Sales/Marketing Archives - Page 58 of 175

Weekly Register: Florida Georgia Line Returns To No.1

January 15, 2014/by Michael_Smith

Florida Georgia Line

Two weeks into the new year, we’re off to a slow start with overall album sales down 21 percent from last week and Country album sales down 25 percent week over week.
Florida Georgia Line’s Here’s To The Good Times (Republic Nashville) returns as the top Country album (No. 20 overall), selling 16k units this week and 1.5 million units RTD. The duo’s hit “Round Here” recently ranked No. 10 on The Marco Club Connection’s list of 2013’s Top Ten Country Dance Club Hits. The Top overall album remains Frozen: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Various Artists, selling another 54k units this week (361k RTD).
YTD, overall album sales are down 15.1 percent, while Country album sales are down 24.3 percent. This week’s albums had trouble competing with last year’s releases, including Chris Tomlin’s debut album and Taylor Swift’s RED, which sat at No. 1 and sold 49k units around the same time last year.
Luke Bryan’s “Drink A Beer” endures as the top Country track (No. 27 overall), selling 57k units this week and 542k units RTD. Lucy Hale’s “You Sound Good To Me” is the top overall (No. 42) and the top Country (No. 4) debut this week, selling 41k units. The Pretty Little Liars star won Favorite Cable TV Actress at last week’s People’s Choice Awards 2014.
Another noteworthy Country debut is Eric Church’s “Give Me Back My Hometown,” which lands at No. 12 on the Country chart (No. 62 overall), selling 28k units this week. Meanwhile, Katy Perry and Juicy’s “Dark Horse” is the top overall track, selling 243k units this week (1.7 million RTD). YTD, overall track sales are down 11.3 percent, while Country track sales are down 18.2 percent.
Next week’s sales numbers will include Jennifer Nettles’ That Girl, Jon Pardi’s Write You A Song, Rosanne Cash’s The River & The Thread, Mary Chapin Carpenter’s Songs From The Movie and Charlie Farley’s Hog Heaven.

Weekly Register: Bryan Crashes Back To No.1

January 8, 2014/by Michael_Smith

Although the nation’s temperatures are rising, sales are experiencing their own polar vortex in the first week of 2014, with overall album sales down 43 percent from last week and Country album sales down 54 percent week over week.
Luke Bryan’s Crash My Party (Capitol Nashville) is the top Country album this week (No. 7 overall), selling another 43k units (1.5 million RTD) and unseating Garth Brooks from the top of the chart. The top overall album is aptly Frozen: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Various Artists, selling 132k units this week and 306k units RTD.
Overall album sales are down 13.9 percent compared to first week in 2013, while Country album sales are down 17.5 percent.
Bryan’s takeover of the chart continues with “Drink A Beer” as the top Country track this week (No. 29 overall), selling 65k units this week (485k RTD). The top overall track remains Pitbull and Ke$ha’s “Timber,” selling 301k units this week (2.2 million RTD).
Overall track sales are down 11.5 percent from same week last year, while Country track sales are down 17.6 percent, competing against Taylor Swift’s release of “I Knew You Were Trouble,” which sold 326k units (2.3 million RTD) around the same time last year.

Nielsen’s 2013 Roundup

Nielsen Entertainment has released its report reviewing sales in 2013. The report notes that streaming rose 32 percent with 118.1 billion streams in 2013. Nielsen’s Sr. VP, Industry Insights David Bakula commented on the rise in streaming, saying “With more than 118 billion streams in 2013 reported by our data providers, which is the approximate revenue equivalent of 59 million albums purchased, the industry remains vibrant as consumption continues to change and expand.”
The report noted that sales across the board – total album sales, overall music sales, physical music sales, digital track sales – were down in comparison with 2012. Country also saw a decline; whereas 14.2 percent of albums sold in 2012 were Country, a slightly less 13.8 percent of the albums sold in 2013 were Country.
There are no major debuts next week, but the following week will see releases from Jennifer Nettles, Jon Pardi, Rosanne Cash and Mary Chapin Carpenter.

Weekly Register: Wrapping Up 2013

January 2, 2014/by Michael_Smith

Country music entered 2014 with a strong presence, with New Year’s Eve performances by several big name artists. Let’s hope this presence is a forecast for bright sales in 2014.
Unfortunately, sales continued to slump in the final week of 2013. Overall album sales are down 11 percent from last week, while Country album sales are down 29 percent week over week.
Veteran stars Garth Brooks and Beyonce continue to top chart this week. Brooks holds dominion over the chart with Blame It All On My Roots (Pearl Records Inc.) remaining at No. 1 (No. 6 overall), selling another 90k units this week (770k units RTD). Meanwhile, Beyonce’s self-titled album persists as the No. 1 overall album for the third consecutive week, selling 310k more units (1.3 million RTD).
Luke Bryan’s “That’s My Kind of Night” is the top Country track this week (No. 21 overall), selling 123k additional units (1.5 million RTD). The singer’s current hit “Drink A Beer” comes in at No. 2. Florida Georgia Line also claims 2 singles in the top 5 with “Stay” at No. 3 and “Cruise” at No. 4. The top overall track goes to Pitbull and Ke$ha, with their hit “Timber” selling another 442k units this week (1.9 million RTD).

Year In Review

Albums: YTD album sales in 2013 fell short of 2012 with overall sales down 8.4 percent (289 million units sold in 2013, 315 million sold in 2012) and Country sales down 10.7 percent (39 million units sold in 2013, 44 million units sold in 2012). Country’s digital sales also fell in comparison to 2012, with 10.9 million albums sold digitally this year and 11.2 million sold in 2012. Though repetitive, it’s important to note that around the same time last year Taylor Swift’s RED set a high sales standard with 3.1 million units sold RTD.
Analyzing the TEA index (where ten tracks equal one album), overall album sales are down 7.6 percent, while Country album sales are down 8.4 percent.
Tracks: YTD, track sales declined with respect to 2012. Overall track sales are down 5.8 percent (1.2 billion units sold in 2013, 1.3 billion sold in 2012) and Country track sales are down 2 percent (163 million sold in 2013, 166 million sold in 2012). The same time last year 44 singles sold more than 100k units, whereas this year only 32 singles sold more than 100k units.
Decline in Digital Sales: For the first time in a decade, the U.S. music industry has ended the year with a decrease in digital music sales. Digital track sales were down 5.7 percent from 2012 (selling 1.26 billion units this year and 1.34 billion in 2012) and digital album sales were down .1 percent from 2012 (selling 117.6 million units this year and 117.7 million units in 2012). The popularity of streaming services may explain the decline in digital sales. Additionally, 2013 saw fewer million selling releases than 2012, which included Taylor Swift’s RED (3.1 million units sold) and Adele’s 21 (4.4 million units sold). Justin Timberlake’s 20/20 Experience was the only album to sell more than one million units in 2013, with 2.4 million units sold. With the continual rise of streaming services like Spotify and Pandora, we’ll need to keep on eye on how sales change in 2014.
Although there are no noteworthy debuts next week, January will see releases from several artists, including Jennifer Nettles, Jon Pardi, Rosanne Cash and Ronnie Milsap.

Weekly Register: Garth’s ‘Roots’ Remain No. 1

December 30, 2013/by Michael_Smith

With Christmas behind us and New Year’s Eve around the corner, albums are enjoying a boost from holiday sales. Last week’s overall album sales are up 22 percent from the prior week, while last week’s Country album sales are up 29 percent from the prior week.
The name of the game last week was consistency, with no major debuts and the top four Country albums the same as the prior week. Garth Brooks’ Blame It All On My Roots (Pearl Records Inc.) was the top Country album again (No. 2 overall), selling 199k units last week (681k RTD). The singer will play two full band shows in Las Vegas New Year’s weekend.
Beyonce’s self-titled album was the top overall album for the second consecutive week, selling another 234k units (851k RTD). YTD overall album sales were down 8.5 percent, while Country album sales were down 10.7 percent. With two weeks left in this year’s sales calendar, it doesn’t look like 2013 will match up to 2012.
Brantley Gilbert’s “Bottoms Up” was the top Country track and the top Country debut last week (No. 18 overall), selling 63k units. Pitbull and Ke$ha’s “Timber” regained its spot as the top overall track, selling another 212k units last week (1.5 million RTD). YTD, overall track sales were down 5 percent, while Country track sales were down .6 percent.
No noteworthy debuts will be released this week – the second to final week of 2013 – as the industry slips into a winter freeze.

Weekly Register: Garth Brooks, Jake Owen

December 11, 2013/by Michael_Smith

Overall album sales are down 17 percent from last week, while Country album sales are down 11 percent from last week. Garth Brooks’ Blame It All On My Roots (Pearl Records Inc.) takes the No. 1 spot this week, both in Country and all genres, selling another 146k units (309k RTD). Brooks recently announced plans to embark on a world tour in 2014.
Jake Owen’s Days of Gold (RCA Nashville) is the top Country debut this week, coming in at No. 4 (No. 15 overall), with 39k units sold. Owen currently graces the cover of MusicRow‘s latest issue. The Sound of Music – Music From the NBC Television Event (Sony Masterworks) debuts at No. 17 overall, selling 38k units. The live telecast, starring Carrie Underwood, drew in nearly twenty million viewers.
Another noteworthy debut is Britney Spears’ Britney Jean, which debuts at No. 4 overall. The pop star’s latest album sold 108k units, a considerable drop from 2011’s Femme Fatale, which sold 276k units in its debut week.
YTD, overall sales are down 8.1 percent, while Country sales are down 10 percent. Don’t call us Scrooge, but with three weeks left in the sales year, we don’t think that Country sales will break even with last year. Although 2013 had produced several acclaimed debuts, we haven’t enjoyed the powerhouse sales offered by some of 2012’s debuts, like like Taylor Swift’s RED and Florida Georgia Line’s debut album.
Luke Bryan’s “Drink A Beer” is the top Country track (No. 20 overall), selling 44k units (219k RTD). The Cadillac Three and Florida Georgia Line’s “The South” is the top Country debut, coming in at No. 33 with 9k units sold.
Once again, the top overall track is Pitbull and Ke$ha’s “Timber,” selling 193k units (1.1 million RTD). YTD, overall track sales are down 4.6 percent, while Country tracks are up .3 percent.
Next week’s numbers will include Krystal Keith’s Whiskey & Lace, Parmalee’s Feels Like Carolina and Zac Brown Band’s The Grohl Sessions Vol. 1.

Weekly Register: Where Do We Stand?

December 4, 2013/by Michael_Smith

With media outlets reporting record breaking sales between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, it’s no surprise that overall albums sales are up 62 percent from last week, while Country album sales are up a whopping 94 percent from last week with 1.3 million units sold. Major retailers helped spike Country album sales, offering temporary price cuts on select albums. Walmart provided discounts on Garth Brooks’ Blame It All On My Roots CD/DVD boxed set offered exclusively from the retailer. Meanwhile Target slashed prices on major Country albums, including Carrie Underwood’s Blown Away, Keith Urban’s Fuse, Luke Bryan’s Crash My Party and more.

Brooks’ Blame It All On My Roots (Pearl Records Inc.) is the top Country debut and the top Country album this week (No. 3 overall), selling 163k units. The legendary singer recently announced plans to perform full band shows in Vegas.
Meanwhile, Danielle Bradbery’s self-titled album (Big Machine) debuts at No. 5 (No. 19 overall), selling 41k units. Unstoppable boy band One Direction earns the top overall album this week, with Midnight Memories debuting at No. 1, selling 546k units, which is 6k more than their previous album sold.
Florida Georgia Line’s “This Is How We Roll” is the top Country debut and the top Country track this week (No. 21 overall), selling 52k units. Another noteworthy Country debut is Jamie Lynn Spears’ “How Could I Want More” at No. 8 (No. 42 overall), with 28k units sold. Considering her sister Britney’s pop success, time will tell if Spears garners success in Country. FGL and Luke Bryan hold all Top 5 tracks this week.
Pop stars Pitbull and Ke$hsa take the top overall track this week, with their hit “Timber” selling 237k units (943k RTD). YTD, overall tracks are down 4.4 percent, while Country tracks are up .7 percent.

Where Do We Stand?

YTD, overall album sales are down 7.9 percent, while Country album sales are down 10.2 percent with only four weeks left in the year. Several factors have contributed to a decline in sales, one of the biggest being that last year included releases from highly successful artists, like Taylor Swift’s Red, which sold more than one million units in its debut week. We need to sell approximately 2.6 million Country albums each week, over the next four weeks, to break even with sales from last year. Looks like we need the magic of Santa to get that accomplished. Do you believe?

If we analyze the TEA index (Track Equivalent Albums), where ten tracks equal one album, we see overall and Country album sales improve. With the TEA index in mind, Country album sales are down 7.1 percent (versus 10.2 percent), resulting from adding 15.18 million albums (obtained from taking YTD individual track sales, divided by 10). This analysis for overall album sales results in a decrease of 6.8 percent (versus 7.9 percent).
With the holidays upon us, we’ll be watching sales rise as consumers purchase music to place in a stocking or under the Christmas tree. Sales should also expect a boost from several upcoming televised events featuring Country artists, including The Sound of Music Live! (Dec. 5), The Grammy Nominations Concert Live! – Countdown to Music’s Biggest Night (Dec. 6) and Kelly Clarkson’s Cautionary Christmas Music Tale (Dec. 11).
Next week’s release sales numbers will include Jake Owen’s Days of Gold, Deana Carter’s Southern Way Of Life and The Sound of Music — Music From the NBC Television Event featuring the vocals of Underwood, Stephen Moyer, Christian Borle and more. As the year wraps up, other noteworthy debuts will include Krystal Keith’s Whiskey & Lace, Parmalee’s Feels Like Carolina and Zac Brown Band’s The Grohl Sessions Vol. 1, produced by Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters.

Weekly Register: Robertson Family Continues Reign At No. 1

November 27, 2013/by Michael_Smith

With turkey day right around the corner, both overall and Country album sales are down two percent from last week. Next week’s numbers will hopefully receive a much needed boost from Black Friday, which continually drives consumers into a state of purchasing frenzy. With many sales starting on Thanksgiving Day this year, the impact of potentially diluting Black Friday will be interesting to watch.

The Robertsons’ Duck The Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas (Universal Music Group Nashville) is the top Country album again (No. 4 overall), selling 60k units this week and 256k units RTD. The Duck Dynasty stars have held onto the No. 1 spot since their debut several weeks ago.

While there are no major Country debuts this week, noteworthy releases include Mandy Barnett’s I Can’t Stop Loving You: The Songs of Don Gibson (CB Music and Rounder Records) at No. 32, selling 2.6k units, and Luke Bryan’s 4 Album Collection (Capitol Nashville) at No. 33 with 2.5k units sold.

Eminem’s Marshall Mathers LP2 returns as the top overall album, selling 120k units this week and 1.1 million units RTD. YTD, overall album sales are down 8.5 percent, while Country album sales are down 10.9 percent.

Florida Georgia Line’s “Stay” is the top Country track again (No. 19 overall), selling 49k units this week and 421k units RTD. We predict the song will hit No. 1 on MusicRow’s chart this week. The top overall track remains Eminem and Rihanna’s “The Monster,” with monstrous sales of 202k this week and 890k RTD. YTD, overall track sales are down 4.4 percent while Country track sales are up .7 percent.

Next week’s debuts include Florida Georgia Line’s Here’s To The Good Times: This Is How We Roll, the deluxe version of the duo’s hit debut album. Danielle Bradbery’s self titled project will also be released, as will Garth Brooks’ Blame It All On My Roots.

Weekly Register: The Robertsons, Thomas Rhett and Toby Keith

November 6, 2013/by Michael_Smith

As the anticipation of the 47th annual CMA Awards tonight rises, albums sales across the board are up this week with several debuts. A&E’s first family The Robertsons debut at No. 1 this week (No. 4 overall), with Duck The Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas (Universal Music Group Nashville) selling 69k units. The Duck Dynasty stars sang alongside several big artists on their debut album, including Alison Krauss, Luke Bryan and George Strait. Thomas Rhett’s It Goes Like This (Valory Music Co.) debuts at No. 2 (No. 6 overall), selling 36k units. Toby Keith’s Drinks After Work (Show Dog-Universal Music) debuts at No.3 (No. 7 overall) selling 35k units. The singer’s daughter Krystal Keith recently visited MusicRow’s offices to perform songs from her upcoming album. Other noteworthy debuts include Trace Adkins’ The King’s Gift at No. 20, selling 3.6k units, and Julie Robert‘s Good Wine & Bad Decisions at No. 39 with 1.9k units sold.
The top overall album this week is Arcade Fire’s Reflektor, selling 139k units in its first week. Meanwhile, Kelly Clarkson‘s Wrapped In Red enjoys early holiday success, landing at No. 3 overall with an impressive 70k units sold.
YTD, album sales are down 7 percent, while Country album sales are down 7.9 percent. Next week’s numbers should reflect a boost in sales from tonight’s CMA Awards, airing live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on ABC at 7 p.m. CST. Stay tuned next week as we dig into the numbers.

Bryan’s “That’s My Kind of Night” is the top Country track this week (No. 20 overall), selling another 51k unites (1.1 million RTD). Bryan will perform his latest single “Drink A Beer” at the CMA Awards tonight. The top Country debut this week is Rhett’s “Get Me Some of That,” coming in at No. 6 (No. 42 overall) with 30k units sold.

The top overall track is Eminem feat. Rihanna’s “The Monster,” selling 352k units in its debut week. YTD, overall tracks are down 4.1 percent, while Country tracks are up 1.4 percent, yet down from last week’s 2.2 percent.
Country debuts are light next week, with various artists appearing on the release of the Civil War album Divided & United, including Loretta Lynn, Old Crow Medicine Show, Lee Ann Womack, Vince Gill and more.

Weekly Register: Scotty McCreery, Willie Nelson and Chase Rice

October 23, 2013/by Michael_Smith

Overall album sales are down two percent from last week, while Country albums sales are up 10 percent this week, with debuts from several male artists. Scotty McCreery‘s See You Tonight debuts at No. 1 (No. 6 overall), selling 52k units in its first week. The album’s title track, written by McCreery, Ashley Gorley and Zach Crowell, is currently at No. 18 on the charts (No. 74 overall).
Meanwhile, Willie Nelson’s To All The Girls debuts at No. 2 (No. 9 overall) selling 43k units, while Chase Rice’s Ready Set Roll debuts at No. 4 (No. 16 overall), selling 17k units. Other noteworthy debuts include Will Hoge’s Never Give In at No. 23 (3k) and Bubba Sparx’s Pain Management at No. 40 (1.6k).
Pearl Jam’s Lightning Bolt strikes the competition, taking the No. 1 overall spot this week, selling 165k units. YTD album sales are down 6.3 percent, while Country albums sales are down 2.1 percent. Lower numbers can be expected for next week, because of Taylor Swift’s hugely successful debut of Red last year (over one million units sold in its debut week).
Luke Bryan’s “That’s My Kind Of Night” remains the top Country track (no. 14 overall), selling 64k units this week (1 million RTD). Lennon & Maisy’s “A Life That’s Good” is the top Country debut this week, coming in at No. 12 (No. 54 overall) selling 23k units. Eminem’s “Rap God” is the top overall track this week, dethroning Lorde’s “Royals” and selling 259k units. YTD, overall tracks are down 3.9 percent, while Country tracks are up 2.7 percent.
Next week’s debuts include Brandy Clarks‘s 12 Stories and Ty Herndon‘s Lies I Told Myself.

GrassRoots Promotion Adds Allen

October 21, 2013/by Jessica Nicholson

Bonita Allen

GrassRoots Promotion has hired Bonita Allen as Director of Client Services. In her new role, Allen will help artist and label clients create promotion and marketing strategies, and maximize the radio and digital exposure created by GrassRoots’ promotion and marketing staff.
Allen’s previous career stops include time at Asylum Records, Bluewater Music, Westwood One, WSM-AM and most recently Flying Island Entertainment.
GrassRoots Promotion co-owner and Managing Partner Nancy Tunick said, “Bonita brings not only tremendous experience and knowledge to our company but also a unique ability to work with people to reach their highest potential.”
Allen can be reached at bonita@grassrootspromotion.com or 615-689-2982.