Third Quarter Sales Slide Continues

David M Ross – 10/03/2008

The third quarter quietly passed with hardly a murmur, overshadowed by weighty issues such as the $700 billion plan created to save us from a global financial meltdown. However the music industry, and country music in particular, nonetheless felt the heat in the form of falling sales and ski slope graphs. Looking at the industry overall, album sales (including digital) are off 12% YTD. Digital albums are up 32%. Country music has fared about 30% worse finding itself down 16.6% YTD. Country digital album sales are up 22%, climbing from 5.2% to 7.6% as a percentage of total albums sold (physical & digital).

Downloading our attention to the digital tracks list, the top country song downloaded last week was Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” which sold 113,000 copies. Country debuts included Randy Rogers Band (17,435), Old Crow Medicine Show (10,231) and lone Lonestar veteran Richie McDonald (2,585).

Glenn Peoples of Coolfer.com, a Nashville-based industry blog, points out that sales dropped sharply in September, “The year-over-year decline for the four full weeks of September was 20.4%. From January through August, the average decline was only 9.3%,” he notes. Peoples adds that four weeks is not necessarily a trend, “Not much can be read into any single four-week period. A number of factors could be involved. Since the mid-year point, album sales had been faring well compared to 2007. But the recent drop is noticeable and merits close attention.”

Country 2008: A Year End Report

David M. Ross – 01/06/2009

Click on the image to download the pdf...

The country music record business was especially hard hit as the previous year’s drop of 16.3% rose to 24% in 2008. Actual country album sales (physical and digital) toppled from 62.7 to 47.6 million, a new all time low under the SoundScan era.

Country 2008: A Year End Report asks questions and presents much of the past year’s key data.

Click on the image to download the pdf...

Nashville-Related Music Obituaries, 2008

The loss of two Country Music Hall of Fame members in 2008 was a major blow to the Nashville music community. But we lost many other friends as well. Here is a look back at...

Industry News Tuesday (1/6/09)

Kenny Chesney’s 2008 tour drew more fans than any other outing last year in all genres. “There will always be tours that gross more than us,” says Chesney, whose tour came in fourth in overall...

WMBA Co-Hosts Toys For Tots Benefit

01/05/2009

The Women's Music Business Association (WMBA) co-hosted a Toys For Tots Benefit with Lightning 100 to a packed house at 3rd & Lindsley recently. The event was so successful, Lightning 100 has invited WMBA to sign on for next year, and make this an annual event. The Marines, who oversee Toys For Tots, collected an abundance of toys for needy children.

Pictured are the WMBA Board Officers, with performers Chris Wallin, Tim Nichols, John Kennedy and Kaci Bolls.

Carson James Joins BBR

Sarah Skates – 01/05/2009

Carson James

Broken Bow Records has named veteran radio promotion executive Carson James Senior Vice President of Promotions. He most recently spent nearly 10 years in the same role at Curb Records.

"When Jim Yerger (Broken Bow Executive VP) first approached me about this opportunity, I jumped at the chance to work with a group of people that I've had such respect and admiration for over the years," says James. "It's a great way to kick off a new year, and I'm ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work."

"We're extremely thrilled to have Carson join our family," says Yerger. "His experience, confidence and enthusiasm made him the logical choice as the newest addition to our team."

James is already at work and may be reached at the Broken Bow offices at 615-244-8600, ext. 16 or carsonjames@brokenbowrecords.com.

AFM Pres. Pomeroy Suffers House Fire

Sarah Skates – 01/05/2009

Musician and newly elected AFM Pres. Dave Pomeroy suffered an extensive fire in his home over the weekend. Though some of his irreplaceable instruments survived, Pomeroy lost his beloved dog Duke in the blaze. He says, “the outpouring of love and sympathy I have received from all my friends and family has sustained me through this ordeal.” He can be contacted at earwave@aol.com.

CRB Accepting Nominees For Radio Awards

Sarah Skates – 01/05/2009

Country Radio Broadcasters is accepting applications for the 2009 Radio Humanitarian and Promotion Awards to be given at CRS-40, taking place March 4-6, 2009. Both awards will be presented to stations in large, medium and small market categories. Details and applications, due Jan. 9, 2009, are available at www.crb.org. Radio Promotion Award winners will receive a free trip to this year's Country Radio Seminar.

CRS-40 will be held March 4-6, 2009 at the Nashville Convention Center. Complete seminar information may be obtained by contacting CRB at 615-327-4487 or by visiting www.crb.org. Advance rate registration is still available for $599 through Jan. 15. The regular rate of $699 expires Feb. 6. On-site registration is $749.

Hall To Keep Famed Instruments

Sarah Skates – 01/02/2009

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum will get to keep the instruments once belonging to Mother Maybelle Carter and Bill Monroe in exchange for paying a $750,000 settlement to the estate of the late Robert McLean, a businessman who allegedly used fraudulent methods to donate the guitar and mandolin to the institution.

The Museum has been negotiating with handlers of McLean’s estate since he committed suicide in 2007. He was accused of swindling investors out of more than $67 million, and “donating” a portion of that money to the Museum so that it could purchase the instruments.

The settlement is still subject to United States Bankruptcy Court approval, with the money going to the creditors in the bankruptcy proceeding. Both sides believe this resolution is a fair compromise and are glad it will be handled without a costly court battle.

RPM Management Pres. Scott Siman and Museum Chairman Steve Turner are leading a fundraising campaign to offset the Museum’s costs. Contributions can be made by contacting the Museum’s Vice President of Development Karen Fleming at 615-416-2024. A loan will be used to pay the difference.

Sony Adds To A&R Department

Sarah Skates – 12/23/2008

Lisa Ramsey-Perkins

Lisa Ramsey-Perkins has joined Sony Nashville as Sr. Director, A&R. She moves over from Disney Music Publishing where she most recently served as Vice President. She had spent more than three years with the company, handling day-to-day operations, catalog acquisition, signing writers and catalog exploitation. Her new contact information is Lisa.Ramsey-Perkins@sonybmg.com and 615-301-4413.

One Billion Songs Downloaded This Year

Sarah Skates – 12/23/2008

As the year draws to a close, music sales are headed for a major milestone: more than 1 billion digital tracks legally purchased during a year. Nielsen SoundScan estimates the total individual song downloards for 2008 will reach 1,040,000. This is about a 28% increase from 2007. According to the LA Times, the Top 200 tracks accounted for 17% of the song sales, with Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love” the best-selling download of the year with 3.3. million. Nielsen first predicted passing the billion download mark in April.