Arbitron just released its new âRadio Todayâ 2011 edition. There are a number of things in the report that will be interesting to MusicRow readers beyond radio personnel.
There is a lot of good news, like the fact that Country Radio is the number one format. Arbitron lists Country + New Country as scoring 12.7 percent (with persons 25-54) of all listening to radio. Country Radio is way ahead of the number two format, Adult Contemporary, with 9.5 percent.
Country is the number two format in terms of number of outlets, when you add in HD and streaming. News and Talk is number one by a huge number but Country has almost three times more outlets on the FM dial versus News and Talk. And FM is still the number one source of listener usage.
In fact, Country Radio reaches more than 65 millions listeners each week and a fourth of all radio listeners in non-metro countries. The places where people still visit Wal-Mart and Target to buy their music.
Radio has given away usage in the house. I work with stations every day trying to recapture listening in the home, particularly in the morning. As more and more radio stations have gone away from providing news and information in the morning, TV has come and taken away that position. Now TV is the source for school closings, weather and even traffic information during early morning hours.
In fact, two thirds of Country Radio listening is done away from home. This has been the trend for six years now.
What I like about this information is that Arbitron reaches out and talks to people engaged with radio. You can quote a number of researchers and you might find some different results but Arbitron talks to people that are most important to meâpeople who have agreed to carry a meter or fill out a diary to track their media usage.
We should all care about these people because they are the kind of people that are willing to participate. They wouldnât have agreed to participate in the ratings process if they werenât active.
Nearly 50 percent of Country listeners live in households earning at least $50,000 a year. According to the report, this might be because our listeners are becoming increasingly more educated. Funny how one follows the other.
Similar information has come out of CMA studies that also show the growing income and educational levels.
Loyalty to the format has been so important for artists and radio stations through the years. Arbitron publishes numbers based on Time Spent Listening (TSL) to specific radio stations. As a station programmer you have two goals: attract as many people as possible to the station and then keep them there as long as possible.
The first is called cume, which is the total number of different persons who tune in during the course of a daypart for at least five minutes. Remember when I wrote a few weeks ago that making songs like âNeed You Nowâ and âRemind Meâ would be good for radio? Thatâs why.
TSL is an estimate of the amount of time the average listener spent with a station during a particular daypart. The explanation was made to point out that Country Radio is ranked first among English-language music formats. This is a format that appeals to its fans way beyond any other format.
I suspect that many in the music community do some sort of perceptual research on their artists and their music. But I wonder how many do research on the listeners. What do the listeners do with their discretionary time?
Again, using the new Arbitron information, we can learn a lot about those same people who spend so much time with Country Radio. The most popular recreational experiences and hobbies are camping, fishing and sewing/crafts. Swimming, bowling and photography are also high on the list.
Coupons are really big with the Country core, and I suspect every American today. Seventy-nine percent of the respondents use grocery coupons and 54 percent use coupons for other goods and services. Does it make sense to partner with radio stations and provide coupons for CDs/downloads and or concerts?
Despite what you see at concerts, remote broadcasts, and NASCAR, light beer is preferred over regular beer. And like at my house, salty snacks, candy and ice cream are very popular.
Where are you going to find these folks? At a country concert, rodeo, monster truck rally, or NHRA drag racing event. The Country radio listener is more likely to be a Republican than a Democrat and less likely to embrace environmental causes.
None of the above is earth-shattering information, but hopefully some of it is enlightening when thinking about how to interact with your listeners and your fans. We donât tell our radio stations to adjust their thinking or to put on a front if they donât understand or participate in the same things.
But you are more likely to run into your fans in a bowling alley than you are at an Occupy Yazoo City rally.
Artists Give Back
/by contributor“I am proud to perform for the troops and to celebrate our heroes, bringing attention to the need to improve quality of life among men and women who serve our country,” said McGraw.
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Thompson Square will perform at the Third Annual Josieâs Birthday Bash benefit concert at the Wildhorse Saloon, Wednesday, Nov. 16. The concert, which begins at 7:30 p.m., focuses on raising funds and awareness for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
A silent auction will also start when the doors open at 6 p.m. Other performers will be announced in the coming weeks. Tickets are on sale at www.thewildhorsesaloon.com.
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Recently, the family of late country music star Waylon Jennings announced the establishment of a fund in Jennings name to support diabetes research. Jeninngs passed away in 2002 at 64 from complications with his diabetes. His family has since then teamed up with Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) to create The Waylon Fund, which will fund research investigations for new treatments and into the genetic origins of a disease that afflicts nearly 26 million Americans.
The new TGen initiative is already drawing special support from the country-music industry. BMI, Ernest Tubb Record Shops, and Music News Nashville are currently promoting the fund.
ASCAP Honors Paisley, Underwood and Alabama
/by Caitlin Rantala(L-R) Sea Gayle Musicâs Liz OâSullivan and Mike Owens, EMI Music Publishingâs Ben Vaughn and Tom Luteran, co-writer Kelley Lovelace, co-writer Chris DuBois, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, ASCAPâs Marc Driskill, Sony Musicâs Lesly Tyson, Gary Overton and Skip Bishop. Photo: Ben Enos
ASCAP toasted CMA Awards co-hosts Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood for their chart-topping duet âRemind Me” with a party Oct. 18 on the Grand Ole Opry stage. Written by Paisley, Chris DuBois and Kelley Lovelace, the song marks Paisleyâs 20th trip to the top of the charts and Underwoodâs 14th. Publishers Sea Gayle Music and EMI Music Publishing were also on hand to celebrate the songâs success, as were the Arista Nashville staff and many other industry notables.
(L-R) Full Circle Music Publishing's Lynn Gann, Sea Gayle Music's Mike Owens and Liz O'Sullivan, ASCAP's Marc Driskill, co-writer Dave Turnbull, co-writer Chris DuBois, Brad Paisley, co-writer Randy Owen of Alabama, Alabama's Teddy Gentry and Jeff Cook, BMI's Jody Williams, Sony/ATV Publishing's Troy Tomlinson, Arista Nashville's Gary Overton, Lesly Tyson and Skip Bishop. Photo: Ben Enos
ASCAP and BMI also recently honored Paisley and Alabama for their hit âOld Alabama.â The song, co-written by Paisley, DuBois, Randy Owen and Dave Turnbull and published by Sea Gayle Music, Full Circle Music and Sony/ATV Publishing, earned Paisley and Alabama two CMA nominations this year.
CountryBreakout No. 1 Song
/by FreemanCase in point: Swiftâs âSparks Fly,â which is now the CountryBreakout Chartâs No. 1 song. Many of us inevitably fall for someone who probably is bad news, but trying to resist those intangible âsparksâ is next to impossible. Amazingly, Swift was playing a version of this song around five years ago when she was 16 years old, but had never recorded it until her 2010 album Speak Now. The songâs video relives the vivid spectacle that is the Taylor Swift live experience, with tons of footage from her globe-conquering Speak Now Tour.
Somehow between sell-out world tours and recording multi-platinum albums, Swift still finds time to do things like introducing her signature fragrance Wonderstruck, which is in stores now. Sheâll also have a special album, Speak Now World Tour: Live, a CD/DVD package of her tour performances available Nov. 21 just in time for the holidays. Before that, sheâll perform live Nov. 9 on the CMA Awards, where sheâs nominated for Entertainer of the Year, Female Vocalist, Album (Speak Now), Music Video (âMeanâ), and Song of the Year (âMeanâ).
PLA Media Hiring, Signings
/by Sarah SkatesChristopher Seay
PLA Media has hired Christopher Seay as Publicity/ Marketing Executive, handling day to day publicity initiatives and working in tandem with the social media team.
Seay most recently worked with the CMA, recruiting country music professionals ranging from artists to record label executives. A Huntington, WV native, Seay graduated from Marshall University before moving to Nashville in 2008. He can be reached at christopher.seay@plamedia.com.
President/CEO of PLA Media, Pam Lewis says, âChristopher has the skill set, experience and a great reputation within the industry and we’re delighted to have him joining our growing team.”
PLA Media has also signed artist Bryan White and is promoting his annual Christmas tour in support of his third holiday album
Jimmy White, a three time New Music Award winner and two time Independent Music Award winner, also adds PLA Media to his team.
Weekly Chart Report (10/21/11)
/by FreemanJesse Keith Whitley (L) visits with Gordon Stack of WOWF WOW-FM in Crossville, TN. Whitley’s latest single “Kentucky Thunder” is currently No. 61 on MusicRow’s CountryBreakout Chart.
RADIO NEWS
RJ Jordan has joined CountryBreakout reporting station WCJW/Warsaw, NY as PD following the recent exit of Lee Richey. Most recently he was with Max Mediaâs WWBE/Selinsgrove, PA, and previously held promotion positions with Stroudavarious, 903 and Country Thunder. Reach out to him here.
SPIN ZONE
The folks over at Big Machine Label Group might be feeling pretty happy about this edition of the CountryBreakout Chart, because Taylor Swiftâs âSparks Flyâ just hit No. 1 and Brantley Gilbertâs âCountry Must Be Country Wideâ is occupying the No. 2 spot. Lady Antebellumâs âWe Owned The Nightâ will likely soon give them some competition as it moves up to No. 3, as will Miranda Lambertâs âBaggage Claimâ at No. 4. Jason Aldeanâs âTattoos On This Townâ and Eric Churchâs âDrink In My Handâ are also moving quickly, and add an amped up sensibility to the Top 10 at No. 7 and 8.
Kenny Chesneyâs âRealityâ experiences a second consecutive increase of 500+ spins, which propels it onward to No. 23 in its third week charting. Brad Paisleyâs three-week-old âCamouflageâ is pretty much keeping pace with it at No. 27 after a 446 spin gain. Toby Keithâs unofficial single âRed Solo Cupâ seems to have intoxicated programmers, as it leaps on the chart at No. 50. Also appearing for the first time is Keith Urbanâs âYou Gonna Fly,â pulling in enough stations to debut at No. 60.
Other chart debuts include Taylor Madeâs âGood Loveâ at No. 77, Donny and Marieâs âA Beautiful Lifeâ at No. 78, and Clay Dustinâs âIâll Take That Jobâ at No. 80.
Frozen Playlists: KTTI, KTWI, KYKX, WBKR, WBYZ, WKWS, WMEV, WUCZ, WQNZ
Upcoming Singles
October 24
Gloriana/(Kissed You) Good Night/Emblem/WMN
Bill Gentry/This Letter/Tenacity
October 31
Trace Adkins/Million Dollar View/Show Dog – Universal
Katie Armiger/Scream/Cold River
Uncle Kracker/My Hometown/Top Dog/Atlantic/BPG
â˘Â â˘Â â˘Â â˘Â â˘
New On The ChartâDebuting This Week
Artist/song/label â chart pos.
Toby Keith/Red Solo Cup/Show Dog-Univeral â 50
Keith Urban/You Gonna Fly/Capitol â 60
Taylor Made/Good Love â 77
Donny and Marie Osmond/A Beautiful Life/MPCA â 78
Clay Dustin/I’ll Take That Job/Pure Heart Records â 80
Greatest Spin Increase
Artist/song/label â spin+
Kenny Chesney/Reality/BNA â 511
Toby Keith/Red Solo Cup/Show Dog-Univeral â 495
Brad Paisley/Camouflage/Arista â 446
Billy Currington/Like My Dog/Mercury â 359
Keith Urban/You Gonna Fly/Capitol â 349
Most Added
Artist/song/label â New Adds
Toby Keith/Red Solo Cup/Show Dog-Univeral â 42
Keith Urban/You Gonna Fly/Capitol â 30
Billy Currington/Like My Dog/Mercury â 25
Brad Paisley/Camouflage/Arista â 21
Kenny Chesney/Reality/BNA â 19
Neal McCoy/AâOk/Blaster Records â 13
Trace Adkins/Million Dollar View/Show Dog-Universal â 13
Rodney Atkins/He’s Mine/Curb â 12
Jake Owen/Alone With You/RCA â 11
On DeckâSoon To Be Charting
Artist/song/label â spins
Landon Michael/Might As Well Be Me/Big Dog Records â 166
Corey Wagar/I Hate My Boyfriend/GTR â 156
Erica Nicole/Shave/Heaven Records â 148
Attwater/Never Gonna Happen/Twenty Ten Music â 143
Casey James/Let’s Don’t Call It A Night/BNA â 141
EMI Records Nashville artist Eric Paslay recently paid a visit to KIIM/Tucson in support of his debut single “Never Really Wanted, which lands at No. 31 on the CountryBreakout Chart this week. (L-R) EMI Nashville’s Ron Bradley, Paslay, KIIM PD Buzz Jackson
Bold Gold Mediaâs WDNB/Liberty, NY âThunder 102â recently raised over $42,000 for St. Jude in its first ever Country Cares For St. Jude Radiothon. Sponsors for the event held Sept. 15-16 included M & M Auto Group, Yellow Cab, Formaggio Cheese, Catskill Regional Medical Center, Hilltop Homes and Bethel Woods Center For the Arts. (L-R): WDNBâs Paul Ciliberto, Regina Hensley, Mike Sakell, Michelle Semerano, and St. Judeâs Courtney Lynch.
Coy Taylor (Flying Island/Twang City) toasts WTHT in Portland, ME during his recent visit to support his current single, âFall For You.” (L-R): Corey Garrison (WTHT MD), Michelle Taylor (APD and morning host), Coy Taylor, and Dave Winsor (morning host)
Charlie Cook On Air
/by contributorThere is a lot of good news, like the fact that Country Radio is the number one format. Arbitron lists Country + New Country as scoring 12.7 percent (with persons 25-54) of all listening to radio. Country Radio is way ahead of the number two format, Adult Contemporary, with 9.5 percent.
Country is the number two format in terms of number of outlets, when you add in HD and streaming. News and Talk is number one by a huge number but Country has almost three times more outlets on the FM dial versus News and Talk. And FM is still the number one source of listener usage.
In fact, Country Radio reaches more than 65 millions listeners each week and a fourth of all radio listeners in non-metro countries. The places where people still visit Wal-Mart and Target to buy their music.
Radio has given away usage in the house. I work with stations every day trying to recapture listening in the home, particularly in the morning. As more and more radio stations have gone away from providing news and information in the morning, TV has come and taken away that position. Now TV is the source for school closings, weather and even traffic information during early morning hours.
In fact, two thirds of Country Radio listening is done away from home. This has been the trend for six years now.
What I like about this information is that Arbitron reaches out and talks to people engaged with radio. You can quote a number of researchers and you might find some different results but Arbitron talks to people that are most important to meâpeople who have agreed to carry a meter or fill out a diary to track their media usage.
We should all care about these people because they are the kind of people that are willing to participate. They wouldnât have agreed to participate in the ratings process if they werenât active.
Nearly 50 percent of Country listeners live in households earning at least $50,000 a year. According to the report, this might be because our listeners are becoming increasingly more educated. Funny how one follows the other.
Similar information has come out of CMA studies that also show the growing income and educational levels.
Loyalty to the format has been so important for artists and radio stations through the years. Arbitron publishes numbers based on Time Spent Listening (TSL) to specific radio stations. As a station programmer you have two goals: attract as many people as possible to the station and then keep them there as long as possible.
The first is called cume, which is the total number of different persons who tune in during the course of a daypart for at least five minutes. Remember when I wrote a few weeks ago that making songs like âNeed You Nowâ and âRemind Meâ would be good for radio? Thatâs why.
TSL is an estimate of the amount of time the average listener spent with a station during a particular daypart. The explanation was made to point out that Country Radio is ranked first among English-language music formats. This is a format that appeals to its fans way beyond any other format.
I suspect that many in the music community do some sort of perceptual research on their artists and their music. But I wonder how many do research on the listeners. What do the listeners do with their discretionary time?
Again, using the new Arbitron information, we can learn a lot about those same people who spend so much time with Country Radio. The most popular recreational experiences and hobbies are camping, fishing and sewing/crafts. Swimming, bowling and photography are also high on the list.
Coupons are really big with the Country core, and I suspect every American today. Seventy-nine percent of the respondents use grocery coupons and 54 percent use coupons for other goods and services. Does it make sense to partner with radio stations and provide coupons for CDs/downloads and or concerts?
Despite what you see at concerts, remote broadcasts, and NASCAR, light beer is preferred over regular beer. And like at my house, salty snacks, candy and ice cream are very popular.
Where are you going to find these folks? At a country concert, rodeo, monster truck rally, or NHRA drag racing event. The Country radio listener is more likely to be a Republican than a Democrat and less likely to embrace environmental causes.
None of the above is earth-shattering information, but hopefully some of it is enlightening when thinking about how to interact with your listeners and your fans. We donât tell our radio stations to adjust their thinking or to put on a front if they donât understand or participate in the same things.
But you are more likely to run into your fans in a bowling alley than you are at an Occupy Yazoo City rally.
New Legislation To Protect Instrument Owners
/by Sarah SkatesThe RELIEF Act (Retailers and Entertainers Lacey Implementation and Enforcement Fairness) clarifies the Lacey Act, which Congress updated in 2008 in an effort to disrupt illegal logging.
U.S. Representatives Mary Bono Mack (CA) and Marsha Blackburn (TN) joined Cooper as original co-sponsors.
“I’m grateful to Rep. Cooper for all of his support,â said Vince Gill. âFrom the perspective of guitar players, collectors and lovers of old instruments, I wholeheartedly support this bill.”
The Lacey Act has been a hot topic this year following alleged violations by Gibson.
The RELIEF Act includes:
⢠Grandfathering: Any foreign wood products that a person owned before May 22, 2008 (the date the Lacey Act amendments were signed into law) will be exempt from the law.
⢠Protection: If a person has any wood that violates Lacey but didnât know it, he or she will not be penalized, and the government cannot confiscate that individual property.
⢠Access: The government should compile a database of forbidden wood sources on the Internet so that everyone is fairly warned.
The RELIEF Act preserves punishments for those who knowingly violate the Lacey Act. It also keeps in place existing laws that seek to disrupt illegal logging practices. The RELIEF Act does not affect ongoing cases under the Lacey Act.
RIAA Certs: Aldean, Band Perry, and More
/by FreemanJason Aldeanâs My Kinda Party album and hit single âDirt Road Anthemâ have both earned double-Platinum honors for selling over two million copies. Aldean has already been making the rounds on the Row to say thank you, and recently stopped by MusicRowâs offices for a photo.
The Band Perryâs massive hit single âIf I Die Youngâ still has some life, as the RIAA just bestowed a triple-Platinum award upon it. Also earning triple-Platinum status is hip-hop/dance crew LMFAO and âParty Rock Anthem.â
Nashville rockers Hot Chelle Rae picked up double-Platinum honors for their hit âTonight Tonight,â and Jake Owenâs âBarefoot Blue Jean Nightâ earned a Platinum award in September. Jamey Johnson’s groundbreaking album That Lonesome Song attained Platinum status, and George Strait’s 2008 No. 1 single “I Saw God Today” was certified Gold. Former Staind singer Aaron Lewisâ country project âCountry Boyâ also got some love with a Gold certification.Â
Outside Nashville and country music, Jay-Z and Kanye Westâs collaboration album Watch The Throne was quickly certified Platinum after its release in August. Foster The People was awarded its first ever Gold album for Torches, and their breakout single âPumped Up Kicksâ was certified double-Platinum.
Adele continued her reign by earning the top digital download award for the 5x Platinum smash âRolling In The Deep,â and her songs âSomeone Like Youâ and âSet Fire To The Rainâ have earned Platinum and Gold certs, respectively.
[updated] Industry Ink Thursday
/by Sarah SkatesMargaret Durante opened for YouTube sensation Tyler Ward at Rocketown in Nashville over the weekend, treating the standing room only crowd to material from her upcoming debut album on Emrose/R&J Records. (L-R): Wardâs manager Jordan Howard, 1882 Management; Margaret Durante; Tyler Ward; and Duranteâs manager Scott Siman, RPM Management. Photo: Steph Diggs
⢠[updated] LoCash Cowboys band member Ryan “Troop” Jones has died from complications of pneumonia. He played fiddle, guitar and mandolin with the band.
⢠Universal Music Publishing Group names Brian Lambert Executive Vice President/Head of Film & Television Music. He is based in Santa Monica, Calif. and has 20 years of music publishing experience.
⢠Sara Evans, Martina McBride, Scotty McCreery, Sugarland, and Zac Brown Band are the latest performers added to the Nov. 9 CMA Awards.
⢠Zac Brown Band is also bringing its dynamic southern rock act to Bridgestone Arena on Dec. 29.
⢠CBS Radio names Jeff Kapugi VP/Country, and PD for WUSN/Chicago. Jeff Garrison moves to the newly created position of VP/Country Artist Relations.
⢠Bass player Chris Kent died yesterday (10/19) at age 44. Among the artists he worked with are Lorrie Morgan, Toni Braxton, Steve Winwood and Stevie Wonder. More here.
Paul Kruse
⢠Paul W. Kruse, a partner at Bone McAllester Norton PLLC, has been named Best Lawyersâ 2012 Nashville Trademark Law, Lawyer of the Year. He has more than 20 years of experience in trademark counseling and litigation.
⢠Casey LeâVasseur, daughter of Jeffrey Steele, celebrates the release of her debut novel, Silence & Noise, tonight (10/20) at the Listening Room. Book signing at 7 p.m. followed by a performance by Pearl Heart at 8:30 p.m.
⢠Christian recording artist and renowned guitar maestro Phil Keaggy releases Live From Kegworth Studio through Strobie Records.
⢠The Harry Fox Agency, Inc. is providing licensing services for BFM Digital, a leading independent music distributor specializing in customized strategic marketing, promotions and support solutions.
Keith Burns Hosts Charity Golf Tournament
/by FreemanThe event takes place at Ravenwood Country Club Golf Course (1176 Stones River Rd., Hermitage), and players will be expected to use 1920s traditional hickory-shafted golf clubs that were constructed in 2010. Clubs will be issued at check-in, along with two putters so that two players can share one bag. Players need to supply their own gloves, balls, markers and tees. Entry fee is $149 per player. The game will be followed by an acoustic show and silent auction at Dan McGuinness, 3:30-5:30 pm.