Weekly Chart Report (2/28/14)
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NASH Announces Hirings, Promotions
Suzanne Alexander
Cumulus today (Feb. 27) announced four key NASH talent and programming appointments for the popular syndicated radio programs “Kickin’ It with Kix” and “American Country Countdown,” hosted by Kix Brooks. Suzanne Alexander will Co-Host “Kickin’ It with Kix” and serve as substitute host of “American Country Countdown” while continuing her role with Great American Country. She has extensive Country radio experience and has been in Nashville more than a decade. She currently serves as host of Great American Country’s The Playlist.
Lonnie Napier is promoted to Executive Producer of “Kickin’ It with Kix” and “American Country Countdown” after serving as Associate Producer of “American Country Countdown” for four years. Prior to joining Cumulus, Napier spent more than 20 years as Producer for the legendary DJ Wolfman Jack and 10 years as VP of Wolfman Jack Entertainment. He has also served as Executive Producer for Jones Media Networks’ “Bill Cody’s Classic Country Weekend” as well as Producer for Great American Country’s video request show, CRL.
Holly Ennen is promoted to Head Writer of “Kickin’ It with Kix” and “American Country Countdown” after serving as Associate Writer for “American Country Countdown.”
Nikita Palmer joins NASH programming as NASH Network Producer. She was previously in the Cumulus Digital Division, where she served as a Producer, Content Manager and most recently, Social Media Director of “American Country Countdown” and “Kickin’ It with Kix.”
Cumulus launched the NASH entertainment brand based on the Country music lifestyle in January, starting with the flagship NASH FM 94.7 in New York City. In addition to radio stations, the NASH brand will include a NASH magazine, concerts/events, online content and television programming. WKDF/Nashville is a NASH station.
David Nail Goes Platinum Before Album Release
Pictured (L-R) front row: Jimmy Robbins, David Nail and Jon Nite. (back row): Frank Liddell, ASCAP’s LeAnn Phelan, Universal Music Publishing Nashville’s Kent Earls, Universal Music Group Nashville’s Mike Dungan, Sony/ATV Music Publishing’s Josh Van Valkenburg and ASCAP’s Ryan Beuschel. Photo: Ed Rode.
Eleven weeks after MusicRow crowned “Whatever She’s Got” for reaching No. 1 on the CountryBreakout Chart, ASCAP and UMG Nashville hosted a celebration where David Nail was surprised with platinum plaques for the fastest rising single of his career. The presentation was a surprise for the Nashville crowd, gathered to celebrate the success of the Jimmy Robbins and Jon Nite-written, Mercury Nashville single.
ASCAP’s Ryan Beuschel welcomed Robbins, Nite and Nail to the stage at the spacious top floor of Nashville’s Cannery complex on Tuesday (Feb. 25). The celebration marked the first No. 1 party honoring Nite. Although his co-written title “We Were Us” (Keith Urban feat. Miranda Lambert) peaked at the top of the charts first, the party for that song has yet to take place. In commemoration, Beuschel honored the ASCAP member with a guitar at his first No. 1 party. “I came to town in a U-Haul with my wife and daughter living on food stamps, hoping and dreaming of this,” said Nite of the distinctions.
Nite’s Sony/ATV representative, Josh VanValkenburg, gave heartfelt remarks about the pair’s history, saying, “It’s a privilege to stand up here with you.” VanValkenburg also commented on the time he invited the songwriter to the ASCAP Awards as his date, and he showed up in jeans, a jacket and old boots.
Of Nite, Robbins commented, “A good co-writer makes your songs better and a good friend makes your day better – I’m thankful to have both with Jon.” Universal Music Publishing Group’s Kent Earls addressed the reception as Robbins’ publisher. “Jimmy has been signed for two short years,” said Earls. “He has had 55 major label cuts from a catalog of only a couple hundred – the ratio is unbelievable.”
Pictured (L-R): David Nail, UMG Nashville Chairman & CEO, Mike Dungan. Photo: Ed Rode
UMG Nashville Chairman/CEO Mike Dungan addressed Nail and the MCA promotion department’s contributions. “This single felt so good going up the charts,” said Dungan. “We have been working our asses off and this one felt like a lay-up.”
Producer Frank Liddell offered comments on behalf of co-producers Chuck Ainlay and Glenn Worf. The hitmaker noted Ron Stuve‘s presence at the ceremony. “These comments are my pre-speech for the next No. 1. Ron pitched the next single and I’m so happy to see him standing in the audience.”
“I didn’t do anything but sing it,” Nail humbly admitted before sending heartfelt remarks to Dungan. “Since Mike came over to the label, I’ve felt like a new artist. I’m so thankful to be doing this.”
“Kiss You Tonight” is currently at Country radio as the second single from Nail’s third studio album, I’m A Fire, due out next week (March 4). A preview of the forthcoming project can be seen below.
Industry Pics (2/26/14)
BMI, ASCAP, and Big Machine celebrated Tim McGraw’s No. 1 hit “Southern Girl” at BMLG’s CRS show last week. Co-written by Jaren Johnston, Lee Thomas Miller, and Rodney Clawson, “Southern Girl” is McGraw’s 35th trip to the top of the charts.
Pictured (back row, L-R): ASCAP’s Evyn Mustoe, Ryan Beuschel, and LeAnn Phelan, and BMI’s Bradley Collins; (front row, L-R): Big Machine Label Group President & CEO Scott Borchetta, co-writer Jaren Johnston, Tim McGraw, and co-writers Lee Thomas Miller and Rodney Clawson. Photo by Rick Diamond.
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Cole Swindell (Warner Bros./WMN) and the WMN team recently celebrated his first No. 1 for his debut single “Chillin’ It.”
Pictured (L-R): WMN’s Chad Schultz, Scott Hendricks, Lou Ramirez, Kevin Herring, Peter Strickland, John Esposito, Cole Swindell, Kristen Williams, Red Light Management’s Jacob Knott, Red Light Management’s Waylon Weatherholt, WMN’s Cris Lacy, Justin Luffman, and Tyler Wall.
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The Ryman Auditorium was named Theatre of the Year during the twenty-fifth annual Pollstar Awards. The award was voted on by industry peers, and the win marks the fourth year in a row that Nashville’s iconic venue has been named Theatre of the Year by Pollstar Magazine. Since its 1994 renovation, the venue has won the award a total of six times. Ryman GM Sally Williams also was named Facility Executive of the Year during the ceremony.
Under Williams’ leadership, the Ryman has been awarded SRO Venue of the Year Presented by CMA in 2013 and 2012, Pollstar Magazine‘s 2013, 2012, 2011 and 2010 Venue of the Year, the Academy of Country Music’s 2012, 2010 and 2008 Venue of the Year and the International Entertainment Buyers Association’s 2009 Venue of the Year.
Ryman Auditorium General Manager Sally Williams. Photo by Steve Lowry/
Ryman Archives
Weekly Register: Swindell's Noteworthy Debut
Albums
With CRS behind us, overall album sales are down 11 percent week over week, while Country album sales are down 27 percent from last week when Eric Church‘s The Outsiders sold 288k units. This week’s noteworthy debut is MusicRow Challenge Coin recipient Cole Swindell. The “Chillin’ It” singer’s self-titled debut album (Warner Nashville) heats up to No. 2 (No. 3 overall), selling 63k units. Church’s The Outsiders (EMI Nashville) continues to reign as the No. 1 Country album (No. 2 overall), selling 73k units (361k RTD). Church recently performed alongside 16 other artists at UMG’s CRS event.
The top overall album is Frozen: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Various Artists, selling 89k units (1.1 million RTD). YTD, overall album sales are down 15.4 percent, while Country album sales are down 13.5 percent. The same week last year, Mumford and Sons’ Babel was the top overall album, selling 63k units, while Taylor Swift’s RED sold 28k units as the top Country album.
Tracks
Brantley Gilbert’s “Bottoms Up” is the top Country track this week (No. 19 overall), selling 64k units (479k RTD). Eli Young Band’s “Just Add Moonlight” is the top County debut, coming in at No. 40 with 9.5k units sold. Another noteworthy debut is Beck’s “Wave,” which floats at No. 92 with 17k units sold.
Pharrell William’s “Happy” is the top overall track, selling 402k units (1.7 million RTD). YTD, overall track sales are down 11.5 percent, while Country track sales are down 17.2 percent. The same week last year, Baauer’s “Harlem Shake” was the top overall album, selling 287k units, while Blake Shelton’s “Sure Be Cool If You Did” was the top Country track with 71k units sold.
Next week’s numbers will include Dierks Bentley’s Riser and Chris Janson’s Take It To The Bank.
NBC To Televise iHeartRadio Music Awards
NBC and Clear Channel Music + Entertainment will partner to televise the first-ever iHeartRadio Music Awards on May 1. The iHeartRadio Music Awards will air from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles from 8-11 p.m. ET. The show will be executive produced by Clear Channel Media and Entertainment and Ryan Seacrest Productions. The show will be produced by Done and Dusted Production, and directed by Hamish Hamilton.
The iHeartRadio Awards will broadcast and stream live the audio across all participating Clear Channel radio stations and their websites, and on iHeartRadio.
Clear Channel also recently unveiled the iHeartRadio Countdown, a new two-hour weekly program syndicated by Premiere Networks that premiered Jan. 14, and highlights the top 20 songs on the iHeartRadio chart. The show will be co-hosted each week by a major artist and iHeartRadio’s Romeo On The Radio.
The Valory Music Co. Promotes Sidoti
Ashley Sidoti
The Valory Music Co. has promoted Ashley Sidoti to the role of Southeast Director of Promotion and Marketing. In this position, Sidoti will work in the Southeast region promoting all Valory Music Co. artists including Reba, The Mavericks, Brantley Gilbert, Justin Moore and Thomas Rhett.
“I am both thrilled and honored to be stepping into this new role,” said Sidoti. “I’ve learned so much from everyone on the Valory team and have met so many wonderful people working in Country radio. I am ecstatic that this opportunity will allow me a bigger opportunity to showcase our talented roster of artists in the Southeast and beyond.”
“Ashley has been a great addition to The Valory Music Co. acting as the Label Promotion Coordinator,” said Valory Vice President George Briner. “I’m now pleased to announce the promotion of Ashley as Southeast Director Promotion and Marketing. Her passion for music and focus to detail makes this a great choice. All of us with The Valory Music Co. and the Big Machine Label Group are excited for Ashley to take on this new position, plus it’s great to see someone grown within the organization.”
She most recently served as the promotion coordinator for The Valory Music Co., where she returned to in 2012 after serving as the Creative Assistant at Better Angels Music and as Client Manager at Harris Business Management.
Sidoti can be reached at 615-574-7827 or via ashley.sidoti@valorymail.com
BBR Music Group Adds VP Promotion for BBR Management
JoJamie Hahr
The BBR Music Group is pleased to announce the addition of JoJamie Hahr to its team in the newly-created position of VP of Promotion for BBR Management. The move marks a return home for Hahr who previously spent two years as the Southeast Director of Promotion for Broken Bow Records.
In her new role, Hahr will serve as a liaison between radio and BBR Management whose acts include Thompson Square, Parmalee, Lindsay Ell and American Idol’s Kristy Lee Cook. Hahr will hold additional promotion responsibilities relating to the entire BBR Music Group roster which also includes Jason Aldean, Randy Houser, Joe Nichols, Dustin Lynch, and more.
“Every major career move I’ve made has been with Jon Loba. His belief in me is an honor,” said Hahr. “This is such an incredible opportunity for both my personal and professional growth. I will always be grateful for the magic we were able to create at The Valory Music Co. Scott, that entire team, and its amazing artists will always have a place in my heart. I can’t wait to dive in with Benny, Jon and the entire BBR family.”
“From the moment I met JoJamie, when she was the Event Coordinator at K92 in Orlando, I noticed a unique spark. That spark has only grown brighter as she has advanced through the radio and records ranks. Coupled with her honesty and work ethic, JoJamie has excelled at every new opportunity given. Benny and I have wanted to bring JoJamie home for quite some time and the creation of this new position within our management company was the perfect opportunity to do so. While her primary responsibilities will be to the BBR Management acts, we will absolutely utilize her knowledge and relationships throughout the BBR Music Group,” said Executive Vice President of BBR Music Group Jon Loba.
For the past three years, Hahr served as the National Director of Field Promotion for The Valory Music Co. (TVMC) after being promoted from Director of Southeast Promotion & Marketing as which she’d previously served for three years. Immediately prior to joining TVMC, Hahr served as the Director of Southeast Promotion of Broken Bow Records and Promotion Coordinator/ Secondary Promotion at MCA Nashville. Hahr’s previous stints include as Promotion Director for WSIX-Nashville as well as Event Coordinator for K92-Orlando.
Hahr’s position as VP of Promotion for BBR Management is effective Monday, March 10. She can be reached at 615-495-7056 and at Jojamie@bbrmusicgroup.com
Black River Overflows With Entertainment At CRS Luncheon
Pictured (L-R): Black River’s VP of A&R, Doug Johnson; John King; Kellie Pickler; Black River’s, CEO Gordon Kerr; Craig Morgan; Black River’s General Manager, Greg McCarn; Black River’s VP Promotion, Bill Macky. Photo: John Russell
On Friday (Feb. 21), MusicRow attended Black River Entertainment’s CRS event at Nashville’s Convention Center, featuring performances by Craig Morgan, Kellie Pickler and John King, among others. Legions of industry officials packed into the convention center’s massive performance hall, filled with excitement and scrumptious southern nosh, including greens, potatoes and fried chicken. While guests feasted and socialized, two screens played songs by Kacey Musgraves, Billy Currington, The Band Perry and other artists with songs published by Black River Publishing.
Craig Morgan appeared on stage in a blaze of red light and kicked off the event with songs from his album The Journey, including “Party Girl” and “We’ll Come Back Around.” Morgan took pause to thank the crowd, saying, “I’m excited to be here. We love what we do and we have you all to thank for that.” Morgan, who previously served in the Army, commemorated our country’s veterans, before launching into a powerhouse performance of his single “Wake Up Lovin’ You,” which earned him a standing ovation from the crowd.
Country darling Kellie Pickler took the stage next to perform songs from her album The Woman I Am. The singer enjoyed a busy and profitable 2013 touring on behalf of her album, winning ABC’s Dancing With The Stars and performing on her 7th USO Tour. “Country radio is the messenger telling my story to the rest of the world,” she said. “We’re so excited to have new music out to share with you today.” Pickler performed “Bonnie and Clyde,” “Selma Drye,” named after the singer’s grandmother, and her latest single “Closer To Nowhere,” before raising her cup to the audience with a heartfelt “Cheers.”
The afternoon’s final performance featured songwriters Kelsea Ballerini, Josh Osborne, Forest Whitehead and Black River’s newest addition John King. The quartet sat in an intimate replica of Nashville’s Bluebird Café to the right of the stage, performing snippets of songs, including Osborne’s co-written hits “Drunk Last Night,” “Dust” and the Grammy-winning “Merry Go Round.” Afterwards, King jumped onstage for a full band performance of three songs, displaying the enthusiastic showmanship of a veteran act. “I’m the new Black River baby, and I’m so happy to be here,” he said, before rounding out the afternoon with a performance of his single “Tonight, Tonight.”
When the event ended, guests dispersed as quickly as they had arrived, proceeding to the remaining CRS events on a temperate Nashville day.
CRS Panel: Trends In Streaming
On the final day of CRS (Friday Feb. 21) MusicRow attended Nielsen Entertainment’s panel on streaming, titled “Who Moved My Listener? Trends In Media Consumption.” A sleepy afternoon crowd scattered throughout the room, while Nielsen’s Stephanie Friedman discussed the company’s latest research.
Friedman focused on user driven streaming and broke down demographics for the audience. The typical streamer is a tech savvy male between the ages of 18 and 34. Not surprisingly, most streams originate from either computers or car radio. Nielsen is currently unable to offer regional demographics for streaming, and uses YouTube to obtain that information.
The audience showed more interest when Friedman spouted statistics on streaming and Country music. In 2013 alone, Nielsen tracked 118 billion streams, with the highest volume coming from streaming giant YouTube. The most streamed Country song of 2013 was Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise,” with more than 86,277,000 streams. The band’s meteoric hit continues to reign as the most streamed Country track per week, followed by Jason Aldean’s “When She Says Baby” at No. 2 and Luke Bryan’s “That’s My Kind Of Night” at No. 3.
Overall, the panel stressed the important relationship between streaming and radio, noting how each entity informs one another, and imparted semi-interesting data to listeners. It also touched on the problems, within streaming, noting that there is no way to prevent the corruption of streaming numbers.
After ending early, the panel sent attendees sauntering though Nashville’s Convention Center, eagerly awaiting the night’s “New Faces” show.