Tag Archive for: featured-2

FTC Approves Sony Group Purchase of EMI Music Publishing

/by

The pending sale of EMI Music Publishing to a group led by the Sony Corporation has been approved by the Federal Trade Commission, it was reported by Reuters today (6/29).

The deal, valued at $2.2 billion, was given the go-ahead by U.S. regulators and no divestitures will have to be made. Antitrust regulators in Europe approved the sale in April, provided the new company sell publishing rights of Robbie Williams and Lenny Kravitz among others.

The combined companies will be the world’s largest music publishing catalog, boasting songs such as “Over The Rainbow,” “Rolling in the Deep,” “New York, New York,” and many more.

“The financial arrangement behind the deal is complex, and does not give Sony complete control,” points out the New York Times’ Media Decoder blog. “Because of Sony’s joint venture with the Michael Jackson estate for its existing publishing arm, Sony/ATV, it must maintain EMI as a separate company. And while Sony/ATV will administer the EMI catalog, Sony and the Jackson estate will own only 38 percent of it.”

Other investors involved include Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala sovereign wealth fund, Hong Kong’s Jynwel Capital, Blackstone’s GSO Capital Partners, and David Geffen.

Prior to this news, Billboard reported that EMI Music Publishing president “Big” Jon Platt would be departing his position with the company after 17 years. His final day on the job is today.

The Federal Trade Commission is still debating the sale of Universal Music’s pending purchase of EMI’s recorded music division from Citigroup for $1.9 billion. Hits Magazine notes that EMI chief Roger Faxon “half-heartedly” approved of the merger during recent FTC discussions, though its approval could leave him without a job. According to Hits, Faxon’s contract states that within 30 days of the first of the two regulatory investigations finishing, he must choose to stay with either publishing or recorded music.

New B.o.B. Video Features Taylor Swift

/by

Taylor Swift sings the hooky chorus in the new song by rapper B.o.B. The video for “Both of Us” premiered yesterday (6/27) on MTV.

Among the Nashville locations used in the video are Melrose Billiards and Bolton’s Spicy Chicken and Fish. Director Jake Nava shot the video showcasing everyday triumphs and struggles of the working class. See the “Behind the Video” clip posted below.

The track is the third single from B.o.B.‘s Atlantic Records release Strange Clouds. The underdog championing lyric features Swift singing, “I wish I was strong enough to lift not one, but both of us.”

Swift and the rapper first met in October 2011 when he was a surprise guest at the Dallas Cowboy Stadium stop on her Speak Now tour. They dueted on his hit “Airplane.”

Weekly Register: Chesney, Luke and The Search For A Solution

/by

Luttrell, TN’s most famous native son, Kenny Chesney, rides atop the country sales chart this week with the release of his newest, Welcome To The Fishbowl which scanned over 193k copies (38% digital). During most weeks, that kind of sales number would have also landed the hard-working troubadour atop the Billboard Top 200 all genre album list. But this week Kenny was forced to look up from the No. 2 spot at young Justin Bieber whose new debut Believe sold almost 375k copies. (Read Sarah Skates’ thoughtful Chesney concert review here.)

But how does Mr. Chesney’s latest song collection compare with other Nashville artists, sales-wise? Here’s a list of all 2012 country album chart debuts in the 50k+ category according to Nielsen SoundScan as compiled from industry sources.

As you can see, the Top 3 debuts this year have been from Carrie Underwood, Lionel Richie and Chesney. The rest of the pack, have numbers significantly lower. According to MusicRow’s album release calendar Zac Brown Band is warming up to throw out a new offering the week of July 10 which will most likely land on our grid, but currently there is nothing else on the list (yet) which appears to be an automatic >50 launch. However, Nashville record labels (and especially the sales departments) are known for being a crafty group, especially when it comes to tipping their fall/holiday plans. So it’s almost a sure thing that additional blockbuster titles will appear as we move through the summer. For example, what about Taylor Swift whose Speak Now album is already on the Catalog chart? Or Jason Aldean’s My Kinda Party, still selling like crazy but now 86 weeks old? And The Band Perry’s self-titled debut is now 89 weeks old, so odds are good we’ll see something new from that dynamic trio, too.

Blank grid: Some data was unavailable this week

Best Of The Rest
And now a quick look around the neighborhood. On fire is Luke Bryan whose career has ignited even more reaction than last week’s outdated, but viral discussion over the music industry’s lack of a business model. (The digital hurricane was stirred by an honest but upsetting—to some—blog by Emily White and a utopian, whiny response from musician David Lowery. Did you hear a plan emerge from all that angst to find a better way to compensate deserving intellectual property owners? To me there is only one solution; make everyone pay on the way into the store. If you have a solution post it below.)

Meanwhile, back to Luke. His platinum album moves up a notch to No. 2 on the country list with scans of almost 28k units after 46 chart weeks and RTD sales of 1.2 million. Bryan also has 5 songs on the top 100 digital country tracks, including the No. 1 song “Drunk On You” which sold almost 85k downloads this week and has RTD sales of over 1.4 million. Bryan’s “I Don’t Want This Night To End” is No. 20 after 46 weeks on the singles chart and RTD sales of 1.76 million downloads. That’s what an exploding career looks like…

In closing, Weekly Register offers a tip of the hat to the gentle giant, Don Williams, who enters the album chart this week at No. 20 with sales of almost 5k.

 

DISClaimer Single Reviews (6/27/12)

/by

There are days when I just want to clear my head, and bluegrass is just the ticket whenever one of those days comes along.

This stack of current bluegrass CDs includes offerings from three of the genre’s most enduring and brilliant groups — Special Consensus, the Lonesome River Band and Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. The last named won my heart as the Disc of the Day. I caught Quicksilver’s set during Fan Fair was blown away (again) by just how stunning the band is in performance.

The Punch Brothers play what they call “Plunk Rock,” which is to say acoustic music with an attitude. Fresh from performing at Bonnaroo comes the group’s Noam Pikelny with a dandy new CD. This is his first appearance in this column, so that makes him a DisCovery Award winner.

NOAM PIKELNY/Jim Thompson’s Horse
Writer: Noam Pikelny; Producer: Gabe Witcher; Publisher: Noam Tunes/Camel Vision, BMI; Compass (track) (www.noampikelny.com)
—The second album by Punch Brothers banjo man Pikelny is packed with stellar support — Jerry Douglas, Tim O’Brien, Stuart Duncan, Steve Martin, Chris Thile, Bryan Sutton…you get the idea. If you go to his website, you can get this track from it as a free download. It’s an ear-tickling, four-minute instrumental romp with a heartbeat bass line, courtesy of the always-great Mark Schatz. The CD’s title is Beat the Devil and Carry a Rail. Heartily recommended.

LARRY STEPHENSON/What Really Matters
Writer: Harley Allen/John Wiggins; Producer: Ben Surratt & Larry Stephenson; Publisher: Coburn/Notewrite/Fiddle Stock, BMI; Compass (track) (www.larrystephensonband.com)
—The band isn’t particularly flashy, but this hillbilly tenor soars with sincerity on the CD’s title tune. He didn’t write it, but the lyrics are all about the birth of a daughter, which is exactly what happened to him in real life.

CARRIE HASSLER/Catch My Breath
Writer: Bobby K. Boyd; Producer: Steve Gulley; Publisher: Bobby Boyd, BMI; Rural Rhythm (track) (www.carriehassler.com)
—This sounds like a classic country track from the ‘60s, right down to the “answering” fiddle, steel and electric guitar. I’m in. The rest of her The Distance CD is straight-ahead bluegrass, by the way.

DOYLE LAWSON & QUICKSILVER/Sing Me a Song About Jesus
Writer: Corey Hensley/Michael Rogers/Doyle Lawson; Producer: Doyle Lawson; Publisher: WDLQ/Morgan Racing/Top O’Holston, ASCAP/BMI; Mountain Home (track) (www.doylelawson.com)
—Co-writers Hensley, Rogers and Lawson are also the awesome harmony vocalists on this toe tapping title tune of the newest Quicksilver CD. Nobody, but nobody, does bluegrass gospel better than this breath-taking ensemble. I remain an enormous fan.

BOBBY OSBORNE & THE ROCKY TOP X-PRESS/I’m Going Back to the Mountain
Writer: Jake Landers; Producer: Glen Duncan, Bobby Osborne & Bobby Osborne Jr.; Publisher: Rocky Top, BMI; Rural Rhythm (track) (www.bobbyosborne.com)
—Osborne’s piercing, incredible tenor can still cut the mustard. At age 80, he sings with the vigor of someone literally half that age. His group’s new collection is titled New Bluegrass & Old Favorites.

CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROPS/Country Girl
Writer: Rhiannon Giddons/Lalenja Harrington/Adam Matta; Producer: Buddy Miller; Publisher: Bring It Forward/Lucky Guitar, ASCAP; Nonesuch (track) ()
—Nominated as Duo/Group of the Year by the Americana Music Association, this African American string band continues is superior music-making ways on its new Leaving Eden collection. On this rhythmic track, the North Carolinians tell the tale of a musician who’s seen the world but still loves family and home the most. The 15-song collection is available on vinyl, by the way.

SPECIAL CONSENSUS/Monroe
Writer: Craig Market; Producer: Alison Brown; Publisher: Drop D/Missing Link, BMI; Compass (track) (www.compassrecords.com)
—Year in year out, Special C just keeps rolling along. I believe the group is now in its fourth decade of making music. But this hearty, cleverly written, salute to bluegrass music’s founding father sounds like it comes from a band that was born yesterday. It’s on the group’s current Scratch Gravel Road CD. Also check out the cool bluegrass reworking of Don Gibson’s “Sea of Heartbreak.”

LONESOME RIVER BAND/Close the Door Lightly When You Go
Writer: E. Anderson; Producer: Lonesome River Band; Publisher: EMI U Catalog, no performance rights listed; Rural Rhythm (track) (www.lonesomeriverband.com)
—The Lonesome River Band is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a collection titled Chronology: Volume One. It includes this lively, zippy, tightly arranged update of Eric Anderson’s folk classic, which is currently rising fast on the Bluegrass Unlimited popularity chart. Deservedly so: It’s a listening delight.

THE BOXCARS/Ol’ Lonesome Won’t Leave Me Alone
Writer: Tim Stafford/Robert G. Starnes; Producer: The Boxcars; Publisher: Daniel House/It Says What It Says, BMI; Mountain Home (track) (www.theboxcars.com)
—The Boxcars play like the seasoned and accomplished vets its members are, so the instrumental work is flawless and dazzling. However, the group lacks charisma in the vocal department.

AUDIE BLAYLOCK & REDLINE/I’m Going Back to Old Kentucky
Writer: Bill Monroe; Producer: Audie Blaylock; Publisher: Unichappell, no performance rights listed; Rural Rhythm (track) (www.audieblaylock.com)
—Bluegrass music is always looking backwards, but never more so than in this 100th anniversary of Bill Monroe’s birth. It seems like there’s a tribute album of one sort or another in the mail every month. Blaylock’s takes the approach of avoiding many of the obvious songs in favor of some of the master’s lesser known tunes. This lickety split take on a 1947 classic plays like greased lightning. Guests on the CD include Del McCoury, Carl Jackson, Ronnie McCoury, Lou Reid and Bobby Osborne.

Brothers of the Sun Tour Brings Hit Packed Show To LP Field

/by

Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw are having as much fun as their fans. Their Brothers of the Sun tour set down at Nashville’s LP Field Saturday (6/23), bringing a 6-hour party—even longer for devoted tailgaters—that felt like a reunion between the superstars and country music lovers.

The night was a treat for longtime fans who have followed McGraw’s and Chesney’s almost two decade careers, as the singers delivered hit after hit from their mega catalogs. What’s fantastic about the Brothers experience is that while both performers have grown artistically since their debuts, they enjoy returning to the sometimes hokey hits that later allowed them the freedom to explore more thought provoking material.

The heat didn’t deter the parking lot full of tailgaters, many of whom gathered before noon to pre-party for the 4 PM show. They toted in games of cornhole, sets of speakers, and loaded-down coolers. In keeping with Chesney’s laid back beach-inspired brand, plastic leis draped many necks in the crowd of mostly 40-and-unders. Jake Owen kicked off the music inside the 68,000 seat stadium, followed by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals.

When McGraw took the stage around 6:45 PM, his opening numbers including newer hit “Felt Good on My Lips,” and older favorite “For A Little While” had couples dancing hand-in-hand in front of the concessions booths. And that’s how it went all night long, the perfect blend of new and catalog hits from two of country music’s greatest acts.

McGraw offered early career boosters “Down on the Farm,” “Everywhere,” “Just To See You Smile,” and “Where The Green Grass Grows” which brought the entire crowd to its feet. The sun was as bright as his all-white wardrobe as he continued, previewing “Mexicoma” and “Truck Yeah” from his upcoming release. Of course, his set also included monster smash “Live Like You Were Dying.”

“You can wake up every morning and put your best foot forward and try to be the best person you can be,” he said as he launched into recent hit, “Better Than I Used To Be.”

Fans received the added bonus of appearances by surprise guests—Faith Hill joined him for “I Need You,” and Titans quarterback Matt Hasselbeck tossed footballs into the crowd.

Banners decorated the sides of the gigantic stage, featuring photographs of a warm orange coastal sunset sinking into cool aqua waves. Video screens were a key part of the experience in such a huge venue, and good camera work kept the projections interesting.

Upping the video ante, Chesney’s set benefited from the dark night sky which made the lighting and screens even more spectacular. The stadium was a sea of cell phone lights and colored beams slicing the air. His grand entrance included flying above the fans on a swing while singing “Beer In Mexico.” For the night, Chesney was the preacher to his devoted congregation. He and the crowd fed off each other’s energy, which was as thick as the humidity.

He partied right along with his fans, offering escapism-via-enjoyment favorites including “Reality,” “Living In Fast Forward” and “Out Last Night.” But all his hits aren’t about nights on the town, he does sentimental equally well, and slowed the tempo for moody angst on “Somewhere With You” and doting reflection on “Anything But Mine.” No matter the song, if he stopped singing, the crowd could carry the lyrics.

When Potter returned for “You And Tequila” it was one of the highlights, with the performers sharing a genuine moment, just as Hill and McGraw had earlier. Chesney, who has been playing stadiums for years but hadn’t stopped in Nashville since 2007, said the acoustic song reminds him of his early days playing for tips. He thanked songwriters Deana Carter and Matraca Berg, who last week won Song of the Year for “Tequila” at the MusicRow Awards.

To celebrate Potter’s birthday, the Franklin High marching band made an appearance and played “Happy Birthday” while the crowd sang along.

The finale was the most fun of an already eventful night. Rounding out the hit-packed show was a return to where it all started for the superstars, with McGraw coming back to the stage for their duet “Feel Like A Rock Star.” Then they traded verses on career making smashes “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy” and “Indian Outlaw.” Owen and Potter helped shut down the stadium with a cover of Jackson Browne’s “Running On Empty.”

Weekly Chart Report (6/21/2012)

/by

Artist Craig Morrison (R) visited with WUCZ’s (Carthage, TN) Dennis Banka earlier this week. Morrison, who has had a successful career in his native Australia, is visiting radio introducing his debut US single, "Fences.”

SPIN ZONE
Call the po-po, it’s Dierks Bentley’s “5-1-5-0” taking over the CountryBreakout Chart’s No. 1 spot after 13 weeks of reports. Just 70 spins back at No. 2 is Brantley Gilbert’s “You Don’t Know Her Like I Do,” followed by The Band Perry’s “Postcard From Paris” at No. 3. It’s a tight top 10 and though most are gaining spins, only Kenny Chesney’s “Come Over” sees forward movement from No. 8 to 6.

Toby Keith's Live in Overdrive Tour recently played to a packed house in Salt Lake City where Keith visited KEGA/The Eagle's MD, Jon Watkins (L) and his red solo cup.

Quickly climbing toward the top is Little Big Town’s “Poontoon,” which adds another 254 spins this week and moves to No. 17. Also looking strong are Big & Rich’s “That’s Why I Pray” at No. 32 and Zac Brown Band’s “The Wind” at No. 33. And living up to its title is Miranda Lambert’s “Fastest Girl In Town,” which is already up to No. 40 in only its second week charting.

This chart edition sees the return of Aaron Lewis’ “Endless Summer,” which debuts at No. 70. The single originally had a few weeks of airplay under R&J Records, and now the gang over at Blaster Records (along with Skip Bishop) has rebooted it just in time for the heat. Also debuting are Casey James’ “Cryin’ On A Suitcase” at No. 76 and Michael Dean Church’s “That’s How We Roll” at No. 79.

Frozen Reports: KBOE, KFTX, KYEZ, KYKX, WAKG, WBYZ, WKWS, WOOZ

RADIO NEWS
Tony Thomas has departed his on-air position with Dial Global’s “Country Today” format, as the company is restructuring and closing its Seattle offices. Thomas joined the company in March following 22 years with KMPS/Seattle. “It’s been a real pleasure working with Melody Morgan, John Paul, Beau Phillips and the other Country Today jocks; along with the terrific Dial Global Seattle crew (special thanks to Susan Stephens and Tim Maranville),” says Thoams. His final day was last Friday (6/15) and he can be reached at [email protected] and 206-792-9082.

Upcoming Singles
June 25
Trace Adkins/Them Lips (On Mine)/Show Dog-Universal
Miranda Lambert/Fastest Girl In Town/RCA
Maggie Rose/I Ain’t Your Mama/RPM
Stephanie Grace/Hey There

July 2
Chris Cagle/Let There Be Cowgirls/Bigger Picture
Colt Ford feat. Jake Owen/Back/Average Joes
Andy Gibson/Summer Back/Curb
Steele/Do You Really Have To Go
Shane Yellowbird/They’re All About You/On Ramp

• • • •

New On The Chart—Debuting This Week
Artist/song/label — chart pos.
Aaron Lewis/Endless Summer/Blaster Records – 70
Casey James/Crying On A Suitcase/19-Columbia Nashville – 76
Michael Dean Church/That’s How We Roll/MDC – 79

Greatest Spin Increase
Artist/song/label — spin+
Miranda Lambert/Fastest Girl In Town/RCA Nashville – 327
Zac Brown Band/The Wind/Southern Ground/Atlantic – 317
Aaron Lewis/Endless Summer/Blaster Records – 288
Kenny Chesney/Come Over/Blue Chair-Columbia Nashville – 282
Little Big Town/Pontoon/Capitol – 254

Most Added
Artist/song/label — New Adds
Miranda Lambert/Fastest Girl In Town/RCA Nashville – 19
Zac Brown Band/The Wind/Southern Ground-Atlantic – 12
Glen Templeton/That’s My Job/Black River Entertainment – 12
Trace Adkins/Them Lips (On Mine)/Show Dog–Universal – 11
Aaron Lewis/Endless Summer/Blaster Records – 10
Tim McGraw/Right Back Atcha Babe/Curb – 9

On Deck—Soon To Be Charting
Artist/song/label — spins
Bobby Dean/Me and George Strait/Lamon – 162
Shawna Russell/Sounds Like A Party/Way Out West – 159
Scarletta/Right Here Right Now – 157
Bill Gentry/That Kind of Life/Tenacity Records – 151
Colt Ford with Jake Owen/Back/Average Joes – 148

Arista/Sea Gayle’s Jerrod Niemann hangs with KKWF/Seattle’s Mike Preston and crew. Niemann's latest single, "Shinin’ On Me,” lands at No. 35 on MusicRow’s CountryBreakout Chart this week. (L-R): Terri Yankovich (Mike’s wife), Arista Nashville’s Lesly Tyson, Jerrod Niemann, KKWF’s Mike Preston, Arista Nashville’s Lauren Thomas

Florida Georgia Line stopped in Terre Haute, IN to visit HI-99/WTHI between stops on the Country Throwdown tour. The band met with PD Eric Michaels and staff in support of their debut single “Cruise,” which takes them to No. 41 on the CountryBreakout Chart this week. (L-R): Tyler Hubbard, Michaels, Brian Kelley

Josh Turner dropped by WSM-AM/Nashville this week to play his new album “Punching Bag” on air with Eddie Stubbs. (L-R): Stubbs, Turner, and WSM-AM PD Joe Limardi.

Charlie Cook On Air: New Acts

/by

I was having a conversation with a friend the other day. He listens to Country Music Radio about a third of the time, and listens to CHR and Talk Radio the other times. I think he sneaks in Howard [Stern] on Sirius during his alone time too but our conversation was about Country Music and how a real “fan” has come to appreciate the new music on the radio.

I asked him who his favorite artists were and the usual suspects were all near the top of the list. He loves Garth Brooks and still raves about seeing his show in Las Vegas over a year ago. He likes Jake Owen and Carrie Underwood.

By then I figured that I had a focus group of one and I could find out some habits from a male P2 as long as I continued to pay for the beer. I thought I should hurry along before all of the answers were Hank, Jr. or Jamey Johnson.

Remember that this is a fan who listens to about 4 hours of the format every week. He appreciates the music and likes the “Newer Country Music,” as he called it. So who are your favorite new acts? I asked.

Tim McGraw, Montgomery Gentry and Reba were mentioned after a little thought. I decided to ask him about some individual songs and see if he could ID even newer artists associated with the music.

How about, “Need You Now”? He told me that this was one of his favorite songs from the last 6 months (?) but he wasn’t sure who the singers were. He knew it was a male and female duo. (Sorry Dave).

He knew that Toby Keith sings “Made in America” and that Billy Currington sings “People Are Crazy”.

He loves “You Don’t Know Her Like I Do” but could not tell me who sang it with a gun to his head. He thought it might be Jason Aldean.

We are very lucky in the format right now as there are a ton of new and newish acts that sound like they could be around for a long time.

The earlier referenced Brantley Gilbert is near the top of the list. Thompson Square, and now Kip Moore make up the level of acts that have gotten significant radio play but are still finding a base of fans that can support an appearance on their own.

We have a strong tier of acts like Luke Bryan, Eric Church and Jake Owen who are now multiple No. 1 acts and can play bigger venues by themselves. Of course we have the stadium acts like Kenny, Carrie and Jason.

Just being able to identify these performers by only their first names is an indication that they have made it and are the big stars. Those of us inside the format can easily refer to Luke, Eric and Jake and know who we are talking about but my friend might be challenged to come up with their surnames and certainly he would have trouble matching a name with a face.

I admit that a focus group of one and particularly a male in his 40s is going to be a tough putt when discussing Country Music Radio but in order to grow the format we need to make these P2s comfortable and include them in our growth curve.

If you accept the above three tiers then in order to grow the format we need to work the fourth tier.

A couple of weeks back I watched Sonia Leigh absolutely capture the crowd at the CMA Music Fest Bud Light Stage. I had not seen her and her tight band perform before and I was impressed not only by her performance but by the passion of the smallish group of fans who did know her music.

That stage was hopping all day with The Trailer Choir working their butts off (pun intended in Big Vinny’s case) for the fans there and Jaida Dreyer, who is totally comfortable on stage and has a unique vocal styling that helps her stand out.

I know Vinny was on TV and the band was in the Toby Keith movie so they might have an advantage over some of the new acts but if we are going to move Luke, et al into tier one and then Brantley into tier two so we can make room for Sonia, Jaida, Maggie Rose, Andy Gibson, Jon Pardi, Thomas Rhett and on and on into the next group, radio has to step up and work it.

Because this is what radio does best. Nothing beats radio for introducing new artists to fans but not everyone has Shazam on their smart phones so it is incumbent on radio to talk about the new acts just like we talk about the Superstars.

The old slogan is true: If you play it, say it.

Many AC stations use song tags but this is not going to work on a current format like Country. WUBL in Atlanta used to tag the new songs. I like this but we need to know about what makes Dustin Lynch different from Greg Bates. Why is Edens Edge, beyond great harmonies, worth my 10 to 30 bucks for a CD or concert ticket?

I have talked about this many times and the recent CMA research convinces me that we are on the cusp of another format explosion. CHR Music is GREAT right now. The format has some killer music today but that music changes about every 6 months so who knows what acts will be noteworthy by Christmas on CHR.

Country is not like that. We are going to be playing Josh Thompson, Hunter Hayes and Gloriana for years. Let’s get to know them better. Ultimately we will see them on TV, which is the best way hook the face with the music, but radio is the best way to tell a story about the act.

As long as WYCD does not tell their listeners that Josh is a Green Bay Packer fan, he has a real chance to be star in Detroit.

We have so many great new acts to talk about, why keep the good news a secret?

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MusicRow.)

No. 1 Party: Jake Owen’s “Alone With You”

/by

(L-R): Razor & Tie Publishing’s Lisa Johnson, RCA Records’ Keith Gale, producer Rodney Clawson, co-writer JT Harding, Jake Owen, co-writer Catt Gravitt, Songs MP3’s Kelly King, co-writer Shane McAnally, SESAC’s Shannan Hatch, ASCAP’s LeAnn Phelan, Little Blue Egg Publishing’s Robin Palmer, BMI’s Clay Bradley, and Kobalt Music Publishing’s Whitney Daane. Photo: Steve Lowry

RCA’s Jake Owen and songwriters, JT Harding, Catt Gravitt and Shane McAnally celebrated their recent No. 1 chart-topper, “Alone With You,” with a packed and sweaty crowd of Music Row friends and executives at Nashville’s Cabana on Tuesday (6/19).

Produced by Joey Moi and Rodney Clawson, the song marks Owen’s second trip to the top of the chart and Gravitt’s first country No. 1. McAnally and Harding previously had success together in 2011 with Kenny Chesney’s No. 1 hit “Somewhere With You.”

Plaques and awards were handed out in spades honoring the creative team. Presenters included BMI’s Clay Bradley, ASCAP’s LeAnn Phelan and SESAC’s Shannan Hatch. Bradley was quick to point out “Jake has redefined his career with this record,” and the audience was in full agreement.

RCA Records’ Keith Gale joined the presenters and acknowledged, “This album should be called ‘Greatest Hits.'” The accolades continued with Razor & Tie Publishing’s Lisa Johnson, Songs MP3’s Kelly King, Little Blue Egg Publishing’s Robin Palmer, Kobalt Music Publishing’s Whitney Daane, Avenue Bank’s Ron Cox, CMA’s Brandi Simms and CRB’s Keith Kaufman.

Jake Owen took the stage and admitted, “It took awhile to get here and a lot of people to help me get here.” He gave a special thanks to Renee Bell for sending him the song two and a half years ago. He also thanked his new beautiful bride, Lacey who was among the attendees. Looking at the writers, he added, “You allow me to have a pretty awesome life.

The No. 1 celebration quickly began to resemble a night at Zanies as JT Harding gave a heartfelt thanks to his mom in the audience for never complaining about his loud music or coming to breakfast on a regular basis with KISS makeup on. Describing the writing session, Harding recalled that Gravitt “wanted to feel it” before agreeing the song was finished and made a graphic gesture that shocked he and McAnally into looking like “two cub scouts looking at a Playboy for the first time.” Giving much credit to Owen, Harding added, “He has to work ten times as hard with this song because its a booty call song, and no one as good looking as him has ever been someone’s booty call.”

Gravitt confessed, “I’m just lucky that I don’t have a pee bag and a wheelchair attached to my body ’cause it’s taken me so long get here. I am more grateful to Jake Owen than he knows.” After the laughter had settled, she then looked out over the audience; getting choked up admitting it has “taken a village for me.” Starting with her parents, she thanked the many people who had been influential in her career.

Taking his turn, McAnally also got emotional thanking his family who were in attendance. “I’m grateful to many people in this room,” he added. Addressing Owen, he said, “These are life changing events for us,” thanking him for taking a bold position and a risk in doing a song like this.” Calling his fellow co-writers “a wall of optimism,” McAnally thanked them bringing joy to his life.

Bobby Karl Works The MusicRow Awards

/by

"You and Tequila" wins Song of the Year. (L-R): MusicRow's Sherod Robertson, Warner/Chappell's Alicia Pruitt, Matraca Berg, her publisher Pat Higdon, UMPG's Kent Earls and Cyndi Forman

24th annual MusicRow Award winners
Breakthrough Songwriters: Johnny Bulford and Phil Barton
Producer of the Year: Frank Liddell
Breakthrough Artist: Eli Young Band
Song of the Year: “You and Tequila,” by Matraca Berg and Deana Carter, published by UMPG and Warner/Chappell

Top 10 Album All Star Musician Awards
Vocals: Perry Coleman
Keys: (tie) Charles Judge and Gordon Mote
Guitar: Ilya Toshinsky
Steel: Paul Franklin
Bass: Jimmie Lee Sloas
Fiddle: (tie) Larry Franklin and Aubrey Haynie
Drums: Shannon Forrest
Engineer: Justin Niebank

• • • •

Sherod Robertson honors Eli Young Band's Mike Eli and Jon Jones with Breakthrough Artist.

All photos by Caitlin Rantala. And a thank-you to BMI for hosting.

Chapter 403

Frank Liddell accepts Producer of the Year.

Nothing can compare to the feelings that come when you receive applause from your community, your peers.

The winners of the reader-voted 2012 MusicRow awards all expressed deep gratitude at being recognized by their colleagues. The magazine’s 24th annual presentation of its accolades took place at BMI on Wednesday (6/20).

Producer of the Year winner Frank Liddell said he didn’t feel worthy because, “I look around this room and see musicians and artists and songwriters who I work with who are so great.”

Jon Jones of the Breakthrough Artist award winning Eli Young Band said, “This is one room that understands how many people it takes to get something on the radio.” Added his band mate Mike Eli, “There are a lot of people all over this country who are dreaming of being in this room….Thank you, MusicRow magazine. Thank you, everybody.” Both made the trip from their home in Texas to express their appreciation.

Breakthrough Songwriter winner Phil Barton exclaimed, “I’m just super happy right now. Thank you, Nashville!” He and fellow winner Johnny Bulford were saluted for “A Woman Like You,” the Lee Brice smash they co-wrote with Jon Stone. It was the first No. 1 hit for all three writers, as well as for Brice.

(L-R): Sarah Skates, Jon Freeman, Breakthrough Songwriters Johnny Bulford, Phil Barton and Sherod Robertson.

“This really means a lot,” began Song of the Year winner Matraca Berg. “I wish [co-writer] Deana Carter was here, because we held hands really tightly throughout all the awards shows where we lost. Being voted on by your peers is a real honor.” Their winning song was “You and Tequila,” recorded by Kenny Chesney with Grace Potter.

“I understand that you’re singing tonight,” I remarked to Jeff Hanna before the gig. “I guess you’ll be Kenny for Matraca.” Jeff replied, “Actually, I think I’m Grace to her Kenny.” Matraca did, indeed, sing lead on their awesome, husband-wife performance of “You and Tequila,” with Jeff adding deft guitar work and a harmony vocal. Barton and Bulford also sang their winning song, with the latter’s voice being particularly expressive on “A Woman Like You.”

The magazine’s Musician Awards are based on the number of top-10 albums that each performed on. Charles Judge (keyboards), Ilya Toshinski (guitar) and first-time winner Perry Coleman (background vocals) were delighted to accept. They, too, expressed appreciation for this remarkable community. Toshinski said it best: “I just want to thank this wonderful town.”

Other Musician winners included Paul Franklin (steel), Gordon Mote (keyboards, a tie), Shannon Forrest (drums), Justin Niebank (engineer), Jimmie Lee Sloas (bass), Larry Franklin (fiddle) and Aubrey Haynie (also fiddle, a tie).

(L-R): Jon Freeman, Perry Coleman, Charles Judge, Ilya Toshinski, Sarah Skates, Sherod Robertson

Clay Bradley greeted the gathered throng by acknowledging the recent passing of BMI matriarch Frances Preston. “She taught all of us that the greatest assets we have in this town are our creators,” said Clay. He directed the crowd’s attention to the magazine’s current cover subject, Nashville hip-hop artist Chancellor Warhol. Warhol was there to shine a spotlight on a new program called BMI Live, which distributes money to its creators based on live performances at smaller venues.

Breakthrough Songwriters Bulford and Barton perform "A Woman Like You"

“We’re all here for the same reason—we’re passionate about music,” said MusicRow host Sherod Robertson. Underscoring the theme of the reception, he added, “These awards are decided by you, the Nashville music community.” He and the magazine’s Jon Freeman and Sarah Skates presented the honors.

This year’s crowd was bigger than ever. In past years, attendees have seemed to be more interested in babbling with one another than in celebrating any honorees. But this year was different—the crowd was much quieter and more respectful. So kudos to you, Music Row mavens.

That would include Dan Hill, Dan Keen, Dean Unkefer, Dale Bobo, David & Susana Ross, Isabel Ross, John Briggs, Janie West, Jimmy Harnen, Jeff Silbar and singer-songwriters such as Trent Summar, Marcus Hummon, Leah Seawright, Richard Fagan and new Warner Bros. Records signee Charlie Worsham.

Attendee Julie Daniels is firing up a new publishing company. Don Cusic is launching Plowboy Records. Tim McFadden is the new VP of Promotion at Tenacity. And then there are the always newsworthy Arthur Buenahora, Randall Himes, Ben Vaughn, Susan Collier, Sherrill Blackman, Steve O’Brien, Mike Milom, Mike Martinovich, Tony Conway, Billy Block, Cyndi Forman, Alicia Pruitt, Pat Higdon, Kerry Hansen, Kent Earls and Earle Simmons.

For your attendance and your attention, we thank you.

Jeff Hanna and Matraca Berg celebrate the win of "You and Tequila" with an acoustic performance.

The MusicRow team (L-R): Sr. News Editor Sarah Skates, Publisher/Owner Sherod Robertson, Managing Editor Jon Freeman, Marketing Manager Eric Parker, Production Manager/Graphic Designer Caitlin Rantala

 

Weekly Register: TEAs Troubling For Physical/Digital Transactions

/by

It’s the middle of every month and time to revisit the MusicRow TEA Index. The Index sums physical, digital and TEA (track equivalent albums; 10 tracks=1 album) then calculates the percentage of total album sales that come from TEA. The idea is to measure the TEA effect against total album sales. (Our sales data is gathered by industry sources from Nielsen SoundScan. Annual TEA for 2011 was 25% country and 27.7% for all-genre.)

As our colorful graph (and the purple bars) show, country’s TEA has been sliding slowly all year—until now. All genre TEA (golden bars) started edging up slowly last month, and continues to expand this month as well. So what does that tell us? To sum it up it says, the sales relationship between albums and digital singles is remaining constant, but let’s look a bit deeper.

Country album sales and track downloads are both up strongly this year, 5.6% and 15.3% respectively. That’s good news, but nevertheless, the sales balance between albums and tracks has remained quite steady since March. The early year gets skewed because of iTunes gift cards and new holiday hardware that leads consumers to splurge on the tracks. But as the country bars show, the balance has settled down and since March stayed between 29.77-30.62%.

In the all genre world, track sales are up and albums are down, leading one to expect a TEA Index upswing. But the 10 tracks=1 album unit formula gives the album enormous weight when compared to tracks. We’ve seen a bit more volatility on the all-genre index overall, but the March-June pendulum has only traveled from a low of 31.65 to a high of 31.92.

Personally, I find these results troubling for the transactional sales market (physical product and digital file downloads). Overall album sales are down, and the rate of all-genre TEA growth is minimal, illustrating an uninspired marketplace. Does this mean that consumers are shifting toward access/subscription models like Spotify, Pandora and more? Perhaps.

Weekly Breakdown
A quick look at this and last week’s grids tell the story in a snapshot. Album sales are slipping in both categories. Country albums saw a No. 1 debut from Josh Turner titled Punching Bag which scanned about 45k units, a far cry from the 85k he scored in 2010, but then that was before his label group signed another young baritone which may have splintered his fans. Edens Edge stepped up to the launch pad getting a No. 9 position and sales of about 9k. Other debuts included Now Country 5 (No. 5; 25k) and the Rounder return of the fabulous Mary Chapin Carpenter (No 16; 7k).

Traveling to downtown Tracksville, country style, shows young males (mostly with ballcaps) #DOMN8 (where have I seen that hashtag?) Luke Bryan (No. 1; 100k), Eric Church (No. 2; 77k), Kenny Chesney (No. 4; 69k), Hunter Hayes (No. 5; 52k), Kip Moore (No. 6; 49k), Dierks Bentley (No. 8; 45k) and Eli Young Band (No. 9; 43k). Wow! All the more reason to congratulate winners Little Big Town (No. 3; 70k), Carrie Underwood (No. 7; 46k) and Gloriana (No. 10; 37k) for bucking the trend line.