Bill Kennedy
Country’s half year sales were punctuated by a strong selling sophomore album from Lady Antebellum, but little else emerged to boost industry coffers according to Nielsen SoundScan. One week into the second half of 2010 finds country tallies down 9.5% YTD and drooping like a wilted sunflower. Some optimism is starting to appear however, as the year-end release schedule begins to swell with upcoming superstar entries from artists such as Zac Brown Band, Taylor Swift, Sugarland, Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith and more. The sales story for 2010 is clearly far from over. But with prices dropping and margins shrinking how do we really determine where we are? What about revenue? To help calibrate our compass we contacted Show Dog-Universal veteran and VP Marketing Sales and New Media, Bill Kennedy.
“There are a lot of different revenue sources these days,” says Kennedy. “Physical sales plus the digital album—which in my opinion still has a lot of growth in it for our format. Single downloads may have leveled off in terms of volume, but on the revenue side we have a modestly higher price point that does add up over time. We also have revenue coming in from streaming that we really didn’t have before, and revenue from video downloads which show modest increases. Maybe instead of going for the three run homer you have to play ‘little ball’ and do it a bit differently.”
Kennedy sees single sales at least mitigating some of the losses from album unit sales for some artists. “This revenue model has been changing for the past five years,” Kennedy continues, “so it’s hard to compare just on a per unit CD cost. We have certain tracks and artists in our format that can sell 2 million downloads, and that adds up. It may be invisible revenue to some, but not for the labels, especially when you sell 500k singles or more.”
Kennedy is realistic, but sees some upside on the horizon. “There may actually be a slight increase in overall units sold this year due to all the big titles scheduled to appear, so we’ll see,” he says. “We are operating under a new normal since October 2008 when the market started to implode. It will continue to be a struggle and you will have to grind it out and hope your artist can hit one out of the park and get a career song. Bottom line you have to work a lot smarter and extract the unnecessary costs.”
One reassuring new development is seeing single sales jump ahead of country radio. “With Joe Nichols’ ‘Gimme That Girl’ we had single sales topping 20-25k per week while the single was hovering in the 20s at country radio,” Kennedy recalls. “We are also seeing it with some of the newer acts like Jerrod Neimann and Jaron And The Long Road to Love. Our fans are engaging the viral world where you can spread the word, network and get to the fans directly long before the song happens via radio. You still need country radio in our format to put it over the top, but you have the opportunity to get there a lot quicker than ever before.”
Top Earners: Kenny Chesney And Toby Keith
/by Sarah SkatesL-R: Chesney, Keith
Forbes’ just released list of Top-Earning Musicians includes Kenny Chesney and Toby Keith from the country set. Chesney ranked No. 9 on the Top 10 list, by bringing in $50 million between June 2009 and June 2010. Like most of the other top money makers, a significant portion of his earnings came from the box office, where he raked in about $1.6 million per show, according to the magazine. He also scored with Mastercard and Corona sponsorships.
Keith came in at No. 10 with $48 million for the 12-month period. He too made big bucks on the road, as well as through his restaurant chain, and publishing royalties. Forbes asked his manager, T.K. Kimbrell, how serious is Keith about making money? Kimbrell’s answer: “You’d get a severe head injury dropping a nickel around him.”
Leading the superstar tally is U2, who netted an estimated $130 million, followed by AC/DC ($114 million), No. 3 Beyonce ($87 million), No. 4 Bruce Springsteen ($70 million) and No. 5 Britney Spears ($64 million). Full story here.
The New Normal: Recalibrating The Sales Compass
/by adminBill Kennedy
Country’s half year sales were punctuated by a strong selling sophomore album from Lady Antebellum, but little else emerged to boost industry coffers according to Nielsen SoundScan. One week into the second half of 2010 finds country tallies down 9.5% YTD and drooping like a wilted sunflower. Some optimism is starting to appear however, as the year-end release schedule begins to swell with upcoming superstar entries from artists such as Zac Brown Band, Taylor Swift, Sugarland, Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith and more. The sales story for 2010 is clearly far from over. But with prices dropping and margins shrinking how do we really determine where we are? What about revenue? To help calibrate our compass we contacted Show Dog-Universal veteran and VP Marketing Sales and New Media, Bill Kennedy.
“There are a lot of different revenue sources these days,” says Kennedy. “Physical sales plus the digital album—which in my opinion still has a lot of growth in it for our format. Single downloads may have leveled off in terms of volume, but on the revenue side we have a modestly higher price point that does add up over time. We also have revenue coming in from streaming that we really didn’t have before, and revenue from video downloads which show modest increases. Maybe instead of going for the three run homer you have to play ‘little ball’ and do it a bit differently.”
Kennedy sees single sales at least mitigating some of the losses from album unit sales for some artists. “This revenue model has been changing for the past five years,” Kennedy continues, “so it’s hard to compare just on a per unit CD cost. We have certain tracks and artists in our format that can sell 2 million downloads, and that adds up. It may be invisible revenue to some, but not for the labels, especially when you sell 500k singles or more.”
Kennedy is realistic, but sees some upside on the horizon. “There may actually be a slight increase in overall units sold this year due to all the big titles scheduled to appear, so we’ll see,” he says. “We are operating under a new normal since October 2008 when the market started to implode. It will continue to be a struggle and you will have to grind it out and hope your artist can hit one out of the park and get a career song. Bottom line you have to work a lot smarter and extract the unnecessary costs.”
One reassuring new development is seeing single sales jump ahead of country radio. “With Joe Nichols’ ‘Gimme That Girl’ we had single sales topping 20-25k per week while the single was hovering in the 20s at country radio,” Kennedy recalls. “We are also seeing it with some of the newer acts like Jerrod Neimann and Jaron And The Long Road to Love. Our fans are engaging the viral world where you can spread the word, network and get to the fans directly long before the song happens via radio. You still need country radio in our format to put it over the top, but you have the opportunity to get there a lot quicker than ever before.”
Greene Becomes Pres./Owner of Modern Mgmt.
/by Sarah SkatesTed Greene
Modern Management partner Ted Greene has taken over as President/Owner of the firm which represents Josh Turner, Diamond Rio, Raquel Warchol and NASCAR Nationwide Series Driver Willie Allen.
Brenner McDonald, a partner in the company since its 2002 inception, has sold her interest in Modern Management. She can be contacted at brenner.mcdonald@comcast.net or (615) 594-3550.
Songwriters In New York, Napa, Nashville
/by Sarah SkatesSinger/songwriter James Otto, songwriters Robert Ellis Orrall and Chris Wallin, and host/songwriter Bob DiPiero hang out backstage between two sold-out shows of the “CMA Songwriters Series” at Joe’s Pub in New York City last Thursday, July 15. The popular series, which showcases many of Nashville’s top songwriters, will continue at Joe’s Pub on Sept. 8 when Jamey Johnson, Buddy Cannon, and Bobby Pinson join DiPiero on stage.
Pictured (L-R): Robert Ellis Orrall, James Otto, Chris Wallin, and Bob DiPiero. Photo Credit: 2010, Kyle Quigley/CMA
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Another group of songwriters is headed to Napa Valley, California for the annual Nashville In Napa event at Baldacci Family Vineyards. Tony Lane, Jessi Alexander, Jon Randall, Jim “Moose” Brown, Brett Jones and Don Sampson will perform at the Aug. 14 event. Proceeds will go to provide music education for school-aged children. The Notes for Education charity was founded when producer/songwriter Frank Rogers and winemaker Debi Cali began to see the similarities between their industries.
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The family festival will take place from 4 -7 p.m. and the concert from 7 p.m. – midnight. The event’s goal is to aid local flood victims, particularly children, with free entertainment, new toys and school supplies to replace those lost in the flood.
The event plans to be an annual one and is sponsored by Leap Frog and Freshii, a new healthy fast food restaurant coming to Nashville in August. Attendees who were not affected by the flood are asked to bring a new packaged toy or school supplies.
Jerrod’s Release Party; Jaron On “Tonight Show”
/by Sarah SkatesOver 400 fans packed Knoxville’s Tin Roof last week for Jerrod Niemann’s CD release party. He performed for two hours, followed by a marathon two-and-a-half hour CD signing session. More than 550 copies of his new album Judge Jerrod & The Hung Jury were sold that night.
Staying up late for Niemann's album release party were (l-r): Arista Nashville Regional Promo Manager R.J. Curtis and Director of Nat’l Promotion Lesly Tyson, Niemann, and WIVK Knoxville programmer Mike Hammond.
Jaron recently visited Hazel Smith for a taping of CMT's Southern Fried Flicks.
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Jaron of Jaron And The Long Road To Love will perform his hit single “Pray For You” on Tuesday, July 27 on NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The single is now seeing success beyond the US, and has become a hit in Canada and Australia.
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Chuck Wicks will be representing Nashville as the sole country artist performing at the Los Angeles Chapter GRAMMY Block Party on July 31, a celebration of music that will also serve as a fundraiser for the MusiCares Nashville Flood Relief Fund.
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Bridgette Tatum will perform at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ Brickyard 400.
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Christian Kane performed his song “Thinking of You” on the Sunday, July 18 episode of the hit TNT series Leverage, in which he stars as “Eliot Spencer.” Next month Kane will release his first single “The House Rules,” which he co-wrote with Blair Daly. The single is from his forthcoming full-length album due out in October.
Warner Continues Pickin’ On The Patio
/by Sarah SkatesJesse Lee
Warner Music Nashville is gearing up for this month’s Pickin’ On The Patio party (industry-only) on Thursday, July 22.
The event starts at 5:00 PM and will feature performances by Atlantic Records newcomers Brett Eldredge and Jesse Lee.
The label is hosting Pickin’ On The Patio at its Music Row offices on the fourth Thursday of every month, from May to October. Next month’s party is set for August 26.
Brett Eldredge
Exclusive Premieres From The Grascals, Amy Grant
/by Sarah Skates••••••••••••••
The newest music video from six-time Grammy winner Amy Grant, “Better Than A Hallelujah,” will premiere exclusively online at Ladies’ Home Journal’s website LHJ.com today (7/20). LHJ.com will also run an interview with Grant to coincide with the video’s premiere. The song “Better Than A Hallelujah” comes from Grant’s acclaimed March release titled Somewhere Down the Road. It is her first new, non-holiday music in seven years.
Reba Album Due Nov. 9
/by Sarah SkatesThe lead single from her upcoming album, “Turn on the Radio,” is already at No. 50 on MusicRow’s Country Breakout Chart. Dann Huff produced the track which will be available at iTunes on August 3.
“I fell for the song immediately,” said Reba of her new single. “I love that it’s an up-tempo, strong woman song about a woman who has been done wrong by her lover and is telling him to turn on the radio if he wants to hear from her through their favorite song. Dann Huff and the musicians did a wonderful job bringing the heart beat out in the song. It definitely gets your attention from the very start of the song.”
Keep On Loving You garnered a string of hits including “Strange” and the title track. “Consider Me Gone,” spent 4 weeks at No. 1, making Reba one of only a few country females to enjoy more than 3 weeks at No. 1 in the past 10 years.
Reba has sold over 55 million albums worldwide, and has more RIAA sales certifications than any other Country female.
10 Billion Videos Streamed Last Month In U.S.
/by Sarah SkatesThe latest data from the Nielsen company shows that in June 2010 more than 10.2 billion videos were streamed in the U.S. This marks a slight 1.3% increase over the number of streams last year and nearly a 4% jump over last month’s figures.
Other results show that the top three sites for video streams in June, ranked by unique viewers, were: YouTube with 101,131,000 visitors; followed by Yahoo! with 26,685,000 visitors; and Facebook with 26,651,000 visitors.
When ranked by total video streams, it is YouTube with 5,799,702,000 streams (+9.8 percent month over month); Hulu with 598,812,000 streams (-26.4 MOM); and MSN/WindowsLive/Bing with 190,431,000 streams (+3.6). More here.
From Nielsen
Concert News: Don Williams, Brooks And Dunn, Buddy Miller
/by Sarah SkatesKnown as the “Gentle Giant” Williams scored at least one Top Five single every year between 1974 and 1991. Between 1972 and 1992 his warm baritone voice graced fifty-six chart records, with seventeen hitting No. 1 including “You’re My Best Friend” (1975), “Tulsa Time” (1978), “I Believe in You” (1980), and “That’s the Thing About Love” (1984). He has also written such classics as “Lay Down Beside Me” (1976) and “Till the Rivers All Run Dry” (1979).
Williams’s last concert in Nashville included surprise appearances by Keith Urban and Josh Turner. A limited number of tickets are available for only $6.50 via wsmonline.com. The winner of WSM’s annual “Tootsies to the Ryman” talent contest will get to open for Williams. Tickets for both nights will go on sale Friday, July 23 at 10 a.m. at all Ticketmaster outlets, the Ryman Box Office, ryman.com or by calling 800-745-3000.
Ticket packages for Brooks & Dunn’s final show on Sept. 2 at Bridgestone Arena are still available. The concert, which is the final stop on the duo’s Last Rodeo Tour, will benefit the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and include performances from a host of special guests.
There are 25 “Play Something Country” packages left ($300 each) which include one concert ticket, a Brooks & Dunn merchandise package, and an item autographed by the duo.
There are over 100 “Friend of the Museum” packages left ($250 each) which include a concert ticket and a Museum membership.
Packages here.
Tickets for Buddy Miller’s run as the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s 2010 Artist-in-Resident go on sale tomorrow (7/20) at 9 AM. Options include the ticket only for $45, or a $99 package which comes with a ticket, dinner and reserved parking. Tickets here.