Kayle Kiener has been promoted to VP, Recorded Music Royalties at Concord. Formerly Director, Artists Royalties, Kiener will be based in Concord’s Nashville headquarters and will report to Concord’s GM of Global Administration, Jeff Van Driel.

After starting his career as a professional musician, Kiener studied accounting at University of South Florida. His introduction to the music business came at Naxos of America where he led the Global Royalty department and eventually became product manager of business intelligence. Following a brief stint as a royalty auditor for a CPA firm, he most recently worked as the senior manager of Frontline Artist Royalties at Warner Music Group’s newly created Center of Excellence in Nashville.

“I had the pleasure of working with Kayle in a previous lifetime and am so pleased to have him now heading up Concord’s Recorded Music Royalties,” says Van Driel. “He has shown remarkable adaptability, leadership and innovation in the short time he has been at Concord and I look forward to continued success as we prioritize reporting and paying our valued partners in the artist and songwriting communities.”

Kiener comments, “Concord’s ability to manage a diverse catalog and promote an incredible corporate culture is unrivaled and I am proud to be a member of its team. The department is made up of some of the most talented and dedicated people in the business and I am lucky and excited to work alongside them.”

Chris Young. Photo: Jeff Johnson

RCA Nashville recording artist Chris Young celebrates the top country album debut this week with Famous Friends. Young’s eighth studio album scored 24,000 streams, placing it at No. 3 on the country charts and No. 13 overall. Young also earned the top country song debut this week with “At The End Of A Bar,” featuring Mitchell Tenpenny, receiving 3.1 million streams and putting it at No. 39, according to Nielsen.

Morgan Wallen maintains the top spot once again as Dangerous: The Double Album earns another 44,000 streams. His 2016 album, If I Know Me, remains in the top 5 streaming albums, dropping down to fifth with 15,000 streams. Luke Combs takes up No. 2 and No. 4 with What You See Is What You Get and This One’s For You racking up 24,000 and 16,000 streams, respectively.

Monument Records’ Walker Hayes nabs the top country streaming song for a sixth consecutive week as “Fancy Like” adds another 12 million streams this week for 75 million total streams RTD, according to Nielsen. Nelly & Florida Georgia Line hold down the second spot with “Lil Bit” gaining another 7.7 million streams as “Glad You Exist” (Dan + Shay) gains ground and rises to third with 6.8 million streams. “Chasing After You” (Ryan Hurd & Maren Morris) drops to fourth while Combs seals the top five with “Forever After All,” both of which add another 6.6 million streams this week.

Blake Shelton has been announced as the featured artist for The Artist Interview, sponsored by BMI, at CRS 2022. Shelton will sit down with Country Aircheck Publisher/CEO and host of Westwood One’s Country Countdown USA, Lon Helton, and will speak candidly on his career, artistic process, and what’s on the horizon.

“This is one you definitely don’t want to miss! Blake speaks his mind, often surprises, and always, always makes you laugh. Come to CRS and enjoy some quality time with one of our biggest superstars,” CRS Board President, Kurt Johnson comments.

Shelton continues to add to his superstar status with his new album Body Language, available everywhere now. His most recent hit, 4x Platinum “God’s Country,” earned Shelton the 2019 CMA Award and 2020 ACM Award for Single of the Year. As his award wins approach the hundreds, Shelton remains a force in the industry with 5 ACM awards, 10 CMA awards, and 11 CMT awards, among many others.

As a coach for the Emmy Award-winning television show The Voice, Shelton is an eight-time champion, most recently with his contestant Cam Anthony. Shelton has helped raise millions of dollars for children’s hospitals, disaster relief organizations, food banks, and more in his home state of Oklahoma and throughout the entire country. In 2019, he was awarded the CRS Artist Humanitarian Award for his continued outreach in helping to raise millions of dollars for countless causes.

CRS also recently announced the launch of CRS Heads Of State which will feature a mix of some of the industry’s most prominent leaders, including Caroline Beasley (CEO/Beasley), Ginny Morris (CEO/Hubbard), Bob Profitt (CEO/Alpha Media), Bill Wilson (CEO/Townsquare), Scott Borchetta (President/CEO, BMLG), Mike Dungan (Chairman/CEO, UMG), John Esposito (Chairman/CEO, WMN), Randy Goodman (Chairman/CEO, Sony), and Jon Loba (President, BMG).

Registration for CRS 2022 opens tomorrow, Aug. 17 at 10 a.m. CT. Every CRS 2022 early bird registration will include a complimentary edition of the not-yet-published Bob Kingsley’s Book of Records, chronicling the living history of the late Bob Kingsley’s decades-long, Hall of Fame country radio career counting down the hits.

Following the success and popularity of CRS 2021: The Virtual Experience, CRS will also be offering a virtual track featuring livestream sessions and on-demand content from the 3-day event. Musical performances will only be available in-person and not available through the virtual experience.

Pictured (L-R): Lindsay Will (Manager, A&R, Round Hill Music Nashville), Mark Brown (Sr. Vice President/General Manager, Round Hill Music Nashville), Danielle Blakey, Bob Squance (Sr. Director, A&R, Round Hill Music Nashville)

Danielle Blakey has signed an exclusive worldwide publishing deal with Round Hill Music Nashville.

The Australian-born songwriter and producer has had songs recorded by Jimmie Allen, Matt Stell, Easton Corbin, Kelleigh Bannen, Levi Hummon and Erin Kinsey, among others.

“Danielle is an extremely talented songwriter and producer and we’re thrilled to welcome her to the Round Hill Music family,” says Bob Squance, senior director of A&R, Round Hill Music Nashville. “Her work ethic and dedication to music are exceptional and we’re looking forward to having great success together.”

“Danielle is a unique talent and will be a huge asset to the Round Hill team. We’re excited to get to work,” adds Mark Brown, senior vice president and general manager, Round Hill Music Nashville.

Blakey joins the roster at Round Hill that includes Ashley Gorley, Jimmy Robbins, Zach Crowell, and more.

“I am over the moon to be working alongside Bob Squance and the whole team at Round Hill Music,” says Blakey. “I’m excited to begin this new chapter of my career and am proud to be part of such an incredible roster.”