Chason Goodwin has been named Vice President of Strategic Growth at Grayscale Marketing.

Goodwin previously served as the Vice President of Events at Nightscape, a tech start-up specializing in immersive experiential production. Over the years, he has successfully overseen events for some of the biggest names in business and entertainment, including the Super Bowl LI Halftime Show, SeaWorld, Drake, Billboard Music Awards, Sony Music Nashville, Deloitte, Milwaukee Bucks, JP Morgan/Chase & Co., Twenty One Pilots, Leo Burnett, Nickelodeon, Warner Media, Capitol Records, JW Marriott and The Tennessee Titans. He has also worked directly with various advertising agencies around the globe.

“We are thrilled to have Chason on board as our Vice President of Strategic Growth,” shares Jason Zinser, Vice President of Communications for Grayscale Marketing. “His 15 years of experience in event operations, branding, sales, marketing, and activations bring a wealth of value to our team. We pride ourselves on being impactful, and we are confident that Chason will play a critical role in helping us achieve this.”

“Having wished to collaborate with Chason for the past decade, I am elated to have him join our team finally,” adds CEO of Grayscale Marketing Tim Gray. “His remarkable reputation, exceptional expertise, and stalwart steadfastness will make Chason a significant contributor to our team’s continued success.”

“I am thrilled to contribute my expertise and creative talents to the company’s impressive growth trajectory,” shares Goodwin. “Delivering exceptional service is my passion, and I am confident that my skills align perfectly with Grayscale’s mission to make a meaningful impact in the industry.”

Congratulate Goodwin at chason@grayscalemarketing.com.

Photo: Courtesy of The Bluebird Cafe

As part of a partnership between The Bluebird Cafe, NSAI and The Bob Kingsley Estate, the three have been working on a multi-year preservation project involving the audio recordings from The Bluebird Cafe’s 40-year history.

As the collaboration enters its second year, the entities have announced the inaugural season of a new radio show, The Bluebird Cafe Archival Recordings, which will premiere on WSM-AM/Nashville on April 1. Playing from 9 to 10 a.m. CT, the program will lead in to Bob Kingsley’s Countdown Classics.

“We are so grateful for Nan’s support of our efforts to not only preserve The Bluebird Cafe’s audio archives, but bring them to listeners,” says The Bluebird Cafe’s GM Erika Wollam Nichols. “These shows, archivally recorded over the 40-year history of the venue, illustrate offer a touchstone in the history of Nashville music and the amazing songwriters who have called The Bluebird home throughout the years. We also send a special thank you to Shannon Lynn, who is tirelessly transferring these programs to digital formats. We could not do this without his passionate support.”

Roger Alan Nichols, Dave Cowley, Duane Durrette and Brent Baker serve on the show’s production team. Fitz, who records the CMA award-winning Country Top 40 with Fitz countdown from Bluestem Studios, on the campus of Weatherford College—brought the program back to Texas where Bob Kingsley produced the show. In 2021, Bob’s wife Nan Kingsley donated the Bluestem Studios space to Weatherford College to be used for educational purposes. Fitz will act as an advisor to the students involved in production of The Bluebird Cafe Archival Recordings.

“Bob loved and supported the Nashville songwriting community. When we announced the Bob Kingsley Estate’s support of NSAI and The Bluebird Cafe last year, it was fitting that the bulk of the efforts centered on the preservation of The Bluebird’s vast audio archive,” shares Nan Kingsley. “Now, with support Dr. Tod Farmer and the Weatherford College team, Fitz, and JP Tinnell at WSM Radio, listeners around the world will be able to listen to these classic performances. I could not be more thrilled to see this come together.”

The show’s first season will include classic performances from songwriters including Rhett Akins, Kelly Archer, Marc Beeson, Adam Hambrick and many more. Listeners can tune-in each week via wsmradio.com and the official WSM app.

Spintel, a new company launched by industry promotion vet Rob Dalton that provides analytical and management tools for visualizing and interpreting airplay data, has entered into a licensing agreement with Mediabase, it was announced today (March 10).

Planning an official launch in the spring, Spintel uses raw airplay data to calculate the best moves in navigating a song up an airplay chart, offering key tools for labels, radio promoters, managers, agents, buyers and more. Standard and Relative song comparisons in the system will offer info comparing the growth trend of a current single to a growth trend of that artist’s previous single, for example.

Initially launched for country and Christian labels, the company plans to rapidly expand into other formats. Mediabase’s licensing agreement with Spintel will allow Mediabase subscribers to use Mediabase data in the Spintel platform.

“We are always looking for initiatives to increase client benefits,” shares President and CEO of Mediabase, Philippe Generali. “Now Mediabase’s unmatched radio airplay data will power Spintel’s analytics platform. The partnership propels understanding of music consumption across geographies and formats.”

“We are very excited to partner with Mediabase, the chart of record and the leading provider of airplay data,” shares Dalton. “With this partnership in place, we are confident that our customers will be getting the most up to date and accurate information possible.”

Dalton has worked for decades in label and indie promotion for Columbia and Epic, Curb/Asylum, and his own independent New Revolution Entertainment, which was awarded the Independent Promotion Company of the Year award during the 2013 and 2016 Country Radio Seminar. Over the course of his career, Dalton has played a vital role promoting over 120 top 10 singles at country radio.

Courtesy of RIAA

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) released their annual recorded music revenue report, reflecting the seventh consecutive year of growth.

The report also marks the all-time high of $15.9 billion in estimated retail value for 2022. Streaming is fueling the market with 92 million paying subscribers. Vinyl is making a steady resurgence, amplifying how actively fans engage with recorded music.

“2022 was an impressive year of sustained ‘growth-over-growth’ more than a decade after streaming’s explosion onto the music scene,” says RIAA Chairman & CEO Mitch Glazier. “Continuing that long run, subscription streaming revenues now make up two thirds of the market with a record high $13.3 billion. This long and ongoing arc of success has only been possible thanks to the determined and creative work of record companies fighting to build a healthy streaming economy where artists and rightsholders get paid wherever and whenever their work is used.”

Courtesy of RIAA

Streaming continued to be the largest driver and collectively accounted for 84% of total revenues through paid subscriptions, ad-supported services, digital and customized radio, and others.

Courtesy of RIAA

Still, physical music formats maintained an upward trend in revenues, up to 4% at $1.7 billion. For the first time since 1987, vinyl albums outsold CDs in units (41 million vs 33 million). Vinyl sales accounted for 71% of physical format revenues, and grew 17% to $1.2 billion in the sixteenth consecutive year of growth.

Read the full report here.