Pictured (L-R): Dualtone’s Paul Roper and Q Prime’s John Peets
In the digital age where streaming music services put entire musical libraries at your fingertips, it comes as a surprise that vinyl sales are on the rise across all genres. According to Nielsen Soundscan, vinyl sales jumped from 4.5 million in 2012 to 6 million in 2013, an increase of 32 percent.
“We’re in this wild, wild west period right now where digital and vinyl sales will change over the next few years,” said
Paul Roper, Pres. of Dualtone Music Group, which is home to
The Lumineers and
Shovels and Rope. “It is still a small percentage of the population that even knows what Spotify is. Physical sales account for 30-35 percent of our business and vinyl is 10 percent of that, which is turning way up. Five years ago it was under three percent.”
Other Nashville artists such as
The Black Keys and
Jack White have supported this trend by releasing vinyl editions of their recent albums. In the debut week of White’s album
Lazaretto, released June 10, nearly 30 percent of the 138,000 physical copies sold were vinyl. The Black Keys pressed 100,000 vinyl copies of their latest
Turn Blue because about 10 percent of their past album sales have been vinyl.
“There’s a lot more subtexts to it than just the numbers,” said their manager
John Peets at Q Prime South. “Even though the world doesn’t mainly consume music on vinyl records anymore, it’s still important in the creation process. These bodies of work are more than a set of singles, it’s a marker of where recording artists are in their career. They want their audience to not invest in only one album, but a series of albums.” He believes vinyl gives the artist the ability to distribute music as a whole project, whereas listening to only singles has the potential to diminish the impact of the body of work.
Though rock artists traditionally have higher vinyl sales than any other genre, Country artists are starting to embrace the trend as well.
Kellie Pickler released
The Woman I Am as a limited-edition vinyl and
Kacey Musgraves has copies of her 2013 album
Same Trailer Different Park available on vinyl.
Dolly Parton released a blue, limited-edition of two tracks from her album
Blue Smoke to celebrate Record Store Day (RSD) in April.
Eric Church, also managed by Peets, put out a special edition of
The Outsiders including two bonus tracks on vinyl in honor of RSD this year.
Peets reported that Church’s RSD release accounted for around one percent of sales of the project, which exceed 600,000 to date. Even though the vinyl sales are minuscule, Church and his team wanted to celebrate mom-and-pop record stores and offer the exclusive edition to their audiophile fans.
“[This release] is a statement to say independent record stores are important,” said Peets. “Not only valuing the culture of music but being engulfed in a store that does nothing but music is important. The people who work in these local economies are educated and can teach you what you didn’t know about music. That’s what it’s all about.”
RSD has traditionally appealed to millennials. The artists releasing their records on vinyl have strong fan bases from this demographic, perhaps because these modern-day vinyl connoisseurs weren’t even born in time for the first vinyl trend.
“With paid streaming growing, if fans want something tangible that’s already on your phone, there’s no reason to buy a compact disc,” said Roper. “So if you’re going to buy something physical you might as well buy the vinyl, that’s a bigger piece of art.”
Peets added: “By buying the physical album and displaying it, fans are making a higher investment in the artist, like a badge of honor. I think vinyl makes a real obvious outgoing statement about who you are and what you think is important.”
With the demand for vinyl increasing, record pressing plants are working to keep up. The volume is starting to overwhelm these plants, noted Peets. If artists want to release a vinyl, they have to plan well in advance. The demand is so high that Nashville’s own
United Record Pressing, the largest pressing plant in the country, is
planning to expand with a second location near Nolensville Pike in Nashville.
“Vinyls are being bought heavily on the road and on preorder,” said Roper. “Backup at record plants is about 12 weeks because of how in-demand they are.” Peets added that artwork for the album poses a time-crunch more than the actual pressing of the record.
So, even in a time where there is almost unlimited access to music, fans have shown they will still financially support their favorite artists.
“There is appeal to the physical piece and the artwork,” said Peets. “By owning vinyl, fans have something that very forwardly says music, and that artist in particular, is important to me.”
BMG Chrysalis Signs Jonny Price
/by Jessica NicholsonBMG Chrysalis has signed up-and-coming multi-genre writer and producer Jonny Price. Based in Brooklyn, N.Y., Price attended the North Carolina School Of The Arts and was recently discovered at a Nashville pitch to publisher session where he presented a slew of solo-written songs for both the country and pop genres.
Pictured (L-R): Kevin Lane (BMG Chrysalis, Creative Director); Sara Knabe (BMG Chrysalis, Senior Creative Director); John Allen (BMG Chrysalis, Vice President); Jonny Price; Daniel Lee (BMG Chrysalis, Senior Creative Director); Kos Weaver (BMG Chrysalis, Executive Vice President).
Nashville Celebrates Rascal Flatts' "Rewind"
/by Jessica NicholsonPictured (L-R, front row): ASCAP co-writers Ashley Gorley and Chris DeStefano; Rascal Flatts’ Jay DeMarcus, Gary LeVox and Joe Don Rooney; and co-writer Eric Paslay. (L-R, back row): ASCAP’s Mike Sistad; Cal IV Entertainment’s Daniel Hill; Big Machine Label Group President & CEO Scott Borchetta; Warner/Chappell Music Publishing’s Ben Vaughn; Combustion Music’s Chris Van Belkom; Sony/ATV Music Publishing’s Josh Van Valkenburg; and Big Machine Records’ Jack Purcell. Photo: Ed Rode.
Rascal Flatts members Gary LeVox, Joe Don Rooney, and Jay DeMarcus, as well as songwriters Chris DeStefano, Ashley Gorley, and Eric Paslay, were recently honored for Rascal Flatts’ latest chart-topping song, “Rewind.” The Nashville music industry feted the single at ASCAP’s Nashville office Wednesday (June 25). The tune is the title track from the trio’s ninth studio album. “Rewind” is the 15th No. 1 song for Gorley, and the fifth for both DeStefano and Paslay.
“This song has a pedigree with these songwriters,” said Cal IV Entertainment’s Daniel Hill, who thanked Scott Borchetta, Allison Jones, Jack Purcell and Paslay (a former Cal IV intern-turned-hit songwriter and artist), among others.
Big Machine Label Group, as well as publishers Cal IV Entertainment, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, and Warner/Chappell Music Publishing were on hand to celebrate. Warner/Chappell honored the members of Rascal Flatts by making a donation to the Rascal Flatts Pediatric Surgery Center at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital.
Pictured (L-R): Ashley Gorley, Chris DeStefano, Jay DeMarcus, Gary LeVox, Joe Don Rooney, and Eric Paslay.
CMA Songwriters Series Tapes Public Television Special in Nashville
/by Jessica NicholsonPictured (L-R): Denis Gallagher, Partner, “Front and Center”; Don Maggi, Managing Partner and Executive Producer, “Front and Center”; Sarah Trahern, CMA Chief Executive Officer; Jon Randall, songwriter; Dierks Bentley; Jim Beavers, songwriter; Tom Becci, Chief Operations Officer and Senior Vice President, UMG Nashville; Ben Vaughn, Executive Vice President, Warner/Chappell Music and CMA Board member; Brett James, songwriter and CMA Board member; Ross Copperman, songwriter. Photo: Donn Jones / CMA
In a time where up-tempo songs rule radio, a somber ballad can still silence a crowd.
Superb songwriter (and superb singer) Jon Randall quieted a mix of fans and industry members in Nashville Wednesday night (June 25) with an acoustic rendition of “Whiskey Lullaby,” the 2004 CMA Song of the Year-winning tune co-written with Bill Anderson, and recorded by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss. “If you are a Country fan…that song might as well be ‘Amazing Grace,'” said fell0w hit songwriter Brett James.
Dierks Bentley, Jim Beavers, James and Ross Copperman joined Randall for a taped-for-television songwriters round at Nashville’s Marathon Music Works, in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the CMA Songwriters Series. Public television’s “Front and Center” will feature Country artists during two episodes slated to air in October. Bentley and his team of co-writers will be featured in one episode; Lady Antebellum will star in another, along with Rodney Clawson, Tom Douglas, Josh Kear, Luke Laird and Abe Stoklasa. Both episodes were taped in Nashville on Wednesday.
To be sure, there were uptempo, “get your good time on” songs aplenty throughout the evening.
Bentley (or “Eddie Van Bentley,” as he was later called by his songwriting co-horts) launched the show with some tasty acoustic guitar licks on his debut single from 2003, “What Was I Thinkin’.” From there, all of the writers took turns showcasing some of their most popular musical wares, including “5150,” “Drunk On A Plane,” “Watching Airplanes,” “Drink On It,” and “Beat of the Music.” Bentley also admitted to passing on a few songs that later became hit songs for other artists, including “Drink A Beer” (later recorded by Luke Bryan), “I Drive Your Truck” (later recorded by Lee Brice) and “Watching Airplanes” (later recorded by Gary Allan). Of course, Bentley and company performed many tunes from his own considerable catalog of chart-topping songs.
James traded lines with Bentley on an ace acoustic rendition of “I Hold On,” while Beavers joined Bentley on “5150,” and Randall alternated vocals on “Am I The Only One.” Producer, songwriter, guitarist and singer Copperman performed his rendition of “Pirate Flag,” recorded by Kenny Chesney (Copperman said his wife suggested the “shooting stars” line). James’ powerful, smooth voice shone on songs including “Reality” and “We Went Out Last Night” (both No. 1 hits were penned with Kenny Chesney on the same day during a post-Christmas trip to the islands).
Surprise guest Jessi Alexander offered harmonies for Bentley on “Pretty Girls Drinkin’ Tall Boys,” a cut from Bentley’s recent Riser project.
Bentley closed the show as he closes each of his concerts, with his 2011 hit, “Home.”
Pictured (L-R): Tom Becci, Chief Operations Officer and Senior Vice President, UMG Nashville; Don Maggi, Managing Partner and Executive Producer, “Front and Center”; Lady Antebellum’s Dave Haywood; Denis Gallagher, Partner, “Front and Center”; Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott and Charles Kelley; Sarah Trahern, CMA Chief Executive Officer; Tom Douglas, songwriter and CMA Board member. Photo: Donn Jones / CMA
Lightning 100's Live On The Green Lineup Announced
/by Jessica NicholsonAdditional artists joining the lineup include Augustana, Delta Spirit, The Lone Bellow, Wild Cub, The Features, The Weeks, Spanish Gold, Johnnyswim, All Them Witches, Goodbye June, Daniel Ellsworth & The Great Lakes, Sugar & The Hi-Los, and the winners of Lightning 100’s Music City Mayhem contest, Phin.
Additional artists will be announced in the coming weeks including one headlining act, which will be announced on July 3, 2014 at Lightning 100’s Independence Rocks Concert.
Special VIP packages are available, which offer a VIP area with exclusive stage access, private restrooms, shaded areas with open seating, complimentary catering, as well as complimentary alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Series and single week VIP tickets are on sale. For more information, visit liveonthegreen.net.
'Somewhere With You' Takes On The Big Apple
/by contributorFor the first time, modern-day Nashville will be represented in Manhattan’s theater circuit when the New York Musical Theater Festival presents Somewhere With You July 8-13.
Written by Peter Zinn, the work features music from Country songwriter JT Harding. Harding’s chart-topping “Somewhere With You” (Kenny Chesney), “Alone With You” (Jake Owen) and “Smile” (Uncle Kracker) help tell the coming-of-age love story, which centers around a young Country singer (played by Graham Scott Fleming) growing up in the South confronted by drugs, the War in Iraq, and other post 9/11 challenges.
The 1 hour and 40 minute production runs for five shows at The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre in New York City. Tickets are available from $25.
Ryman Auditorium To Undergo $14 Million Expansion and Renovations
/by Jessica NicholsonRendering of proposed expansion
The Ryman Auditorium is set to undergo a $14 million expansion that will add a cafe, multi-media tour, new event facility, as well as renovations for the box office, restrooms, concessions, lobby and merchandising areas, it was revealed during a press conference this morning. The actual music venue will not be affected.
The expansion, which will happen on the 4th Ave. N. side of the building, will add a brick and glass structure that extends from the building to 4th Ave. The company hopes to launch renovations later this summer, with a July 2015 completion date.
“We are making this investment now so that the Ryman Auditorium is better equipped to accommodate the current and future demand we are seeing from both a tourism and concert attendance perspective,” Ryman Hospitality CEO and President Colin Reed said.
Ryman General Manager Sally Williams said, “Just as Steve Buchanan and the company’s management team did in 1994 with the original Ryman Auditorium expansion and reopening, we are thoughtfully planning for the future of one of the most historic and revered places to hear and perform live music. The enhancements will dramatically improve the pre-and post-show experience and allow visitors to share in our 122-year history in ways that are not possible within our current space. With no renovations taking place in the historic auditorium, we expect little to no disruption in our operations throughout the construction phase, which we anticipate will be complete in time to welcome our guests during next year’s CMA Music Festival.”
Vince Gill, Ricky Skaggs and Marty Stuart were in attendance. “The Ryman has always been in the best hands since this company has taken over its operation,” said Gill. “This is an important renovation, but the heart this company has shown for the Ryman’s preservation is even more special.”
The multi-media tour aligns with the company’s plan to capitalize on the more than 2,500 hours of footage from Grand Ole Opry performances and episodes of the television show Hee Haw that Ryman Hospitality owns.
The Ryman Auditorium was built in 1892, and was originally a Union Gospel Tabernacle church. The building was used for Grand Ole Opry broadcasts from 1943 until 1974, when the Opry moved to its current home at the Grand Ole Opry House.
After the Opry moved to its new home, the Ryman was nearly torn down, and remained vacant and in disrepair for 20 years. In 1994, the Ryman was restored to a national showplace for various styles of music. It is regarded as the “Mother Church of Country Music.”
Industry Members Seek Copyright Law Reform In Washington
/by Jessica NicholsonASCAP’s Paul Williams speaks at the subcommittee hearing
After two hearings with a House Judiciary subcommittee, various music industry and digital industry leaders are still at an impasse on how to solve a complex and mangled licensing system, according to a recap from the New York Times.
In a second hearing on Wednesday (June 25), nine witnesses, including singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash, ASCAP’s Paul Williams, RIAA’s Cary Sherman, independent label Secretly Group’s Darius Van Arman and other record label executives discussed the various shortcomings and benefits of the current complicated set of rules governing publishers, radio and royalties. This follows an initial hearing held on June 10.
The most heatedly debated topic was AM/FM radio stations’ exemption under United States law from paying performers and record companies royalties. Radio stations pay songwriters, but do not pay for the recordings they play. The law has been increasingly challenged since the introduction of internet and satellite radio, which pay royalties to both songwriters and to performers and record companies. Cash, Sherman, Van Arman and others insisted that radio stations be required to pay this performance royalty.
Meanwhile, National Association of Broadcasters joint board chairman Charles M. Warfield, Jr., defended the current practice, stating, “Our unique system of free airplay for free promotion has served both the broadcasting and recording industry well for decades.”
Another issue that arose during the hearing is the lack of copyright protection for recordings made before Feb. 15, 1972. Under this law, older performers do not get royalties from digital services including Pandora and Sirius XM. Cash, daughter of late Country icon Johnny Cash, called the system unfair to older performers.
“If my father were alive today, he would receive no payment for digital performances of his song ‘I Walk the Line,’ written and recorded in 1956,” Rosanne Cash said. “But anyone who rerecorded that song today would receive a royalty. The injustice defies description.”
Cash also revealed how low streaming income has affected her own career. “For example, for an 18-month period, there were nearly 600,000 streams of my songs on a popular subscription site. I was paid $114.00 for those streams. I am not a lawyer or a politician or a policy wonk, and I couldn’t begin to parse the incredibly complex, outdated, pre-Internet laws regarding licensing and copyrights but I can tell you that I see young musicians give up their dreams every single day because they cannot make a living, they cannot survive doing the thing they most love, the thing they just might be on the planet to do.” Cash’s full testimony can be read here.
ASCAP’s Williams spoke in favor of changing the 73-year-old consent decrees that govern ASCAP and its performing rights organization rival BMI, stating the decrees hinder negotiations with digital services, and result in low rates for songwriters.
“I find it beyond perplexing,” Williams said, “that American songwriters like Rosanne and myself are the ones subject to the heaviest government regulation.”
This month, the Justice Department said it would review ASCAP’s and BMI’s consent decrees for possible changes. Williams outlined three specific updates for the DOJ to consider, including replacing the rate court with a faster, less expensive dispute resolution process. Another update involved allowing PROs to accept a partial grant of rights from its members, which means the organizations could license certain uses while the rights holders handle others directly. A final suggestion would permit PROs to offer all the rights in a music composition a licensee needs to operate their business, which ASCAP says competitors are free to do.
Williams added, “We need a music licensing system that works the way we will be, not— to paraphrase a great songwriter and friend—the way we were.”
Some battle lines were not clearly drawn. Though satellite radio company Sirius XM opposes music industry groups that seek royalties for songs recorded before 1972, they offered no solution. When asked how to resolve the disparity in performance rights for recordings (broadcast radio does not pay them, while satellite radio does), the company’s Sirius XM’s CFO David J. Frear stated, “Everyone should get paid.”
When asked by legislators how they would fix the system, the assembled execs did not offer a solution that would satisfy all parties.
“Getting you all together, and getting on one page,” Wisconsin Republican representative Jim Sensenbrenner said, “will probably happen two days after the sun rises in the west.”
Darryl Worley Plans Annual Tennessee River Run
/by Troy_StephensonDaryl Worley
Darryl Worley has announced plans for his annual Tennessee River Run. It will take place Sat., August 9 in downtown Savannah, Tenn. In its 13th year, the event has raised over $1.4 million to help organizations including schools, libraries, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and Boys & Girls clubs.
The event will start at 12:00 p.m. with children’s games and activities. Live music begins at 12:30 including The Ben Parker Project, Crossroads, Cruzer, Parker Forbes/Everson, Surviving Allison, Bryan Moffitt Band and Dead Horse. Worley’s performance will close out the evening.
“Even though schedules are demanding, hosting the Tennessee River Run is a priority,” said Worley. “This year we’ve moved the event to August and lowered ticket prices. Of course, we have a great time but the bottom line is raising money to help our neighbors. Each year volunteers give their time and money to make someone else’s life better, and that’s what matters most.”
More information on the event and the Darryl Worley Foundation can be found here.
Craig Campbell, NEEDTOBREATHE Make Charity Donations
/by Sarah SkatesThe 2nd annual Craig Campbell Cornhole Challenge, held June 3 at Public Square Park in Nashville, raised over $17,000 to benefit the T.J. Martell Foundation and colon cancer research at the Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center. At the event, Campbell was joined by artists including Lee Brice, Jerrod Niemann, Chase Rice and The Cadillac Three. Singer/songwriter Campbell hosts the fundraiser in memory of his father who died from colon cancer.
Pictured (L-R): Tinti Moffat, Southern Region, T.J. Martell Foundation; Craig Campbell; Liz Cost; and Melissa Goodwin, Director of Administration, T.J. Martell Foundation.
• • • • •
The 2014 NEEDTOBREATHE Classic golf tournament raised $140,000 last month in Daniel Island, SC to benefit the Palmetto Medical Initiative (PMI), which works to provide quality health care in underserved countries including Uganda and Nicaragua.
Joining NEEDTOBREATHE on the golf course were musicians Drew & Ellie Holcomb, Steven Curtis Chapman, Ed Roland of Collective Soul, Ben Rector, Mark Bryan and John Mark McMillan.
NEEDTOBREATHE is joined by Drew & Ellie Holcomb and Ben Rector at the 2014 tournament. Photo: Paul Kim.
John Peets and Paul Roper Discuss Vinyl Revival
/by contributorPictured (L-R): Dualtone’s Paul Roper and Q Prime’s John Peets
By: Laura Hostelley
In the digital age where streaming music services put entire musical libraries at your fingertips, it comes as a surprise that vinyl sales are on the rise across all genres. According to Nielsen Soundscan, vinyl sales jumped from 4.5 million in 2012 to 6 million in 2013, an increase of 32 percent.
“We’re in this wild, wild west period right now where digital and vinyl sales will change over the next few years,” said Paul Roper, Pres. of Dualtone Music Group, which is home to The Lumineers and Shovels and Rope. “It is still a small percentage of the population that even knows what Spotify is. Physical sales account for 30-35 percent of our business and vinyl is 10 percent of that, which is turning way up. Five years ago it was under three percent.”
Other Nashville artists such as The Black Keys and Jack White have supported this trend by releasing vinyl editions of their recent albums. In the debut week of White’s album Lazaretto, released June 10, nearly 30 percent of the 138,000 physical copies sold were vinyl. The Black Keys pressed 100,000 vinyl copies of their latest Turn Blue because about 10 percent of their past album sales have been vinyl.
“There’s a lot more subtexts to it than just the numbers,” said their manager John Peets at Q Prime South. “Even though the world doesn’t mainly consume music on vinyl records anymore, it’s still important in the creation process. These bodies of work are more than a set of singles, it’s a marker of where recording artists are in their career. They want their audience to not invest in only one album, but a series of albums.” He believes vinyl gives the artist the ability to distribute music as a whole project, whereas listening to only singles has the potential to diminish the impact of the body of work.
Peets reported that Church’s RSD release accounted for around one percent of sales of the project, which exceed 600,000 to date. Even though the vinyl sales are minuscule, Church and his team wanted to celebrate mom-and-pop record stores and offer the exclusive edition to their audiophile fans.
“[This release] is a statement to say independent record stores are important,” said Peets. “Not only valuing the culture of music but being engulfed in a store that does nothing but music is important. The people who work in these local economies are educated and can teach you what you didn’t know about music. That’s what it’s all about.”
RSD has traditionally appealed to millennials. The artists releasing their records on vinyl have strong fan bases from this demographic, perhaps because these modern-day vinyl connoisseurs weren’t even born in time for the first vinyl trend.
“With paid streaming growing, if fans want something tangible that’s already on your phone, there’s no reason to buy a compact disc,” said Roper. “So if you’re going to buy something physical you might as well buy the vinyl, that’s a bigger piece of art.”
Peets added: “By buying the physical album and displaying it, fans are making a higher investment in the artist, like a badge of honor. I think vinyl makes a real obvious outgoing statement about who you are and what you think is important.”
With the demand for vinyl increasing, record pressing plants are working to keep up. The volume is starting to overwhelm these plants, noted Peets. If artists want to release a vinyl, they have to plan well in advance. The demand is so high that Nashville’s own United Record Pressing, the largest pressing plant in the country, is planning to expand with a second location near Nolensville Pike in Nashville.
“Vinyls are being bought heavily on the road and on preorder,” said Roper. “Backup at record plants is about 12 weeks because of how in-demand they are.” Peets added that artwork for the album poses a time-crunch more than the actual pressing of the record.
So, even in a time where there is almost unlimited access to music, fans have shown they will still financially support their favorite artists.
“There is appeal to the physical piece and the artwork,” said Peets. “By owning vinyl, fans have something that very forwardly says music, and that artist in particular, is important to me.”