The Ram Truck brand and G7 Entertainment Marketing, an award-winning strategic entertainment marketing and talent booking agency, won the Event Marketer Magazine’s 2013 Ex Award for “Best Proprietary Property (Consumer).” The award recognized their work on the highly successful “Road to the Ram Jam” campaign, which helped extend the brand’s alignment with many of today’s top country music artists and their far-reaching fan bases by creating an innovative platform for promoting the artists’ music and connecting with their fans.
The annual Ex Award program recognize excellence in experiential event marketing, highlighting the best programs of the year selected from more than 800 entries and judged by a panel of brand-side marketers.
• • •
The T.J. Martell Foundation hosted the Women of Influence awards in New York.
Pictured (L-R): Elle Varner, Joanne Camuti, Lori Stokes, Liz Smith, Marcie Allen, Dr. Margaret I. Cuomo, Jenna Wolfe and Laura Heatherly.
• • •
Jan Smith
Vocal coach Jan Smith has teamed with Creaxion, one of the nation’s leading entertainment marketing agencies, to create and promote the new Mama Jan brand, which will include multiple entertainment projects, a line of vocal products and a stable of new recording artists.
Smith has worked with The Band Perry, Usher, Justin Bieber, Rob Thomas and others.
“It was important to me to find a marketing partner that was not only first-class in its work, but all class when it comes to ethics and honesty,” said Smith. “The entertainment industry can be cut-throat. I want a team that always has my back. I’ve found that team at Creaxion.”
• • •
Country Music Hall of Famer and legendary singer/songwriter Whisperin’ Bill Anderson will serve as moderator of the inaugural Hank Williams Songwriting Workshop. The workshop will run Nov. 7-10 at the Hank Williams Museum, in Montgomery, Ala.
Core instructors include Bobby Tomberlin, Bradley Gaskin and Arty Hill. There will also be a Saturday night concert headlined by Anderson.
Kobalt Debuts Royalty Tracking Portal
/by Sarah SkatesVia the portal, clients can also follow the synch process in real time, including tracking the income generated, and the videos of their music when licensed for advertising, TV, film trailers, games and other media. Among other new features are a real-time, customizable global activity feed and action center that notifies clients of key events and items to address in their catalogue.
Income and product data are prominently featured, and clients can query their catalogue in detail by work, rights type, territory, product and licensee. Detailed royalty analysis tools are supported by graphics.
Clients can enter new works and product data, allowing for two-way communication. The new portal is also customizable; each client can set their own reporting preferences and choose which activity alerts and notifications they receive.
Willard Ahdritz, Founder and CEO of Kobalt Music Group, said, “We expect digital revenues for Kobalt’s rights owners to increase significantly as a direct result of our new technology integration. Building on our existing platform and proven technology, this is one of our most significant technology achievements to date, offering the first completely visual and fully interactive client communication platform.”
Keith Urban Teases New Single Release
/by Jessica NicholsonUrban teased fans (and the industry) with a snippet of a new single which, according to the video preview, will release to radio on Monday, May 13 at 2 p.m. CT. The song is from Urban’s upcoming album. No official release date has been set for the project.
Hear the preview of the song below:
Marty Stuart's Late Night Jam Lineup Announced
/by Jessica NicholsonMarty Stuart
Marty Stuart’s annual Late Night Jam will take place Wednesday, June 5 at the Ryman Auditorium, beginning at 10 p.m.
This year’s event features Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives, Connie Smith & The Sundowners, The Oak Ridge Boys, Bobby Bare with Brandy Clark, Charlie Worsham, Sleepy Man Banjo Boy and of course, surprise guests. The Late Night Jam will benefit MusiCares and CMA’s Keep The Music Playing.
Tickets are available $29.50 and $39.50 at ryman.com.
Johnny Cash Boyhood Home On Track For 2014 Opening
/by Sarah SkatesCash’s family moved to Dyess and took ownership of 40 acres of land as part of President Roosevelt’s New Deal. The home is being renovated to look as it did when the Cash family moved there in 1935. The project by Arkansas State University also includes restoration of a nearby theater and the Dyess Colony administration building.
Helping fund the restoration is the annual Johnny Cash Music Festival at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. This year’s concert, set for August 17, stars Vince Gill, Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers, Jimmy Fortune of the Statler Brothers and Joanne Cash Yates, along with show host Tommy Cash. Proceeds from the event also support a scholarship fund established in the superstar’s name.
Details and tickets at www.johnnycashmusicfest.com.
As previously reported, a Johnny Cash Museum recently opened in Nashville.
MusicRowPics: Jared Ashley Artist Visit
/by Caitlin RantalaYesterday (May 7), Jared Ashley stopped by MusicRow headquarters. The Georgia native wrote the majority of his upcoming album, some of which he shared with MusicRow staffers.
Ashley played “Cold Beer Drinker,” “Stained,” and “Just Like This,” which he calls a song about sweet-psychosis. “It’s all fun and games, until one person decides to leave and the other person goes a little bit crazy,” he explained.
He also played his current single, “Last Train to Memphis,” which is climbing the MusicRow chart.
For more information on Ashley, visit jaredashley.com.
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Opry Plans CMA Fest Plaza Party and Shows
/by Eric T. ParkerEarlier in the afternoon on June 4, the Opry Plaza Party will feature a performance by Lee Brice and Tyler Farr.
Other Opry performances during the week include Friday, June 7, when Carrie Underwood takes the stage to celebrate her 5th anniversary as an Opry member.
Tickets and information are available at 800-SEE-OPRY and opry.com.
Industry Ink (5-8-13)
/by Jessica NicholsonThe annual Ex Award program recognize excellence in experiential event marketing, highlighting the best programs of the year selected from more than 800 entries and judged by a panel of brand-side marketers.
• • •
The T.J. Martell Foundation hosted the Women of Influence awards in New York.
Pictured (L-R): Elle Varner, Joanne Camuti, Lori Stokes, Liz Smith, Marcie Allen, Dr. Margaret I. Cuomo, Jenna Wolfe and Laura Heatherly.
• • •
Jan Smith
Vocal coach Jan Smith has teamed with Creaxion, one of the nation’s leading entertainment marketing agencies, to create and promote the new Mama Jan brand, which will include multiple entertainment projects, a line of vocal products and a stable of new recording artists.
Smith has worked with The Band Perry, Usher, Justin Bieber, Rob Thomas and others.
“It was important to me to find a marketing partner that was not only first-class in its work, but all class when it comes to ethics and honesty,” said Smith. “The entertainment industry can be cut-throat. I want a team that always has my back. I’ve found that team at Creaxion.”
• • •
Core instructors include Bobby Tomberlin, Bradley Gaskin and Arty Hill. There will also be a Saturday night concert headlined by Anderson.
Weekly Register: Pirate Flags and A Bottle Of Rum
/by bossrossCountry’s sailor of the emerald seas, Kenny Chesney, pulled into Nielsen SoundScan harbor this week with almost 153,000 debut units in tow (43% digital) and No. 1 positions across both the Country and Top 200 album charts. Great news like that would surely be a reason to pour some Blue Chair Bay Rum to celebrate. Especially when the rum is named after your own label, Blue Chair Records. (KC’s previous release Welcome To The Fishbowl debuted the week ended 6/24/12 with 193k.)
Unfortunately, even the Chesney stimulus was not buoyant enough to keep country sales above water. YTD country album sales dipped from a meager +.4% last week to -.4% this week. Looking back to the same time in 2012, it’s easy to see why the numbers fell. During the week ended 5-6-12 there was a Carrie Underwood debut (Blown Away) with 267k units and Lionel Richie’s Tuskegee in release week 6, at No. 2 logging 64k units. This week’s No. 2 position, behind Chesney, was the affable Blake Shelton also in release week 6, but with a lighter load of about 35k in weekly scans. Therefore the YTD slipped.
But speaking about Shelton, the Voice coach performed a sizzling rendition of “Need You Now” with a very sultry Shakira on last night’s show. The video link is here. Is it my imagination or does Shelton seem to be sweating like crazy? Also send out a full-scale extreme star power alert: watch 16-year-old Danielle Bradbury sing “Maybe It Was Memphis.”
Next week anxious fans will receive Lady A’s new Golden, plus Chesney’s wk 2 tally, which will strengthen country’s YTD stats. (Lady A’s last album scored a robust 347k units the week ended 9-18-11.) And there’s more! Watch for a new Pistol Annies and a solo effort form Natalie Maines.
Weekly Register, after a thorough analysis of the upcoming week and exhaustive comparison research now predicts with great certainty, it’s a lock that country YTD sales will float into positive territory next week.
Chesney’s No. 1 album debut was also reflected, although to a lesser degree, on the tracks chart. The island pirate hoisted six tracks onto the country top 100 with the highest, “Pirate Flag” landing at no. 12 with almost 39k downloads. Eleven notches higher up the chart at No. 1 (again!) is the irrepressible duo named after something you can’t even see, Florida Georgia Line. FGL slugged out another combined 145k downloads of its massive multi-format hit “Cruise.” The song is now blessed with over 3.1 million downloads RTD. Actually the country version of the song registered almost 54k of the 145k this week with the remix featuring Nelly contributing the additional 95k.
Country track sales are up a solid 7.4%, while all genre tracks are off, -2.6%. In actual numbers, YTD 2013 country track sales total 62.1 million units, comparing nicely with last year’s 57.8 million total.
There’s been a lot of great music hitting the streets this spring with more on the way, so make sure you’ve got some wrapped ’round your ears.
In the meantime, keep listening to the ringing of country’s Weekly Register…
Jerrod Niemann to Headline 'Classic Country Revival'
/by Caitlin Rantala“The artists inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame created the foundation that our industry is built on,” said Marc Rucker, Crush Management Nashville and a member of the Board of Directors for the Young Entertainment Professionals Network (YEP). “We want to pay tribute to them and make sure their legacy is remembered and revered for generations to come. Accordingly, we’ll be donating the proceeds from this event to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.”
Doors open at 6 p.m. and the show begins at 7 p.m. Tickets went on sale yesterday (May 7). Tickets are $10 in advance at www.3rdandlindsley.com or $15 at the door. All proceeds will be donated to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
Taylor Swift To Take RED Tour To Australia, New Zealand
/by Jessica NicholsonTour dates in Australia and New Zealand include:
Nov. 29—Auckland, New Zealand’s Vector Arena
Dec. 4—Sydney, Australia’s Allianz Stadium
Dec. 7—Brisbane, Australia’s Suncorp Stadium
Dec. 11—Perth, Australia’s NIB Stadium
Dec. 14—Melbourne, Australia’s Etihad Stadium
The Australia and New Zealand portion of The RED Tour is produced and promoted by The Frontier Touring Company. Tickets are priced at $85, and pre-sale tickets will be available from Tuesday, May 14 through Wednesday, May 15 at frontiertouring.com/taylorswift. General public tickets go on sale Tuesday, May 21.
Taylor made a video announcement of the new tour dates (see below):