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Category Archives: Media & Entertainment
Nine Weeks of a Celebrity Trash Magazine
Week 1: Big story on how amazing Demi Moore looks and everyone wants to know “How does she stay so young looking?!” Week 2: The scoop on celebrities that are too thin. Anorexia? Lots of photos to prove it! Week … Continue reading
The Return of Journalism and News Reporting
Invariably when watching the press conference following a professional sports game or in the locker room directly afterwards, some of the reporters are asking some stupid questions. At the same time many of those sports journalists are asking very pointed, … Continue reading
Posted in Media & Entertainment, Sports
Tagged Bob Costas, journalism, media, news, politics, reporting, Sports, television
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A Graph Is Worth Millions Of Words
From Digital Music News: The following shipment figures are from the RIAA, dating back to 1973. The first shows album unit sales across four formats: 8-tracks, vinyl, CDs, and digital albums. The second shows singles across four formats: CD-singles, cassette … Continue reading
Posted in Media & Entertainment, Music, Music Business
Tagged marketing, Music, Music Business
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Complete List of 2011 Grammy Award Winners
POP: Pop Vocal Album: Lady Gaga, The Fame Monster Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals: Train, “Hey, Soul Sister (Live)” Traditional Pop Vocal Album: Michael Bublé, Crazy Love Female Pop Vocal Performance: Lady Gaga, “Bad Romance,” The … Continue reading
Thank You Garth
The 9pm show last night was the final of nine shows that Garth Brooks put on in Nashville to benefit flood relief. Around 160,000 tickets were sold and five million raised. Add to that the economic impact of Garth’s shows … Continue reading
Posted in Artists, Media & Entertainment, Music, Music Business, Nashville
Tagged concert, flood, Garth Brooks, Nashville, show, Trisha Yearwood
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Calvin and Hobbes Creator Gives Rare Interview
I am not a big comic strip fan. Never really have been with the exception of one in particular – Calvin and Hobbes. Like so many, I’ve read all the strips and own all the books, but also like so … Continue reading
Posted in Media & Entertainment
Tagged Bill Watterson, Books, Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes, cartoons, comic, comics, entertainment, strip
1 Comment
Favorite Music of 2009 – For The Record
My own little “Best Of” for 2009. In no particular order……..Happy New Year! Best Musical Groups of 2009: MuteMath, Sam & Ruby, Chickenfoot, Lady Antebellum, Needtobreathe, Kings of Leon, Zac Brown Band, The Fray, Fiction Family, Shinedown, Paramore Best Female Musical … Continue reading
A 2009 Best of List Worth Mentioning
Now this is a playlist! The 9513’s 50 Best Country Songs of 2009 50. “Devil’s Best Dress”– Corb Lund 49. “These Cowboys Born Out of Their Time” – Gretchen Peters and Tom Russell 48. “Midnight At The Movies” – Justin … Continue reading
Posted in Media & Entertainment
Tagged 9513, americana, Best of 2009, Brad Paisley, Bryan White, country music, Miranda Lambert, Music, Radney Foster, singles, songs, texas
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2009 CMA Award Winners
The List of Country Music Association Award Winners: Musical Event of the Year: “Start A Band “ Brad Paisley and Keith Urban Musician of the Year: Mac McAnally Music Video of the Year: “Love Story“ Taylor Swift – directed by … Continue reading
Posted in Media & Entertainment, Music, Music Business
Tagged 2009, ABC, Brad Paisley, CMA, CMA Awards, country, Country Music Association, Music, Nashville, show, Taylor Swift
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Keith Urban Brings It
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: How can Keith Urban not be Entertainer of the Year? Seeing him long ago fronting The Ranch and several times as a solo artist, no one can touch his show. The … Continue reading
Posted in Artists, Media & Entertainment, Music Business, Video
Tagged ACM, artist, CMA, country, entertainment, Keith Urban, Lefsetz, Music, musician, Nicole Kidman, The Ranch
1 Comment
Taking Care of Your Fans
In the music business I’ve heard it said you will see artists at Fan Fair (or visiting radio) on their way up and then on their way down. Rarely in between when they are a superstar or at the top of … Continue reading
Posted in Media & Entertainment, Music Business, Video
Tagged CMA Music Festival, country, Fan Fair, Garth Brooks, Music
1 Comment
In the Final Words of Radio and Records…..
Radio & Records Closes Doors It’s The End Of An Era By R&R Staff The current state of affairs has left The Nielsen Company with no other alternative but to immediately cease all services, products and events related to Radio … Continue reading
Posted in Media & Entertainment, Music Business, Radio
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Seth Godin Tribes Video
During Country Radio Seminar Seth Godin was the keynote speaker and had much to say on the future of marketing and social media. In another recent presentation to TED, Seth argues the that the Internet has ended mass marketing and … Continue reading
Posted in Business/Marketing, Media & Entertainment, Music Business, Technology
Tagged business, marketing, seth godin, Social Media, tribes
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The More Things Change….
The More They Stay the Same, Music Piracy Edition (from Techdirt): Via Boing Boing comes this link to a NY Times article from 1897 (yes, you read that right, not 1987) about the struggle of the music industry against “pirates” … Continue reading
Posted in Media & Entertainment, Music Business
Tagged copyright, law, Music, piracy, Technology
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Clear Channel Cuts Round 2
From ALL ACCESS: CLEAR CHANNEL has announced another major wave of staff reductions resulting in the loss of 590 positions, just over 3% of the company, focusing on positions in programming, on-air, engineering, information technology and business office posts such … Continue reading
Posted in Media & Entertainment, Radio
1 Comment
Booking Shows the Social Media Way
Although not utilized as much as they should be, house concerts are nothing new to the creative touring of new or emerging artists. What is new is using Twitter to facilitate the set up and booking of a house-concert-based, social-media-driven … Continue reading
Posted in Business/Marketing, Media & Entertainment, Music, Music Business, Technology
Tagged Artists, house concerts, Music, Music Business, Social Media, touring, Twitter
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ACM Awards 2009
The 44th annual Academy of Country Music Awards are being held in Las Vegas on Sunday night, April 5th at the MGM Grand. I know my artist, radio, and industry friends are having a large time in Vegas and are preparing for the … Continue reading
Posted in Media & Entertainment, Music, Music Business, Video
Tagged ACM Awards, Artists, awards, country, country music, Las Vegas, Music, Reba McEntire
2 Comments
ACM Radio Winners
Here are the Academy of Country Music Radio Winners that were announced today: National On-Air Personality:Lon Helton, CMT Country Countdown USA Major Market Personality: Dorsey Gang, KSCS/Dallas Large Market Personality: JD Cannon, WFMS/Indianapolis Medium Market Personality: Andy Ritchie, Alison West … Continue reading
Posted in Media & Entertainment, Music, Music Business
Tagged ACM, awards, broadcasting, Radio, stations
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Leadership Music Digital Summit 2009
Leadership Music’s annual Digital Summit is one of the most valuable and high-impact events in the Nashville music industry community. Join over 600 artists, ISPs, songwriters, venture capitalists, managers, content aggregators, labels, digital music services, publishers, service providers, mobile operators, … Continue reading
Posted in Media & Entertainment, Music Business, Nashville, Technology
Tagged business, digital, entertainment, Music, Nashville, Technology
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Termination Day
The worst kept secret in the radio and record industry came to pass as Clear Channel let go of 1850 employees. I actually thought there might be a slight chance the CC brass wouldn’t do it on the same day … Continue reading
Posted in Media & Entertainment, Radio
Tagged broadcasting, business, clear channel, Radio
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New Jamie O’Neal Video
Often videos do not add anything to the single you hear on the radio. Many times they can even ruin a vision you have already created from the lyric or the feel of the song. You want a video to enhance … Continue reading
Posted in Media & Entertainment, Video
Tagged Artists, country music, Jamie O'Neal, Music, Video
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Lance Smith Debuts Children’s Book
My friend and CMT personality Lance Smith has released his first children’s book entitled “The Old Man and the Cat”. He had mentioned the impending release during our Industry Pro Interview back in June. I’m glad to see it has come to … Continue reading
2009 Grammy Nominations
Okay, I have this Love/Hate thing with the Grammy Awards. Always have. I love how vast the genres of music are and how most years they will put it all on display – even the Jazz and Classical formats. I … Continue reading
Who Decides Musical Significance?
I was recently thinking about legendary Country artists that have little significance in today’s Country music world or in the pop culture at large. They certainly have respect and have been influences on culture, but they have either been shut … Continue reading
Posted in Business/Marketing, Media & Entertainment, Music, Video
Tagged advertising, Artists, country music, marketing, Music, Video
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2008 CMA Winners
To me the real winners of any awards show are the artists who can consistently pull off great performances or who bring something incredible to the program. My winners this year: George Strait, Keith Urban, Miranda Lambert, Kid Rock, Lady Antebellum, Darius Rucker, Carrie Underwood, and … Continue reading
Posted in Media & Entertainment, Music Business, Nashville
Tagged Artists, CMA Awards, country music, Music Business, Nashville
1 Comment
More From Digital Music Forum West
Another fine article from Wired as they covered the Digital Music Forum West last week. This go-round is about social networks, music discovery and recommendation services. A few morsels: – Radio is still an essential part of the marketing mix. … Continue reading
Posted in Media & Entertainment, Music Business, Technology
Tagged digital, Music, Music Business, Technology
1 Comment
Movie Night
Amy and I decided to rent a movie since we haven’t seen one in the theater in so long. There just hasn’t been anything that was a “must see”. We did try the newest Indiana Jones flick, but it was … Continue reading
Throw it up against the wall…..
A new recording format is being introduced by SanDisk, the world’s leading supplier of flash memory cards . It’s called “Slot Music” and it is the latest attempt by major labels to offset the major slide of CD sales. I … Continue reading
Posted in Media & Entertainment, Music Business, Technology
Tagged business, Music, Technology
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Light Drums
A little illumination to the rhythm of MuteMath drummer Darren King. This band was the first artist featured in The Music Advisory and is a must see live. They are currently in the studio working on their new project. Haven’t … Continue reading
HD Radio Making Last Stand?
Inside Music Media thinks HD is making its last stand on the radio frontier. Here are the reasons: 1. New People Meter numbers for the first few PPM markets (or soon to be markets) show that HD listening did not … Continue reading
The Marketing of De-personalizing
Seth Godin gives some interesting and relevant insights and makes a good case for getting back to personalized authenticity……. Organizations will work tirelessly to de-personalize every communication medium they encounter. Radio ads used to be live, personal and spoken by an … Continue reading
Posted in Media & Entertainment, Radio
Tagged advertising, broadcasting, marketing, Radio, seth godin
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Pandora in Trouble?
From Brennon Slattery, PC World Blogger: Faced with huge song royalty increases, Net radio may soon face extinction. That is according to Internet radio Webcaster Pandora’s founder Tim Westergren. He told the Washington Post his popular music Webcasting site is … Continue reading
Posted in Media & Entertainment, Miscellaneous, Music Business, Technology
Tagged business, Music, Technology
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47% Favor Government Mandated Control on Radio, TV
A new survey from Rasmussen Reports was recently released on the Fairness Doctrine. I can’t even believe we are talking about government control of the airwaves (tv, radio, internet, satellite) when every view is readily available to anyone that wants to find … Continue reading
2008 Nashville Star Winner
Well, they finally wrapped up season number six and the first major network season of Nashville Star on NBC tonight. The viewing audience had a choice between two finalist – Melissa Lawson or Gabe Garcia. In what was overall a … Continue reading
Mobile Platforms Not Yet Paying Off in Music Sales
From eMarketer.com: The music industry is learning a hard lesson: The mobile platform works better as a marketing and customer relationship tool than it does as a retail sales channel. “Bands and artists are increasingly using mobile to form direct … Continue reading
Coming Home from the Real World
I am back home in Nashville and still in recovery mode. I appreciate Chris, Elizabeth, and Brian for their contributions to the blog while I was away. It feels like I was out for a month, so forgive me if … Continue reading
Posted in Media & Entertainment, Personal
Tagged Africa, entertainment, Life, media, Travel
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Get Out of the Foxhole
U.S. album sales continued a steep decline at the mid-year point with an 11% fall to 204.6 million units, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Country sales are off considerably more than that. The music business sales experts are saying that this dip is … Continue reading
Posted in Media & Entertainment, Music Business
Tagged Band of Brothers, business, marketing, Music, retail
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Nashville Star Winner
I watched Nashville Star last night and was very disappointed that Nashville and country music were being represented so poorly. Frankly, it was embarrassing. If that’s the best finalists they can come up with then something is terribly amiss in their … Continue reading
The Rising Cost of the Road
I’ve been talking with artists, managers, and booking agents about how gas prices are impacting artists tours, as those costs have tripled within the last 10 years. Working musicians are feeling the economic impact and it is changing the way they are doing … Continue reading
Posted in Media & Entertainment, Music Business
Tagged Artists, business, Music, shows
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The Art of Ticket Scalping
Ticket sales can be a most confusing game. You show up at your ticket outlet or online right when the show goes on sale and you either can’t get the seats you want or they are already sold out. Then you find … Continue reading
Posted in Media & Entertainment, Music Business
Tagged concert, entertainment, Music
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Shoplifting the Music
Jakomi at the The Music Void has an interesting and informative post about the issue of artists and music revenue being robbed by ISP’s. Many business, technological, ethical, artistic, and legislative questions abound. Read the article HERE.
Industry Pro of the Week: CMT’s Lance Smith
LANCE SMITH Video host/personality CMT Previous Positions: Bartender, shoe salesman, struggling actor Years in the biz: 10 Marital Status: Married, 3yrs Kids: 2 dogs I know you have an interesting schedule, but what compromises a typical day for you? It … Continue reading
Posted in Industry Pro, Media & Entertainment
Tagged cmt, country, Lance Smith, Music, television, Video
1 Comment
Fan Fair 1988
The CMA Music Festival, otherwise better known as Fan Fair, is officially kicking off today. I have already escorted a few acts by to the early morning radio broadcasts taking place and will be checking out Emerson Drive’s Fan Club … Continue reading
Posted in Media & Entertainment, Music Business, Video
Tagged CMA Music Festival, country, Fan Fair, Music
1 Comment
How Far Will We Chase Older Demos?
The demographic of country radio is skewing higher. The more we chase the demo, the higher the age keeps getting. Logic would tell us that in order to grow the format we can’t rely on the older demo, but the … Continue reading
Posted in Media & Entertainment, Music Business, Radio
Tagged broadcasting, country, entertainment, media, Radio
2 Comments
Clear Channel Opening Up a New Box
Clear Channel is streaming a couple of Pandora stations on various individual web properties. Will this testing of the waters turn into something more long term? Check out the Wired article here.
Posted in Media & Entertainment, Radio
Tagged broadcasting, clear channel, media, Pandora, Radio
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And the Winner Was……
The Academy of Country Music Awards were held in Las Vegas tonight and here is a rundown of the winners…… Entertainer of the Year: Kenny Chesney Top Male Vocalist: Brad Paisley Top Female Vocalist: Carrie Underwood Top Vocal Group: Rascal … Continue reading
The Rise of Social Streaming
An article on how listening to music free via streaming is impacting the music industry. Check it out here.
Posted in Media & Entertainment, Music Business
Tagged entertainment, Music, Technology
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Young Guns: 30 Under 30
Edison Media Research has announced their “30 Under 30″ honorees, which is the nationwide vote for 30 promising talents under 30 years of age in the radio industry. A special shout out to my friends Daniel Anstandig, President McVay New Media and Scott … Continue reading
The Kiss of Death
A very good friend of mine, who is an artist, recently told me that there are two phrases that are the kiss of death for an artist trying to be commercially successful. I found truth in them based on my … Continue reading
Singles Only?
The Lefsetz Letter makes a compelling case for releasing and selling singles rather than complete albums. Here’s an excerpt: “But you don’t give them ten more tracks… You give them a dribbling of killers. So they end up becoming fans of the … Continue reading
Posted in Media & Entertainment, Music Business
Tagged Artists, digital, entertainment, Music
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