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Country Update BILLBOARD.COM/NEWSLETTERS APRIL 6, 2020 | PAGE 1 OF 19 INSIDE BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE [email protected] Jordan Davis Has COVID-19 Expands The Calendar A ‘Lot’ To Cheer >page 4 For First-Time ACM Nominees ACM Date Creates Awards Conflict It’s often said that you never forget your first time, and that’s “The ACM is looking at a variety of digital initiatives that >page 10 certainly true for a dozen inaugural Academy of Country Music can support some of the nominees during the summer, a ‘road Awards nominees. up to the ACMs,’ if you will,” says ACM CEO Damon White- Had things gone as planned, CBS would have telecast side. “We want to support the artists. In the long nominations the awards on April 5, and those artists making their debut window, our goal is to create some ways that we could get art- Ronnie Dunn Aces appearance on the academy’s ballot — including Morgan ists to engage with fans and lead up to the Sept. 16 broadcast. Amazon Ad Song Wallen, Gabby Barrett, Riley Green, Cody Johnson and It’s something on our radar, and we had some discussion with >page 10 Tenille Townes — our board.” would already know The ACM, of if they could move course, had plenty from first-time ACM of other issues Cadillac Three nominee to first- to address in the Fashion Statement time ACM winner. past few weeks >page 12 Instead, the due to the COVID- disruption of the 19 pandemic. COVID-19 corona- Safety and social- Makin’ Tracks: virus leaves those distancing directives Sam Hunt’s artists in limbo for forced a series of Webb Redesign an additional five alternate plans, >page 16 months, with most covered in depth in of them waiting until an April 2 Billboard TOWNES WALLEN BARRETT Sept. 16 to find out if piece. Ultimately, their name is in the the awards were put Country Coda: proverbial envelope. on hold while the virus rages across the world, and the April ‘We’ve Got’ The glass-half-empty version of that scenario is that the win- 5 trophy ceremony was replaced in the CBS lineup by ACM Kenny, Sheena ners are blocked for almost half a year from being named the Presents: Our Country, a two-hour special that leaned on at- >page 19 victors. The glass-half-full view is that all of those nominees home performances of feel-good messages, such as Dierks — whether they win or not — have extra time to be billed as Bentley’s “I Hold On,” Tim McGraw’s “Humble and Kind,” current contenders. That’s a marketing opportunity that the Florida Georgia Line’s “Blessings” and Luke Bryan’s “Most academy is poised to use. People Are Good.” KELLY TAYLOR BARRETT: SHEARER. JOHN WALLEN: STEDDOM. JESSICA TOWNES: BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE APRIL 6, 2020 | PAGE 2 OF 19 That uplifted attitude still translates to the first-time nominees, even if the revisions muddled their schedules and changed their TV-exposure expectations. “I feel really excited and feel blessed and grateful and a bunch of different things all smashed together,” says Barrett. Those initial nominations are significant in the arc of a career, though art- ists are often uncomfortable exploiting them and reluctant to campaign for a victory or use a nomination to solicit additional media exposure. “I don’t want my team to do that,” says Wallen. “It’s kind of pretentious, in my opinion, so we don’t do any of that.” And yet the nominations mean something. For the first time, Caylee Ham- mack, Ingrid Andress and HARDY all can be billed as ACM nominees in media stories or when the announcer introduces them at a concert. It’s an additional piece of information that suggests to the audience that the artist deserves attention. “I’ve done some radio shows and a few more intimate things that that has Matt Stell earned a platinum single from the RIAA in the RIAA’s first- definitely been brought up,” says HARDY, whose nominations are for song- ever virtual plaque presentation. Clockwise from upper left: RIAA writer of the year and song of the year after co-writing Blake Shelton’s “God’s Nashville vp artist and industry relations Jackie Jones, Wide Open Country.” “And just the word ‘nominated’ — even though I haven’t won one Music president Ash Bowers, Sony Music Nashville chairman/CEO yet, it’s still got a nice ring to it.” Randy Goodman, Stell, RECORDS co-founder/CEO Barry Weiss and Townes does have a winner’s experience, though not yet at the ACMs. RIAA chairman/CEO Mitch Glazier. She earned her first Canadian Country Music Association nomination in 2011 and finally snagged four CCMA awards last year. Townes currently lives in a one-bedroom apartment, and flooding during the past year forced her to place a number of her belongings in storage, including those trophies. But she can foresee a time when having them in view might present a little reminder on her darker days that her music is finding a place and making a difference. “Including them in motivation, I think, is such a cool thing,” she says. “I look forward one day to setting up the house with a music room where those sorts of things can feel more at home, and I can also be able to kind of shut the door to that.” While the ACM nominations carry weight with the artists who are being recognized, those first-timers mean something to the business, too. In addition to the aforementioned names — new female candidates Andress, Barrett, Hammack and Townes; new male contenders Johnson, Green and Wallen; and songwriting candidate HARDY — the current list includes The Highwomen’s Brandi Carlile and Amanda Shires, and two non-country acts, Justin Bieber and Lil Nas X, who are in the mix through their collaborations Nashville songwriter Matt Willis signed a co-venture publishing with Dan + Shay and Billy Ray Cyrus. That group represents a mix of artists agreement with Altadena Music and Warner Chappell. Clockwise with traditional country, folk, pop and hip-hop influences in a genre with from top left, in a photo taken prior to shelter-at-home orders: Ritholz increasingly blurry boundaries. Levy Fields associate Matt Cottingham, Altadena/Nashville creative “Country is forever expanding sonically and in every way possible,” observes director Noreen Prunier, Willis, SESAC Nashville senior director of HARDY. “It’s super cool that everybody can find a place in [it].” creative services Lydia Schultz, Warner Chappell Nashville vp A&R B.J. Thanks to the ACM expanding its calendar to find a place for its show, none Hill, Altadena president Daniel Lee and creative director Julia Keefe of those new nominees will forget their first one. and Warner Chappell Nashville president/CEO Ben Vaughn. 285,497 PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT DYLAN ON FACEBOOK LW +517% 34.5 MILLION ON-DEMAND STREAMS-TO-DATE 681,700 TOTAL SAVES ON SPOTIFY 11.7% HISTORICAL SAVE RATE SOUTHSIDE SAM HUNT FEATURING HITS “KINFOLKS”, “HARD TO FORGET” and “BODY LIKE A BACK ROAD” BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE APRIL 6, 2020 | PAGE 4 OF 19 ON THE CHARTS JIM ASKER [email protected] Jordan Davis Completes ‘Slow Dance’ To No. 1; Joe Diffie Remembered; Thomas Rhett Shines Jordan Davis banks his second No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, as No. 3 in 1993, debuts at No. 7. All three tracks surge from nominal amounts “Slow Dance in a Parking Lot” (MCA Nashville) sways 4-1 in its 50th week (on the week before (and were originally hits prior to the chart’s 2010 inception). the list dated April 11). The song increased by 15% to 33.6 million audience im- Diffie became a staple at country radio in the 1990s and posted 35 entries on pressions in the week ending April 5, according to Nielsen Hot Country Songs, including 17 top 10s, five of which hit No. 1. Music/MRC Data. On Top Country Albums, Diffie’s 16 Biggest Hits (Epic “Seeing ‘Dance’ go to No. 1 is a huge honor, especially as Nashville/Legacy), first released in 2002, earns his all-time a co-writer,” Davis tells Billboard of the track that he penned best rank on the list, entering at No. 4 with 15,000 equiva- with Lonnie Fowler. “I moved to Nashville with the hopes lent album units (up from 1,000). The set is his third top 10 of maybe one day having a No. 1, and this being my second on the list and first sinceThird Rock From the Sun peaked at means the world to me. I have an amazing team around me No. 6 during its 1994-95 run in the region. that makes these things possible. Especially during such a trying time in our country right now, this is uplifting. I’m TOP 10 ‘LADY’ Ingrid Andress’ debut LP, Lady Like very grateful.” (Atlantic/Warner Music Nashville/WMN), arrives at No. 9 “Dance” is Davis’ third Country Airplay entry. His debut on Top Country Albums (9,000 units). The artist co-wrote all release, “Singles You Up,” led for a week in April 2018 (in eight tracks on the set, including “More Hearts Than Mine,” its 43rd frame) and “Take It From Me” reached No. 2 in which reaches the Country Airplay top five (9-5; 27.1 million, DAVIS March 2019. up 7%) and hits a new high on Hot Country Songs (12-8). “Dance” completes the third-longest trip to the Country Airplay summit, after Jimmie Allen’s “Make Me Want To” (58 weeks; 2019-20) GOOD ‘CATCH’ Brett Young nets his sixth Hot Country Songs top 10 as “Catch” and Chris Young’s “Voices” (51 weeks, 2008-11).