Swift or Lady A? Capitol Nashville or Big Machine?
There are so many ways to dissect the year’s sales events. But one important measurement of popularity is tied to current album sales. This is not to say that catalog sales are not an important revenue stream, but, according to Nielsen SoundScan, 58% of all album purchases in 2010 were current product.
The current country album sales top 200 included sales of 24.8 million units or 56% of all country sales, a reliable sample that matches well with the overall all-genre current percentage. (Source: Nielsen SoundScan YTD Current Country Albums; Wk. ending 1/02/2011)
Artist Sweepstakes
1. Taylor Swift 15.52%
2. Lady A 15.51%
3. Zac Brown Band 7.36%
The Top 200 data shows a virtual draw between Taylor Swift and Lady A, with respect to total current sales during 2010— with each artist selling a total of about 3.84 million album units. (Swift actually beat Lady A by about 1,000 units or a tiny .01%)
Lady A’s Top 200 titles included an iTunes Session and a Christmas special plus the trio’s two albums. Swift logged her units solely from Speak Now and Fearless. Lady A however, had the highest selling album—Need You Now—which passed the 3 million mark. Swift, whose CD debuted much later in the year almost caught the Trio, but was No. 2 in this metric with 2.96 million. (Recent sales levels assure it won’t be long before sales of Speak Now pass Need You Now.)
The third largest selling act was Zac Brown Band with 1.82 million units, earned from five different projects.
Lonely At The Top
The sales gap between country’s have and have-nots continues to widen. Swift, Lady A and ZBB for example account for almost 38.5% of the Top 200 current total units. A phenomenally high weighting.
How many individual current albums sold Gold (over 500,000 units) or higher? Eleven. Taylor and ZBB each got two of the eleven spots. The remaining 7 were earned by Lady A, Sugarland, Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood, Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney and Rascal Flatts.
By Label
1. Capitol Nashville 22.66%
2. Big Machine 17.78%
3. Atlantic 7.77%
4. Arista Nashville 6.97%
When tallying the current country album share by label, Capitol Nashville zooms to the top of the list by a comfortable margin with 22.66% of the total 24.8 million current units or 5.62 million. Capitol Nashville’s strong roster this past year included Lady A, Keith Urban, Darius Rucker, Luke Bryan and more. Big Machine followed with 17.78% share or 4.41 million with Ms. Swift and Rascal Flatts doing the heavy lifting in the checkout lines. Big Machine’s mid-year Flatts signing proved quite strategic since the album shifted over 545k units.
Atlantic cultivated its ZBB franchise to get third place with 7.77% or 1.93 million units. Arista Nashville took fourth with 6.97% or 1.73 million units, courtesy of efforts from Carrie Underwood, Alan Jackson, newcomer Jerrod Niemann and stalwart Brad Paisley.
Summary
Who were 2010s hottest selling acts in country music? Taylor Swift, Lady Antebellum and Zac Brown Band.
Note: Albums on the chart for up to 18 months are deemed current by SoundScan. They can remain current after 18 weeks for two reasons: having a current radio single or selling in the upper half of the chart.
Who Wins the 2010 Current Country Album Sales Sweepstakes?
/by adminThere are so many ways to dissect the year’s sales events. But one important measurement of popularity is tied to current album sales. This is not to say that catalog sales are not an important revenue stream, but, according to Nielsen SoundScan, 58% of all album purchases in 2010 were current product.
The current country album sales top 200 included sales of 24.8 million units or 56% of all country sales, a reliable sample that matches well with the overall all-genre current percentage. (Source: Nielsen SoundScan YTD Current Country Albums; Wk. ending 1/02/2011)
Artist Sweepstakes
1. Taylor Swift 15.52%
2. Lady A 15.51%
3. Zac Brown Band 7.36%
The Top 200 data shows a virtual draw between Taylor Swift and Lady A, with respect to total current sales during 2010— with each artist selling a total of about 3.84 million album units. (Swift actually beat Lady A by about 1,000 units or a tiny .01%)
Lady A’s Top 200 titles included an iTunes Session and a Christmas special plus the trio’s two albums. Swift logged her units solely from Speak Now and Fearless. Lady A however, had the highest selling album—Need You Now—which passed the 3 million mark. Swift, whose CD debuted much later in the year almost caught the Trio, but was No. 2 in this metric with 2.96 million. (Recent sales levels assure it won’t be long before sales of Speak Now pass Need You Now.)
The third largest selling act was Zac Brown Band with 1.82 million units, earned from five different projects.
Lonely At The Top
The sales gap between country’s have and have-nots continues to widen. Swift, Lady A and ZBB for example account for almost 38.5% of the Top 200 current total units. A phenomenally high weighting.
How many individual current albums sold Gold (over 500,000 units) or higher? Eleven. Taylor and ZBB each got two of the eleven spots. The remaining 7 were earned by Lady A, Sugarland, Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood, Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney and Rascal Flatts.
By Label
1. Capitol Nashville 22.66%
2. Big Machine 17.78%
3. Atlantic 7.77%
4. Arista Nashville 6.97%
When tallying the current country album share by label, Capitol Nashville zooms to the top of the list by a comfortable margin with 22.66% of the total 24.8 million current units or 5.62 million. Capitol Nashville’s strong roster this past year included Lady A, Keith Urban, Darius Rucker, Luke Bryan and more. Big Machine followed with 17.78% share or 4.41 million with Ms. Swift and Rascal Flatts doing the heavy lifting in the checkout lines. Big Machine’s mid-year Flatts signing proved quite strategic since the album shifted over 545k units.
Atlantic cultivated its ZBB franchise to get third place with 7.77% or 1.93 million units. Arista Nashville took fourth with 6.97% or 1.73 million units, courtesy of efforts from Carrie Underwood, Alan Jackson, newcomer Jerrod Niemann and stalwart Brad Paisley.
Summary
Who were 2010s hottest selling acts in country music? Taylor Swift, Lady Antebellum and Zac Brown Band.
Note: Albums on the chart for up to 18 months are deemed current by SoundScan. They can remain current after 18 weeks for two reasons: having a current radio single or selling in the upper half of the chart.
Exiting Red Light Staffers
/by Sarah SkatesSeveral staffers have exited Greg Hill’s Red Light management office following his move to McGhee Entertainment.
Jeri Cooper can be reached at 615-496-6354 and jeri_cooper@bellsouth.net. She had joined the Red Light team in 2009 after 11 years handling radio promotion at Arista Nashville.
Other exiting employees include Jennifer Poppe (jennifer.a.poppe@gmail.com), Callie Cunningham and Leighanna Smith.
Gamblin Named Exec. Dir. Of MS Arts Organization
/by FreemanBefore he moved to Mississippi, Gamblin was a longtime executive in the Nashville office of Glen Campbell’s publishing business and gave a young Alan Jackson his first publishing deal with the company. Gamblin was also briefly Jackson’s manager early in the singer’s career.
Gamblin has served on the MEAC Board for eight years, with over five serving as the Board’s Assistant VP. The new Southern Arts and Entertainment Center is slated to be built in Meridian, MS, and purports to be a major cultural attraction for visitors. Reach Gamblin at marty@msarts.org or 601-581-1550.
Paisley and Underwood Spotlight Exhibit
/by MichelleOn display will be a black ensemble worn by Paisley, including a John Richmond jacket with gold-beaded lapels; and a pleated tulle ballerina dress, embellished with 15,000 rhinestones, worn by Underwood. The gown was designed by Georges Chakra, who used a traditional Turkish embroidery technique called sarma that was highly prized in the court of the Ottoman Empire.
The November 10, 2010 telecast marked the third consecutive year that Paisley and Underwood co-hosted the CMA Awards. Paisley was named CMA’s Entertainer of the Year that night.
Chris Young's Radio Redux
/by Sarah SkatesThe track was first released by RCA Nashville in 2008 as the lead single from The Man I Want to Be. Co-written by Young, Chris Tompkins, and Craig Wiseman, the song originally made it to No. 65 on the Country Breakout chart.
“Voices” is No. 5 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, and if it makes it to the top, it will be the first time since Randy Travis’ 1986 chestnut “On the Other Hand,” that a re-released single hit the pinnacle.
Young has had back-to-back No. 1’s with “Gettin’ You Home” and “The Man I Want to Be.” He is nominated for his first GRAMMY Award next month for Best Male Country Vocal Performance (“Gettin’ You Home”). He joins Luke Bryan on the second leg of Rascal Flatts’ Nothing Like Tour, kicking off January 14.
Sugarland Tops Country Dance Club Song List
/by Sarah Skates“As Country music continues to incorporate more and more of a Pop element, the dance clubs can be a very important tool in breaking an artist,” says Club Connection Venue Marketing Specialist Bobbe Morhiser. “Look no further than Laura Bell Bundy for proof of that. ‘Giddy On Up’ was huge in the dance clubs, and for a brand new artist to place in Club Connection’s top five at the end of the year is very impressive.”
2010 Top Ten Country Dance Club Hits:
1. “Stuck Like Glue” – Sugarland
2. “All About Tonight” – Blake Shelton
3. “Hillbilly Bone” – Blake Shelton and Trace Adkins
4. “Need You Now” – Lady Antebellum
5. “Giddy On Up” – Laura Bell Bundy
6. “Country Done Come To Town” – John Rich
7. “Roll With It” – Easton Corbin
8. “Why Don’t We Just Dance” – Josh Turner
9. “Turn On The Radio” – Reba
10. “Pretty Good At Drinkin’ Beer” – Billy Currington
Club Connection surveyed more than 240 club owners, DJs and dance instructors from across the country to compile its Top Ten rankings. A complete archive can be viewed at www.MarcoClubConnection.com.
A division of secondary radio promotion company, Marco Promotions, Club Connection specializes in marketing dance club singles to nightclubs and dance venues. Club Connection maintains a national database of more than 240 venues and world-renowned dance instructor contacts, reaching more than 200,000 club patrons each weekend.
Parton To Be Honored During Grammy Week
/by Sarah Skates>>A flurry of Grammy related events will surround the awards show. On Sat., Feb. 12, the Recording Academy will honor Dolly Parton with a Lifetime Achievement Award. She joins fellow honorees Julie Andrews, Roy Haynes, Juilliard String Quartet, The Kingston Trio, Ramones, and George Beverly Shea. Also being honored at the invitation-only event in Los Angeles will be Trustees Award winners Al Bell, Wilma Cozart Fine and Bruce Lundvall; and Technical Grammy winners Roger Linn and Waves Audio.
>>On Feb. 11, Barbra Streisand will be saluted as the 2011 MusiCares Person of the Year at a special event celebrating her exceptional artistic achievements as well as her philanthropic work. LeAnn Rimes is among the top-notch performers, a list which also include Bebe Winans, Tony Bennett, Seal, Donna Summer, Stevie Wonder, Jeff Beck, Herbie Hancock, Diana Krall, Barry Manilow and Kristin Chenoweth. Proceeds from the event at the Los Angeles Convention Center will support MusiCares, which ensures that music people have a place to turn in times of need.
>>The invitation-only Nashville Grammy Nominee Party is next Tuesday, January 18, at the Loews Vanderbilt Hotel.
Verizon To Sell Apple's iPhone
/by FreemanVerizon’s version of the iPhone 4 will be available for purchase Feb. 10, with the 16 GB version retailing for $199.99 and the 32 GB edition going for $299.99. A special Verizon-only feature will allow the phone to serve as a mobile hotspot connecting up to five devices. No information has been released on the cost of data plans, but tuaw.com reports that Verizon’s Android phones have the mobile hotspot capability for $20/month on top of the $30/month unlimited data plan. Apple originally released iPhone 4 for sale through AT&T in June 2010.
This development will likely allow Verizon to siphon significant business from AT&T, whose exclusive contract with Apple to carry the iPhone has been a major competitive advantage. And with Verizon’s network being the nation’s largest, Apple stands to reap great rewards from tapping its massive customer base.
So this begs the question: who will be making the switch?
BMI Live Offers Royalties For Any Size Show
/by Sarah SkatesMike O’Neill, BMI Senior Vice President, Repertoire and Licensing, says the program is designed to ensure that performing songwriters in any stage of their careers receive payment for concerts of all sizes, from coffee shops to football stadiums.
Available only online, BMI Live is open to all of the organization’s affiliates. To qualify, songwriters need to enter their live musical performances on www.bmi.com. Songwriters can submit performances up to six months after the show date.
BMI will pay royalties to both writers and publishers via direct deposit in its June distribution for performances occurring July 1 through December 31, 2010. Concert performances eligible for the June royalty distribution must be entered by March 31, 2011. The distribution from BMI Live will be made quarterly after this initial June 2011 launch.
McGraw Tour Presale; Hill's Floral Collection
/by FreemanThe other half of the McGraw household is also keeping busy, as Faith Hill has announced “The Collection by Faith Hill” in collaboration with Teleflora, the world’s leading flower delivery service. The collection was developed with Teleflora to reflect Hill’s style and taste, and will be revealed during a high-visibility Super Bowl XLV commercial spot on Fox Sunday, February 6. Hill will star in the Valentine’s Day-themed ad, which will feature the collection’s first installment, the Valentine’s Bouquet.