Weekly Register: Country’s Top 5 Albums Chart Welcomes Three Debuts

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This past week welcomed three debuts to the Top 5 country albums rankings, according to Nielsen Soundscan.

Blackberry Smoke debuts at No. 3 (and in the Top Americana slot) with Find A Light moving 16K. Restoration: The Songs of Elton John, featuring songs from artists including Little Big Town, Maren Morris, Miranda Lambert, Brothers Osborne and more, debuted at No. 4, with 15K. Johnny Cash: Forever Words, an album based on a book of the late entertainer’s poetry, debuts at No. 5 with 9.2K.

Kane Brown returns to the No. 1 spot this week, with his self-titled album moving 16.5K this week. Last week’s No. 1 debut, Kacey Musgraves‘ Golden Hour, falls to No. 2 this week, with 16K.

Another notable country debut is David Lee Murphey‘s No Zip Code, which features the duet with Kenny Chesney “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright.” The album debuted at No. 35 with 3.8K this week.

On the country digital sales rankings, Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line‘s “Meant To Be” continues to dominate, with 33K in sales this week. The track is now at 892K to date. The three entertainers performed the smash hit on Sunday (April 15)’s Academy of Country Music Awards.

Last night’s ACM performances also included the next three songs in this week’s digital sales rankings, including Kenny Chesney’s latest, “Get Along,” which comes in at No. 2 with 26K, and reigning Entertainer of the Year Jason Aldean‘s “You Make It Easy,” which is at No. 3 with 23K. Carrie Underwood also performed her new single, “Cry Pretty” on the awards show. The track enters at No. 4 with 21K, followed by Kane Brown’s “Heaven” at No. 5 with 19K.

Weekly Register: Kacey Musgraves Earns ‘Golden’ Debut Week

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Kacey Musgraves‘ transcendent new offering, Golden Hour, topped this week’s country albums, according to Nielsen Soundscan, with 49K in total consumption.

Kane Brown‘s self-titled album ranked at No. 2 with 18K, while Chris Stapleton‘s Traveller is at No. 3 with 13K. Thomas Rhett‘s Life Changes ranks at No. 4 with 13K, followed by Luke Combs‘ This One’s For You at No. 5 with 11K.

Newcomer Ashley McBryde also makes a Top 10 country album debut ranking at No. 7, with 11K.

On the country digital sales chart, Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line continue to reign, with “Meant To Be” moving 38K this week, and at 860K to date. Jason Aldean‘s “You Make It Easy” is at No. 2 with 26K, while Kane Brown’s “Heaven” moves 22K to rank at No. 3 this week. Luke Bryan‘s “Most People Are Good” is at No. 4 with 15K, while Thomas Rhett‘s “Marry Me” is at No. 5 with 14K.

Cassadee Pope’s “Take You Home” is this week’s top country debut at No. 13 , with 7.6K.

Kane Brown Earns Two RIAA Platinum Certifications

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Pictured (L-R):Producer Dann Huff, Kane Brown, Sony Music Nashville Chairman & CEO
Randy Goodman and EFG Management’s Martha Earls.

The Recording Industry Association of America recently honored Kane Brown with two new awards: Brown’s self-titled debut album and hit single “Heaven” both have earned official Platinum certification for reaching the one million unit threshold of total physical sales, downloads and on-demand audio and/or video stream equivalents.

“Heaven” is Brown’s third track to achieve Platinum or Multi-Platinum certification. “What Ifs” featuring Lauren Alaina became Double-Platinum in January and “Used to Love You Sober” became Platinum in February. Brown was recently awarded a Guinness World Record for becoming the first act to top five U.S. country charts simultaneously.

Brown will perform during the upcoming 53rd Academy of Country Music Awards airing live on CBS on April 15, 8/7 p.m. CT. He is also a double ACM nominee this year, up for ACM’s New Male Vocalist and Vocal Event of the Year for “What Ifs” featuring Lauren Alaina.

ACM, Stagecoach Announce Collaboration

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Two of Southern California’s leading country music authorities, the Academy of Country Music® and Stagecoach: California’s Country Music Festival, have teamed up to give country fans the chance to experience country music on the West Coast by winning passes to 2018 Stagecoach and tickets to attend the Academy of Country Music Awards in 2019.

Stagecoach will be featured in interactive fan activations at select ACM Party for a Cause® events taking place April 13-15, 2018 in Las Vegas, leading up to the 53rd Academy of Country Music Awards™, with prizes including Stagecoach merchandise and pass giveaways. The Academy will also take over Stagecoach’s official Instagram (@stagecoach) for a portion of ACM Awards weekend, to give country fans a behind-the-scenes peek at Country Music’s Party of the Year®.

At Stagecoach: California’s Country Music Festival taking place April 27-29, 2018 in Indio, California, the Academy of Country Music will host a fan activation booth giving festival-goers the opportunity to spin-to-win Academy merchandise and other prizes, including tickets to attend the Academy of Country Music Awards in 2019. Artists and industry attendees will also be invited to enjoy an ACM branded artist lounge backstage throughout the weekend.

“I am beyond excited about teaming up with the Academy of Country Music. Our organizations share a passion for creating quality events and opportunities for artists and fans alike,” said Stagecoach Festival Director Stacy Vee.

“The ACM is thrilled to collaborate with Southern California’s preeminent country music festival, Stagecoach. It seemed like a logical, natural fit to bring together these two West Coast forces to create additional opportunities for our country music fans,” said Erick Long, ACM Senior Vice President, Events & Partnerships.

Jack White’s ‘Boarding House Reach’ Debuts Atop Albums Chart

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Photo: David James Swanson


Boarding House Reach, the third solo album from Third Man Records/Columbia artist Jack White, has debuted at No. 1 this week on Nielsen Soundscan’s Top 200 albums rankings, with 121,000 in traditional album sales. The feat marks White’s third consecutive chart-topping debut for a new solo release.

The album is also the best-selling rock album and alternative album. It earned fourth-largest sales week for a vinyl album since Nielsen began tracking sales in 1991. 27,000 units of Boarding House Reach‘s sales this week were on vinyl LP.

Boarding House Reach marks White’s first new album in nearly four years.

 

 

Weekly Register: Scotty McCreery’s ‘Seasons Change’ Debuts At No. 1

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Scotty McCreery‘s first album for Triple Tigers, Seasons Change, bows at No. 1 on Nielsen Soundscan’s country albums rankings this week, with 40K in total consumption (34K album only).

Kane Brown‘s self-titled album is at No. 2 this week with 16.5K. Chris Stapleton‘s Traveller is at No. 3 with 13.5K, followed by Thomas Rhett‘s Life Changes at No. 4, with 12.5K. Luke Bryan‘s What Makes You Country rounds out the Top 5 this week with 10.5K.

Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line‘s “Meant To Be” remains the top-selling country digital song this week, with 35.4K.

Jason Aldean has the No. 2 and No. 3 top-selling digital country songs, with “You Make It Easy” at No. 2 (26.6K), and “Rearview Town” at No. 3 (19.9K). Kane Brown‘s “Heaven” is at No. 4 with 18.5K, while Luke Bryan‘s “Most People Are Good” is at No. 5 with 13.8K. RaeLynn‘s latest, “Queens Don’t,” enters at No. 10 country, with 9.6K.

 

Kane Brown Sets Guinness World Record

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Pictured (L-R): Sony Music Nashville’s EVP Marketing/New Business John Zarling, EVP/COO Ken Robold and Chairman/CEO Randy Goodman; Kane Brown; EFG Management’s Martha Earls; Sony Music Nashville’s EVP Promotion/Artist Development Steve Hodges, SVP A&R Jim Catino and SVP RCA Promotion Dennis Reese Photo: Alex Alvga

Kane Brown can add Guinness World Records title holder to his growing list of accolades, since he recently made history by joining the ranks of record setters. Brown recently set the record for and became the first act to top five US country charts simultaneously.

Kane was presented with his official record certificate recently at the Sony Music Nashville office. On Oct. 28, 2017, he became the title holder for the first act to top five US country charts simultaneously, including Top Country Albums (Kane Brown Deluxe Edition); Country Digital Song Sales (“Heaven”); and Country Airplay, Hot Country Songs, and Country Streaming Songs (“What Ifs” featuring Lauren Alaina).

“It feels awesome to be a Guinness World Records title holder and to be the first artist to achieve this with Billboard,” said Kane on achieving the record. “I remember being in elementary and middle school and looking at the books for all of the records, and I can’t believe my name gets to be in there now.”

To date, Brown’s album has remained at No.1 on the Billboard Top Country Album chart for eight weeks. Since its December 2016 release, his debut has surpassed all country album debuts with the most weeks at No.1 — no other country album has exceeded more than an eight-week run at the top of the chart.

Weekly Register: Kane Brown Continues Chart-Topping Streak

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Kane Brown again tops this week’s country albums chart, with his self-titled album earning 16K in total consumption, according to Nielsen Soundscan.

Chris Stapleton has two albums in the Top 5 this week, with Traveller remaining at No. 2 (15K) and From A Room Vol. 1 moving up one spot to No. 4 (12K).

Thomas Rhett‘s Life Changes returns to the No. 3 spot this week, with 12.5K, while new American Idol judge Luke Bryan‘s What Makes You Country album drops from No. 3 to No. 5 this week, with 11K.

On the country digital songs chart, Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line also continue their chart domination, with “Meant To Be” moving 34K this week, for 716K to date. Jason Aldean‘s “You Make It Easy” is at No. 2 with 27K, followed by Kane Brown’s “Heaven” at No. 3 with 18K. Thomas Rhett’s “Marry Me” is at No. 4 with 16K, followed by Luke Bryan’s “Most People Are Good” at No. 5 with 16K.

Curb/Word Entertainment Names John Clore As VP, Marketing

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John Clore

Curb | Word Entertainment has appointed John Clore to the position of Vice President of Marketing, where he will oversee the execution of marketing strategies for the full roster of artists across all genres including country, pop, rock, hip-hop and Christian.

Clore joins the newly-formed Curb|Word Entertainment following a previous six-year stint at the company’s Word Records imprint as Sr. Director.

States Jeff Tuerff, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Creative, “We’re thrilled to bring John back to the company in an expanded role where his reputation, expertise and leadership skills are a perfect fit to help guide the marketing initiatives across the breadth of artists we are so honored to work with at Curb | Word Entertainment.”

“I’m very excited about the opportunity to work alongside Jeff Tuerff and Jim Ed Norman and the entire team at Curb|Word,” shares Clore. “Being able to market artists in multiple genres – including country, where my career started – is something I’m very excited about.”

Clore can be reached at [email protected] or at 615-635-0853.

Nada Taha Launches Blind Copy Creative

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Nada Taha

Last year, when Nada Taha announced that she was leaving her five-year stint as an on-air personality and Digital and Branding Director for country radio giant The Bobby Bones Show, it left the show’s fans, and many in the Nashville music industry, wondering what she would do next.

Today, the 29-year-old has announced her Nashville-based creative services Blind Copy Creative, which works with artists to help capture and expand their brand across multiple platforms.

“The end game is if someone picks up the phone and hears you on a Spotify playlist and goes to find your website or your social media, I make sure the story and visuals and everything matches,” Taha tells MusicRow. “If they find you on social media first and then listen to your music, I want people to go, ‘That makes sense.’”

Prior to her work on The Bobby Bones Show, Taha spent a decade in radio as a music and digital director. She was Digital Director for five iHeartMedia stations and Music Director for a Top 40 station. Her career also includes time in journalism as a sports reporter covering the NBA. She says the storytelling skills required in journalism have been essential for her work with Blind Copy Creative.

“It’s about helping artists discover and properly tell their story,” Taha says. “At [The Bobby Bones Show] I started their Instagram. When they came to Nashville, they didn’t have one. It went from zero to more than 360,000 followers by the time I left. But to me brand is more than an Instagram account. What are the stories we are telling? That was a big part of the show. That’s what made us, and them still, so successful. Bobby is a great storyteller and they are so authentic. That had to be replicated in the brand and what we put out on social media.”

Today’s wave of artists are more often digital natives and well-versed in various social media platforms.

“It makes it so much easier. It’s funny, I have one artist now who is extremely not a social media person and one who is fantastic at it. When I was talking to the artist who is not big on social media, I said, ‘That’s ok. That’s your thing, then. We build the brand around that. I’m not going to force someone to stick a phone in their face and put Snapchat filters on.”

She cites new artists such as Devin Dawson, Midland and Caitlyn Smith as examples of newcomers with unique, powerful branding.

“These are all artists who know who they are at their core, and created a team around them makes it sustainable and cohesive throughout their launches. It’s knowing what the story is and knowing how to tell that story musically and visually.”

Though Taha’s role is to help artists promote themselves in the digital space, you may not find her promoting herself as thoroughly. “The whole vibe of my company is like a speakeasy. I don’t have a website, I’m not doing a lot of social media, none of that. If I’m doing my job right, you are not going to know that I’m doing it. I’m all about making certain the artists are promoted. I’m not trying to be a corporation. I like the boutique feel, and being hands-on and making people feel comfortable.”

Though launching a new company, Taha is still making time to mentor and help others in the music and digital industries. In March, she will take part in a mentoring session at the upcoming SXSW in Austin, Texas.

Taha can be reached at [email protected].