Country Update BILLBOARD.COM/NEWSLETTERS OCTOBER 12, 2020 | PAGE 1 OF 21 INSIDE BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE [email protected] Parton’s Chart Country’s New Kids Are Back On ‘Holly’-Day >page 4 The Block, And Headed To Radio Altadena Tweaks The COVID-19 quarantine for new country artists at radio ap- “Most stations seemed to tighten up, play big hit records Artist Development pears to be over. from the recent past and also uptempo, fun records that were >page 11 When the coronavirus led many Americans to self-isolate and current singles by superstars,” says Universal Music Group change the way they work, the genre’s labels placed an informal Nashville executive vp promotion Royce Risser. “The majority moratorium on introducing brand-new acts to broadcasters. of programmers felt that radio’s best strategy was to be an But the handcuffs are now off. Two of the top three of the titles escape for those who were stuck at home. If they jumped in Quartz Hill’s debuting on the Country Airplay chart dated Oct. 17 — Elvie the car, it was probably a good thing to listen to radio and just, First Hirings Shane’s “My Boy” (No. 56) and for a moment, forget about what >page 11 Larry Fleet’s “Where I Find they were seeing on television God” (No. 58) — are by artists in their homes. In that period of being worked to AM/FM radio time, hearing big hit songs from for the first time. your favorite artists was more CMT Video Finalists Likewise, TikTok phenom important than ever. While it was Named Priscilla Block’s “Just About Over tough on some of the newer artists >page 12 You” owns the No. 51 position, in the format, it was also sort of while Pryor & Lee’s “Y’allsome” understandable.” occupies the No. 2 spot on New & But the audience was not the Makin’ Tracks: Active. Meanwhile, Warner Music only issue. The shutdown created Elvie Shane’s ‘My Boy’ Nashville artist Shy Carter has infrastructure problems — in both >page 18 launched a socially distanced tools and manpower — and it was radio promotion tour, a marketing not an atmosphere in which new FLEET BLOCK step that frequently precedes an artists would be set up to succeed. artist’s debut on the airwaves. Virtual platforms are perfect for Country Coda: It is, perhaps, a sign that record labels and their radio part- a programmer and artist with an existing relationship to recon- Williams Made Us ners are finally feeling a sense of adjusted normalcy after a nect. But they are less than ideal for two strangers to bond over ‘Believe’ lengthy period of professional turmoil and national instability. an acoustic guitar performance. >page 21 With fewer people commuting to work, in-car listening de- “Everybody was experimenting with everything from Zoom clined and radio stations adopted a safer posture. Labels, in to Microsoft Teams to whatever,” says BBR Music Group senior turn, held back the release of numerous debut singles until vp promotion Carson James. “And it was just really hard to be PASKERT MATTHEW FLEET: conditions became more favorable. able to translate the passion.” BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE OCTOBER 12, 2020 | PAGE 2 OF 21 Even if they could, radio staffs were under siege with layoffs, furloughs and empty office buildings. “They couldn’t focus on the new artists,” notes James. “They were worried about still having a job or having to work out of their house, or how do we keep the transmitter on? Or can we keep these listeners listening when everybody’s at home and watching TV? They’ve got all these other things on their mind. Whereas my top priority is getting my record played, that wasn’t necessarily theirs during that time because they were trying to adapt.” Starter acts that had already released their debut single or completed much of their radio promotion tours still got worked. Jameson Rodgers, Niko Moon, Parker McCollum and Robert Counts have made progress during the shutdown. Brad Paisley appeared Oct. 6 on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Meanwhile, the conditions have changed among both the audience and the business. In some cases, labels have developed new means of introducing their artists to broadcasters. Carter has undertaken his promotion tour via bus, bran- dishing face masks for safe personal contact. And BBR designed a virtual format that allowed Shane to perform with a full band from a Nashville studio, then chat with programmers in small groups online. But as country listeners have spent more time streaming during the COVID-19 era, a handful of singles have demanded to be released to radio. Fleet’s “Where I Find God,” originally worked to digital partners in an Easter campaign, con- sistently outperformed Big Loud’s established internal metrics, convincing the label it was an unexpected hit. Fleet conducted an average of three Zoom vis- its with stations per day in September to support the song, which had enough of an audience story to create anticipation for both parties at that first artist/ programmer meeting. Songwriter Jon Nite (“I Hope,” “What She Wants Tonight”) signed with “If we walk into a radio station and we have to introduce you to the PD and SESAC for performing rights representation. He is flanked by SESAC they have no idea who you are, we’re losing,” says Big Loud CEO Seth England. senior director of creative services Lydia Schultz (left) and president If country labels arise from the pandemic era with higher consumption thresh- Kelli Turner. olds for their singles, England believes it could transform the way that singles work their way up the chart by reducing the volume of underperforming titles. “It’s possible for record labels to exhaust a young artist who might have a slightly fringy hit, maybe not a big hit — and obviously not a dud — but just something that could theoretically go 63 weeks,” says England. “We have to exhaust that artist to achieve that, versus waiting and following what the fans are asking for.” Block, meanwhile, piled up huge audience numbers: 400,000 TikTok followers, who helped propel “Just About Over You” to the top of the iTunes all-genre chart in a scant 12 hours. Multiple labels competed to sign her, and none of them hesitated about pushing that debut single. “The only reason I signed to a major label was to go to radio,” she says. “That was kind of the next thing that I really needed. And so all the conversations Niko Moon was presented with a surprise RIAA-certified plaque for that we were having with every label, they were like, ‘We’ll take you to radio his gold single “Good Time” during an Oct. 6 interview with CMT tomorrow.’ ” personality Cody Alan. From left: Sony Music Nashville chairman/ Thus, while the battle against the coronavirus is not over, some new artists CEO Randy Goodman, Moon, River House Artists founder/owner Lynn are beginning to find that their path to radio is no longer on hold. Oliver-Cline and Alan. IT’S TIME TO DEADLINE TO APPLY OR RENEW RENEW IS YOUR ACM MEMBERSHIP DEC 1, 2020 VISIT acmcountry.com/membership FOR YOUR CMA CONSIDERATION ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR ———————————— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— —————— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ————— MALE VOCALIST OF THE YEAR ———————————— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— —————— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ————— OVER 7 BILLION STREAMS ————————————— ALBUM LARGEST STREAMING WEEK EVER OF THE YEAR FOR A COUNTRY ALBUM ————————————— WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET NO. 1 ALL-GENRE BILLBOARD 200 DEBUT ———————————— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— —————— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ————— ————————————— SINGLE PLATINUM® CERTIFIED OF THE YEAR “BEER NEVER BROKE MY HEART” ———————————— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— —————— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ————— SONG OF THE YEAR “EVEN THOUGH I’M LEAVING” ———————————— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— —————— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ————— “LET’S FACE IT. RIGHT NOW, Entertainment. Sony Music © 2020 IT’S COMBS’ WORLD AND WE JUST LIVE IN IT.” – BILLBOARD ———————————— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— —————— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ———— ————— BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE OCTOBER 12, 2020 | PAGE 4 OF 21 ON THE CHARTS JIM ASKER [email protected] Dolly Parton’s A Holly Dolly Christmas Jingles In Atop The Country And Holiday Album Charts Dolly Parton’s first holiday LP in 30 years, A Holly Dolly Christmas (Butter- four in the ’60s, 18 in the ’70s, 11 in the ’80s, five in the ’90s, three in the fly Records/12 Tone), arrives in the penthouse of Billboard’s Top Country 2000s, four in the ’10s and one in the ’20s. Albums and Top Holiday Albums charts dated