Tag Archive for: featured-2

Who Wins the 2010 Current Country Album Sales Sweepstakes?

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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.

Verizon To Sell Apple's iPhone

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iPhone lovers, rejoice. After what seems like years of speculation, the beloved Apple Inc. smartphone will finally be unshackled from the oppressive tyranny of AT&T and available for use through the Verizon Wireless network. Viva la revolucion!
Verizon’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?

McGraw Tour Presale; Hill's Floral Collection

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Presale tickets for select dates of Tim McGraw’s recently announced Emotional Traffic Tour will be available today (1/11) for those registered at mcgrawfan.com. The trek gets underway in spring with special guests Luke Bryan and The Band Perry. Shows available for presale include Corpus Christi, TX (4/8); Bossier City, LA  (4/10); Savannah, GA (4/17); and Wichita, KS (5/19). Additional dates for the tour are expected to be announced shortly, and tickets will go on sale to the public Saturday, January 15.
The 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.

Garth Tickets at Wynn Las Vegas

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The next series of Garth Brooks concert dates at the Wynn Las Vegas were recently announced, and tickets will go on sale Saturday, January 15. Brooks has performed to sold-out audiences at the hotel’s intimate Encore Theater since December 2009 when he announced that he would end his retirement and become a resident headliner at the Wynn Las Vegas. Tickets for these concert dates are $225 plus service charge and tax ($253 total).
Concert Dates:
March 25 & 26
April 8 & 9
June 3 & 4
June 24 & 25
July 22 & 23
Concert times:
Fridays: 8 p.m. & 10:30 p.m.
Saturdays: 8 p.m. & 10:30 p.m.
Tickets are available exclusively at Ticketmaster.com or by calling 1-877-65-GARTH.

“All About Tonight” Goes No. 1

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The Georgian songwriting trio of Dallas Davidson, Rhett Akins and Ben Hayslip, also known as the “Peach Pickers,” celebrated their third No. 1 song in a year at a party held at BMI on January 7. Recorded by Blake Shelton, “All About Tonight” hit No. 1 in 2010 as did “All Over Me,” recorded by Josh Turner and “Gimmie That Girl” by Joe Nichols. “All About Tonight” also marks the 45th No. 1 single produced by Scott Hendricks.

(L-R) back: BMI’s Jody Williams; Warner Music Nashville’s Chris Stacey and John Esposito; BMI’s Leslie Roberts; EMI Music Publishing Nashville’s Ben Vaughn; producer Scott Hendricks; and BMI’s Perry Howard. Front: Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson, and Ben Hayslip. Photo: Steve Lowry

Kenny Chesney, Documentarian?

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Kenny Chesney’s love of football (see also: “The Boys Of Fall”) continues with the announcement that he has produced a one hour special for ESPN’s Year of the Quarterback series about former University of Tennessee quarterback Condredge Holloway. The special, titled “The Color Orange: The Condredge Holloway Story,” is set to air February 20, 7 pm CT on ESPN.
Chesney wore Holloway’s number as a high school football player, and idolized the college gridiron star. Holloway was the first African American quarterback in the Southeastern Conference, and went on to professional playing success with the Canadian Football League.
“Condredge has meant so much to so many and is a very important figure in my life and to the history of college football,” says Chesney. “I’m excited, with the help of Shaun Silva, to tell his story, to show his journey, and to help show the world just how influential he was to how the game is played today and how many doors he opened for so many athletes that have followed in his footsteps.”

Big Yellow Dog Re-ups Kear, Signs Anderson

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Big Yellow Dog Principals Kerry O'Neil and Carla Wallace with Josh Kear (center).


Big Yellow Dog Music has re-signed hit songwriter Josh Kear, and added songwriter “Big Al” Anderson to its roster. The company’s principals Carla Wallace and Kerry O’Neil have also promoted Brooke Arrington to Creative Director, assisting Wallace with songplugging and creative duties. The end of 2010 marked the publishing house’s 13th year in business, during which time it celebrated its 13th No. 1 single.

Creative Director Brooke Arrington


Among Kear’s hits is Lady Antebellum’s multi-award-winning smash “Need You Now.” The title track from the band’s current album was the most played song of 2010 across all formats, and is nominated for a 2010 GRAMMY Award for Song of the Year and Best Country Song. Kear won a GRAMMY in 2007 for Best Country Song for Carrie Underwood’s charttopper, “Before He Cheats.” Both songs have been awarded ASCAP Song Of The Year.
“Big Al” Anderson is a renowned songwriter and former member of the college of musical knowledge known as The New Rhythm and Blues Quartet, or more simply, NRBQ. He is behind hits for artists ranging from George Jones to Etta James to the Allman Brothers.
Additional staff writers at Big Yellow Dog Music include Shawn Camp, Daniel Tashian, Karyn Rochelle, Madeleine Slate, Pat McLaughlin, Logan Mize and Nikki Williams.
Brooke Arrington can be reached at 615-385-3130 or Brooke@bigyellowdogmusic.com.

Carla Wallace, "Big Al" Anderson and Brooke Arrington

Boot Founder Gets CMA Media Award

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(L-R) CMA Director of Media Relations Scott Stem, Beville Darden and CMA VP of Corporate Communications Wendy Pearl


The CMA has announced that its 2010 Media Achievement Award will go to Beville Darden, co-founder and editor of the Country Music news Website, TheBoot.com, which is distributed via AOL Music. Darden has also served as a music writer/reporter for both AOL.com and Spinner.com. After graduating from Mountain Brook High School in Birmingham, Ala., she attended Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Later she was a television news writer before a stint as an on-air personality at WSM Radio.
The CMA Media Achievement Award was established to recognize outstanding achievements in the media as they relate to Country Music. Print and Internet journalists, columnists, authors, editors, syndicated radio reporters, television writers, producers and bookers are eligible to win this award.
“I am beyond humbled,” said Darden. “A CMA Award? I can’t carry a tune in a bucket! But it is my honor every single day to write about those who can. The Country Music industry has been so welcoming to The Boot, and we owe our success to all of the wonderful publicists, labels, and artists who work so closely with us to bring unique content to Country Music fans. Thank you to the voters and to my wonderful friends at CMA!”
TheBoot was founded in 2004 and receives more than 64,000 site visits per day according to StatBrain.com. CMA’s recent consumer research study reveals that 14 percent of Online CountryPhiles and 10 percent of Online MusicPhiles visit AOL Music (TheBoot) for Country Music content once a week or more. Content is posted daily and archived with 2,800 features currently stored in the Country news category.
Past winners of the CMA Media Achievement Award include:
1982 Jack Hurst
1983 Neil Hickey
1984 Dolly Carlisle
1985 Red O’Donnell
1986 No Award
1987 David Zimmerman
1988 Robert K. Oermann
1989 Bob Claypool
1990 Dick Heard
1991 No Award
1992 Mark McEwen
1993 Lynn Lester
1994 Judy Massa
1995 Clay Smith
1996 Tisi Aylward
1997 Jay Orr
1998 Chet Flippo
1999 Hazel Smith
2000 Neil Pond
2001 Harry Chapman
2002 Jim Patterson
2003 Denise Quan
2004 Alanna Nash
2005 Mark Bracco
2006 Donna Hughes
2007 Storme Warren
2008 Monica Escobedo
2009 Cynthia Sanz

Steel Magnolia Added To New Faces Show

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Big Machine recording act Steel Magnolia has been added to the CRS 2011 New Faces of Country Music Show, Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc.® announced today (1/7). They join previously announced performers The Band Perry (Republic Nashville), Lee Brice (Curb Records), Jerrod Niemann (Sea Gayle/Arista Nashville) and Josh Thompson (Columbia Nashville).
The addition was made to accommodate Easton Corbin’s move to a performance slot at Country Radio Seminar’s UMG luncheon, to be held Wednesday, March 2. Additional UMG luncheon performers will be announced in the coming weeks.
The New Faces of Country Music Show takes place Friday, March 4, at 6 p.m. CST. CRS 2011 is held March 2-4, 2011, at the Nashville Convention Center. For more information, visit www.CRB.org.

One Million Carrie Underwood Fans Can't Be Wrong

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Carrie Underwood’s popular headlining Play On Tour recently wrapped in Connecticut after playing 108 shows in the US and Canada with one million fans total in attendance. The tour was presented by AEG Live, with sponsorship by Olay and hydration by vitamin water. Underwood finished 2010 as the top-ranked female touring country artist. Special guests throughout the tour included Craig Morgan, Billy Currington, and Sons of Sylvia.
The Play On Tour was directed by Raj Kapoor, with sets designed by Michael Cotten (Michael Jackson’s This Is It), and costuming by Soyon An. The massive tour and production is currently nominated for a Pollstar Concert Industry Award for “Most Creative Stage Production.”
In other Underwood news, the singer is nominated for a Golden Globe in the Best Original Song–Motion Picture category for “There’s A Place For Us” from Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Underwood co-wrote the song with frequent collaborators Hillary Lindsey and David Hodges. The 68th Annual Golden Globes air January 16 at 7 pm CT on NBC.