CMT Awards Spike Sales
The 2009 CMT Music Awards sparked post-show physical and digital sales for every performer and winner following the live telecast on Tuesday, June 16 on CMT. Here is the data according to the Soundscan charts for the week ending 06/21/2009.
Brad Paisley, a three time trophy winner that night, received one of the biggest sales jumps. He had significant digital track increases for “Waitin’ On A Woman” (+72%) and “Start A Band” (+56%). Digital and physical sales of his album Play increased 52%, bringing its total sales to 244,603.
Award winners seeing a single sales spike: Rascal Flatts’ “Every Day” (+51%), Sugarland’s “All I Want To Do” (+35%), Zac Brown Band’s “Chicken Fried” (+31%) and Alan Jackson’s “Country Boy” (+31%).
Performers on the show saw increased album sales (physical and digital):
Darius Rucker (Learn To Live) increased 44% to 717,115
Trace Adkins (American Man Greatest Hits Volume II) increased 43% to 639,071
Toby Keith (That Don’t Make Me A Bad Guy) increased 37% to 397,629
Sugarland (“Love On The Inside”) increased 30% to 1,660,684
Also getting an up in album sales were Lady Antebellum (27%), Jason Aldean (25%), Dierks Bentley (16%), Kellie Pickler (14%), Taylor Swift (10%) Rascal Flatts (9%), Keith Urban (9%) and Paisley as mentioned above.
Performers who had digital track sales bumps for the songs performed on the Awards:
Trace Adkins (“You’re Gonna Miss This”) increased 83%
Lady Antebellum (“Lookin’ For A Good Time”) increased 65%
Darius Rucker (“Alright”) increased 59%
Toby Keith (“God Love Her”) increased 44%
Taylor Swift (“You Belong With Me”) increased 32%
The B-52s, Rascal Flatts, Dierks Bentley, Keith Urban, Kellie Pickler, Brad Paisley and Jason Aldean also saw single increases in the 10-30 % range, following performances.
In addition, each of the six acts who performed on the Nationwide Insurance side stage experienced post-show sales increases. The secondary stage featured up-and-coming artists Jason Michael Carroll, Carter Twins, Eric Church, Eli Young Band, Gloriana and Joey + Rory.

Shelley Hargis has joined the Stoney Creek Records promotion staff as Manager Regional Promotion, Southwest/Midwest. She is already on the job and reporting directly to Stoney Creek’s VP of Promotion Denise Roberts. Hargis is returning home to the Broken Bow/Stoney Creek family where she previously spent over four years at BBR in radio promotion. Her other prior experience includes six years at Epic Nashville, two years at Midas Records Nashville and most recently working at Mathis Entertainment in management/marketing for artist Adam Gregory.
Bobby Young has joined the newly formed label Republic Nashville as Director of National Promotion. With more than 20 years on Music Row, his stints include VP of Promotion & Artist Development at River North Nashville; VP of Promotion at Jeff McClusky & Associates, Inc; VP of National Country Promotion at Mercury Nashville; Partner/GM of Young-Olsen & Associates; as well as Southeast Regional Promotion & Marketing for Big Machine Records. Young most recently served as Sr. Vice President of Promotion & Artist Development at Graham Entertainment. In addition to his National responsibilities, Young will also cover the Southeast region.
Starting today (6/9) iTunes users can purchase tracks from Brad Paisley’s new album, American Saturday Night, prior to its June 30th release date. One new song will be made available each week for the next three weeks, beginning with “Water.” The first single from the album, “Then,” is already a radio hit. American Saturday Night is Paisley’s eighth album release.
Ever been duped into following a celeb imposter on Twitter? You’re not alone. So the brains behind the microblogging site have begun working on a new feature called “Verified Accounts.” The beta version will debut this summer, with a special seal to help users differentiate between the real and fake Oprah, Brad Paisley, etc. First up, the company plans to tackle accounts belonging to public officials, public agencies, famous artists, athletes, and other well-known individuals at risk of impersonation.
Capitol Records Nashville has named Shane Allen Vice President, Promotion and will report directly to Steve Hodges, Senior Vice President Promotion. Before his recent stint at GHM/Red Light Management, industry veteran Allen was Capitol Record Nashville’s VP Radio Strategies and Field Marketing.
Fans heading to Nashville for the CMA Music Festival can join Stroudavarious Records artist Darryl Worley and a few of his famous friends as they kick off the summer in style at the 103 WKDF Country Beach Party benefiting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Set for Tuesday, June 9 at The Stage on Lower Broadway, the party will feature “beach wear, cool shades and island music cowboy style.” Worley, whose Sounds Like Life album hits stores the same day as the 103 WKDF Beach Party, is as enthusiastic about his support of Cystic Fibrosis as his own annual hometown fundraiser, the Tennessee River Run. “It is important to me to be a part of this, because the disease has directly affected my life and my family,” he said. “I’m very passionate about doing whatever I can to help find a cure.”
Steve Pleshe has become the newest member of the RCA Records Nashville promotion team today as Keith Gale, Vice President, National Promotion, welcomes Pleshe as Manager, Regional Promotion. Based in Fresno, CA, he begins his new role immediately, working with stations in the Pacific Time zone. Pleshe comes to RCA from Country Thunder Records, where he most recently served as Director of Promotions – West/Midwest. Before entering radio promotion, Pleshe began his career in radio, with more than 14 years of experience, including more than two years as Program Director for CBS Radio’s Kiss Country/KSKS in Fresno. He can be reached at steve.pleshe@sonymusic.com, and temporarily at 559-307-8148 pending his new work number.