Author Archive: David M Ross
David M. Ross has been covering Nashville's music industry for over 25 years. dross@musicrow.com
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 [...]
Category: Artist, Featured, Sales/Marketing
Country ’10 Sales Fall Short
Nielsen SoundScan handicappers are now melancholy with the realization that country will not achieve flat sales compared with 2009. With two 2010 sales weeks remaining—one leading into the holiday and one after,
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Category: Artist, Featured, Label, Organizations, Sales/Marketing
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 [...]
Category: Artist, Featured, Publishing, Radio
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 [...]
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 [...]
Category: Featured, Publishing
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” [...]
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’ [...]
Category: Featured, Publishing
Music Evolves From Commodity To Experience
A recent Wall Street Journal article by Damian Kulash Jr., lead singer and guitarist of rock band OK Go delves into some of the corners around which the new models are being built. “We once relied on investment and support from a major label,” says Kulash. “Now we make a comparable living raising money directly from fans and through licensing and sponsorship. Music isn’t going away. We’re just moving out of the brief period—a flash in history’s pan—when an artist could expect to make a living selling records alone.”
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Durante Plays WPOC Show
Emrose/Stroudavarious/Nine North’s Margaret Durante played the WPOC Charm City Country Showcase at Hightopps Backstage Grill in Baltimore last night while promoting her single “Mississippi’s Crying.” Durante, now 22 years old is a native of Potomac, Maryland. Some of her influences include Mary Chapin Carpenter and Bonnie Raitt whose voices gave her a love of “soulful, [...]
Almon Opens Private Practice
Orville Almon has announced he will open a private practice on Jan. 3, 2011. Almon, a founding partner of Zumwalt, Almon and Hayes and known for his expertise in contract law, is now making the jump to focus more on business affairs for entertainment and corporate entities. “The business model for an entertainment law firm [...]
Category: Featured
iTunes And Amazon Consolidate Leads
According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, “Amazon Can’t Dent iTunes,” when it comes to selling music. One of the key differences between the two music retailers is pricing. Amazon often employs steep discounts to draw consumers. For example, Amazon will sometimes price new front line albums $3.99. iTunes usually sells albums for $9.99 [...]
Category: Featured, Sales/Marketing
Zumwalt Firm Embraces New Model
Entertainment law firm Zumwalt, Almon & Hayes, founded in 1975, is joining with Shackelford, Melton & McKinley creating the only law firm with offices in Nashville, Dallas and Austin. Beginning Jan. 1 the new group in Nashville will be named Shackelford, Zumwalt & Hayes. The newly combined firm brings together over 45 lawyers with experience [...]
Category: Featured, Financial/Legal
