Borman Entertainment Elevates Two on Digital Team

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Lucia Kaminsky

Borman Entertainment has promoted Lucia Kaminsky and Sarah D’Hilly on the company’s digital team. The move comes after Cameo Carlson, former Head of Digital and Business Development at Borman, announced her plans to launch mtheory Nashville.

Kaminsky joined the team last year as Director of Digital and has now been upped to Head of Digital. She began her career with Walt Disney Entertainment in Brazil and has held positions as Project Coordinator for The Recording Academy/Memphis Chapter and Strategic Partnerships at Warner Music Nashville. In her new role, she will continue to advocate on behalf of the Borman roster for new and partner programs via Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music, Google, Tidal, Facebook, and Snapchat and will also oversee content and business development.

Sarah D’Hilly has been elevated to Director of Digital Marketing, where she will oversee content strategy and digital press for the Borman roster. Previously serving as Fan Engagement Manager, D’Hilly has spent the last several years developing social media and eCommerce campaigns. She began her career with internships at Big Machine Label Group and New York-based boutique marketing company, People’s Revolution.

“Lucia and Sarah are a reflection of our investment in digital strategy and direct-to-fan engagement and have shown great commitment to our artists and mission. The channels of music discovery are ever evolving and I’m proud to continue our long history of mentoring and empowering the passionate while remaining at the forefront of marketing and technology,“ expressed Borman.

Sarah D’Hilly

Craig Shelburne Joins Richlyn Marketing In VP Role

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Craig Shelburne

Richlyn Marketing has hired Craig Shelburne in the newly-created role of Vice President.

Shelburne has been part of the Nashville music industry for 20 years. He comes to Richlyn Marketing following his roles as General Manager at MusicRow Magazine and Senior Editor at CMT.com. He is currently writing the first-ever biography of Country Music Hall of Fame member Don Gibson, whose songwriting credits include “Sweet Dreams,” “Oh Lonesome Me” and “I Can’t Stop Loving You.”

At Richlyn Marketing, Shelburne will be part of the account team for Songbirds Guitar Museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee; Blue Rose Music artist Gwyneth Moreland; folk ensemble The Nell Robinson & Jim Nunally Band; and singer-songwriter Lindi Ortega.

“Craig and I have worked closely together on projects many times over the years, and I have always been impressed with his ability to capture our clients’ spirit in his writing. His creative thinking and insightful management skills are a brilliant addition to our fast-growing team,” says company co-founder Kate Richardson.

“We are thrilled to have Craig part of our team! His knowledge of current and classic music is such an asset to Richlyn Marketing,” says company co-founder Lynn Tinsey.

“I have always been impressed with the integrity of Richlyn Marketing,” Shelburne says. “Because they represent the Don Gibson American Music Foundation, I was able to see firsthand how hard they work for their clients. After spending a few months conducting interviews and research for the biography, I am grateful and honored to join the company.”

In addition to contributing to a number of national music publications, Shelburne has written scripts for the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Awards for the last two years. He has written multiple program books for the Academy of Country Music Awards, the American Music Awards and the Billboard Music Awards. In 2015, he wrote songwriter profiles and selected archival footage for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s education series Words & Music.

A Nebraska native, he received a journalism degree from Belmont University in Nashville.

‘Billboard’ Adds Pandora Streaming To Its Charts

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Billboard and Pandora have announced that data from streaming service Pandora has been incorporated into data currently used to determine chart positions for songs on Billboard‘s Hot 100. The Hot 100 ranks the week’s most popular songs across all genres, determined by a formula blending track sales, radio airplay, and streaming, measured by Nielsen Music.

In addition, Pandora will also impact various streaming-based charts, and Hot 100 formula-based genre rankings such as Hot Country Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot Latin Songs, Hot Rock Songs and Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, among others.

Pandora data will be incorporated into the Billboard charts and revealed on Billboard.com on Tuesday, January 31 (for charts dated February 11).

The Billboard charts already reflect data from on-demand streaming services including Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Amazon and SoundCloud, as well as video on-demand platforms such as YouTube (including Vevo on YouTube), and streamed programming including Slacker, Google Radio, Napster and AOL Radio.

“Billboard’s unrivaled charts are the definitive source for ranking music popularity. For decades, the charts have acted as a place where both artists measure success and fans discover music,” says John Amato, co-president of The Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group. “Close to 80 million music lovers listen to Pandora every month and we look forward to bringing our brands together to incorporate Pandora’s data into our charts.”

Pandora Founder and CEO Tim Westergren, said, “Over the last few years, Pandora has shared more and more data with the music industry. We started with artists and managers, then direct deal label partners, and now Billboard for inclusion in the iconic Hot 100 chart. With each step along the way our partners have been shocked by the sheer size of Pandora’s audience. Pandora is now the #1 radio station in 87 U.S. markets and represents roughly 10 percent of all radio listening. With the inclusion of Pandora data, the Billboard charts that have guided listeners and been so central to the music industry for decades now reflect a truer measure of a song’s popularity today. I’m thrilled that the ‘Pandora effect’ will now be formally recognized in the industry’s gold standard for measurement.”

Billboard’s Top Country Albums Chart Among Those To Incorporate TEA, SEA

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Billboard‘s Top Country Albums chart is among its genre charts set to consider not only traditional album sales but track equivalent albums (TEA), equating to 10 digital track sales for one album, and streaming equivalent albums (SEA), equating 1,500 on-demand song streams to one album sale.

As reported by the publication Thursday (Jan. 26), the new metrics will be put in place for the Tuesday, Jan. 31 chart (dated Feb. 11, for the week ending Thursday, Jan. 26).

Additionally, Billboard will continue publishing pure album sales charts for the genres but the move will ensure the top-ranked titles each week on the genre albums charts will align as the top titles of those genres on the Billboard 200.

“We’ve been thrilled with the reception to the Billboard 200 album consumption methodology and how it reflects album popularity in today’s world, where music is accessible on so many platforms,” says Silvio Pietroluongo, VP of charts and data development at Billboard. “The conversion of genre album charts to consumption reinforces how this approach has become the accepted measure of album success.”

“Nielsen Music is committed to setting the industry standard for music measurement and reporting,” continues Erin Crawford, SVP entertainment and GM music at Nielsen. “Music Connect recently introduced genre album consumption charts and we’re excited to work with Billboard as they further adopt this methodology. As the leading music measurement service on the market, Music Connect will continue to present all of Billboard’s consumption, streaming, sales and airplay charts.”

Sales and streaming data is compiled by Nielsen Music. Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Amazon Music, Soundcloud, Slacker, Napster, Google Play, Groove Music and Medianet will all comprise the on-demand services reported.

This follows a successful 2014 move of the all-genre, Billboard 200 chart to a multi-metric ranking.

Billboard charts with updated consumption methodology:

Top Country Albums

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, plus:
-R&B Albums
-Rap Albums

Top Rock Albums, plus:
-Alternative Albums
-Hard Rock Albums
-Americana/Folk Albums

Top Latin Albums, plus:
-Latin Pop Albums
-Regional Mexican Albums
-Tropical Albums
-Latin Rhythm Albums

Top Dance/Electronic Albums

Top Gospel Albums

Top Christian Albums, plus:
-Christian/Gospel Albums

Soundtracks

Top Catalog Albums

Holiday Albums

Weekly Register: Sturgill Simpson Gets ‘SNL’ Jolt, Little Big Town Tops Tracks Chart

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Sturgill Simpson

Chris Stapleton‘s Traveller holds its spot atop the country albums chart this week, moving 9.8K units more. The project now boasts more than 1.8 million units sold. Keith Urban‘s Ripcord follows at No. 2, with 6K sold.

Sturgill Simpson‘s Sailor’s Guide To Earth jumps to No. 3, following his recent Saturday Night Live performance. The project sold 6K this week compared to 1.5K last week for a total of 165K units to date. Miranda Lambert‘s The Weight Of These Wings is at No. 4 this week, with 4.5K. Jason Aldean‘s They Don’t Know rounds out the Top 5, with 3.9K.

Chris Stapleton

This week’s top country album debut was The Infamous Stringdusters‘ Laws Of Gravity, which sold 1.2K and debuted at No. 26. Songwriter Natalie Hemby‘s Puxico debuted at No. 31, with 1K sold.

Overall album sales dipped 23.1 percent year to date, while overall digital album sales declined 25.8 percent. Country album sales have dropped 14.5 percent year to date, while country digital track sales have declined 27.9 percent.

On the country tracks chart, Little Big Town‘s No. 1 MusicRow CountryBreakout Chart single, “Better Man,” ascends to No. 1 in the rankings this week. The Taylor Swift-written piece amassed 27K units this week for a total of 362K to date. Keith Urban‘s “Blue Ain’t Your Color” follows with 27K sold this week. Jon Pardi‘s “Dirt On My Boots” is at No. 3 this week, with 19K units moved. Chris Stapleton‘s “Tennessee Whiskey” is at No. 4 with 13K, while Michael Ray‘s “Think A Little Less” rounds out the Top 5 with 13K.

Brantley Gilbert‘s latest single, “Rockin’ Chairs,” debuts at No. 27 on the country tracks chart, selling 6.2K.

Overall digital track sales declined 25 percent year to date, while country digital track sales have declined 24 percent year to date.

Nielsen 2016 Year-End Report: Country Garners 10 Percent Of Total Audio Consumption

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The country music format garnered 10 percent of total audio consumption in 2016, according to Nielsen’s 2016 year-end report. Rock was the top total audio consumption genre, with 29 percent, followed by R&B/Hip-Hop at No. 2 (22 percent), pop at No. 3 (13 percent), and country at No. 4.

Overall albums sales in the U.S. rose 3.1 percent from the previous year, from 543,800,000 to 560,700,000 units, although CD album sales dropped 16.3 percent and digital albums were down 20.1 percent. Vinyl sales increased 10 percent.

Chris Stapleton‘s Traveller was the only country project to make Nielsen’s 2016 Overall Top Albums list at No. 7 with 1,421,000. The list is based on U.S. album sales, track equivalent albums, and stream equivalent albums. Drake‘s Views landed at No. 1 on the overall list, followed by Adele‘s 25 at No. 2, and Beyonce‘s Lemonade at No. 3.

Meanwhile, Stapleton’s Traveller was the only country entry (at No. 4) on the 2016 Top Albums list, which is based solely on U.S. album sales for all genres. Traveller was also the only country entry (again at No. 4) on the Top Digital Albums list, with 447,000 sold.

For Top CD album sales, Traveller ranked at No. 3. Other country albums making the Top CD list include Garth Brooks‘ Ultimate Collection Exclusive at No. 4, Joey+Rory‘s Hymns at No. 6, and Blake Shelton‘s If I’m Honest at No. 9.

The country radio format landed at No. 4 on the tally of the Top 10 radio formats of 2016, behind News Talk Information, pop and AC. From January-November 2016, 7.4 percent of U.S. radio listeners in PPM markets aged 6+ were turned to a country or new country station during any 15-minutes period during the day.

Live music continues to be the dominant category for music spending by consumers, at 36 percent. Physical music ranked next with 11 percent of spending, followed by a 10 percent tie for satellite radio subscriptions and digital music spending.

BMLG To Launch Digital Video Platform

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Big Machine Label Group will soon launch a proprietary digital video platform, Big Machine TV, giving fans direct access to content featuring the label’s roster of artists. Video viewership on the new platform will count toward Nielsen’s consumption charts.

The platform will include music videos, exclusive interviews, announcements, and behind-the-scenes content for all of the label’s artists, including Taylor Swift, Reba, Tim McGraw, Florida Georgia Line, Thomas Rhett, and more. Each artist will have an individual channel on the platform, allowing fans and viewers to search for desired content easily.

“Big Machine has always pushed the envelope, and we found ourselves asking, ‘Is there a better way when it comes to syndicating our online content, pushing it onto social media, protecting it and ultimately monetizing it at the highest rate possible to benefit our artists?’” said BMLG President and CEO Scott Borchetta. “And the answer was ‘yes’. The Big Machine TV platform is an incredible tool to better serve our artists and their fans by delivering content when and how we want, all the while making sure the creators are compensated fairly.”

More details about the launch will be revealed in the coming weeks.

Weekly Register: Keith Urban, Chris Stapleton Top Charts

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Pictured: Keith Urban with songwriter Steven Lee Olsen, mix engineer Chris Lord Alge, and producing partner Dann Huff. Photo: Keith Urban/Twitter, Jan. 13, 2017.

Keith Urban tops the country digital tracks chart this week, with “Blue Ain’t Your Color” selling 27K units (719K total to date). On Spotify, the track has notched 25 million streams. Urban also takes the No. 2 spot on the country albums chart this week, with Ripcord.

Elsewhere on the country tracks chart, Chris Stapleton‘s “Tennessee Whiskey” lands at No. 2, notching 26K this week, for 1.010 million sold to date. Sam Hunt‘s “Drinkin’ Too Much,” which the singer-songwriter premiered on New Year’s Eve, debuts in the No. 3 spot with 26K (and 2 million Spotify streams). Little Big Town‘s “Better Man” comes in at No. 4 with 25K, followed by Jon Pardi‘s “Dirt On My Boots” at No. 5 (19K). The top 5 sales tracks this week are all Universal Music Group Nashville artists.

Rascal Flatts‘ “Yours If You Want It” debuts at No. 8 this week with 12K and 1 million Spotify streams.

On the overall digital tracks chart, Ed Sheeran has the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, with two new songs. “Shape of You” is at No. 1 with 231K, while “Castle on the Hill” lands at No. 2, with 165K.

Overall, digital track sales have decreased 25.7 percent year to date, while country digital track sales have declined 24.5 percent.

Chris Stapleton

On the country albums chart, Urban and Stapleton switch spots, with Stapleton’s Traveller taking No. 1 this week, with 12K. That puts the project at 1.792 million in sales to date.

Urban’s Ripcord follows at No. 2 with 6.2K. Miranda Lambert‘s The Weight of These Wings is at No. 3 with 5.3K, followed by Kane Brown‘s self-titled project at No. 4 (3.8K). Jason Aldean‘s They Don’t Know rounds out the Top 5 with 3.6K.

On the overall album sales chart, The Weeknd lands at No. 1 with 63K (14K album only). The soundtrack for La La Land makes a splash on the chart following the Golden Globes ceremony on Jan. 8. The album is at No. 2 with 42K (30K album only).

Overall album sales have declined 19.8 percent YTD, while overall digital album sales have declined 21.9 percent. Country album sales have declined 5.6 percent YTD, while country digital album sales have declined 16.4 percent YTD.

Information courtesy of Nielsen Soundscan.

Weekly Register: Chris Stapleton, Keith Urban Top Country Charts

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Chris Stapleton. Photo: Terry Wyatt/Webster PR

Chris Stapleton. Photo: Terry Wyatt/Webster PR

Chris Stapleton‘s Traveller returns to the top of the country albums rankings this week, with 11K sold. Those numbers put the album topping 1.781 million in sales to date.

Miranda Lambert‘s The Weight Of These Wings is at No. 2 with 7.8K sold. Keith Urban‘s Ripcord lands at No. 3, with 7.7K sold, followed by Blake Shelton‘s If I’m Honest at No. 4, with 7.5k sold. Jason Aldean‘s They Don’t Know is at No. 5 with 6.2K.

Garth Brooks‘ Ultimate Hits remains in the top spot on the Country catalog chart, selling 4.7K this week, for total sales of 2.648 million.

Overall album sales are down 15.2 percent year to date, while overall digital album sales are down 16.9 percent year to date. Country album sales have decreased 1.8 percent, while country digital album sales declined 15.1 percent year to date.

Keith Urban

Keith Urban

On the digital track sales chart, Urban’s “Blue Ain’t Your Color” remains in the top slot, with 32K sold, for a total of 692K to date. Little Big Town‘s “Better Man” is at No. 2, with 26K, while Jon Pardi‘s “Dirt On My Boots” lands at No. 3, with 21K. Florida Georgia Line‘s “May We All” featuring Tim McGraw is at No. 4, with 19K, while Little Big Town‘s 2015 hit “Girl Crush” remains in the Top 5 this week with 18K sold, following last week’s return to the chart.

Brantley Gilbert‘s “Outlaw In Me” debuts at No. 29 country (No. 119 overall), with 7K sold.

Overall track sales have declined 25.7 percent year to date, while country track sales have decreased 26.1 percent YTD.

Information provided by Nielsen Soundscan.

Weekly Register: Garth Brooks Dominates, “Girl Crush” Makes A Comeback

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garth-brooks

Garth Brooks

ALBUM SALES

Garth Brooks dominated the country albums chart for the last week of 2016, with his Ultimate Collection Target exclusive selling 31K (421K release to date). As the collection included 10 discs, that translates to 4,210,000 total units, by RIAA standards.

Miranda Lambert‘s double album, The Weight of These Wings, landed at No. 2, moving 18K this week, for 241K to date (482,000 units by RIAA standards).

Chris Stapleton‘s Traveller moved 15K (183K RTD) to land at No. 3 this week, while the Garth takes another spot in the Top 5, with his Christmas Together project with Trisha Yearwood moving 15K (183K RTD) and landing at No. 4. Keith Urban’s Ripcord moves 12K this week, for 412K RTD. The Capitol Nashville/Hit Red Records project rounds out the Top 5 this week.

Vocal group Pentatonix tops the last album chart of the year, with Christmas selling 101K.

Overall album sales are down 16.8 percent year to date, while overall digital album sales have declined 20.3 percent. Country album sales have declined 3.3 percent, while country digital album sales have declined 15.6 percent.

TRACK SALES

Keith Urban

Keith Urban

Keith Urban‘s “Blue Ain’t Your Color” tops the country tracks this week, with 48K sold, for a total of 660K RTD. Florida Georgia Line (ft. Tim McGraw) follow at No. 2 with “May We All” selling 30K (448K RTD).

Little Big Town‘s smash hit “Girl Crush” returns to the Top 5 digital tracks rankings this week, landing at No. 3 and moving 30K, for a total of 2.3 million in sales to date. The group’s current single, “Better Man,” sits just outside the Top 5 this week, at No. 6, with 27K sold (282K RTD).

Brett Young‘s “Sleep Without You” lands at No. 4 this week, with 29K sold (343K RTD). Jon Pardi’s “Dirt On My Boots” rounds out the Top 5 country digital tracks, moving 28K this week, for 191K sold RTD.

Overall digital track sales declined 24.9 percent year to date, while country track sales declined 23.2 percent YTD.

Information is provided courtesy of Nielsen Soundscan.