2009—The Year of More...And Less!
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page 1 Friday, March 12, 2010 Table of Contents 2009—The Year of More...And Less! 1 2009—The Year of by Ralph Murphy (With Special Thanks to Eric Gross, Andrea Jeitz, MaryAnn Keen, and Anna Maki) More...And Less! 4 Lambert Is Hanging With I get a lot of heat for studying this year. That means each writer’s The Boys 4 Bellamy Brothers Song On only No. 1 records, but strangely work has less total time on the charts. Broadway enough, it doesn't usually come from 2009's longest-running chart records 4 Country Weekly Spotlights the writers, publishers or artists that were Chris Young’s “Getting You Country Couture actually have one. My feeling is that Home” and Lady Antebellum’s “I 4 Week-At-A-Glance if the “business” feels it's worth Run To You,” both at 38 weeks. The 4 Spin Zone/Chart Data promoting, bullying or outright times they are a-changing. 6 Programmer Playlist buying a record to the top, they 7 Photos From The Road must be pretty confident in the Race to No. 1 8 CountryBreakout™ Chart foundation that the artist’s career At 10 weeks, Carrie Respect Intellectual Property: is built upon—the song. So, in line Underwood’s “Cowboy Casanova” MusicRow transmissions in email and with “no one throws a No. 2 party,” and Brad Paisley’s “Then” were file form plus online passwords, are intended for the sole use of active this is a look at what made it to last year's fastest travelers up the subscribers only and protected under No. 1 in 2009. chart. Unfortunately, Underwood the copyright laws of the United States. Resending or sharing of such intellectual Last year's No. 1 songs was also the fastest off the charts property to unauthorized individuals continued a trend that started at and/or groups is expressly forbidden. —on and gone in 14 weeks, while MusicRow Publications, Inc. reserves the beginning of the decade. For Paisley hung around for a total of the right to cancel, without refund, the account of any subscriber found to be the last ten years, there has been 17 weeks. in violation of this policy. a substantial increase in No. 1 Eight records peaked in 15 weeks Music Row Communications, LLC records. For instance, in 2009, 31 or less. In addition to Carrie and 1231 17th Ave. S., Nashville, TN 37212 songs went to the top, up from 26 Brad, there were Kenny Chesney's 615-321-3617 in 2008, and 21 in 2004. “Out Last Night," Jason Aldean's www.musicrow.com The number of writers “Big Green Tractor,” Rascal Flatts' [email protected] participating in the cheese, shrimp, “Here Comes Goodbye,” Toby Keith's Advertising speeches and backslapping “American Ride,” Sugarland's “It [email protected] increased from 49 last year to 71 Happens" and Lady Antebellum's ©2010, MusicRow Communications, LLC—ALL RIGHTS RESERVED [email protected] page 2 Friday, March 12, 2010 “Need You Now.” Interestingly, records seemed to take a little longer than last year to climb the charts. Slightly over one-third of them took over 20 weeks to get to No. 1. As most of these artists have had hits before, it would be easy to attribute their fast rise to star power and fan familiarity, but there were four newcomers to the No. 1 club in 2009—Mac McAnally (although paired with Kenny Chesney), Chris Young, Justin Moore and Lady Antebellum. Two of those newcomers, Young and Moore, took the longest to get to No. 1, so maybe they just had to earn their way. Moore's “Small Town USA” took 33 weeks to get to the top. Winning the prize for longest ascent was Young's “Getting You Danny Gokey was in the Atlanta area for the March 2 release date of Home” at 35 weeks. Those singles also his album My Best Days. He performed, signed autographs and made a lived the longest on the charts at 35 and cool music purchase at the Mall of Georgia’s Best Buy location. 38 weeks respectively, along with Lady A's “Run To You” (38 weeks). Notable is the haste with which records moved off the charts. Two to three weeks after they hit No. 1 seems to be the average amount of time spent in the sun. That's the opposite of what happens to pop songs on Billboard's Hot 100, where records race to the top and hang around for months. Artist/Writers In 2008, fifty percent of the No. 1s were written or co-written by the artist. That trend accelerated this year, with 19 of the 31 No. 1s written or co-written by the artist. Almost two thirds of all No. 1s were “inside” jobs. How that will affect publishers' business plans will be almost as interesting as watching how non-performing writers respond to this new challenge. 2009 American Idol finalist Michael Sarver recently joined ASCAP as a writer/publisher member. Little Champion Music's Rachel Thibodeau Tempos has been producing sides for Sarver at Blackbird Studio, including Well, somebody rolled the dice, went with a waltz and the single "Ferris Wheel," co-written by Thibodeau, Curb Publishing's danced all the way to the top. “Already Gone” got the job done Kyle Jacobs and UMG Nashville's Josh Kelley. (L-R): Thibodeau, Sarver for Sugarland and gave them the first of two No. 1s for 2009. and ASCAP's Earle Simmons. The other 30 chart-toppers were all in 4/4, with tempos ©2010, MusicRow Communications, LLC—ALL RIGHTS RESERVED [email protected] page 3 Friday, March 12, 2010 almost equally shared between ballads (9 of them), midtempo A Little Advice (12) and up-tempo (10). Let’s get back to that ‘more and less’ thing. Taking the last decade as a template, sales both digital and physical, Intros dropped by 50%, which will negatively affect mechanical Intros were pretty consistently within the 13-18 second income. Media economist Jack Myers recently predicted in range, with only “Start A Band” by Brad Paisley and Keith Urban Inside Radio that "radio revenues will fall 18.7% this year.” exceeding that, with the guitar-fueled intro going 24 seconds. This will lead to a decrease in performance income forcing “River of Love” came in at 24 seconds to be the longest writers and publishers to “split the blanket” (to quote my old intro. At the other extreme, was the Chesney/MacAnally duet, friend Harlan Howard) much more than they used to. “Down The Road.” Darius Rucker's “Alright” did away with The good news is that the demand for music has never the intro, with the track and vocal starting at almost the same been higher. The bad news is that people don’t want to pay time. Add all the intros together and average them out, and for it. Well, I’ve got some real news...they never have! you arrive at the old industry standard of 13 seconds. So, if you’re a smart artist, find some great writers to write with. If you’re a great writer, find a great artist to work with. And as you roll that song out remember, we have had a wonderful ride for the last century due to the efforts of our 2009 No. 1 Songs & Writers (Alphabetical by Title) great, great, great grandparents. They put a copyright law in place back in 1909 and then fought every theater, bar and “Already Gone” Kristian Bush, Jennifer Nettles and Bobby Pinson club to get compensated for their music. Along the way, every “Alright” Frank Rogers and Darius Rucker new technology that came along needed what writers created “American Ride” Dave Pahanish and Joseph West and wanted it for cheap (read FREE). “Big Green Tractor” Jim Collins and David Lee Murphy “New" technologies like radio, movies and television fought “Country Boy” Alan Jackson for the right to use music for as little money as possible. The “Cowboy Casanova” Mike Elizondo, Brett James and Carrie Underwood “Down The Road” Mac McAnally war going forward today is no different than the war that has “Feel That Fire” Brett Beavers, Dierks Bentley, Brad Warren and Brett Warren always been fought. As creators and copyright owners, we “Gettin’ You Home (Black Dress Song)” Cory Batten, Kent Blazy and Chris Young have been lulled into believing we are part of an industry “God Love Her” Toby Keith and Vicky McGehee where all are equal partners in success. Not so. “Here” Steve Robson and Jeffrey Steele The more that people use what we create to make money, “Here Comes Goodbye” Clint Lagerberg and Chris Sligh the greater appears to be their sense of entitlement. Breaking “I Run To You” Tom Douglas, Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley and Hillary Scott new ground and finding new uses for our songs is great as “It Happens” Kristian Bush, Jennifer Nettles and Bobby Pinson long as we share in the revenues generated. “It’s America” Brett James and Angelo Petraglia Remember, it all really does begin with a song. “It Won’t Be Like This For Long” Chris DuBois, Ashley Gorley and Darius Rucker “Need You Now” Dave Haywood, Josh Kear, Charles Kelley and Hillary Scott • • • “Only You Can Love Me This Way” Steve McEwan and John Reid Ralph Murphy is the author of Murphy’s Laws “Out Last Night” Kenny Chesney and Brett James of Songwriting (Murphyslawsofsongwriting.com). “People Are Crazy” Bobby Braddock and Troy Jones He is a past president of the Nashville “River Of Love” Billy Brunette, Shawn Camp and Dennis Morgan Songwriters Association, former Nashville “Roll With Me” Clint Daniels and Tommy Karlas chapter president and former national trustee “She’s Country” Dan Myrick and Bridgette Tatum of the Recording Academy (NARAS).