Devin Dawson Celebrates First MusicRow CountryBreakout Chart No. 1

Pictured (L-R): MusicRow owner/publisher Sherod Robertson, Jacob Durrett, Devin Dawson, and Austin Smith.

Devin Dawson marked his first No. 1 MusicRow CountryBreakout title in January with “All On Me,” from his debut album, Dark Horse. The singer-songwriter, along with his “All On Me” co-writers Jacob Durrett and Austin Smith, visited the MusicRow offices on May 8 to receive their MusicRow Challenge Coins in celebration of “All On Me” topping the MusicRow CountryBreakout Chart.

Dawson, who is signed to Atlantic Records/Warner Music Nashville, was recently named one of MusicRow’s Next Big Things for 2018. “All On Me” has also been certified Gold by the RIAA.

Dawson initially gained popularity after a mash-up with Louisa Wendorff featuring Taylor Swift singles “Style” and “Blank Space” went viral.

Jacob Durrett, Devin Dawson and Austin Smith with MusicRow staffers.

Big Loud Records Names Stacy Blythe As VP, Promotion

Big Loud Records has promoted Stacy Blythe to the role of Vice President of Promotion.

Effective immediately, Blythe will report directly to label President Clay Hunnicutt, and can be reached via email at stacy@bigloud.com.

Blythe is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University with over a decade of radio-promotion experience – including stops at Category 5 Records, 1720 Entertainment, Stoney Creek Records and Republic Nashville – and in her previous role as Big Loud Records’ National Director of Promotion, oversaw influential campaigns for Jake Owen, Chris Lane, Morgan Wallen, Jillian Jacqueline and Mason Ramsey.

“Since Big Loud Records started almost three years ago, Stacy has been an integral part of the Big Loud family and has shown us – and the entire industry – that she is a leader who can deliver,” Hunnicutt says. “We would not be where we are today without her, and we look forward to breaking more records as we grow. There were people that told her she could not do this. Respectfully, we would say, ‘You were wrong and she has proven it!’”

Blythe adds, “We truly have a family here at Big Loud and I’m so blessed to be a part of it. I am proud of what this team has accomplished in the first 2 and a half years and am honored to take on a bigger role moving forward. I am beyond grateful to Clay, Seth, Chief, Craig and Joey for their continued confidence in me.”

Blythe has signed a multi-year deal as Big Loud Records’ newest VP, meaning the independent country label is now on the hunt for a new National Director of Promotion. Resumes/portfolios can be submitted at jobs@bigloud.com.

Big Loud Records was founded as a partnership between Craig Wiseman, Seth England, Kevin “Chief” Zaruk and Joey Moi, four industry veterans with a vision to bring artist development, management, production, and promotion under one roof. Led by Hunnicutt, the label scored its first win with breakout country star Lane and his debut single, “Fix,” which became a Gold-certified No. 1 success in 2015. The hit marked an unlikely feat for Big Loud Records – scoring their first chart topper with the label’s very first release.

Since then the label has gone on to expand its roster with the addition of country superstar Owen (“I Was Jack (And You Were Diane)”), while scoring more boundary-pushing hits with Lane (“For Her,” “Take Back Home Girl” featuring Tori Kelly) and rising singer-songwriter Wallen (“Up Down” featuring Florida Georgia Line). The Big Loud lineup also includes edgy firebrand Jacqueline (“Reasons”) and fresh-faced viral superstar Ramsey (“Famous”).

Weekly Chart Report (5/4/18)

Click here or above to access MusicRow’s weekly CountryBreakout Chart Report.

Russell Dickerson Shares “Yours” No. 1 With Co-Writers Casey Brown, Parker Welling

SESAC songwriter Casey Brown, BMI songwriter Russell Dickerson, BMI songwriter Parker Welling. Photo: Steve Lowry

“I was trying to be somebody else—Keith Urban or whoever else was cool—and the songs just weren’t working,” confessed Russell Dickerson of “Yours,” the song he wrote over four years ago with his Belmont University alumni. “You all know me because we’re family, and they didn’t let me write songs that weren’t me. It just clicked because you understand my artistry and believe in me…And it wasn’t until we wrote this song that anyone started to listen. I knew we had a No. 1 song from the bottom of my heart, and I wasn’t going to give up till this song went No. 1.”

The Triple Tigers recording artist’s success was a rarity, in that it was the first No. 1 for the label, first No. 1 for the artist, and first country No. 1 for each writer—Dickerson, Casey Brown and Parker Welling.

BMI’s Leslie Roberts presided over the No. 1 party, which was held at the offices of Nashville App developer Aloompa. Roberts presented her writers —Dickerson and Welling— with BMI No. 1 Taylor guitars.

SESAC’s ET Brown, also a Belmont graduate, was thrilled to congratulate his writer, on behalf of the PRO’s event sponsor Bose.

Welling teased her publisher Jeffrey Steele and Darrell Brown.

“I’m the lone female on a guy’s record,” said Welling. “Before this write four years ago, I prayed we would write something that changed the sound of country music. We wrote this love song about our spouses four years ago when country radio was a bunch of hookup songs.”

Brown was recognized by current BMG Nashville head Kos Weaver as the reason the publishing company signed Dickerson. Weaver brought up additional reps, including label GM Norbert Nix (David Macias could not attend) and Triple 8’s George Couri, Bruce Kalmick, in addition to manager John Dennis.

“Having suffered through the downturn in the music business, the digital revolution has brought more people from around the world to consume more music than they ever have,” noted Weaver. “So it’s great having a record company opening it’s doors and starting with a great artist. This song streamed at an amazing amount thanks to the effort from you and John Dennis.”

Pictured (L-R): Triple Tigers Records’ Bruce Kalmick, Dennis Entertainment’s John Dennis, Essential Music’s Terry Hemmings, SESAC’s ET Brown, Essential Music’s Holly Zabka, 3 Ring Circus’ Jeffrey Steele, BMI’s Leslie Roberts, 3 Ring Circus’ Darrell Franklin, Triple Tiger Records’ George Couri, Triple Tiger Records’ Norbert Nix and BMG’s Kos Weaver. Photo: Steve Lowry

Nix and Dickerson personally thanked John Marks, who began his support for Dickerson while at SiriusXM before moving to Spotify, where the song has streamed 95 million times.

“Russell put an EP together and was on the road for six years, slugging it out with John Dennis and agency CAA,” said Nix. “We started hearing these venues were selling out and we couldn’t figure it out. Then country radio jumped on it—this couldn’t have happened without radio.”

“John Dennis found me, I guess through CAA, because I signed with them in 2010,” said Dickerson. “We had nothing when Darrell [Franklin] signed me, not even this song. Thank you for trusting us to come up with something and taking a chance. Almost four years to the day we wrote this song, and it went No. 1. I want y’all to know we fought for this one song for four years from the day we wrote it, we listened to it 300 times that day and didn’t stop.”

Casey Brown, who also produced the track, was honored by his first publisher, Holly Zabka of Essential Music Publishing.

“I’m relly happy I asked you to write that one time,” confessed Brown to Dickerson. “I am never the guy to ask people to write. That’s the first time, and I’ll probably stop while I’m ahead.

“Parker, you’re at my house most days of the week. I’m really thankful this happened with friends. We hung out with each other before we were working together in any professional capacity.”

MusicRow‘s Sherod Robertson offered No. 1 Challenge Coins for the No. 1 success of “Yours” on the MusicRow CountryBreakout Chart. BMI’s financial partner for No. 1 parties is Pinnacle Bank, from which David Smith spoke. Brooke Sanders with CRB noted the song has recieved 297,000 spins, reaching a total audience of 1.39 billion through the airwaves. Country Aircheck‘s Lon Helton also spoke.

Edison Research Releases Heavy Radio Listener Study

A new study from “The Infinite Dial: Heavy Radio Listeners,” released by Edison Research, shows that one-fifth of broadcast radio’s biggest users already own a smart speaker. The report looks at the 30 percent of the American population ages 12 and over who are “Heavy Radio Listeners” – defined as those who listened to more than one hour of radio in the last day.

The study finds that 82 percent of heavy radio listeners have a radio in their home, which means nearly 18% of this group achieved ‘heavy’ status primarily through in-car or at-work listening.  Intriguingly, 20% of heavy radio listeners have Smart Speakers in their homes, which may allow for more at-home listening over time, but can also make it easier to use competing audio services.

In keeping with findings from past Edison research studies, radio’s best customers are heavy users of all audio – they listen heavily to broadcast radio, but do not limit themselves to it, something which has implications for future smart-speaker behavior. Nearly two-thirds listen to audio online, with large numbers choosing YouTube, Pandora, and the streams of AM and FM radio stations.  Over one-in-six heavy radio listeners say they have listened to a podcast in the last week.

“At this time of industry transition, it is vital that radio managers have high-quality research that represents the full U.S. population to use to understand their audiences.  This look at the Heavy Radio Listener from Infinite Dial allows everyone to understand not just what other kinds of audio and media people are using, but how Heavy Radio Listeners compare to the population at large,” said Larry Rosin, President of Edison Research.  “Readers of this report will see that the qualitative profile of Heavy Radio Listeners is very strong.  This is the kind of information that Radio managers can show to agencies and clients with confidence in the quality of the data.”

The Infinite Dial is the longest running study of consumer behaviors related to media and technology in America.  It uses ‘gold standard’ scientific telephone sampling to accurately reflect the entire U.S. population.

Spotify’s Hot Country Playlist Now Enhanced With Original Video

Keith Urban becomes first artist on Spotify Hot Country to enhance the playlist with video, supporting his Graffiti U album, out April 27.

Spotify’s flagship country playlist, Hot Country, is now enhanced with video. The newly enhanced playlist follows the recent video integrations of fellow Spotify playlists such as Rap Caviar and Viva Latino, which combine music and video into a single view, allowing Spotify users to listen to their favorite audio tracks, as well as watch original interviews and music videos featuring their favorite artists on the on-demand streaming service.

The Hot Country enhanced playlist launches today (Friday, April 27) with content from Keith Urban, who releases his latest album, Graffiti U, today, as well as content from Kacey Musgraves and a special performance from Justin Timberlake and Chris Stapleton.

On Hot Country, Urban will offer viewers a behind-the-scenes look at his extensive guitar collection, as he discusses his love of playing in his new home studio, and looks at the inspiration behind his new album.

Urban said, “Spotify has been an amazing partner, helping me to connect my music with people all over the planet. On their new Hot Country playlist people will not only hear Graffiti U, they’ll be able to come inside the studio with me and see a bit about the making of the album. Can’t wait for everyone to hear it.”

According to Brittany Schaffer, Head of Artist and Label Marketing at Spotify’s Nashville office, the country music audience has been slower to adopt streaming than audiences of other genres. However, she says “country artists have been craving the attention of the streaming services to help bring the country audience into streaming and craving a deeper ability to connect with and expand their audiences,” she says. “The enhancement of the Hot Country playlist is Spotify’s first significant step in helping artists do just that.”

Schaffer also notes that the enhanced playlist is only the beginning of Spotify’s collaboration with the country industry. “Spotify is serious about making an impact in country music, and the launch of the Hot Country enhanced playlist is only the first step in showing that commitment,” she says. “This opportunity is opening new doors for current and potential listeners of country music, in Nashville and around the world. Our commitment doesn’t start and end with the launch of Hot Country.”

To bring more Hot Country to its more than 4.5 million followers worldwide, the enhanced playlist feature will also launch in four additional markets outside the U.S.: Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Spain (in addition to the UK, Sweden, and Latin America).

According to John Marks, Programming Head of Country Music at Spotify, the audience for country music will only keep growing. “There are multiple awakenings happening right now. Streaming is opening a global market. There’s been a hybridizing of other international music into the country playlists, which is opening people’s eyes and minds to country music in other countries. Launching in those markets—which have very active fan bases—will start to speed up the process.”

Marks, who has a long history working in Nashville with country industry and artists, is enthusiastic about the partnership—and he’s not the only one, he says. “The Nashville music industry and Nashville artists have really embraced this idea out of the shoot. We have some big stars on board with Keith Urban and Kenny Chesney, and there are plenty others on queue. It’s really been gratifying to see how quickly and how nimbly everyone in the industry has supported this idea of enhanced playlists and to see it all come together.”

Executives from Sony Music Nashville, Universal Music Group Nashville, and Warner Music Nashville also weighed in on the newly enhanced playlist.

“Late last year when Spotify rolled out their Open House they talked about Nashville as such an important market and musical identity that they were focused on growing, and I really wanted to believe it was true,” said UMG Nashville’s Cindy Mabe. “Coming into 2018, I watched the thorough roll out of the Cover Stories, a weekly video series with the Hot Country enhanced playlist and I am absolutely blown away.  The most important job I do is to tell our artists’ stories and vision for what they have to say through their music so the fans can connect.  Spotify has truly put their money where their mouth is with their investment in Nashville while leaning into our artists’ stories in order to grow the audience.  I know there is a lot more yet to be rolled out but I am so excited to watch as Spotify brings our music to our fans in new and exciting ways.”

“Not only is Spotify’s relaunch of Hot Country another clear sign of their deepening commitment to country music, it’s also an indicator that fans of our genre are consuming music in more new ways than ever before, through video and on their phones,” said Warner Music Nashville’s John Esposito. “The addition of video content to the playlist will surely bring a deeper connection between the fans and the artists they love. Music and video are certainly going to “Get Along” together on Hot Country!”

“We’re so excited that Spotify is furthering their investment in country music by offering another level of media to their Hot Country playlist!” said Sony Music Nashville’s Randy Goodman. “More new ways we can showcase our artists and grow country music streaming in general is a great and welcome thing!”

Weekly Chart Report 4/27/18

Click here or above to access MusicRow’s weekly CountryBreakout Report.

Brett Young Celebrates Platinum Single “Like I Loved You”

Pictured (L-R): Nate Deaton, GM KRTY; Tina Ferguson, VP Sales KRTY; Brett Young, Jimmy Harnen, BMLG Records President and BMLG EVP; Stella Prado, BMLG Records Director West Coast Promotion. Photo: Ruby Sabin

Brett Young was surprised by BMLG Records President Jimmy Harnen Wednesday evening (April 25) at a sold-out show at The Rodeo Club in San Jose for his chart-topping third single “Like I Loved You” earning RIAA Platinum Certification. The song marks Young’s third consecutive single to reach  the sales mark, following “Sleep Without You” and “In Case You Didn’t Know.”

Young is currently headlining his Caliville Tour, in addition to joining Thomas Rhett’s Life Changes Tour 2018.

 

Curb Ups Cheryl Broz To Sr. VP, Pop Promotion And Radio Marketing

Cheryl Broz

Curb Records has promoted Cheryl Broz to the position of Senior Vice President of Pop Promotion and Radio Marketing. In her elevated role, Broz will continue to initiate and guide the label’s direction for promotion and radio marketing strategies across all Pop and Rock formats, including Top 40, Top 40 Rhythm, Hot AC, AC, AAA, Alternative and Rock genres.

“Cheryl’s years of experience combined with her longstanding relationships at radio make her a tremendous asset to our promotion team and to our roster of talented artists,” comments Jim Ed Norman, CEO, Recorded Music and Publishing for Curb / Word Entertainment.

During her 30+ year career, Broz has been instrumental in breaking records for artists including Justin Bieber, Alessia Cara, Rihanna, Avicii, Pink, Outcast, Avril Lavigne, Leona Lewis, American Authors, Usher, Dido, P. Diddy, Sarah McLachlan, Stacie Orrico, Santana, Steven Curtis Chapman, Toby Mac, Thousand Foot Krutch, Anberlin and others.

Starting her career at KRBE Houston, Broz’s solid leadership skills were honed while holding key positions in several pop music departments, including Columbia; Island, Def Jam Records / Universal Music Group and Arista Records. Additionally, Broz played an integral role in developing the “Music Reactive Department” at EMI Christian Music Group where she led the promotion efforts for the entire EMI/CMG roster to all mainstream formats.

“I have always been passionate about the artists and records that I have had the privilege to represent. I am excited for the continued opportunity to promote and market Curb’s music to a wider audience at radio. I would like to thank Mike Curb and Jim Ed Norman for the opportunity to work with such talented artists,” said Broz on her elevated role.

Broz joined Curb Records in June 2017 as Vice President of Pop Promotion and Radio Marketing. She can be reached at: cbroz@curb.com or 615-293- 9867.

Weekly Chart Report 4/20/18

Click here or above to access MusicRow’s weekly CountryBreakout Report.