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. The process Makin’ Tracks: now has them assuming benefitted both sides: Caylee Hammack’s some record-company functions to kick-start the development Niemann was able to make the project without conforming his ‘Family Tree’ of singer-songwriter careers. creativity to a corporation’s viewpoint, and Sony was able to >page 15 Sea Gayle Music (CJ Solar, Everette’s Brent Rupard), sidestep the financial risk of signing a new artist and investing ole (Jordan Davis, Adam Hambrick, Travis Denning) and time and money into his development. Creative Nation (Steve Moakler, Kassi Ashton) are some of “If you put today’s template over it, everybody would do a the leading indie practitioners, though certainly not the only deal like that,” says Sea Gayle executive vp/GM Marc Driskill, Country Coda: ones. They typically hire extra staff — sometimes creating new who left ASCAP to join the company in 2012. Faith Hill departments — to launch music through digital mediums and The major publishers — such as Warner/Chappell, Sony/ Covers No. 1 develop exposure for their writers’ budding artistry. It’s an ATV and Universal Music Publishing — all have created similar >page 20 expansion of duties, though not necessarily one in publishing scenarios, though their deeper pockets and closer ties with companies’ core mission. labels provide a certain advantage. The path is riskier for indie SHEARER JOHN MIZE: BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE APRIL 29, 2019 | PAGE 2 OF 20 publishers, particularly because the publishing business is one that requires a lot of upfront capital with little or no return, sometimes for three to five years. “You don’t bring in an artist because it sounds like what’s happening now,” says Big Yellow Dog co-owner Carla Wallace. “A lot of times we’re ahead of the game, so you have to sit there and wait. It might be years, and you’re not getting anything — it could be 10 years, you know? But you know it and believe in the music.” Artistic jobs tend to attract colorful, outside-the-box personalities, presenting music business executives with unusual challenges and/or requiring a large amount of hand- holding. But when a songwriter steps out of the typical Nashville writing arrangement, it opens them up to travel, additional financial considerations and public criticism. Not every publisher is suited for that burden. “That artist is volunteering for a whole other level of exposure to the world for their Warner Music Nashville/W.A.R. artist Tucker Beathard dreams, and that takes a certain person, like Carla, who will participate in that,” says (center) visited KSD St. Louis as he promoted his label debut, Big Yellow Dog co-owner Kerry O’Neil. “A lot of people either don’t have the instincts “Better Than Me.” He’s pictured with PD Gail Austin and or the willingness to get out there, and I think that’s been a key part of Big Yellow Dog.” assistant PD/music director Dusty Panhorst. Historically, labels signed artists and worked with them to hone their sound. But when the Napster-led decline in revenue hit in the early 2000s, record companies slashed development budgets and necessarily gravitated to signing artists who had figured out their artistic personality and built their own following. Publishers, who were already in the business of evaluating songs, now assist as their writer-artists discover which of the songs they write translate best to their own performance talents. “If you have them play a few shows and sing those songs live, they start going, ‘No, that’s not really me’ or ‘The audience responded to this,’ and you can take some pictures,” says Creative Nation CEO/co-owner Beth Laird. “You’re just walking along with them, looking for that image and style to merge what is really authentically them and really their sweet spot.” In the process, indie publishers now work more closely with media, agencies, digital More than two dozen artists helped raise $300,000 for John streaming partners, secondary radio and SiriusXM. They also invest money and Berry’s battle with throat cancer during an April 23 benefit at manpower in functions that were not on their radar in earlier eras. City Winery Nashville. From left: Trisha Yearwood, Berry, Garth “It’s not just recording songs, but doing videos, trying to make sure the social media Brooks and Berry’s wife/backup singer Robin Berry. sites are all talking together and everything else,” says Driskill. “You’re essentially a label. You’re doing everything that the label does, trying to build it to the point where [the writer] either takes the form of a touring act or takes the form of a major coming and jumping on board.” Along the way, even the material that does not suit their artistry can still bring a payoff. Trainor (“I Like the Sound of That”), Hambrick (“How Not To”) and Solar (“Up Down”) all co-authored hits for other country acts while they were finding their way as singers. That has been true, too, for singer-songwriter Josh Mirenda (“Somewhere on a Beach,” “They Don’t Know”), the first signee for the new Reservoir office. Ozier hopes to develop him as an artist, but knows that even if Mirenda never finds a home with a label or in widespread terrestrial radio play, he might write something that lands with another act, or the recordings could generate an income via other means. “It’s great for synch and licensing purposes, and it also helps publishers grow their Indie trio Southern Halo visited WGSQ Cookeville, Tenn., while master repertoire,” says Ozier. “I think everybody sees how much money is coming in promoting its new single, “Sunshine.” From left: Southern the door from streaming, so owning masters is something I think you’re going to see Halo’s Natalia Morris and Hannah Morris, WGSQ operations publishers spend a lot of time and spend a lot of acquisition dollars on.” manager Philip Gibbons and Southern Halo’s Christina Morris. SHUTTERSTOCK DIAMOND RICK BERRY: DEBUT 56 #6 MOST ADDED BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE APRIL 29, 2019 | PAGE 4 OF 20 ON THE CHARTS JIM ASKER [email protected] Old Dominion Finds ‘Sweet’ Spot At Country Airplay Summit; Brett Eldredge Gets Some Top 10 ‘Love’ Old Dominion’s “Make It Sweet” (RCA Nashville) becomes the group’s sixth ‘SOMEONE’ IN THE TOP 10 Brett Eldredge banks his eighth Country Airplay Country Airplay No. 1 and fifth in succession as it ascends 3-1 on the chart dated top 10 as “Love Someone” (Atlantic/Warner Music Nashville) strolls 12-10 in May 4. The song hits the summit with an 8% increase to 38 million audience its 43rd frame, up 14% to 22.2 million in audience. On Hot Country Songs, it impressions in the week ending April 28, climbs 19-17. It’s Eldredge’s first such hit according to Nielsen Music. since “The Long Way” reached No. 3 in All five members of the band wrote April 2018. He has tallied five No. 1s. the launch track from their upcoming third full-length studio album with the LOOK AT ‘YOU’ Luke Combs’ debut LP, song’s producer, Shane McAnally. Old This One’s for You (River House/Columbia Dominion consists of Matthew Ramsey, Nashville/Sony Music Nashville), logs a Trevor Rosen, Whit Sellers, Geoff 32nd week at No. 1 on Top Country Albums Sprung and Brad Tursi. (27,000 equivalent album units earned, “From the moment we wrote it, we’ve up 2%). always felt ‘Make It Sweet’ was a special The set breaks out of a tie for the song,” Ramsey tells Billboard. “We wrote ninth-longest reign in the chart’s history, and recorded it all in the same day. We which dates to 1964. It surpasses Lady feel that the song captured the spirit of this Antebellum’s 2010 album Need You Now band in a way we hadn’t been able to do in and Clint Black’s 1989 debut set, Killin’ the past.