Tag Archive for: featured-2

Carter's Chord Signs With UMPG

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Show Dog-Universal Music’s Carter’s Chord has signed an exclusive songwriter and publishing agreement with UMPG Nashville. They are currently in the studio working on their new album, co-produced by Toby Keith and Mark Wright, to be released in 2011. Their new single, “A Little Less Comfortable” written by UMPG Nashville’s Emily, Joanna and Philip White will be available February 1.

Pictured (l-r): (Front row seated) Becky Robertson, Emily Robertson. Back row: Carter’s Chord Manager/President TKO Artist Management TK Kimbrell, Universal Music Publishing – Nashville President Pat Higdon, Joanna Robertson and Show Dog – Universal Music President Mark Wright.

Weekly Chart Report (1/14/11)

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WUCZ/Carthage, TN’s Dennis Banka with Garth Brooks prior to the first of nine Flood Relief shows in Nashville.


SPIN ZONE
Things are a little slow early in 2011, with several older singles hanging on in the Top 10 for a chance at No. 1. Keith Urban’s “Put You In A Song” remains at the top of the stack, but appears to be losing some ground to Luke Bryan’s “Someone Else Calling You Baby” and Kenny Chesney’s “Somewhere With You.” As programmers continue freshening their playlists, expect to see big movement from newer singles like Taylor Swift’s “Back To December” currently No. 8, and Brad Paisley’s “This Is Country Music” currently No. 14.

When Aussie artist Kate Russell made a station visit to KBCR/Steamboat Springs, she discovered that she and MD Debbie Duncan had more in common than a love for country music.


Surviving the holiday break can be tough for independent artists, but there’s no denying a good song. Check out Burns & Poe’s “How Long Is Long Enough,” which continues to hang in there at No. 25. See also Eric Lee Beddingfield’s “The Gospel According To Jones” which moves up to No. 39.
Ashton Shepherd is back with her trademark Southern sass and her latest, “Look It Up,” struts to the No. 71 spot for the week’s highest debut. Also showing some spark is Average Joe’s JB & The Moonshine Band, whose “Perfect Girl” jumps on at No. 73. On target for a big debut in next week’s edition is Reba’s version of the Beyonce hit “If I Were A Boy.” Programmers spun it an extra 181 times this week, nudging it to just outside our chart cutoff.



Upcoming Singles
January 18
Band Perry/You Lie/Republic Nashville
David Adam Byrnes/Sweet Distraction/Better Angels/Ride
January 24
Jeff Bates/One Day Closer/Black River
Reba/If I Were A Boy/Valory
•  •  •  •  •

Average Joe's Entertainment's Corey Smith (R) recently visited The Bull in Atlanta, Georgia and chatted with WUBL MD Lance Houston.


New On The Chart—Debuting This Week
Artist/song/label — chart pos.
Ashton Shepherd/Look It Up/MCA — 71
JB & The Moonshine Band/Perfect Girl/Average Joe’s Entertainment — 73
Steve Holy/Love Don’t Run/Curb — 77
Christine VanHoy/What I Live For/Big 7 — 78
Jimmy White/Katy Did — 80
Greatest Spin Increase
Artist/song/label — spin+
Zac Brown Band/Colder Weather/Bigger Picture — 507
Miranda Lambert/Heart Like Mine/Columbia — 497
Rascal Flatts/I Won’t Let Go/Big Machine — 391
Jason Aldean w/Kelly Clarkson/Don’t You Wanna Stay/Broken Bow — 356
The Band Perry/You Lie/Republic Nashville — 294
On Deck—Soon To Be Charting
Artist/song/label — spins
Reba/If I Were A Boy/Starstruck/Valory — 188
Sandra Piller/Days Like These — 172
Emma King & The Heartsets/I’m Not Forgotten/PLC — 158
Lathan Moore/Love In Your Life/Blue Steel Records — 84
Kate Russell/Damned If I Do/Urunga — 155
Most Added
Artist/song/label — New Adds
Miranda Lambert/Heart Like Mine/Columbia — 31
Zac Brown Band/Colder Weather/Bigger Picture — 29
Rascal Flatts/I Won’t Let Go/Big Machine — 25
The Band Perry/You Lie/Republic Nashville — 23
Ashton Shepherd/Look It Up/MCA — 17
Reba/If I Were A Boy/Starstruck/Valory — 16
JB & The Moonshine Band/Perfect Girl/Average Joe’s Entertainment — 14
Trace Adkins/Brown Chicken, Brown Cow/Show Dog – Universal — 13
Steve Holy/Love Don’t Run/Curb — 10

Sea Gayle/Arista Nashville’s Jerrod Niemann recently visited the Lia Show to promote his current single, “What Do You Want.” (L-R): Niemann, Arista Nashville’s Lori Hartigan, host Lia Knight, and Lia Show producer Hank Aaron.

Brice and Niemann Co-Headline Tour

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Jerrod Niemann (L) and Lee Brice (R)


Lee Brice and Jerrod Niemann are teaming up to co-headline The Higher Education Tour. Kicking off March 10, the tour will run through college markets around the country, with additional dates to be announced.
Brice will also appear on the nationally syndicated morning show, The Daily Buzz on January 17 to promote the tour and his debut album, Love Like Crazy.
2011 Higher Education Tour Dates
3/10      Columbia, MO – The Blue Note
3/11      Miami, OK – Buffalo Run Casino
3/12      Durant, OK – Choctaw Casino Resort
3/25      Abilene, OK – Lucky Mule Saloon
3/26      Speegleville, TX – Hog Creek Icehouse
3/31      Denver, CO – Grizzly Rose
4/14      Knoxville, TN – Cotton Eyed Joes
4/15      Clarion, PA– Clarion University**
4/21      Davie, FL – The Roundup
4/22      Bradenton, FL – Joyland IV
4/23      Sebastian, FL – Captain Hiram’s Sandbar
4/28      Live Oak, FL – Suwannee River Jam
**featuring Lee Brice and Randy Houser

Yes Marks The Spotify

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The New York Post is reporting that European music provider Spotify is “days away from signing a deal with Sony Music,” and has gained support from another major U.S. music company as well making a 2010 launch imminent. Spotify offers users a free account with advertising to listen to unlimited music or a $10/month option without advertising.
U.S. labels have not warmed to the service despite its having gained a solid reputation in Europe. The U.S. music leaders don’t like the word “Free” attached to music and apparently demanded extremely high upfront payments in the past. Has this changed?
Spotify first planned to launch in the U.S. in 2009, but was unable to get the necessary deals ratified to do so. Then 2010 was the “sure thing” launch date, and that has also passed.
A Spotify spokesperson told the Post, “”Negotiations are progressing well, but [we have] nothing to confirm at this stage.” Reportedly, both Apple and Google have also had talks with Spotify.
Spotify’s software interface contributes to what makes it unique. Users can create playlists and share tracks with friends, put Spotify on mobile phones and use a sophisticated search function making it easy to create lists of many kinds. Premium Spotify users can also listen to music when they are offline. The site includes many artist biographies plus artist radio stations which help consumers discover new music. Of course it also connects with Facebook.
Analysis: Album sales continued to slide in 2010 dropping another 12.7% which may well be a force for bringing the parties back to the table. The record labels have yet to find a sales model to stem the annual losses which have become commonplace for the last ten years. The Spotify model has been criticized, not for lacking cool features, but because the conversion rate from free to paid has been lower than hoped for, rasing questions about the service’s ability to survive long term. How it will fare in the U.S if/when it debuts is yet to be seen.

Shania To Join Canadian Music Hall of Fame

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Shania Twain will be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame this year. As part of the festivities she will be honored with a special musical tribute at the March 27 Juno Awards. The superstar from north of the border has earned 12 Junos during her career, and has album sales totaling more than 48 million.
Among the Hall’s other inductees are legendary figures like Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, and Neil Young.
2011 is shaping up to be a big year for Twain, beginning with her New Year’s Day wedding to Frederic Thiebaud. Next up, her show Why Not? With Shania Twain debuts this spring on Oprah Winfrey’s OWN network.

BMI Toasts "Come Back Song" Team

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BMI toasted the team behind Darius Rucker’s latest chart-topper, “Come Back Song,” at an intimate dinner on Tuesday, January 11. Written by Casey Beathard, Chris Stapleton and Rucker, the song is the lead single from Rucker’s second country album Charleston, SC 1966.

(L-R): Sony/ATV Music Publishing’s Mike Whelan; BMI’s Jody Williams and Clay Bradley; McGhee Mgmt.’s Scott McGhee; Casey Beathard; McGhee Mgmt.’s Frank Rand; Darius Rucker; producer Frank Rogers; McGhee Mgmt.’s Doc McGhee and Greg Hill; and Sony/ATV Music Publishing’s Troy Tomlinson. Photo: Steve Lowry

ASCAP Presents BMG at the Bluebird

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As part of its popular monthly songwriter showcase at the Bluebird Cafe, ASCAP Nashville presented BMG songwriters Brett James, Neil Thrasher, busbee and other guests at a sold-out show on January 11. James was ASCAP’s 2010 Country Songwriter of the Year (he also won this award in 2006, along with the Song of the Year award for “Jesus, Take the Wheel”). Thrasher claimed the ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year title in 2004 and his song “Why Wait” (Rascal Flatts) recently topped the country chart. busbee celebrated his first country No. 1 in 2010 with Lady Antebellum’s “Our Kind of Love.”

(L-R): singer/songwriter Andrew Pates, Cornman Music songwriter/artist Caitlyn Smith, ASCAP's Mike Sistad, busbee, Neil Thrasher, Brett James, ASCAP's LeAnn Phelan, Cornman Music songwriter/Universal Music recording artist Kip Moore. Photo: Julie Meirick

Tracks Push Country Album Sales Positive

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This year is the first time we have a complete 12-month country digital track sales report from Nielsen SoundScan, and we are excited!
The 2010 Top 200 country tracks shows a total of 57.68 million purchased. For added track perspective, we divide the total Top 200 sales by 10 to get a metric called “track equivalent album” or TEA. Obviously a TEA is not identical to regular album purchase. Based upon this year’s track sales, we added an additional 5.77 million TEA album purchases to country’s 43.7 million albums reported by Nielsen SoundScan boosting album sales to a 7.2% increase over 2009. (Comparing albums to albums, country sales fell about 5.2%.) But unfortunately, digital tracks and albums are not equal in terms of margin and profitability.
Just like in touring and album sales, country artists do not participate equally in the upper reaches of the tracks chart. The industry tells a tale of haves and have-nots. For example, the Top 20 selling digital tracks totaled 35% of the entire 200 songs listed. Further narrowing the curve, only thirteen artists were involved in selling the Top 20 tracks. [see list]
Top Selling Country Digital Tracks Songs 2010
(Source: Nielsen SoundScan)
1. LADY ANTEBELLUM /NEED YOU NOW
2. SWIFT*TAYLOR/MINE
3. SUGARLAND/STUCK LIKE GLUE
4. BAND PERRY*THE /IF I DIE YOUNG
5. SWIFT*TAYLOR/ TODAY WAS A FAIRYTALE
6. JARON AND TLRTL/PRAY FOR YOU
7. LAMBERT*MIRANDA/THE HOUSE THAT BUILT ME
8. UNDERWOOD*CARRIE /UNDO IT
9. LADY ANTEBELLUM/AMERICAN HONEY
10. SWIFT*TAYLOR/ YOU BELONG WITH ME
11. NIEMANN*JERROD/LOVER, LOVER
12. SWIFT*TAYLOR/BACK TO DECEMBER
13. BROWN*ZAC BAND/FREE
14. BROWN*ZAC BAND/CHICKEN FRIED
15. BRYAN*LUKE RAIN IS A GOOD THING
16. BROWN*ZAC BAND/TOES
17. UNDERWOOD*CARRIE /COWBOY CASANOVA
18. ATKINS*RODNEY /FARMER’S DAUGHTER
19. BRICE*LEE/ LOVE LIKE CRAZY
20. ALDEAN*JASON /MY KINDA PARTY
Top Selling Track Artists (% of Top 200 total tracks)
(Source: Nielsen SoundScan)
1. SWIFT*TAYLOR/14.85%
2. LADY ANTEBELLUM/9.08%
3. UNDERWOOD*CARRIE/5.72%
4. BROWN*ZAC BAND/4.93%
5. ALDEAN*JASON/4.11%
6. LAMBERT*MIRANDA/3.49%
7. SUGARLAND /3.33%
8. BAND PERRY*THE /2.65%

Reba, Blake To Co-Host ACM Awards

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Blake Shelton will join Reba as co-host of the ACM Awards on Sun., April 3. The superstar redhead has hosted the country awards show for over a decade. Producers and show organizers say they got the idea to add Shelton to the mix when the pair appeared together on the CBS Early show.
“Last year Reba and Blake read our nominations and they were just magic together, incredibly funny,” explains Bob Romeo, CEO of the Academy of Country Music.
This marks Shelton’s debut as an award show host, as he becomes the 50th host since the inception of the ACM Awards.
The 46th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards will be broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 3, 2011 at 8:00 PM live ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network.
Reba has won 12 Academy of Country Music Awards. Shelton has been nominated for three ACM Awards and won his first ACM award last year for Vocal Event of the Year for his No. 1 hit “Hillbilly Bone” featuring Trace Adkins.

DISClaimer Single Reviews (1/12/11)

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I am loving this format today.
I love its diversity. I love the quality of its song craftsmanship. I love its mix of youth and maturity. Country music rules.
In celebration, I am crowning three Disc of the Day winners. The Group prize goes to Rascal Flatts for its chesty vow of steadfastness. The Male winner is Randy Montana, who has a sonic masterpiece to offer. The Female prize, and the surprise of the day, is Ashton Shepherd. Every other gal in town is going to kick herself for not finding “Look It Up” first.
That’s not all. Be sure and lend your ears, also, to Reba McEntire, Joanna Smith, The Dirt Drifters and the new duo Curtis & Luckey. They add to this week’s tasty country goulash of musical diversity.
JEFF TALMADGE/Sometimes You Choose Love
Writer: Talmadge; Producer: Thomm Jutz; Publisher: Tot Ziens, BMI; Berkalin (track) (www.jefftalmadge.com)
—Recorded in Nashville, this folk-country stylist from Texas has a gentle, acoustic sound that goes down easy in this swaying, mid-tempo meditation. The album, titled Kind of Everything, is his seventh.
REBA/If I Were A Boy
Writer: Brittany Jean Carlson/Toby Gad; Producer: Dann Huff; Publisher: Songs of Universal/BC Jean/Cherry Lane/Liedela/Gad, BMI/ASCAP; Valory Music/Starstruck(track)
—This country take on the Beyonce hit is a pulsing power ballad with exactly the right dynamics in the production to put the spotlight on Reba’s delivery of the extraordinary lyric. Her best single in ages.
CURTIS & LUCKEY/Eye Candy
Writer: Brian Curtis/Luckey Moore/Shawn Rhem; Producer: none listed; Publisher: none listed; KMG Music Group (515-269-0474)
—Sprightly and good humored, with creamy harmonies and shiny-bright production.
RASCAL FLATTS/I Won’t Let Go
Writer: Steve Robson/Jason Sellers; Producer: Dann Huff & Rascal Flatts; Publisher: Stage Three/Sony-ATV Cross Keys/Becky’s Boy, ASCAP; Big Machine
—Stately and inspirational. A ballad where you relish every step along the way. An exemplary piece of work. My only quibble is that the Joe Don and Jay harmony vocals are too far down in the mix.
CAMILLE ALVEY & DICKEY LEE/She Thinks I Still Care
Writer: Dickey Lee; Producer: Don Sullivan; Publisher: Universal, BMI; Calisse (track) (www.camillealvey.com)
—Camille takes this classic at a confident, crisp pace. Dickey takes over in the second verse, sounding remarkably youthful, I might add. She harmonizes to his lead in the bridge and in the final verse. It’s all quite listenable.
RANDY MONTANA/1,000 Faces
Writer: Randy Montana/Tom Douglas; Producer: Jay Joyce; Publisher: Sony-ATV/tomdouglasmusic, BMI; Mercury Nashville (CDX)
—I am a big fan of this guy, and this ultra-melodic outing is the kind of single that makes a star. It starts off quietly, but when the second verse kicks in, the production and his funky-raspy vocal take off like a stallion bolting from the barn. Hang on for the finale where his various vocal phrases are layered dazzlingly on top of one another. Go, boy, go.
JOANNA SMITH/Georgia Mud
Writer: Joanna Smith/Jim McCormick/Aaron Scherz; Producer: Philip White; Publisher: none listed, BMI; Columbia (CDX)
—Like Randy, Joanna is an artist who ably showcased her material in our office. So I can tell you for a fact that these kids are both real singers. She was so charming on her rollicking debut single, “Gettin’ Married.” This one is more sweetly romantic, with a cool, crunchy backbeat and a vocal performance with a built-in smile.
ASHTON SHEPHERD/Look It Up
Writer: Angaleena Presley/Robert Ellis Orrall; Producer: Buddy Cannon; Publisher: Ten Ten/Orrall Fixation, ASCAP; MCA Nashville (CDX)
—Ashton struts with plenty of moxie on this attitude number. “The word is ‘faithful.’ Look it up,” she snaps. Plenty of other bon mots ensue, until you get to, “The word is ‘over.’ Look it up.” The rumbling “outlaw” thump in the rhythm section matches her vocal flair lick for lick. I would LOVE to hear this on the radio.
AARON LEWIS/Country Boy
Writer: Aaron Lewis; Producer: James Stroud & Aaron Lewis; Publisher: Greenfund, ASCAP; Stroudavarious (www.stroudavarious.com)
—How many times are we going to write various versions of this same song. Dirt road? Check. Blue jeans and t-shirt wardrobe? Check. Guns? Check. Tractor, diesel truck? Check and check. American flag? You bet. Also: It is four, dirge-like, minutes long. The version with cameos by George Jones and Charlie Daniels drags it out, endlessly, to 4:49.
THE DIRT DRIFTERS/Something Better
Writer: Jeff Middleton/Matt Fleener/Nick Diamond; Producer: Justin Niebank; Publisher: Music of Stage Three/Jersey South/Stage Three/EMI Blackwood/Steeltoe Dreamer/Sony-ATV Tree/Buddy Lloyd/nickfakenamemusic, BMI/ASCAP; Warner Bros.
—It’s a blue-collar rocker about a worker waiting for some improvement in his dead-end life. Heck, he even thinks his girlfriend is waiting for something better than him to come along.