Aaron Tippin Keeps On Truckin’ With CB Contest

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trucker_logos_316_252Blue collar country singer Aaron Tippin has announced an innovative contest that promotes and expands on the trucking theme of his latest release, In Overdrive. In conjunction with mobile communications equipment merchandiser Barjan, CB Radio manufacturer Cobra, and Petro Truck Stops, Tippin has created a contest that recalls the days when CB radio was king. On Friday, April 17 at 7:30 PM/CT at the Petro truck stop in Kingston Springs, Tenn., Tippin will launch the Cobra Coast to Coast Contest with Aaron Tippin. He’ll send out a secret code to truckers to see how long it takes to send the message from coast to coast via CB radio. The first trucker to arrive and announce the secret pass code will receive the prize package which will include a Cobra CB Radio, a Cobra bluetooth wireless headset, and a special Aaron Tippin gift bag that includes CD, concert backstage passes, tee shirts, ball caps and more.

NY Times Profiles John Rich

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jrTuesday’s New York Times (3/31), includes a feature on Warner Bros. artist John Rich. In an article titled “Protest From the Right Side of Country,” Times writer Jon Caramanica interviews the singer about his latest single, “Shuttin’ Detroit Down,” describing the song as “shockingly topical” and indicative of Rich’s “acumen in gauging and channeling the mood of the country, aggressively striking a note of conservative populism rarely seen in any genre of pop since country music’s response to Sept. 11.” “It’s a particularly good time to be a conservative agitator,” Caramanica wrote, “and Mr. Rich is seizing the moment.” You can read the entire article here.

Ringbacks Up, Downloads Down Among Consumers

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npdTwo research studies released today (3/31), reveal some interesting trends in how consumers are interacting with music. A study conducted by Port Washington, New York-based market researchers the NPD Group finds that U.S. teens are listening to more music in more formats, but buying and sharing significantly less music. According to NPD, teens acquired 19 percent less music in 2008 than in 2007. CD purchasing fell 26 percent among teens, while paid digital downloads fell 13 percent. 32 percent of teens expressed discontent with the music that was available, while 24 percent of teens cited cutbacks in entertainment spending as another reason for the downturn in downloads. The number of tracks downloaded from peer-to-peer networks fell six percent, while the number of teens “borrowing” music, either to rip to a computer or burn to a CD, fell by 28 percent. NPD’s surveys also noted big jumps in teens’ usage of online listening sources and satellite radio in 2008.

“With popular music sites like Pandora, imeem, and MySpaceMusic complementing offerings by terrestrial and satellite radio, more teens may be feeling less compelled to buy music or share it with others,” said Russ Crupnick, Entertainment Industry Analyst NPD. “These declines could be happening due to a lack of excitement among teens about the music available, but it could also reflect a larger shift in the ways teens interact with music.”

bmiBut hold the phone. According to annual mobile music projections for the coming year from BMI, teens and other consumers do like to interact with music through ringback tones. BMI is predicting that ringback tones (those customized songs you hear when you call your mobile subscriber friend) will surpass $235 million in U.S. retail sales during 2009. That’s a 15 percent increase over BMI’s 2008 estimate and a 68 percent increase over 2007. BMI estimates that more than 10 million U.S. subscribers are signed up for ringback-tone services with their wireless carriers. Ringback tones are sold by all major carriers, with the vast majority of tones selling at $1.99. The fee allows the subscriber to use the tone for anywhere from 90 days to 12 months.

“We predict that ringback tones will hit a new high in 2009,” said Richard Conlon, Vice President, New Media & Strategic Development for BMI. “Mobile phones are a multi-format device and have become a distribution outlet for entertainment content for the consumer. It is a music use area that we see a continuing growth rate for.”

“The Price Is Right” Salutes ACMs

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price-is-rightCBS’s The Price Is Right and show host Drew Carey will celebrate the 44th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards with a special country-themed edition of the venerable daytime game show this Friday (4/3) at 10 AM/CT. The episode will feature appearances by ACM host Reba McEntire, ACM Top Female Vocalist nominee Heidi Newfield and guitarist Larry Mitchell. Each of the artists will present a prize in a “unique fashion,” and the product showcases will be country-themed.

Jeffrey Steele Takes Manhattan

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jeffrey-steeleNashville hit writer Jeffrey Steele performed at Joe’s Pub in New York City last Wednesday (3/25), and the New York Times was there. Times writer Jon Caramanica turned in a rave review of Steele’s hit-filled performance, praising the singer/songwriter’s storytelling skills and citing his “detail-rich and emotionally specific lyrics” and “brute skill rescuing even unappealing subject matter.” You can read the entire article here.

Reba’s “Strange” Widget

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Valory Music Company artist Reba McEntire will perform April 5 at the Academy of Country Music Awards, debuting her new single, “Strange” for the TV audience. Leading up to the performance, McEntire fans can hear a sneak preview of “Strange” via a special widget available at www.thevalorymusicco.com/reba. The widget also includes a countdown to the ACM Awards, a video message from McEntire and a link to pre-order “Strange.” The single will be also be available for purchase through Bandbox on Valory’s website immediately following McEntire’s ACM performance on Sunday evening. “Strange” will be available on iTunes beginning Monday, April 6.

McBride Program Helps Teens “Shine”

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Four-time CMA Female Vocalist of the Year Martina McBride has teamed with the National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline (NTDAH) in a new program called My Time to Shine, that was announced in conjunction with the release of her new album, Shine. As the mother of three daughters, McBride is passionate about the need to increase awareness about teen dating abuse and how to develop healthy relationships.

“Young people today have more opportunities to make decisions about their lives, and it places a lot of pressure on them early,” McBride said. “If we can help them to form healthy relationships at an earlier age in life, they will make better choices for life partners, and as a mom, I want to be part of that.”

My Time to Shine was developed for Martina’s Shine CD and tour around the concept that the teen years should be a young person’s time to shine, discover who they are how to have healthy relationships. Since releasing her chart-topping hit, “Independence Day” in 1994, McBride has been involved in fundraising for several programs that benefit women. The singer is promoting both the awareness program and the new CD with a slew of television appearances. In addition, McBride will speak out in public service announcements that will be shown at her concert venues when her tour begins in October. My Time to Shine merchandise will also be sold at McBride’s concerts to raise funds to benefit the teen helpline.

Black River’s Sarah Darling Goes To Video School

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Black River Music Group artist Sarah Darling is taking an innovative, hands-on approach to promoting the songs from her upcoming album, Every Monday Morning. The rollout of the album will include full-length videos for several tracks created by some of the top film schools in the country and overseen by veteran director Ryan Smith. Black River label head Jimmy Nichols reached out to several schools, settling initially on Scottsdale Community College in Scottsdale, Arizona and Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida. The schools’ film programs will be responsible for creating the video treatment and funding the production itself. Smith will spend time at each school, giving direction and access to his experience. The label and Smith will choose a winning treatment and then travel to the school, along with Darling, for the actual shoot. Editing will also be handled by the film school. According to Smith, this kind of “viral” promotional approach can benefit both the artist and the student.

“I know that we are going to be able to access some of the best students in the field and utilize their knowledge and creativity to create some fantastic music videos for Sarah,” he said. “The students will have a perfect ‘real-life’ situation to use this project for their course.”

Darling’s Every Monday Morning CD is set for release on June 16, with a digital release date of April 28.

ACM and CBS.com Spotlight Gloriana

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Country newcomers Gloriana have been tapped by the ACM to document their first trip to the Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas for an exclusive web series at CBS.com. The group will give fans a behind-the-scenes look at the days leading up to their first ACM experience, including a radio tour performance, their first time at the Grand Ole Opry and picking out their first tour bus for their upcoming tour with Taylor Swift. Gloriana: Road to the ACM Awards at CBS.com will feature several three-minute webisodes leading up to the . The Awards will be broadcast live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 5 at 7:00 PM/CT on the CBS Television Network. You can view Gloriana’s webisodes now at www.cbs.com/specials/acma.

American Idol Powers Country Sales

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This week’s SoundScan action centers on the amazing power of American Idol. Execs will recall that AI featured the Grand Ole Opry last week and more specifically, Randy Travis, Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley. So how did they do?

Probably no surprise to anyone, Carrie led the sales pack. Her duet with Randy Travis, “I Told You So,” performed on the show, was the week’s No. 8 most downloaded song with 106,361 sales. Carrie’s solo version of the track from her album also benefited, jumping up 24% and selling 19,445 units. Her AI theme song, “Home Sweet Home,” in its second week, sold 39,306 downloads a 65% drop, but still strong enough to be the No. 37 most downloaded track of the week. Fans also voted approval for Underwood by boosting sales of her Carnival Ride CD a healthy 59%.

Similarly, Warner Bros., took advantage of Randy Travis being on the show as “Artist Mentor.” They scheduled his CD release to coincide and were rewarded with a No. 3 showing on the Top Country Currents list for sales of 16,288 units. Travis’ fans perhaps are less digitally dominant since only 1,101 of those units were downloaded or 6.8%. (Carrie’s album downloads totaled 2,357 units or 12% of her total sales.)

Arista gambled for big results with Brad Paisley by introducing the new single “Then” on the show instead of performing a recent hit. Paisley’s song sold 64,127 units landing at No. 18 and about 42,000 units behind Carrie. However, if the AI intro helps to power the song up country radio charts then the bet will pay off.

Meanwhile off the AI beaten track, Rascal Flatts continued to get fans clicking as their second pre-release CD track, “Forever,” debuted this week with 46,551 unit sales. Bizniks will recall that last week the Lyric Street trio introduced “Here Comes Goodbye” setting a country digital debut sales record in the process. This week the song dropped 43% but still sold a whopping 72,326 units.

Wrapping up this week’s SoundScan sales pitch, country album sales are now off 16.9% YTD; overall all genre sales are off 13.6%.