Weekly Register: Dierks Bentley’s New ‘Black’ Is Top-Selling Album

Dierks Bentley Black

Dierks Bentley‘s latest album, Black, sold 88K albums in its first week, enough to make it the top-selling album of the week, across all genres. In addition to Black entering at No. 1 on the Billboard country albums chart, it appears at No. 2 on the overall chart with 101K combined units, accounting for streams, albums sales and single-song sales.

Drake‘s Views holds the top position on the overall chart this week with 152K (37K album only).

Black‘s singles so far include “Somewhere on a Beach,” and his latest single, “Different For Girls,” featuring Elle King. It’s Bentley’s eighth studio album for Capitol Records Nashville.

Following him on the top country album chart are Blake Shelton‘s If I’m Honest (51K), Chris Stapleton‘s Traveller (17K), Keith Urban‘s Ripcord (11K), and Cole Swindell‘s You Should Be Here (9.6K).

Overall album sales have declined 13.2 percent YTD while country album sales have declined 5.4 percent YTD. Overall digital album sales have slumped 17.9 percent, while digital country album sales have decreased 13.3 percent YTD.

Florida Georgia Line

Florida Georgia Line

On the country track sales chart, Florida Georgia Line continue to dominate with “H.O.L.Y.” selling 69K this week, and topping 431K in only five weeks. Bentley notches two tracks from Black in the Top 5 this week. “Different For Girls” debuts at No. 2 (and No. 22 overall), with 32K, while “Somewhere on a Beach” is at No. 4 with 27K, topping 519K RTD. Tim McGraw‘s former chart-topper, “Humble and Kind,” moves 30K this week to land at No. 3, while Thomas Rhett‘s “T-Shirt” rounds out the Top 5 with 23K.

Justin Timberlake‘s “Can’t Stop the Feeling” can’t stop commanding the overall track sales tabulations, with 155K sold this week, and bringing in 913K in its total of four weeks of release. Curb Records artist Dylan Scott also makes a notable debut this week, with “My Girl” landing at No. 30, with 8.3K.

Overall digital track sales are down 23.9 percent, while country digital track sales have dwindled 20.9 percent YTD.

In Pictures: Carrie Underwood, Dustin Lynch, Camp NASH

Carrie Underwood Wraps Spring Leg Of ‘The Storyteller Tour’

Photo: Steve Jennings

Carrie Underwood’s The Storyteller Tour. Photo: Steve Jennings

Arista Nashville artist Carrie Underwood wrapped the spring leg of The Storyteller Tour last night in London, Ontario, Canada. The tour rolled in to 47 cities as well as seven different countries, playing to nearly 600,000 people since launching Jan. 30 in Jacksonville, Florida. In addition to stops in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington DC, St. Louis, Denver, Phoenix, San Antonio, Houston, Chicago and more, Underwood traveled overseas to play in Sweden, Norway, Scotland, England, and Ireland as part of Country to Country (C2C), Europe’s biggest country music festival.

The tour will resume Aug. 31 in Anchorage, Alaska.

Photo: Jeff Johnson

Carrie Underwood’s The Storyteller Tour. Photo: Jeff Johnson

 

Dustin Lynch Launches Clothing Line ‘Stay Country’

Photo: Ford Fairchild.

Dustin Lynch. Photo: Ford Fairchild

Broken Bow Records artist Dustin Lynch has launched the new clothing line Stay Country. The line features apparel for men and women, as well as hats, koozies, and flags.

“Stay Country isn’t just a brand, it’s a lifestyle,” says Lynch. “It’s where I grew up. It’s home to the rivers I’ve fished, the deer stands I’ve perched, and the dirt roads I’ve roamed. It inspired Stay Country.”

The collection can be found online at staycountryclothing.com.

 

CAMP Nash Held At Fontanel Nashville

Pictured (L-R): Mike McVay, Cumulus/Westwood One SVP Content & Programming; Blair Garner, America’s Morning Show’s co-host; Kelly Ford, AMS co-host; Tasha Blasi, SVP Sales & Marketing for NASH; and Chuck Wicks, AMS co-host and Camp NASH MC and performer.

Pictured (L-R): Mike McVay, SVP Content & Programming, Cumulus/Westwood One; Blair Garner, co-host, America’s Morning Show; Kelly Ford, co-host, America’s Morning Show; Tasha Blasi, SVP Sales & Marketing, NASH; Chuck Wicks, co-host, America’s Morning Show/ Camp NASH MC and performer.

Cumulus Media/Westwood One held Camp NASH, a music festival to benefit The Special Forces Charitable Trust, at Fontanel Nashville over Memorial Day weekend. The Carl Black Chevy Woods Amphitheater offered performances from Big & Rich, Thompson Square, Parmalee, Chuck Wicks (co-host of America’s Morning Show and MC of Camp NASH), RaeLynn, and Breaking Southwest.

RaeLynn performs at Camp NASH.

RaeLynn performs at Camp NASH

Big & Rich perform at Camp NASH.

Big & Rich perform at Camp NASH

Weekly Register: Blake Shelton’s ‘If I’m Honest’ Debuts At No. 1

Blake Shelton If I'm Honest

It’s a big week for Blake Shelton, whose new album If I’m Honest debuts at No. 1 country and No. 3 overall. The project’s total consumption clocks in at 170K units, and 153K album-only, more than any other album-only sales this week.

On the overall charts, Drake is hanging at No. 1 with 189K (50K album), followed by Ariana Grande’s No. 2 debut of Dangerous Woman, selling 175K (129K album).

Rounding out the top 5 country albums, behind Shelton, are Chris Stapleton (19K album), Keith Urban (14K), Jennifer Nettles (12K) and Cole Swindell (11K).

Over on the tracks chart, Florida Georgia Line’s “H.O.L.Y.” stays at No. 1 selling 72K TW and 365K RTD. Adam Wakefield, from The Voice, debuts two tracks in the country top 5. “Lonesome, Broken and Blue” lands at No. 2 selling 57K to become the week’s top debut overall. Wakefield also launches “When I Call Your Name” at No. 4 country, selling 32K. Tim McGraw stays “Humble and Kind” at No. 3 with 35K, and Dierks Bentley is anywhere but lost with “Somewhere On A Beach” reeling in 29K.

Music Biz Panel Examines Complex Fight For Streaming Revenue

Pictured (L-R): David M. Ross, David Raso, Photo: Music Biz

Pictured (L-R): David M. Ross, John Raso, Vickie Nauman, Lynn Morrow, Jim Griffin. Photo: Music Biz

The Music Biz hosted a panel titled Getting Paid: By Stream Or Market Share? on Tuesday afternoon (May 17) during its annual conference.

MusicRow founder and president of BossRoss Media David M. Ross joined a panel moderated by Jim Griffin, managing Director of Hazen, LLC and OneHouse. Additional panelists included Nashville attorney Lynn Morrow, Partner In Charge at Adams And Reese; Vickie Nauman, Principal and Owner of CrossBorderWorks; and John Raso, Sr. VP, Client Services at HFA/Rumblefish.

“Kenny Chesney and The Rolling Stones each earned $40 million in 2015,” said Ross, who noted streaming revenue made up less than one percent of those totals. “There’s no question in my mind that something is very wrong with the whole streaming situation. And those are just artists, how are non-performing songwriters going to make a living from what we have with streaming right now?”

Morrow also empathized with the songwriters.

“It’s very hard for songwriters to make a living in this town,” said Morrow. “The publishing side seems to have the most complexity. I’m fighting for the songwriters in Nashville–who are not the Kenny Chesneys that have various other income streams–who have a single income stream and don’t want to get an extra job at Home Depot. I care that it’s 15 or 20 percent that’s not being accounted for.

“When it comes to streaming, I’m very interested in having the songwriters get paid the money that is due to them. They own a copyright and there’s certain rights under the copyright act. One is the exclusive right to reproduce, and another is the public performance right. They assign those to the music publishers and count on them to get paid accurately for the songs that are streamed, downloaded, etc.”

“It is essential to come up with a new streaming business model to collect a larger pool of money,” Ross said. “How to distribute it is part two.”

As moderator, Griffin was able to explain various acronyms and legislation, offering remarkably insightful commentary and perspective to the complex subject for the audience. The hour-long panel continued with the panelists discussing HFA’s payments, industry audit rights, and the ineffectiveness of take-down notices.

To the latter point, Morrow said, “The other thing to note is it is very hard for these independent songwriters to afford to hire an attorney or litigator to bring particular copyright infringement actions. It is a very expensive course of action.”

She estimated the only likely course of action for independent publishers or songwriters would be to find a representative who would be willing to take the risk and roll the dice to waive an hourly rate to charge a contingency fee.

Music Biz Panels Focus On Fan Insights And Brand Partnerships

From left: Wayne Leeloy (G7 Entertainment Marketing), Brad Turcotte (Universal Music Group Nashville), Eric Scheirer (Bose), Megan Sykes (CAA), Jim Stabile (Vector Management), and Barry O’Connell (Marketing Professional) speak during the Brand & Strategic Partnerships Summit.

From left: Wayne Leeloy (G7 Entertainment Marketing), Brad Turcotte (Universal Music Group Nashville), Eric Scheirer (Bose), Megan Sykes (CAA), Jim Stabile (Vector Management), and Barry O’Connell (Marketing Professional) speak during the Brand & Strategic Partnerships Summit.

The Music Biz 2016 conference in Nashville continued Tuesday (May 17), with panels focusing on brands and strategic partnerships.

The panel titled Fan Insights & How They Fuel The Future of Brand Partnerships welcomed consultant Barry O’Connell, UMG Nashville VP Marketing Brad Turcotte, Director of Business Strategy for Bose’s Consumer Electronics Division Eric Scheirer, Vector Management’s Head of Strategic Marketing Jim Stabile, and CAA Music Partnership Agent Megan Sykes to discuss the art and science of aligning artists with brands for marketing and activations.

The panel was produced and moderated by G7 Entertainment Marketing’s Head of Brand Partnerships & Digital Strategy Wayne Leeloy.

Though panelists say brands look at an artist’s Nielsen numbers and social media numbers, they emphasize that large numbers of social media followers may cause brands to take notice, but it does not tell the whole story.

“Brands are trained to look not at the big number but the engagement numbers,” said Stabile.

“We care about what those people, those followers, will do and how to get them involved in our brands,” said Scheirer, who then offered advice he has heard: “Think of your followers as minions, not as followers. What can you get them to do?”

Turcotte advises artists seeking brand partnerships to lead with a story, not hard data. He also says to remain open to changing course.

He offered two stories of successful UMG artist-brand partnerships for Ram Trucks with Chris Stapleton and Ford trucks with Clare Dunn.

“In my pitch I do not let data drive the brand I contact or drive the story. I had put together a pitch for Chris [Stapleton] and Nissan trucks, based off the title track of Traveller. But in meeting with Chris, he said, ‘My song is not about a road trip, and I don’t drive a Nissan. I drive a Ram truck. “Traveller” is about something passed down from generation to generation.’ So the pitch became, ‘Tell us, Ram drivers, about what you passed down generation to generation.’ At that point, there was no data in the pitch to the company.”

He noted that the Ram truck campaign began in June 2015, before Stapleton’s career trajectory skyrocketed and his album sold more than 1 million copies after his performance with Justin Timberlake at the 2015 CMA Awards.

With Dunn, Turcotte took her passion for Ford trucks and took that story directly to the brand.

“She was playing Detroit and we took her to play for Ford representatives,” he said. “They wanted an EPK to send to staff, so I made my own and sent it.”

That EPK featured Dunn emotionally discussing about how she grew up using Ford trucks, from the family’s 1996 Power Stroke to her 2012 F-150 “Black Betty.”

After seeing the video, Ford’s social strategist reached out to say they wanted to reach more females and they thought it might be a good fit.

“They posted that video and it had 100K hits in 24 hours,” said Turcotte. “We put together a five-part series, and went to Clare’s ranch to show how she uses other Ford equipment. We are saving that for the album launch. It’s authentic. We still haven’t asked for any money. Ford has like have 5 million social fans, so it’s not always about money, it’s about reach.”

Scheirer advised artists to try to think in marketing terms, to find what message a particular brand is trying to get across to consumers, and how they can align with that message.

“We need to tell stories to rise above the competition. There are different kinds of stories. One might be, ‘Hey, we are Bose and we care about certain things and so do you.’ That’s like Chris and Ram. That’s the highest level of branding story. Or, it might be, ‘You’ve heard of Bose, but you don’t know about this new product.’ If we can engage a musician and show off a new product, that’s an angle. Another is ‘We love music and want to see rising musicians succeed. We can help move industry forward.’ If the music industry is succeeding, then that is more people who will potentially purchase our products. What is the story the brand wants to tell? Can you help them imagine a story the brand hasn’t told yet?

Later in the day, New Heartland Group’s Paul Jankowski spoke on the importance of brand building and cultural marketing. He has worked on campaigns with Blake Shelton, Jason Aldean, Brantley Gilbert, and more.

Jankowski, also the author of How To Speak American: Building Brands In The New Heartland and Speak American Too: Your Guide To Building Brands in the New Heartland, said that 60 percent of consumers reside in what he calls the “New Heartland,” which includes the Midwest, Southwest, and parts of the Southeast.

Paul Jankowski. Photo: Music Biz

Paul Jankowski. Photo: Music Biz

For New Heartland consumers, the keys to their culture are food, sports, music, outdoor activities and social activities.

He offered several statistics revolving around the values of these consumers. For example, they prefer college football to pro football by a two-to-one margin. For these sports fan, football becomes a generational piece to be passed down through families.

Additionally, they tend to hit life milestones earlier, including marrying earlier, and having children at earlier ages. They tend to listen to country music more often and are more politically conservative, when compared to consumers who live on either coast.

Among the other various speakers Tuesday were Nielsen’s Erin Crawford and Matt Yazge, UMG Nashville’s Doug Philips, FlyteVu’s Laura Hutfless, CD Baby’s Kevin Breuner, Live Nation’s Lauren Ryan, GLADD’s Zeke Stokes, Q Prime South’s Jessica Phelps, Sony/ATV Music Publishing’s Ted Goldthorpe, RIAA’s Josh Friedlander, Warner Music Group’s Jeff Stevenson, The Recording Academy’s Maureen Droney, and more.

 

Music Biz Offers Women’s Insight From BMLG’s Kelly Rich, “Girl Crush” Songwriters

Pictured (L-R): Candace Berry, Christina Calio, Kelly Rich. Photo: Music Biz

Pictured (L-R): Candace Berry, Christina Calio, Kelly Rich. Photo: Music Biz

As part of a series of panels titled Music’s Leading Ladies Speak Out, Big Machine Label Group (BMLG) executive Kelly Rich and “Girl Crush” songwriters Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna and Liz Rose shared their perspective as women in the music business. Held Monday afternoon (May 16), the discussions were part of the Music Biz conference taking place in Nashville this week.

As Sr. VP, Sales, Marketing and Interactive, Kelly Rich participated in the panel titled Independent Women: The Life of a High-Powered Female Music Exec. Others on stage included Candace Berry, Executive VP/GM of Sales for Universal Music Group; Christina Calio, Director of Partner Marketing at Microsoft Groove; Dilyn Radakovitz, co-owner of Dimple Records; and Amy Dietz, Executive Vice President, General Manager of INgrooves. Deborah Newman, founder of MusicStrat, moderated.

A central theme spanning both the business and creative panels was: Why are women more frequently asked how they balance career and family? A conversation was sparked in which Rich, raising three children with husband Andrew Kautz (Chief Operating Officer at BMLG), replied:

“As much as my husband contributes to the family, I’m still the mother. I hold that with pride…because that’s what I want to do. I want to be there for my babies when they’re getting awards at school or at their games. I love my job and I’ve done a very good job at balancing both… And I will be understanding 100 percent with anyone that works for me. If something personal is going on in your life, you have to deal with that. Family comes first. But there is also a job to get done.”

Pictured (L-R): Candace Berry, Christina Calio, Kelly Rich, Amy Dietz, Dilyn Radakovitz, Deborah Newman.

Pictured (L-R): Candace Berry, Christina Calio, Kelly Rich, Amy Dietz, Dilyn Radakovitz, Deborah Newman. Photo: Music Biz

Berry, who admitted to not having children, summed up: “I just know that Kelly Rich answers the phone when she’s at her son’s ballgame on a regular basis when I’m in a store seeing a problem on an early Saturday morning. Despite what you read about it being a more balanced life in today’s world, it depends on what level of success you want. If you’re a high-powered person, it will be tough to balance it all because you’re not going to be working 40-hours a week.

“It’s funny, since I’ve been [at Music Biz] I had three conversations with men about their families. [Universal Music Group] has two employees who have been out on paternity leave recently. The duties in the organization have shifted around to accommodate that. But I do admit the question [of balancing career and family] does come up on a women’s panel… There’s just an expectation that a job has to get done and we’re going to do it, but we just have to find a way to juggle when there’s time-out needed for children, or aging parents. There’s a little more accommodation in today’s world than 20-years ago…

“But I will say an employee who has repeated issues over the course of a year is a challenge. Then, how do I accomplish getting the job done I needed done? If we hire talent, and that talent has some issues they need to overcome in the short term, I want to make sure the person gets back on their feet and contribute.”

The hour-long session also touched on the importance of learning the latest technology, how to best present yourself, mentoring and effectively delegating tasks.

Pictured (L-R): Moderator Judy Tint, The Supremes' Mary Wilson, and The Love Junkies Hillary Lindsey, Liz Rose and Lori McKenna. Photo: Music Biz.

Pictured (L-R): Moderator Judy Tint, The Supremes’ Mary Wilson, and The Love Junkies Hillary Lindsey, Liz Rose and Lori McKenna. Photo: Music Biz.

Moving to the creative panel of women who are all mothers, songwriting trio The Love Junkies were joined by The SupremesMary Wilson for a candid, lively discussion with wine on stage. The panel was titled How to Earn Respect as a Female Creator.

“We never really thought about writing,” teased Wilson. “But now I look back and think I could have been really rich. That’s where the money is, right, girls?”

She continued, “We had such great writers at Motown,” specifically noting Holland-Dozier-Holland and Smokey Robinson. “Most of our songs were written by guys—from a male perspective.”

“We don’t get paid different as female songwriters as far as charts or radio money,” interjected Rose. “I never thought I couldn’t do this because I was a female—I just knew I had to support a family. So I just went to work because if I had thought about challenges, I cannot imagine the things I wouldn’t have done. Now, I’m a songwriter, a publisher, a wife, a mother and a friend.”

“We’re in a different generation now,” continued Wilson. “When we started singing in 1959, and traveling in 1961, there were no women who were CEOs. We traveled the world and the only thing women were doing was bringing in the tea, if we were in Europe, or coffee here. Then, women took care of the home, whereas now we have great women CEOs all over the world, which is great. Most of those women do juggle the business and having children.”

“It’s all about balance,” added McKenna. “My sister works for a utility company and has to travel three days a week too. In my life, I feel like I have a little more freedom because I can pick when I’m traveling. It’s never easy to leave your kids but every woman has to do that. And every man who travels has to do it too, but it just doesn’t get brought up as much.”

“I was literally pumping at the Grammys and milk spilled all over my dress,” Lindsey noted. “Guys definitely don’t have to think about that.”

Music Biz continues at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel through Wednesday, May 18.

CMT Plans ‘Concert Of The Summer’ Special With Jason Aldean

Photo: GreenroomPR

Jason Aldean’s upcoming tour stop in Chicago will be filmed for a two-hour CMT special titled Concert of the Summer, a new franchise for the network.

Thomas Rhett, A Thousand Horses and surprise guests from Chicago’s Windy City LakeShake festival will also be featured in the show.

Aldean’s Six String Circus Tour launches Thursday, May 19, in Rogers, Arkansas. He is scheduled to headline Windy City LakeShake on June 19. An air date for the special has not been announced.

Each year, CMT will proclaim one festival or event as the year’s concert of the summer and film it for television, online and social media.

“Summer festivals live large in the culture. Fans from all walks of life make pilgrimages to celebrate the power of music,” said Brian Philips, President of CMT. “With our Concert of the Summer event, we are going to capture the definitive documentary and companion programming for this big show. We’re counting on powerhouses Jason Aldean, Thomas Rhett and A Thousand Horses to rock the masses. Viewers will experience the party through the eyes of both artists and fans.”

“It’s always cool when you’re approached about new ways to get music to your fans,” said Aldean. “So when CMT asked about coming out to LakeShake, I was immediately into it. We’re going to slap an all-access pass on them for the day and play until they pull the plug.”

Cassadee Pope Anticipates “Summer” Single, EP Release

Cassadee Pope. Photo: Lance Goodman

Cassadee Pope. Photo: Lance Goodman

Republic Nashville artist Cassadee Pope will release a new EP, Summer, on June 3.

Pope penned three of the four songs on the EP. The project’s title track will be the lead single, impacting radio on June 6.

Pope’s Summer EP is produced by Corey Crowder, who produced and co-wrote “Think of You,” the recent No. 1 single recorded by Pope and Chris Young. Pope will be on the road as part of Young’s I’m Comin’ Over Tour, which has been extended into the fall.

Pope’s prior project for the label, Frame By Frame, was released in 2013.

Summer EP track listing:
1. “Summer” (written by Cassadee Pope, Kelly Archer, Emily Shackelton)
2. “Piano” (written by Cassadee Pope, Jimmy Robbins, Laura Veltz)
3. “Kisses at Airports” (written by Jessi Alexander, Connie Harrington, Chase McGill)
4. “Alien” (written by Cassadee Pope, Ross Copperman, Jon Nite)

Female Country Artists Garner RIAA Digital Gold Certifications

RIAASeveral female country artists garnered digital gold certifications from the RIAA’s Gold and Platinum Program in April.

Carrie Underwood‘s “Smoke Break” and “Heartbeat” were both certified as digital gold singles.

Kelsea Ballerini‘s “Dibs,” Jana Kramer‘s “Whiskey,” and Maren Morris‘ “My Church” also earned digital gold single certifications.

However, the larger certifications for April went to Chris Young, Florida Georgia Line, and Canaan Smith.

Florida Georgia Line’s debut hit “Cruise,” has ben certified as a diamond-certified single by the RIAA, signifying 10 million units combining sales and streaming figures.

Young had four tracks certified as digital platinum singles, including “Aw Naw,” “You,” “Gettin’ You Home,” and “Who I Am With You.” His single “Neon” was certified as a digital gold single.

Smith’s “Love You Like That” also garnered a digital platinum single certification.

Live Nation Teams With NextVR For Virtual Reality Concert Series

Live Nation Entertainment logo. (PRNewsFoto/Live Nation Entertainment)

Live Nation has partnered with NextVR for a series of virtual reality concerts featuring hundreds of performances from Live Nation artists.

The virtual reality experience will allow access to every nuance of a show, from backstage access, to front-row and on-stage views during the performances. NextVR’s proprietary 3D VR audio program will be utilized for the performances.

Live Nation and NextVR are currently working on the lineup of artists that will be involved, though they have stated that all Live Nation events are possible candidates for inclusion in the virtual reality series. The first music experience will take place this summer, with a schedule of events due later this year.

A NextVR rep tells MusicRow that initially all programming will be free, but that pay-for-view programs will follow. Fans can download the free NextVR app for Gear VR to view the live music events, with additional viewing platforms to follow.

“We are excited to bring music fans a new and completely immersive way to see their favorite artists perform in places they may not have access to,” said Jordan Zachary, chief strategy officer at Live Nation. “It’s an exciting opportunity for Live Nation to have a partner with such a strong foundation in live, virtual-reality broadcast technology helping us redefine how we deliver content and terrific experiences on behalf of the world’s most exciting performers.”