Music City Meets Tinsel Town
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March 4, 2011 Issue 3 Music City Meets Tinsel Town If history has taught us anything in the 25 years Sony Music Nashville has hosted its annual General Jackson dinner cruise, it’s that memorable musical moments occur, surprise guests appear, and nobody gets off until the boat stops moving. All of that happened again last night and it only took two songs for the first special guest to show up. It was Tim McGraw, joining Gwyneth Paltrow for a duet of “Me And Tennessee.” The song was penned by Paltrow’s husband, Chris Martin of Coldplay and will be worked as a single by both Curb and RCA. After the song, Paltrow confided in the audience that, “Mike Curb didn’t know Tim was going to do this tonight, so can we just not tell him?” Oops. Paltrow also served as hostess for most of the evening and seemed well-coached with CRS and Country radio factoids to sprinkle She In Tennessee: Tim McGraw and Gwyneth Paltrow duet on “Me And Tennessee” as the Sony Music/Nashville General Jackson cruise throughout the night. Several differences between Tinsel Town and opens its 25th year. Nashville were pointed out, including, “In Hollywood we have Perez Hilton; in Nashville, you have Lon Helton.” Several audience Former American Idol finalist Casey James was next, showing off members anointed Paltrow the next Charlie Monk. strong guitar licks on an up-tempo number called “Drive.” Sara Evans Jerrod Niemann debuted a twist this year: a small satellite stage at performed “A Little Bit Stronger” and seemed happy to be back after a the back of the room. Niemann led the crowd through a “Lover, Lover” long layoff, explaining that “life happened, I got married and now have sing-a-long, then was joined by Arista label-mate Carrie Underwood, seven kids, so I’ve been doing laundry for the last year.” who backed him up on his latest single, “What Do you Want.” Niemann Josh Thompson sang two new songs, the timely “On A Boat thanked Underwood and quipped, “I can scratch that off my bucket list.” Somewhere” and “Go To Heaven.” Chris Young sang “Voices” and his Jake Owen played two new songs, the thoughtful “Journey of Your new single, “Tomorrow,” then was ambushed on stage by RCA Regional Life” and “Barefoot Blue Jean Night,” which he announced as his next Josh Easler in a Cee Lo-inspired chicken suit (yes, really) and Sr.VP/ single. Paltrow then dished some country“dirt,” revealing WUSN/ Promotion Skip Bishop, who lauded Young for posting 81 adds and Chicago’s Marci Braun is a Glee addict, and that WKLB/Boston PD presented a plaque commemorating Young’s three straight No. 1 singles. Mike Brophey has been sleeping with his MD, Ginny Rogers for over 10 More heavy metal was on the way after Carrie Underwood who, in years. (Editor’s note: Brophey and Rogers are married). spite of a bad cold, turned in a typically powerful performance, belting ©2010 Country Aircheck™ — All rights reserved. Sign up free at www.countryaircheck.com. Send news to [email protected] March 4, 2011 CRS 2011 Daily Buzz Powered By Country Aircheck Page 2 out “Undo It” and “Jesus Take The Wheel,” which included a moving version of “How Great Thou Art” at the very end. SMN Chairman Gary Overton called Underwood “the best female vocalist in our format,” then handed over a large plaque to mark two million in sales for Underwood’s Play On album. Three new artist were introduced, a four sister band called The Lunabelles, Bradley Gaskin and Brent Anderson. Brad Paisley closed out the night with “This Is Country Music,” then debuted a new song called “Old Alabama” which contained some familiar riffs from Alabama’s “Mountain Music.” Not coincidentally, My Kinda Party! Broken Bow artist Jason Aldean (center, with hat) celebrated Platinum sales of his “My Kinda Party” album this week, the actual group Alabama then walked onstage to join Paisley, surrounded by his label and many radio friends. In addition to the demonstrating perfect harmonies on the main verse. Paisley then hardware, Broken Bow CEO/President Benny Brown presented Aldean convinced Randy Owen, Teddy Gentry and Jeff Cook to cap off the with keys to a new pickup truck. night with another classic, “Tennessee River,” perhaps an appropriate (thanks to exceptional lighting) version of his new single “Bleed Red.” finish to another stirring cruise along the Cumberland. In between he added some comic relief while introducing “How Far To Waco” and its accompanying trumpet players. “There’s a place in Santa Seven Steps The Industry Should Take Fe where I go to cleanse my soul,” he said. “I have to go there a lot. I found a 10-piece all-female Mariachi band there. Thank you, Jesus.” Right Now Columbia’s Joanna Smith opened the show, charming the crowd CMA/Coleman Insights’ new Country P1 consumer study provided with “Hold My Hand,” “Kissin’ In Public” and single “Georgia Mud,” several valuable recommendations to radio and record companies. Here among others. are seven: 1) Preserve your position by continuing to strengthen and improve the product and product experience. 2) Commit to R&D by in- vesting in innovation, artists, stations, site improvements and the overall On Air PD: Success With Less engagement experience. 3) Assert your leadership position through KFKF/Kansas City PD Dale Carter moderated a discussion about aggressive advertising and maintaining brand strength, visibility and challenges on-air PDs face, which was graphically illustrated when two relevance. This is not the time to be invisible. 4) Harness new media to of three panelists, KKGO/Los Angeles’s Tonya Campos and WUSY/ deepen the connection with P1s through your artists and radio brands. Chattanooga’s Gator Harrison revealed they’re no longer on the air. 5) Radio should develop smartphone apps, especially a wake-up app for Eddie Haskell of Citadel/Albuquerque still is and said developing encouraging morning listening. 6) Focus your Facebook and site content “habits that help you” is a key time management tool. Campos stressed on what these consumers want, not on what you want. Too much content making time for yourself, quipping, “there’s no I in team, but it does is about you, such as DJ blogs, bios and photos. Facebook should be a contain the word ‘me’” Haskell and Harrison each oversee multiple reflector of the P1s’ interests and needs. 7) Re-align your streaming of- formats and discussed multitasking. Haskell reminds himself of being ferings to combat the burgeoning threat of Pandora through customiza- “judged on results, not intentions.” Harrison summed things up by tion, ease of use and fewer commercials. saying, “doing more with less means hiring the right people” Sony’s Fun Lunch It’s Like I Don’t Even Know You Arista’s Ronnie Dunn is far from your average new artist, as his Moderator Erica Farber asked radio and record pros what drew headlining set during CRS Thursday’s Sony Music/Nashville lunch them into the business, an ice-breaker for the panel designed to help showed. Radio-ready songs fueled by Dunn’s much-acclaimed vocals each side better understand the other. KBEQ/Kansas City’s Mike were enhanced by a tight-as-Tupperware band. Dunn opened with Kennedy admitted to “having a mullet and weighing in at 92 pounds,” “Singer In A Cowboy Band,” revisited the cowboy theme later with figuring that was the best way to meet girls. KBBQ/Houston’s Johnny “Let The Cowboy Rock” and closed with a moving and visual stunning Chiang outlined a rigorous daily schedule that starts at 7am, and ends ©2010 Country Aircheck™ — All rights reserved. Sign up free at www.countryaircheck.com. Send news to [email protected] March 4, 2011 CRS 2011 Daily Buzz Powered By Country Aircheck Page 3 Play Mobile: 19/Arista’s Carrie Underwood is awarded a double platinum sales plaque for her album Play On during Thursday night’s Sony Music/Nashville dinner cruise (3/3). Pictured (l-r) are Underwood, SMN’s Skip Bishop and Gary Overton, Arista’s Lesly Tyson and SMN’s Kerri Fox-Metoyer. with music logs done at home. Big Machine’s Alex Valentine is on the road 50% of the time, making communication difficult. Mercury’s Damon Moberly explained how radio shows are more complicated than they seem. All agreed an important skill set to learn is how to read and manage a budget. Normal People Focus Group Using Skype to include listeners from Detroit, Kansas City and Nashville, Charlie Cook moderated a live focus group. Participants were asked a series of questions probing satisfaction levels with radio, where they listen, what competes for their time, how they discover new music and awareness of new media. A total of six country P1s took part, three females and one male in the 25-54 demo, plus two females, aged 15 and 21. All but one listened primarily in the car during morning drive and again in the afternoon. None listened in midday. Commercials were an instant tune out, with everyone seeking another Country station. Radio was the primary source for new music, but CMT and GAC were mentioned. Among the two young females, YouTube and iTunes were preferred. Sara, a 21-year-old college student, used Pandora often and described building “many” personal radio stations. All participants could name at least one favorite artist, however when heavily played song titles by mid-level acts were mentioned, not one artist name was recalled. Kansas City listeners easily described the difference between its three country outlets, while Nashville participants perceived its three stations to sound alike.