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BILLBOARD.COM/NEWSLETTERS EDITED BY TOM ROLAND, [email protected] JANUARY 22, 2015 | PAGE 1 OF 7
INSIDEMakin’ Tracks:
Mo Pitney’s ‘Country’ >page 2
Stark Report: Country
Still Cares >page 3
Questions Answered:
Jim Ed Brown >page 4
Luke Bryan’s Spring Break
Ends >page 4
Dierks, Jo Dee Think
Major League >page 4
Carrie Underwood scores her longest chart-topping run, and the third-longest ever for a woman, on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart as “Something in the Water” (19/Arista Nashville) rules for a seventh week. She logged her previous best (achieved when the chart measured only core country radio audience) when “Jesus, Take the Wheel” began a six-week command on Jan. 21, 2006.
“Water,” Underwood’s 14th leader, is her second No. 1 since the chart switched to a sales/air-play/streaming hybrid methodol-ogy a little more than two years ago (Oct. 20, 2012). “Somethin’ Bad,” with Miranda Lambert, crowned the July 12, 2014 chart. Dating to the list’s earliest incarnation in 1944, Underwood’s seven-week No. 1 run is surpassed among women only by Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” (10 weeks, 2012-13) and Connie Smith’s “Once a Day” (eight weeks, 1964-65). In addition to “Wheel,” “Water” rushes past three other songs by women that each led for six weeks: Kitty Wells’ “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels” (1952), Faith Hill’s “Breathe” (1999-2000) and Swift’s “Our Song” (2007-08). (“Angels” was
the first leader by a solo woman and tallied its weeks atop vari-ous Billboard country singles charts that were consolidated into one ranking in 1958.)
Along with posting a career-high bow (No. 23) on Billboard’s Countr y A irplay chart, Zac Brown Band’s “Homegrown” (Varvatos/Republic/South-ern Ground/BMLG) rockets 41-4 in its second week on Hot Country Songs, adding Digital Gainer honors. A hefty 75,000 downloads sold in its first full week of availability, according to Nielsen Music, hurl the track onto Billboard’s Country Digital Songs chart at No. 1, marking the band’s first leader on the list and
its biggest weekly sales sum. The group previously sold as many as 63,000 downloads in a week, with “Colder Weather” (April 23, 2011).
Meanwhile, on Top Country Albums, RaeLynn earns the Hot Shot Debut at No. 7 with Me (Valory/BMLG), a five-song EP that debuts with 6,000 sold. The lead single from the former Voice contestant, “God Made Girls,” bullets at No. 15 on Hot Country Songs after having risen as high as No. 7.
ZAC BROWN BAND
WADE JESSEN [email protected]
Country MID- WEEK
UPDATE
ILLBOARD.BIZ/NEWSLETTER
Underwood Hits High ‘Water’ Mark; Zac Brown Band Returns
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Country UPDATE
Traditional country music is dead. Younger listeners only want music that matches the pop influences they grew up with, and the old Hank Williams/Lefty Friz-zell stuff doesn’t resonate. It’s pointless to sign anyone who sounds much like the old-timers.
That was the attitude on Music Row 30 years ago this month when some kid named Randy Travis recorded his very first tracks for Warner Bros. Travis, of course, changed the course of the genre. His three-chord songs reached multi-platinum sales levels, launching the New Traditionalist movement and paving the way for such decidedly country acts as Garth Brooks, Clint Black and Alan Jackson.
Today, the atmosphere in country is eerily similar to 1985. The recent bro-country trend amplified the for-mat’s affinity for arena-rock, pop and hip-hop elements, and many heritage fans have lamented that old-school country is dead.
It’s in that context that Curb released the debut sin-gle — boldly titled “Country” — from Illinois-bred Mo Pitney. His voice is rich and reedy, and plenty of indus-try observers have their fingers crossed in hopes that he might well prove to be this generation’s version of Travis.
“ T h i s i s go i n g to w o rk re a l l y go o d o r n o t at all,” says producer Tony Brown (George Strait, Reba McEntire), “because Mo would be a game-changer.”
For his part, Pitney has used Travis as a guiding light during his journey. “People were encouraging me to [compromise] just to kind of open the door,” he says. “I looked back at Randy Travis’ career. He didn’t do that. He came out with, ‘Operator, please connect me …,’ and changed the way that radio was. I’m afraid if I act like somebody I’m not, I’ll just be the next guy walking through the radio station. So I stuck to what I believed in, and that’s the thing I’m complimented on the most is that I stuck to my guns.”
It’s appropriate then that in the final verse of his debut single, Pitney sings, “He fought for his country.” Because Pitney did that in a very real way.
“He knows who he is,” says “Country” co-writer and Country Music Hall of Fame member Bill Anderson (“Give It Away,” “Whiskey Lullaby”). “He’s not waiting around for somebody to tell him who he is. He’s a strong kid and knows what he wants.”
Part of what Pitney wanted was a record deal. He got one with Universal Music Group and recorded five or six songs before UMG merged with Capitol/EMI in 2012. He was dropped from the roster at that time, but Curb picked him up within just a couple weeks. Even before he had signed the paperwork, things started to click when he was introduced to the writers at Curb Music Publishing during a weekly artist pitch.
“This kid, instead of playing pre-recorded music, he brings out his guitar and plays live, and he plays ‘Free Born Man,’ the old bluegrass song that Jimmy Mar-tin recorded,” says songwriter Bobby Tomberlin (“One More Day,” “A Good Day to Run”). “His playing was just off the map. And his voice was one like I’d never heard. It had a little something in it from the bluegrass world and also an influx of Merle Haggard and Keith Whitley.”
Tomberlin already had a co-write scheduled with Anderson, and he got per-mission to bring Pitney along. They started with a title, “That Don’t Make You Country,” that poked fun at the cliches in recent songs.
“Just because you’ve got a pickup truck and a tailgate and the tractor and all that stuff, that don’t make you country,” explains Anderson.
Along the way, Pitney asked Anderson about how some of his friends who have passed on — including Buck Owens, Johnny Cash and Roger Miller — viewed country. The song soon evolved.
“We were singing all these things that don’t make you country, and then we went into ‘Country can be in the middle of the city/Country can be on a farm,’ ” recalls Anderson. “It dawned on me — I think I’m the one who said it — that we
were writing something negative and we didn’t need to. I thought we just needed to make this thing positive and just call it ‘Country.’ ”
They wrote it incorporating different definitions of “country” — country lifestyle, the geographical country-side, country music and country as a nationality — and booked a second writing session to make sure they got the patriotic piece right.
They recorded a Dobro-heavy demo that got Curb owner Mike Curb excited, but Pitney was discouraged by the first master version he recorded.
“I put the song completely on the shelf,” says Pitney.Meanwhile, Anderson got Pitney a guest slot on the
Jan. 24, 2013 edition of RFD’s Larry’s Country Diner. A few weeks later, Brown saw a clip of “Country” on You-Tube and was hooked.
“I love the dichotomy of his look,” says Brown. “It’s so relevant to pop culture right now. He looks like he could be in Fall Out Boy or Good Charlotte, and then his music is really traditional.”
Brown agreed to produce Pitney, but felt that the key to the artist’s sound would be to have him play acoustic
guitar on the session, which would help the rest of the studio band find his character.“It’s that bluegrass thing: the inversion he plays [on guitar], the way he ham-
mers it,” says Brown. “It really affects the way the chords sound. That minor of a thing just makes the difference.”
They recorded several other songs at Blackbird Studios, then Pitney reluctantly agreed to recut “Country” in another session at Sound Stage, a previous record-ing site for such classic acts as Strait, Vern Gosdin and Conway Twitty. The one-take performance wound up being a keeper.
“I thought we were gonna play it four or five times,” recalls Pitney. “We played it the first time, and Tony got on the talk-back and said, ‘Guys, come in here.’ It was kind of a magic moment. I immediately fell back in love with the song.”
Pitney has since gone out to face programmers, fully expecting some pushback on the traditional tone. “I got heckled a little bit when I was making this record, probably for a good reason, because at the time that I was making this record —about a year ago — it wouldn’t have worked,” reasons Pitney. “But something in my gut told me to keep going. I’ve noticed on my radio tour in the last six months, these radio stations are like, ‘Holy cow, we’re starting to get burnt up on the same old thing. We just can’t wait to have this song on the radio.’ Something kind of shifted, and I’m glad it did, because things are going beyond expectation on the radio.”
Now that Curb has shipped “Country” to broadcasters for a Feb. 9 add date, will programmers back their in-person enthusiasm with actual airtime? Is Mo Pitney the 2015 equivalent of the 1985 Randy Travis?
Says Anderson, “We’re gonna figure out if it’s too country. Or not.”
BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE JANUARY 22, 2015 | PAGE 2 OF 7
Pitney’s ‘Country’ Offers Hope For A Traditional Comeback
MAKIN’ TRACKS TOM ROLAND [email protected]
PITNEY
Nearly 800 people from country radio and the Nashville music industry headed to Memphis Jan. 15-18 for the annual Country Cares for St. Jude Kids seminar, historically the second-largest annual gathering for the format after Country Radio Seminar. Also making the trip were about 25 country artists and an un-expected St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital supporter: former U.S. Airways Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, who became an instant national hero after he safely landed a plane on the Hudson River in 2009.
In a surprise keynote speech that mesmerized the room, Sullenberger spoke eloquently about leader-ship while also sharing the story of what happened on Jan. 15, 2009 when his plane hit a flock of Canada geese upon takeoff in an incident he likened to “a Hitchcock movie.” The birds disabled both engines, and Sullen-berger said, “It felt like the bottom had fallen out of our world.” He had just 208 seconds to get the plane loaded with 155 people to safety as it fell from the sky.
“We got so much so right so quickly that day,” he said. “But the real moral of the story is, we can’t choose when we’re going to face our own crisis. They arrive on their own schedule. All we can do is choose how we handle it.” He later added, “I never knew on which 208 seconds my career would be judged.”
Bringing his speech around to leadership and St. Jude, Sullenberger said, “At the end of our lives I doubt we will be counting our money or cataloging the deals we made. I think it’s much more likely we’ll be asking ourselves a question: Did I make a difference? I hope your answer is ‘yes.’ ”
Sullenberger also toured the hospital, marking his second visit to the facility. The previous day two dozen country acts did the same (some of them making a return visit as well) and met with patients. They included The Band Perry, Glo-riana, Craig Campbell, The Voice winner Craig Wayne Boyd, Sam Hunt, Kelsea Ballerini and Josh Abbott Band frontman Josh Abbott. There were also plenty of newcomers just now being introduced to radio, such as Mickey
Guyton, Mo Pitney, Seth Alley, Native Run, A Thousand Horses and Logan Mize.
Said Hunt after his tour, “There are some really special people here. I had heard a lot of good things about St. Jude, but coming here far exceeded any-thing I’d heard … St. Jude has done a great job of creating an environment that exudes happiness and joy.”
Added The Band Perry’s Neil Perry, “St. Jude doesn’t feel like a hospital. It feels like a family.”
The sem ina r w rapped up w it h t he a nnua l songwriter’s dinner, led as always by Country Cares founder and Alabama frontman Randy Owen. He was joined this year by Rock & Roll Hall of Fame mem-ber John Oates and Nashville singer-songwriters Jon Randall, Jessi Alexander and Jimmy Wayne. ( The latter revealed that a film version of his autobi-ography, Walk to Beautiful, is in the works.)
In introducing her hit song “I Drive Your Truck,” recorded by Lee Brice, Alexander said, “This is not a job for me — it’s a purpose, and nights like this make it all worthwhile.”
Alexander also joked that she once saw a poll of the saddest country songs that ranked “I Drive Your Truck”
at No. 1 and her husband Randall’s “Whiskey Lullaby” at No. 2. After playing the latter song, Randall thanked the country radio people in the room for playing “a four-minute double suicide,” joking, “That was a hell of a drive-time moment.”
Alexander also performed her song “The Climb,” a hit for Miley Cyrus, say-ing that she had heard from a girl who was using the song as motivation to get through her cancer treatments.
Now in its 26th year, Country Cares has raised more than $500 million for St. Jude through radiothons and other events that keep the doors open of a hospital and research facility that costs nearly $2 million a day to operate, since patients’ families don’t pay for their care, housing, transportation, education or food.
BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE JANUARY 22, 2015 | PAGE 3 OF 7
Country Cares Seminar Flies High With ‘Sully’ Sullenberger
THE STARK REPORT PHYLLIS STARK [email protected]
The members of Gloriana visit with a patient at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
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out? No, because I had no suspicion whatsoever that I was having trouble. My pul-monologist, I went to her like a year-and-a-half ago, and ev-erything was fine. Then all of a sudden, I start having trouble breathing, and it keeps getting worse. I was on my way to Co-lumbus, Ga., to do a date, just driving — almost to Birming-ham [Ala.] — and the doctors called and said, “Jim Ed, we need to see you.” I said, “Well, can I do it next week?” And
they said, “We need to see you now.” I turned the truck around and headed back, and whenever I walked into their office, they said, “Jim Ed, sit down. You got a problem. You got cancer.” But I didn’t know anything of it when I was doing this album.
A lot of the duets you recorded with Helen Cornelius were done at RCA Studio A. What was that like in recent months watching all the controversy around the sale of that building? The Browns were the very first artists to re-cord in Studio A. We were in town to do a session and Chet [Atkins] said, “Y’all want to be guinea pigs?” I walked in it not too long ago — about when all this con-troversy started — and I looked at it and I said, “Oh, golly, if y’all start getting rid of this, I want to buy one of the chandeliers.” I had no place to put it, but through the years it didn’t change a lot. I looked over at one of the walls. [I remembered] Ravi Shankar sitting over there, leaned up against that wall with his legs crossed, with a sitar on his lap and Chet was recording him. Chet said, “Y’all got anything he can play on?” So we did a song.
It has been about three decades since the last time you made a new album. Why did you decide now was the right time to do one? You know, Eddy Arnold was a great friend of mine. When he passed away, he left his grandson in charge of the trust. Well, his grandson is quite a young man, Shannon Pollard. He was going to redo some of Eddy’s great songs that he had through the years. I started talking with Shannon and I told him I’d love to sing some of those. One thing led to another, and first thing I know we’re doing an album.
Time has been really kind to your voice. Your tone is still so good. Is there a secret to that? Oh, no. Give credit to the man upstairs. —Tom Roland
BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE JANUARY 22, 2015 | PAGE 4 OF 7
Q U E ST I O N S
AnsweredJim Ed BrownGrand Ole Opry member
When Plowboy released the album In Style Again on Jan. 20, it came at a monumental moment for Jim Ed Brown. It marked his first new project since 1980, when he was making duet albums with Helen Cornelius. It also came a day after his doctor told him his lung cancer had gone into remission. Produced by Don Cusic and Bobby Bare, In Style Again features guest appearances by Vince Gill, Cornelius, The Browns and The Whites. Inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 1963 as a member of The Browns, the “Pop a Top” singer spoke with Billboard Country Update while he was still battling his disease.
How are you feeling about the Opry? Pete Fisher has been there awhile and I feel like he’s got a really difficult job. He may be the longest-tenured manager we’ve had at the Opry. He has done a good job. I love the fact that the older people still have a chance out there to perform, but he’s also trying to keep the name of the Opry going. I don’t agree with all the people that he’s bringing on as new people, but evidently they’re doing a great job because it’s a full house all the time. And they’re adding shows. They’ve got Tuesday, sometimes Thurs-day, and Friday and Saturday. Their promotions are working.
How are your treatments going? Chemo, it just kind of knocks you down for one day, but then you get up and you get better. But the radia-tion is what is really hurting me. The cancer was wrapped around my esophagus and my breathing tubes and some arteries. I have trouble eating, but I’m going to eat. I’m going to go through it. They said they were going to knock me down. I said, “Knock me down, but I’ll get up.”
You recorded this album before you knew [you had cancer]. Looking back, do you feel like it had any effect on how it came
LUKE BRYAN BREAKS WITH SPRING BREAKLuke Bryan’s annual spring break concerts in Panama City, Fla., are toast. His final spring-themed album, Spring Break … Checkin’ Out, arrives March 10, with concerts set March 11-12. Following that, he heads into a Kick Up the Dust Tour with opening acts Randy Houser and Dustin Lynch beginning May 8 in Grand Forks, N.D. The schedule includes seven sta-dium dates — with additional acts Florida
Georgia Line and Thomas Rhett — starting June 6 in Denver and run-ning through Oct. 30 in Detroit. Bryan will also be the focus of an exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum from May through November. Country is thinking very major-league. Jo Dee Messina will perform the national anthem for the NHL All-Star Game in Columbus, Ohio, on Jan. 25,
and Dierks Bentley is part of a swirl of Super Bowl activities the following weekend. He joins Florida Georgia Line and Jason Aldean for CBS Radio’s previously announced Night Before concert on Jan. 31 at the US Airways Cen-ter in Phoenix. Bentley will also play Jan. 30 at his Scottsdale, Ariz., restaurant Whiskey Row, which then teams with CMT After Midnight With Cody Alan for a post-game party on Feb. 1 featuring Big & Rich and Chase Bryant. Miranda Lambert, who’s nominated in each of the four country Grammy cat-egories, has been added to the performance lineup for the Feb. 8 CBS Grammy telecast. Other newly announced talent for the show includes Sam Smith, Usher, Pharrell Williams, Common and John Legend. Doniphan, Mo., plans to rename a portion of U.S. Highway 160 as the Billy Yates Highway, honoring a native singer-songwriter who wrote the George Jones singles “Choices” and “I Don’t Need Your Rockin’ Chair.” The event takes place May 23, as the city observes Billy Yates Day.
MIDWEEK NEWS UPDATE
BRYAN
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Country UPDATE
THIS WEEK
LAST WEEK
TWO WEEKS
AGOWKS ON CHART
TITLE Artist PRODUCER (SONGWRITER) IMPRINT / PROMOTION LABEL CERTIFIED
PEAK POSITION
l1 1 1 17 SOMETHING IN THE WATER ★★No. 1 (7 weeks)★★ Carrie Underwood M.BRIGHT (C.UNDERWOOD,C. DESTEFANO,BRETT JAMES) 19/ARISTA NASHVILLE 0 1
l2 4 5 12 I SEE YOU Luke Bryan J.STEVENS (L.BRYAN,L.LAIRD,A.GORLEY) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 2
l3 3 3 18 TALLADEGA Eric Church J.JOYCE (E.CHURCH,L.LAIRD) EMI NASHVILLE 3
l4 41 — 2 HOMEGROWN ★★Digital Gainer★★ Zac Brown Band J.JOYCE,Z.BROWN (Z.BROWN,W.DURRETTE,N.MOON) VARVATOS/REPUBLIC/BMLG/SOUTHERN GROUND
4
l5 5 4 18 SUN DAZE Florida Georgia Line J.MOI (C.R.BARLOWE,J.FRASURE,S.BUXTON,T.HUBBARD,B.KELLEY) REPUBLIC NASHVILLE 4
l6 7 7 12 LONELY TONIGHT Blake Shelton Featuring Ashley Monroe S.HENDRICKS (B.ANDERSON,R.HURD) WARNER BROS./WMN 5
7 2 2 18 SHOTGUN RIDER Tim McGraw B.GALLIMORE,T.MCGRAW (H.LINDSEY,M.GREEN,T.VERGES) MCGRAW/BIG MACHINE 0 1
l8 9 12 21 MAKE ME WANNA Thomas Rhett J.JOYCE (THOMAS RHETT,B.BUTLER,L.MCCOY) VALORY 8
l9 8 11 16 TIL IT’S GONE Kenny Chesney B.CANNON,K.CHESNEY (R.CLAWSON,D.L.MURPHY,J.YEARY) BLUE CHAIR/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 8
l10 10 8 21 DRINKING CLASS Lee Brice M.MCCLURE,K.JACOBS,L.BRICE (J.KEAR,D.FRASIER,E.M.HILL) CURB 6
l11 11 9 13 JUST GETTIN’ STARTED Jason Aldean M.KNOX (C. DESTEFANO,R.AKINS,A.GORLEY) BROKEN BOW 9
12 6 6 22 PERFECT STORM Brad Paisley L.WOOTEN,B.PAISLEY (B.PAISLEY,L.T.MILLER) ARISTA NASHVILLE 4
l13 15 22 12 TAKE YOUR TIME ★★Streaming Gainer★★ Sam Hunt Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,J.OSBORNE,S.MCANALLY) MCA NASHVILLE
13
l14 14 16 21 MEAN TO ME Brett Eldredge L.LAIRD (B.ELDREDGE,SCOOTER CARUSOE) ATLANTIC/WMN 14
l15 12 10 29 GOD MADE GIRLS RaeLynn J.MOI (RAELYNN,N.GALYON,L.MCKENNA,L.ROSE) VALORY 7
l16 16 20 32 LIKE A COWBOY Randy Houser D.GEORGE (R.HOUSER,B.LONG) STONEY CREEK 16
17 13 14 18 LONELY EYES Chris Young J.STROUD (J.BULFORD,J.MATTHEWS,L.VELTZ) RCA NASHVILLE 13
l18 17 19 21 HOMEGROWN HONEY Darius Rucker F.ROGERS (D.RUCKER,C.KELLEY,N.CHAPMAN) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 17
l19 19 26 16 AIN’T WORTH THE WHISKEY Cole Swindell M.CARTER (C.SWINDELL,A.SANDERS,J.MARTIN) WARNER BROS./WMN 19
l20 21 25 23 TAKE IT ON BACK Chase Bryant D.GEORGE,C.BRYANT (C.BRYANT,T.L.JAMES,D.ALTMAN) RED BOW 20
l21 22 23 23 WHAT WE AIN’T GOT Jake Owen J.MOI (T.J.GOFF,T.MEADOWS) RCA NASHVILLE 21
l22 25 28 14 SAY YOU DO Dierks Bentley R. COPPERMAN (M.T.RAMSEY,S.MCANALLY,T. ROSEN) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 22
l23 23 24 17 A GUY WALKS INTO A BAR Tyler Farr J.CATINO,J.KING (M.PEIRCE,J.SINGLETON,B.TURSI) COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 23
l24 27 29 12 FREESTYLE Lady Antebellum N.CHAPMAN,LADY ANTEBELLUM (D.HAYWOOD,C.KELLEY,H.SCOTT,S.MCANALLY) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 24
l25 30 34 7 GIRL CRUSH Little Big Town J.JOYCE (L.ROSE,L.MCKENNA,H.LINDSEY) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 25
Hot Country SongsBILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE JANUARY 22, 2014 | PAGE 5 OF 7
SALES, AIRPLAY & STREAMING DATA COMPILED BY
THIS WEEK
LAST WEEK
TWO WEEKS
AGOWKS ON CHART
TITLE Artist PRODUCER (SONGWRITER) IMPRINT / PROMOTION LABEL CERTIFIED
PEAK POSITION
l26 29 30 13 TRAILER HITCH Kristian Bush K.BUSH,T.TAPLEY (K.BUSH,B.BUSH,T.OWENS) STREAMSOUND 26
l27 31 31 11 SHE DON’T LOVE YOU Eric Paslay M.ALTMAN (E.PASLAY,J.WAYNE) EMI NASHVILLE 27
l28 32 32 16 LOVE YOU LIKE THAT Canaan Smith B.BEAVERS,J.ROBBINS (C.SMITH,B.BEAVERS,J.BEAVERS) MERCURY 28
l29 33 35 9 LAY LOW Josh Turner F.ROGERS (R.COPPERMAN,T.MARTIN,M.NESLER) MCA NASHVILLE 29
l30 35 38 9 DON’T IT Billy Currington D.HUFF (J.JOHNSTON,A.GORLEY,R.COPPERMAN) MERCURY 30
l31 48 — 2 SMOKE ★★Airplay Gainer★★ A Thousand Horses D.COBB (M.HOBBY,J.M.NITE,R.COPPERMAN) REPUBLIC NASHVILLE
31
l32 36 37 11 BABY BE MY LOVE SONG Easton Corbin C.CHAMBERLAIN (J.COLLINS,BRETT JAMES) MERCURY 32
l33 34 33 14 DRUNK AMERICANS Toby Keith T.KEITH,B.PINSON (B.CLARK,B.DIPIERO,S.MCANALLY) SHOW DOG NASHVILLE 33
l34 RE-ENTRY 2 LITTLE RED WAGON Miranda Lambert F.LIDDELL,C.AINLAY,G.WORF (A.MAE,GINSBERG J.) RCA NASHVILLE 34
l35 37 39 8 LOVE ME LIKE YOU MEAN IT Kelsea Ballerini F.G.WHITEHEAD (K.BALLERINI,J.KERR,F.G.WHITEHEAD,L.CARPENTER) BLACK RIVER 35
l36 44 44 5 WHEN I’VE BEEN DRINKIN’ Jon Pardi B.BUTLER,J.PARDI (J.PARDI,B.BUTLER,J.SPILLMAN) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 36
l37 40 41 6 HARD TO BE COOL Joe Nichols M.J.CONES (R.HATCH,J.SELLERS) RED BOW 37
l38 39 40 12 MAKE YOU MISS ME Sam Hunt Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,J.OSBORNE,M.T.RAMSEY) MCA NASHVILLE 32
39 38 36 11 GENTLE ON MY MIND The Band Perry D.HUFF (J.HARTFORD) BIG MACHINE/REPUBLIC NASHVILLE 35
40 28 — 2 GOING OUT LIKE THAT Reba T.BROWN (B.HAYSLIP,R.AKINS,J.SELLERS) NASH ICON/VALORY 28
l41 42 42 18 HOUSE PARTY Sam Hunt Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,Z.CROWELL,J.FLOWERS) MCA NASHVILLE 39
l42 45 45 3 TROUBLE Gloriana M.SERLETIC (R.REINERT,M.GOSSIN,R.COPPERMAN,J.M.NITE) EMBLEM/WARNER BROS./WAR 42
l43 46 — 2 RIOT Rascal Flatts J.DEMARCUS,RASCAL FLATTS (J.BOYER,S.HAZE) BIG MACHINE 43
44 43 43 17 EX TO SEE Sam Hunt Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,J.OSBORNE,M.T.RAMSEY) MCA NASHVILLE 37
l45 47 46 7 GONNA WANNA TONIGHT Chase Rice C. DESTEFANO (S.MCANALLY,J.M.NITE,J.ROBBINS) DACK JANIELS/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 34
l46 RE-ENTRY 2 HELL OF A NIGHT Dustin Lynch M.J.CONES (Z.CROWELL,A.SANDERS,J.BOYER) BROKEN BOW 46
l47 50 47 6 SPEAKERS Sam Hunt Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,B.HOOD,K.SACKLEY) MCA NASHVILLE 40
48 49 48 3 ONE HELL OF AN AMEN Brantley Gilbert D.HUFF (B.GILBERT,M.DEKLE,B.DAVIS) VALORY 48
l49 RE-ENTRY 2 MOM Garth Brooks M.A.MILLER (D.SAMPSON,W.VARBLE) PEARL/RCA NASHVILLE 49
l50 NEW 1 BREAK UP WITH HIM ★★Hot Shot Debut★★ Old Dominion S.MCANALLY (M.T.RAMSEY,T. ROSEN,B.TURSI,G.SPRUNG,W.SELLERS) REESMACK/THIRTY TIGERS
50
For week ending January 18, 2015. Figures are rounded. Compiled from a national sample of retail store and rack sales reports collected and provided by Nielsen Music.
For inquiries about any Nielsen Music data, please contact Josh Bennett at 615-807-1338 or [email protected]
The week’s most popular country songs, ranked by radio airplay audience impressions as measured by Nielsen Music, sales data as compiled by Nielsen Music and streaming activity data from online music sources tracked by Nielsen Music. Descending titles below No. 25 are moved to recurrent after 20 weeks.
COUNTRY MARKET WATCHA Weekly National Music Sales Report
Hot Country SongsBILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE JANUARY 22, 2015 | PAGE 6 OF 7
ALBUMSDIGITAL
ALBUMS*DIGITAL TRACKS
This Week 451,000 180,000 2,195,000
Last Week 432,000 157,000 2,297,000
Change 4.4% 14.6% -4.4%
This Week Last Year 538,000 201,000 2,755,000
Change -16.2% -10.4% -20.3%
*Digital album sales are also counted within album sales.
Weekly Unit SalesYear-Over-Year Album Sales2014 2015 CHANGE
Albums 1,538,000 1,445,000 -6.0%
Digital Tracks 8,943,000 7,385,000 -17.4%
YEAR-TO-DATE
Overall Unit Sales
2014 2015 CHANGE
Physical 972,000 886,000 9.0%
Digital 566,000 560,000 -1.1%
Sales by Album Format
SALES, AIRPLAY & STREAMING DATA COMPILED BY
’15
’14
DIGITAL TRACKS SALES
’15
’14
1.5 million
1.4 million
000.0 million
’14
’13
7.4 million
8.9 million
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TITLEARTIST (IMPRINT/LABEL)
l1 NEW HOMEGROWN ZAC BROWN BAND (Southern Ground/Varvatos/Republic/BMLG)
l2 1 12 TAKE YOUR TIME SAM HUNT (MCA Nashville/UMGN)
l3 4 13 LONELY TONIGHT BLAKE SHELTON FEAT. ASHLEY MONROE (Warner Bros./WMN)
4 3 16 SOMETHING IN THE WATER CARRIE UNDERWOOD (19/Arista Nashville/SMN)
5 2 18 SHOTGUN RIDER TIM MCGRAW (McGraw/Big Machine/BMLG)
l6 5 17 SUN DAZE FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE (Republic Nashville/BMLG)
l7 8 11 I SEE YOU LUKE BRYAN (Capitol Nashville)
l8 9 19 DRINKING CLASS LEE BRICE (Curb)
9 6 17 TALLADEGA ERIC CHURCH (EMI Nashville/UMGN)
l10 11 11 JUST GETTIN’ STARTED JASON ALDEAN (Broken Bow/BBMG)
l11 14 16 MAKE ME WANNA THOMAS RHETT (Valory/BMLG)
12 10 24 GOD MADE GIRLS RAELYNN (Valory/BMLG)
l13 19 15 AIN’T WORTH THE WHISKEY COLE SWINDELL (Warner Bros./WMN)
l14 22 20 PERFECT STORM BRAD PAISLEY (Arista Nashville/SMN)
15 7 13 LONELY EYES CHRIS YOUNG (RCA Nashville/SMN)
l16 30 4 GIRL CRUSH LITTLE BIG TOWN (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
l17 20 20 MEAN TO ME BRETT ELDREDGE (Atlantic/WMN)
18 12 25 BURNIN’ IT DOWN JASON ALDEAN (Broken Bow/BBMG)
l19 29 17 HOMEGROWN HONEY DARIUS RUCKER (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
20 15 9 A GUY WALKS INTO A BAR TYLER FARR (Columbia Nashville/SMN)
21 17 31 LEAVE THE NIGHT ON SAM HUNT (MCA Nashville/UMGN)
22 21 21 WHAT WE AIN’T GOT JAKE OWEN (RCA Nashville/SMN)
l23 34 26 SOMEWHERE IN MY CAR KEITH URBAN (Hit Red/Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
l24 37 4 SAY YOU DO DIERKS BENTLEY (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
25 24 27 GIRL IN A COUNTRY SONG MADDIE & TAE (Dot/BMLG)
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l26 31 19 LIKE A COWBOY RANDY HOUSER (Stoney Creek/BBMG)
27 16 60 THIS IS HOW WE ROLL FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE FEAT. LUKE BRYAN (Republic Nashville/BMLG)
28 23 27 DIRT FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE (Republic Nashville/BMLG)
29 27 35 BARTENDER LADY ANTEBELLUM (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
30 26 31 AMERICAN KIDS KENNY CHESNEY (Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville/SMN)
31 18 60 PLAY IT AGAIN LUKE BRYAN (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
l32 45 5 SHE DON’T LOVE YOU ERIC PASLAY (EMI Nashville/UMGN)
l33 42 12 LOVE YOU LIKE THAT CANAAN SMITH (Mercury/UMGN)
l34 RE-ENTRY TIL IT’S GONE KENNY CHESNEY (Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville/SMN)
35 32 22 NEON LIGHT BLAKE SHELTON (Warner Bros./WMN)
36 25 38 DRUNK ON A PLANE DIERKS BENTLEY (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
37 28 46 I DON’T DANCE LEE BRICE (Curb)
38 35 132 CRUISE FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE (Republic Nashville/BMLG)
l39 RE-ENTRY FREESTYLE LADY ANTEBELLUM (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
40 40 21 BREAK UP IN A SMALL TOWN SAM HUNT (MCA Nashville/UMGN)
l41 NEW TRAILER HITCH KRISTIAN BUSH (Streamsound)
l42 49 53 READY SET ROLL CHASE RICE (Dack Janiels)
l43 NEW TAKE IT ON BACK CHASE BRYANT (Red Bow/BBMG)
44 33 34 SUNSHINE & WHISKEY FRANKIE BALLARD (Warner Bros./WMN)
l45 NEW TONIGHT I WANNA CRY KEITH URBAN (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
46 36 32 SOMETHIN’ BAD MIRANDA LAMBERT DUET WITH CARRIE UNDERWOOD (RCA Nashville/SMN)
l47 RE-ENTRY LAY LOW JOSH TURNER (MCA Nashville/UMGN)
48 46 33 DAY DRINKING LITTLE BIG TOWN (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)
49 47 49 BOTTOMS UP BRANTLEY GILBERT (Valory/BMLG)
50 39 167 CHICKEN FRIED ZAC BROWN BAND (Home Grown/Atlantic/Bigger Picture)
Top-selling paid download country songs compiled from sales reports collected and provided by Nielsen Music. Charts update weekly on Thurdays at www.Billboard.Biz/charts. Copyright 2015, Prometheus Global Media, LLC and Nielsen Music, Inc. All rights reserved.
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ARTIST TitleIMPRINT & NUMBER / DISTRIBUTING LABEL
CERT
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PEA
K
POSI
TION
l1 3 4 12 SAM HUNT MontevalloMCA NASHVILLE 021502/UMGN 1
2 1 5 10 GARTH BROOKS Man Against MachinePEARL/RCA NASHVILLE 501135/SMN 1 1
3 2 1 15 JASON ALDEAN Old Boots, New DirtBROKEN BOW 7105/BBMG 1 1
4 4 3 6 CARRIE UNDERWOOD Greatest Hits: Decade #119/ARISTA NASHVILLE 500876/SMN 1
5 5 6 14 FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE Anything GoesREPUBLIC NASHVILLE /BMLG 0 1
l6 6 2 76 LUKE BRYAN Crash My PartyCAPITOL NASHVILLE 018733/UMGN 2 1
l7 NEW 1 RAELYNN Me (EP)VALORY 022660 VEX/BMLG 7
l8 16 19 22 CHASE RICE Ignite The NightCOLUMBIA NASHVILLE 22573/DACK JANIELS 1
l9 NEW 1 CODY CANADA AND THE DEPARTED HippielovepunkUNDERGROUND SOUND 73516*/GOOD TIME (73530) 9
10 9 7 49 ERIC CHURCH The OutsidersEMI NASHVILLE 019402*/UMGN 1 1
11 7 8 16 BLAKE SHELTON BRINGING BACK THE SUNSHINEWARNER BROS. 544918/WMN 0 1
l12 13 14 10 ZAC BROWN BAND Greatest Hits So Far...ROAR/SOUTHERN GROUND/ATLANTIC 546369/AG 5
13 8 9 18 GEORGE STRAIT The Cowboy Rides Away: Live From AT&T StadiumMCA NASHVILLE 021477/UMGN 2
14 11 11 33 MIRANDA LAMBERT PlatinumRCA NASHVILLE 379278/SMN 0 1
15 12 16 16 LADY ANTEBELLUM 747CAPITOL NASHVILLE /UMGN 2
16 14 15 36 STURGILL SIMPSON Metamodern Sounds In Country MusicHIGH TOP MOUNTAIN 002*/THIRTY TIGERS 11
17 10 10 35 BRANTLEY GILBERT Just As I AmVALORY BG0200A/BMLG 0 1
l18 20 20 19 LEE BRICE I Dont DanceCURB 79392* 1
l19 19 18 48 COLE SWINDELL Cole SwindellWARNER BROS. 541372/WMN 2
20 17 12 17 KENNY CHESNEY The Big RevivalBLUE CHAIR/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 306274/SMN 1
21 18 17 13 LITTLE BIG TOWN Pain KillerCAPITOL NASHVILLE 021360*/UMGN 3
22 15 13 18 TIM MCGRAW Sundown Heaven TownMCGRAW/BIG MACHINE TM0200A/BMLG 1
l23 21 22 62 BRETT ELDREDGE Bring You BackATLANTIC 525855/WMN 2
24 24 27 19 ALABAMA Angels Among Us: Hymns & Gospel FavoritesCRACKER BARREL/TAG/GAITHER 483414 EX/CAPITOL CMG 6
25 23 23 47 DIERKS BENTLEY RiserCAPITOL NASHVILLE 019404/UMGN 1
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l1 1 30 LEAVE THE NIGHT ON SAM HUNT
l2 2 47 THIS IS HOW WE ROLL FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE FEAT. LUKE BRYAN
l3 4 28 DIRT FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE
l4 3 16 SOMETHING IN THE WATER CARRIE UNDERWOOD
l5 6 94 CRUISE FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE
l6 9 6 I SEE YOU LUKE BRYAN
l7 7 56 BOTTOMS UP BRANTLEY GILBERT
8 5 63 WE ARE NEVER EVER GETTING BACK TOGETHER TAYLOR SWIFT
l9 8 43 PLAY IT AGAIN LUKE BRYAN
l10 17 3 TAKE YOUR TIME SAM HUNT
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l11 11 7 TALLADEGA ERIC CHURCH
l12 12 11 GOD MADE GIRLS RAELYNN
l13 10 13 SUN DAZE FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE
l14 13 11 SHOTGUN RIDER TIM MCGRAW
l15 14 10 DRINKING CLASS LEE BRICE
16 15 26 ROLLER COASTER LUKE BRYAN
l17 18 75 THAT’S MY KIND OF NIGHT LUKE BRYAN
l18 19 26 GIRL IN A COUNTRY SONG MADDIE & TAE
19 16 17 SOMEWHERE IN MY CAR KEITH URBAN
20 20 54 YOU BELONG WITH ME TAYLOR SWIFT
Country Streaming Songs -The week’s top Country streamed radio songs, on-demand songs and videos on leading online music services. Charts update weekly on Thurdays at www.Billboard.Biz/charts. Copyright 2015, Prometheus Global Media, LLC and Nielsen Music, Inc. All rights reserved.
BUILDING AIRPLAY GAINERSTITLE Label Artist GAIN
MAKE ME WANNA Valory Thomas Rhett +309
LITTLE RED WAGON RCA Nashville Miranda Lambert +216
LONELY TONIGHT Warner Bros./WMN Blake Shelton Feat. Ashley Monroe +184
SOMETHING IN THE WATER 19/Arista Nashville Carrie Underwood +181
TAKE YOUR TIME MCA Nashville Sam Hunt +180
AIN’T WORTH THE WHISKEY Warner Bros./WMN Cole Swindell +130
BETTER THAN YOU LEFT ME Capitol Nashville Mickey Guyton +122
BEAT OF THE MUSIC Atlantic/WMN Brett Eldredge +115
DRINKING CLASS Curb Lee Brice +109
GOING OUT LIKE THAT Nash Icon/Valory Reba +106
Building Gainers reflects titles with the top increases in plays from Monday through 5pm ET Wednesday, as compared to the same period in the previous week, according to Nielsen Music.
TOP COUNTRY ALBUMSCOUNTRY DIGITAL SONGS
BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE JANUARY 22, 2015 | PAGE 7 OF 7
STREAMING DATA COMPILED BY
The week’s most popular country albums, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen Music. Albums are defined as current if they are less than 18 months old or older than 18 months but still residing in the Billboard 200’s top 100. Charts update weekly on Thurdays at www.Billboard.Biz/charts. Copyright 2015, Prometheus Global Media, LLC and Nielsen Music, Inc. All rights reserved.
COUNTRY STREAMING SONGS
SALES, AIRPLAY & STREAMING DATA COMPILED BY
SALES, AIRPLAY & STREAMING DATA COMPILED BY
