Scott Borchetta Featured in Entertainment Business Book

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blockbusters1Big Machine Label Group President and CEO Scott Borchetta is featured in a new book titled Blockbusters: Hit-making, Risk-taking, and the Big Business of Entertainment, authored by Harvard Business School professor Anita Elberse. The book focuses on why Elberse believes the future of popular culture will revolve around big bets on entertainment products. Blockbusters reveals which strategies give leaders in film, television, music, publishing, and sports an edge over their rivals—even as digital technologies are transforming the entertainment landscape.
Borchetta is featured in a section of the book that explores the launch of Taylor Swift’s fourth studio album RED. With more than 1.2 million copies sold in the U.S. in its first week, RED scored the highest first-week sales debut of any album in over a decade. It also marked the second biggest debut week ever for a female artist.
Blockbusters: Hit-making, Risk-taking and the Big Business of Entertainment is now available online and at major bookstores.
Elberse has published several case studies about the success of entertainment celebrities such as Jay-Z, Lady Gaga and LeBron James. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Variety, and Fortune.

Strait, Rhett Earn First Gold and Platinum Digital Certs

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RIAAGeorge Strait and Thomas Rhett were among seven artists to earn their first Gold or Platinum Digital Single awards from the Recording Industry Association of America in September, according to the RIAA’s new monthly G&P Program tally.
Strait’s “Give It All We Got Tonight” (MCA) earned the singer his first digital single to be certified Platinum, for more than one million downloads sold or a lesser number of downloads, plus on-demand song streams. Rhett’s debut single, “It Goes Like This” (The Valory Music Co.) was certified gold in September.
Meanwhile, in the digital album category, both Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton earned platinum status for their respective 2013 releases, Crash My Party (Capitol Records) and Based On A True Story (Warner Music Group).
The Band Perry garnered its second Gold album award for Pioneer (The Valory Music Co.).

Stillwell Signs To Kevin Harvick, Inc. Roster

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matt stillwell1

Pictured (L-R): KHI’s Kevin Harvick and Matt Stillwell. Photo: Kevin Harvick Inc.


Matt Stillwell has signed to the Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) roster. The two have announced a partnership designed to drive growth and innovation in the area of corporate sponsorship and branding. Stillwell is the first music client signed to the KHI roster, which primarily consists of auto racing and professional athlete management. Under the agreement, KHI plans to use their experience through their NASCAR relationships and cohesively extend them into the country music genre.
KHI is co-owned by NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick and his wife, DeLana. In its NASCAR operations, the company has demonstrated expertise in marketing through sponsor activation, sales and promotion, event management, advertising and public relations. KHI recently began to focus its efforts more on athletes and sponsors in and out of the auto racing industry, including Harvick, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone (MMA), Jeff Burton (NASCAR) and Jason Gore (PGA).
Stillwell broke into the country music scene with his single “Shine” debuting at No. 25 on iTunes country chart and the accompanying music video reaching No. 5 on CMT Pure and breaking into the Top 10 on GAC’s Top 20 Country Countdown.

Charlie Cook On Air: The Holiday Sales Push

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Charlie Cook

Charlie Cook


You know I am a big fan of the CMA research department. If you and your station are wondering whether you should be a CMA member, just having access to the research studies throughout the year (8-12 studies) can be reason enough. Karen Stump and her staff do a great job making sure the studies are actionable. The information is useful for personalities, programmers and of course sales staffs.
The new study deals with Holiday retail shopping habits of Country Music Consumers. The study was conducted via an online survey in August 2013 against 778 (members of the CMA Insider Consumer panel) respondents 18+.
This has not been the best year, economically, for America but 89% of the respondents say they plan to do additional shopping for Christmas. And of these shoppers, 52% will begin before Black Friday with another 17% panning to start the day after Thanksgiving. If you’re like me you stay far away from malls as you digest your turkey dinner but 50% of the shoppers will be in the stores that day. Cyber Monday has become another excuse to goof off at work and 67% of these folks will be online shopping (and checking Facebook) on December 2nd.
When you are in the store be sure you’re looking at the $75 and (slightly) under category. The average amount spent per Christmas gift is $72. In a perfect world for Music Row that would be six CDs but in real life 63% of shoppers are spending the gift money on Clothing and Shoes, 52% say DVDs and video games; 50% say toys and 49% say music/CDs.
Because this is a country music listener study, alcohol is the second most popular holiday spending category. Almost the entire panel (95%) will purchase holiday-specific food for Thanksgiving. Seventy-two percent will spend money on alcohol for New Year’s Eve. Halloween has become a huge spending holiday with over three quarters of these folks spending money on decorations. Those paper turkeys and funny New Year’s hats are also great targets for spending with about half of the revelers taping them to their walls.
In this group of almost 800 consumers the 18-34 males should be your target for music messages. Almost a third of this demo is planning to spend on music for New Year’s. So this is not gift giving music but personal music to account for what they did not receive in their stocking. This could be gift card purchases.
On average, Country Music Consumers will spend nearly $1000 this Christmas. The number only creeps up over $1000 in households with children. But if you think you’re going to be able to keep your card balance in check, think again. Add in Thanksgiving, New Years and Halloween and average amounts slams into $1700.00.
Four out of 10 of these consumers will buy music so some of that $1000 makes its way to Nashville. But now is not the time to start spending that bonus money, because three of the four top retailers that these shoppers are most likely to shop on Black Friday do not carry music.
1. Walmart (90% shop Walmart for holidays)
2. Walgreens (74%)
3. CVS (70%)
4. Kohl’s (68%)
5. Best Buy (62%)
6. Target (60%)
7. Dollar Tree (60%)
8. JCP (58%)
9. Staples/Office Depot (58%)
10. Bed Bath and Beyond (57%)
I hope some of this material will help you communicate with your audience and help you get ahead of the sales push.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MusicRow.)

Underwood Receives Multiple Sales Honors in New York

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Pictured (L-R): Carrie Underwood and Gary Overton

Pictured (L-R): Carrie Underwood and Sony Music Nashville Chairman/CEO Gary Overton.


Carrie Underwood was recently surprised with multiple honors by Sony Music Nashville Chairman/CEO Gary Overton. Following her Sound of Music rehearsal on Monday (Oct. 7) in New York City, Underwood was presented with three plaques commemorating recent RIAA certifications. “Good Girl” reached double platinum status for more than 2 million downloads, while “Two Black Cadillacs” is now platinum for more than 1 million downloads. Her debut DVD, The Blown Away Tour: LIVE has reached gold status.
Underwood is up for three trophies at this year’s CMA Awards, including Female Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year (Blown Away) and Video of the Year (“Blown Away”).
Underwood is temporarily residing in New York as she rehearses for the live three-hour broadcast of the original Broadway production of The Sound of Music on NBC on Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. CT/8 p.m. ET. Underwood will  return briefly to Nashville to-host the 47th Annual CMA Awards with Arista Nashville label-mate Brad Paisley on ABC on Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. CT/8 p.m. ET.

Keith Urban Partners With HSN To Release Guitar Line

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Urban-Guitar

Keith Urban. Photo courtesy keithurban.net.

Keith Urban has partnered with retailer HSN to offer an affordable line of guitars to musicians. The URBAN™ Guitar Collection, which includes two one-hour instructional DVDs, custom, limited edition acoustic and electric guitars and more, will be available for purchase on HSN, HSN.com and HSN Mobile on Sunday, November 3 at 12:01 a.m. EST. A portion of the proceeds from the Guitar Collection will go to Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation and The Grammy Foundation.

“I’ve watched some of the greatest guitarists in the world perform and I’ve seen people just learning how to play,” said Urban. “The looks on their faces are almost always the same and the connection with the instrument is genuine.”
The URBAN Collection features an acoustic and electric version of the “Phoenix Edition” guitar, and will be available in Brazilian Burst, Emerald Brazilian Burst, Rich Black and Vintage Natural Ivory. The entire 21-piece collection includes a custom amplifier, coated guitar strings, embroidered guitar strap, guitar picks and more.
“We are thrilled to welcome Keith Urban to HSN,” said Joy Mangano, President of HSN subsidiary Ingenious Designs. “Great stories and great storytelling are at the heart of everything we do and I can’t think of a better guitarist and storyteller than Keith. His guitar playing skills are legendary and the passion he has for music will surely inspire our viewers to pick up a guitar and play when Keith makes his debut in November.”
The singer recently released his seventh studio album FUSE, which debuted at No. 1 on the all-genre charts in the United States, Canada and Australia. He is currently performing on his Light The Fuse Tour. 
For more information, visit keithurban.net.

Industry Ink (10-7-13)

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In a surprise celebration backstage at the taping of their first CMT Crossroads, Kimberly, Reid and Neil Perry of The Band Perry were presented with gold plaques for their sophomore album, PIONEER, by Big Machine Label Group President & CEO Scott Borchetta, Republic Nashville President & Big Machine Label Group EVP Jimmy Harnen and album producer Dann Huff.

Pictured (L-R): Dann Huff, Scott Borchetta, The Band Perry, Jimmy Harnen

Pictured (L-R): Dann Huff, Scott Borchetta, Reid Perry, Kimberly Perry, Neil Perry, Jimmy Harnen. Photo: Rick Diamond.

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Big Deal Music has signed  singer-songwriter Hannah Blaylock. Blaylock is the former lead singer of trio Eden’s Edge and is working on her forthcoming solo project.

Pictured: Jody Williams of BMI, Dale Bobo of Big Deal, Hannah Blaylock, Linda Edell Howard of Adams and Reese, Greg Gallo of Big Deal and Pete Robinson of Big Deal.

Pictured: Jody Williams of BMI, Dale Bobo of Big Deal, Hannah Blaylock, Linda Edell Howard of Adams and Reese, Greg Gallo of Big Deal and Pete Robinson of Big Deal.

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yepAlexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit, will speak in Nashville on Oct. 29 at 4 p.m. at the Nashville Entrepreneur Center. The event is presented by the Creators’ Freedom Project and Young Entertainment Professionals. For more information, visit withouttheirpermissionnashville.com.

Bryan's 'Crash My Party' Certified Platinum

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luke bryan crash my party album cover1111Luke Bryan’s album Crash My Party has been certified Platinum by the RIAA, just six weeks after being released on Aug. 13. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Soundscan Country sales charts with 527,783 units sold.
The album’s title track has sold 1.3 million downloads and Crash My Party follows his double-platinum 2011 Tailgates & Tanlines.
Bryan is currently gearing up to launch his fifth Farm Tour 2013 this week, with eight shows from Oct. 2 to Oct. 12. Special guests performing during the tour include Chancie Neal, Cole Swindell and the Peach Pickers (Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson and Ben Hayslip).

CMT Chronicles Cassadee Pope's Journey

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Pictured (L-R):  Jimmy Harnen (Republic Nashville President/Big Machine Label Group EVP), Leslie Fram (CMT SVP Music Strategy), Cassadee Pope and Scott Borchetta (Big Machine Label Group President/CEO). Photo: Fred Breedon

Pictured (L-R): Jimmy Harnen (Republic Nashville President/Big Machine Label Group EVP), Leslie Fram (CMT SVP Music Strategy), Cassadee Pope and Scott Borchetta (Big Machine Label Group President/CEO). Photo: Fred Breedon


In anticipation of the Oct. 8 Republic Nashville CD release, titled Frame By Frame, Cassadee Pope revealed the first episode in a six-part CMT series at an exclusive viewing at Nashville event space Ruby Wednesday night (Sept. 25).
Hosted by the Country network and the Big Machine imprint, the evening featured beverage and appetizers in the courtyard before a screening and acoustic performance in the venue’s the main hall. CMT’s Sr. VP of Music Strategy Leslie Fram welcomed the crowd, before inviting Republic Nashville’s President and EVP of BMLG Jimmy Harnen to the stage. President/CEO of BMLG Scott Borchetta also shared remarks: “This is the program I wanted to make. CMT gave us the ability to continue telling the story.”
The first episode of Cassadee Pope: Frame By Frame features recording sessions at Blackbird studios in Nashville with MusicRow Producer of the Year Dann Huff and Borchetta in addition to visits to Arizona radio stations KNIX in Phoenix and KMLE in Tempe, Ariz. Each half-hour series will reveal behind-the-scenes footage of Pope’s journey through recording her album and music video, in addition to performance preparation for the CMT Music Awards and the release her first single to radio.
To end the evening’s event, The Voice season three winner performed new songs for the Nashville crowd, including “I Wish I Could Break Your Heart,” “Champagne,” “Eleven,” You Hear A Song,” “Good Times” and “Wasting All These Tears.”
The CMT series premieres to the public Friday, Oct. 4 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on the network in advance of Pope’s album, Frame By Frame, released four days later.

Weekly Register: Sheryl Crow, Keith Urban

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keith urban fuse album cover1The first five album titles this week on the Top Country Albums Chart read like a line in a good country song; After lighting a Fuse, she Crash My Party now it Feels Like Home so Here’s To The Good Times, Based On A True Story.
Keith Urban’s Fuse from Capitol Records Nashville debuted strongly this week on the top of the Country chart (and No. 1 overall) with 98k albums sold. The No. 2 position went to Luke Bryan’s Crash My Party selling another 53k, his 4th week (900k RTD), followed by Warner Bros. Sheryl Crow‘s debut Country album, Feels Like Home, at No. 3 (No. 7 overall) selling 36k in its first week.
Florida Georgia Line’s Here’s To The Good Times sold another 19k units  (1.1M RTD) while Blake Shelton‘s Based On A True Story sold 11k (887 RRD). Also debuting this week is George Jones’ Amazing Grace selling 2k.
sheryl crow artworkLove it or hate it, Miley Cyrus‘ newest single “Wrecking Ball” sells 477k units this week (883k RTD). Let’s move on.
The top Country track this week (No. 11 overall) is Bryan’s “That’s My Kind Of Night” selling 99k (607k RTD). Urban and Miranda Lambert‘s duet single, “We Were Us,” sells 32k in its first week out, sitting at No. 8 (No. 40 overall).
Next week releases will include Billy Currington‘s We Are Tonight, who is featured on the current issue of MusicRow Magazine, Chris Young‘s A.M., and Justin Moore‘s Off The Beaten Path.