Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
BILLBOARD.COM/NEWSLETTERS EDITED BY TOM ROLAND, [email protected] DECEMBER 4, 2014 | PAGE 1 OF 8
INSIDEMakin’ Tracks:
Brantley Gilbert’s
‘One Hell Of An Amen’
>page 2
Stark Report: ‘Song
Suffragettes’ >page 3
Questions Answered:
WhyHunger’s Bill Ayres
>page 4
Brooks & Dunn Reunited >page 4
David Nail’s ‘Kiss’
Lasts At Radiofeedback
>page 8
Tim McGraw scores his first No. 1 in nearly four years on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs — and his first on the list since it switched from measuring core country radio audience to a sales/airplay/streaming hybrid two years ago — with “Shot-gun Rider” (McGraw/Big Machine), which steps 2-1 to become his 25th career leader. McGraw last reached the summit when “Felt Good on My Lips” began a three-week reign on the Jan. 8, 2011 chart. After three weeks at its No. 2 peak on Country Digital Songs, “Shotgun” ranks at No. 3 with 33,000 downloads sold du r i ng t he t rack i ng week (down 7 percent), with total sales of 232,000, according to Nielsen. Following a No. 20 peak on last week’s Country Streaming Songs tally (dated Dec. 6), the track dips to No. 23 with 667,000 total U.S. streams, down 10 percent.
Nashville resident Craig Wayne Boyd, a contestant on NBC’s The Voice, storms Country Digital Songs at No. 1 with “I Walk the Line” (Republic), following a Nov. 24 performance of the 1956 Johnny Cash classic on the show. Boyd’s cover
starts with 46,000 downloads sold and earns the Hot Shot Debut at No. 15 on Hot Country Songs. The track enters the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 84, where it’s the song’s first appear-ance since Jaye P. Morgan’s cover reached No. 66 in 1960.
Dating to the launch of Country Digi-tal Songs (January 2010), Boyd is the third TV talent-show contestant to debut at No. 1 on that chart — Scotty McCreery did so in June 2011 with “I Love You This Big,” followed by Cassadee Pope’s “Over You” in De-cember 2012.
Boyd’s Voice performance was an emotional one. He borrowed Cash’s song, but not the classic boom-chick-a-boom tempo of the original, and re-cast it as a slow, soulful ballad. Be-fore the performance, Boyd handed his coach, Blake Shelton, a replica of a necklace worn by their mutual
close friend and mentor Wayne Mills, a Nashville-based singer-songwriter who was killed a little more than a year ago (Oct. 23, 2013) after being shot in the head at a Nashville nightclub. In addition to mentoring Shelton and Boyd, Mills was an early supporter and mentor of Jamey Johnson, among others.
WADE JESSEN [email protected]
Country MID- WEEK
UPDATE
McGraw Rides ‘Shotgun’ To No. 1; Boyd Salutes Cash, Mills On ‘Voice’
THE COUNTRY MUSIC INDUSTRY’S MUST-HAVE SOURCE FOR NEWS, ANALYSIS AND CHART INFO EVERY MONDAY AND THURSDAY
Lee Ann Photoglo, 615-376-7931, [email protected] ADVERTISE, CONTACT:
Get your message front and center with top country radio programmers and other
key music infl uencers
Country UPDATE
It’s a painful truism: Death is a part of life. The losses can pile up, and some-times if several deaths occur within a short period of time, or a person doesn’t fully process the emotions that come with them, a new death can trigger what professionals call “cumulative grief.”
One of the healthiest ways to deal with the pain is to talk it out, which makes songwriting a perfect place to release a multitude of difficult feelings. Radio programmers may not be clamoring for songs about funerals, but when those tunes work, they can be extraordinarily powerful ve-hicles for healing.
That’s a possibility for “One Hell of an Amen,” a new single that seems to have helped Brantley Gilbert process some cumulative grief. It links two different deaths that affected people in his life: a soldier whose death in Afghanistan was witnessed by one of Gilbert’s best friends; and Gilbert’s hometown buddy Kory Potts, who died of leukemia in May 2011 at age 23.
Gilbert did a lot of talking about the two dur-ing a songwriting effort with independent singer- songwriter Brian Davis in the midst of an Eric Church tour in early 2012. Davis had a title he had logged into his phone — “One Hell of a Hallelujah” — and it inspired some thoughts about the soldier who died in battle. As Gilbert recounted the details, Davis could relate: He had grown up in North Carolina in the shadow of Fort Bragg and Camp Lejeune, and knew some enlisted men who had gone off to war.
“If I didn’t have music, I would have jumped in the same boat with those boys,” says Davis. “They went overseas, and some of them didn’t make it back.”
The details in the first verse laid out the story — the parents dressed in black, the folded flag — and when they threw in a 21-gun salute, the “hallelujah” title became an “amen.” “When we started talking about the final goodbye, that’s what ‘amen’ really is,” observes Davis.
They didn’t finish “Amen,” though, until they met up with co-writer Mike Dekle (“Country Must Be Country Wide,” “Scarlet Fever”) at a hotel in Myrtle Beach, S.C., where Gilbert and Davis were playing at the House of Blues.
“They may have done something with the first verse,” recalls Dekle. “We just sort of pieced the thing together and took the second verse and ran with it.”
Davis and Gilbert were concerned, though. The funeral imagery in that first verse was graphic enough that they thought it could limit the song’s commer-cial potential. Dekle essentially told them to ignore the results and concentrate on the process.
“Dekle was like, ‘Hey, man, we need to just write what it’s supposed to be and let the song take itself where it needs to go,’ ” remembers Davis. “After that, we didn’t really look back, and we let all the emotion run into the song.”
For the second verse, Gilbert mentioned the experience at home in Jefferson, Ga., with Potts. When he received his cancer diagnosis, Potts literally told the doctor, “Bring it on.” Although his fight ultimately ended at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, his community rallied around him.
“One of the things that made it so impactful was small-town talk goes around like a bad virus sometimes, and small towns can be really divided,” recounts Gilbert. “People were legitimately concerned and prayed, and we came together as a town.”
The Potts-inspired second verse poured out of Gilbert with relative ease — “It almost wrote itself like we had somebody helping us,” he says — and the chorus they matched up with the soldier and the cancer patient carried the song’s intent home.
“The stories themselves, I think, invoke emotion,” says Gilbert, “but the chorus, it’s not sad and dreary. It’s almost a prideful thing, like I’m proud to know those guys.”
Gilbert and Davis created a demo that used an acous-tic guitar to set the tone in the first verse. Producer Dann Huff (Keith Urban, The Band Perry) saw its merit, but he took the song in a little more artsy direc-tion when Gilbert’s band gathered for a master session at John and Martina McBride’s Blackbird Studios.
“We got in the studio and got a little ambitious,” says Huff with a laugh. “You always try to make stuff better, you know — most of the time, I think we usu-ally do. In this case, the opposite happened. I think we kind of got lost.”
Big Machine Label Group president/CEO Scott Borchetta said as much when they played him the music and sent them back for a second attempt. In ret-rospect, that first attempt had focused on the tragedy of the loss. The song’s real power was in the bravery of the two guys who fought back when death came calling.
Huff played acoustic guitar during the second run at Blackbird, setting the tone in that first verse. Gil-bert band members Jess Franklin and John Mer-
lino added electrics, with Merlino contributing a concise arena-rock solo. Their crunchy rhythm parts in the second verse give it what Huff calls a “country-metal” flare. Brantley topped it off with a spitty, reedy vocal.
“He’s not performing a lyric. He’s conveying a bit of his life,” notes Huff. “It’s fun to watch him sing. It’s not like a sterile type of a discipline with him coming into the studio, you know. There’s no lyrics in front of him, none of that stuff.”
Given the subject matter, Gilbert wasn’t convinced it would get a hearing at radio. So when Valory made it a single (officially releasing it via Play MPE on Nov. 3), he was encouraged by the label’s faith that the positives in the message outweighed the darkness of the topic.
“Death isn’t something that’s comfortable to talk about, ever,” concedes Gil-bert. “But the thing about that song is it’s about fighting the good fight, and the good fight to me is what you do in the middle. Everybody’s born and everybody dies, but what you do in the good fight is what matters.”
And Gilbert is ready for a fight with “One Hell of an Amen.” “Any time you put ‘hell’ and ‘amen’ in the same sentence, you know there’s
gonna be a little bit of feedback, you know, like holding a guitar too close to the amp,” he says. “But when it comes down to the song, I stand behind it.”
Thus far, it’s at No. 50 after three weeks on Country Airplay. But the chart position — and what it means for the writers’ wallets — is less important than the feedback they have received from soldiers and cancer victims who have latched onto “Amen.”
“It’s something that does what music’s supposed to do, which is bigger than [simply] something on the chart,” says Davis. “Music is supposed to change lives and be a shoulder when people need it. It’s supposed to be there for people. It’s not just there for us.”
BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE DECEMBER 4, 2014 | PAGE 2 OF 8
Gilbert’s ‘Amen’ Finds The Power In A Too-Soon Goodbye
MAKIN’ TRACKS TOM ROLAND [email protected]
GILBERT
Frustrated by the lack of opportunities available for young women in country music, Nashville-based production company Todd Cassetty Welding Service set out to do something about it. In March, the company launched a weekly live show, Song Suffragettes, with a rotating group of performers.
Since then, the Monday night show has outgrown its original venue, 3rd and Lindsley Backstage, and relocated to downtown Nashville’s Listening Room Cafe. It typically draws a crowd of 100-plus people a week, an eclectic mix of industry execs, singer-songwriters, local music fans and tourists. It’s now the venue’s largest regularly scheduled weekly event, and it has also attracted a presenting sponsor, Country Outfitter, which provides the performers with boots and gives away a pair at every show.
Nashville TV personality Kelly Sutton acts as show host. The program’s organiz-ers have begun to invite country singers with record deals to sit in as guest perform-ers, like Valory Music’s RaeLynn, Curb’s Ruthie Collins and Black River’s Kelsea Ballerini have all done.
More importantly, the series is provid-ing exposure for female singer-songwrit-ers working to establish themselves in mainstream country music. Alex Mas-ters recently signed a publishing deal with Sony/ATV. Kalie Shorr has more than 10,000 YouTube subscribers. A third woman recently landed an audition with Big Machine Label Group after an A&R scout saw her at a Song Suffragettes show.
Says founder Todd Cassetty, who curates the shows with producer Helena Capps, “That’s the kind of thing that’s starting to happen, and it’s great to see opportunities come to these deserving young women.” Cassetty’s team auditions two or three potential performers every week for the in-demand slots because, he says, the show has now “established a reputation of being a badge of honor if you’re a young female songwriter.”
“It’s been really fun to see it grow,” says Daisy Mallory, a regular Song Suf-fragettes performer.
The women have begun collaborating on their songwriting efforts to help others get exposure as well. “Our goal is that the girls all support each other as a song-writing community,” says Shorr.
The series has another key goal: increasing the format’s currently dismal male-to-female ratio.
Says Cassetty, “When you look at the radio charts in the past year or so, there just aren’t that many females getting airplay. So our hope for this thing was that we help introduce more females in the genre.”
Shorr, 20, who has been part of the show since its launch, says, “We’re smart enough to know it’s not just about talent. Obviously every girl on that stage is tal-ented. It’s about competing in a competitive market, and that’s what we’re out there to prove — that our songs are good enough to be on the radio, good enough to be on the charts.”
“I grew up listening to ’90s music, and every time I turned on the radio there was a girl singing,” says Mallory, 21, who has also been involved with Song Suf-fragettes since the beginning. “I love the music that’s on the radio now, but there’s definitely a lack of women, so this show is really cool. We get all these girls to-
gether, and it shows there are a lot of really talented girls in this town that aren’t being heard and recognized. The fact that we can all come together and showcase that, and also meet each other and empower each other, is what’s really cool.”
Cassetty and Capps are specifically seeking “female artists that are either ready to be on the radio today, or we see as being able to evolve into being on main-stream country radio at some point in the future,” says Cassetty. “We’re not doing fringe stuff. We’re not doing Americana stuff. We’re looking for female artists
who are writing and playing mainstream country music.”
Capps handles booking. Cassetty calls her “the heart of Song Suffragettes ... be-cause she’s a young female and she’s in tune with what other young females want to hear that are fans of country music.”
Creative Artists Agency’s Blake Mc-Daniel is an avid supporter of Song Suf-fragettes and has been a sounding board for Cassetty since the show’s launch. “The most important aspect of the show is that it gives women a safe place to develop,” says McDaniel. “For female artists to be successful in this [radio] environment they have to be unique and authentic, and they have to really know and be comfort-able with who they are and have a mes-
sage.” Song Suffragettes, he says, provides them with a place to “develop and dis-cover all those things.”
For added exposure, Todd Cassetty Welding Service films each show, and reg-ularly updates the Song Suffragettes website and social media pages with fresh video content. Country Outfitter is also hosting a Song Suffragettes video series on its entertainment site, Country Outfitter Style. Each episode introduces a new singer-songwriter who regularly performs with Song Suffragettes. At least one first-timer is booked on the show every week, and all of the performers are allowed to sell their own CDs and EPs after the shows.
The Listening Room stage is decorated for the performances with curtains, lamps, a plush white rug and upholstered chairs. Cassetty calls the decor “the shabby chic Muzik Mafia.” The shows last an hour, and the performers close each one with different cover song that they sing together. On Monday night’s show, it was Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space.”
While Cassetty says the support from Music Row has been “huge,” he wants to increase it by reaching out to the community with a message: “We’re all trying to fight the good fight for women in country music, so come out and be part of this movement we’re creating. My hope is that other women in country music, either from a performer standpoint or a music business standpoint, will support efforts like this to try to turn the ship.”
Cassetty says the gratitude the Song Suffragettes have shown is one of the most rewarding aspects of the project.
“They didn’t have a place to play, and they didn’t have a place that could be all about the female perspective on things. Once upon a time that was a possibility in country music. It’s not right now, and they’re so appreciative of the opportu-nity and the relationships they’re building with other females in this town,” he says. “They’re all becoming friends. They’re all writing together. And their craft is getting better … because they [have been] encouraged to do it more often.”
BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE DECEMBER 4, 2014 | PAGE 3 OF 8
‘Song Suffragettes’ Both Unites And Empowers Female Artists
THE STARK REPORT PHYLLIS STARK [email protected]
From left: Artists Nicole Johnson, Kalie Shorr, Lena Stone, Daisy Mallory and Jordyn Mallory.
How do the holidays affect a hun-ger organization? You do raise a lot of capital during this time, and a lot of people want to volunteer, but why don’t you do it in the summertime when nobody wants to volunteer? We don’t turn people away, but a lot of people donate this time of year, [and] then you don’t see them or hear from them again. People think hunger/Thanksgiving, and that’s great, except it happens 12 months of the year. So we are very fortunate in having all these radio stations help us and also having this program, Artists Against Hunger and Poverty. Bruce Springsteen raises money for us dur-
ing the year. Michael McDonald is just finishing up a tour right now, and he raised money for us.
Do you feel like Nashville could get more involved? We would love to be more involved with country artists. A lot of them are involved with Feeding America, which is a great charity. They work with a lot of grass-roots support organizations to get them food. We do other things. We help get them resourc-es, we help get them a different quality of food than they are getting from food manufacturers, we help them get nutrition education programs. We also try to help emergency food providers move beyond emergency food into getting people out of poverty. So if any country artists are interested in getting at the root causes of hunger, which is poverty, we should be their game.
That seems related to what has been happening in Ferguson, Mo. Pov-erty and hunger go together, and if you can’t get a job, you’re not going have money. Yeah, give people jobs. There’s a radical idea. I just met a guy yesterday. He runs this program called St. John’s Bread and Life over in Brook-lyn, and we’ve helped them a lot. They started as a food pantry. Gradually they got to the point of providing a whole bunch of services because they ask the “why” questions. That’s why we call it WhyHunger. They’ll say, “Why are you here?” If they find out the person doesn’t have a job, OK. They don’t have a place to live, healthcare, childcare … it’s a multiservice, one-stop shop kind of place. That’s the kind of groups that we absolutely love to help, because they aren’t just giving people food — they help people get their dignity back. They help people get out of poverty. —Tom Roland
BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE DECEMBER 4, 2014 | PAGE 4 OF 8
Q U E ST I O N S
AnsweredBill Ayres
Executive Director, WhyHunger
When WPLJ New York air personality Bill Ayres met pop artist Harry Chapin in 1975 through his show On This Rock, they found a com-monality that led to the establishment of WhyHunger. The agency does a major Hungerthon every year at Thanksgiving through Sirius XM, and a number of country acts have donated prizes to help its auction at CharityBuzz: Kenny Rogers was an early financial sup-porter. Since Chapin died in 1981, Ayres has kept the program run-ning faithfully for the last three decades.
This year, you have had Martina McBride and Jason Aldean auc-tion items. How significant are the country things for you? Very significant. Especially the country acts that have flyaways. You know, you get a pair of tickets and you fly to whichever city you choose on their tour and you get to meet them. Jason Aldean. Eric Church. Luke Bryan is in there. Martina McBride is a little bit differ-ent. You got two tickets to her concert in Red Bank, N.J., on Dec. 5. Plus, she has her own show on SiriusXM satellite radio, so you get to go on the show with her.
How difficult is it to coordinate those kinds of events? We don’t, really. Sirius does it for us. If you go to Hungerthon.org, you’ll see about 150 items there. Altogether it was about 170 items, but a lot of them have [closed] already. We have a Kenny Chesney one, too. That’s at $9,100. We have two tickets to the 90th-anniversary celebration of the Grand Ole Opry. Trisha Yearwood has signed a guitar for us. The Jason Aldean [bidding] is at $4,500. But what happens sometimes, at the end is people go in and do what is called “popcorning.” Boom, boom, boom; they kind of make waves and move [the prices] up.
BROOKS & DUNN RETEAM IN VEGAS
Brooks & Dunn performed Sept. 2, 2010 in Nashville in what was billed as the final show in the duo’s farewell tour. But not every goodbye is permanent: Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn will reunite with former touring partner Reba McEntire for at least a dozen shows with Together in Vegas, a residency at Caesars Palace that launches June 24. Tickets go on sale on Dec. 4. An official release referred to the 12 concerts, currently scheduled through Dec. 12, 2015, as “initial dates,” suggesting more performances are possible. Florida Georgia Line has been added to the lineup for New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest from Times Square on ABC. Taylor Swift was already onboard for the year-end special, which now includes New York-based talent Magic and Idina Menzel; Los Angeles partiers Fergie, Meghan Trainor, One Direction and Charlie XCX; and Nashville performances from Gavin DeGraw and Lady Antebellum.
The holidays are definitely here. Chely Wright will take part in the national Christmas tree lighting at the White House Dec. 4, while Brenda Lee joins Nash-ville actor Eric Close as guests in the Dec. 5 Nash-ville Christmas Parade. Additionally, more than 10 acts have entries in the Opryland Parade of Trees, where fans can bid for them in an online charity auc-tion . Contributors include Kenny Chesney, Dolly Parton, Little Big Town and Zac Brown Band. Two acts that appeared in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade just announced tours for 2015. Dan + Shay launch the second leg of the Where It All Began Tour on Feb. 28 in Knoxville, Tenn., with concerts slated through April 25 in Chicago. Lucy Hale kicks off her first headlining run, the seven-date Road Between Tour, on Jan. 29 in Boston.
MIDWEEK NEWS UPDATE
LEE
THIS WEEK
LAST WEEK
TWO WEEKS
AGOWKS ON CHART
TITLE Artist PRODUCER (SONGWRITER) IMPRINT / PROMOTION LABEL CERTIFIED
PEAK POSITION
l1 2 4 11 SHOTGUN RIDER ★★No. 1 (1 week)★★ Tim McGraw B.GALLIMORE,T.MCGRAW (H.LINDSEY,M.GREEN,T.VERGES) MCGRAW/BIG MACHINE
1
2 1 1 10 SOMETHING IN THE WATER Carrie Underwood M.BRIGHT (C.UNDERWOOD,C. DESTEFANO,BRETT JAMES) 19/ARISTA NASHVILLE 1
3 3 3 21 SOMEWHERE IN MY CAR Keith Urban D.HUFF,K.URBAN (J.T.HARDING,K.URBAN) HIT RED/CAPITOL NASHVILLE 3
l4 5 6 20 GIRL IN A COUNTRY SONG Maddie & Tae D.HUFF,A.SCHERZ (A.SCHERZ,M.MARLOW,T.DYE) DOT 0 4
5 4 2 24 LEAVE THE NIGHT ON Sam Hunt Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,S.MCANALLY,J.OSBORNE) MCA NASHVILLE 1 1
l6 7 11 15 PERFECT STORM Brad Paisley L.WOOTEN,B.PAISLEY (B.PAISLEY,L.T.MILLER) ARISTA NASHVILLE 6
7 6 5 26 DAY DRINKING Little Big Town J.JOYCE (K.FAIRCHILD,J.WESTBROOK,P.SWEET,T.VERGES,B.DEAN) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 0 4
l8 12 14 11 SUN DAZE Florida Georgia Line J.MOI (C.R.BARLOWE,J.FRASURE,S.BUXTON,T.HUBBARD,B.KELLEY) REPUBLIC NASHVILLE 8
l9 11 12 11 TALLADEGA Eric Church J.JOYCE (E.CHURCH,L.LAIRD) EMI NASHVILLE 9
10 10 9 20 BURNIN’ IT DOWN Jason Aldean M.KNOX (C.G.TOMPKINS,R.CLAWSON,B.KELLEY,T.HUBBARD) BROKEN BOW 1 1
11 8 7 16 NEON LIGHT Blake Shelton S.HENDRICKS (A.DORFF,J.KEAR,MARK IRWIN) WARNER BROS./WMN 3
l12 16 16 14 DRINKING CLASS Lee Brice M.MCCLURE,K.JACOBS,L.BRICE (J.KEAR,D.FRASIER,E.M.HILL) CURB 12
l13 15 15 32 CLOSE YOUR EYES Parmalee NV (A.CRAIG,T.TOMLINSON,S.MINOR) STONEY CREEK 13
l14 17 19 9 TIL IT’S GONE Kenny Chesney B.CANNON,K.CHESNEY (R.CLAWSON,D.L.MURPHY,J.YEARY) BLUE CHAIR/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 14
l15 NEW 1 I WALK THE LINE ★★Hot Shot Debut★★ Craig Wayne Boyd B.APPLEBERRY (J.R.CASH) REPUBLIC
15
16 14 10 22 DIRT Florida Georgia Line J.MOI (C.G.TOMPKINS,R.CLAWSON) REPUBLIC NASHVILLE 1 1
l17 19 21 22 GOD MADE GIRLS RaeLynn J.MOI (RAELYNN,N.GALYON,L.MCKENNA,L.ROSE) VALORY 17
l18 18 20 27 FEELIN’ IT Scotty McCreery F.ROGERS (F.ROGERS,M.WEST) 19/INTERSCOPE/MERCURY 18
l19 27 31 5 I SEE YOU ★★Airplay Gainer★★ Luke Bryan J.STEVENS (L.BRYAN,L.LAIRD,A.GORLEY) CAPITOL NASHVILLE
19
l20 21 25 14 MAKE ME WANNA Thomas Rhett J.JOYCE (THOMAS RHETT,B.BUTLER,L.MCCOY) VALORY 20
l21 23 23 14 MEAN TO ME Brett Eldredge L.LAIRD (B.ELDREDGE,SCOOTER CARUSOE) ATLANTIC/WMN 21
22 22 17 24 AMERICAN KIDS Kenny Chesney B.CANNON,K.CHESNEY (R.CLAWSON,S.MCANALLY,L.LAIRD) BLUE CHAIR/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 1 2
23 20 18 25 ROLLER COASTER Luke Bryan J.STEVENS (C.SWINDELL,M.CARTER) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 5
l24 26 26 25 LIKE A COWBOY Randy Houser D.GEORGE (R.HOUSER,B.LONG) STONEY CREEK 24
l25 24 24 14 HOMEGROWN HONEY Darius Rucker F.ROGERS (D.RUCKER,C.KELLEY,N.CHAPMAN) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 24
Hot Country SongsAIRPLAY MONITORED BY
SALES DATA COMPILED BY
BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE DECEMBER 4, 2014 | PAGE 5 OF 8
The country music industry’s must-have source for news, analysis and chart info with expert commentary from Tom Roland and Phyllis Stark, and chart analysis from Wade Jessen. Sign up for FREE delivery every Monday and Thursday.
www.billboard.biz/newsletters
Country UPDATE
THIS WEEK
LAST WEEK
TWO WEEKS
AGOWKS ON CHART
TITLE Artist PRODUCER (SONGWRITER) IMPRINT / PROMOTION LABEL CERTIFIED
PEAK POSITION
l26 32 33 6 JUST GETTIN’ STARTED ★★Digital Gainer★★ Jason Aldean M.KNOX (C. DESTEFANO,R.AKINS,A.GORLEY) BROKEN BOW
10
l27 33 37 5 LONELY TONIGHT Blake Shelton Featuring Ashley Monroe S.HENDRICKS (B.ANDERSON,R.HURD) WARNER BROS./WMN 27
l28 28 27 16 TAKE IT ON BACK Chase Bryant D.GEORGE,C.BRYANT (C.BRYANT,T.L.JAMES,D.ALTMAN) RED BOW 27
l29 31 30 16 WHAT WE AIN’T GOT ★★Streaming Gainer★★ Jake Owen J.MOI (T.J.GOFF,T.MEADOWS) RCA NASHVILLE
29
l30 29 28 30 KISS YOU TONIGHT David Nail F.LIDDELL,C.AINLAY,G.WORF (D.COOK,J.KNOWLES,T.SUMMAR) MCA NASHVILLE 25
l31 30 29 11 LONELY EYES Chris Young J.STROUD (J.BULFORD,J.MATTHEWS,L.VELTZ) RCA NASHVILLE 29
l32 34 34 5 TAKE YOUR TIME Sam Hunt Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,J.OSBORNE,S.MCANALLY) MCA NASHVILLE 32
l33 36 39 9 AIN’T WORTH THE WHISKEY Cole Swindell M.CARTER (C.SWINDELL,A.SANDERS,J.MARTIN) WARNER BROS./WMN 27
l34 37 35 7 SAY YOU DO Dierks Bentley R. COPPERMAN (M.T.RAMSEY,S.MCANALLY,T. ROSEN) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 34
l35 39 41 10 A GUY WALKS INTO A BAR Tyler Farr J.CATINO,J.KING (M.PEIRCE,J.SINGLETON,B.TURSI) COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 35
l36 41 40 5 FREESTYLE Lady Antebellum N.CHAPMAN,LADY ANTEBELLUM (D.HAYWOOD,C.KELLEY,H.SCOTT,S.MCANALLY) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 36
37 38 36 16 BREAK UP IN A SMALL TOWN Sam Hunt Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY) MCA NASHVILLE 30
l38 40 46 4 SHE DON’T LOVE YOU Eric Paslay M.ALTMAN (E.PASLAY,J.WAYNE) EMI NASHVILLE 38
l39 44 42 7 DRUNK AMERICANS Toby Keith T.KEITH,B.PINSON (B.CLARK,B.DIPIERO,S.MCANALLY) SHOW DOG NASHVILLE 39
l40 45 44 9 LOVE YOU LIKE THAT Canaan Smith B.BEAVERS,J.ROBBINS (C.SMITH,B.BEAVERS,J.BEAVERS) MERCURY 32
41 43 43 10 EX TO SEE Sam Hunt Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,J.OSBORNE,M.T.RAMSEY) MCA NASHVILLE 37
l42 47 47 6 TRAILER HITCH Kristian Bush K.BUSH,T.TAPLEY (K.BUSH,B.BUSH,T.OWENS) STREAMSOUND 42
43 42 38 5 MAKE YOU MISS ME Sam Hunt Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,J.OSBORNE,M.T.RAMSEY) MCA NASHVILLE 32
44 46 45 4 GENTLE ON MY MIND The Band Perry D.HUFF (J.HARTFORD) BIG MACHINE/REPUBLIC NASHVILLE 35
l45 48 — 2 LAY LOW Josh Turner F.ROGERS (R.COPPERMAN,T.MARTIN,M.NESLER) MCA NASHVILLE 45
l46 NEW 1 MOM The Nashville Nuggets NOT LISTED (D.SAMPSON,W.VARBLE) THE NASHVILLE NUGGETS 46
47 49 50 4 BABY BE MY LOVE SONG Easton Corbin C.CHAMBERLAIN (J.COLLINS,BRETT JAMES) MERCURY 41
l48 NEW 1 LOVE ME LIKE YOU MEAN IT Kelsea Ballerini F.G.WHITEHEAD (K.BALLERINI,J.KERR,F.G.WHITEHEAD,L.CARPENTER) BLACK RIVER 48
l49 RE-ENTRY 2 DON’T IT Billy Currington D.HUFF (J.JOHNSTON,A.GORLEY,R.COPPERMAN) MERCURY 36
l50 NEW 1 HARD TO BE COOL Joe Nichols M.J.CONES (R.HATCH,J.SELLERS) RED BOW 50
For week ending November 30, 2014. Figures are rounded. Compiled from a national sample of retail store and rack sales reports collected and provided by Nielsen SoundScan.
For inquiries about any Nielsen SoundScan data, please contact Josh Bennett at 615-807-1338 or [email protected]
The week’s most popular country songs, ranked by radio airplay audience impressions as measured by Nielsen BDS, sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and streaming activity data from online music sources tracked by Nielsen BDS. Descending titles below No. 25 are moved to recurrent after 20 weeks.
COUNTRY MARKET WATCHA Weekly National Music Sales Report
Hot Country SongsBILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE DECEMBER 4, 2014 | PAGE 6 OF 7
ALBUMSDIGITAL
ALBUMS*DIGITAL TRACKS
This Week 1,000,000 175,000 1,810,000
Last Week 685,000 162,000 1,876,000
Change 46.0% 8.0% -3.5%
This Week Last Year 1,282,000 214,000 2,328,000
Change -22.0% -18.2% -22.3%
*Digital album sales are also counted within album sales.
Weekly Unit SalesYear-Over-Year Album Sales2013 2014 CHANGE
Albums 34,250,000 28,551,000 -16.6%
Digital Tracks 148,610,000 123,422,000 -16.9%
YEAR-TO-DATE
Overall Unit Sales
2013 2014 CHANGE
Physical 24,105,000 19,246,000 9.0%
Digital 10,145,000 9,305,000 -8.3%
Sales by Album Format
AIRPLAY MONITORED BY
SALES DATA COMPILED BY
’14
’13
DIGITAL TRACKS SALES
’14
’13
34.3 million
28.6 million
000.0 million
’14
’13
123.4 million
148.6 million
THIS
W
EEK
LAST
W
EEK
WKS
ON
CH
ART
TITLEARTIST (IMPRINT/LABEL)
l1 NEW I WALK THE LINE CRAIG WAYNE BOYD (Republic)
2 1 9 SOMETHING IN THE WATER CARRIE UNDERWOOD (19/Arista Nashville/SMN)
3 2 11 SHOTGUN RIDER TIM MCGRAW (McGraw/Big Machine/BMLG)
l4 5 10 SUN DAZE FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE (Republic Nashville/BMLG)
l5 6 12 DRINKING CLASS LEE BRICE (Curb)
6 3 18 BURNIN’ IT DOWN JASON ALDEAN (Broken Bow/BBMG)
7 8 10 TALLADEGA ERIC CHURCH (EMI Nashville/UMGN)
8 4 24 LEAVE THE NIGHT ON SAM HUNT (MCA Nashville/UMGN)
9 10 13 PERFECT STORM BRAD PAISLEY (Arista Nashville/SMN)
10 11 19 SOMEWHERE IN MY CAR KEITH URBAN (Hit Red/Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
11 13 20 GIRL IN A COUNTRY SONG MADDIE & TAE (Dot/BMLG)
l12 14 17 GOD MADE GIRLS RAELYNN (Valory/BMLG)
13 12 26 DAY DRINKING LITTLE BIG TOWN (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
14 7 15 NEON LIGHT BLAKE SHELTON (Warner Bros./WMN)
l15 16 9 MAKE ME WANNA THOMAS RHETT (Valory/BMLG)
l16 18 5 TAKE YOUR TIME SAM HUNT (MCA Nashville/UMGN)
l17 21 4 I SEE YOU LUKE BRYAN (Capitol Nashville)
18 15 27 SUNSHINE & WHISKEY FRANKIE BALLARD (Warner Bros./WMN)
l19 24 6 LONELY TONIGHT BLAKE SHELTON FEAT. ASHLEY MONROE (Warner Bros./WMN)
20 17 20 DIRT FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE (Republic Nashville/BMLG)
l21 25 69 GOD GAVE ME YOU BLAKE SHELTON (Warner Bros./WMN)
l22 19 4 PICTURE KID ROCK FEAT. SHERYL CROW (Lava/Atlantic/WMN)
l23 30 4 JUST GETTIN’ STARTED JASON ALDEAN (Broken Bow/BBMG)
24 20 13 MEAN TO ME BRETT ELDREDGE (Atlantic/WMN)
25 22 24 AMERICAN KIDS KENNY CHESNEY (Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville/SMN)
THIS
W
EEK
LAST
W
EEK
WKS
ON
CH
ART
TITLEARTIST (IMPRINT/LABEL)
l26 23 21 LOOK AT YOU BIG & RICH (B$R)
l27 28 14 WHAT WE AIN’T GOT JAKE OWEN (RCA Nashville/SMN)
l28 26 8 AIN’T WORTH THE WHISKEY COLE SWINDELL (Warner Bros./WMN)
l29 49 17 ROCKIN’ AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE BRENDA LEE (Decca/MCA Nashville/UMe)
30 29 6 LONELY EYES CHRIS YOUNG (RCA Nashville/SMN)
31 27 10 HOMEGROWN HONEY DARIUS RUCKER (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
l32 NEW MOM THE NASHVILLE NUGGETS (The Nashville Nuggets)
33 31 31 DRUNK ON A PLANE DIERKS BENTLEY (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
l34 RE-ENTRY SHOW YOU OFF DAN + SHAY (Warner Bros./WMN)
35 33 13 CLOSE YOUR EYES PARMALEE (Stoney Creek/BBMG)
36 32 21 ALL SUMMER LONG KID ROCK (Top Dog/Atlantic/CO5)
l37 48 59 HONEY BEE BLAKE SHELTON (Warner Bros./WMN)
38 37 53 PLAY IT AGAIN LUKE BRYAN (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
39 36 28 BARTENDER LADY ANTEBELLUM (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
40 34 20 FEELIN’ IT SCOTTY MCCREERY (19/Interscope/Mercury/UMGN)
41 35 23 ROLLER COASTER LUKE BRYAN (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
l42 41 53 THIS IS HOW WE ROLL FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE FEAT. LUKE BRYAN (Republic Nashville/BMLG)
43 38 28 SOMETHIN’ BAD MIRANDA LAMBERT DUET WITH CARRIE UNDERWOOD (RCA Nashville/SMN)
44 40 40 I DON’T DANCE LEE BRICE (Curb)
45 39 12 LIKE A COWBOY RANDY HOUSER (Stoney Creek/BBMG)
l46 RE-ENTRY WHERE ARE YOU CHRISTMAS? FAITH HILL (Interscope/UMe)
l47 47 6 LOVE YOU LIKE THAT CANAAN SMITH (Mercury/UMGN)
l48 RE-ENTRY A GUY WALKS INTO A BAR TYLER FARR (Columbia Nashville/SMN)
49 44 15 BREAK UP IN A SMALL TOWN SAM HUNT (MCA Nashville/UMGN)
50 45 3 TIL IT’S GONE KENNY CHESNEY (Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville/SMN)
Top-selling paid download country songs compiled from sales reports collected and provided by Nielsen SoundScan. Charts update weekly on Thurdays at www.Billboard.Biz/charts. Copyright 2014, Prometheus Global Media, LLC and Nielsen SoundScan, Inc. All rights reserved.
THIS
W
EEK
LAST
W
EEK
2 W
EEKS
A
GO
WEE
KS
ON
CH
T
ARTIST TitleIMPRINT & NUMBER / DISTRIBUTING LABEL
CERT
.
PEA
K
POSI
TION
1 1 1 3 GARTH BROOKS Man Against MachinePEARL/RCA NASHVILLE 501135/SMN 1
l2 2 3 8 JASON ALDEAN Old Boots, New DirtBROKEN BOW 7105/BBMG 0 1
l3 5 7 5 DARIUS RUCKER Home For The HolidaysCAPITOL NASHVILLE 021359/UMGN 3
l4 6 6 5 SAM HUNT MontevalloMCA NASHVILLE 021502/UMGN 1
l5 16 12 26 MIRANDA LAMBERT PlatinumRCA NASHVILLE 379278/SMN 0 1
l6 14 14 9 LADY ANTEBELLUM 747CAPITOL NASHVILLE /UMGN 2
l7 20 13 28 BRANTLEY GILBERT Just As I AmVALORY BG0200A/BMLG 0 1
l8 3 4 7 FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE Anything GoesREPUBLIC NASHVILLE /BMLG 1
l9 10 8 69 LUKE BRYAN Crash My PartyCAPITOL NASHVILLE 018733/UMGN 2 1
l10 12 11 10 KENNY CHESNEY The Big RevivalBLUE CHAIR/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 306274/SMN 1
11 4 2 11 GEORGE STRAIT The Cowboy Rides Away: Live From AT&T StadiumMCA NASHVILLE 021477/UMGN 2
l12 11 9 9 BLAKE SHELTON BRINGING BACK THE SUNSHINEWARNER BROS. 544918/WMN 1
l13 26 25 41 COLE SWINDELL Cole SwindellWARNER BROS. 541372/WMN 2
l14 15 16 11 TIM MCGRAW Sundown Heaven TownMCGRAW/BIG MACHINE TM0200A/BMLG 1
15 9 5 3 ZAC BROWN BAND Greatest Hits So Far...ROAR/SOUTHERN GROUND/ATLANTIC 546369/AG 5
l16 13 10 6 LITTLE BIG TOWN Pain KillerCAPITOL NASHVILLE 021360*/UMGN 3
l17 17 18 42 ERIC CHURCH The OutsidersEMI NASHVILLE 019402*/UMGN 0 1
l18 30 26 14 BRAD PAISLEY Moonshine In The TrunkARISTA NASHVILLE 305528/SMN 1
19 7 — 2 TRISHA YEARWOOD PrizeFighter: Hit After HitGWENDOLYN/RCA NASHVILLE 502452/SMN 7
l20 19 21 4 VARIOUS ARTISTS Christmas With NashvilleABC STUDIOS/LIONS GATE/BIG MACHINE NV0278A/BMLG 19
l21 NEW 1 VARIOUS ARTISTS Nashville ChristmasWARNER BROS./RHINO CUSTOM PRODUCTS WM EX/RHINO 21
l22 25 23 26 VARIOUS ARTISTS NOW That’s What I Call Country: Volume 7UNIVERSAL/SONY MUSIC 020859/UME 3
l23 28 24 40 DIERKS BENTLEY RiserCAPITOL NASHVILLE 019404/UMGN 1
l24 22 22 12 LEE BRICE I Dont DanceCURB 79392* 1
l25 39 39 29 RASCAL FLATTS RewindBIG MACHINE RF0300A/BMLG 1
THIS
W
EEK
LAST
W
EEK
WKS
ON
CH
ART
TITLEARTIST
1 1 23 LEAVE THE NIGHT ON SAM HUNT
2 2 21 DIRT FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE
l3 4 40 THIS IS HOW WE ROLL FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE FEAT. LUKE BRYAN
4 3 9 SOMETHING IN THE WATER CARRIE UNDERWOOD
5 5 19 BURNIN’ IT DOWN JASON ALDEAN
l6 — 6 ROCKIN’ AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE BRENDA LEE
7 7 87 CRUISE FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE
8 6 36 PLAY IT AGAIN LUKE BRYAN
9 8 49 BOTTOMS UP BRANTLEY GILBERT
10 10 19 GIRL IN A COUNTRY SONG MADDIE & TAE
THIS
W
EEK
LAST
W
EEK
WKS
ON
CH
ART
TITLEARTIST
11 9 19 ROLLER COASTER LUKE BRYAN
12 11 10 SOMEWHERE IN MY CAR KEITH URBAN
l13 23 47 YOU BELONG WITH ME TAYLOR SWIFT
l14 — 6 RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER GENE AUTRY
15 17 68 THAT’S MY KIND OF NIGHT LUKE BRYAN
16 12 26 SOMETHIN’ BAD MIRANDA LAMBERT DUET WITH CARRIE UNDERWOOD
17 14 27 DRUNK ON A PLANE DIERKS BENTLEY
18 13 23 AMERICAN KIDS KENNY CHESNEY
19 19 3 DRINKING CLASS LEE BRICE
20 15 4 GOD MADE GIRLS RAELYNN
Country Streaming Songs -The week’s top Country streamed radio songs, on-demand songs and videos on leading online music services. Charts update weekly on Thurdays at www.Billboard.Biz/charts. Copyright 2014, Prometheus Global Media, LLC and Nielsen SoundScan, Inc. All rights reserved.
BUILDING AIRPLAY GAINERSTITLE Label Artist GAIN
I SEE YOU Capitol Nashville Luke Bryan +293
MAKE ME WANNA Valory Thomas Rhett +240
SHOTGUN RIDER Big Machine Tim McGraw +225
SOMETHING IN THE WATER 19/Arista Nashville Carrie Underwood +206
LONELY TONIGHT Warner Bros./WMN Blake Shelton Feat. Ashley Monroe +182
TIL IT’S GONE Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville Kenny Chesney +161
LIKE A COWBOY Stoney Creek Randy Houser +157
TALLADEGA EMI Nashville Eric Church +125
JUST GETTIN’ STARTED Broken Bow Jason Aldean +121
CLOSE YOUR EYES Stoney Creek Parmalee +119
Building Gainers reflects titles with the top increases in plays from Monday through 5pm ET Wednesday, as compared to the same period in the previous week, according to Nielsen BDS.
TOP COUNTRY ALBUMSCOUNTRY DIGITAL SONGS
BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE DECEMBER 4, 2014 | PAGE 7 OF 8
SALES DATA COMPILED BY
SALES DATA COMPILED BY
STREAMING DATA COMPILED BY
The week’s most popular country albums, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. Albums are defined as current if they are less than 18 months old or older than 18 months but still residing in the Billboard 200’s top 100. Charts update weekly on Thurdays at www.Billboard.Biz/charts. Copyright 2014, Prometheus Global Media, LLC and Nielsen SoundScan, Inc. All rights reserved.
COUNTRY STREAMING SONGS
THIS WEEK
LAST WEEK TITLE IMPRINT/LABEL ARTIST
TOTAL PASSION POSITIVE INDEX NEUTRAL DISLIKE
STRONGLY DISLIKE
1 1 KISS YOU TONIGHT MCA Nashville David Nail 44.0% 76.5% 4.16 20.1% 2.8% 0.6%
2 2 SHOTGUN RIDER Big Machine Tim McGraw 45.0% 75.4% 4.09 16.1% 5.8% 2.7%
3 3 SOMEWHERE IN MY CAR Hit Red/Capitol Nashville Keith Urban 45.4% 74.4% 4.08 16.8% 5.5% 3.4%
4 6 WHAT WE AIN’T GOT RCA Nashville Jake Owen 42.4% 71.5% 4.00 18.5% 6.1% 3.9%
5 4 PERFECT STORM Arista Nashville Brad Paisley 44.6% 71.3% 4.04 20.2% 5.5% 3.1%
6 5 LOOK AT YOU B$R/New Revolution Big & Rich 41.3% 70.6% 3.98 18.7% 7.0% 3.7%
7 7 LIKE A COWBOY Stoney Creek Randy Houser 41.3% 70.3% 4.03 22.6% 5.8% 1.2%
8 8 SUNSHINE & WHISKEY Warner Bros / WAR Frankie Ballard 40.7% 69.6% 3.91 15.8% 9.7% 4.9%
9 10 DAY DRINKING Capitol Nashville Little Big Town 46.1% 69.6% 3.92 15.4% 6.9% 8.1%
10 9 SOMETHING IN THE WATER 19/Arista Nashville Carrie Underwood 44.1% 69.0% 3.92 15.5% 9.7% 5.8%
11 11 FEELIN’ IT 19/Interscope/Mercury Scotty McCreery 37.7% 67.0% 3.87 20.4% 7.7% 4.9%
12 12 MEAN TO ME Atlantic/WMN Brett Eldredge 31.3% 66.3% 3.82 21.1% 9.3% 3.3%
13 15 LONELY EYES RCA Nashville Chris Young 33.0% 64.5% 3.88 27.3% 7.3% 0.9%
14 13 TALLADEGA EMI Nashville Eric Church 34.3% 63.5% 3.78 21.0% 10.9% 4.6%
15 14 GIRL IN A COUNTRY SONG Dot Maddie & Tae 37.3% 63.0% 3.66 14.8% 10.3% 11.8%
16 16 HOMEGROWN HONEY Capitol Nashville Darius Rucker 30.5% 62.2% 3.72 23.4% 8.3% 6.2%
17 19 LAY LOW MCA Nashville Josh Turner 29.2% 62.0% 3.79 29.2% 5.8% 3.0%
18 18 TIL IT’S GONE Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville Kenny Chesney 29.2% 62.0% 3.74 25.5% 8.2% 4.3%
19 17 SAY YOU DO Capitol Nashville Dierks Bentley 30.2% 61.6% 3.76 26.4% 8.2% 3.8%
20 21 BURNIN’ IT DOWN Broken Bow Jason Aldean 36.7% 61.2% 3.60 14.8% 10.0% 13.9%
21 20 TAKE IT ON BACK Red Bow Chase Bryant 23.9% 60.7% 3.66 24.2% 11.2% 3.9%
22 22 THIS KIND OF TOWN Valory Justin Moore 23.9% 60.1% 3.69 28.8% 7.4% 3.7%
23 23 BABY BE MY LOVE SONG Mercury Easton Corbin 26.1% 59.5% 3.71 28.2% 9.5% 2.8%
24 24 MAKE ME WANNA Valory Thomas Rhett 29.8% 58.7% 3.65 23.8% 11.1% 6.3%
25 25 GOD MADE GIRLS Valory RaeLynn 32.3% 57.4% 3.60 22.1% 11.5% 9.1%
26 26 GENTLE ON MY MIND Big Machine/Republic Nashville The Band Perry 32.6% 57.3% 3.66 25.9% 9.5% 7.3%
27 27 SHE DON’T LOVE YOU EMI Nashville Eric Paslay 28.0% 56.5% 3.63 28.6% 8.7% 6.2%
28 28 DRINKING CLASS Curb Lee Brice 25.3% 55.2% 3.47 20.7% 14.6% 9.5%
29 30 LOVE ME LIKE YOU MEAN IT Black River Kelsea Ballerini 22.0% 53.6% 3.51 27.7% 12.3% 6.3%
30 29 HEADLIGHTS Blaster Montgomery Gentry 21.4% 53.6% 3.51 28.0% 12.5% 6.0%
31 31 TATTOO Atlantic/WMN Hunter Hayes 22.7% 50.6% 3.37 25.8% 10.9% 12.7%
32 32 RIOT Big Machine Rascal Flatts 21.7% 50.3% 3.42 28.7% 12.1% 8.9%
33 33 DRUNK AMERICANS Show Dog-Universal Toby Keith 24.8% 49.7% 3.27 19.1% 15.3% 15.9%
34 34 FREESTYLE Capitol Nashville Lady Antebellum 15.1% 46.6% 3.36 34.0% 13.0% 6.5%
35 36 SUN DAZE Republic Nashville Florida Georgia Line 20.8% 43.7% 3.24 29.4% 12.8% 14.1%
Radiofeedback is solicited weekly via email to Country Radio listeners and fans in Radio Station Loyal Listener data bases and from Social Media Data Bases. Listeners score 40 songs online via a link to the Radiofeedback study. Song clips are :20 seconds in length and are scored on a 1 to 5 differential with “1” meaning I “Don’t Like This Song At All” and “5” meaning “I Like this Song A Lot” they also answer a follow up question asking if they hear the song “Too Much”, Not Enough” or “Just About Right” on the radio. Radiofeedback’s Top 30 contributing markets are; Atlanta, Austin, Birmingham, Boston, Buffalo, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville FL, Knoxville, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Nashville, New York City, Omaha, Orlando, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, San Antonio, San Diego, Seattle, St. Louis and Washington DC. For more information, contact John Hart ([email protected]).
David Nail has had the No. 1 song with active P1 listeners for many weeks, and “Kiss You To-night” currently ranks No. 1 positive and No. 6 favorite. The track has strong appeal across all demos: Younger 18-34s are at No. 4 and No. 5 favorite, core 25-44s rate it No. 3 and No. 8 favorite, and adults 35-54 spot it at No. 3 and No. 6 favorite.
Tim McGraw holds steady at No. 2 total positive with “Shotgun Rider,” which also coasts to No. 3 favorite. Younger adults 18-34 click at No. 1 and No. 2 favorite, and adults 25-54 mirror those two marks. Females are the leading gender at No. 1 and No. 2 favorite, with younger females also at No. 1. Males 12-plus are at No. 2 and No. 8 favorite.
Randy Houser has been strong from launch with “Like a Cowboy,” riding this week at No. 7 overall and No. 9 favorite with active P1s 12-plus. Core 25-44s saddle up at No. 5 and No. 4 favorite, while younger 18-34s trail at No. 12 and No. 9 favorite. Females 12-plus respond at No. 7 and No. 10 favorite, while males 12-plus are at No. 7 positive and favorite.
Eric Church is on fire early with “Talladega,” polling as the No. 14 song positive and favorite, up from No. 21 positive two weeks ago. Younger 18-34s drive it to No. 9 and No. 8 favorite, and core 25-44s wheel in at No. 12 and No. 10 favorite. Adults 25-54 roll at No. 10. Younger 18-34 females spark at No. 3 and No. 1 favorite, and younger males are at No. 4 positive and favorite.
NAIL
RADIOFEEDBACKMONTH TK, 2014
BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE DECEMBER 4, 2014 | PAGE 8 OF 8
RADIOFEEDBACK THIS WEEK
Nail Builds Audience With ‘Tonight’
View the latest research here. User ID is RFB; password is Country.—John Hart, Bullseye Marketing Research; email: [email protected]
NA
IL:J
IM W
RIG
HT
