Your Social Network Tells About You

socnetsYour favorite social network may tell a lot about you. For example, Twitterers are more interested in sex than users on other social sites. LinkedIn users are more likely to watch soap operas and MySpacers are generally not into exercise. According to an Anderson Analytics study, a user’s social network preference can identify “likely interests, buying habits, media consumption and much more.” Tom Anderson, Anderson Analytics founder tells Ad Age, “There are definite data-driven segments in the social-networking-site market, both for non-users and users.”

Conservative estimates say that about 60% of the U.S. online population uses social networks or about 110 million people. On average users visit social sites about five days a week, four times a day for a total of about one hour each day. The study was completed in June with a sample of 5,000 demographically representative respondents. Ad Age then worked with the Anderson team to create the following mini-profiles. Here’s some of what they uncovered. For more details visit AdAge here.

Users Overall
• 45% link only to family and friends
• Most users not wasting company time. Only 15% said they visit networks at work
• Four categories: business users, fun seekers, social-media mavens (key group) and late followers

Non-Users
• Not tech haters, still spend time surfing web
• Three groups: no time, concerned about security and think it’s stupid

Facebookers
• 77 million users skew a bit older, extremely loyal

Twitterers
• Entrepreneurial, super-user group
• Skew very high interest in news, pop culture, music, movies with buying habits to match

MySpacers
• Young, fun and fleeing
• Overall useage down, but 67 million still having fun

Luminaries Set For Leadership Music Awards

Jim Foglesong, Allen Reynolds and Garth Brooks

Jim Foglesong, Allen Reynolds and Garth Brooks

Leadership Music will present the organization’s prestigious Dale Franklin Awards to legendary label executive Jim Foglesong, superstar artist Garth Brooks, and Brooks’ longtime producer Allen Reynolds during a gala fundraising dinner on Sunday, August 23 at Nashville’s Renaissance Hotel.

Roy Clark, Cowboy Jack Clement, Crystal Gayle, Bruce Lundvall, Steve Wariner and Trisha Yearwood are Honorary Chairs of the event, which will feature an all-star musical tribute with appearances by Martina McBride, Kathy Mattea and Hal Ketchum, among other performers and speakers. Additional tribute artists will be announced in the coming weeks.

Invitations to the awards dinner were mailed this week to Leadership Music alumni and special guests; reservation deadline is Monday, August 3. Proceeds from the evening benefit Leadership Music, a 501(c)(3) organization.

Twitter Bridges Fan/Artist Connection

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Twitter is becoming an increasingly common way for artists to communicate with fans. Stoney Creek Records’ Megan Mullins has been using it and other popular social networking sites for her “Total Request Video” extravaganza. Keeping within the weekly theme (ex. classic country), fans log onto Mullins’ Facebook, MySpace or Twitter account and request a song. Each week, Mullins will pick a winner and post a video of her playing the tune on her MM-TV YouTube channel.

Due West recently took requests via Twitter during a live radio stop in Spokane, Washington. Tim Gates, Brad Hull and Matt Lopez were Twittering with fans while on the air and trying to decide which song to play. So the band asked fans via Twitter what song they would prefer to hear, and followers quickly responded. Due West’s premiere single, “I Get That All The Time” is steadily growing at country radio (No. 34 on the Country Breakout chart). It will be on their debut album, set to be released later this summer on Bigger Than Me Records.

Nashville Music Awards Noms End 7/15

nmalogoNext Big Nashville and Leadership Music are working together to revive the Nashville Music Awards (NMA), which were originally produced by Leadership Music from 1995-2000. The NMAs recognize all genres of music, and celebrate the diversity and quality of artists and music professionals who call Nashville home. Winners of this year’s awards will be announced on the first evening of the 2009 Next Big Nashville festival, opening Wed., Oct. 7 at the Cannery Ballroom.

Submissions for nominees are being accepted from the public at www.nashvillemusicawards.com in 19 categories (listed below) until July 15. Final nominees will be chosen by committees of music industry experts and will be announced in August. Popular online voting will determine the winners. For a look at past winners, visit the Web site.

1.  Artist of the Year
2.  Best New Artist
3.  Song of the Year
4.  Next Big Nashville Award (for Emerging Independent Artists)
5.  Songwriter of the Year
6.  Poster / Album Artwork / Packaging of the Year
7.  Instrumentalist of the Year
8.  Music Video / Film of the Year
9.  Made in Music City Award: for a recording made in Nashville by a non-Nashville artist
10. Bluegrass / Old-Time Music Album of the Year
11. Country Album of the Year
12. Folk / Americana Album of the Year
13. Urban Recording of the Year
14. Gospel / Contemporary Christian Album of the Year
15. Jazz / Blues Album of the Year
16. Pop / Rock Album of the Year
The last three categories are not voted on by the public:
17. Heritage Award
18. Brian Williams Ambassador Award (formerly titled the “Bridge Award”)
19. Innovator of the Year: for a Nashville music-related tech innovator

Media Moguls At “Summer Camp”

Allen & Co., a New York-based investment bank, is hosting its annual conference of the top national entertainment and technology leaders in Sun Valley, Idaho this week. The brainstorming and socializing event, often described as “summer camp” for the media world, is closed to the press though some are attending as guests and others remain camped out at the resort.

Among the more than 250 attendees are IAC’s Barry Diller and wife Diane Von Furstenburg, Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and investment guru Warren Buffett, News Corp Chief Rupert Murdoch, Sirius CEO Mel Karmazin, Sony Chief Executive Howard Stringer, Bill Gates, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Google’s Larry Page. Basketball superstar LeBron James is even in the mix.

Since the opening economic panel, word is that the conference has a lingering sense of pessimism, which is more pronounced in some executives than others.

Twitter is among the hot topics. The Los Angeles Times reports that while “old-time media moguls think their content is worth something, they’re not so sure about Twitter…Everyone seems to love it, but no one is sure about how to make money off of it.” Twitter co-founder and Chief Executive Evan Williams was in the audience for a panel that reiterated this point, but remained quite.

Murdoch spoke briefly to reporters, saying he wasn’t interested in buying Twitter or the Los Angeles Times, and answered “Hell no,” when asked about putting MySpace on the block.

MJ Memorial, MCN Fan Club Concerts, Much More

 The recent 2009 MusicCityNetworks (MCN) Fan Club Concert Series had over 2500 attendees and multiple sold-out shows. It was held at Rocketown during CMA Fest with performances by Bucky Covington, Emerson Drive, Montgomery Gentry, Josh Turner, Lady Antebellum, Sara Evans, Tracy Byrd and Tracy Lawrence. Pictured: MCN Fan Club Concert Series sweepstakes winner Kristin Baltadonis and Nicholas Grossman, with Montgomery Gentry

The recent 2009 MusicCityNetworks (MCN) Fan Club Concert Series had over 2500 attendees and multiple sold-out shows. It was held at Rocketown during CMA Fest with performances by Bucky Covington, Emerson Drive, Montgomery Gentry, Josh Turner, Lady Antebellum, Sara Evans, Tracy Byrd and Tracy Lawrence. Pictured: MCN Fan Club Concert Series sweepstakes winner Kristin Baltadonis and Nicholas Grossman, with Montgomery Gentry

Almost 31 Million viewers tuned into Michael Jackson’s memorial service on Tuesday (7/7). It aired on 19 networks from approximately 1-4 p.m. By comparison, the most recent season finale of American Idol drew just under 29 million pairs of eyes.

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Copyright Office fees for various services concerning the registration of claims are increasing starting Aug. 1. The fee for online registration of a basic claim will remain $35. The registration fee for fill-in Form CO will rise from $45 to $50; however, if a faulty version of Form CO is submitted, making it necessary to process the claim as a paper filing, the fee will increase to $65. The fee for paper filings on Forms PA, SR, TX, VA, SE will rise from $45 to $65. Find a full list of adjusted fees here.

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Weird but true: Buy a specially marked bags of Doritos Late Night chips, log on to http://www.doritoslatenight.com, hold the bag up to your webcam, and watch a virtual 3-D concert by rock band blink-182 and rapper Big Boi. The chip maker calls it “augmented reality technology” because the user can move the bag around to personalize each artist’s performance…. It may or may be related that Kenny Chesney recently filmed a concert in 3-D.
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Hear Chris DuBois talk about “Then,” the song he co-wrote with Ashley Gorley and Brad Paisley, who took it to No. 1. 
It’s on AOL’s The Boot.

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Teresa and Scott Siman are holding a garage sale to benefit Rüdrani Devi (aka Andi Varagona) on Sat., July 11 from 8 am to Noon at 1229 Nichol Lane 37205. Donations and volunteers are still needed. Please email tbsiman@rpmweb.com to get involved. Devi was forced to close her holistic healing clinic after being shot last year during the Mumbai Terrorist attacks.

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Did you know that you can read sheet music on the Amazon Kindle? FreeHand Systems recently released its Novato Music Press catalog in the format, consisting of over 20,000 classical, traditional and American music titles.

Cyrus, Swift Score Spots on Forbes’ Under 30 List

Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus during the 2008 American Music Awards in November. Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com

Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus during the 2008 American Music Awards in November. Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com

Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus ranked among Forbes’ new list of the top 12 highest-earning celebrities under 30. The powerful group, with an average age of 23, collectively pulled in $410 million between June 1, 2008 and June 1, 2009.

Cyrus, 16, banked $25 million to tie for No. 7 along with the Jonas Brothers, actor Daniel Radcliffe and model Gisele Bündchen. The magazine says that her bottom line was boosted by 4 million in album sales, $86 million in gross ticket sales, and her popular Disney Channel series/film Hannah Montana. She also lent her likeness to schoolgirl friendly products like backpacks and lunchboxes.

Swift, 19, came in 12th on the list with earnings of $18 million. As the top-selling U.S. artist of 2008, she sold over 4 million units, and banked through touring, and endorsements. The Internet savvy Swift also scored with a significant number of digital downloads, becoming the first country artist to sell 2 million downloads with three different songs.

Beyoncé Knowles, 27, was the highest paid on the list, raking in about $87 million, nearly double the $45 million earned by No. 2, Formula 1 racer Kimi Raikkonen. Knowles, a global brand, released a double album, starred in two films, endorsed numerous products like American Express and L’Oreal, and has her own clothing brand.

Rounding out the Top 5 are No. 3: NBA superstar LeBron James, 24, with $40 million; No. 4: Britney Spears, 27, $35 million; and No. 5: tennis great Roger Federer, 27, $33 million.

Country Stars Align For Ft. Campbell Troops

101st Airborne Division shoulder sleeve insignia (the "Screaming Eagle").

101st Airborne Division insignia (the "Screaming Eagle")

Carrie Underwood, John Rich, Rodney Atkins and Jake Owen will perform Aug. 14-15 as part of nearby Ft. Campbell’s Week of the Eagles to welcome home troops from overseas deployment. The free event, celebrating the homecoming of the 101st Airborne Division “Screaming Eagles,” is open to the public.

Week of the Eagles is held every other year and is usually planned by the Fort Campbell staff, but radio broadcaster Cumulus upped the ante this year by arranging for the superstar performers.

The entire celebration runs Aug. 14-20, with the concerts kicking off the party on Aug. 14-15. Other events include a 10K/5K run, an air show, and a Vietnam veteran tribute.

For a complete schedule of events, visit www.fortcampbellmwr.com.

Underwood, Love And Theft, Randy Rogers Band

Love And Theft’s Brian Bandas, Eric Gunderson and Stephen Barker Liles recently spent the day in an abandoned Memphis brewery filming the music video for their debut hit single, “Runaway.” The shoot was directed by Kristin Barlowe. The shoot wasn’t without its challenges – Liles was suffering a bout of food poisoning. Also, the engine in the 1971 Mustang Mach 1 featured in the video had to be rebuilt that morning. The band’s CD launches Aug. 25. After opening shows for Taylor Swift in 2008, Love And Theft is currently on the road meeting country radio and promoting their debut single, “Runaway.” The band’s debut CD, World Wide Open, will release August 25th
Love And Theft’s Brian Bandas, Eric Gunderson and Stephen Barker Liles recently spent the day shooting a video in Memphis for their debut single, “Runaway,” with director Kristin Barlowe. The day wasn’t without challenges—Liles had food poisoning, and the engine of the 1971 Mustang Mach 1 featured had to be rebuilt—but everything turned out okay.

Carrie Underwood has scored a platinum digital certification for “All-American Girl” and gold digital certification of “Just A Dream.” All five of her singles from the nearly triple-platinum Carnival Ride have been certified gold or platinum for digital downloads.

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The Randy Rogers Band took time off from touring to hit the golf course together for their Inaugural For Sake Of The Shot Golf Tournament, presented by Bud Light. The event was held at The Bandit Golf Club in New Braunfels, TX on June 12. Randy Rogers Band and friends Wade Bowen, Kyle Park and Ryan Beaver hit the links for a four-man scramble, playing along side loyal RRB fans. The sold-out tournament raised $52,049 for charitable organization Camp Sweeney. A guitar signed by George Strait was auctioned off for $1,200, adding to the total.

Capitol Signs Teen From TV

jennetteJennette McCurdy, the 17-year-old actress who plays on the Nickelodeon TV show iCarly, has signed with Capitol Records Nashville. She has two songs available on iTunes: “So Close” and “Homeless Heart.”

In a blog on her website www.jennettemccurdy.com, she tells fans, “I am in the Capitol Family along with such unbelievable greats as Keith Urban, Darius Rucker, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, and Trace Adkins — to name a few. These are artists I bow down to!…I am honored, ecstatic, elated, and overwhelmed with joy! Capitol’s expertise in country music will allow me the opportunity to give you guys the best I have to give in songwriting, singing and performing.”

The teen has guested on numerous other shows, including Will and Grace, Judging Amy, Malcom In The Middle, Law & Order: SVU, Medium, and CSI. She also appeared in Faith Hill’s video for “The Way You Love Me.”