Jake Owen with Salt Life president Jeff Stillwell

Jake Owen is expanding his beach loving musician image via a new multi-year partnership with popular lifestyle and beach apparel brand Salt Life.

The cross-promotional partnership will incorporate a Jake Owen signature collection of casual apparel. Additionally, Salt Life has signed on as one of the singer-songwriter’s tour sponsors. Owen joins a team of athletes, including Cameron Kirkconnell, Timmy Curran, Captain Jimmy Nelson, Blake Koch, Sarah Jarrett, and Max Fleming, who endorse the Salt Life lifestyle.

Depictions of “salt life” living have become a mainstay theme in Owen’s music videos and stage shows. Owen’s coastal-themed Days of Gold Tour brought a decidedly beachy vibe to more than 50 cities in 2014. Meanwhile, some of his most well-known hits, such as “Beachin'” and “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” further exemplify the Vero Beach, Fla., native’s love of sand and surf.

Salt Life launched in 2006, and brings in more than $30 million in sales through distribution deals with sporting good retailers, specialty shops, department stores and surf shops.

“I have been a fan of what the brand has to offer for quite a while. It complements the life I live,” Owen says. “I grew up on the water in Vero Beach, Florida and if I am not on stage you can usually find me on the water. I am a big clothing guy and I do enjoy getting dressed up,” he continues. “I have to say I am most comfortable in board shorts, T-shirts and some flip-flops. The Salt Life relationship is a natural extension of who I am and I am really looking forward to working on the design of my collection and getting to know some of the other team members. I am a fan of a lot of them already.”

Salt Life President Jeff Stillwell states, “We are excited to welcome Jake to our team here at Salt Life. We have a number of tremendous athletes on our team and thought it was time to add some music to it as well. Music is the ultimate connector, especially with the Salt Life lifestyle. Jake’s music exemplifies our brand and we look forward to a very successful relationship with him.”

In the video below, watch Owen and Stillwell discuss their love of growing up while “living the Salt Life.”

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has certified 118 Digital Single Awards and nine Album Awards in its July announcement. Those include Brad Paisley playing catchup with singles as dated since 2003. Kelsea Ballerini and Thomas Rhett place gold for their latest respective singles.

Carrie Underwood also recently celebrated her 28 million mark as the current top country artist on the RIAA’s Digital Single Ranking.

It’s new month-end digital Platinum report includes:

• Brad Paisley – 2x platinum for his previous singles, “Then” (2009), “She’s Everything” (2005), “Whiskey Lullaby” with Alison Krauss (2003); and platinum for “Ticks” (2007), “Mud On The Tires” (2003), “I’m Still A Guy” (2007), and “When I Get Where I’m Going” with Dolly Parton (2005).
• Thomas Rhett – 2x platinum for “It Goes Like This”
• Taylor Swift  – 2x platinum for “Bad Blood”
• Kelly Clarkson  – “Heartbeat Song”
• Parmalee –  “Carolina”
• Zac Brown Band – “Homegrown”

It’s new month-end digital Gold report includes:

• Kelsea Ballerini – “Love Me Like You Mean It”
• Brantley Gilbert – “My Kind of Crazy” (2011) and “One Hell of a Man”
• Thomas Rhett – “Crash and Burn”
• Taylor Swift – “Never Grow Up”

Pictured (L-R): Sony Music Nashville Chairman & CEO Randy Goodman, Underwood, and RIAA Chairman & CEO Cary Sherman. Photo: Alan Poizner

Carrie Underwood’s latest Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) gold and platinum certifications for her new single, “Little Toy Guns” (gold digital certification) and “Before He Cheats” (quintuple platinum) have put her in some impressive company. The new certifications make her the current top country artist on the RIAA’s Digital Single Ranking, with certifications of 28 million across 20 songs, and place her among the top 5 females in the history of the digital single program, alongside superstars Rihanna and Katy Perry.

With her smash “Before He Cheats” selling 5 million downloads, Underwood becomes one of only five country artists in RIAA history to achieve that sales level with a digital single.

Two singles from Underwood’s latest CD Greatest Hits: Decade #1, have achieved heavy metal status already, with “Little Toy Guns” going gold and “Something In The Water” reaching platinum status earlier this year.

SoundExchange announced yesterday (August 5) it has surpassed $3 billion in digital royalty payments to artists and labels since the organization became an independent non-profit in 2003.

The number signifies the explosive growth of digital radio over the past decade. In 2014 alone, SoundExchange paid $773 million to more than 100,000 artists and labels, which accounted for 16 percent of total revenues for the entire U.S. recording industry. It took nearly a decade for the nonprofit to pay out its first $1 billion (2012), while the second billion came almost two years later (early 2014), notes the New York Times of the growth.

“Three billion dollars in distributions marks a phenomenal milestone not just for SoundExchange, but for the entire music industry,” said President/CEO Michael Huppe. “While we celebrate this great achievement, SoundExchange continues to advocate for every artist and label to be paid fairly whenever their music is used on every platform. There are platforms that are currently not paying a dime for the music they use to build their billion dollar empires and the future of music depends on all creators being paid fairly for their hard work and creativity.”

The Times also notes a bulk of the collections came from Pandora and SiriusXM, which are distributed according to around half to record companies, 45 percent to performers and 5 percent to a fund for backup singers and session musicians after deducting 4.6 percent administrative costs.