Sales/Marketing Archives - Page 26 of 175

SMACK Promotes Robert Carlton To Sr. VP, Project Development

October 3, 2016/by Jessica Nicholson

Robert Carlton

SMACK’s Robert Carlton has been promoted to the role of Sr. VP, Project Development. He will be responsible for the production management of Shane McAnally-produced acts including Old Dominion, Sam Hunt, Kacey Musgraves, Jake Owen, Kelsea Ballerini and the new music of Midland and Brandon Lay.

In addition, he will continue to manage hit-songwriters/SMACKSongs partners McAnally and Josh Osborne and will perform day-to-day artist management for SMACK artists Walker Hayes and JoSMITH.

Carlton has spent the past two years as a Sr. Creative Manager at affiliated publishing company SMACKSongs, representing hit songwriters/SMACK partners McAnally and Osborne. An MTSU graduate, he had earlier interned at SMACK and worked with Black River Publishing whose roster included Osborne and Ballerini.

“I’m blessed to work with so many individuals that I admire both professionally and personally,” says Carlton. “I’m extremely passionate about all of the music coming out of SMACK, so I’m honored that they’ve entrusted me with this new role. I’m excited for the challenges that lie ahead and for SMACK’s continued success.”

McAnally adds, “SMACK’s productivity and reach have grown immeasurably since Robert started at SMACK a little over two years ago. His eye for talent, his taste in music and his passion for songwriters and artists is second to none. This new level of responsibility and opportunity is a no brainer, given the generosity and work ethic he has shown since day one.”

Carlton will continue to report to Chief Operating Officer, Michael McAnally Baum, who says, “Robert is among the best and brightest in the music industry. He has made a huge contribution to SMACK’s current success and we are proud to promote him to a position of responsibility that reflects his talent and gives him the opportunity to excel.”

Weekly Register: Luke Bryan’s ‘Farm Tour’ Tops Country Album Chart

October 3, 2016/by Jessica Nicholson

Luke Bryan‘s Farm Tour…Here’s To The Farmer tops the country albums chart this week (and lands at No. 4 on the overall albums rankings) for its debut, with 32K sold. Jason Aldean‘s latest, They Don’t Know, follows at No. 2 with 21K, 185K RTD. Florida Georgia Line‘s Dig Your Roots lands at No. 3 this week, with 21K, surpassing the 200K mark since its Aug. 26 release.

Last week’s No. 1, Aaron Lewis‘ Sinner, drops to No. 4 this week, with 9.5K, nearing it to a total of 50K. Chris Stapleton‘s Traveller rounds out the Top 5 this week, with 9.4K, and a total approaching 1.6M.

Top country debuts this week also include Dwight Yoakam‘s Swimming Pools, Movie Stars, landing just outside the top 5, ranking at No. 6 with 8.8K. Bradley Walker lands at No. 9 with Call Me Old-Fashioned moving 4.5K. Reckless Kelly‘s Sunset Hotel is at No. 12, with 3.8K sold. William Clark Green lands at No. 31 with Live At Gruene Hall selling 1.1K.

Overall album sales are down 14.6 percent year to date, while overall digital album sales have declined 19.5 percent. Country album sales have dropped 8.2 percent year to date, while country digital album sales have declined 13 percent.

The Country Music Association’s event song, “Forever Country,” remains atop the country tracks rankings in its second week of release, selling 61K (155K RTD).

Keith Urban’s “Blue Ain’t Your Color” lands at No. 2 this week, with 31K. Kenny Chesney (featuring Pink)’s “Setting The World On Fire” lands at No. 3 with 26K. Florida Georgia Line holds the final two slots in this week’s Top 5, with “May We All” (featuring Tim McGraw) selling 21K and landing at No. 4, and “H.O.L.Y.” landing at No. 5, selling 19K.

The top debut single is Hunter Hayes’ “Yesterdays Song,” landing at No. 29 on the country tracks rankings with 5.8K.

Overall digital track sales are down 24.7 percent YTD, while country track sales are down 22.8 percent.

Sam Hunt Named NMPA’s Top Songwriter For August

September 30, 2016/by Jessica Nicholson

Sam Hunt

The National Music Publishers’ Association has revealed the top songwriters, along with 227 certifications of hit songs for August as part of its Gold & Platinum program, which identifies and honors songwriters of RIAA-certified hits. The RIAA counts both sales and on-demand streams toward its gold (500K), platinum (1 million), and multi-platinum (2 million+) thresholds.

Sam Hunt was named the top songwriter, with seven certifications for “House Party,” “Take Your Time,” “Leave the Night On,” and “Break Up in a Small Town,” all certified multi-platinum. “Make You Miss Me” has been certified platinum and gold, while “Ex to See” has been certified gold.

The second top songwriter with four certifications is Halsey, whose song “New Americana” has been certified platinum. Meanwhile, “Colors,” “Gasoline” and “Hold Me Down” have all been certified gold.

The top publishers honored include:

SONY/ATV Music Publishing: 56 certifications
Gold: 29
Platinum: 15
Multi-Platinum: 12

Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG): 53 certifications
Gold: 21
Platinum: 11
Multi-Platinum: 21

Warner/Chappell: 41 certifications
Gold: 19
Platinum: 11
Multi-Platinum: 11

Kobalt Music: 14 certifications
Gold: 3
Platinum: 5
Multi-Platinum: 6

SONGS Music Publishing: 13 certifications
Gold: 5
Platinum: 5
Multi-Platinum: 3

BMG: 13 certifications
Gold: 5
Platinum: 5
Multi-Platinum: 3

Black River Entertainment: 10 certifications
Gold: 4
Platinum: 4
Multi-Platinum: 2

Big Deal Music: 6 certifications
Gold: 2
Platinum: 2
Multi-Platinum: 2

Downtown Music Publishing: 5 certifications
Gold: 4
Multi-Platinum: 1

peermusic: 4 certifications
Gold: 2
Platinum: 2

The Administration MP: 4 certifications
Platinum: 1
Multi-Platinum: 3

Atlas Combustion Music Publishing 3 certifications (Multi-Platinum)

The Royalty Network: 2 certifications (Multi-Platinum)

ole music mangement: 2 certifications
Platinum: 1
Gold: 1

Domino Music Publishing: 1 certification (Gold)

Big Yellow Dog: 1 certification (Gold)

Round Hill Music: 1 certification (Gold)

Ultra Empire Music: 1 certification (Gold)

Weekly Register: Florida Georgia Line Lands No. 1 Country Album

September 6, 2016/by Jessica Nicholson

Florida Georgia Line‘s third BMLG album, Dig Your Roots, debuted atop the country albums chart this week with 126K album sold. The project also lands at No. 2 on the overall chart with 145K units of combined sales and streaming. It’s bested only by Barbra Streisand‘s Encore, Movie Partners, which sold 148K, and had combined units of 149K.

On the country albums chart, Dolly Parton‘s Pure & Simple moves down one spot to No. 2, with 13K sold. Chris Stapleton‘s Traveller is at No. 3, with 12K. Blake Shelton‘s If I’m Honest lands at No. 4 with 8.2K, and Justin Moore‘s Kinda Don’t Care rounds out the Top 5 with 7.7K.

Overall, album sales have declined 14.7 percent YTD, while overall digital album sales have declined 19.4 percent. Country album sales are down 9 percent YTD, while country digital album sales are down 14.5 percent.

Collaborations abound in the country tracks rankings this week. On the top country tracks rankings, Kenny Chesney‘s collaboration with Pink, “Setting The World On Fire,” is No. 1, with 32K sold, and 223K sold to date. Florida Georgia Line’s collaboration with Tim McGraw, “May We All,” is at No. 2, with 26K. Miranda Lambert‘s “Vice” sits at No. 3 with 24.5K, while Dierks Bentley‘s duet with Elle King, “Different For Girls,” is at No. 4 with 21K. Florida Georgia Line’s second entry rounds out the top 5, with “H.O.L.Y.” moving 19.5K this week.

Jason Aldean‘s latest single, “The Way a Night Should Feel,” debuts just outside the top 5, at No. 6 on the country tracks rankings and moving 18.5K.

Overall track sales have declined 24.9 percent YTD, while country track sales have declined 23.2 percent YTD.

Weekly Register: Dolly Parton Tops Country Album Chart

August 29, 2016/by Jessica Nicholson

The indefatigable Dolly Parton has been hard at work promoting her Pure & Simple album, both on tour and in the press. The effort has paid off, with Pure & Simple taking the pinnacle of the country albums chart this week (and No. 11 overall), selling 20K.

Other Top 5 country debuts this week include Texas-based artist Casey Donahew, whose All Night Party lands at No. 3 on the country albums rankings (and No. 40 overall), selling 11.5K. BMLG artist Drake White‘s Spark debuts at No. 4 this week (and No. 34 overall), with 10.6K sold.

Closing out the top 5 are Chris Stapleton‘s Traveller at No. 2 with 12K sold, and Justin Moore‘s Kinda Don’t Care, which drops from topping last week’s album chart to No. 5 this week, selling 10.4K.

Actor/singer Kiefer Sutherland‘s Down In A Hole project comes in at No. 35 on the country charts this week, with 1.3K.

Frank Ocean‘s Blond project tops the overall albums chart this week, with 276K (232K album only).

Overall album sales are down 14.9 percent YTD, while overall digital album sales are down 19.6 percent. Country album sales have declined 9.7 percent, while country digital sales have shrunk 15.6 percent YTD.

Florida Georgia Line with Backstreet Boys’ member Nick Carter (center). Photo: Nick Carter/Instagram

Florida Georgia Line continues to dominate the country tracks rankings, with “H.O.L.Y.” taking the top spot this week with 34K sold. Meanwhile, the duo’s collaboration with The Backstreet Boys, “God, Your Mama, and Me,” debuts at No. 5 this week (No. 28 overall), with 25K. The debut is the top debut, both on the country and overall charts.

Rounding out the country Top 5 digital tracks are Kenny Chesney‘s collaboration with Pink, “Setting The World On Fire,” at No. 2, with 32K. Miranda Lambert‘s “Vice” lands at No. 3, with 25K.

Meanwhile, Dan + Shay‘s “From The Ground Up” is at No. 4, with 25K. That sales number pushes the track to 504K sold to date.

On the overall chart, The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey remain on top, with “Closer” selling 143K, for 1.132 million RTD.

Information courtesy Nielsen Soundscan.

Weekly Register: Justin Moore Debuts At No. 1, Cody Jinks And Dylan Scott Make Top 5 Album Debuts

August 22, 2016/by Jessica Nicholson

Valory Music Co. artist Justin Moore‘s latest album may be titled Kinda Don’t Care, but his fans certainly cared about his new release, enough to propel the project into this week’s top spot on the country albums chart, and No. 4 on the overall chart. Kinda Don’t Care moved 37K albums and 42K combined units of sales and streaming.

The Top 5 country albums chart included two more debuts this week. Metal thrasher-turned-outlaw country singer Cody Jinks‘ independent project I’m Not The Devil landed at No. 4 on the country albums chart, with 11K. Curb Records artist Dylan Scott‘s self-titled project debuted at No. 5, with 9.1K sold.

Blake Shelton‘s If I’m Honest holds down the No. 2 spot on the country albums chart, with 16K, while Chris Stapleton‘s Traveller is at No. 3 with 12K.

Overall album sales are down 15.2 percent this week YTD, while overall digital album sales have declined 20.2 percent YTD. Country album sales have declined 9.7 percent YTD, while country digital album sales have dropped 15.7 percent YTD.

Florida Georgia Line

Florida Georgia Line‘s “H.O.L.Y.” remains entrenched atop the country tracks charts this week, moving 35K and topping 1 million downloads overall. Meanwhile, Kenny Chesney‘s collaboration with Pink, “Setting The World On Fire,” moved 33K, to land at No. 2. Miranda Lambert‘s “Vice” lands at No. 3, with 26K. Jon Pardi‘s “Head Over Boots” moves 23K this week to land at No. 4, while Dierks Bentley‘s “Different For Girls,” featuring Elle King, moves 23K this week.

Jason Aldean‘s “In Case You Don’t Remember” is this week’s top debut, selling 9.3K and landing at No. 21 country and No. 82 overall.

Country track sales have decreased 23.3 percent YTD, while overall track sales have declined 25 percent YTD

Industry Ink: ASCAP, Americana Music Association, Cumulus Media

August 10, 2016/by Jessica Nicholson

ASCAP To Celebrate Lee Brice, Jerrod Niemann Single With Music Row Party

Jerrod Niemann and Lee Brice will celebrate their collaboration, “A Little More Love,” with a free s’mores party in Nashville. The event will be held at ASCAP’s parking lot on Friday (Aug. 12) from 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. The duet is Niemann’s first release since signing with Curb Records in March. Brice is also on Curb’s roster.

Americanafest NYC Celebrates Third Year With 40th Anniversary Tribute To “The Last Waltz”

Pictured (L-R): Kristina “Red” Tanner (ROAR), Matt Maher (ROAR), Richard Story (President, Commercial Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment), Adam Block (President, Legacy Recordings, Sony Music Entertainment), Bob Weir, Kraig Fox (ROAR), Jed Hilly (Americana Music Association), Liz Norris (ROAR), Bernie Cahill (ROAR) and Matt Busch (ROAR). (Photo Credit: Gary Gershoff)

Americanafest NYC celebrated the third year of its partnership with Lincoln Center’s Out of Doors Series, with a 40th anniversary tribute to The Last Waltz. The event featured Bob Weir, Dr. John, Buddy Miller, Lucinda Williams, Howard Johnson, Patty Griffin, Anderson East and Parker Millsap with Those Pretty Wrongs, Mary Gauthier, The Cactus Blossoms, Teddy Thompson & Kelly Jones and Dwight Yoakam rounding out the weekend.

“We were thrilled with the attendance and want to thank, again, the team at Lincoln Center for their incredible partnership. This event keeps getting better and better,” says Americana Music Association’s Executive Director Jed Hilly.

Cumulus Media Names Jeff Meltesen To New Role

Jeff Meltesen

Cumulus Media-Nashville has appointed Jeff Meltesen, formerly publisher of NASH Country Weekly, as Senior Account Executive / Sponsorship Sales. Meltesen will report to Rhonda Rollins, General Sales Manager for NASH FM 103.3 (WKDF) and 95.5 NASH ICON (WSM-FM), and will focus on advertising solutions for clients on Cumulus’ country radio stations and sponsorship sales of events and promotions for all stations in the cluster.

Meltesen can be reached at 615-312-3517 or at [email protected].

Eric Church Reveals 2017 Tour, Two Nashville Concerts In May

August 10, 2016/by Jessica Nicholson

Eric Church. Photo: Jensen Sutta

Eric Church gave the crowd something extra to be excited about during his performance at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado last night (Aug. 9). The singer-songwriter revealed he will bring his 2017 Holdin’ My Own Tour to 60+ cities next year.

The tour, which launches Jan. 17 in Lincoln, Nebraska, will conclude with two shows at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on May 26 and May 27.

For this tour, Church will have no opening acts. Instead, he and his band will perform two full sets, with an intermission between.

As with previous tours, Church is committed to fighting scalping and unfair ticket prices. Church and his team have developed a new fan club pre-sale system that will allow them to remove scalpers from the pre-sale process before it even happens. Church Choir members will pre-register for the fan club pre-sale prior to it starting. Once verified, fan club members will receive buy links via text message when the pre-sale starts. Scalpers that are found to be gaming the system and posing as real fans won’t receive the buy link.

This tour features a larger allotment of fan club tickets than in the past so Church Choir members will have better success buying tickets in the pre-sale. The Church Choir pre-sale will be the only pre-sale. There will be no venue, credit card or radio pre-sales.

New for the Holdin’ My Own Tour, Church commissioned a proprietary technology that scrubs ticket purchases using up to 10 different data points and automatically flags orders made by scalpers. Orders may be cancelled at any time and without warning. Finally, delivery of all ticket orders will be delayed until the days leading up to each show. Church hopes that this will make it impossible for scalpers to complete their transactions.

“In this era where growing inequality seems to be the norm, we wanted to do everything within our power to put the advantage back in the hands of true fans rather than those that take advantage of the system, and by extension our people,” said John Peets, Church’s manager. “It was important to us to invest time into evaluating and redesigning the ticket buying process and build the technology to level the playing field.”

2017 Holdin’ My Own Tour Dates:
Friday, Jan. 13: Lincoln, Neb.; Pinnacle Bank Arena
Saturday, Jan. 14: Sioux Falls, S.D.; Denny Sanford Premier Center
Sunday, Jan. 15: Grand Forks, N.D.; Ralph Engelstad Arena
Thursday, Jan. 19: Des Moines, Iowa; Wells Fargo Center
Friday, Jan. 20: Minneapolis, Minn.; Target Center
Saturday, Jan. 21: Green Bay, Wis.; Resch Center
Wednesday, Jan. 25: Philadelphia, Pa.; Wells Fargo Arena
Friday, Jan. 27: Brooklyn, N.Y.; Barclays Center
Saturday, Jan. 28: Boston, Mass.; TD Garden
Tuesday, Jan. 31: Kansas City Mo.; Sprint Center
Thursday, Feb. 2: Tulsa, Okla.; BOK Center
Friday, Feb. 3: Dallas, Texas; American Airlines Center
Thursday, Feb. 16: Duluth, Ga.; Infinite Energy Center
Friday, Feb. 17: Birmingham, Ala.; Legacy Arena at BJCC
Thursday, Feb. 23: Indianapolis, Ind.; Bankers Life Fieldhouse
Friday, Feb. 24: Cleveland, Ohio; Quicken Loans Arena
Saturday, Feb. 25: Auburn Hills, Mich.; The Palace at Auburn Hills
Tuesday, Feb. 28: London, ONT; Budweiser Gardens
Thursday, March 2: Toronto, ONT; Air Canada Centre
Friday, March 3: Ottawa, ONT; Canadian Tire Centre
Saturday, March 4: Montreal, QUE; Bell Centre
Tuesday, March 7: Winnipeg, MB; MTS Centre
Thursday, March 9: Saskatoon, SK; SaskTel Centre
Friday, March 10: Edmonton, AB; Rexall Place
Saturday, March 11: Calgary, AB; Scotiabank Saddledome
Tuesday, March 14: Vancouver, BC; Rogers Arena
Thursday, March 16: Portland, Ore.; Moda Center
Friday, March 17: Spokane, Wash.; Spokane Arena
Saturday, March 18: Tacoma, Wash.; Tacoma Dome
Wednesday, March 22: Bozeman, Mont.; Brick Breeden Fieldhouse
Friday, March 24: Boise, Idaho; Taco Bell Arena
Saturday, March 25: Salt Lake City, Utah; Vivint Smart Home Arena
Tuesday, March 28: Phoenix, Ariz.; Talking Sticks Resort Arena
Thursday, March 30: Sacramento, Calif.; Golden 1 Center
Friday, March 31: Los Angeles; STAPLES Center
Tuesday, April 4: Casper, Wy.; Casper Events Center
Wednesday, April 5: Denver; Pepsi Center
Friday, April 7: Wichita, Kan.; INTRUST Bank Arena
Saturday, April 8: Omaha, Neb.; CenturyLink Center Omaha
Wednesday, April 12: Moline, Ill.; iWireless Center
Thursday, April 13: Chicago; Allstate Arena
Friday, April 14: Milwaukee, Wis.; BMO Harris Bradley Center
Thursday, April 20: Buffalo, N.Y.; First Niagara Center
Friday, April 21: Pittsburgh, Pa.; CONSOL Energy Center
Saturday, April 22: Cincinnati, Ohio; US Bank Arena
Thursday, April 27: Uncasville, Conn.; Mohegan Sun Arena
Friday, April 28: Uncasville, Conn.; Mohegan Sun Arena
Saturday, April 29: Manchester, N.H.; Verizon Wireless Arena
Thursday, May 4: Tampa, Fla.; Amalie Arena
Friday, May 5: Jacksonville, Fla.; Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena
Thursday, May 11: Grand Rapids, Mich.; Van Andel Arena
Friday, May 12: Peoria, Ill.; Peoria Civic Center
Saturday, May 13: St. Louis; Scottrade Center
Thursday, May 18: Reading, Pa.; Santander Arena
Friday, May 19: Washington, D.C.; Verizon Center
Saturday, May 20: Greensboro, N.C.; Greensboro Coliseum Complex
Friday, May 26: Nashville, Tenn.; Bridgestone Arena
Saturday, May 27: Nashville, Tenn.; Bridgestone Arena

Weekly Register: Jake Owen, Kenny Chesney Arrive At No. 1

August 8, 2016/by Jessica Nicholson

Jake Owen earns a No. 1 album on the country chart, with the RCA Nashville project American Love selling 29K.

Meanwhile, Hillary Scott and The Scott Family earn a No. 2 debut on the country chart, with Love Remains selling 28K album. Rounding out the top 5 slots are Blake Shelton‘s If I’m Honest with 23K at No. 3, Chris Stapleton‘s Traveller at No. 4, with 13K (and 1.5 million albums to date) and Keith Urban‘s Ripcord with 5.3K albums.

Songwriter Lori McKenna‘s The Bird & The Rifle debuted at No. 19 on the country albums rankings, selling 2.7K. Carter Winter’s The Whiskey In Me enters at No. 34 with 1K.

On the overall albums rankings, DJ Khaled debuts at No. 1 with Major Key selling 95K (59K album only).

Overall album sales have dropped 15 percent YTD, while country album sales have declined 8.6 percent. Overall digital album sales have decreased 20 percent, while country digital album sales have fallen 15.3 percent YTD.

On the country tracks charts, Blue Chair Records/Columbia Nashville artist Kenny Chesney and duet partner P!nk set the chart on fire, powering to No. 1 with their collaboration “Setting The World On Fire,” which sold 93K. It enters at No. 2 on the overall tracks chart.

Following at No. 2 on the country chart is Florida Georgia Line‘s “H.O.L.Y.,” with 50K, now topping the 1 million sales mark with 1.023 million overall.

Miranda Lambert‘s “Vice” is at No. 3 this week, with 32K sold, followed by Dierks Bentley ft. Elle King at No. 4 with “Different For Girls” moving 27.5K. Kelsea Ballerini‘s “Peter Pan” moved 23K this week, rounding out the Top 5.

Overall tracks sales have dropped 25.1 percent YTD, while country track sales have declined 23.3 percent YTD.

Information provided by Nielsen Soundscan.

Brad Paisley Stars In Nationwide’s New Advertising Campaign

August 5, 2016/by Jessica Nicholson

Brad Paisley in the new Nationwide campaign.

Brad Paisley in the new Nationwide’s “Songs For All Your Sides” campaign.

Brad Paisley has teamed with Nationwide Insurance as part of its latest advertising campaign.

In a new video, Paisley reimagines Nationwide’s classic “Nationwide Is On Your Side” jingle, expanding it to include many of life’s little moments, from retirement planning to envisioning a “man cave” for a new home.

“As a songwriter, the whole premise of there being more to the Nationwide jingle beyond those seven catchy notes is exciting,” Paisley said. “It intrigued me right away.”

The “Songs For All Your Sides” campaign will incorporate a mix of musical genres, and focuses on the brand’s diverse set of offerings, including property and casualty insurance, banking, small business protection and retirement planning.

The campaign debuts Friday (Aug. 5) during NBC’s broadcast of the Olympics opening ceremonies.