Connectivity Defines “Generation C”

/by

A new report from Nielsen dubs Americans ages 18-34 Generation C (for Connected). As music marketers try to reach digitally connected fans, these new findings show where Gen C spends time online, and its love of mobile devices.

Generation C makes up 23 percent of the U.S. population, according to the latest Census. These connected individuals account for a disproportionately high number of device users, making up 39 percent of smartphone users, and 33 percent of tablet owners.

The group represents 27 percent each of consumers watching online video, and visiting social networking/blog sites. One benefit for marketers is that Generation C is engaged in so many ways that there are multiple touch points to reach them.

Marketing to Gen C is full of challenges and opportunities. Radha Subramanyam, Nielsen’s SVP of media analytics, told the LA Times, “When we start marketing to them, we have to think differently. They’re consuming all different kinds of media, and they expect a direct relationship with brands…. This voracious device usage, which is almost an extension of their fingers, is tied to [their] expectations for instantaneous gratification and instantaneous response from brands.”

The charts below examine digital consumers across a variety of age groups and ethnicities.

 

Source: Nielsen

 

Lady Antebellum Partners With Lipton

/by

Lady Antebellum and Lipton have partnered for “Drink Positive,” the tea-maker’s most comprehensive marketing campaign to date. Together Lady A and Lipton will bring music and content to promote new Lipton Tea & Honey iced tea mixes and Lipton 100% Natural ready-to-drink bottled iced tea mixes.

The 2012 campaign leverages the scale and reach of the partnership between the Unilever and the Pepsi Lipton Partnership. The campaign includes national TV, print, radio, digital, exclusive online content, retail integrations and a consumer promotion–doubling the marketing spend from 2011.

“Lipton is proud to partner with Lady Antebellum to bring exciting content to our fans this summer,” says Marc Hanson, of the Pepsi-Lipton Partnership. “Lipton and Lady Antebellum share a positive and approachable style, and we’re excited to bring the ‘Drink Positive’ spirit to life–together–in a big way this year.”

“All three of us grew up drinking Lipton tea, and we always have a well-stocked supply on the bus. Plus, we love the ‘Drink Positive’ message and are excited about connecting with our fans on a whole new level through this campaign,” said Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott.

Underwood’s “Good Girl” Debuts At No. 1

/by

Carrie Underwood’s new single, “Good Girl,” debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Digital Country Songs chart with 108,000 downloads, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The song was released on Friday, Feb. 24.

“Good Girl” is the lead single from Underwood’s forthcoming album due May 1, and was co-written by Underwood, Chris DeStefano, and Ashley Gorley, and produced by Mark Bright.

Since her 2005 debut Some Hearts, Underwood has sold more than 14 million albums and has taken 14 singles to No. 1.

Ticketmaster Debuts iPhone App

/by

The app alerts users of upcoming events.

Ticketmaster has released an iPhone app that allows users to find events and purchase tickets. As an extension of Ticketmaster.com, the app allows users to log into their MyTicketmaster account for a seamless purchasing experience on their iPhone.

The app scans users’ iTunes music library to learn his or her music preferences. Users can activate the iPhone’s built-in location services to automatically recommend relevant upcoming local events. Fans can further personalize the recommended shows by using more than 40 preset filters.

The app also offers social media connections, allowing fans to Tweet and Facebook during the discovery phase, as well as after purchasing tickets. It also allows check in on Foursquare during the event.

Screenshot shows how users search for tickets.

Scotty McCreery Gets Gold For His “Trouble,” Pranks Paisley

/by

McCreery dressed like Paisley, complete with goatee, and surprised him onstage.

Scotty McCreery’s second single, “The Trouble With Girls,” has been certified Gold for reaching sales of 500,000 units, becoming his second single release to receive a Gold or higher certification by the RIAA.

McCreery’s platinum debut album Clear As Day debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200, making him the youngest man in history to open at the top of the all-genre chart with a debut release. It also garnered the highest sales of any country solo album released last year and held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart for six weeks.

For 2012, McCreery has been on the road with Brad Paisley‘s Virtual Reality Tour 2012 and the tour mates have been scheming pranks. During Paisley’s show, he projected doctored photos of McCreery’s head on the body of a muscular man in a bathing suit, and when he sings “Celebrity,” the screens flash fake tabloid headlines “Is Scotty McCreery Brad Paisley’s Love Child?”

McCreery capitalized on the publicity by dressing up like Paisley and surprising him onstage.

“Apparently Brad leaves his hat backstage at every show, but I didn’t find out until last week,” McCreery says. “I was going to take the hat out onstage that day and poke fun, but we decided it would be too early in the tour because it would leave too much time for him to prank me back. He loved it! He was cracking up. So now I am sleeping with one eye open.”

McCreery is also nominated for ACM New Artist of the Year, along with Brantley Gilbert and Hunter Hayes. Voting runs March 19 through April 1 on the ACM site, and GAC will premiere its ACM New Artist of the Year special on March 19.

RIAA’s Gold and Platinum Country January Highlights

/by

January was a good to several country music artists.

American Idol champ Scotty McCreery took home his first Platinum award for debut Clear As Day (Mercury Nashville, 2011), while Toby Keith and Jerrod Niemann were presented their first ever Platinum download certifications for “Red Solo Cup” (Show Dog – Universal Music) and “Lover, Lover” (Sea Gayle Records).

Taylor Swift’s new year was one full of precious metals. The RIAA awarded Swift her 21st Gold download cert for new single “Ours,” a 4x multi-Platinum for popular ballad “You Belong With Me,” plus a 4x multi-Platinum album award for her 2010 album Speak Now (Big Machine Records) selling more than four million copies.

Additionally, Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton each earned their second career Platinum download awards for their respective songs “Do I” and “God Gave Me You.”

Complete lists of all album, single, mastertone and video awards can also be accessed at www.riaa.com.

Lambert Receives Gold “For The Record” Plaque

/by

L-R: Keith Gale (RCA Nashville VP National Promotion), Marion Kraft (ShopKeeper Management), Gary Overton (Sony Music Nashville Chairman & CEO), Lambert, Paul Barnabee (Sony Music Nashville SVP Marketing). Photo: Rick Diamond/Getty Images

Although Miranda Lambert’s Four The Record album was certified Gold in last December, it wasn’t until CRS that everyone was able to get together and unwrap her plaque. The album has already yielded the hit “Baggage Claim” and her new single, “Over You,” is quickly climbing the charts.

Adele and Houston Lead Post-Grammy Sales Boom

/by

If you had put money down on who would fare well following the Grammy Awards, the smart bet would have been on multi-category winner Adele. And sure enough, the British songbird came out on top, according to sales data from Nielsen SoundScan.

Adele’s 21, which has been at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard Top 200 sales chart for 21 consecutive weeks now, continues to dominate. Following the singer’s big night at the Grammys, 21 moved 730k units—the album’s largest sales week since its release and the highest post-Grammy album sales increase in SoundScan history. The previous title-holder was Norah Jones’ Come Away With Me, which swept the Awards in 2003 and sold 621k the week following. RTD grand total for 21 is now up to 7.4 million. Additionally, Adele’s debut album 19 had its largest-ever sales week with 87k sold.

Whitney Houston’s untimely passing created a renewed interest in her work, with sales of her self-titled first album up 113% and the Bodyguard soundtrack up 123%. Houston’s Greatest Hits package was up 174%, selling 175k combined physical/digital.

Among country artists, Grammy winners Lady Antebellum returned to No. 1 by moving over 37k copies (physical and digital) of Own The Night. Despite their very brief performance intro for Taylor Swift, The Civil Wars also sold admirably, bringing in 36k units sold for an increase of 178%.

Swift had a great week as well. The Big Machine star got to play her hit “Mean” on the Grammy stage and the song experienced a 183% sales jump to 63k units. Sales of Swift’s Speak Now were up 60%. Band Perry and Blake Shelton were also rewarded for their show appearances; TPB’s self-titled debut experienced a sales upswing of 22% and Shelton’s Red River Blue was saw a 21% increase.

Other artists got the Grammy bump as well. Bruno Mars’s Doo-Wops and Hooligans got a 133% increase to sell 38k units. Coldplay’s Mylo Xyloto moved 35k for a 26% increase, and two performances plus a win helped the Foo Fighters’ Wasting Light sell 23k copies for a 134% surge.

CRS 2012 Research Study Reveals Non-P1 Preferences

/by

Country Radio Seminar’s 2012 research study was delivered at the Nashville Convention Center yesterday (Feb. 22), and focused on the attitudes and preferences of country fans beyond the P1 listener.

Conducted by Edison Research and presented by company President Larry Rosin, this year’s study surveyed over 1,000 country fans ages 18-54. These “non-P1” listeners comprised 65 percent of total country fans, which make up about 40 percent of the overall interviews conducted.

Among the findings:

—Local and live personalities make for the most important competitive advantage for AM/FM stations in a fragmented media marketplace where potential listeners can also choose Pandora or Spotify. Rosin drove this point home to thunderous applause. “Every time we voicetrack a daypart or fire a local radio personality, we are shaving away our advantage as an industry.”

—Non P1s are more than twice as likely to be new (within the last 10 years) fans of the country format.

—One in six non-P1’s prefer country music from the 1960’s and 1970’s.

—Ninety percent of the non-P1’s feel Country makes a positive contribution to America. Four out of five say lyrics in country songs express their feelings.

—Non-P1’s are more likely to be church-goers than P1’s.

—Non-P1’s are more likely to be aware of Pandora, iHeartRadio or Spotify and less inclined to regularly listen to AM/FM.

Rosen used the analogy of Marshall Field’s flagship downtown department store in early 20th century Chicago, when there were no other options. As the city grew and the population spread to the suburbs, closer alternatives popped up and people began to abandon the central store. Field had to go find customers where they lived. AM/FM stations have held that flagship status for a long time, but now other alternatives are popping up. Rosin urged the crowd to meet potential listeners where they are using new technologies, with live/local personalities.

Full CRS 2012 Country Radio research study is available at www.edisonresearch.com.

Rascal Flatts Hits Big Screen for New Album

/by

Rascal Flatts will hit the big screen Thursday, April 5 for a special album release week feature film. Rascal Flatts-Changed: One Night Exclusive Theater Event, presented by AEG Live and NCM Fathom, will offer behind-the-scenes access into the lives of Gary LeVox, Joe Don Rooney and Jay DeMarcus along with live performances of hits and music from their new album, Changed, set for release April 3 (Big Machine Records).

Tickets will be available to the in early March at www.FathomEvents.com.

For the CD release of Changed, the ACM Vocal Group of the Year nominees partnered with ‘ZinePak to produce a small-format magazine featuring photos, personal interviews, lyrics and a set of guitar picks. The magazine, which includes the deluxe album, will be on sale exclusively at Walmart.

Changed Track Listing

1.  Changed
2.  Banjo
3.  Hot In Here
4.  Come Wake Me Up
5.  She’s Leaving
6.  Let It Hurt
7.  Lovin’ Me
8.  Hurry Baby
9.  Sunrise
10. Great Big Love
11. A Little Home

Deluxe Album Bonus Tracks
1. Friday Can’t Come Fast Enough
2. Fall Here
3. Right One Time
4. Next To You, Next To Me