Pandora Teams With Goldenvoice To Livestream Stagecoach Country Music Festival

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Pandora has teamed with Goldenvoice to host an exclusive livestream of performances from the upcoming Stagecoach Country Music Festival, slated for April 28-30 in Indio, California.

Performances and artist interviews will be available throughout the festival at pandora.com/stagecoachfestival. The station will be co-hosted by Pandora’s country, rock and Americana curators, Rachel Whitney and Eric Shea.

“With over 60 million listeners every year, Country fans are one of the biggest, most engaged and loyal audiences on Pandora,” said Nick Bartle, chief marketing officer at Pandora. “Partnering with Goldenvoice to livestream one of Country’s biggest events allows us to connect our listeners with this year’s amazing lineup of talent at Stagecoach for three days of exclusive live performances and content.”

Pandora’s audio livestream will feature the following performances:

Friday, April 28:
Dierks Bentley, Cole Swindell, Randy Houser, Jon Pardi, Maddie & Tae, Elle King, Randy Rogers Band, Son Volt, William Michael Morgan, Justin Townes Earl, Anderson East, Dylan Scott, Ryan Hurd, Quiet Life, Bailey Bryan

Saturday, April 29:
Brett Eldredge, Kip Moore, Willie Nelson and Family, Maren Morris, Dan + Shay, Jamey Johnson, Margo Price, Tucker Beathard, Nikki Lane, Robert Ellis, Brent Cobb, John Doe, Traveller, Jonathan Tyler, Brooke Eden, The Walcotts, Ruston Kelly, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Black Pistol Fire, Jackie Lee

Sunday, April 30:
Thomas Rhett, Tyler Farr, Cam, Cowboy Junkies, The Cadillac Three, Wynonna & The Big Noise, Terry Allen, Steep Canyon Rangers, Cody Johnson, Luke Combs, Kiefer Sutherland, LANco, Levi Hummon, Courtney Cole, Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors, Dan Layus

Weekly Register: Chris Stapleton’s “Broken Halos” Makes Strong Debut

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Capitol Nashville artist Keith Urban‘s Ripcord is again at No. 1 this week on the Nielsen Soundscan current country album chart. Ripcord sold 8.5K this week.

UMG Nashville artists take the top two spots on the country album chart this week, as Mercury Nashville artist Chris Stapleton‘s Traveller is at No. 2, with 6.7K sold this week. To date, Traveller has sold 1.9 million units. The album’s follow up, From A Room: Vol. 1, is set to release next month.

Joey Martin Feek‘s If Not For You falls from No. 2 to No. 3 this week, with 6.6K sold.

RCA Nashville/Vanner artist Miranda Lambert‘s The Weight Of These Wings sold 5.6K, while Nash Icon’s Reba rounds out the Top 5, with her album Sing It Now: Songs of Faith and Hope selling 5.3K this week.

On the top digital tracks rankings, Sam Hunt‘s “Body Like A Back Road” is again the top country track, selling 70K. Chris Stapleton’s new single, “Broken Halos,” debuts in the second spot, selling 37.3K. Brett Young‘s “In Case You Didn’t Know” comes in third with 31.7K.  Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood‘s “The Fighter” follows, with 27.7K.  Luke Combs‘ “Hurricane” rounds out the Top 5, selling 21.1K.

Information provided by Nielsen Soundscan.

Weekly Register: Keith Urban, Sam Hunt Top Sales Charts

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Keith Urban’s Ripcord continues to resonate with fans, as he had the top-selling country album of the week with 11,000 sold, followed by Joey Feek‘s If Not For You with a debut of 10K, Miranda Lambert‘s The Weight of These Wings  at 9.7K, The Lacs’ American Rebelution at 8.4K, and Reba‘s Sing It Now at 8.2K.

Sam Hunt

On the singles side, Sam Hunt has the hottest-selling country track this week with 61K copies sold of his new smash, “Body Like A Back Road,’ which is now at 677K year-to-date. Trailing Hunt in top single sales for the week are Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood‘s “The Fighter” at 29K, Brett Young‘s “In Case You Didn’t Know” at 28K, Thomas Rhett and Maren Morris‘ “Craving You” at 19K, and Miranda Lambert with “Tin Man” at 19K.

Overall digital track sales are down 24.3 percent for the year, while country track sales are down 23.3 percent.Information provided via Nielsen Soundscan.

Weekly Register: Artists See Post-ACM Awards Sales Bumps

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Miranda Lambert. Photo: Becky Fluke

The recent Academy of Country Music Awards resulted in sales bumps for several performers.

Miranda Lambert‘s The Weight Of These Wings moved to No. 1 on the Nielsen Soundscan country albums rankings, moving 23K this week (318K RTD). Her sales increased 946 percent after her performance of “Tin Man” on the awards show.

Keith Urban, who performed both “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” as well as “The Fighter” alongside Carrie Underwood, saw his sales increase 87 percent (Underwood’s sales increased 68 percent). His album Ripcord, lands at No. 2 this week on the country albums chart, with 17K sold.

Trace Adkins‘ debut release on Wheelhouse Records (BBR Music Group), Something’s Going On, debuts at No. 3 country, selling 13K.

Reba, who collaborated with CCM performer Lauren Daigle on “Back To God,” is at No. 4 this week. Her album Sing It Now sold 10K this week. She saw a 72 percent increase in sales after her ACM performance.

Meanwhile, Chris Stapleton, who performed his new track “Second One To Know,” sees his album Traveller round up the Top 5 with 8.6K.

Other debuts include Rodney Crowell‘s New West Records debut Close Ties at No. 8 on the country albums rankings with 5.1K sold. The Mavericks debut at No. 10 country with Brand New Day selling 4.9K, while Dailey & Vincent debut at No. 44 with Patriots and Poets, selling 846.

Sam Hunt

On the country digital tracks rankings, every song in the Top 5 was performed during the recent ACM Awards.

Sam Hunt continues to hold on to the No. 1 country digital track slot, with “Body Like A Back Road” selling 70K this week.

Thomas Rhett‘s new single “Craving You” (featuring Maren Morris), debuts at No. 2, with 54K. Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood‘s “The Fighter” is at No. 3, with 53K. Miranda Lambert’s “Tin Man” is at No. 4, with 45K, while Lady Antebellum‘s “You Look Good” is at No. 5 with 41K.

Overall digital track sales are down 24.1 percent YTD, while country digital track sales are down 22.6 percent YTD.

Information provided by Nielsen Soundscan.

BMLG Names Matt Brum As Director, Digital Strategy and Social Media

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Matthew Brum

Big Machine Label Group has added Matt Brum as Director, Digital Strategy and Social Media, effective immediately. Brum will report to BMLG CMO Mike Rittberg and be responsible for engineering digital and social strategies for Big Machine Records, The Valory Music Co., BMLG Records and Nash Icon Records.

“We are so excited to be having Matt join the Big Machine family,” shared Rittberg. “He lives the ‘digital world’ and we look forward to having his passion help drive our artists to the next level.”

Brum most recently served as Social Media Manager for the Grand Ole Opry where he created content for the Opry’s more than 1.5 million followers. A graduate of the University of Rhode Island, Brum moved to Nashville in 2012.

“It has been my privilege to be a member of the Grand Ole Opry family and to be a part of the Opry story,” shared Brum. “I am ecstatic to begin this new journey with Big Machine Label Group and to continue to build upon BMLG’s solid foundation, innovative approach and unprecedented impact on our industry. I am humbled and honored to work alongside Mike and the incredible BMLG team. I am looking forward to utilizing my strengths and talents to take the label group and its artists to the next level.”

Weekly Register: RaeLynn’s ‘WildHorse’ Races To No. 1

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Warner Music Nashville’s RaeLynn debuted at the top of the Nielsen Soundscan country album rankings this week with WildHorse moving 16K. See MusicRow‘s interview with RaeLynn about the new project here.

Keith Urban‘s Ripcord pushes past the 500K RTD mark, with 9.3K sold this week. He lands at No. 2.

Chris Stapleton‘s Traveller moved 6.1K this week, coming in at No. 3, followed by Reba‘s Sing It Now, which moved 5.9K to settle at No. 4.

Little Big Town‘s The Breaker rounds out the Top 5 with 5.4K sold.

Other major label debuts this week come from Lindsay Ell, whose Worth The Wait EP lands at No. 9 on the country album rankings, with 4.4K. BMLG band Delta Rae debuts at No. 39 with A Long and Happy Life EP selling 931.

Last week, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill‘s latest single, “Speak To A Girl,” debuted at country radio on Thursday (March 30), just hours before the sales week ended. This week, the single moved from No. 20 to No. 2 on the country digital tracks rankings, selling 44K.

Sam Hunt’s “Body Like A Back Road” continues its reign atop the country digital tracks rankings, with 59K sold for a RTD total of 546K. Brett Young‘s “In Case You Didn’t Know” is at No. 3, with 26K sold this week. Jon Pardi‘s “Dirt On My Boots” is at No. 4, with 23K. Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood‘s “The Fighter” rounds out the Top 5, with 22.5K.

The top debut comes from Young, with “Mercy” landing at No. 43 on the country tracks rankings and selling 3.5K.

Overall digital track sales are down 23.8 percent YTD, while country digital track sales are down 22.3 percent YTD.

Information provided by Nielsen Soundscan.

RIAA Report: U.S. Music Industry Reports First Double Digit Gains In Nearly Two Decades

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The RIAA has released Facts & Research on 2016 in a recent report from Sr. VP, Strategic Data Analysis, RIAA Joshua P. Friedlander.

Tracking shipment and revenue, the American association notes 22.6 million streaming subscriptions helped the new model (including Spotify, TIDAL, and Apple Music, Pandora, SiriusXM, YouTube, Vevo services) overtake all other formats for the first time, generating the majority of industry revenues. Overall estimated retail revenues grew 11.4 percent from $6.9 billion to $7.7 billion. Revenues are still only about half what they were in 1999, however.

Streaming grew 17 percent from 2015. No format grew more than paid subscription revenue, which more than doubled, up 114 percent to $2.5 billion.

Sales of digital tracks and albums declined faster than in any previous year from 2016. Individual track sales revenue was down 24 percent, and digital album revenue was down 20 percent but saw the highest share of the download total in history.

Despite this positive news, our “recovery is fragile and fraught with risk,” as RIAA Chairman/CEO Cary Sherman explained in commentary to Medium.

James Donio, President of the Music Business Association (Music Biz), also released a comment on the report, which he described as illuminating a promising path forward. “Altogether, these numbers prove that U.S. consumers remain hungry for music and point toward a future in which digital and physical work together to meet the needs of all music lovers.”

Braden Carney Named Head of Digital At UpgradeMedia

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Former Big Machine Label Group Director of Marketing and Social Media Braden Carney is exiting the label to head the digital department at UpgradeMedia.

Carney has been with BMLG for six years and worked on 20 chart-topping albums during his time with the label.

“While at Big Machine, Braden’s work assisted 20 No. 1 albums! I wanted the best to run Social at UpgradeMedia. Braden, who managed over 223 million followers on Facebook and Twitter alone, brings platinum social performance to our clients.” said Jason Nunnelley, CEO of UpgradeMedia.

“Big Machine has been my home for the past six years and I couldn’t be more grateful for the incredible ride. It has been an honor to work with Scott Borchetta, Kelly Rich and the rest of the BMLG team – their guidance and friendship mean the world to me,” Carney said. “The music and magic that has come out of that building is unlike any other and I look forward to witnessing their continued success.”

Carney can now be reached at [email protected].

 

Weekly Register: Alison Krauss Tops Country Album Chart, Tim and Faith Offer Top Debut Single

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Alison Krauss

Alison Krauss‘ Windy City sits atop the country albums chart this week, with 7.4K sold. She rises to the top from last week’s rank at No. 4.

Little Big Town‘s The Breaker remains at No. 2 this week with 7.3K units sold, followed by Reba‘s Sing It Now: Songs of Faith & Hope, which remains at No. 3 this week, with 6.9K. Keith Urban‘s Ripcord jumps from No. 6 to No. 4, with 6.7K sold. Chris Stapleton‘s Traveller rounds out the Top 5 again this week, with 6K.

The top debut on the country album chart is Jessie James Decker’s EP Gold, selling 1.6K and coming in at No. 25.

Tim McGraw and Faith Hill‘s new single, “Speak To A Girl,” is this week’s top debut on the country digital tracks chart, at No. 29, with 5.4K sold. The track released mid-day on Thursday, the last day of the sales week to count for Soundscan rankings.

Country group Midland‘s “Drinkin’ Problem,” moves from No. 50 to No. 14 on the country tracks chart, selling 8.7K this week.

Sam Hunt also continues to dominate with “Body Like A Back Road” at No. 3 overall and No. 1 country, selling 61K (487K RTD). Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood‘s “The Fighter” is at No. 2, with 25K. Brett Young‘s “In Case You Didn’t Know” follows at No. 3, with 24K, while Jon Pardi‘s “Dirt On My Boots” ranks at No. 4 with 22K. Little Big Town‘s “Better Man” rounds out the Top 5 this week, with 19K.

Overall digital track sales are down 23.1 percent YTD, while country digital track sales are down 21.3 percent YTD.

Information provided by Nielsen Soundscan.

Weekly Register: Little Big Town, Aaron Watson Reign On Country Albums Chart

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New albums from Little Big Town and Aaron Watson take the top two spots on the country albums chart this week.

Capitol Nashville group Little Big Town’s The Breaker debuted at No. 1 country (No. 4 overall), with 44K. They also land at No. 6 on the overall digital albums chart.

Independent artist Aaron Watson’s Vaquero debuts at No. 2 (No. 10 overall), with 37K. Watson also debuts at No. 1 on the independent album chart, and No. 2 on the overall digital album chart.

Other albums in the top 5 on the country albums chart are Garth Brooks‘ Ultimate Collection Exclusive, with 27K, putting the collection at over 500K sold to date.

Alison Krauss‘ Windy City is at No. 4, with 16K, while Reba McEntire‘s Sing It Now rounds out the top 5, with 12K sold.

Sam Hunt

On the Digital Tracks chart, Sam Hunt‘s “Body Like A Back Road” is the top country entry, with 62K (309K RTD). Little Big Town‘s “Better Man” moved 29K to land at No. 2, with 213K RTD.

Jon Pardi‘s “Dirt On My Boots” is at No. 3, with 22K, followed by Keith Urban ft. Carrie Underwood‘s “The Fighter” at No. 4, with 21K. Florida Georgia Line‘s “God, Your Mama, and Me” rounds out the Top 5 country digital tracks, moving 20K this week.

This week’s top country debut is Brett Eldredge‘s “Somethin’ I’m Good At,” landing at No. 7 country and No. 47 overall, moving 15K.