country sales are 10,368,000 units. This includes current, catalog and digital albums.

Lady Antebellum’s latest CD accounts for 16% of that total and the trio’s catalog title sold an additional 2%. The next highest selling country title YTD was Taylor Swift’s Fearless which claims about 4% of the year’s total. (For simplification we are only looking at the top 6 selling titles YTD, but Swift’s total percentage would be boosted by catalog sales.) Moving one title lower on the sales list highlights the Zac Brown Band with 3% of this year’s country sales. Using this thumbnail sketch, we find that the top three selling titles account for a whopping 23% of total country sales. The top selling act, Lady A, earns 18% or almost one out of every five country CDs sold.

Clearly, it’s a blessing—for the artist and their label—to have an album wringing a disproportionally high share of sales out of the marketplace. But with respect to the overall industry and format—not so much. Lady A is to be applauded for its accomplishment, and the rest of town should be encouraged to try harder.

Music and Marketing – Joined at the “Hip”

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With popular songs becoming more and more identified with specific products, and flashy corporate messages vying for onstage space with band logos, today’s music fans are left wondering just where the marketing ends and the music begins. The Wall Street Journal’s John Jurgenson posed that pertinent question today (4/9) in an eye-opening article that turns the corporate sponsorship spotlight on artists ranging Black Eyed Peas to Sting to U2 to the Rolling Stones to Tony Bennett, each of whom has acquired a surprising level of marketing expertise.

While the once-subversive Stones are credited with pioneering today’s flourishing love affair between bands and brands with their 1981 Tattoo You tour and its Jovan Musk cologne tie-in, the master marketer among today’s reigning pop stars, according to Jorgenson, is Black Eyed Peas leader
 will.i.am. In fact, concert promoter Randy Phillips, President and CEO of AEG Live, posits that will.i.am has the potential to be “the best ad executive on Madison Avenue. I’ve never seen anyone more astute at dealing with sponsors’ and companies’ needs and understanding their brands.” Phillips is planning to have the rapper/DJ deliver a seminar to AEG’s global marketing team.

While Jurgenson restricts his observations to the pop side of the fence, from Miranda Lambert’s print-based campaign for the cotton industry to Carrie Underwood’s current vitaminwater and Pedigree pet products-sponsored Play On Tour, country music  artists have been exceptionally sponsor-friendly.

Check out the Wall St. Journal article in its entirety here.