RIAA Certifications For May 2013

riaa390A month after the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced the integration of on-demand streams to its Gold & Platinum (G&P) Program to more broadly recognize online demand for songs, a record 153 digital singles earned certification in May 2013.
RIAA Digital Certifications for May include:
Gold, Platinum and Multi-Platinum Digital awards
Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise” (Multi-Platinum)
Hunter Hayes’s “Wanted” (Multi-Platinum)
Taylor Swift’s “Mean” (Multi-Platinum)
Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats” (Multi-Platinum)
Kenny Chesney’s “The Boys of Fall” (Platinum)
Florida Georgia Line’s “Get Your Shine On” (Platinum)
Gloriana’s “(Kissed You) Goodnight” (Platinum)
Little Big Town’s “Boondocks” (Platinum)
Dustin Lynch’s “Cowboys and Angels” (Platinum)
Jake Owen’s “Alone With You” (Platinum)
Rascal Flatts’ “Easy” (Platinum)
Darius Rucker’s “Wagon Wheel” (Platinum)
Taylor Swift’s “Red” and “22” (Platinum)
Josh Turner’s “Why Don’t We Just Dance” (Platinum)
Kenny Chesney’s “Pirate Flag” (Gold)
Brantley Gilbert’s “Kick It In The Sticks” (Gold)
Toby Keith’s “Beers Ago” (Gold)
Miranda Lambert’s “Famous In A Small Town” (Gold)
Tim McGraw’s “Highway Don’t Care” (Gold)
Justin Moore’s “Bait A Hook” and “Til My Last Day” (Gold)
Blake Shelton’s “Boys Round Here” (Gold)
Taylor Swift’s “Ronan” (Gold)
Albums
Luke Bryan’s Spring Break…Here To Party (Gold)

The Country Network Rebrands To ZUUS Country

zuus countryZUUS Media, the network operating ZUUS, has acquired The Country Network (TCN) and has re-branded it to ZUUS Country. The new ZUUS Country network will continue to be programmed and operated from the former TCN’ headquarters in Nashville.
ZUUS Country will be available in over 40 major television markets nationwide and features the same standard of programming, but with a new name and look. The newly renamed television channel will also combine with the ZUUS Country digital channels on the ZUUS digital network, providing fans even more opportunities to discover and rediscover a variety of music thru ZUUS’ multi-genre programming.
““We are extremely excited to welcome ZUUS Country to the ZUUS Media family,”” said ZUUS CEO Steve Goldstein. “Under the ZUUS Media umbrella, the newly re-branded network will not only add a significant amount of content and programming to our country platform, it will also benefit by being able to leverage our existing seamless TV-Web-Mobile exposure, label and artist partnerships, and integrated digital and social platforms all within and part of the ZUUS Media network.””
As part of ZUUS Media’’s multi-platform distribution, the new ZUUS Country will offer digital video streaming online via the ZUUS Mobile app on Apple and Android devices, and will also be viewable via a new ZUUS Facebook app.  ZUUS Country will feature programming from TCN, while incorporating new programs.
New ZUUS Country programs will include Inside Tracks, which takes a look at artists on the rise, including their influences, inspirations, hometown interviews and tours. Each episode will showcase music videos and an acoustic performance by the featured artist. In Breaking Out, an existing program, music experts bring fans more new talent on the verge of fame.
 
 
 

Weekly Register: FGL, Shelton and 'The Voice's' Danielle Bradbery

bradbery

It’s no surprise that Danielle Bradbery was one of the final five saved by America on last night’s show. Bradbery currently has three songs on the top 100 country tracks list.


With no new country album releases in the 5k and up zone this week it seems an excellent time to focus on tracks. The tracks chart is a very interesting list these days. First we have to keep mentioning Florida Georgia Line who aren’t bordering on success— they now own it. Their monster smash, “Cruise” retains its lock on the chart top by selling another 196k units. At this rate it will be 4X Platinum next week! Having two versions of the track has been a masterful and profitable idea for all connected to this project. (The remix featuring Nelly actually sold 126k of this week’s total 196k, for an RTD of over one million.)
But happening right underneath the glitz of FGL’s achievement there is another story playing out, based around a TV singing contest—The Voice. Blake Shelton’s huge personality and tall talent have really benefited from this massive media exposure platform. And the Okie has totally maxed the opportunity. Shelton’s “Boys ‘Round Here” track jumps 36% this week staying in the No. 2 spot with over 147k downloads. The song has charted for 10 weeks and next week will surely pass the one million mark. Shelton’s benefit concert this past week to support disaster victims in his home state likely helped swell his numbers, but he’s just so damn likable…
And that brings us to another of Shelton’s good qualities, his ability to pick talent. He chose last year’s winner, Cassadee Pope and now it seems he has once again found a talent that is touching the hearts and pocketbooks of fans across the country.
It’s no surprise that Danielle Bradbery was one of the final five saved by America on last night’s show. Bradbery currently has three songs on the top 100 country tracks list. “Grandpa (Tell Me ‘Bout The Good Ole Days)” which she sang on last week’s show jumped to No. 7 with almost 52k downloads. The previous week her rendition of “Heads Carolina, Tails California” sold 48k (No. 8) and then added another 9k this week. Four weeks ago her song choice was “Maybe It Was Memphis” which debuted at No. 9 with sales of over 49k.
Isn’t this normal you might ask? Well there are other contestants with songs on the charts, but on the country side all of them added together don’t equal Danielle’s tally.
weeklygrid6-2-13I don’t want to be accused of laying down the jinx, but winner or not, this 16-year-old Texan (@DBradbery) with the golden pipes is winning fans and already selling an enviable amount of product. Her Twitter feed is about to pass 100k and growing rapidly. Surely the announcements of a high profile manager, label and new producer will be arriving soon. Who will it be?
Album Chart
Moving briefly to the album side, Blake Shelton (42k) leads, barely edging out Darius Rucker (No. 2; 41k) for the top spot. It’s week two for Mr. Rucker who suffered a 51% decline, much less than normal. George Strait (No. 3; 26k); Lady Antebellum (No. 4; 24k) and Florida Georgia Line (No. 5; 22k) round out the top 5.
Stay tuned for next week when we’ll have numbers on LeAnn Rimes’ new Spitfire, plus measure the effects on sales from the CMT Awards and of course CMA Music Fest…

Rowfile: John Alexander

john alexander bio111

John Alexander


Manager and marketer John Alexander has channeled his years of experience into his new company, Alexander Music, Marketing and Management, with Sarah Darling as his flagship artist.
Alexander spent over a decade as Director of Music Marketing, and later in national account development, with GAC. There Alexander worked with labels to craft awareness campaigns for their artists, building a considerable number of business relationships along the way.
Darling is no stranger to multi-faceted marketing campaigns, having struck deals with MoonPie, Crock-Pot, and having appeared on episodes of The Bachelor. Alexander’s skills and relationships have allowed Alexander to market Darling without the benefit of a Top 40 radio hit. “I basically have done a lot of non-traditional marketing with Sarah,” he tells MusicRow.com. “She hasn’t had a Top 40 hit at this point, but she’s performed on the Grand Ole Opry 35 times and had three No. 1 videos and several branded endorsements. We have kept her name out there in front of the industry and fans in a lot of non-traditional ways.”
In late 2012, Darling’s partnership with MoonPie was announced, a deal that put her likeness on over 3 million boxes. “That was over two years in the making,” says Alexander. “I was still at GAC at the time and trying to help her. I met with the vice president to pitch Sarah’s song ‘Wrapped in Moonlight.’ He liked the idea, but wasn’t ready to do business. I always thought she would have a great synergy with that brand, so I kept in touch.” Darling’s single “Home To Me” was the perfect fit. “I sent Tory Johnson a three-line e-mail that included an MP3 of the song. I said, ‘Tory, when your customers bite into a MoonPie, doesn’t that feel like home to them?’ That opened the door and she was in 2700 Walmarts with the MoonPie brand.”
Alexander quit his job at GAC to join Black River Entertainment as VP, Strategic Management in 2010, where his role was managing Sarah. Alexander and Darling recently split from Black River.
“For me, it was a matter of wanting to manage Sarah. It was a graceful parting of ways,” says Alexander. “Any label in Nashville that is thinking of, or has started up, a management company under the roof of the label realizes it is tenuous situation. As an artist manager, it is your job to live and die by the artist, to be the artist advocate. That causes internal conflict because the objectives are different. The philosophy behind running a record label and managing an artist are sometimes different.”
little umbrellas111The silver lining was an opportunity to open his own company, and Alexander has hit the ground running. Darling’s latest single, “Little Umbrellas,” was released to iTunes yesterday (June 4), and has since moved up 52 positions on the chart. The song is Darling’s first independent single release and was penned by Darling, Doug Johnson and Rob Crosby. SiriusXM will play it exclusively for four weeks before the song goes for adds on June 24. Alexander also made deals with 764 Records, an imprint distributed by Sony. A music video is in the works. Alexander is building his team around Sarah, working with Jay Frank on digital marketing and with publicist Amanda French.
Alexander is eager to create more partnerships for his artist. “I think television is a very important part of any artist’s career today. We have long-term aspirations to get Sarah her own lifestyle channel. She’s a baker and a fashion person, so we’re going to build a brand with her that way.” Darling currently has a national ad campaign with Durango.
“He’s an amazing manager,” says Darling, “but the thing I value most is the marketing side, which is such a great thing for an artist these days. It’s wonderful to work with someone who gives me that freedom to explore ideas. He feels confident that I know myself as an artist, so he can just let me do that. It’s exciting for me because I have so many ideas.”
Alexander is open to managing other artists eventually, but says “I owe it to Sarah to make her the flagship and to build the brand around her and get her to where she needs to be.” In the meantime, consulting is another option. “If there is a need for an artist who is signed, I can consult and help them market themselves, but I would be selective about whom I work with.”
This is not Alexander’s first foray into the world of management. In 1981, he met singer Patty Loveless (then Lovelace) while she was covering rock songs in North Carolina nightclubs and spent three years managing her career prior to the singer signing with MCA Nashville. Alexander also tried his hand at managing pop, rock and urban acts, and spent time working for the New York Mets and in pro wrestling radio. In 1996, he worked as an account executive for a country radio station on Long Island. In 2000, Alexander began work with Jones MediaAmerica, the marketing and sales division for the Jones Radio Network and Great American Country television. The company was later sold to Scripps Networks, and Alexander began producing programming for GAC and creating partnerships between national brands and artists, which now benefit him in his new role.
“We have built an incredible story over the past 13 years,” says Alexander. “I have a good reputation. I respect everyone that I do business with. I under promise and over deliver. It’s being built slowly and we can do some good things for artists who need help strategically, but Sarah is priority No. 1 for me.”

Industry Ink (6-4-13)

martina mcbride 2013 publicity shotPandora Jewelry has partnered with singer Martina McBride. The mother of three will be featured in Pandora’s print advertising in a variety of U.S. and Canadian magazines such as Fitness, Lucky, Every Day with Rachael Ray, Redbook, Canadian Living and Style at Home. Pandora will also sponsor several of McBride’s concerts from June through December 2013. The jewelry brand will also give concert attendees the chance to win some of McBride’s favorite Pandora jewelry pieces and upgraded VIP concert tickets.
• • •
On Saturday (June 1) Word Entertainment celebrated Big Daddy Weave taking home Song of the Year honors for “Redeemed,” and KING & COUNTRY’s win for Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the first K-LOVE Fan Awards. The night was topped off at the after-party with the Word family gathering for a photo with top execs at the label including Rod Riley (President and CEO), Joshua Bailey (SVP A&R) and Andrea Kleid (VP National Promotion).

Pictured (L-R): Brooke Hardesty, Rod Riley, Susan Riley, for KING & COUNTRY’s Luke, Leigh Holt, Kenny Rogers, Brian Thiele, for KING & COUNTRY’s Joel, Kellyn Bailey, Joshua Bailey, Ruthanne White, Chris August, Andrea Kleid, Big Daddy Weave’s Mike Weaver, Kandice Weaver, Big Daddy Weave’s Brian Beihl and Jay Weaver. Photo: Kurt Heinecke.

Pictured (L-R): Brooke Hardesty, Rod Riley, Susan Riley, for KING & COUNTRY’s Luke, Leigh Holt, Kenny Rogers, Brian Thiele, for KING & COUNTRY’s Joel, Kellyn Bailey, Joshua Bailey, Ruthanne White, Chris August, Andrea Kleid, Big Daddy Weave’s Mike Weaver, Kandice Weaver, Big Daddy Weave’s Brian Beihl and Jay Weaver. Photo: Kurt Heinecke.


 

• • •

flynnville train press release photo1111Indiana-based Flynnville Train has signed to Marshall Morris and Amp Entertainment for label and marketing representation. The band’s latest album, Back on Track, is set to release in late June and features a duet with Gretchen Wilson, a collaboration with Dan Baird (The Georgia Satellites) and songs written by the Kentucky Headhunters.
 
 

Industry Ink (6-3-13)

warner chappell logo1Songwriter Liz Rose has signed with Warner/Chappell. 
In recent years, Rose scored as co-writer of the Eli Young Band hit “Crazy Girl.” She also has a cut, “Sober,” on the current Little Big Town album, on Kellie Pickler’s latest project, and on the upcoming LeAnn Rimes album.
Rose is a co-writer on more than a dozen Taylor Swift songs including “White Horse,” “Teardrops on My Guitar” and the Grammy winning “You Belong with Me.”

• • •

the henningsens11Family trio The Henningsens have partnered with Sue Bee Honey®, America’s Honey® – the world’s largest honey marketing cooperative and packer of 100 percent made-in-the-USA honey. Sue Bee Honey’s members produce 20-25 percent of the honey crop in the United States. “We have a really large family,” said father Brian Henningsen of The Henningsens. “My wife and I have 10 children. We love the multi-generation aspect of farming and music. And that was a really good fit for us in partnering with and becoming friends with the folks at Sue Bee Honey®. They are America’s Honey®, an American company through and through.”

• • •

cmafoundation11For the second year, The CMA Foundation is donating $50,000 to benefit summer music education programs for low-income students at the W.O. Smith Nashville Community Music School. The donation is part of CMA’s Keep the Music Playing initiative, which supports music education on behalf of the hundreds of artists who perform for free each year during CMA Music Festival.

• • •

LMG, Inc., a national provider of video, audio and lighting support that is operating onsite at the Music City Center under the name Music City Audiovisual, has added several key staff members at The Music City Center, including accounts manager Curt Wallen, account executive Chris Royea, accounts manager Steve Austin and regional manager Stephen Presti.

Pictured (L-R): LMG’s Nashville Account Team: from left to right – Curt Wallen, Steve Austin, Stephen Presti, and Chris Royea.

Pictured (L-R): LMG’s Nashville Account Team: from left to right – Curt Wallen, Steve Austin, Stephen Presti, and Chris Royea.


 

Industry Ink (5-31-13)

nashville hutton hotel111Carey Watermark Investors, Inc. (CWI) has acquired the Hutton Hotel in Nashville. The 247-room luxury hotel opened in 2009. CWI purchased the property for $73.6 million.
The Hutton Hotel is located at 1808 West End Avenue.

                  • • •

billboard music awards 2013The 2013 Billboard Music Awards contributed to significant sales gains in the first full week after the May 19 show. In the week ending May 26, the 19 songs performed during the broadcast sold a total of 973,000 downloads, according to Nielsen Soundscan.
Among the major sales jumps are Taylor Swift‘s Red, which jumped 17 percent and Kacey MusgravesSame Trailer, Different Park, which was up 11 percent from the previous week.

 • • •

twain smitty111Shania Twain was announced as the winner of the SMItty Award for Most Innovative Use of Scent Marketing. It is awarded to a brand owner who has implemented an outstanding use of scent in a way that is new and unexpected.
In her Las Vegas Show, Shania: Still The One, at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, the air is infused throughout the show with various specialized scents. Twain’s own fragrances, Still The One Day and Still The One Night, are wafted throughout the audience and slowly transitions into a saloon scent (leathery and vintage) and then into the smell of a campfire. Scent machines are strategically placed throughout The Colosseum for audience members to experience the show from all senses.

Jo Dee Messina Turns To Kickstarter For New Album

Jo Dee Messina

Jo Dee Messina


Jo Dee Messina is the latest artist to turn to funding platform Kickstarter to help fund a new album. The “Bring On The Rain” singer’s “My time. Our Music.” campaign begins today (May 24). A $100,000 goal has been set to fund studio time, musicians, engineers, engineer assistants, production assistants, cartage, background vocalists, lead vocal recording days, overdubs, utility musicians, equipment rental, recording, mixing, mastering and more.
In order to succeed, the goal must be reached within a 30-day period. Kickstarter supporters can visit Kickstarter.com to help fund Messina’s new project.
“Now that I have the ability to make any record I want, I’d like to take a different route,” Messina says. “I want to give the public a chance to be heard. This time I want to make a record WITH you, in addition to making one FOR you. Kickstarter is the perfect platform. It allows me to change the way things have traditionally been done in my career for years. It’s totally exciting!” Messina fans will have the opportunity to vote on album artwork and even submit original pieces for consideration.
Since launching in 2009, more than 4.1 million people have pledged over $625 million, funding more than 41,000 creative projects via Kickstarter.

Weekly Register: Strait Talk—Does On-Demand Drive Sales?

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© 2013 The Nielsen Company


Consumer research giant Nielsen recently debuted its first Entertainment Consumers Report aimed at exploring how people listen, buy and play with music, home video, games and books in the U.S. Overall the data showed that home entertainment consumers are embracing digital at a higher rate than ever before.
strait

No. 1 Country Album this week!


The on-demand streaming results stood out to this writer since they added fuel to the debate question: Does on-demand streaming drive sales?
Music is considered to be “on-demand” when the consumer can choose exactly which song to hear. Examples of on-demand companies include Spotify, Muve and most recently Google All Access. (Streaming that is programmed by the station, like Pandora, is called “webcaster” or non-interactive.)
Nielsen’s report found that on-demand streamers are highly motivated music lovers and 29% of them are likely to purchase new music after hearing it through a streaming service. As the red circles reveal, compared to the average U.S. Internet user they are 96% more likely to follow a celebrity on a social network and 90% more likely to be heavy music spenders.
traceThe research supports Spotify’s claims that its service is not a substitute for purchasing, but helps fuel it. But perhaps it’s premature to draw conclusions about the relationship between on-demand streaming and sales behavior. We are still at an early point in the development of the services.
Why? Two main reasons. Firstly, paid on-demand subscribers still represent a very small portion of the overall streaming sample. The RIAA reports that for year-end 2012 all U.S. streaming services (on-demand and webcaster) had a total of only 3.4 million paid subscribers. So the majority of streaming listeners are experiencing a free or ad-supported experience. They have not yet committed to pay. Secondly, streaming depends upon uninterrupted connectivity which is still not a completely ubiquitous experience. Loading a digital file on your device, so you are not dependent upon bandwidth everywhere you go still makes sense. But what about when the bandwidth is universal— in the air, in your car and in every nook and cranny on the planet? Won’t that destroy the concept of owning MP3 files?
What are your thoughts?
And now onto this week’s sales results…
weeklygrid5-19-13Reading The Grid In A Strait Line
Like a premium single malt scotch, George Strait enters the Current Country album chart at No. 1 while simultaneously placing his well-worn Resistol atop the radio airplay charts at the same time. Pretty smooth, Mr. Strait, and well deserved. Love Is Everything scanned almost 120k units (27% digital) showing improvement over his last album release which registered first week sales of 92k.
Also debuting this week was Donald Trump’s new favorite Celebrity Apprentice, Trace Adkins. Trace placed Love Will at No. 6 with sales of almost 25k (28% digital). Adkins’ new offering fell short of his last trip to the Weekly Register when his debut rang up 47k units.
The new product pipeline has been active the past few weeks and correspondingly we see country move from last week’s +1.1% to a kinder gentler +2.6%. This lead is especially appreciated when comparing country sales to all-genre, which is down YTD -5.1%. That means country has almost an eight percentage point lead over the general industry. Way to go Music City. (Shhh, let’s hope the Mayor doesn’t decide to tax our good fortune to pay for the new Music City Center…)
weeklygrid5-12-13Country’s sales surplus was also driven by week 2 sales from Lady Antebellum (No. 2; 56k) down 67% from its debut week; and Pistol Annies (No. 3; 30k) down 64% W/W. Week 3 sales from “Islander” Kenny Chesney, shifted a nice 26k for a RTD total of over 227k. And to round out the Top 6, let’s include the ever “judgmental Voice-er,” Blake Shelton at No. 4. Fans purchased  his newest collection, Based Upon A True Story about 28k times.
Next week the album release fun continues with Darius Rucker leading the charge…
Tracks are also a bright spot for country labels showing an 8.8% gain YTD, and a 2% boost W/W. Did the upswing this week come from impulsive Sunday evening downloads spurred by the Billboard Awards and the Tim McGraw special? Probably, but we’ll know better when we see next week’s numbers.
Currently, we hear that Big Machine Records is trying to pass a bill in Congress that would rename the Digital Genre Country Chart the Florida Georgia Line “Cruise” Chart. Why not, they are always in the No. 1 spot. They now have almost 3.5 million in total downloads, adding a nifty 189k this week. We’ve mentioned it before, but note that “Cruise” has two versions—the country track and a remix with Nelly. On the country chart they add sales from both versions together with one listing (No. 1). But on all-genre tracks chart they are listed separately. This week the remix downloaded 125k copies and the country version added almost 64k.
Blake Shelton, who we hear is organizing an NBC relief concert for Oklahoma (good job Blake) sits at No. 2 with “Boys ‘Round Here” ringing up a solid 109k units.
Got a question? Something you’d like to know about, but wasn’t mentioned? Don’t be a lazy slug, write me a note (dross@bossross.com) and I’ll do my best to answer it. Oh, and about the rumor I might be heading to the BVI next week to interview Richard Branson—“no comment.”!
Keep on clicking…

Google Play Music: All Access Launches Today

Google-All-AccessGoogle today (May 15) announced a new streaming music service, Google Play Music All Access, during its sixth annual I/O developer conference for software programmers in San Francisco.
Expected to compete with rapidly growing music companies including Pandora and Spotify, the pay-by-month service allows users to blend their current music collections with its licensed library of songs from major labels UMG, Sony and Warner. Additionally, customers can create radio stations based on any song or artist, browse recommendations from an expert music team or explore by genre. Free storage for up to 20,000 songs is available in the cloud for listening alongside the All Access catalog.
The new service will be available in the U.S. on smartphones, tablets and Web browsers with a free 30-day trial, then for $9.99 a month for millions of songs on demand. Trials beginning by June 30 will pay only $7.99 a month.
Google Play is the company’s online media hub, which already includes a download store and storage locker.
Additional announcements at today’s roll-out include tools for developers to monetize apps in the Google Play download store, a new Samsung Galaxy S4 exclusively for Google Play, a tablet program for educators, a new web platform payment feature for Chrome, and a standalone app for “Hangouts.”