Archive for March, 2009
Robbins Nashville Drops In-House Promo Dept.; Moves To Outsource
Robbins Nashville’s decision to outsource its promotion department resulted in the departure today (3/11) of promo executives VP Tony Benken (tunegoon@comcast.net) and Dir. National Promotion Joe Redmond (joeredmond@juno.com). Observers may interpret this move to mean that the label’s life line is shrinking, but Music Row has learned it is more likely an economic-driven leap toward [...]
Sales Down, Hopes Up—3/11/09
Sales for the week ended 3/8/2009 were only notable if your artist is called U2 who debuted at the top of the list with a remarkable (especially in this day and age) showing of 484,000 units. Equally impressive was the band’s higher-than-normal digital share which equaled 32%. Neko Case’s No. 3 Top 200 chart debut [...]
Category: Featured, Label, Sales/Marketing
More Stars, Local Access Come To CMA Fest
Leaders of the Country Music Association, the Metro Government of Nashville, and the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau gathered at the Metro Courthouse today (3/11), to announce new plans for 2009 CMA Music Festival including the addition of a new stage on the Public Square in front of the Courthouse and free access for the [...]
Category: Artist, Featured, Label, Organizations, Publishing, Radio
Mark Chesnutt
“She Never Got Me Over You” Lofton Creek Responding to demand from radio, Mark Chesnutt‘s new single “She Never Got Me Over You” is being rush-released. Several stations, including WFMS/Indianapolis and KFTX/Corpus Christi, have already added it. It garnered 21 adds on MusicRow‘s CountryBreakout™ chart in its first week of being reported. Beaumont, Texas, native [...]
Category: ProgrammerPlaylist
Are Ticketers Getting Greedy?
Using Neil Diamond’s last summer New York Madison Square dates as an example, the Wall Street Journal recently pointed to the scalper-like practice known as ticket reselling. Under this scenario, done with the approval and full knowledge of the artist and manager involved, a limited number of the best seats are withheld from normal sale [...]
Underwood Croons Mötley Crüe for American Idol
ACM Entertainer of the Year nominee Carrie Underwood has recorded a version of Mötley Crüe’s “Home Sweet Home” for the upcoming season of American Idol. Beginning with the March 11 episode, the song will air each week as the farewell theme for contestants leaving the show. “Home Sweet Home” will release as an exclusive iTunes [...]
Category: Artist, Featured, Label, Radio, Sales/Marketing, Touring
Social Nets Get Facelifts
Twitter, home to about 6 million users, recently started to introduce design tweaks aimed at making the service more relevant and allowing users easier access to search across trends and more. The new features are spreading slowly, for example they still haven’t arrived on the Music Row Twitter page, but as they move throughout the [...]
Category: Featured, Sales/Marketing
Preston to Be Honored, Womack to Perform at Martell Foundation Honors Gala
Lee Ann Womack will join pop star Michael Bolton in performing at the inaugural Martell Foundation Honors Gala on March 25 to benefit the T.J. Martell Foundation. The black-tie event, which will take place at Nashville’s Loews Vanderbilt Plaza hotel, will honor four individuals for their humanitarian, philanthropic and career achievements, including former Vice President [...]
Category: Artist, Featured, Organizations
Here Come Some New Flatts Tracks
Rascal Flatts will make four new songs available from their upcoming CD, Unstoppable, in advance of the project’s April 7 release. Starting today (3/10), iTunes will feature “Here Comes Goodbye,” the album’s debut single and music video. In addition, Rascal Flatts will pre-release three additional songs from the album via iTunes each consecutive Tuesday leading [...]
Chesney Rolls Out The “Keg” At Nashville’s Exit In
Kenny Chesney and band have been busy rehearsing for their upcoming Sun City Carnival Tour, but even country superstars need a break once in a while. Fortunately for music fans, Chesney’s idea of a break is playing unannounced, no-holds-barred gigs at clubs throughout the Southeast. With another year of stadiums and arenas in his immediate [...]
Writer/Publisher Buzz
Songwriter D. Vincent Williams has opened Black Ink Music Publishing, a Nashville-based independent music publisher. A former staff writer for Warner-Chappell Music, Williams has penned hits including ACM Song of the Year “I’m Movin’ On,” recorded by Rascal Flatts, and James Otto’s recent No. 1, “Just Got Started Loving You.” He will serve as the [...]
Category: Featured, Organizations, Publishing
Team McGraw Strikes With “Bowling for Brains”
The Tug McGraw Foundation, founded in memory of pitcher Tug McGraw to fund brain tumor research, has announced its return to Nashville’s Country Music Marathon & 1/2 Marathon on Saturday, April 25. As a warmup for the big race, Team McGraw, an endurance sports training program that raises money and increases awareness for the Foundation, [...]
Category: Featured, Organizations
Hall of Fame, Dolly Unplugged & Sheila E. Goes Country
Ray Talks Hank The legendary Ray Price visited the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum recently (3/7) to share memories of his close friend and mentor, Hank Williams. The interview was hosted by WSM-AM radio personality Eddie Stubbs and was presented in conjunction with the museum’s exhibition Family Tradition: The Williams Family Legacy, co-Presented [...]
Godin Warns Radio At CRS
Seth Godin describes himself as “bestselling author, entrepreneur and agent of change.” (sethgodin.typepad.com) Judging by the intensity and depth of his CRS Keynote address (3/4) his quote seems accurate. Godin has written ten bestselling books including Tribes, Purple Cow and Meatball Sundae plus holds an MBA from Stanford University. The speaker began by suggesting that [...]
Category: Featured, Radio, Sales/Marketing
Injured Jewel Dancing With the Stars, NOT
She was psyched for the competition, but Jewel’s appearance on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars has been cancelled due to injuries. The singer collapsed during early rehearsals for the top-rated dance show. What was initially thought to be an attack of tendonitis or ligament strains turned out to be much more serious — fractured tibia [...]
ACM Names New Artist Award Winners
The Academy of Country Music has named Julianne Hough, Jake Owen and Zac Brown Band Top New Female Vocalist, Top New Male Vocalist and Top New Vocal Duo or Group, respectively. The Academy, along with Great American Country and dick clark productions, partnered to allow fans to decide the winners of the three categories through [...]
Category: Artist, Featured, Organizations
