(L-R): Dr. Gregory Stewart, Executive Principal, NSA; Chris Young; NSA students Brandon Mimms and Sara Sparks; Kara Kindall, Theater Chair, NSA; Wells Adams, Lightning 100 on-air personality and NSA Presents moderator. Photo: Edwards Photography Studios
Murfreesboro native and RCA Nashville artist
Chris Young was the special guest at Nashville School of the Arts’ latest installment of “NSA Presents” yesterday (Sept. 8). The event coincided with the annual
YoungArts Awareness Day, a nationwide, one-day initiative to “keep arts alive,” by “celebrating the hundreds of thousands of young artists across the country and encouraging them to pursue a career in the arts.”
Produced by the students and moderated by Lightning 100 on-air personality and morning show host,
Well Adams, the “NSA Presents” program, is done in a format similar to James Lipton’s
Inside The Actors Studio. During the session, Young shared insights into his successful career and discussed how music education had a significant impact on his artistic path.
Backstage prior to the event, Young, a YoungArts alumni and US Presidential Scholars in the Arts recipient, told
MusicRow, “For me, arts awareness is one of the first things that gets pushed aside. But the arts are such a big growth area for kids, whether they want a career in it or not. And they don’t know until they are exposed to it and have a chance to find out. It’s something I’m very passionate about.”
As a special gift to the students, Young surprised the enthusiastic crowd at the opening of the Q&A session with a $30,000 donation to help fund improvements to the school’s auditorium.
NSA is the only arts magnet high school within Metro Nashville Public Schools, offering its students the “rare combination of rigorous, college preparatory curriculum instructed with intensely focused instruction in the performing or visual arts.”
Other celebrities that have participated in “NSA presents” include
Janelle Monae,
Chip Esten and
Ruby Amanfu.
Weekly Register: Country Album Sales Down -19.5% YTD
/by Sarah SkatesThe Top 75 Current Country albums sold 177K this week. The week of Sept. 29, 2013, that total was 269K. That’s a loss of 92K albums week over week.
Total sales on the Top 100 Country tracks chart this week amounted to 1.107 million. That’s about on par with the week of Sept. 29, 2013, when it totaled 1.101 million.
Year-to-date overall, all-genre album sales are down -14.7 percent, having sold 162.794 million units in 2014, compared to 190.915 million last year. YTD Country album sales are slumping significantly at -19.5 percent, having moved 20.220 million units this year and 25.130 million at the same point last year.
Overall track sales are suffering at -12.8 percent down (793.8 million TY/ 910.3 million LY). Country tracks are short -18.3 percent (100.6 million TY/ 123.171 million LY)
Marketshare: YTD Country tracks account for 12.7 percent of all tracks sold, down slightly from last year’s 13.5 percent. YTD Country album marketshare is about the same, at 12.4 percent this year, down from 13.2 percent last year.
This Week’s Charts
Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass” bumped its way back to No. 1 overall track, selling 312K this week and 1.687 million RTD. The vibrations sent Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” to No. 2 with sales of 281K TW and 1.180 million RTD.
On the Country tracks chart, Jason Aldean holds the No. 1 and 2 positions. “Burnin’ It Down” sold 79K TW and 737K RTD, while “Sweet Little Somethin’” sold 58K TW to enter at No. 2 Country and No. 15 overall.
Noteworthy debuts include Maroon 5’s V selling 164K to bow at No. 1 overall. Indie traditionalist Frank Foster garnered the top Country album debut with his digital-only release selling 9.1K.
Top 5 Country Tracks this week
1 Jason Aldean “Burnin It Down” 79K
2 Jason Aldean “Sweet Little Somethin’” 58K
3 FGL “Dirt” 52K
4 Kenny Chesney “American Kids” 47K
5 Sam Hunt “Leave The Night On” 40K
Top 5 Country Albums TW
1 Miranda Lambert Platinum 17K (up 464% digital due to an iTunes sale)
2 Brad Paisley Moonshine In The Trunk 16K
3 Luke Bryan Crash My Party 15K
4 Frank Foster Rhythm and Whiskey 9.1K
5 Chase Rice Ignite The Night 8.8K
New albums this month
Sept. 9 Lee Brice, Dustin Lynch
Sept. 16 Tim McGraw, George Strait
Sept. 23 Kenny Chesney
Sept. 30 Lady Antebellum, Blake Shelton
(According to Nielsen Soundscan)
Black River Entertainment Restructures Promotion Department
/by Jessica NicholsonMike Wilson
Black River Entertainment has restructured its promotion department. Mike Wilson has been promoted to VP, Promotion, while Bill Macky continues on with Black River as the Sr. Director National Promotion and Strategy.
“We relentlessly pursue excellence,” stated Black River Entertainment CEO, Gordon Kerr. “In doing so, we are continually identifying the strengths of our staff and providing them opportunities to grow, both individually and as a company.”
Wilson started with Black River Entertainment last September as the Director of National Promotion & Strategy and has been actively leading the promotion staff since March of this year. Prior to joining Black River, Mike had over 20 years of music industry experience, most of that time being the VP, Promotion for RCA, which includes taking over 100 singles to No. 1 on the Country chart.
Bill Macky
Macky joined Black River in August of 2012 after spending over 30 years in the music industry, including 16 years programming country radio stations in Pittsburgh, San Jose, Sacramento and San Diego. Bill’s executive experience includes stops at MCA Nashville, Sony Nashville, Category 5 Records, 1720 Entertainment, Stroudavarious Records and Rodeowave Entertainment.
Both Wilson and Macky will continue to be based in Nashville, working out of Black River Entertainment’s Music Row offices, and may reached via e-mail at mike.wilson@blackriverent.com, macky@blackriverent.com, and by phone at 615-780-3070.
Today's Apple Unveiling: The 411
/by Eric T. ParkerThe Cupertino company announced the thinner iPhone 6-series, available for preorder Friday, Sept. 12 and available in stores a week later, Sept. 19.
iPhones 6
4.7” display, improved
With a two-year contract: $199 (16 GB), $299 (64 GB), $399 (128 GB)
With a new A8, 64-bit chip, up to 20 percent faster than 5s
Marginally improved battery life
Improved camera with faster auto-focus and “Burst selfies”
Now includes barometer
iPhone 6 Plus
5.5” display
With a two-year contract: $299 (16 GB), $399 (64 GB), $499 (128 GB)
New keyboard design with improved landscape mode
Battery performance exceeds iPhone 6
Including the features of iPhone 6
Available early 2015, starting at $349
Made of crystal of sapphire with personalization options
Apps designed for lightweight interaction on wrist from the iPhone 5, 6-series
Controlled by touchscreen, Siri, Digital Crown, dial on side
The watches communicate with each other
Magsafe wireless inductive charger
Apple Pay
Simplifies payment with Visa MasterCard and American Express, stored in Passbook from iTunes account
Open API allows in-app use (Target, Groupon, Open Table, Panera, Sephora, Starbucks, Uber)
In stores, hold iPhone near the contactless reader with your finger on Touch ID (Whole Foods, McDonalds, Macys, Bloomingdales, Subway, Staples Toys R Us, Wallgreens, Disney)
Available on September 17
Improved photo organization
Messages lets you share location, add your voice, or video
QuickType lets you tap to choose suggestions for your next word based on your messaging style
Keyboard is now open to developers for new options, including swipe
Let health and fitness apps communicate with each other
iCloud Drive for PDF, images presentations, etc.
Family Sharing for music, books, apps, and photos, calendars, etc.
Improved connectability between Apple devices
Spotlight includes Wikipedia entries, palces nearby, trending news, etc.
U2
After the tech announcements, Apple CEO Tim Cook emphasized the relationship between music and technology, inviting U2 to the stage. The rock band surprised fans by performing its new single “The Miracle (of Joey Ramone),” from a new album, Songs of Innocence, available for free on iTunes through Oct. 13.
Apple’s stock price opened at 99.08 per share, reaching a high of 103.08 before ending the day at 97.99 per share.
Sam Hunt To Release 'Montevallo' In October
/by Jessica Nicholson“This is such a personal album for me,” explains Hunt. “Each song holds truth and comes from my own life experiences. To get these songs out into the hands of the fans is both exciting and liberating.”
Last month, Hunt released the four-song album preview, X2C, which contained his current single, “Leave The Night On.”
Montevallo Track Listing:
1. Take Your Time
(Sam Hunt, Josh Osborne, Shane McAnally)
2. Leave The Night On
(Sam Hunt, Josh Osborne, Shane McAnally)
3. House Party
(Sam Hunt, Zach Crowell, Jerry Flowers)
4. Break Up In A Small Town
(Sam Hunt, Zach Crowell, Shane McAnally)
5. Single For The Summer
(Sam Hunt, Zach Crowell, Josh Osborne, Shane McAnally)
6. Ex To See
(Sam Hunt, Josh Osborne, Matt Ramsey)
7. Make You Miss Me
(Sam Hunt, Josh Osborne, Matt Ramsey)
8. Cop Car
(Sam Hunt, Zach Crowell, Matt Jenkins)
9. Raised On It
(Sam Hunt, Zach Crowell, Jerry Flowers)
10. Speakers
(Sam Hunt, Kylie Sackley, Brandon Hood)
Nashville Artists Earn RIAA Certifications
/by Sarah SkatesA few of the digital singles which earned RIAA sales awards last month.
The RIAA presented numerous sales awards to Nashville-related artists last month.
Taylor Swift’s sales tally kept growing, likely spurred by the excitement surrounding the release of her upcoming album, 1989. Earning digital sales awards (mostly Platinum or multi-Platinum) were her older tracks “Love Story,” “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” “Mean,” “Mine,” “Fifteen,” “Back To December,” “Picture To Burn,” “Our Song,” “You Belong with Me,” “Safe & Sound,” “The Story Of Us,” “Crazier,” “Enchanted” and “Everything Has Changed,” featuring Ed Sheeran.
Tim McGraw’s “Highway Don’t Care,” featuring Swift and Keith Urban, scored a 2x Platinum single award.
Earning Platinum honors were Urban’s “We Were Us” featuring Miranda Lambert, The Band Perry’s “Done,” and Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass.”
Jason Aldean, who recently received the RIAA award for Top Male Country artist, received a Gold single for “Burnin’ It Down.” Also earning Gold were Kenny Chesney’s “American Kids” and “Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven,” Colt Ford’s “Drivin’ Around Song,” Florida Georgia Line’s “Dirt,” Dustin Lynch’s “Where It’s At,” Justin Moore’s “Lettin’ The Night Roll,” Kacey Musgraves’ “Follow Your Arrow,” Brad Paisley’s “River Bank,” TobyMac’s “Made To Love,” Chris Tomlin’s “Indescribable” and Matthew West’s “The Motions.”
Spirit Music Nashville Extends Agreement With Songwriter Jim Collins
/by Jessica NicholsonPictured (L-R): Brian Bradford (Director Administration), Carrie Gallo (Creative Director), Jim Collins, Billy Lynn (Vice President Creative), and Daniel Hill (President). Photo: Spirit Music Nashville
Spirit Music Nashville (formerly Cal IV Entertainment) has extended its exclusive agreement with songwriter Jim Collins. Collins first joined Cal IV Entertainment in 2006. Spirit Music Nashville originated from Spirit Music Group’s recent acquisition of Cal IV Entertainment.
Collins moved to Nashville from Houston, Texas, in 1995. He has scored hits including “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy,” “Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven,” and “The Good Stuff” (all recorded by Kenny Chesney), “Then They Do” (Trace Adkins), “How Bad Do You Want It” (Tim McGraw), and “Big Green Tractor” (Jason Aldean).
Collins’ “Baby Be My Love Song” is the new single recently released by Mercury artist Easton Corbin, and his songwriting will be featured on upcoming releases by Reba and Dustin Lynch.
Artist Updates: Maggie Chapman, Gloriana, 'American Idol'
/by Jessica NicholsonThe Clearwater, Fla., native began writing music in her early teens, balancing school with trips to New York and Nashville to pursue music. In 2012, she relocated to Nashville and began working with Creative Nation’s Beth Laird on a publishing deal. She signed with the company in 2013, joining a roster that includes Native Run, Luke Laird, Barry Dean, and the company’s newest signing, Natalie Hemby.
• • •
Auditions are currently open until Friday, Sept. 26. Online auditions can be accessed here.
• • •
Gloriana performed the national anthem during the Pittsburgh Steelers game against the Cleveland Browns this weekend.
From (L-R): Rachel Reinert, John Esposito (President & CEO/Warner Music Nashville), Mike Gossin, Dean Serletic (President/Emblem Music Group), Tom Gossin
• • •
BMI songwriter and Americana artist Robert Earl King helped opened the 2014 season of Musicians Corner in Nashville.
Pictured: (L-R): BMI’s Jody Williams, producer Paul Worley, BMI’s Mason Hunter, BMI songwriter Robert Earl Keen, BMI’s Clay Bradley, Musicians Corner’s John Tumminello and songwriter Matthew Perryman Jones.
Industry Pics: C.F. Martin, SOURCE, ACM
/by Kelsey_GradyThomas Rhett joined C.F. Martin & Co., Inc. prestigious Martin Ambassador Program, which honors musicians for their understanding and appreciation of the guitar’s history and craftsmanship.
The CMA New Artist of the Year nominee joins a roster of artists across multiple genres, including Ed Sheeran, The Avett Brothers, Colbie Caillat, Jason Isbell, Hunter Hayes, Dierks Bentley, Del McCoury, The Milk Carton Kids, James Valentine of Maroon 5, among others.
Pictured (L-R): Chris Thomas (Sr. Mgr. Artist Relations), Amani Duncan (VP Brand Marketing), Thomas Rhett and Fred Greene (Chief Product Officer). Photo Courtesy of Martin Guitar
• • •
SOURCE, an organization of women executives in Nashville’s Music Industry, held its monthly Members Luncheon at ASCAP on Aug. 28, 2014. John Barker, President and CEO of Clearbox Rights LLC addressed the group of industry professionals on the subject of IP (Intellectual Property) and Copyright Laws.
(L-R): Denise Nichols (The Primacy Firm), Stacy Schlitz (Schlitz Law), John Barker (Clearbox Rights LLC) and Joy Fletcher (J. Fletcher Consulting). Photo: Denise Fussell
• • •
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum hosted a packed house of music fans attending Saturday (Sept. 6)’s discussion panel with the Academy of Country Music. Titled “50 Years of the ACM Awards,” the panelists included ACM Award winning Clint Black, ACM Awards executive producers Barry Adelman and Richard A. “Rac” Clark and ACM CEO, Bob Romeo.
Moderated by Lisa Lee, ACM senior vice president and author of the forthcoming This Is Country: A Backstage Pass to the Academy of Country Music Awards, the event covered highlights from the Academy’s show history – from its humble beginnings as a small dinner banquet in Southern California to the upcoming 50th anniversary ACM Awards, to be held Sunday, April 19, 2015 at AT&T Stadium in North Texas, broadcast LIVE in front of 65,000 attending fans and millions more at home watching on the CBS Television Network.
Pictured (L-R): ACM CEO Bob Romeo, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Ali Tonn, ACM’s Lisa Lee, ACM Awards Executive Producers Barry Adelman and Richard A. “Rac” Clark, and superstar Clint Black. Photo: Jason Davis
Chris Young Inspires at Nashville School of Arts, Makes Local Donation
/by Sherod Robertson(L-R): Dr. Gregory Stewart, Executive Principal, NSA; Chris Young; NSA students Brandon Mimms and Sara Sparks; Kara Kindall, Theater Chair, NSA; Wells Adams, Lightning 100 on-air personality and NSA Presents moderator. Photo: Edwards Photography Studios
Murfreesboro native and RCA Nashville artist Chris Young was the special guest at Nashville School of the Arts’ latest installment of “NSA Presents” yesterday (Sept. 8). The event coincided with the annual YoungArts Awareness Day, a nationwide, one-day initiative to “keep arts alive,” by “celebrating the hundreds of thousands of young artists across the country and encouraging them to pursue a career in the arts.”
Produced by the students and moderated by Lightning 100 on-air personality and morning show host, Well Adams, the “NSA Presents” program, is done in a format similar to James Lipton’s Inside The Actors Studio. During the session, Young shared insights into his successful career and discussed how music education had a significant impact on his artistic path.
Backstage prior to the event, Young, a YoungArts alumni and US Presidential Scholars in the Arts recipient, told MusicRow, “For me, arts awareness is one of the first things that gets pushed aside. But the arts are such a big growth area for kids, whether they want a career in it or not. And they don’t know until they are exposed to it and have a chance to find out. It’s something I’m very passionate about.”
As a special gift to the students, Young surprised the enthusiastic crowd at the opening of the Q&A session with a $30,000 donation to help fund improvements to the school’s auditorium.
NSA is the only arts magnet high school within Metro Nashville Public Schools, offering its students the “rare combination of rigorous, college preparatory curriculum instructed with intensely focused instruction in the performing or visual arts.”
Other celebrities that have participated in “NSA presents” include Janelle Monae, Chip Esten and Ruby Amanfu.
CMA, Nashville Entrepreneur Center To Aid Music Biz Startups
/by Jessica NicholsonThe accelerator will support the development of new business models for the music industry, seeking to help programmers, technology engineers, and entrepreneurs. Each startup will receive a $20,000 investment in exchange for equity.
“CMA was created to advance Country Music and provide a forum for new ideas that support our business interests across every segment of the industry,” said Sarah Trahern, CMA Chief Executive Officer. “This is an investment in the future of our business community and city.”
Startups from around the world are invited to apply by submitting music business idea proposals. The competition will culminate in four rounds to select the top six to eight ideas that will participate in the accelerator. The accelerator will commence at the Nashville Entrepreneur Center.
“Nashville is the place where the best possible mentors for music and technology intersect. Any of our future startups will have a dream team to help them realize their vision,” said Joe Galante, mentor at the EC and member of the CMA Board of Directors.
For more information, or to get involved, please visit www.ec.co/music-tech-media.