Weekly Register: Brooks Hangs Hat At No. 1

garthGarth Brooks sold 62K of Man Against Machine to stay at No. 1 in its second week, and settle in at No. 5 on the all-genre chart. His RTD total is 192K. Meanwhile, Trisha Yearwood’s Prizefighter: Hit After Hit debuted with 13K, and Cole Swindell’s Down Home Sessions EP debuted with 12.5K.
Top 5 country albums
Garth Brooks Man Against Machine 62K/192K RTD
Jason Aldean Old Boots, New Dirt 24K/ 556K RTD
Florida Georgia Line Anything Goes 18K/ 364K RTD
George Strait The Cowboy Rides Away: Live 17K/ 176K RTD
Darius Rucker Home For The Holidays 13K/ 44K RTD
The week’s biggest debut is by One Direction, whose Four flew in with sales of 387K to land at No. 1 overall. On the overall tracks chart, Taylor Swift remains at No. 1 with “Blank Space” selling 302K, 949K RTD.
trishaTracks
Carrie Underwood’s “Something in the Water” sold 43K and is this week’s top selling country track. The song is from Underwood’s Greatest Hits: Decade #1 which will be released Dec. 9.
Craig Wayne Boyd’s version of “You Look So Good in Love” from The Voice, is the top country debut track, selling 19K.
Top 5 country tracks
Carrie Underwood, “Something in the Water” 43K/ 466K RTD
Tim McGraw, “Shotgun Rider” 36K/ 260K RTD
Jason Aldean, “Burnin’ it Down” 23K/ 1.235M RTD
Sam Hunt, “Leave the Night On” 23K/ 809K RTD
Florida Georgia Line, “Sun Daze” 22K/ 156K RTD
 

[Updated]: Weekly Register: Garth Revs Up "Man Against Machine"

garth

[Updated: Garth Brooks’ Man Against Machine originally reported as 118k in sales during debut week. Sales were adjusted up to 130k due to SoundScan’s reporting revisions of this week’s sales numbers.]

Garth Brooks roped in 130K in debut week sales of his comeback album, Man Against Machine. This puts him at the top of the Country album chart and at No. 4 on the all-genre chart. 

Overall, he comes behind Taylor Swift‘s 1989, which hangs at No. 1 for a third week with 312K/ 1.99M RTD. Debuts from the Foo Fighters (190K), and Pink Floyd (170K) landed at No. 2 and 3, respectively.

Making up the Top 5 Country chart is Brooks, followed by George Strait (The Cowboy Rides Away: Live, 30K/ 158K RTD), Jason Aldean (Old Boots, New Dirt, 29K/ 532K RTD), Florida Georgia Line (Anything Goes, 22K/ 347K RTD) and the debut of Zac Brown Band’s Greatest Hits So Far (21K).

Tracking Tracks 

Carrie Underwood’s “Something in the Water” swims into the No. 1 spot, selling 57K TW/ 423K RTD. Rounding out the Top 5 is Tim McGraw’s “Shotgun Rider” (39K/ 224K RTD), Aldean’s “Burnin’ It Down” (29K/ 1.2M RTD), Sam Hunt’s “Leave The Night On”(28K/ 786K RTD), and Blake Shelton’s “Neon Light” (24K/ 387K RTD).

The top Country debut is from current The Voice contestant Craig Wayne Boyd. His version of “Some Kind of Wonderful” moved 9.1K.

On the overall chart, Swift reigns with “Blank Space” selling 328K.

Trisha Yearwood’s new album was released this week, so check Weekly Register next week for her numbers.

OVErall 209.364 million YTD (LY 239.685 million) COuntry 26.798 million YTD (LY 30.649 M)

Overall albums: 209.364M YTD (LY 239.685 M)
Country albums: 26.798M YTD (LY 30.649 M)

McCreery Earns Three RIAA Platinum Certifications

Scotty McCreery

Scotty McCreery


Scotty McCreery recently picked up three RIAA Platinum certifications with hit songs “I Love You This Big,” “The Trouble With Girls” off his Mercury Nashville /19/Interscope Records debut album Clear As Day, and “See You Tonight,” the Top 10 lead single off his second consecutive No. 1 album, See You Tonight.
Written by McCreery, Ashley Gorley and Zach Crowell, “See You Tonight” marks the first Platinum-selling single for McCreery as a writer in addition to being the artist. “I Love You This Big,” written by Ronnie Jackson, Brett James, Ester Dean and Jay Smith, was McCreery’s country radio debut. “The Trouble with Girls” was written by Phillip White and Chris Tompkins.
McCreery continues to cross the country headlining his See You Tonight Tour through the end of the year, and his latest single, “Feelin’ It,” is at No. 11 on MusicRow‘s CountryBreakout chart this week.

Live Nation Teams With VICE For Digital Content

live nation logo111Live Nation Entertainment has partnered with media company VICE to develop and launch a digital content platform set to roll out across mobile, web and TV in 2015.
The joint venture will marry Live Nation’s massive live music base and access to thousands of artists, with the creative editorial powerhouse VICE. The platform will eventually feature hundreds of hours of originally produced content, including: long and short form video series, editorial franchises, live digital music experiences created collaboratively with artists, documentaries, as well as daily editorial content, and ecommerce and ticketing offerings. It is expected to be available in all major markets across the world in nine different languages.
vice_logoBrooklyn-based VICE has divisions including television and movie production, advertising, digital media, book publishing, and a record label. Known for appealing to a young, hip demographic, the company is valued at about $2.5 billion, according to the L.A. Times.
Today’s (Nov. 13) announcement was made by Live Nation CEO and president Michael Rapino, and VICE founder and CEO, Shane Smith.

Weekly Register: CMA Awards Sales Bump

Carrie underwood on cma awards

Carrie Underwood performs “Something In The Water” on the CMA Awards


Taylor Swift sold another 402K units of 1989 this week, yielding a two-week total of almost 1.7 million. Her TEA sales for this album are 2.07 million.
Back in Country land, the CMA Awards gave a boost to artists who performed on the show.
meghan trainor miranda lambert cma awards

Meghan Trainor and Miranda Lambert bring the “Bass”


Pop star Meghan Trainor stepped out for a performance with Miranda Lambert, helping to bump “All About That Bass” back to No. 1 on the overall tracks chart. It sold 190K this week for a RTD total of 3.5 million.
All of the Top 5 Country tracks were showcased on Wednesday night’s awards, except for “Leave The Night On” by newcomer Sam Hunt. 
Top 5 Country Tracks
Carrie Underwood, “Something in the Water,” 84K, up 144%
Tim McGraw, “Shotgun Rider,” 51K, up 82%
Jason Aldean, “Burnin’ It Down,” 45K, up 19%
Little Big Town, “Day Drinkin,'” 43K, up 184%
Sam Hunt, “Leave The Night On,” 36K, up 15%
The Doobie Brothers took the stage at Bridgestone Arena to showcase their Country collaborative effort, Southbound, which debuted with sales of 16K.
Top 5 Country Albums
Jason Aldean, Old Boots, New Dirt, 35K
Florida Georgia Line, Anything Goes, 30K
Brantley Gilbert, Just As I Am, 26K
Sam Hunt, Montevallo, 25K
Blake Shelton, Bringing Back The Sunshine, 21K
Coming next week… the sales tally for Garth Brooks’ just-released album.
The Doobie Brothers were joined by Jennifer Nettles, Hillary Scott and Hunter Hayes on the CMA Awards

The Doobie Brothers were joined by Jennifer Nettles, Hillary Scott and Hunter Hayes on the CMA Awards.


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Scott Borchetta, Daniel Ek Weigh In On Spotify Debate

spotifySpotify has been a hot topic following the removal of Taylor Swift’s music from the streaming service. More recently, Jason Aldean followed suit and pulled his latest album, Old Boots, New Dirt, from the service. 

Today (Nov. 11), Spotify CEO Daniel Ek responded with a blog post. Here is an excerpt:

Piracy doesn’t pay artists a penny – nothing, zilch, zero. Spotify has paid more than two billion dollars to labels, publishers and collecting societies for distribution to songwriters and recording artists.

Myth number one: free music for fans means artists don’t get paid…on Spotify, free music is supported by ads, and we pay for every play. Our free service drives our paid service. Today we have more than 50 million active users of whom 12.5 million are subscribers each paying $120 per year. But here’s the key fact: more than 80% of our subscribers started as free users.

Myth number two: Spotify pays, but it pays so little per play nobody could ever earn a living from it….If a song has been listened to 500 thousand times on Spotify, that’s the same as it having been played one time on a U.S. radio station with a moderate sized audience of 500 thousand people. Which would pay the recording artist precisely … nothing at all. But the equivalent of that one play and it’s 500 thousand listens on Spotify would pay out between three and four thousand dollars.

Ek is correct that recording artists are not paid by radio, unless they or their labels have entered into other revenue sharing agreements with radio corporations, such as the ones pioneered by Big Machine Label Group Pres. and CEO Scott Borchetta. It is worth noting that songwriters are paid for plays on terrestrial radio. 

Borchetta visited the national radio program Sixx Sense with Nikki Sixx and discussed pulling Swift’s music from Spotify. The full interview is available here. An excerpt is below:

If this fan went and purchased the record, CD, iTunes, wherever, and then their friends go, ‘why did you pay for it? It’s free on Spotify,’ we’re being completely disrespectful to that super fan who wants to invest, who believes in their favorite artist…

So, what we had done in the past with her records, is after that initial period, we put them up for streaming services. And for this album coming in to everything that’s going on in the business and how dramatic the streaming moment is and how it’s affecting sales, we determined that her fan base is so in on her, let’s pull everything off of Spotify, and any other service that doesn’t offer a premium service. Now if you are a premium subscriber to Beats or Rdio or any of the other services that don’t offer just a free-only, then you will find her catalogue. So the problem we have with Spotify is, they don’t allow you to do anything with your music. They take it, and they say we’re going to put it everywhere we want to put it, and we really don’t care about what you want to do. Give us everything that you have and we’re going to do what we want with it. And that doesn’t work for us.
Well, they have a very good player. It’s a good service. And they’re gonna just have to change their ways on how they do business. If you’re going to do an ad-supported free service, why would anybody pay for the premium service? The premium service that you pay for, which they do have a premium service, has to mean something. So, what we’re saying is it can’t be endless free. Give people a 30-day trial, and then make them convert. Music has never been free. It’s always cost something and it’s time to make a stand and this is the time to do it.

Meanwhile, Nashville techie Jay Frank has posted a new blog called “Understanding Spotify.”

Read more about legislation which seeks a higher royalty for digital music services in MusicRow’s Publisher Issue, which includes an interview with NSAI’s Bart Herbison.

Heuerman Joins BubbleUp as VP, Marketing

Scott Heuerman

Scott Heuerman


Music and technology exec Scott Heuerman has joined digital media and marketing agency BubbleUp as VP of Marketing. Heuerman has worked with Warner Bros. Records, Musictoday, Live Nation, and Apple/iTunes. Most recently, Heuerman led online marketing and eCommerce teams for clients including The Doors Estate, Brad Paisley, The Band Perry, Kip Moore and Casting Crowns.
“Scott’s relationships and experience make him a perfect fit for BubbleUp as we continue to help artists, labels and management organizations achieve their most critical business needs; growing, engaging and activating their fan bases,” said Chief Marketing Officer Mike Newman.
“They are committed to helping partners succeed and grow their business through the effective use of technology, and they have incredibly talented leadership, account and development teams,” said Heuerman. “I couldn’t be more excited to be working with everyone at BubbleUp.”
Founded in 2004, with offices in Houston, Nashville,  and Hartford, Conn., BubbleUp’s portfolio includes Jimmy Buffett, Luke Bryan, KISS, Zac Brown Band, Landshark Lager, Alan Jackson, the Academy of Country Music, Margaritaville, Dierks Bentley, Darius Rucker, Aerosmith, Live From Daryl’s House and many more.
Heuerman is already on the job and can be reached at scott@bubbleup.com. He will be based out of BubbleUp’s Nashville office.

Luke Bryan To Launch Clothing Line 32 Bridge With Cabela's

Screen shot 2014-10-31 at 9.18.05 AM11
Cabela’s Incorporated, the World’s Foremost Outfitter of hunting, fishing and outdoor gear, announced the launch of Luke Bryan’s new 32 Bridge line of clothing which will debut exclusively at Cabela’s on Saturday, Nov. 1.
The new line will offer men’s and women’s apparel, including short-sleeve T-shirts, long-sleeve T-shirts and caps that appeal to Country music fans and outdoor enthusiasts.
Drawing inspiration from his hometown roots, Route 32 Bridge crosses over the Flint River in Georgia and was an important area with Bryan was raised and developed his love for the outdoors.
“This brand is so dear to me and such a big part of who I am that seeing it come to life is so exciting,” said Bryan. “I can’t wait to share it!”
“Not only is Luke one of the top Country music artists in the world, but he also shares Cabela’s passion for the outdoors,” said Lee Dolan, Cabela’s Vice President of Brand Marketing “Cabela’s was thrilled to collaborate with Luke on the creation of the new 32 Bridge clothing line and is honored to offer 32 Bridge products to our customers.”
Watch as Luke Bryan discusses Route 32 Bridge, the namesake of his new clothing line:

Weekly Register: FGL's 'Anything Goes' Debuts At No. 1

anything goes11Florida Georgia Line’s sophomore album Anything Goes entered the overall chart at No. 1 this week, zooming in with sales of 197K. This bumped Jason Aldean to No. 2, with Old Boots, New Dirt selling 91K in its second week for a RTD total of 369K. 

FGL’s latest is one of the best-selling Country debuts of the year. Other top debuts include Aldean (278K), Brantley Gilbert Just As I Am (211K) and Eric Church The Outsiders (288K), according to Nielsen Soundscan.

Highly listenable duo The Swon Brothers debuted with 10K this week. And Little Big Town’s anticipated release hit shelves yesterday. (How much longer can we use the term “hit shelves”?) Check Weekly Register next week to see how many fans sought out Pain Killer for retail relief. Later this month brings new music from rising star Sam Hunt and mainstay Darius Rucker (Holiday release). Also on the Country docket in 2014 are releases from Maddie and Tae (EP), Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Toby Keith, The Doobie Brothers Country collaboration, and hits packages from Carrie Underwood and Zac Brown Band.

Tracking Tracks

Taylor Swift owns the top two spots on the overall tracks chart this week. “Out of the Woods” debuts at No. 1 selling 195K, while “Shake it Off” settled at No. 2 selling 178K, and reaching 2.5 million RTD. At No. 3, Meghan Trainor’s smash “All About That Bass” bumped its way to 148K clicks and tops 3 million RTD.

The highest selling Country track debut is Aaron Watson’s “That Look,” garnering 19K downloads. Toby Keith’s “Drunk Americans” entered with 15K downloads.

Spalding Entertainment Teams With Maverick Managers

Clarence Spalding

Clarence Spalding


Clarence Spalding’s Spalding Entertainment, management for Jason Aldean, Rascal Flatts, Kix Brooks, Terri Clark and Seth Alley, is joining a new powerhouse music managers consortium called Maverick. The group is led by Guy Oseary, manager for U2 and Madonna, and is also affiliated with Michael Rapino-led Live Nation, according to Billboard.
On board with Maverick are Quest Management’s Scott Rodger (Paul McCartney, Arcade Fire), Laffitte Management’s Ron Laffitte (OneRepublic, Ryan Tedder, Alicia Keys), I Am Other’s Caron Veazey (Pharrell), Blueprint Group’s Gee Roberson and Cortez Bryant (Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, T.I.) and Reign Deer’s Larry Rudolph and Adam Leber (Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus).
Billboard reports, “All nine will be joining their companies and rebranding them and their respective employees as ‘Maverick’…The Maverick managers, including leader Oseary, will report to Rapino and Live Nation’s Artist Nation management group…Oseary, Laffitte, Quest and Reign Deer already moved into Artist Nation’s spacious new headquarters in Beverly Hills earlier this year, while Blueprint will maintain its New York office and Spalding will stay in Nashville.”
Guy Oseary

Guy Oseary


Live Nation’s Artist Nation management division has more than 50 managers and 200 artists. Nashville managers already affiliated with Artist Nation include Ken Levitan’s Vector Management (Trace Adkins, Trisha Yearwood, Hank Williams Jr., Kenny Rogers, Love And Theft, Aaron Lewis, Blackberry Smoke, Drake White, Justin Adams, Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell, Buddy Miller, Kings of Leon) and Virginia Davis’ G Major Management (Jewel, Thomas Rhett, Danielle Bradbery).
Maverick will have connections across the members’ vast networks, ranging from live events and touring (Live Nation) to technology (Oseary’s A-Grade tech fund with Ashton Kutcher and Ron Burkle has investments including Shazam, Uber, Spotify, Soundcloud, Pinterest).
The name Maverick comes from Madonna’s Maverick Records, which Oseary previously headed.
Bucking the trend, earlier this year Morris Management Group (Kenny Chesney, Martina McBride, Jake Owen) and Artist Nation parted ways, and the company reconfigured as Morris Higham Management.