Sony Music Promotes McKinley

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Laura McKinley

Sony Music Nashville Marketing Vice President Tom Baldrica today announced the promotion of Laura McKinley to the position of Associate Director, Marketing & Artist Development, working with the label group’s Arista Nashville and RCA Nashville imprints. McKinley most recently represented the labels as Manager, Marketing & Artist Development.

“Laura’s passion, drive, and attention to detail are what make her the ideal person for this position,” Baldrica says. “She brings a creative energy to the office every day, and her relationships within the industry are a tremendous asset to the Arista and RCA labels. I am thrilled for her and Sony Music Nashville.”

An eight-year company veteran, McKinley reports directly to Baldrica as she spearheads the marketing team representing such artists as Brooks & Dunn, Sara Evans, Danny Gokey, Alan Jackson, Jypsi, Martina McBride, Jerrod Niemann, Jake Owen, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Chuck Wicks, and Chris Young.

An announcement naming McKinley’s replacement as Manager, Marketing & Artist Development will be forthcoming.

JoggleBug Gives Social Networking a Voice

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JoggleBug, a new technology giving social media a voice throughout the Internet and on mobile phones, has officially launched. JoggleBug allows celebrities and politicians to “speak” to their fans in real voice, real time. The patent-pending JoggleBug technology allows personalities to pick up their cell phone and leave voice messages within the JoggleBug network, which are then instantly distributed to the celebrity’s website and multiple social media outlets including Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. Simple and free, JoggleBug gives fans and followers an all-access pass to the world of artists, celebrities, public figures and more.

The JoggleBug technology includes the JoggleBug player, which fans, bloggers, journalists, and even news services can embed on any website and control the content they wish to receive. Fans can even listen to JoggleBug messages on their mobile phones, which allows celebrities and politicians a one-step, one-stop communication tool distributing a message to multiple points of presence which builds their brand globally.

“Wherever celebrities and politicians have an Internet presence, JoggleBug can be heard in that space,” said company CEO and Co-Founder Ann Cameron, who created JoggleBug after she felt something was missing in social networking. “We give celebrities and politicians an easy new way to communicate with their fans and followers. Our goal is to be in every social media space that exists. Social networking is a great way to connect. However, without voice, how connected are we? JoggleBug is a perfect way to bridge that gap.”

For celebrities desiring a more genuine connection to their fans, for elected officials spreading the word about a policy or platform to their constituents or for a comedian sharing something funny, JoggleBug is their instant, unfiltered, anywhere, everywhere answer. JoggleBug fans can hear directly from the green room, backstage, the studio, the road, wherever celebrities and politicians are and whenever they have something to share. For the fans, hearing the actual voice of their favorite celebrities and politicians adds a personal touch to social networking.

“Why would I want to read a text when I can hear the person’s voice,” added Cameron “Voice has been around since the beginning of time. It was taken out of our lives through texting and emailing. We’re missing a component of our socialization, the emotions and feelings that are attributed to another dimension of communication – voice. JoggleBug gives us back our voice.”

For more information or to set up a JoggleBug account, visit www.JoggleBug.com.

Big Kenny Joins “Rock Band”

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Country music’s Big Kenny is partnering with the gaming phenomenon Rock Band to bring relief and donations to Nashville’s flood victims.

Kenny is one of the many artists joining Rock Band Relief, an organization that helps artists convert their music into playable songs for the Rock Band video game series. These tracks can be purchased from the Rock Band Network online store and a portion of all proceeds will be donated to the American Red Cross to help with the recent disaster. Any part of the sales commission the artist receives and wishes to donate to Red Cross will be matched by RockBandRelief.org.

“Big Kenny is a natural uplifter of people and has the ability to inspire hope in those around him,” says John Griffin, Executive Director of the Rock Band Relief project. “He is extremely well-respected in the music community, especially in Nashville where people are really in need of some hope right now. We’re so proud to be partnering with him and we hope this project will serve as a natural extension of his mission to make the world a better place through music.”

Big Kenny has contributed the songs “One More Time” and “Happy People” from his album The Quiet Times of a Rock and Roll Farm Boy. These songs are currently undergoing the Rock Band conversion process and should be available to gamers in about 2 months. In addition, a portion of the proceeds from all downloads of the MP3 versions of Kenny’s songs via the Amazon links on the Rock Band Relief website will also be donated to the Red Cross.

BMI’s Website Goes Mobile

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BMI has launched a mobile version of its award-winning website www.bmi.com for iPhone, Android, Palm, Symbian and the upcoming Blackberry 6.0 phones. Mobile users will see the new mobile site when they log onto www.bmi.com.

“We know that tens of thousands of visitors to BMI.com already access information via smart phones,” said BMI President & CEO Del Bryant. “This is a logical step to enable our web visitors to discover the information on BMI’s business, its members, licensing processes, and over 200 sponsored events.”

BMI also announced that it will launch a mobile web version of its highly trafficked Online Services area by the end of June, giving its songwriters, composers and music publishers secure account access for their royalty statements and catalog of musical works via their smart phones.

“BMI was the first in the industry to launch a website in September 1994. We understood the power of the Internet then, and we understand how quickly everything is transitioning to a mobile environment today,” said Bryant. “We will continue to develop applications for new technologies that our affiliates and licensees use in the course of business. We know that business information needs to be available at anytime, anywhere, in a secure and portable mode. Our mobile applications continue our commitment to this pioneering tradition.”

Wynonna CD Helps Wounded Warriors

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Cracker Barrel Old Country Store is joining forces with five-time Grammy winner Wynonna Judd to support Wounded Warrior Project. Wynonna’s new CD and exclusive line of retail products have arrived at Cracker Barrel, and a portion of the proceeds from the sale of each item will be donated to Wounded Warrior Project. Additionally, from now until May 31, Cracker Barrel will double the portion of proceeds donation for every Wynonna and Wounded Warrior Project retail item sold, including the CD.

“For several years, Cracker Barrel has supported Wounded Warrior Project and the organization’s efforts to honor and empower injured service men and women who have returned to the United States,” said Peter Keiser, Vice President of Marketing at Cracker Barrel. “Given Wynonna’s long history of philanthropy, we were confident that she would share our commitment to support wounded warriors who are making the transition back to civilian life.”

On sale now at all Cracker Barrel locations, Wynonna’s new Love Heals CD features a collection of her top singles and three other tracks that had not been available for sale until now. One of the new tracks, “Let Your Light Shine,” is a song that Wynonna and her young daughter would sing every day before school, and it speaks to the importance of being true to oneself.

“’Let Your Light Shine’ is a real affirmation song for men and women,” said Wynonna. “So much of what we see in the world is not very life-giving. This is a very life-giving song. The message is be who you were meant to be.”

In addition to the Love Heals CD, Cracker Barrel has introduced a collection of retail products inspired by Wynonna’s creativity and spirit. Wynonna helped design the products that she believes will help women who balance the responsibilities of family, career and their own personal enrichment. The Wynonna retail products include shirts, mugs, writing journals, wallets and other accessories.

Cracker Barrel is also proud to feature a new collection of Wounded Warrior Project retail products including hats, bandanas, t-shirts and mugs. Similar to the Wynonna line of products, Cracker Barrel will donate a portion of the proceeds from the sale of any of these items to Wounded Warrior Project. In fact, from now until May 31, Cracker Barrel will double the portion of proceeds donation for every Wynonna and Wounded Warrior Project retail item sold, including the CD.

“Wounded Warrior Project is deeply grateful to Wynonna and Cracker Barrel for their ongoing support,” said Steve Nardizzi, Executive Director of Wounded Warrior Project. “The funds raised through this partnership will support our injured warriors who have given so much for our country and help us ensure this generation of veterans is the most successful and well-adjusted in our nation’s history.”

Physical Still Country Fan Favorite

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Digital and Physical Sales Comparison

It’s not uncommon for debut week albums to sell 20% and more in digital format. But what happens to hit albums over the long term? Are country album sales compensating for shrinking shelf space at mass merchants by increasing their digital share? The answer is yes….and no.

Only five country artists placed in the Top 100 of the Current Digital Albums chart for the week ending 5/16/2010 (according to Nielsen SoundScan.) Using RTD (release to date) figures for both digital and physical album sales, the five top selling digital album country artists average 12-13% of sales in the digital format. Turned around, 87% of country sales remain in the physical format.

The fact that country consumers still strongly favor physical product is something for mass merchants to consider when planning inventory. Despite shrinking shelf space, country product is still a winning retail proposition.

According to Billboard’s Ed Christman, digital accounts are now responsible for about 35.5% of the sales base. iTunes market share continues to grow now equaling about 26.7% of the digital share up from 21.4% in 2008. For comparison, Walmart (12.5%) and Best Buy (8.7%) together equal 21.2%. Amazon’s total music share for 2009 was 7.1%. Its physical sales were 5.8%.

For the week ended 5/16/2010—according to Nielsen SoundScan— country album sales are down 4.4% YTD, while all genre music sales are off 10% for the same period.

Bravo Songwriting Competition Hits Nashville

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Bravo is on the hunt for the next great songwriter for Hitmakers, its newest competition series in development. The show features undiscovered singer-songwriters, talented newcomers battling through a series of innovative songwriting challenges to find out who’s ready for the top of the pop charts.

The network is partnering with True Entertainment (The Real Housewives of Atlanta) and The Writing Camp, the songwriting team behind such hits as Beyonce’s “Halo” and Rihanna’s “SOS,” to discover the nation’s top talent in every genre of music.

The winner of the series will receive a cash prize, a publishing deal with Sony ATV and a development deal with The Writing Camp for RCA/JIVE. 
 
Casting information for Hitmakers is available here. Open calls for songwriters interested in competing in the series were recently held in Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York. Final Open Casting Call takes place in Nashville this weekend. Interested songwriters should report to Sony/ATV Music Publishing at 8 Music Square West between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM this Sunday, May 23. Call backs are scheduled for Monday, May 24.

CMA Names Chapman Director of Marketing

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Cory Chapman

The Country Music Association has promoted Cory Chapman to Director of Marketing, announced CMA Senior Director of Marketing Tammy Donham today (5/19).

“During his tenure with CMA, Cory has shown a strategic vision and commitment to our department and organization that has significantly contributed to our many recent successes,” said Donham. “His creative skills, marketing expertise and leadership abilities have made him an integral member of the CMA team and he is highly deserving of this recognition.”

As Director of Marketing, Chapman is responsible for overseeing ticket sales advertising and promotional campaigns for CMA Music Festival and the CMA Awards – including print, broadcast and online initiatives, and media planning. He is active in developing promotional campaigns with event partners including the ABC Television Network, the Grand Ole Opry, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, and cable networks CMT and GAC. He also works with network affiliates and other event partners to promote tune-in for the CMA Awards and CMA Music Festival television special.

“CMA gave me an opportunity to complete an internship nine years ago, and this promotion marks another in a long line of opportunities” Chapman commented. “I’m fortunate to work with incredibly talented colleagues and mentors from whom I learn new things every day. We’ve achieved great success together, and we have many exciting projects ahead.”

Chapman began his career at CMA in 2001 as an intern in the Communications Department. He was hired in early 2003 as Communications Assistant and promoted to Communications Coordinator in 2004 before moving into a Marketing Coordinator position later that year. He was promoted to Marketing Manager in 2006 and to Senior Marketing Manager in 2007. Chapman holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Contemporary Media and Journalism, with emphases in Advertising and Public Relations, from the University of South Dakota.

Chesney Movie Out Via Kmart

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Kenny Chesney has teamed with Kmart for exclusive nationwide distribution of his “Kenny Chesney: Summer in 3D” movie. The 2-D version is available for preorder on DVD and Blu-ray at Kmart.com, and will out in Kmart stores on June 13.

In more Chesney news, he opened a two weekend stand at the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel & Casino club The Joint on Friday night (5/14). His freewheeling shows were streamed live on his No Shoes Radio, and—true to his Keg in the Closet style—showcased hits, gems and cover songs.

Chesney spent more than four hours on stage Saturday night. “We knew we were gonna be putting it up for another month, so we figured we’d go as long as they stayed… and we hit everything!” he says. “I did ‘Hungry Heart’ acoustic… We played ‘I’m Alive’ for the first time, and ‘You Saved Me,” half the Be As You Are record… a buncha covers form the Violent Femmes to Steve Miller… and we went and we went and they stayed and they stayed, and then we played some more.” Chesney returns to the Joint on July 2-3.

Unbundling’s Curse On Profitability

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According to reports from NARM 2010, held this year in Chicago May 15-17, there were a number of outspoken comments and speakers. NARM (National Association of Recording Merchandisers) is a non-profit trade association that attracts music distributors, retailers, record labels, tech companies and more. One of those opinionated speakers was Big Champagne’s Joe Fleischer.

HitsDailyDouble.com reports that Fleischer convincingly argued that unbundling the single from the full-length album has caused more harm to the record industry than piracy and in his opinion has made the current kinds of label deals unprofitable. “The LP isn’t dead; it’s just optional,” Fleischer was quoted saying. “Producing albums, but marketing singles makes for an enormous business challenge.”

Fleischer’s idea was also echoed last November in a thoughtful interview published on the Harvard Business school’s faculty research website, Working Knowledge. HBS Associate Marketing Professor Anita Elberse summed, “Record labels have depended on album sales to boost profits. But in the digital music era, consumers prefer single songs over music ‘bundles.’ The result? It is time for the industry to rethink its products and prices.”

Anita Elberse

Elberse, using data from Nielsen SoundScan analyzed a sample of over 200 artists from Jan. 2005 to April 2007. “I analyzed the data using an econometric model that related the growth in online music buying to the revenues per bundle,” she explains.

“My research shows that when consumers start buying music online, they switch from buying full albums to cherry-picking their favorite songs on those albums. On average, each album no longer bought is ‘traded in’ for one, perhaps two, individual songs. And because song prices are relatively low—labels typically have to sell 8 to 10 digital songs to generate the same kind of revenues as they do with one digital album—this causes a sharp reduction in revenues over time.”

The Q&A article discusses a variety of factors including the effect that iTunes has had on the record industry, piracy, and the impact of strategic pricing. Find the interview HERE.