BOBBY KARL WORKS THE ROOM
Chapter 624
The CMA Fest began the day on Sunday (June 9) with something rare at this year’s celebration, sunshine.
In fact, by noon it was hot and humid. Maybe that’s why the Fan Fair X locale in the air-conditioned Music City Center was so popular. Ordinarily, this district is rather depopulated by the last day of the festival. Not this year.
Autographing in various booths when I arrived around 2 p.m. were Ryan Hurd, Walker Hayes, T.G. Sheppard, Tenille Arts, Mickey Guyton, Dakota Danielle and Royal South. Meanwhile, the Smithfield duo was harmonizing to a capacity crowd at the Radio Disney Stage.
On the CMA Spotlight Stage, earnest Ben Rue held forth, followed by CC & The Boys. Songwriters Kristi Manna and Jon Vezner were in the Fan Fair crowd.
This area of the fest has become increasingly dominated by retail activity. Displays of boots, jeans, shirts, hats, jewelry, purses, dresses, hair accessories, makeup, keychains, wallets and more seemed to be everywhere. On the brighter side, a record store returned to Fan Fair.
Other convention-hall stations offered games and contests – drawings for prizes, roulette wheels, batting cages, hoops and dollars in a wind tunnel. But labels have also continued to sponsor booths. This year, Sony, Universal, Warner Music, Big Machine (with vodka shots!), Black River, Tree Vibez and SSM Records were all represented.
Hardly any stars had booths. Michael Martin Murphey and Randy Travis were the exceptions, rather than the rule.
Venturing outside, we encountered nouveau honky-tonker Teddy Robb on the Chevy Breakout Stage in Hall of Fame Park. He sang to a thin crowd, perhaps due to the brutal sun. This area really needs to have some shade, organizers.
On Sunday, I did find my first true discovery of the fest. This was a woman named Faren Rachels, performing on the Maui Jim Broadway Stage on the cement Bridgestone Plaza. She was full of vim, wit and feisty attitude.
“Are y’all drinkin’ on a Sunday?” Faren asked the unfortunately too-sparse crowd. “It’s the last day of CMA Fest!”
I really liked her when she delivered “Show of Hands,” a good-natured anthem for working folks. Faren is a Nashville Uber Driver, and she had a song about that, too. I am told that this artist’s song “On Paper” has been streamed over a million times. Sounds like a good start to me.
Rain, which had been around the corner throughout the festival, returned on late Sunday afternoon. The nearby thunder and lightning cancelled several outdoor shows downtown and postponed the opening of the gates at Nissan Stadium that evening.
Noting that this was the last show on the last day of the fest, stadium host Storme Warren vowed, “We’re going to end it on a really strong note, I promise.”
Jimmie Allen began the night with a terrific, a cappella rendition of the National Anthem. Then David Lee Murphy revved up the attendees with “Party Crowd,” “Dust on the Bottle” and a medley of hits he’s written for others – “Big Green Tractor,” “Anywhere With You,” “Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not” and the like.
Chris Janson was next. He is always full of manic energy and boundless elan. But perhaps he felt an extra boost on Sunday.
“This is my first time to do a full set on the stadium stage at CMA Fest,” he told the crowd. He turned in a wild performance, featuring “Fix a Drink,” his new single “Good Vibes,” a cover of Billy Joel’s “Piano Man,” the powerful “Drunk Girl,” the “Truck Yeah” hit he wrote for Tim McGraw and “Buy Me a Boat.”
During his explosive set, Chris blew harmonica, played keyboards, flailed on the drum kit and exhorted the fans to scream, to clap, to wave their arms, to sing and to pump their fists.
“Come and see us on the road some time!” he shouted in his finale. “Love you to pieces!” The crowd adored him.
The next act was arguably the festival’s most charming. To illustrate the music-education beneficiary of the fest’s profits, The Andrew Jackson Elementary School Eagle Honor Choir did a song/cheer/dance routine called “I Am the Champion.”
“They just performed before 70,000 people!” exclaimed Stormie. “What were you doing in the 4th grade?”
Everyone in the CMA Hospitality Suite smiled and cheered. Dale Bobo, Scott Couch, Steve O’Brien and JoAnn Berry were there. Engaging radio man Dennis Banka was celebrating six consecutive years of hosting CMA Fest daytime stages.
And can I get a witness for Brenden Oliver, Brandi Simms, Aaron Hartley, Melissa Maynard, Mechalle Myers, Angela Strader, Amy Smart and, natch, Sarah Trahern? These suite regulars are among the CMA staffers who make this whole annual undertaking run so smoothly.
Okay, back to the concert. Surprise guest Trisha Yearwood appeared on the mid-field satellite stage to introduce her soaring new single “Every Girl in This Town.”
Old Dominion favored the fans with “Snap Back,” “No Such Thing As a Broken Heart” “Make It Sweet” and more. Lead singer Matthew Ramsey plunged into the crowd during “Hotel Key.” Brad Tursi offered an eloquent guitar solo during “Written in the Sand.” The band also introduced its new single, “One Man Band.”
In previous years, the Sunday attendance at the stadium has sometimes been lighter than Friday’s or Saturday’s. Not so at CMA Fest 2019. No sirree. That place was packed.
A big cheer greeted the arrival on stage of Maren Morris. The petite dynamo shared her career-launching “My Church” and her big pop hit “The Middle.” She also brought out Brandi Carlile to duet with her on “Common.”
Keith Urban performed a 30-minute set spanning his hit repertoire. “Never Comin’ Down,” “The Fighter,” “We Were,” “Blue Ain’t Your Color” and “Wasted Time” were energetically offered. The venue’s lights darkened during “Love Somebody Like You,” so the fans lit up the night with their cell phones. The effect was magical.
The reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year closed his set by charging through the crowd on the stadium floor, performing all the way to the back of the venue. Fans reached out to touch him and cheered.
“Everything we do is about this moment right here,” Urban told them. “Singing and having a good time and celebrating this precious life that goes by so fast. I love you more than you’ll ever know. Thank you.”
By this time, the clock was ticking toward midnight. But there was more to come. Superstar Luke Bryan brought his romping style to the stage to bring this year’s CMA Fest to its conclusion. By the way, he was also last year’s finale act.
He jolted even the weariest fest goers awake with “Country Girl (Shake It For Me),” “Rain Is a Good Thing,” “Knockin’ Boots,” “That’s My Kind of Night,” “Huntin’ Fishin’ Lovin’ Every Day” “Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset” and the rest of his party-hearty tunes. Bryan closed the fest with a cover of Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On a Prayer” that had everyone singing along.
And that’s what it’s all about.
Hipgnosis Songs Fund Acquires Michael Knox Catalog
/by Lorie HollabaughThe Board of Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited and its investment adviser, The Family (Music) Limited, have acquired Michael Knox’s producer royalties for the catalogue which includes all of Jason Aldean’s recordings for the duration of his agreement with Broken Bow Records, including his brand new album due for release later this year.
“Jason Aldean, as recognized by the Academy of Country Music, is undoubtedly country music’s most important artist of the last 15 years,” said Merck Mercuriadis, Founder of The Family (Music) Limited and Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited. “Behind him stands Michael Knox who is arguably the best ‘record man’ in Nashville with the responsibility of identifying great songs and producing great recordings. Theirs is a relationship that has not been seen since the days of George Jones and Billy Sherrill, and it’s an honor to welcome Michael into the Hipgnosis family. We are very excited to work with Michael, Jason, Jason’s management team, the peermusic team and Broken Bow. This is just the beginning of our endeavors in Nashville where we have the greatest respect for the creative community and its incomparable tradition of
great songs!”
“I am excited to be a part of the Hipgnosis movement,” said Knox. “Merck has shown a lot of excitement and appreciation for my 20 years of hard work. It’s difficult letting go of something I love so much but finding someone as passionate about music as I am, made this transition a lot easier.”
Knox has produced eight albums for Aldean, four of which consecutively reached Number 1 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart. Together with Aldean, Knox has sold over 35 million singles in addition to 18 million albums, and has 22 No. 1 hits on either the Billboard Hot Country Songs or Country Airplay’charts, including “Girl Like You” which is the No. 1 Airplay song of 2019 to date on the Country Aircheck Top Airplay Songs.
Hipgnosis, which was founded by Mercuriadis, is a Guernsey registered investment company established to offer investors a pure-play exposure to songs and associated musical intellectual property rights.
RaeLynn’s “God Made Girls” Goes Platinum
/by Lorie HollabaughPictured: Jackie Jones (RIAA VP of Artist and Industry Relations), RaeLynn, RIAA’s COO Michele Ballantyne
RaeLynn capped off a successful CMA Fest week by receiving a platinum certification for her Top 10 Hot Country Single “God Made Girls” from the RIAA’s Michele Ballantyne and Jackie Jones during Sunday of CMA Fest.
The hardworking entertainer has been on the road with Maren Morris’ GIRL tour this year.
Midland Plots Let It Roll Tour
/by Lorie HollabaughMidland will kick off their Let It Roll Tour on Sept. 17. The tour will visit 18 cities, including several dates in Australia, before wrapping Nov. 9 in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Tickets go on sale this Friday, June 14, and Spoti
Let It Roll 2019 Tour Dates:
September 17 | New York, NY
September 20| Oklahoma City, OK
September 25 | Honolulu, HI
September 28 | Sydney, AU*
September 29 | Brisbane, AU*
October 4 | Pokolbin, AU**
October 6 | Melbourne, AU**
October 11 | Midland, TX
October 12 | El Paso, TX
October 17 | Phoenix, AZ
October 19 | Tucson, AZ
October 24 | Clear Lake, IA
October 25 | Sioux City, IA
November 1 | Salt Lake City, UT
November 2 | Reno, NV
November 7 | Madison, WI
November 8 | Indianapolis, IN
November 9 | Fort Wayne, IN
* C2C Festival Dates
** Support for Tim McGraw
Management Company Fourward Opens Nashville Office, Signs Abby Anderson
/by Jessica NicholsonWill Ward, Abby Anderson, and Alicia Jones.
Over a year ago, former ROAR manager Will Ward exited to form his own company, Fourward, which encompasses management, production and business development.
The company has now opened a Nashville office, with Black River Entertainment’s Abby Anderson as one of the company’s newest clients. She joins Fourward TV and film clients such as Chris Hemsworth, Liam Hemsworth, Cobie Smulders, Aisha Tyler and music clients including Elliphant.
Alicia Jones, who previously served as day-to-day manager for Kelsea Ballerini at Iconic Entertainment Group, has joined the new company in a management role, with Ben Simonetti in an A&R role. The Nashville office joins Fourward’s other offices in Los Angeles, New York and Melbourne, Australia.
Nashville native Ward previously helped guide the careers of Zac Brown Band and Chris Hemsworth during his time at ROAR. He says his new Nashville office at Fourward allows him to focus on the Nashville market. “That is one thing I had always wanted to do with ROAR,” he says. “I want to build a Nashville roster.”
Prior to founding Fourward and his work at ROAR, Ward represented clients such as Adam Sandler, Edward Norton, Dustin Hoffman and Mark Wahlberg at WME.
Ward first saw Anderson perform in Nashville as part of live music series Whiskey Jam, and says it was Jones who tipped him off that Anderson was in the market for new management. “Abby was electric,” Ward says. “She has this amazing personality and an incredible voice. She’s a star.”
Anderson is currently on the road opening shows for Rob Thomas’ Chip Tooth Smile Tour, and recently released the new song “Good Lord.”
Fourward’s Nashville office is located at 632 Fogg Street in Nashville. The team at Fourward Nashville can now be reached at (424) 303-5000.
In addition, Ward’s career outside of traditional entertainment continues to grow as the co-founder and co-owner of restaurant chain Ottos Tacos. Ward is also the co-founder and co-owner of health, wellness and fitness app Centr alongside private equity giant Quadrant. Centr was one of the most successful launches of an app in the fitness space this year.
Fourward’s Will Ward, Alicia Jones, Ben Simonetti
Industry Ink: Nashville Songwriters Hall Of Fame, Average Joes, Grayscale Marketing
/by Jessica NicholsonSarah Cates Elected NaSHOF Board Chair
Sarah Cates
The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Foundation (NaSHOF) has elected Sarah Cates as its new board chair. She is the first female to serve with that title, joining Hall of Fame songwriter Wayland Holyfield (vice-chair), Rich Hallworth (secretary) and Mike Vaden (treasurer) as officers for 2019. Cates has served on the Foundation’s board since 2015.
Directors for the organization include Hall of Fame songwriters Pat Alger, Dickey Lee, Layng Martine Jr. and Allen Shamblin, serving with Beth Seigenthaler Courtney, Celia Froehlig, Ken Paulson, John Stein and John Van Mol. Robert K. Oermann (historian) and Barry Neil Shrum, Esq. (counsel) are ex officios. Mark Ford is the nonprofit’s executive director.
“Serving an organization that celebrates world-renowned creators in one of Music City’s most iconic professions is a deep honor to me,” says Cates. “The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame exists to honor this city’s history of songwriting excellence. I will do my best to serve this mission, as we honor the legacy of our members and celebrate Nashville as home to the finest songwriters from all genres of music.”
Average Joes Adds Smo To Roster
Pictured: Forrest Latta, AJE/Director-A&R; Smo; David Ray, Producer; Nathan Thompson, AJE/Sr. Director-Business Development
Homegrown Tennessee artist and reality star SMO has signed to Average Joes Entertainment. Currently in the studio finishing his new album, Smo’s first single, “Tear Da Mud Up,” is featured on Average Joes’ compilation series, Mud Digger 10, set for release July 12, 2019.
“Everyone at the label is excited to welcome SMO to the roster,” stated Average Joes’ Forrest Latta. “His talent, authenticity, and ability to deliver resonates with a broad fan base which has been firmly established. The entire team at Average Joes Entertainment is excited for what’s to come in the next chapter of SMO.”
Grayscale Marketing Adds Four
Nashville-based advertising, PR and marketing company Grayscale Marketing has added four staffers. Liz McCormick has joined Grayscale Marketing as a Publicist working alongside the PR team for the agency’s brand and entertainment clients. Carson Greenway has joined Grayscale Marketing as a Video & Motion Graphics Designer. Greenway also leads the agency’s photography and event creative team. Bridgette McAuliffe joins Grayscale Marketing as a Copywriter & Engagement Specialist. Jordan Formosa joins Grayscale Marketing as a Copywriter & Engagement Specialist.
Tim Gray, CEO of Grayscale Marketing, says, “I’m excited to welcome the new staff to our agency family. We’ve experienced rapid growth over the last 12 months and we’re incredibly lucky to have found these superstars. Their dedication to doing things the right way, passion for our clients, and focus on the big picture is what will help us and our clients in the years to come.”
CMA Fest Pics: Jimmie Allen, Brooks & Dunn, Hunter Hayes, Tim McGraw, Ashley McBryde
/by Jessica NicholsonSeveral artists and their teams celebrated this past week during CMA Music Fest in downtown Nashville.
Pictured (L-R): SESAC’s ET Brown, SESAC affiliate Jimmie Allen, and SESAC’s Lydia Schultz kick off the first day of CMA Fest at the Chevy Riverfront Stage on Thursday, June 6.
Brooks & Dunn made a surprise appearance during the Brothers Osborne CMA Fest show at Nissan Stadium. Pictured (L-R): Sony Music Nashville’s VP Digital Strategy Ed Rivadavia and Artist Team Lead Liz Cost, Maverick Management’s Marne McLyman, Kix Brooks, Ronnie Runn, Sony Music Nashville Director of National Promotion Lauren Thomas, Arista Nashville VP Promotion Josh Easler and Sony Music Nashville VP Finance Scott Stachelski. Photo: John Shearer
Pictured (L-R): John Esposito (Chairman & CEO, WMN), Hunter Hayes and Peter Asher.
Pictured (L-R): EM.co’s Scott Siman, Sony Music Nashville Artist Team Lead Liz Cost, Sony Music Nashville COO/EVP Ken Robold, Columbia Nashville’s Tim McGraw, Sony Music Nashville Chairman & CEO Randy Goodman, EM.co’s Kelly Clague, and Sony Music Nashville EVP A&R Jim Catino. Photo: John Shearer
Pictured: Ashley McBryde poses side stage with WMN Chairman & CEO John Esposito before her Riverfront performance on Saturday (June 8) during CMA Fest.
Bobby Karl Works The Room, CMA Fest Edition: Luke Bryan, Chris Janson, Maren Morris Take Center Stage
/by Bobby KarlChapter 624
The CMA Fest began the day on Sunday (June 9) with something rare at this year’s celebration, sunshine.
In fact, by noon it was hot and humid. Maybe that’s why the Fan Fair X locale in the air-conditioned Music City Center was so popular. Ordinarily, this district is rather depopulated by the last day of the festival. Not this year.
Autographing in various booths when I arrived around 2 p.m. were Ryan Hurd, Walker Hayes, T.G. Sheppard, Tenille Arts, Mickey Guyton, Dakota Danielle and Royal South. Meanwhile, the Smithfield duo was harmonizing to a capacity crowd at the Radio Disney Stage.
On the CMA Spotlight Stage, earnest Ben Rue held forth, followed by CC & The Boys. Songwriters Kristi Manna and Jon Vezner were in the Fan Fair crowd.
This area of the fest has become increasingly dominated by retail activity. Displays of boots, jeans, shirts, hats, jewelry, purses, dresses, hair accessories, makeup, keychains, wallets and more seemed to be everywhere. On the brighter side, a record store returned to Fan Fair.
Other convention-hall stations offered games and contests – drawings for prizes, roulette wheels, batting cages, hoops and dollars in a wind tunnel. But labels have also continued to sponsor booths. This year, Sony, Universal, Warner Music, Big Machine (with vodka shots!), Black River, Tree Vibez and SSM Records were all represented.
Hardly any stars had booths. Michael Martin Murphey and Randy Travis were the exceptions, rather than the rule.
Venturing outside, we encountered nouveau honky-tonker Teddy Robb on the Chevy Breakout Stage in Hall of Fame Park. He sang to a thin crowd, perhaps due to the brutal sun. This area really needs to have some shade, organizers.
On Sunday, I did find my first true discovery of the fest. This was a woman named Faren Rachels, performing on the Maui Jim Broadway Stage on the cement Bridgestone Plaza. She was full of vim, wit and feisty attitude.
“Are y’all drinkin’ on a Sunday?” Faren asked the unfortunately too-sparse crowd. “It’s the last day of CMA Fest!”
I really liked her when she delivered “Show of Hands,” a good-natured anthem for working folks. Faren is a Nashville Uber Driver, and she had a song about that, too. I am told that this artist’s song “On Paper” has been streamed over a million times. Sounds like a good start to me.
Rain, which had been around the corner throughout the festival, returned on late Sunday afternoon. The nearby thunder and lightning cancelled several outdoor shows downtown and postponed the opening of the gates at Nissan Stadium that evening.
Noting that this was the last show on the last day of the fest, stadium host Storme Warren vowed, “We’re going to end it on a really strong note, I promise.”
Jimmie Allen began the night with a terrific, a cappella rendition of the National Anthem. Then David Lee Murphy revved up the attendees with “Party Crowd,” “Dust on the Bottle” and a medley of hits he’s written for others – “Big Green Tractor,” “Anywhere With You,” “Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not” and the like.
Chris Janson was next. He is always full of manic energy and boundless elan. But perhaps he felt an extra boost on Sunday.
“This is my first time to do a full set on the stadium stage at CMA Fest,” he told the crowd. He turned in a wild performance, featuring “Fix a Drink,” his new single “Good Vibes,” a cover of Billy Joel’s “Piano Man,” the powerful “Drunk Girl,” the “Truck Yeah” hit he wrote for Tim McGraw and “Buy Me a Boat.”
During his explosive set, Chris blew harmonica, played keyboards, flailed on the drum kit and exhorted the fans to scream, to clap, to wave their arms, to sing and to pump their fists.
“Come and see us on the road some time!” he shouted in his finale. “Love you to pieces!” The crowd adored him.
The next act was arguably the festival’s most charming. To illustrate the music-education beneficiary of the fest’s profits, The Andrew Jackson Elementary School Eagle Honor Choir did a song/cheer/dance routine called “I Am the Champion.”
“They just performed before 70,000 people!” exclaimed Stormie. “What were you doing in the 4th grade?”
Everyone in the CMA Hospitality Suite smiled and cheered. Dale Bobo, Scott Couch, Steve O’Brien and JoAnn Berry were there. Engaging radio man Dennis Banka was celebrating six consecutive years of hosting CMA Fest daytime stages.
And can I get a witness for Brenden Oliver, Brandi Simms, Aaron Hartley, Melissa Maynard, Mechalle Myers, Angela Strader, Amy Smart and, natch, Sarah Trahern? These suite regulars are among the CMA staffers who make this whole annual undertaking run so smoothly.
Okay, back to the concert. Surprise guest Trisha Yearwood appeared on the mid-field satellite stage to introduce her soaring new single “Every Girl in This Town.”
Old Dominion favored the fans with “Snap Back,” “No Such Thing As a Broken Heart” “Make It Sweet” and more. Lead singer Matthew Ramsey plunged into the crowd during “Hotel Key.” Brad Tursi offered an eloquent guitar solo during “Written in the Sand.” The band also introduced its new single, “One Man Band.”
In previous years, the Sunday attendance at the stadium has sometimes been lighter than Friday’s or Saturday’s. Not so at CMA Fest 2019. No sirree. That place was packed.
A big cheer greeted the arrival on stage of Maren Morris. The petite dynamo shared her career-launching “My Church” and her big pop hit “The Middle.” She also brought out Brandi Carlile to duet with her on “Common.”
Keith Urban performed a 30-minute set spanning his hit repertoire. “Never Comin’ Down,” “The Fighter,” “We Were,” “Blue Ain’t Your Color” and “Wasted Time” were energetically offered. The venue’s lights darkened during “Love Somebody Like You,” so the fans lit up the night with their cell phones. The effect was magical.
The reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year closed his set by charging through the crowd on the stadium floor, performing all the way to the back of the venue. Fans reached out to touch him and cheered.
“Everything we do is about this moment right here,” Urban told them. “Singing and having a good time and celebrating this precious life that goes by so fast. I love you more than you’ll ever know. Thank you.”
By this time, the clock was ticking toward midnight. But there was more to come. Superstar Luke Bryan brought his romping style to the stage to bring this year’s CMA Fest to its conclusion. By the way, he was also last year’s finale act.
He jolted even the weariest fest goers awake with “Country Girl (Shake It For Me),” “Rain Is a Good Thing,” “Knockin’ Boots,” “That’s My Kind of Night,” “Huntin’ Fishin’ Lovin’ Every Day” “Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset” and the rest of his party-hearty tunes. Bryan closed the fest with a cover of Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On a Prayer” that had everyone singing along.
And that’s what it’s all about.
Weekly Register: Thomas Rhett’s ‘Center Point Road’ Makes History With Chart-Topping Debut
/by LB CantrellStep aside Luke Combs, Thomas Rhett‘s Center Point Road debuts at No. 1 on both the country album chart and is the only country album to have debuted atop the Top 200 Album chart this year, accumulating 76K (45K album only/34M song streams) according to Nielsen Soundscan. This marks the biggest streaming debut week ever for a country album.
Making way for Center Point Road, the next three slots on our report are shifted down from last week’s rankings, starting with an album released 105 weeks ago, Luke Combs‘ This One’s For You, coming in at No. 2 with 26K (3.2K album-only/28M song streams). No. 3 is Dan + Shay‘s self-titled project with 16K (1.3K album-only/18M song streams). And then Morgan Wallen takes No. 4 this week with If I Know Me, 14K (534 album-only/15M song streams). At No. 5 this week is Kane Brown‘s 2018 effort, Experiment, with 11K (2.5K album only/10M song streams).
Looking at top songs this week, we have Lil Nas X‘s “Old Town Road” at No. 1 overall, gaining another 39M streams this week for a total of over a half billion streams (530M).
Blake Shelton’s “God’s Country” tops Nashville’s on-demand streaming chart again this week, with 12M new streams (84 million RTD). Also retaining its status for another week is Wallen’s “Whiskey Glasses,” at No. 2 with 11M streams (164M RTD). Next we find “Look What God Gave Her,” from Thomas Rhett’s current chart-topping album Center Point Road, at No. 3 with almost 9.8M streams (83 million RTD). Combs’ “Beautiful Crazy” follows at No. 4 with 9.6M streams (420M) and Lee Brice‘s “Rumor” rounds out this week’s top five with 9.2M streams (155M RTD).
Gorley, Hardy, Copperman Triumph On MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart
/by LB CantrellAshley Gorley is at No. 1 on the MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart for the tenth week. Michael Hardy remains at No. 2, Ross Copperman at No. 3, Ben Burgess at No. 4 and Kevin Kadish at No. 5.
Laura Veltz moves into the Top 10 this week, with four titles boosting her, including: Dan + Shay’s “Speechless,” Maren Morris’ “The Bones,” Ryan Hurd’s “To A T” and Lady Antebellum’s “What If I Never Get Over You.”
The weekly MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart, published every week, uses algorithms based upon song activity garnered from airplay, digital downloaded track sales and streams. This unique and exclusive addition to the MusicRow portfolio is the only songwriter chart of its kind.
Click here to view the full MusicRow Top Songwriter Chart.
Florida Georgia Line Surprised With Million Sales Plaque During CMA Fest
/by Lorie HollabaughPictured (L-R): Sweet Talk Publicity President Jensen Sussman, Big Loud Management Partners Chief Zaruk and Seth England, Big Machine SVP of Creative Sandi Spika Borchetta, Big Machine SVP of A&R Allison Jones, FGL’s Tyler Hubbard, BMLG COO Andrew Kautz, Borchetta, FGL’s Brian Kelley, Harnen, BMLG CMO Mike Rittberg and BMLG SVP Communications Jake Basden
Florida Georgia Line celebrated their performance at CMA Music Fest with a special plaque commemorating global consumption of over 1.2 million for their current single “Talk You Out Of It.”
Big Machine Label Group President/CEO Scott Borchetta and BMLG EVP/BMLG Records President Jimmy Harnen, along with executives from the label and Big Loud Management walked out on stage after the duo’s performance of the hit during their headlining stadium set to surprise the superstar duo with the news.