Archive for December, 2010

Publisher Terrell Tye Passes

Nashville music industry veteran Terrell Tye, 58, passed away peacefully on Christmas morning at 7 a.m. She is survived by her loving sons Josh and Zack Allen and brother Dowell Tye. Tye was also the former wife of Grand Ole Opry member Hal Ketchum. Terrell Tye was a partner in Forerunner music, an innovative publishing [...]

Category: Featured, Publishing

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Sony Goes To The Cloud With Music Unlimited

Have you found yourself thinking lately, “Hey, I wish there were more subscription-based music services available to me as a consumer?” Right. We thought not. But apparently no one notified Sony, who unveiled its Music Unlimited service in the U.K. and Ireland this week boasting a catalog of approximately 6 million titles from Universal Music, [...]

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Category: Featured, Radio, Sales/Marketing

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Rodney Crowell Authors Memoir

Rodney Crowell will be releasing his memoir Chinaberry Sidewalks on January 18. A limited number of signed hard cover copies of Chinaberry Sidewalks are now available for purchase exclusively at RodneyCrowell.com and will ship directly to fans on or before January 18. Also available exclusively on Crowell’s website is a digital download of Rodney Crowell: [...]

Category: Artist, Featured

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Do Twitter Followers Equal Sales?

Billboard’s Antony Bruno does an excellent job peering under the hood at Soulja Boy’s recent Nov. 30 album release which managed to shift 13,000 units, a surprisingly modest debut considering the artist has 2.5 million Twitter followers. Does this mean that Twitter’s ability to influence and drive sales is becoming less important? What about for [...]

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Category: Artist, Featured, Sales/Marketing

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OMG, Email, WRU?

An article in the New York Times points out the growing divide between communication modes of people young and old. Not surprisingly, those in the younger bracket prefer real-time online chats and text messaging to traditional email. Actual phone calls have been on the decline for some time. Younger people tend to prefer a more [...]

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Category: Featured, Sales/Marketing

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Country ’10 Sales Fall Short

Nielsen SoundScan handicappers are now melancholy with the realization that country will not [...]

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Category: Artist, Featured, Label, Organizations, Sales/Marketing

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SoundExchange Reports Record Distributions, New Rates

SoundExchange reports its distributions to rights holders increased 55% in 2009 to $156 million. Total revenues rose 20% to 204.2 million. SoundExchange is a non-profit performance rights organization that collects statutory royalties from satellite radio (such as SIRIUS XM), Internet radio (like Pandora), cable TV music channels and similar platforms for streaming sound recordings on [...]

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Category: Artist, Featured, Publishing, Radio

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“Black Ops” Boasts Explosive Sales

Perhaps country labels should consider the possibility of making album releases into first person shooter video games. According to an article in the New York Post, Acitivision Blizzard’s Call of Duty: Black Ops game has crossed the $1 billion sales threshold in only 42 days. Though not quite in Avatar territory ($1B in 20 days), [...]

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Category: Featured, Sales/Marketing

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Garth Tickets on StubHub; Twain Gets Engaged

Shania Twain is on the cover of the latest issue of US Weekly, as her reps confirmed to the magazine that Twain is engaged to Frederic Thiebaud. Thiebaud is the ex-husband of Twain’s former friend Marie-Anne Thiebaud — the woman Robert “Mutt” Lange, Twain’s husband of 14 years, reportedly left Twain for in May 2008. [...]

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Category: Artist, Featured, Flood2010

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Hough’s Video Banned… Really?

Who can beat Celebrity Taste-makers when it comes to discerning between the jealous and the zealous? Their snarky wit is discerning and head turning. So when LA Times blog Ministry of Gossip asked the musical question, is Julianne Hough’s new video “Is That So Wrong” deserving of being “kinda banned” by CMT, as the young [...]

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Copeland Debuts “Smashville” Theme

Lewis Copeland recently debuted his original theme song “Smashville” at the Nashville Predators game vs. the San Jose Sharks (12/15). Later during a special performance at the Stage on Broadway, Copeland again performed the song. Among those present at the “Smashville” after party were several Nashville Predators Ice Girls who passed out Preds merchandise to [...]

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Category: Featured, Publishing

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Josh Turner Welcomes Son; Jake Owen Benefit Concert

Josh Turner and his wife, Jennifer, welcomed their third son, Crawford Marion Turner, on Monday, December 13. He was born at 8:52 p.m. at a Nashville hospital. He weighed 6 pounds, 15 ounces and was 19 inches long. Both baby and mother are doing well. “Jennifer and I are overjoyed at Marion’s arrival,” Turner says. [...]

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Fallon And Rich Holiday Duet On iTunes

Jimmy’s holiday ballad “Drunk on Christmas” has officially become a tradition on his show. Fallon reintroduced the song (12/16) on his show with country star John Rich, who came decked out in a Santa costume with golden cowboy boots. Seasons drinkings everybody! In the wake of response to the musical pairing, the “inappropriate holiday duet” [...]

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Category: Artist, Featured

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Country Thunder Lineup Expands

Country Thunder Festival stops in Arizona and Wisconsin have added additional performers to their lineups. Joining the performance schedule for the Florence, Arizona Country Thunder Festival April 7-10 are Clay Walker, Rodney Atkins, Eric Church, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and Neal McCoy. Previously announced performers include Jason Aldean, Toby Keith, and Martina McBride. Full weekend [...]

Category: Artist, Featured, Touring

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DISClaimer Single Reviews (12/21/10)

I dread this column every year. It’s not that I don’t like Christmas. Far from it. It’s [...]

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Category: Featured, Reviews

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Chrysalis Fetes Jeff Stevens Producer Honor

Chrysalis hosted a luncheon to congratulate Jeff Stevens on his inclusion in Billboard’s Year In Music 2010 Hot Country Songs Producers list. “2010 was a great year for Jeff,” says Chrysalis Nashville Executive VP Dale Bobo. “With another hit single (“Someone Else Calling You Baby”), a gold record for his production on Luke Bryan’s “Doin’ [...]

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Category: Featured, Publishing

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