Urban Prepares To Get Closer Next Week

/by

Three-time Grammy award winner Keith Urban has a busy week ahead for the release of his sixth studio album, Get Closer, which will hit the streets on Tuesday, November 16th.

Urban served as guest DJ on SIRIUS XM’s The Highway Channel this morning, previewing some songs from Get Closer and music from some of his favorite artists including John Fogerty, The Eagles and John Mayer. A special edition of “Highway Hang Time” will air on Tuesday, November 16th at 5:00 pm ET. During this show, Urban talked about the personal stories and inspiration behind the album.

Urban, who performed his new single, “Put You In a Song” on the CMA Awards this week, will arrive in New York City for an appearance on the TODAY Show on Wednesday, November 17th. He’ll hit CBS’ The Early Show on November 18th and will tape a performance for The Oprah Winfrey Show in Chicago on November 18th. This episode of Oprah will air later this month.

Urban will also appear on ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, airing on Sunday, November 14th. He will perform during halftime for the Thanksgiving Day football game between the Dallas Cowboys and the New Orleans Saints, airing on Fox on November 25th.

Urban’s latest effort follows two previous consecutive Billboard country and pop No. 1 albums, and his five previous albums were all certified platinum or multi-platinum.

CRB Expands New Faces Voting

/by

Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc. has announced the expansion of its New Faces of Country Music Show voting process to include all country radio station employees.

The nominees for this year’s show are The Band Perry, Lee Brice, Easton Corbin, Danny Gokey, Jaron and The Long Road To Love, David Nail, Jerrod Niemann, Steel Magnolia and Josh Thompson. Any employee of a commercial full-time country station can now vote for the show performers, where previously only Country Radio Seminar registrants from the year before were allowed.

“We opened up the New Faces voting process because we felt it was in Country Radio Seminar’s best interest to solicit input from as many people in our industry as possible,” says CRS New Faces Committee Chair, John Crenshaw.  “We think this provides a much broader view of which artists Country radio is really excited about, and it also makes a greater effort to involve all those people that work so hard behind the scenes but aren’t always able to attend CRS.”

Voting remains open at http://www.crb.org/vote/newfaces/index.php through Friday, Nov. 19.  The 2011 New Faces show is held Friday, March 4, 2011, at 6:30 p.m. at the Nashville Convention Center.

Savannah Launches Licensing Division; ACM Radio Submissions Open Soon

/by

Savannah Music Group Launches Licensing Division

Nashville-based Savannah Music Group announced that Mark and Nick Mulch of the Mulch Brothers will handle the licensing for the label and music publishing company. The Mulch Brothers, moonlighting as MGH Music Services, will license existing Savannah songs for commercials, film and television and will also oversee the creation of new material.

“We are excited to be able to start up this new division at Savannah,” says Mark Mulch.  “This will be even more meaningful than when we did licensing in the past because we bring to the mix the layered perspective of being two professional musicians signed to the label and publishing company as artists and songwriters.”

“Savannah is a nimble, innovative company,” adds Nick Mulch.  “Therefore, they have the advantage of being able to grant licenses for both songs and master recordings more quickly than traditional publishers or record companies-with the added ability to write new material for specific film, TV and commercial projects.”

The Mulch Brothers have worked on national advertising campaigns with Stevie Wonder, LL Cool J, Michael McDonald and James Taylor. They have licensed music from the Rolling Stones and the Kinks’ Ray Davies to companies including Chevrolet, Days Inn, Bacardi, Bud Light, Sprint and Coca-Cola.

“This partnership will create significant new revenue opportunities for Savannah writers and artists as well as for the company itself,” says Ed Salamon, chief executive officer of Savannah Music Group.

ACM Radio Awards Submissions Open Monday, November 15th

The Academy of Country Music will begin accepting submissions for the radio awards categories on Monday, November 15, 2010. Award categories include “On-Air Personality of the Year” and “Radio Station of the Year” for all market sizes, and current ACM members may submit for category consideration.

Submissions will close on December 10, 2010 at 12:00 pm PT. The 46th Annual ACM Awards will air live on CBS next spring.

Weekly Chart Report (11/12/10)

/by

(L-R): Martina McBride, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Faith Hill share a moment together at the Country Strong premiere afterparty in Nashville.

RADIO NEWS
Max Media’s WWBE/Sunbury, PA has moved midday host Shelly Marx to mornings to join Mark Roberts for its new “B98.3 Breakfast Bunch.” Afternoon Drive man Todd Steward will handle the midday slot, and Rick “RJ” Jordan will take on afternoon drive.

SPIN ZONE
After a tough battle for the CountryBreakout Chart’s No. 1 spot, Rascal Flatts’ “Why Wait” emerges as the new leader ahead of last week’s No. 1 “If I Die Young” by The Band Perry. Reba’s “Turn On The Radio” scoots up to No. 3, ahead of CMA Entertainer of the Year Brad Paisley’s “Anything Like Me.”

A handful of older singles are moving out, and that has created some space for newer songs to move up. Many titles in the Top 30 are seeing triple spin boosts, with Tim McGraw’s “Felt Good On My Lips” adding 294 spins and Kenny Chesney’s “Somewhere With You” tacking on 340. Just outside the Top 40, Frankie Ballard’s “Tell Me You Get Lonely” rebounds with a big gain of 134 spins and moves up to No. 44.

Taylor Swift’s latest single “Back To December” makes a huge debut at No. 57 in its first week of reporting with 501 spins. Darius Rucker manages a similar feat as “This” jumps on the chart at No. 70 in its first week. Also debuting this week are Eric Lee Beddingfield’s “The Gospel According To Jones” at No. 65 and Easton Corbin’s “I Can’t Love You Back” at No. 75.

Upcoming Singles
November 15
Kelly Parkes/Nothing/Edge Records/Lofton Creek
Lathan Moore/Love In Your Life/Blue Steel
Taylor Swift/Back To December/Big Machine

November 22
Josh Thompson/Won’t Be Lonely Long/Columbia
Darius Rucker/This/Capitol

•  •  •  •  •

Country Music’s biggest stars attended Premiere Radio Networks’ 19th annual CMA Awards radio remote broadcast in Nashville during CMA Week. (L-R): Taylor Swift and Mark McKay of WGH/Norfolk.

New On The Chart—Debuting This Week
Artist/song/label — chart pos.
Taylor Swift/Back To December/Big Machine — 57
Eric Lee Beddingfield/The Gospel According To Jones/Rebel Dawg Music — 65
Darius Rucker/This/Capitol — 70
Easton Corbin/I Can’t Love You Back/Mercury — 75

Greatest Spin Increase
Artist/song/label — spin+
Taylor Swift/Back To December/Big Machine — 501
Kenny Chesney/Somewhere With You/BNA — 340
Darius Rucker/This/Capitol — 322
Tim McGraw/Felt Good On My Lips/Curb — 294
Josh Turner/I Wouldn’t Be A Man/MCA — 200

On Deck—Soon To Be Charting
Artist/song/label — spins
Chris Filer/John Deere, John 3:16/Lofton Creek — 245
Uncle Kracker/Good To Be Me/Top Dog/Atlantic — 226
Katie Armiger/Best Song Ever/Cold River — 225
Adam Brand/Ready For Love/Arista — 221
Brantley Gilbert/My Kind of Crazy/Average Joe’s Entertainment — 188

Two Week Most Added*
Artist/song/label — New adds
Taylor Swift/Back To December/Big Machine — 38
Darius Rucker/This/Capitol — 31
Eric Lee Beddingfield/The Gospel According To Jones/Rebel Dawg – 14
Katie Armiger/Best Song Ever/Cold River — 14
Josh Turner/I Wouldn’t Be A Man/MCA — 12
Easton Corbin/I Can’t Love You Back/Mercury — 12
Sugarland/Little Miss/Mercury — 12

Show Dog–Universal Music’s Carter’s Chord entertained radio earlier this week at Tootsie’s to kick off CMA week.

Honky Tonk TV Launches Weekly Show

/by

Honky Tonk TV, the country music entertainment and news show which began as a news segment embedded in a daily National TV show, has now grown into its own full length production. The new half hour weekly version of Honky Tonk TV began Nov. 8 via Brighthouse Networks (http://brighthouse.com) and can be found in markets such as Orlando, FL., Tampa, FL., Detriot, MI., Indianpolis, IN., Bakersfield, CA. and Birmingham, AL.

In Dec. the Orlando, FL-based, show will also partner with Hulu.com and begin syndicating to additional markets. Shows can also be viewed at http://honkytonktv.com. For artist booking information or to submit news email [email protected].

Jon Freeman

MusicRow Country Breakout Chart Director Jon Freeman will anchor a live segment on Honky Tonk TV talking about what’s making noise in Music City and offering details from the publication’s weekly radio research. Freeman appears live each week via internet video.

“It’s a natural progression for us to work with Brighthouse,” says executive producer, Chris James. “The great thing about being available on demand, is that you can watch our show 24/7 —when ever you like, as many times as you like.”

Weekly Chart Report (11/05/10)

/by

Eric Lee Beddingfield (R) recently joined J. Brooks (L) in the studio at KSMA 98.7 Kiss Country Mason City, IA. Beddingfield was in town to play a few shows and open for Colin Raye.

SPIN ZONE
There is movement at the top of the CountryBreakout Chart, as The Band Perry’s “If I Die Young” capitalizes on its 23 week climb by taking the No. 1 spot. Rascal Flatts’ “Why Wait” makes a big jump from No. 6 – 2, picking up 136 new spins in the process. Brad Paisley’s “Anything Like Me” moves 5 – 3, scooting ahead of Reba’s “Turn On The Radio” which holds at No. 4.

It’s still tough going for artists trying to reach the Top 20. Unless, of course, your name is Kenny Chesney. His latest “Somewhere With You” has the biggest spin gain of the week (565) and jumps 11 spots to No. 28 a few days ahead of its official add date. For others, it’s a slow grind. Chris Young’s “Voices” adds 120 spins, moving to 25 – 23 after 15 weeks. Similarly, Cody McCarver’s “I’m America” adds spins and moves up one spot to No. 27 after 21 weeks. Some older titles appear to be on the way out, so coming weeks should provide room for singles to grow.

After a slow beginning, Gwyneth Paltrow’s movie theme “Country Strong” suddenly has legs. It debuted at No. 79 in the previous chart, and makes an impressive leap to No. 66 this week. Also speedily moving upward is Josh Turner’s take on the Don Williams hit “I Wouldn’t Be A Man,” which moves to 78 – 62.

Frozen Playlists: KNCQ, KYEZ, KYYK, WAKG



Upcoming Singles
November 8
Blake Wise/I’ve Got This Feeling/Broken Bow
Kenny Chesney/Somewhere With You/BNA
Easton Corbin/I Can’t Love You Back/Mercury

November 15
Kelly Parkes/Nothing/Edge Records/Lofton Creek
Lathan Moore/Love In Your Life/Blue Steel

•  •  •  •  •

New On The Chart—Debuting This Week
Artist/song/label — chart pos.
The Dirt Drifters/Something Better/WMN — 74
Chris Filer/John Deere, John 3:16/Lofton Creek — 78
Lee Brice/Beautiful Every Time/Curb — 79
Braden Gray/A Little Less Lonely/ATP Records — 80

Greatest Spin Increase
Artist/song/label — spin+
Kenny Chesney/Somewhere With You/BNA — 565
Toby Keith/Bullets In The Gun/Show Dog – Universal — 230
Tim McGraw/Felt Good On My Lips/Curb — 214
Keith Urban/Put You In A Song/Capitol — 210
Lady Antebellum/Hello World/Capitol — 183

On Deck—Soon To Be Charting
Artist/song/label — spins
Eric Lee Beddingfield/The Gospel According To Jones/Rebel Dawg Music — 207
Uncle Kracker/Good To Be Me/Top Dog/Atlantic — 196
Easton Corbin/I Can’t Love You Back/Mercury — 185
Brantley Gilbert/My Kind of Crazy/Average Joe’s Entertainment — 175
Jason Sturgeon/Rollin’ On/Toolpusher/Spinville/Nine North — 173

Two Week Most Added*
Artist/song/label — New adds
Kenny Chesney/Somewhere With You/BNA — 18
Eric Lee Beddingfield/The Gospel According To Jones/Rebel Dawg Music — 12
Josh Thompson/Won’t Be Lonely Long/Columbia — 10
Little Big Town/Kiss Goodbye/Capitol — 9
Josh Turner/I Wouldn’t Be A Man/MCA — 8
Lee Brice/Beautiful Every Time/Curb — 8

Reprise Records’ Frankie Ballard welcomed industry insiders to his final rehearsal Wednesday evening (11/3) at Soundcheck Nashville before joining Uncle Kracker on a club tour. His energetic set showcased his dazzling guitar hero skills and featured songs such as “Get On Down The Road,” “Sober Me Up,” and his single “Tell Me You Get Lonely.” (L-R): Chris Stacey (Warner Music Nashville Senior VP Promotion), Chad Schultz (Warner Music Nashville National Promotion Director), Bruce Burton (Warner Music Nashville Director Of Brand Management), Frankie Ballard, Keith Kaufman (WSIX Program Director), Ashley Weimer (WSIX Promotions Director) and John Marks (Sirius XM Senior Director, Country Music Programming)

KBEQ/Kansas City celebrated with Trailer Choir at the station’s Halloween Bash 2010. (L-R): Butter (in the dreads); $5 Shug as 5 Shug; Zeke Montana (Toga) from the KBEQ morning show; Colleen Bardone (she went as Crystal), Big Vinny as Super Mario; Crystal (bondage kitty cat); KBEQ’s PD/Mike Kennedy like we’ve never seen him; his wife Nycki as a cowgirl; KBEQ’s MD/TJ McEntire as Snookie; and her husband Matty “the Situation.”

Jury Says Hands Off in EMI Fraud Case

/by

Guy Hands and David Wormsley

Terra Firma Chairman Guy Hands has lost his multibillion dollar legal suit against lender Citigroup yesterday.  The trial explored Hands’ 2007 purchase of EMI and Hands’ alleged claim that Citigroup’s Chairman of U.K. banking David Wormsley “duped” him into overpaying for EMI. The jury unanimously voted that Citigroup was not liable in the buyout.

The New York Post stated that this verdict could severely impact Hands’ reputation as a “top dealmaker,” and that it could force the buyout firm to lose control of the iconic British label, which had been showing signs of recovery with recent successes such as Katy Perry. Terra Ferma is reportedly “considering its options” and “reserves the right to appeal” the decision, although the company’s investors may balk at putting more money towards legal fees.

Citigroup released a statement, claiming, “We are very pleased that the jury reached a unanimous verdict confirming what we have said from the beginning: that Citi and David Wormsley treated Terra Firma with honesty and integrity in the EMI transaction. The jury’s verdict makes clear that Terra Firma’s irresponsible accusations of fraud were nothing more than a misguided attempt to gain leverage in debt restructuring negotiations.”

Terra Firma acquired EMI in August of 2007 for $6.5 billion.

Terra Firma faces a looming debt deadline on March 31, 2011, and industry insiders are exploring the imminent possibility that Terra Firma could default, which could result in Citigroup selling off EMI’s label and publishing groups. Billboard reports that, at best, Terra Firma hopes for income-generating hits that would provide enough revenue and profits, enabling the company to avert violating the loan covenants with Citigroup.

Live Nation Suffers Concert Decline

/by

Live Nation Entertainment Chief Executive Michael Rapino

The Associated Press is reporting that Live Nation Entertainment 3rd quarter net income fell to $51.4 million or 30 cents per share compared with $69.2 million/78 cents per share during the same period last year. The disappointing results were blamed upon heavy discounting of summer ticket prices. Live Nation merged with Ticketmaster in Jan. 2010.

AP reports Chief LNE Executive Officer Michael Rapino told analysts on a conference call Thursday the company is “scared of what will happen in November and December if that trend continues.” Live Nation reports that third quarter concert attendance dropped 16% to 16.4 million.

“Clearly the adverse economic environment has negatively impacted our concert business during the 2010 year so far, and has had a similar impact on our ticketing and artist businesses as well,” said Irving Azoff, Executive Chairman of Live Nation Entertainment. “We continue to grow our Artist Nation business with new signings and acquisitions. While our roster of superstar clients and tour schedules for 2011 remains strong, we need some improvement in the overall economic environment in order to optimize profits going forward.”

Country tours may be doing better than other formats perhaps due to more affordable ticket pricing and added value in the form of packaging multiple acts into one show. According to The Tennessean, last October’s International Entertainment Buyers Association conference in Nashville, “was already coping with less-than-good news about the music trade at the time because of lousy ticket sales and canceled shows at virtually every major concert venue in the first half of this year. Without being able to charge higher ticket prices and with corporate sponsorship dollars falling off, some concert venues might have to rethink whether they can afford the big-name acts they’ve been accustomed to booking, some participants said.”

“We know that they want to come, but we’ve got to make it affordable for them,” said Rapino.

Chrysalis Draws Admiring Glances

/by

Chrysalis Music Group, an independent British music publishing company is beginning to draw admiring glances from a number of interested suitors according to the New York Post. Interested parties named by the publication include BMG Rights Management and Warner Music Group.

Chrysalis has confirmed that it has been discussing “merger opportunities,” but failed to disclose any names. This past year has seen a number of high profile music publishing merger and acquisitions. BMG Rights added Cherry Lane, Stage Three Music and Evergreen Copyrights to its roster. Chrysalis recently acquired S1 Songs America.

According to sources, one stumbling block to a completed deal revolves around Chrysalis Chairman Chris Wright’s desire to maintain management control. Wright owns a 29% stake in Chrysalis.

Publishing company values appear to be undergoing some marketplace fluctuation. According to the Post, “Chrysalis has an estimated value of $200 million, although industry insiders believe that figure is overstated and suggest it might be about half that amount.” Bug Music, now named as a possible Chrysalis merger candidate, was previously involved in acquisition discussions with BMG Rights Management among others, but apparently none of the parties were offering a price in the $250-$300 million range which Bug required.

Chrysalis has a Nashville office headed by Executive VP Dale Bobo.

Howard and Sebastian Accomplish “Nothing”

/by

Producer Chuck Howard and Gwen Sebastian

Producer Chuck Howard’s studio sessions with new artist Gwen Sebastian have produced what they hope might become the perfect tear jerker for 2011, country’s latest breakup song, “Nothing.”

The song, co-written by Jason Matthews, Lisa Carver and Sebastian, is the third release from her six-song EP V.I.P. on Open Road Records. Sebastian was selected as an “artist to watch in 2010” by Country Weekly magazine.

“I feel so honored and privileged to be working with Chuck Howard, who has created hits for LeAnn Rimes, Trick Pony, and Deana Carter, among others” says Sebastian. “I went through a really bad break up in my life. It was that kind where you just lay around and can’t eat. And then you go through the phase where you want all the ice cream and wine you can take. Mine was praline crunch ice cream and red wine. This song is very close to my heart.”