Country Update BILLBOARD.COM/NEWSLETTERS APRIL 29, 2019 | PAGE 1 OF 20 INSIDE BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE
[email protected] Old Dominion’s ‘Sweet’ Indie Publishers Become Farm Chart Success >page 4 Clubs For Major Country Labels NFL Drafts When Napster went into business 20 years ago this June, “We’re not here to compete with the labels,” says John Ozier, Country Stars it created a now-familiar domino effect that crippled the who heads the new Reservoir publishing office in Nashville >page 9 CD market, undercut record companies’ bottom lines and following a run as ole executive vp creative. “We don’t have subsequently retooled the industry from an album-driven the experience they do in radio promotion and marketing and model to a singles-focused one. sales. If we can get their attention by building these streaming Big Yellow Dog, an independent Nashville music publishing numbers and creating great music, and handing it off to them Shelton, Bryan firm that opened a year before Napster, had no idea at the time or partnering with them, that’s the end goal.” Seeing (Ole) Red how profound that development would become to its own future. Jerrod Niemann’s Judge Jerrod & The Hung Jury is widely >page 10 With the downsizing of regarded as the project the traditional labels, Big that launched the trend Yellow Dog — which counts in Nashville. He recorded Maren Morris Tenille Dan + Shay , the album 10 years ago Townes, Meghan Trainor in his ongoing publishing Prep For Logan Mize Billboard Awards and among its deal with Sea Gayle, then staff writers — has become landed the finished product >page 10 something of a model for at Sony, which introduced independent Nashville his breakthrough, “Lover, pubberies, whose business NIEMANN DENNING MIZE Lover,” to radio.