Weekly Register: Kane Brown Tops Country Albums, Makes Two Entries On Country Digital Songs

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Kane Brown

Kane Brown‘s self-titled debut album moves from No. 5 to No. 1 this week on Nielsen’s country albums rankings (total consumption), with 15K. Brown was featured recently as part of the West Coast celebration of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest.

Thomas Rhett‘s Life Changes is at No. 2 with 14.9K (up from No. 4 last week), followed by Chris Stapleton‘s From A Room Vol. 2 with 14.7K (the album falls from No. 2 to No. 3 this week). Luke Bryan‘s What Makes You Country falls from No. 3 to No. 4 with 13K. Chris Stapleton’s Traveller is at No. 5 with 12K.

On the Country Digital Songs chart, Bebe Rexha (ft. Florida Georgia Line) top the chart with “Meant To Be” totaling 42K this week. Sam Hunt‘s “Body Like A Back Road” is at No. 2 with 24K, followed by Thomas Rhett’s “Marry Me” at No. 3 with 22K. Kane Brown notches the No. 4 and No. 5 slots, with “Heaven” at No. 4 with 15.5K and “What Ifs” (ft. Lauren Alaina) at No. 5 with 15K.

Information courtesy of Nielsen Soundscan.

Weekly Register: Taylor Swift, Garth Brooks, FGL Top Charts

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Taylor Swift‘s latest Big Machine Records album Reputation returned to No. 1 on Nielsen Soundscan’s overall albums chart, with 107K for the final chart week of 2017.

On the country albums rankings, Garth Brooks‘ Anthology Part 1 tops the chart this week, with 36K in total consumption. At No. 2 is Chris Stapleton‘s From A Room Vol. 2 with 33K, followed by Luke Bryan‘s What Makes You Country at No. 3 with 33K. Thomas Rhett‘s Life Changes is at No. 4 with 22K, followed by Kane Brown‘s self-titled album at No. 5, with 19K.

On the country digital songs chart, Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line‘s “Meant To Be” is at No. 1, with 52K. Thomas Rhett’s “Marry Me” is at No. 2, with 31K, and LANCO‘s “Greatest Love Story” is at No. 3 with 21K. Kane Brown ft. Lauren Alaina‘s “What Ifs” is at No. 4 with 21K. Sam Hunt‘s “Body Like A Back Road” is at No. 5 with 17K.

Information courtesy of Nielsen Soundscan.

Weekly Register: Luke Bryan Tops The Charts

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Luke Bryan. Photo: Eric Ryan Anderson

Luke Bryan‘s What Make You Country debuts at No. 1 on both Nielsen Soundscan’s country albums rankings and the overall Top 200 albums rankings, with 108K (99K album only). Chris Stapleton‘s From ‘A’ Room, Vol. 2 lands at No. 2 on the country albums rankings, with 47K, followed by Garth Brooks‘ Anthology at No. 3 with 35K, and Chris Stapleton‘s From ‘A’ Room, Vol. 1 at No. 4 with 19K.

Walker Hayes’ boom. debuts at No. 5 with 16K this week.

On the country digital songs chart, Bebe Rexha (ft. Florida Georgia Line) is at No. 1 with 25K. Red Marlow‘s rendition of Vince Gill’s “Go Rest High On That Mountain” is at No. 2 with 14K, followed by Thomas Rhett‘s new single “Marry Me” at No. 3 with 12K. LANCO‘s “Greatest Love Story” is at No. 4 with 12K, followed by Walker Hayes’ “You Broke Up With Me” at No. 5 with 10K.

 

Information provided by Nielsen Soundscan.

Paul Williams Named Reviver Entertainment Group VP, Marketing/Artist Development

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Paul Williams

Paul Williams has been named VP, Marketing/Artist Development of the Reviver Entertainment Group. Williams, who will report to Reviver Executive VP/GM Gator Michaels, will immediately take the reigns supporting Reviver single releases including the Reviver Entertainment Group/Blue Chair release “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright” from David Lee Murphy and Kenny Chesney, Reviver Records’ Michael Tyler cut “Hey Mama” and LOCASH’s upcoming single “Don’t Get Better Than That.”

Williams will start in his new role on Jan. 2, 2018. He will continue in his current role as Radio Editor for Country Aircheck through the end of the year. Williams previously handled Northeast Radio Promotion for Zac Brown’s Southern Ground Artists.

“Paul’s diverse background, gives Reviver and its artists an out of the box thinker who has a deep understanding of the marketplace,” said Founder and President/CEO David Ross. “He’s a brilliant creative mind whose expertise and leadership will ultimately benefit not only our staff, but most importantly the artists with whom we work.”

Williams moved to Nashville 13 years ago to work with the RCA Label Group as Sr. Director Strategic Marketing after serving as Program Director for KPLX in Dallas. He spent six years at Universal Studios in the Strategic Alliance Marketing Department. Before that he was Promotions Director for Top 40 radio stations in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Orlando and Charleston.

Beginning Jan. 2, he can be reached at paul@revivermusic.com or by phone at 615-715-7884. For now, he can be contacted at paulwilliams615@comcast.net.

Cumulus Media Launches Amazon Alexa Skills For 300 Local Stations

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Cumulus Media has launched Amazon Alexa skills for 300 local radio stations, Westwood One brands, plus the leading dedicated Christmas Radio Skill, Christmas Radio. This is the largest collection of custom skills available with Amazon Alexa in the U.S.

To sample a Cumulus local station skill, users can ask Alexa to enable a specific radio station skill (for example, for rock station KLOS, users can say, “Alexa, enable Ninety-Five Five, KLOS skill”). After the skill is enabled, users can then open the skill in Alexa.

Cumulus has also launched a national consumer marketing campaign designed to educate listeners on how to find and enable skills, fueled by local on-air, video and social promotion. Individual stations will create localized messaging that speaks directly to their unique listenership. The custom skills can be enabled vocally by using unique key phrases for each radio station; top Cumulus markets including New York City, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco, and Dallas stations are now available.

“Voice-interactive technology is bringing radio listening back into the home and office, and will enable interactivity with our stations in the connected car,” said Mike McVay, EVP, Programming and Content, Cumulus Media. “Our strategy to create a custom skill for individual radio stations and programs, while educating consumers, is critical as smart speakers have created an entirely new, and rapidly growing platform to consume audio content.”

“At an aggregated network level we will have access to valuable data and insights on this rapidly-evolving audio ecosystem,” said Suzanne Grimes, EVP, Corporate Marketing, Cumulus Media and President, Westwood One. “We are dedicated to educating, testing, and learning to evolve the listening experience for our listeners and brand partners.”

RCA Inspiration Names Damon Williams As VP, Marketing

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Damon Williams

RCA Inspiration has named Damon Williams as their new Vice President of Marketing, where the industry veteran will join the Nashville-based label in spearheading marketing initiatives for their roster, which includes hitmakers Kirk Franklin (Fo Yo Soul), Travis Greene, Israel Houghton, Donald Lawrence, Le’Andria, Donnie McClurkin, Jason Nelson, Marvin Sapp, Tasha Page-Lockhart (Fo Yo Soul), The Walls Group (Fo Yo Soul), William Murphy, Deon Kipping, Koryn Hawthorne and more.

Phil Thornton, RCA Inspiration, Sr. VP and General Manager, comments, “I am thrilled to welcome Damon Williams to our team here at RCA Inspiration in Nashville as the new VP of Marketing. I have known Damon for many years, and in working together on numerous projects in the past I am looking forward to continued collaboration with Damon joining the rest of our team, bringing his wide-ranging experience and creative ideas to highlighting the incredible artists and new records we have coming out for 2018.”

Helming projects that have taken him across the country, Damon Williams lands in Nashville following label stints with Entertainment One Music, Music World Entertainment, and Sony BMG, where his creative strategies and brand-building expertise have included multi-platform marketing campaigns, overseeing photo and video shoot projects, creative design, merchandise, special events and more, working with artists such as Shirley Caesar, Yolanda Adams, Ricky Dillard, Kirk Franklin, Marvin Sapp, John P. Kee, Vickie Winans, Trin-i-tee 5:7, among many others.

Beyond music, Williams’ career includes work in marketing various network and film projects includes HBO’s Game of Thrones, Oxygen’s Preachers of LA, Preachers of Detroit, and Fix My Choir, and the acclaimed films 12 Years A Slave and Black Nativity for Fox Searchlight Pictures. A native of New York, Damon Williams is a dual-degree graduate of Syracuse University and as a freelance writer, has also published articles in various Gospel and industry publications.

Sony Music Nashville Names Nicole Marinake As Sr. Director, Partnership Marketing

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Nicole Marinake

John Zarling, EVP, Marketing and New Business, Sony Music Nashville, has announced the appointment of Nicole Marinake to the position of Senior Director, Partnership Marketing, Sony Music Nashville. Reporting directly to Zarling, Marinake will lead strategic partnerships and brand initiatives for the label group. Her team will include current Sony Music Nashville Manager, Partnership Marketing Jamie Alberici.

“I am so excited about Nicole joining our Sony Nashville team!” remarks Zarling. “Over the past three years I have gotten to know Nicole’s work ethic through the One Night Only series she quarterbacked at MSG Sports & Entertainment. The stars aligned and the timing was right for her to come in and lead our brand partnership efforts. She will only make us stronger.”

“As my next chapter begins in Nashville, I am beyond excited to join the amazing team at Sony Music,” notes Marinake. “Thank you so much to Randy Goodman and John Zarling for the opportunity to work with this incredible roster of talent.”

Born in the Boston, MA area and raised in Clearwater/Tampa, FL, Marinake earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Graphic Design at the University of South Florida at St. Petersburg. Subsequently, she moved to New York City where she attended the School of Visual Arts and earned a Masters in Fine Arts.

Nicole Marinake started at Madison Square Garden in 2009 as a Graphic Designer, which evolved into one of the founding positions in the newly created Business Solutions team as part of MSG’s Marketing Partnerships. Under the MSG Sports umbrella, Marinake activated partnerships with artists including Taylor Swift, DNCE and Laura Marano before taking a full time position with MSG Live. As a Director of Partnership Development MSG Live, she spearheaded the creation and building of platforms including Anheuser-Busch One Night Only with marquee artists including Florida Georgia Line and Chase Sound Check emerging artist platform featuring artists AJR and RaeLynn.

Marinake can be reached at nicole.marinake@sonymusic.com.

Weekly Register: Taylor Swift, Garth Brooks Continue To Reign On Albums Chart

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Now in it’s third week of release, Taylor Swift‘s reputation has retained the top spot on the overall albums chart, bringing in an additional 147K units for a combined 1.58M moved in the US. On Friday, Dec. 1, reputation became available on streaming services, where it was previously limited to physical sales.

For the country albums charts, Garth Brooks moves to the No. 1 slot with his Anthology Part 1: The First Five Years box set, which debuted last week at No. 2 with 53K. This week the anthology, which comes with a 240-page book, moved 57K, for a combined 110K units to date. Tim McGraw and Faith Hill‘s duets project for Sony, The Rest Of Our Life, flip flops this week with Brooks, landing at No. 2 on the country chart with 24K, compared with 104K units moved last week when it debuted. Sitting at No. 3 for the second week is Blake Shelton‘s Texoma Shore, which saw 21K units moved this week for 130K cumulative sales. Thomas Rhett follows at No. 4 with Life Changes, at 16K this week, while Kane Brown notches the No. 5 sot with his self-titled project moving 14K.

Debut albums this week included Cole Swindell‘s Down Home Sessions IV with Warner, garnering 2.7K units while Jake Owen‘s Greatest Hits release from ex-label RCA broke out with 2.5K.

For the country single sales, the Florida Georgia Line feature with Bebe Rexha, “Meant To Be” sits at No. 1 with 25K this week, for a total of 404K since release. Down from the top spot last week at No. 2 is LANCO’s “Greatest Love Story,” moving 13K. The No. 3 song this week is Kane Brown duet with Lauren Alaina, “What If’s,” with 9.3K. Blake Shelton’s “I’ll Name The Dogs” sits at No. 4 with 9.1K while Chris Stapleton’s “Broken Halos” moved 8.4K.

The Voice contestant Red Marlow is the top country debut with his cover of Garth Brooks’ “The Dance” at No. 8 with 8.2K. In addition to Bebe Rexha, FGL also lends a hand to Big Loud artist Morgan Wallen‘s “Up Down,” which went for adds on Nov. 7 but has already garnered 32K in cumulative sales, 3.6K this week.

Information courtesy of Nielsen Soundscan.

Weekly Register: Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw & Faith Hill Top Albums Charts

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BMLG artist Taylor Swift retains her hold atop the Nielsen Soundscan overall albums chart, with reputation bringing in 256K in its second week. The album moved 1.238 million units in its first week just in the US.

Sony Music Nashville’s Tim McGraw and Faith Hill‘s first collaboration album, The Rest Of Our Life, debuts at No. 2 on the overall albums rankings, and at No. 1 on the country albums rankings, with 104K units moved in its debut week.

Garth Brooks‘ Anthology Part 1: The First Five Years debuts at No. 2 on the country albums chart (No. 4 overall) with 53K. Warner artist Blake Shelton‘s Texoma Shore is at No. 3 this week (No. 2 last week), with 33K. Sony artist Kane Brown‘s self-titled project is at No. 4 again this week, with 16K, followed by BMLG artist Thomas Rhett‘s Life Changes at No. 5, with 15K.

Other debuts this week include BBR artist Chase Rice‘s Lambs and Lions, debuting at No. 6 on the country albums chart with 15K. The BMG Tribute to Dan Fogelberg lands at No. 12 on the country charts, moving 7.9K.

On the country digital songs chart, LANCO’s “Greatest Love Story” tops the chart, rising from No. 3 last week to No. 1, with 16K sold this week (notching 391K to date). Tim McGraw and Faith Hill‘s album title track “The Rest of Our Life” is at No. 2 this week, with 14K. Chris Stapleton‘s “Broken Halos” lands at No. 3 (No. 2 last week) with 12K. Kane Brown‘s “What Ifs” (ft. Lauren Alaina) remains at No. 4 this week, with 11.9K.

Taylor Swift‘s “New Year’s Day” debuts at No. 5 on the country digital songs chart, with 11.4K.

Other notable debuts include Stapleton’s “Tryin’ To Untangle My Mind” which lands at No. 21 country with 6.1K. Meanwhile, Neal McCoy‘s “Take A Knee, My A**” jumps to No. 19 on the country digital songs chart, with 6.7K sold this week.

Information courtesy of Nielsen Soundscan.

Weekly Register: Taylor Swift’s ‘reputation’ Brings Her Fourth Debut-Week Million Seller

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Taylor Swift‘s sixth album for Big Machine Records, reputation, marks her fourth time notching more than 1 million in sales during an album’s debut week. reputation sold 1.238 million units, though the album was kept from streaming services. The title debuted at No. 1 on Nielsen Soundscan’s all-genre albums chart. This follows Swift’s first-week sales numbers for 2014’s 1989, which met with 1.287 million in sales during its first week. Her previous debut week million-sellers also include Red (1.208 million) and Speak Now (1.047 million).

Kenny Chesney tops this week’s country albums sales rankings (and at No. 9 overall), with Live In No Shoes Nation selling 33K. Last week the album was at No. 2, with 52K, following its debut week of 219K.

Last week’s No. 1 album, Blake Shelton‘s Texoma Shore, moved 32K this week to land at No. 2, down from 63K in its debut week.

Chris Stapleton‘s From A Room: Vol. 1 is at No. 3, with 17K, followed by Kane Brown‘s self-titled project at No. 4 with 15.6K. Stapleton lands a second album in the Top 5 this week, with Traveller at No. 5 with 15.5K.

Tracy Lawrence‘s Good Ole Days greatest hits, duet album debuts at No. 16 with 7.8K.

YouTube video

On the country streaming rankings, Keith Urban‘s new track “Female” tops the chart with 32K sold this week. He debuted the song on the recent CMA Awards airing. Chris Stapleton‘s “Broken Halos” also keeps riding the bump from his recent CMA Awards performance, with 17.5K sold this week. LANCO‘s “Greatest Love Story” moved 17K this week, followed by Kane Brown with “What Ifs” (ft. Lauren Alaina) moving 15K to land at No. 4. Thomas Rhett‘s “Unforgettable” rounds out the Top 5 with 13K.

The top country debut song this week is Danielle Bradbery‘s “Worth It,” which lands at No. 23, moving 5.9K.

Information courtesy Nielsen Soundscan.