Adkins and Petty Go Head to Head For Headache Powder

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Longtime competitors BC Powder and Goody’s Headache Powders have recruited country star Trace Adkins and NASCAR legend Richard Petty for what has been dubbed the Pick A Powder campaign. As part of the campaign, the two celebrities will play out a humorous rivalry of one-upsmanship about who experiences the toughest pain, with their respective brands leading the charge. 

The BC and Goody’s Pick A Powder campaign plays off the fierce and generational loyalty users have to either Goody’s or BC.

Both Adkins and Petty will try to get their fans around the country to pick their team online at www.pickapowder.com to support either Team Richard for Goody’s or Team Trace for BC. The man who gets the most fans to join his team will get to see the other “perform” live at the Goody’s 500 in Martinsville, VA next spring. The campaign also features a charity component with a donation being made to the Wounded Warrior Project on behalf of Adkins and BC, and Victory Junction Camp for seriously ill children on behalf of Petty and Goody’s.

Through a series of spoofs, jabs, challenges and contests, Adkins and Petty take on new experiences in each other’s profession that sometimes work and sometimes don’t. The funny moments were captured on film and will be posted to www.pickapowder.com. Fans will be able to watch 6-foot-6 Trace try to get in and out of Petty’s race car, and you’ll be able to hear Petty sing Karaoke. Fans of either or both men will be brought into the fold to help decide which brand is the favorite among powders users and which one of the two men truly suffers from the toughest pain.

Once registered, fans can vote daily through September 30, 2010. Fans and supporters will be able to participate in various contests and win prizes, including an all expense paid VIP trip for four to The Goody’s 500 at Martinsville Speedway (race tickets, air and hotel) for the Team Richard winner, and an all-expense paid VIP trip for four to a Trace Adkins concert stop (concert tickets, air and hotel) in early 2011 (location TBD) for the Team Trace winner. Winners will be announced in early October.

“I want to win and I want my fans to win, so I encourage everyone to join Team Trace,” said Adkins. “I want to see Richard feel some of my pain for a change. He thinks we have it so easy out here on the road, but he has no idea.”

MCN Promotes Dunn To VP Client Services

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Craig Dunn

Web design and e-commerce shop Music City Networks has named Craig Dunn as Vice President of Client Services.

After spending seven years on the road with Sara Evans, Dunn served as Music City Network’s Senior Account Manager, leading MCN’s internal team in the brainstorming and execution of online creative, marketing and community building strategies for clients such as Evans, Josh Turner, Lady Antebellum, Brad Paisley, Eric Church, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Little Big Town, Alison Krauss, and several more. Dunn also started MCN’s burgeoning ticketing division, now offering ticketing services to over 10 industry clients.

Along with his work at MCN, Dunn is the SOLID 2010 Communications Committee Chairperson.

Dunn can be reached at 615-250-2130 ext. 224 or via email [email protected].

Eminem Bringing Year’s Best Debut

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The new album from superstar rapper Eminem is expected to be the year’s biggest debut when sales tallies come in this week. Numerous early chart watchers are predicting sales upwards of 700,000 units.

Recovery has seen strong reviews (Rolling Stone gave it four stars), hit singles and a pre-release leak yielding good word-of-mouth. Among the tracks are collaborations with female pop stars Pink and Rihanna.

Also debuting on the SoundScan chart will be Miley Cyrus’ Can’t Be Tamed, which is expected to cross the 100,000-copy mark.

Friday News Bits & Pieces

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Garth Brooks Joins Daytime Emmys
Garth Brooks will be taking part in next month’s Daytime Emmy Awards. HollywoodReporter.com reports that the country superstar is among the celebrities who’ve signed on to help celebrate American Bandstand and its iconic host, Dick Clark, at the event. Others confirmed for the Bandstand salute include Cher, The Spinners, and Marie Osmond, along with Barry Manilow, Ann Margaret, American Idol judge Simon Cowell and Jay Leno.

Brad Paisley Charms British Media
Brad Paisley is in London performing two sold-out shows and guesting on BBC Breakfast on BBC One TV, the UK’s highest-rated morning show. He and show hosts Charlie Stayt and Sian Williams, chatted about why he wears a hat, how he met his wife and why he loves country music. On Wednesday Paisley visited with BBC Radio 2’s Bob Harris and taped a segment complete with an acoustic performance for Harris Country and also visited with Mark Coles on BBC World Service The Strand.

Lynyrd Skynyrd Honored by U.S. Congress
Legendary southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd was honored this week in the U.S. Congress by Florida Congressman Connie Mack and Alabama Congressman Spencer Bachus during a reception at the U.S. Capitol. The congressional honor for the group came during a visit to Washington including stops at both the Capitol and the White House. Representatives Bachus and Mack presented a Congressional Record tribute to the band members, recognizing the band’s career and successes.

Jaron Takes The Short Road To No. 1
Fans have been flocking to iTunes for the debut album from Jaron and The Long Road To Love, causing the album to soar to No. 1 on the iTunes Country Chart less than 24 hours after its release. Released on Tuesday (6/22), Getting Dressed in the Dark is currently in the Top 10 overall albums on iTunes. The albums leadoff single, “Pray For You,” has already reached Gold status, selling more than 500,000 copies.

The Return of Coal Miner’s Daughter
Loretta Lynn’s best-selling memoir, Loretta Lynn: Coal Miner’s Daughter, will be re-issued in September as an E-book, as an Audio Book and as a new trade paperback from Vintage Books. The audio book will be narrated by Sissy Spacek, who portrayed Lynn in Coal Miner’s Daughter, the Academy Award-winning film adaptation of the book. The publication coincides with the 50th anniversary of Lynn’s first single and the 30th anniversary of the film’s release.

Todd O’Neill – The Human Jukebox
Country newcomer Todd O’Neill is currently on a radio tour promoting his latest release “Somethin’ With Some Attitude,” and executives from his label are learning something new about the singer.

“He can basically sing anything from Otis Redding to Nickelback,” says Aria Records’ Barbara Farkas.
O’Neill started taking requests during station visits, amazing station staffers with his ability to perform virtually anything from any genre. From there, things evolved into a game where staffers write down requests and O’Neill plays them on the spot.

“He’s only been stumped twice,” Farkas says. “There was a Styx tune he
didn’t know and a rap song. That’s it. We call him the human jukebox.”

Currently collaborating with producer Jim Allison in the studio, O’Neill will be featured in Great American Country’s (GAC) Get To Know segments in July.

Nashville’s Cooperstand “Best Of Show” at NAMM
Last weekend’s NAMM show at the Nashville Convention Center featured well-known mega-companies like Fender, Gibson and Yamaha, but also turned the spotlight on smaller companies and products. One such product is the Nashville-made Cooperstand, a diminutive-and-durable instrument stand that folds up and fits into the headstock area of a guitar case. The brainchild of two Nashville songwriters – Melanie Dyer and Daniel Cooper – this innovative product was nominated in NAMM’s “Best of Show” category, the only Nashville-made product to earn that distinction. To learn more about this cool accessory, visit www.cooperstand.com.

CMT Previews “Big New Music”

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CMT will unveil a lineup of new music videos when CMT Big New Music Weekend returns in an exclusive, world premiere event Friday, June 18 through Sunday, June 20. Nine music videos will debut on CMT, CMT.com and CMT Pure from Lady Antebellum, Tim McGraw, Reba, Trace Adkins, Alan Jackson, LeAnn Rimes, Gary Allan, Danny Gokey and James Otto. 

The nine featured videos will include introductions by the artists themselves, and be the only videos aired throughout the weekend on CMT beginning at 5:00 AM/CT on June 18 during CMT Music Hours. All of the world premiere videos will be available for streaming on-demand at CMT.com, and will be the only highlighted videos on the site homepage for the weekend.

The weekend of new music is part of the network’s CMT Summer of Music, including this weekend’s premieres of The Singing Bee and CMT Crossroads: John Mayer and Keith Urban on Friday, June 18 at 8:00 PM and 9:00 PM/CT,  respectively.

“Last year’s inaugural Big New Music Weekend blew away ratings and sales expectations,” said Jay Frank, Senior Vice President of Music Strategy, CMT.  “Very quickly, this program has become a highly requested destination from artists, managers and labels to launch new videos across the biggest country audiences on all platforms.”
Video premieres included in CMT Big New Weekend include:

·        Lady Antebellum – “Stars Tonight”
·        Tim McGraw – “Still”
·        Reba – “If I Were a Boy”
·        Trace Adkins – “This Ain’t No Love Song”
·        Alan Jackson – “Hard Hat and a Hammer”
·        LeAnn Rimes – “Swingin’”
·        Gary Allan – “Get Off On the Pain”
·        Danny Gokey – “I Will Not Say Goodbye”
·        James Otto – “Groovy Little Summer Song”

Twitter Places Tweets Location

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Where are you? Where were you a few hours ago? Twitter users will find answers to these important questions when the social network rolls out its new Twitter Places functionality over the next week or so. “It helps to know where a Tweet is coming from,” says the Twitter blog. “Is that person watching the game on TV or is he actually in the stadium?”

Users will be able to tag tweets with specific places and create new Twitter Places. It will also be possible to search for recent tweets from a specific place. Naturally there will be API functionality to let programmers incorporate the new information streams into applications and widgets. Location-based social networks Gowalla and Foursquare will also be integrated into the mix.

Twitter expects to “roll out” Places in 65 countries over the coming week. Watch for an “Add your location” link below the Tweetbox to explore. Twitter devotees can follow @geo for updates about this new functionality which is expected to work with multiple browsers including Safari, Chrome, Firefox and Explorer.

A Google iTunes Entry?

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Apple’s iTunes store has a comfortable lock on music sales. According to NPD Group’s recent May 2010 report, the online Cupertino-based retailer now accounts for 70% of the digital music market and around 28% of all music purchased during the first quarter of 2010. For a company to successfully challenge Apple’s dominant position it would have to be extremely large, say as big as Google. And according to CNET.com, that is exactly what could be happening, as soon as this fall.

According to insiders, Google’s new service would offer both downloads and streaming music. An obvious tie-in is the search giant’s Android mobile operating system which has been rapidly gaining market share. Unlike the iPhone, Android OS is available on a wide variety of phones from a wide variety of carriers.

Reportedly, Google met with leaders from the four major record labels during the Consumer Electronics Show last January to discuss features that a possible service might offer. Techcrunch.com reported several weeks ago it found a “Google Music” logo hosted on Google’s domain.

Reportedly, labels would welcome a strong iTunes challenger to give them a stronger negotiating position in the marketplace. Amazon and MySpace have not been able to significantly weaken Apple’s dominance. Google recently purchased Simplify Media a sreaming, cloud-based service. iTunes bought LaLa last year, a similar company. Clearly all parties are working to launch some kind of cloud based streaming offering.

Taylor Swift Invites Fans To “Mix Me In2”

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Country superstar Taylor Swift was announced today (6/10) as the first artist to join forces with Mix Me In2, the groundbreaking technology developed by Atlanta-based Fried Green Apps. Executives from the company will be on hand Sunday (6/13) at Swift’s 13-hour Meet and Greet at the CMA Music Festival in Nashville to unveil “Mix Me In2 Taylor Swift,” a new iPhone App, powered by Mix Me In2’s patent-pending technology, which allows music lovers to literally go inside the music. Fans can use the app to create hundreds of different versions of their favorite songs. They can remove or change instruments. They can even mix themselves into the music by replacing existing instruments and vocals with their own. It’s an exciting way to experience–and creatively re-imagine–music.

“I love playing music, and I love creating music,” Swift said. “And, as somebody who is also a big music fan, I always love finding acoustic versions of my favorite songs. I think Mix Me In2 will be a great way for fans to have fun interacting with my music and to listen to new versions of my songs!”

In addition to the chart-topping original recording, each song in Mix Me In2 Taylor Swift comes with five previously un-released versions: rock, acoustic, urban, piano, and coffee house. All the music in Mix Me In2 Taylor Swift was approved and reviewed by Swift, her record label and management team. The Mix Me In2 Taylor Swift app will cost $2.99 and comes with two of her biggest hits, “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me.” Additional songs will cost $1.99 each.

“We are thrilled at the enthusiasm and support we have gotten from Taylor and her team throughout this process,” said Fried Green Apps CEO Bill Pike. “They have continually stressed how important it was to make this about the music and the fans’ enjoyment of it, which is exactly why we invented Mix Me In2.”

Fans can upload their versions of the songs to TaylorSwift.com and share them via Facebook and Twitter.

Though Swift is the first artist to release her original music through this groundbreaking app, Fried Green Apps is working with several other major record labels and artists. The company plans to release versions of the app for The Plain White T’s, Breaking Benjamin, and other major artists starting in the next few weeks.

“It’s more than an iPhone app,” said Grammy-winning producer Dallas Austin, a key player in the creation of Mix Me In.  “It turns every music fan into a music producer.”

OfficeMax Joins Lady A For Flood Relief

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OfficeMax has announced that the company is committing $50,000 to a fund-raising challenge as part of Lady Antebellum’s sold-out Fan Club Event benefiting Nashville flood relief on Thursday, June 10. The OfficeMax challenge, in which OfficeMax will match every dollar donated for Nashville schools up to a total of $50,000, will bring much needed support to replenishing essential supplies for Nashville-area schools destroyed in the recent floods.

“Our Nashville-based associates have participated in relief efforts since the flood occurred, and we are very excited to join Lady Antebellum in doing even more for this community,” says Paul Hertz, OfficeMax, Executive Vice President, Retail Operations. “As a company, we are acutely aware of challenges schools face in the best of times and we wanted to bring additional support to Nashville schools at this time of dire need.”

OfficeMax has a strong year-round commitment to helping schools and teachers.

“Most people simply don’t know that teachers spend their own money on classroom supplies,” adds Hertz. In fact, teachers across America spend as much as $4 billion each year of their own money on classroom supplies. For the past three years, OfficeMax has been honoring teachers and leading the fight to end teacher-funded classrooms through our national cause event called A Day Made Better where more than 1,000 teachers at 1,000 schools across the country receive $1,000 worth of classroom supplies. “Along with our nonprofit partner, Adopt-A-Classroom, we strive to make at least one day better for teachers by providing them with essential classroom supplies,” Hertz adds.

Two weeks ago, Lady Antebellum announced that all proceeds from this Event will benefit Nashville flood relief. In addition, a live stream of the intimate concert will be available on their web site for a minimum $5 donation. The live stream of the show will be hosted on www.ladyantebellum.com and www.livestream.com. To order tickets for the live stream concert, visit www.ladyantebellum.com/live.

Gloriana’s Milk Campaign Picks Winner

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ACM Top New Vocal Group of the Year and AMA Award winners Gloriana were featured on over 50 million milk containers in schools across the U.S. during March and April as part of the Milk Rocks! campaign. During the campaign thousands of students and Gloriana fans entered to win a $10,000 prize to use for future educational purposes from Paper Mate, a global leader in stylish, innovative writing instruments.

The winner has been chosen and thirteen year-old Robert K. Golz of Orland Park, Illinois will receive the scholarship money along with three tickets to attend an upcoming Gloriana concert and a chance to meet the band backstage.

The Milk Rocks! Program promotes healthy lifestyles and nutrition with milk as the focus. They utilize milk carton side panels (which includes access to tips from Paper Mate on how to be green, including information on Paper Mate’s new Biodegradable pen and mechanical pencil and the brand’s new writing instrument upcycling program), lunchroom posters, and online initiatives to communicate their messages. Milk Rocks! features some of today’s most popular recording artists and emerging talent. Milk Rocks is a member of the Ad Council’s Coalition for Healthy Children, whose mission is to provide clear, consistent, research-based messages to children and parents about the importance of practicing a healthier lifestyle and give them the means to improve their eating and physical activity habits.

In other Gloriana news, the band has been voted by fans into the final round of the 2010 CMT Music Awards for Group Video of the Year for their “How Far Do You Wanna Go?” music video directed by Kristin Barlowe. Fans can still vote today online at www.CMT.com to determine the final nominees for CMT’s ninth annual Awards show which will air live tonight (6/9) on CMT and CMT.com. The foursome will be at CMA Music Festival this week for several events including a performance at the Riverfront Stage on Saturday, June 12.