Chicks With Kix; Dirt Drifters To MusicRow

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The songplugging group The Chicks With Hits recently met with Kix Brooks at his home to pitch songs for his upcoming solo project.

Back row: Ree Guyer Buchanan, Debbie Zavitson, Dianna Maher, Kix Brooks, Stephanie Cox, Abbe Nameche, Kim Jones, Whitney Daane. Front row: Celia Froehlig, Melanie Howard, Judy Harris, Janie West, Robin Palmer

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Warner Music Nashville’s The Dirt Drifters visited the MusicRow offices on 7/26 to meet the staff and perform a few songs including current single, “Always a Reason.”

(L-R): Ryan Gardenhire (manager, Breakaway Artists); The Dirt Drifters Jeremy Little, DD's Matt Fleener, MR's Sherod Robertson, MR's Christie King, DD's Nick Diamond, MR's Sarah Skates, DD's Ryan Fleener, MR's Jon Freeman, DD's Jeff Middleton and MR's David Ross

Swift To Receive Top Honor At Teen Choice Awards

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Taylor Swift will receive the Ultimate Choice Award during the upcoming Teen Choice Awards. It is the show’s highest honor and past recipients include Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, and Reese Witherspoon. Swift is a multiple nominee at the Aug. 7 event airing on FOX. See nominations here.
Voting for the show runs through Aug. 5. Fans ages 13-19 can vote once each day at www.teenchoiceawards.com.
Red carpet and backstage action starts with a special live webcast starting at 6:30 PM ET at www.teenchoiceawards.com.
Fans are encouraged to tweet why Swift is their Ultimate Choice to @TeenChoiceGirl, and they may see their tweets featured during the show.

Weekly Chart Report (7/29/11)

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MCA’s Kip Moore (“Mary Was The Marrying Kind”) dropped by the KEGA studios in Salt Lake City (L-R): KEGA MD Jon Watkins, Moore, KEGA PD Alan Hague




SPIN ZONE
Third time continues to be a charm for Lady Antebellum, whose “Just A Kiss” earns its third consecutive week at No. 1 on the CountryBreakout Chart. Inching toward the top on its heels are Zac Brown Band’s “Knee Deep” at No. 2, Trace Adkins’ “Just Fishin’” at No. 3 and Kenny Chesney’s “You and Tequila” at No. 4. But seeing as how Toby Keith’s “Made In America” just piled on 232 new spins and jumped 8-5, it could shoot right past some of these titles in the next week.
Montgomery Gentry has a new label home in Average Joe’s, and radio clearly hasn’t lost its love for the hitmaking duo. Eddie and Troy’s latest, “Where I Come From” had a big debut at No. 63 last week, and it’s already moved on up to No. 44 following a gain of nearly 300 spins. That puts them right behind labelmate Corey Smith, whose “Twenty One” is at No. 41.
New debuts for the week include Justin Moore’s “Bait A Hook” at No. 69, Mark Willis’ “Crazy Bein’ Home” at No. 79, and Teea Goans’ “Letter From God” at No. 80.
Frozen Playlists: KMKS, KTKS, KVWF, KYYK, WBKR, WDGG, WIBL, WKKW, WKWS, WTCR



Upcoming Singles
August 1
Justin Moore/Bait A Hook/Valory
Amber Hayes/Wait/Flying Island
August 8
Danny Gokey/Second Hand Heart/RCA
The Band Perry/All Your Life/Republic Nashville
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New On The Chart—Debuting This Week
Artist/song/label — chart pos.
Justin Moore/Bait a Hook/Valory — 69
Mark Wills/Crazy Bein’ Home/Tenacity — 79
Teea Goans/Letter From God/Crosswind — 80
Greatest Spin Increase
Artist/song/label — spin+
Blake Shelton/God Gave Me You/Warner Bros./WMN — 459
Taylor Swift/Sparks Fly/Big Machine — 309
Montgomery Gentry/Where I Come From/Average Joe’s — 297
Justin Moore/Bait a Hook/Valory — 238
Toby Keith/Made In America/Show Dog-Universal — 232
Most Added
Artist/song/label — New Adds
Montgomery Gentry/Where I Come From/Average Joe’s — 24
Blake Shelton/God Gave Me You/Warner Bros./WMN — 17
Justin Moore/Bait a Hook/Valory — 17
The Band Perry/All Your Life/Republic Nashville — 12
Eric Paslay/Never Really Wanted/EMI Nashville — 11
Taylor Swift/Sparks Fly/Big Machine — 11
Tracy Lawrence/The Singer/Lawrence Music Group — 11
Martina McBride/I’m Gonna Love You Through It/Republic Nashville — 10
On Deck—Soon To Be Charting
Artist/song/label — spins
The McClymonts/Wrapped Up Good/BSM — 223
Brad Wolfe/Love Ought To Be Perfect/Evergreen — 198
Ashton Shepherd/Where Country Grows/MCA — 170
Kevin Fowler/Hell Yeah, I Like Beer/Average Joe’s Ent. — 170
Cash Creek/Unlikely Angel/Ohana Music Group — 163

Stokes Nielson (formerly of the Lost Trailers) recently launched his own entertainment brand marketing company called Stokes Tunes. The company is working with artist Corbette Jackson among others and the two recently visited WUSY/Chattanooga. (L-R): Mo from WUSY Mid-day show Dex & Mo, radio vet and former Clear Channel Nashville market manager Tom English, WUSY PD Gator Harrison, Jackson and Nielson.


WPOC/Baltimore presented its Six Flags Catch A Rising Star Country Festival on Saturday, July 23 in Bowie, Maryland. The concert featured performers Margaret Durante, Dustin Lynch, Randy Montana, and host Kix Brooks. (L-R): Montana, Lynch, Brooks, Durante and WPOC's Justin Cole


Permian Records/Nine North artist Brian Milson introduced his James Stroud-produced, Jeffrey Steele/Shane Minor-penned single “The Man I’m Not” at Country Giant 94.7 (WGSQ) Cookeville, Tenn. (L-R): WGSQ's Styckman, Milson, Nine North's Larry Pareigis, WGSQ's Philip Gibbons and Operations Manager Jonathan Monk.

Spins.FM Turns Dial Toward Nashville

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David Baker


Since last week (7/19), when MusicRow wrote about Spins.fm, an interactive tool designed to convert social networking fans into radio requests, there are rumblings that a few high profile country artists are set to take the technology for a “spin.”
Spins.fm has created two widgets to help leverage an artist’s social networking success into FM radio success. One widget goes on radio station Facebook pages and the other can be embedded in Facebook pages for labels and/or artists.
David Baker, Spins.fm founder is excited about the possibilities. “I’ve been making websites for 12 years and over the last five years working exclusively with artists,” says Baker who was born in Hawaii and currently lives in New York. “Artist websites, social media campaigns, everything related to the internet with artists. We started exploring this radio opportunity last year. There is lots of activity with online and streaming radio, but the fact remains that for local artist shows and appearances there is nothing that comes even close to the power of FM terrestrial radio. We wanted to bridge the gap between social media and local radio.”
The company has had early success with urban and Top 40 radio formats, but Nashville and country music is still an untried destination. “Regardless of the format,” says Baker, “we are staying focused on our core products for artists, labels and stations and trying to improve on them by incentivizing fans to participate and allowing artists to reward the fans for a request.”
What is the million dollar question? As the embedded widgets leverage social networks turning the followers, likes and fans into the tip of the request spear, will those requests actually cause the desired result—more airplay?
“Yes, that is the million dollar question,” says Baker. “Right now we can’t explicitly state that if you sign up for a Spins.fm campaign your song will be No. 1 on the radio. However, we have developed a number of case studies showing some really positive correlations and results. Hot Chelle Rae is our most recent success story. When we started they were at 0 and the record is now No. 7 on Billboard. We can’t take all the credit of course, but their team is giving us lots of credit for that. In terms of case studies, we are getting more data each month.”
Baker is intent upon continuing to fine tune the interactive process. “In a few weeks we will introduce a new audio feature that allows fans to record their requests,” Baker says. “A lot of stations say they love the social media requests, but would also like the ability to play the audio requests on the air, like they do traditionally from call ins. From the fan side it gives them another outlet to show support for their favorite artists and from the stations side we’re hoping it will drive adoption. We are also rolling out new features on the FaceBook side, so that after a fan makes a request they can dedicate the request to one of their friends which makes it more viral and gets more people involved.”
With the powerful role that fm radio plays for country artists, it certainly seems sensible to give Spins.fm a test drive. Should it prove capable, it could become a powerful career force for the artists most able to wield its power.

Charlie Cook On-Air

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Charlie Cook

The R Word

I know many of you as I have been in this business for 40 years. All of my business life has been in radio and most of it in Country Music. I lived in Nashville in the mid and late ’80s but have been coming to town since the mid ’70s for the Country Radio Seminar.
I am currently on the board of both the ACM and the CMA. I was chairman and president of the ACM in the old days and served on the CRB board for over 20 years. I was president of the CRB for a year or two during that span.
Today I am Director of Programming and Brand Management for West Virginia Radio Corp, based in Morgantown, WV and president of McVay/Cook and Associates a media consulting company based in Cleveland. I live in Morgantown and pay property taxes in California. That’s for another article.
This introduction is to lay out some credentials as David Ross has asked me to write a weekly column for MusicRow and I am most often going to come at it from my perspective of being from the radio community.
Hanging out as much as I do with record employees, and others making their living in Country Music I can feel the boos rising from Nashville. I don’t think that the two industries are at cross purposes, but we have some things that should be addressed with a blunt force. I trust that David knows what he is getting into with me as a contributor. I am closer to the end of my career than the beginning of my work life. I am not looking for a job. I have enough friends and I will say what I believe to be true.
I also understand that many others will have a different, very worthwhile opinion. I hope that we can all listen and maybe even change…not our stand on things, but our rigidity towards the other side.
I will talk about things that impact the record, publishing, production and promotion community from the radio side. I want to explore playlist size, PPM (a new system for measuring the radio audience in the top 48 markets), promotion for play, research and many other things that make our jobs easier and harder at the same time.
The R Word
I would like to start off today with the R word. I hear from record promotion staffers (I suspect that this is coming from higher up the chain) that research is the devil’s tool. It is only evil when it presents an excuse for radio to not play or stop playing one of their songs. John Hart is the most popular guy in town when the information is positive. Research cuts both ways and it is only as credible as the source. It is also only as credible as the question asked.
Many music research projects are done in a vacuum. Listeners should be informed why the information is being collected. If you ask a person, “do you like chocolate?” you’re going to get on answer based on how they feel right now about chocolate. If you ask them, “do you like chocolate more than vanilla to the conclusion of not having vanilla for the next ten weeks?” you might get a completely different answer.
“I am going to play you the new Dudley Doofus song. Please tell me, on a scale of one to five how much you like the song.” This is a very different question than, “in the context of the radio station you listen to everyday, how would you rate this Dudley Doofus song? Would you like to hear it more or less than your current favorite song on the radio?”
Let’s get back to my first comment about giving something back to the listener. Giving them more of what they like is all about understanding what makes them gravitate to a specific radio station and a particular artist.
In Nashville you have three radio stations that play current-based Country Music. The top songs are all the same across these three music stations. I can tell you the one station in that mix who is doing some music research. It is WSM-FM. I can tell by the difference in the songs once you get below the top tunes.
You know that there is more than just music in the mix on successful radio stations. If, as I contend, WSM-FM is researching their music, how come they are not the number one Country station in town? Well, they are still trying to find their footing with their morning show. They have been many different things over the years. Live 95, 95 the Wolf and now WSM-FM. The listener knows that 95.5 plays Country Music, but what is happening around the music is less defined.
The company has been successful in Dallas and Indianapolis with their Country products, where they get the morning shows right. Both of these stations have had long time images, built by another company and not tinkered with (outside of personnel) by the parent company. I know that research has driven those decisions.
Asking the listener, understanding the listener and delivering the goods, based on that, will win. Everytime.

Toby Keith Joins Fall Release Line Up

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From Toby Keith's video for "Made In America."


Toby Keith has set a fall release date for his new album Clancy’s Tavern. Lead single “Made In America” is climbing MusicRow’s CountryBreakout chart just five weeks after release.
Clancy’s Tavern, coming via Show Dog-Universal Records, will hit shelves Oct. 25 in time for holiday shopping. The album draws its name from the title track, which Keith wrote about his grandmother’s bar.
Keith is spending the summer on his Ford driven Locked & Loaded Tour. Joining him on the road are JT Hodges and Eric Church.
See the complete list of upcoming album releases here.

Big Machine Adds Interactive Director

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Annie Ortmeier


The Big Machine Label Group has added Annie Ortmeier to the Sales, Marketing & Interactive Department as Director of Interactive, spearheading social networking and website initiatives.
Ortmeier joins the label group with a strong background in the area, including time at CMT as Merchandising Manager of Ecommerce. She also worked for echo and relocated to LA with the company after the merger with Ticketmaster. Most recently Ortmeier explored her entrepreneurial side with her own digital marketing agency YowZa! Ecommerce Solutions.
At Big Machine she will report to VP of Sales, Marketing & Interactive Kelly Rich, who said, “Annie’s impressive background working in both e-commerce and the music industry make her an excellent candidate to drive our interactive presence forward. She’s a hard worker with a knack for innovation, and we are excited to have her on our team.”
Ortmeier can be reached immediately at (615) 324-7922 or annie.ortmeier@bigmachinemail.com.
 

Hall of Fame Shares Expansion Details at Fundraising Launch

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Pictured at today's event. (L-R): Museum Director Kyle Young, Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, Ford Motor Company Executive Chairman Bill Ford and Steve Turner, chairman of the museum's Board of Officers and Trustees. Photo: Donn Jones


The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum this morning (7/28) launched a capital campaign to fund an expansion that will more than double the size of the current facility, as well as offer Nashville a new performance venue.
“This is an unbelievable moment in the history of this museum and in the history of Nashville,” said Hall of Fame Board Chairman Steve Turner. “The campaign will finance a 200,000-square-foot museum expansion that will connect structurally and financially with the Omni Nashville convention hotel. This is an unprecedented public-private partnership made possible by the vision and stewardship of Mayor Karl Dean.”

Ricky Skaggs. Photo: Sherod Robertson


Due for completion in spring 2014, the expansion will triple the current exhibit space, include an 800 seat theater, and offer an educational center with children’s gallery, classrooms and recording studio. It will be connected to the Omni on three levels. Tuck Hinton Architects, who built the magnificent current building, are returning for the expansion.
“Since the Museum opened in 2001, it has become one of Nashville’s signature cultural assets and a key economic engine,” said Mayor Dean. “This [expansion] commitment is valued at over $30 million, which the Museum will return to city coffers through a long-term lease agreement.”
Today’s event marked the beginning of the public phase of the $75 million fundraising initiative called “Working on a Building: Country Music Lives Here Campaign.” Thanks to generous donations by Nashville and nationwide power brokers, many of whom gathered today, $56.8 million was raised during the campaign’s silent phase. More than $48 million of that comes from donors who contributed $1 million or more, including a lead gift of $6.5 million from Steve and Judy Turner.

Alan Jackson. Photo: Sherod Robertson


Among those celebrating the success thus far and championing the project’s next phase was Ford Motor Co. executive chairman Bill Ford, whose family name brands the theater where today’s assembly took place. He is serving as honorary co-chair of the campaign with Kris Kristofferson.
An event at the Country Music Hall of Fame wouldn’t be complete without music. In keeping with the campaign’s mantra, Ricky Skaggs kicked things off with Bill Monroe’s bluegrass breakdown “Working On A Building.” Buddy Spicher kept the mood lively with a fiddle jam. Alan Jackson performed “You’ve Been Lonesome, Too,” a song partially written by Hank Williams and completed by Jackson, which will be on an Oct. 4 release called The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams (Egyptian Records/CMF Records/Columbia Records). Then Jackson closed with his classic “Chattahoochee,” chuckling as he encouraged Mayor Dean to get up and dance.
Dean proudly told Bill Ford that he has been driving a Ford Mustang for 12 years. He wasn’t the only one, Jackson and Lynn Anderson also shared that they are loyal Ford owners.
Besides Ford and Kristofferson, the capital campaign committee also includes Earl Bentz, Mark Bloom, Bill Denny, Mike Dungan, Rod Essig, Vince Gill, Randy Goodman, Keel Hunt, Ken Levitan, Brian O’Connell, Ken Roberts, John Seigenthaler, Steve Turner, Ernie Williams and Jody Williams.


Rendering of CMHoF expansion, as seen from 4th Ave.



Theater rendering




Event Hall rendering


 

Country Tours Rock New York

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New York City concertgoers are proving they love country music. Kenny Chesney’s Goin’ Coastal Tour is breaking records with an upcoming date in the area, and Taylor Swift just wrapped a run of four sold-out shows.
Swift played Newark, NJ’s Prudential Center last week and sold a combined total of over 52,000 tickets.
Chesney and Zac Brown Band’s upcoming date at New Jersey’s New Meadowlands Stadium has sold 44,000 tickets and features guests Billy Currington and Uncle Kracker. The Aug. 13 concert is the single biggest ticketed country show in the area since Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings and Linda Ronstadt played Giants Stadium in 1983. Chesney’s tour was recently ranked by Pollstar as the highest-grossing country tour of 2011 so far.
Chesney’s Aug. 13th show has already topped last year’s concert at New Meadowlands Stadium by The Eagles, Dixie Chicks and Keith Urban in sales.
“When I first heard we’d be playing at the Meadowlands, I was ecstatic,” Chesney said. “It has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember and will be an unforgettable evening for everyone involved.”
The August performance is part of Chesney’s ‘Goin’ Coastal’ Tour, highlighted by The New York Times and USA Today atop their lists of the year’s biggest tours, and marks balladeer’s eighth consecutive tour selling more than a million tickets.
 
 

SESAC Partners With INgrooves For Digital Distribution

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SESAC has announced a new partnership with INgrooves a leading provider of digital distribution, marketing and promotion services to the global music & video community via its One Digital platform. INgrooves will service SESAC-represented content to online retailers, mobile carriers, and other digital media outlets. Through this relationship, SESAC will now be able to service content, for which publishing and master rights are owned by its affiliated artists and songwriters, to INgrooves’s list of over 500 online and mobile destinations worldwide. SESAC’s utilization of the One Digital end-to-end digital asset management platform, made possible by the arrangement, automates many distribution and administrative functions for SESAC artists and connects them directly to leading online and mobile stores worldwide.  In addition, the partnership provides clients customized marketing, promotion, and administrative support to help maximize the earnings potential of specific music releases and catalogues.
According to SESAC, the deal signifies an evolution in its digital strategy.  While licensing and royalty accounting remain core competencies, new value-add services such as digital delivery and distribution will augment opportunities for licensing SESAC-represented content in the marketplace.
“A PRO is often the first industry relationship an aspiring artist, songwriter, or composer has in their career,” said Hunter Williams, Sr. VP, Strategic Development, Distribution and Research Operations, SESAC, Inc. “In the age of DIY (do-it-yourself), it’s more important than ever that we use this position to provide complementary services to our affiliated artists and writers to help them meet their professional goals. The more opportunities SESAC can create for its artists and writers to distribute their content into the marketplace, the more opportunities it will present for SESAC to monetize that content in the licensing arena.”