ARB Diary Distortion Isn't New, But In The Internet Age, We All Live In Glass Houses

.. and, when you live in a glass Arbitron household, everyone talks about it, you (and even your possible impending firing?): "DePetro's wife blamed in radio ratings scandal"

Honesty has always been the best policy just because it is (especially, if like me you have a bad memory!). Now, in the age of chat rooms and blogs, politican or radio performer, it's always your best option.

Once the bad buzz begins and it's out there, it's OUT THERE, big time! (click to read today's latest posts about John Depetro)

Future Look (Part III)

Here's another (educated?) guess on the future of media and our business: Keep an eye on Oaktree Capital and Howard Marks’ investments through Triton Media. He’s putting together an impressive team, aggregating multiple platforms all across North America (and possibly ultimately beyond) to integrate customized technology and an aggressive multi-platform selling strategy.

Google, Apple, Microsoft, CBS, Tribune and Clear Channel, among other enlightened corporations (click on the image to see more of them) – many of which we don’t even know about as yet - have also tried to put together equally-strong assets to aggregate the only part of media today where revenues are growing with their existing resources.

Prediction: it won’t be too long before we find out if one or more of today’s highly-leveraged, debt-ridden radio companies is too big to fail or not, in spite of their continuing ability to bring 40-50% of revenues to the bottom line.

Unless the banking liquidity crisis ends soon, cost-cutting will continue not just in radio and media, but throughout the American economy. The winners will be the ones who best judge how to keep a strong local image, driven by unique non-duplicable content.

Rascal Flatts, Tim and Keith Urban News

Rascal Flatts have added additional dates to their “Bob That Head Tour” that will take the tour through November 2, 2008 with opening act Taylor Swift. Shows set for this upcoming weekend include sell-outs at Hartford’s New England Dodge Music Center and Hershey’s Giant Center with 50,000 fans in attendance. Remaining dates in 2008 include:

8-22 Hartford, CT New England Dodge Music Center
8-23 Scranton, PA Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mtn
8-24 Hershey, PA Giant Center
8-29 Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center
8-30 Pittsburgh, PA Post Gazette Pavilion
8-31 Syracuse, NY New York State Fair
9-11 Virginia Beach, VA Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
9-12 Philadelphia, PA Susquehanna Bank Center
9-13 Mansfield, MA Tweeter Center
9-18 Louisville, KY Freedom Hall
9-19 Peoria, IL Peoria Civic Center
9-20 Detroit, MI The Palace
9-25 Tulsa, OK BOK Center
9-26 Bossier City, LA CenturyTel Center
10-9 Omaha, NE Qwest Center
10-10 St Paul, MN Xcel Energy Center
10-11 Green Bay, WI Resch Center
10-23 Columbia, SC Colonial Center
10-24 Knoxville, TN Thompson Boling Arena
11-2 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun
11-3 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun

Tim McGraw heads back to Rayville, Louisiana on Saturday, September 13, 2008 to host Swampstock 2008 presented by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill’s Neighbor’s Keeper Foundation. Net proceeds from the activities will benefit the Neighbor’s Keeper Foundation’s local initiatives.

This year’s event will host a new location for the nightly concert on the steps of the Richland Parish Courthouse and will feature performances by Catherine Raney, Halfway to Hazard, Dierks Bentley, Jason Aldean, Faith Hill and McGraw.

And for the first time Habitat for Humanity of Ouachita will be an additional partner with Swampstock on a community build beginning September 9 and wrapping Saturday, September 13 to refurbish the Rayville Recreation Center.

“We are anxious to return this year with an amazing line up of artists,” says McGraw. “In addition to supporting Rayville Youth Baseball and the Steve Colvin Scholarships, it’s a great to add Habitat for Humanity of Ouachita and keep the focus on helping the local community. I’m encouraging everyone to help us make this one of the most successful Swampstock’s ever.”

KC Masterpiece and Kingsford, recent sponsors of McGraw’s “Live Your Voice Tour,” will also help “fire up” Swampstock as a sponsor and support the Habitat Build.

CMT.COM reports that Keith Urban will duet with countrywoman, Olivia Newton-John, on her forthcoming album, Olivia Newton-John & Friends: A Celebration in Song.

The two will sing "Sunburned Country," a song they co-wrote for an earlier album of Newton-John's "Olivia (2)." Royalties from her new project are being donated to the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Center, a comprehensive center for the treatment, care and research of all types of cancer. The album, comes out Sept. 2, is important to Newton-John, 60, a breast cancer survivor herself, and will also include pairings with musical friends such as Sir Cliff Richard, Barry Gibb, John Farrar Delta Goodrem and Richard Marx.

Larche Brings Country To FM In Sudbury

"There has been a long gap in this market for an FM country station for more than 18 years. Now, we're going to fill it."

Sudbury's Star reported the sign-on: Look for "Jack and Diane" to be front and centre with everything that goes on at the northwest corner of Elm and Durham streets starting Monday morning.

"Everything that you have to make or do has to relate to Jack and Diane," explained Mick Weaver, station manager and general sales manager of KICX 91.7 FM, Greater Sudbury's new FM country music station, of the approach the station will take. Jack and Diane refers to the rural, working-class teen couple in the John Cougar Mellencamp song of the same name from the early 1980s.

KICX 91.7 FM will feature "hot, new country" -- country music no older than seven years 70 per cent of the time in order to reach the younger country music listener. Think Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Shania Twain and Big & Rich, instead of George Jones, Tammy Wynette and Charley Pride. That new country sound, explained Weaver, is aimed at the 25-plus crowd that works hard and plays hard. It will mirror the format in use at the award-winning KICX 106 FM in Barrie-Midland-Orillia, the new station's "sister" or flagship station.

"It's the most acclaimed, independent broadcasting format in Ontario," said Weaver. "KICX was selected radio station of the year five of the last six years by the Canadian Country Music Association." KICX FM won in the Station of the Year -- secondary market category.

.. and A&O is proud to be involved with Weaver, PD Trinette Atkinson, Paul Larche and his top-flight team of perennial winners!

My Nod For The Best Quote Of Tejano Music Seminar '08

Yesterday in Dallas on the "State Of The Industry" panel, Texas Music Office director Casey Monahan said it:

"The music (and I'd add radio too) business is walking backwards into the future, looking at the past."

It was an honor to be on the Country Music Radio panel, put together for the Tejano Music Seminar by Country Radio Seminar Exec Director Ed Salamon with KSCS' MD Chris Huff, the multi-talented, multi-lingual artist Rick Trevino (he will have an announcement about a new LP very soon and perhaps a new label as well), Edison Media Research's Sean Ross and moderated by independent journalist Ramiro Burr, who also very expertly led that SOTI panel as well and drew that quote out of the very knowledgeable Monahan, who noted that a challenge for all forms of Latino music is the fact that only 29% of Hispanic households have access to broadband in the latest national census stats, slowing the move to downloads when compared to both African-American and non-ethnic homes, thus the music which targets them.

Burr got some pretty good quotes off too, for example:

"Don't complain, campaign."

I came away from the event confident that these two music forms whose pasts have intertwined many times over the last three decades are going to go into the future more together than we have recently.

Tejano musicians are worried about the viability of their business as Tejano radio is targeting 45+ and playing almost no new music (hard to believe standing at the convention which drew almost 7,000 fans of the music of all ages).

At the same time, there are weeks when I review all of the new Country music coming across my desk and feel like simply moving all the obviously great stuff to power rotation, just dropping all the rest of the sound-alike perennial mid-chart clones.

In order to grow in an increasingly diverse America, both Country and Tejano will require all the fresh, exciting, talented artists we can find. I left Dallas confident that they continue to be very deep wells, flowing with them.

Let's hope Country and Tejano radio find a way to give our listeners a refreshing drink from the musical melting pot, and soon.

If They Don't Like Toby Keith's New Movie In Oklahoma

.. where would they?

The Oklahoman gives it 2 1/2 stars but admits that "TK fans are likely to enjoy it."
Tulsa's World: "beer turns lukewarm"
Daily Variety: "..even ticketbuyers with a hearty appetite for hayseed humor may be repulsed by the coarse cornpone tomfoolery.."

Jaye Albright: "hey, critics, this is just for a fun, country-filled two hours at the movies, Toby's not trying to be the next Shakespeare, he just wants to entertain his fans, one of which is ME."

Radio Ad Lab Study: Not Just For Commercials

Engaging Emotions Through Effective Radio Ads

Here is the second part of a Radio Ad Lab project originally conducted by Gallup & Robinson (G&R) in 2007 and designed to assess how well Radio ads generate emotional responses and engage with consumers, compared to television ads. Findings from the study reveal that in effective Radio ads, and if you don't mind my adding, Content Breaks as well: Strong beginnings make a difference. An involving point of entry distinguishes some of the most successful Radio ads. Word selection matters. Words that are sensory-laden, emotional, or empowering have a demonstrable impact on the emotional reactions of consumers. Audio can be powerful. Audio can generate stronger emotions than visuals, especially when the tonality in the ad is used effectively. Brand mentions have an impact. The best Radio ads mention the advertiser’s brand multiple times, strategically placed to correlate with moments of high consumer engagement. The highest scoring and best performing ad in the study exhibited all of the above, a strong indication that Radio commercials are highly engaging to consumers when the creative process follows these patterns.

Download the Full Study
Download the Executive Summary

Big Research: Gas Prices Decrease, Confidence Increases

§ Practicality eases in August
§ U.S. employment outlook improves
§ Close to majority feel “worse off” financially
§ Drivers still wary about spending on alternative goods
§ Shoe Wars: Wal-Mart surrenders to Payless this month
§ Wal-Mart or Whole Foods for organics?
§ Purchase Intent: Computers, TVs up from July, August ‘07
§ What’s Hot? Paper, Plastic, or Neither? (click to read about it all)

If you don't want to wait for a click: many consumers are now saying “neither” as reusable shopping bags as what’s hot this month, according to 70.6%…the Beijing Olympics (68.7%) and compact cars (66.2%) are on-trend as well.

“Staycations” are a must-do with the 35+ crowd, while the younger set will still likely opt for a Starbucks brew over McDonald’s premium coffee.

Kenny Chesney Tour Bus Collides with Car

Neil Haislop reports Nashville IQ:

One of the thoughts that haunts country singers who have a big road show crossing the country, is that some accident might occur to some vehicle transporting members of their entourage. Kenny Chesney's always been proud of his gang of folks inhabiting his huge caravan of buses and trucks. So, it wasn't good news to him that yesterday morning on their way to tonight's Poets & Pirates Show in New Orleans Arena, that a car broadsided the Sponsor bus just outside of Jackson, Mississippi. (click to see TV chopper photos)

A passenger vehicle had hit the back quarter bay of the Corona bus, which was carrying two sponsorship reps - not members of Chesney's staging team as has been previously reported. Slowing down, the driver saw the car bounce off a wall, back into the bus and begin to spin. Bringing the bus to as quick a stop as a 45 foot tour bus can manage with sleeping passengers, they came to rest 150 yards away.

“We were all kinda surprised,” says Brett Palmer of AbiJack Management, who is the Corona Extra rep for the tour. “You could feel something, but you couldn't tell what.”

“These are the things you hate hearing,” said Chesney, who was in Nashville working on a video for his “Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven.” the first single from his fall release Lucky Ole Sun. “We all spend so much time on the highways… and you know things happen. It's not reckless, or anyone's fault - except maybe misgauging how big those buses really are. I'm just so glad that everybody's okay… In a situation like this, the fact that nobody's hurt is the best news of all.”

Police arriving on the scene surveyed the damage.The driver of the car was sent to the hospital, but the AbiJack folks were re-assured that no serious injuries had been sustained. They answered a few questions and were released to continue their trip (where he was the 81st man on the field for the New Orleans Saints) in around 15 minutes.

KEITH URBAN STAYS CONNECTED TO AUSTRALIA
Keith and his wife Nicole Kidman maintain homes in Nashville and Australia. Keith says there are two reasons he does that. One he loves his homeland and wants to maintaing contact with it. But, he also never wanted his countrymen to think he'd forsaken his place of birth.

"I think Australia used to be not so good at dealing with success. If people from Australia went overseas and achieved success, back home they had a real love to want to chop you down really quickly and bring you back to earth. They wanted you to stay humble to the point of humility you know, and thinking almost poorly of yourself. I see that’s changing quite a lot now. There are so many more people leaving Australia to go overseas and achieving success, but these artists, like myself, are not turning their backs on Australia. I’m still proud to be Australian and I make regular trips back there. And I think Australia is beginning to accept, 'OK, we should be more proud parents of our kids going out and achieving things instead of feeling miserable that we didn’t get to do it,' which I think used to be the attitude."

GEORGE STRAIT SAYS THERE'S NOTHING LIKE THAT FIRST 1 Strait now has more #1 hits than any country artist in history. He says every one of them is exciting...but there was no feeling like scoring that first one when “FOOL HEARTED MEMORY” hit the top of the Billboard chart in 1982.

"It was pretty incredible!...Because I just felt fortunate to get a record contract! I’d been trying to do that for quite a few years and I went to Nashville and cut "Unwound and "Unwound" hit 6 on the charts and so they let me do an album. So, I felt real fortunate just to do that and to have one go number one was an incredible feeling!"

RANDY TRAVIS' LETTERMAN APPEARANCE ENCORES TONIGHT His recent appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman, airs again TONIGHT on CBS.

HEIDI NEWFIELDS FIRST SOLO ALBUM DEBUTS AT #2
Her solo career is off to a good start as her debut solo CD, What Am I Waiting For, debuts at #2 on Top Country albums chart and makes the top 10 of the all-genre Top 200 chart.

From the road in upstate New York, Newfield states,

“I am so thrilled with the reaction from everyone regarding my new album! The record was such a labor of love and I couldn’t be more proud with the result. This is just the beginning of good music to come.”

Haircuts Are Coming

The item in "R&R Today" contains a lot of info between the lines:

The radio landscape is littered with hundreds of properties for sale, but it is a “challenging time to be divesting assets,” acknowledges Patrick Communications managing partner Greg Guy, who points out that the cash-flow multiples that once priced a large-market radio station at up to 19 times cash flow may now have dropped to 12 times cash flow. “There has been a squeeze on multiples. Major markets and small markets have squeezed the gap.” He adds that medium markets, which used to trade in the low double digits, may be holding their own best and are now being priced in the area of 10 times cash flow, while the smallest markets are in the seven- to nine-times-cash-flow range.

Veteran broker John Pierce told R&R that he expects buyers will be most interested in acquiring clusters — at least duopolies — whenever possible.

“This is a good time for buying, and it could be a good time to sell, depending on what you are selling,” he expects bulk-station packages to move the fastest because buyers are attracted to “whole markets with cash flow and Arbitron. And there is more of a chance that the buyer will pay 10 times cash flow for the properties.”

Both brokers say would-be buyers are stymied right now by tightening credit as banks and traditional broadcast lenders make it tougher to gain funding. But Pierce expects business to pick up after Labor Day. Closings, as usual, will probably occur just before midnight on December 31.

Prediction: 2009 is going to be a most interesting year with many former owners who cashed out in the 1990's being tempted to return to ownership, hopefully, at good prices - perhaps even less than what they sold for a decade ago - and a lot less leverage, which is going to make it tougher than ever for today's debt-ridden consolidated public companies.

Next year could be a great one for live, local radio and the people who know how to attract, entertain, maintain and merchandise an engaged and local audience.

Future Look (Part II)

Music trends and our business: Historically, country music and rock formats have tended to do well in difficult economic times.

Prediction: this means that country music and rock are in for a pretty good three to seven year run, because the 25 year super bubble that was the U.S. economy over the last two decades has now burst and the general public is very much aware of that fact.

The last “Greatest Generation” rose to the occasion of World War II. All of us who work for a living are about to be tested in the same way. This time, it’s not a war or a tyrant, it’s rethinking where our gross national product is going to come from, how to tax that, how to start growing the retail Main Street economy again, protect the environment and our security, while competing/cooperating globally against/with extremely powerful forces.

The free market and Democracy are powerful allies in our corner, but there’s no painless way to treat what ails us short term. Strong leadership, truth telling and sacrifice will be required.

The stakes are very high.

I am betting that Americans will recover our former economic strength at some point in the medium term future, but it’s not a sure thing, if we continue to delay the hard choices which affect our competitiveness in the world.

(click to read my first stab at predicting our tomorrow and request for yours too)

Steal This From Clear Channel (I Bet They Won't Mind)

Have you spent time with the "advertise on radio" website, which is accessible from every Clear Channel station's home page?

Anyone who sells radio for a living, especially anyone who competes with Clear Channel, needs to listen and read everything on "Why Radio?", "How Radio Works," and "Creating A Commercial."

Good Manners

Tim Manners writes and edits one of my favorite daily marketing email idea sheets, Cool News, for Reveries Magazine, so he lives and exemplifies the term "relevance" every day for me.

His new book on "Making Stuff That Matters" comes out in five weeks, but as a friend of A&O's here's a jump start on Chapter One of "Relevance" (click to read it all)

"...brands frequently sell themselves short by failing to see their consumers as we see ourselves. More often than not we are more similar than we are different from one another when it comes to what we expect from our brands. "

Future Look (Part I)

Inside Radio's Mike Kinosian has asked me and a number of other people for their opinions on the outlook of our business to be included in a special Inside Radio publication to be distributed at this year’s NAB Radio Show/Austin.

Here's my first take at the assignment:

It’s good that Inside Radio is going to have a large number of people contribute to this, because there is so much information on so many things coming instantly at us all from multiple wired and unwired sources that no one can be a “Futurist” on more than a few things these days.

Prediction: it’s going to get worse. This means that all of us need to decide what areas of life and business impact our personal goals and spend the majority of your time focused on those only. Reassess these priorities on a regular basis. The pace of adoption of new technologies and their accompanying impacts on the culture and economy may mean that what got you to your goals yesterday, won’t do so tomorrow.

What about you? What do you think is going to happen next?

Miley Cyrus Takes Over The Teen Choice Awards

She not only hosted, but accepted her three awards with a lot of class, as the Jonas Brothers and Gossip Girl added to their trophy cases as well. I'd bet that this was the show to watch on Fox last night for most folks, not - sadly - NBC's Nashville Star.

A nice Gen Y touch: the voting continues AFTER THE AWARDS as fans are encouraged to cast ballots for their favorite moments from the TV show.

Can I Get An "Amen?"

Blair Garner's 15th Anniversary of doing "After Midnight" comes up on November 15, as the show and Blair move to Nashville in October.

"Never foresake the music. There is still a great place in this world of radio for practicing word economy and being the listener's friend. Talk to your kids and learn to speak their language. Content is king and as long as we provide the content and stay true to our focus, we're going to be fine. (Career highlight?) The relationship we have with listeners. It is never lost on me. I am always amused when somebody relates to a specific moment during the program. I get so angry when people on the air don't realize what a great gift we have been given. People are kind enough to invite us into their homes, vehicles and work spaces. Every person that calls our program, we end those calls saying thanks for listening, thanks for calling. Everyone is given respect." -- Blair Garner, to Erica Farber, R&R Publisher's Profile, 8/1/08

Call Me Disappointed, Nashville Star

First, "After Midnight's" Blair Garner spoke with the three remaining contestants about the role that radio will play in their careers as future Country artists, then the show named Melissa Lawson, a female Buddy Jewel as far as I am concerned (sorry, Buddy!). I wish I thought she WAS ready to stand.

I hope I am wrong, but my guess: radio is going to play next to no role in this aspirant's career. What a shame that country music gets on TV and this is the best they can find.

CRS-40 Is Seven Months Away And It's Already Making You Smarter

For 39 years the Country Radio Seminar in Nashville has been making thousands of people smarter year after year. As a way of getting you to think differently about coming to CRS whether your employer gives you the time off and pays your expenses or not, I'm going to propose you do what some of the richest people in the world have been doing to make real money while the rest of the world is complaining about a weak economy.

How can Southwest Airlines be the lone profitable American carrier, while other airlines are reporting red ink quarter after quarter?

It's because Southwest pays less for its fuel.

How?

Futures contracts.

Southwest thought longer term and bought jet fuel for both its airplanes and its balance sheets at last year's prices.

You can do the same thing with CRS-40, your company and your career.

But, you must act now. Early bird registration for CRS-40 just opened this week. The early bird registration rate has been held at $499 for the past three years in order to help those for whom cost is an issue, especially those who pay for their own registration. It will never be a better bargain.

The registration cost goes up on December 15, 2008.

Here's a plan: put the CRS in your 2009 convention travel budget.

When the budget is approved by your company (they probably know already how valuable CRS is to improving your knowledge, skills and is an unparalleled networking opportunity), be a hero and let your boss know that you wanted your station to be just like Southwest Airlines so you got the registration at the lowest possible price. You're a hero.

But, what if they don't approve that budget? What if they say you can only go to CRS in 2009 if you take vacation time?

Think of CRS-40 as a star-studded, entertainment-filled, knowledge- driven vacation, three and a half days on fun, a reunion with some of the most influential players in the country radio and music businesses.

Even better, it's a tax write off from your personal taxes if your company doesn't reimburse you for it.

Just try to find a more fun, informative, star-studded vacation for so little money with such a big payoff! You can't.

And, you can't get the IRS to allow you to deduct that weekend in Branson or Caribbean weekend cruise either.

I've been attending CRS for 34 of its 39 years. I guarantee that it's worth every penny.

Be smart. Play the future between now and December 15 ..YOUR future.

John Rich Attracts "A Few Hundred" For McCain

The Washington Posts's Juliet Eilperin was in Panama City, Florida, when Rich kicked off the "Country First" show with "Can I get a yee-haw?"

A few hundred? (And The Show Was FREE!) Look for yourself, the video - wouldn't you know it - is on Fox News and decide if someone needs a new publicist OR the Post reporter was underestimating the crowd.

KYGO Keeps It Simple And Effective

How do you get weekend listeners to tune in Monday? Here's how they are doing it in Denver:

98-5 KYGO gives you control of what we play on the air. That's why every Monday is KYGO's My Triple Play Monday. You tell us the three songs you want us to play and why. Then every hour from 9am to 5pm we will play'em back! Submit your three songs below and listen every Monday from 9am to 5pm! KYGO is built by Denver for Denver...new country 98-5 KYGO.

The Speed Of Change

Old pal Tommy Carrera (Frogman Tommy from KFRG, "Inland Empire":

"My wife bought the baby an "anniversary" edition Fisher price telephone...My older sons had no idea why the thing had a rotary dial!"

"Country Sunshine" = Country Radio Four Decades In Front Of A "New" Trend

Forty years ago, country radio grappled with the issue of whether to play overt product plugs in songs (and we did, as long as the song was a hit).

Of course, it's nothing new for an established hit to be used in commercials when marketers found them to be perfect for their 30-second spot.

Next, came grey-area additions, like Fergie’s “Labels Or Love,” a track commissioned specifically for the Sex and the City movie.

Now, there’s Chris Brown’s “Forever,” which isn’t so much a Top 10 hit as it is a commercial for Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. that just happened to sneak its way onto the radio. And only now is Wrigley owning up to it.

"Reality TV should mean informing viewers about who is secretly pitching to them in the TV shows they are watching," said FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein. "The true reality is that news and entertainment alike are practically being turned into undisclosed commercials. Many current practices fly in the face of viewers' legal right to know who is pitching to them."

From that same item: "...some may argue that the current FCC rules that require some disclosure of product placement tactics are weak; decisions are left to the "reasonable, good faith judgment" of the broadcaster."

I don't do legal advice, but it seems to me that attempts to regulate this not-so-new trend are on pretty shaky ground, but just to be safe, music directors, you'd be wise to listen extra closely to lyrics - for what might be between the lines.

Where Will CHUM Relocate?

An iconic Yonge Street building that for a half-century was a vital part of the history of popular music in Toronto has been purchased (for $21.5 million!) by a major developer.

Hopefully, lots of the music and radio history artifacts contained inside those walls will move to a radio hall of fame somewhere, if not to the new CHUM offices, wherever they end up being.

Country Music News & Gossip

From John Zarling:

* Taylor Swift received her high school diploma in the mail recently after completing 9th and 10th grade at Hendersonville High School and completing her junior and senior years at Aaron Academy, a private Christian school offering homeschooling based in Hendersonville. “Education has always been at the forefront of my priorities, so I’m really glad to have my diploma,” Taylor told the Associated Press on Friday. “I never expected that my senior year would go the way it has. There’s something really exciting about getting to live your dream and continue your education at the same time.”

* Trisha Yearwood recently performed for President Bush during a celebration of music from the Civil War in Washington DC. We asked the superstar what led her to perform at the event and if she got nervous singing for the Commander In-Chief. “I performed on the CD of The Civil War songs that came out about ten years ago,” notes Trisha. “When I found out that they were going to perform this show in DC at the Ford Theater, I was excited to be asked to participate. I’ve sung for three presidents so far in my life, and it’s always nerve wracking!"

*Jack Ingram and The Beat-Up Ford Band have had many chaotic moments on the road the past few summers, from multiple bus fires to Jack’s busted boots to band and crew members getting lost or passing out while running. Since it’s the middle of Summer 2008, we thought we’d check in with the rising star for an update in that regard on Martina McBride’s Waking Up Laughing Tour. “There are no bus issues yet…except that it smells like a foot!” exclaims Jack, laughing. He continues: “We are going to have a ‘Rip Stick Olympics’ with the McBride crew and kids. I don't know how to ride a rip stick yet but I am confident we will win.” Ever the optimist, Jack and the band may want to check out Wikipedia here to ensure his win against Team McBride. (stunt alert: keep this in mind for when the tour comes near you!)

* Jimmy Wayne will release his new album Do You Believe Me Now on August 26th. Wayne’s sophomore effort marks his first recording since his Top 10 self-titled debut, which included the hit singles “Stay Gone, “I Love You This Much” and the perennial holiday favorite “Paper Angels.” “Writing and recording this album was a true labor of love for me,” Jimmy said. “It did take a little longer than the process typically takes, but I really wanted to make sure I found the songs that would make this record everything I wanted it to be. And thanks to these incredible writers, I feel like I’ve met that goal.” His debut on The Valory Music Co. will feature 10 new tracks, each intensely personal, yet exploring universal themes of romance – unrequited, reciprocated and destructive - and the refusal to give up on one’s dream. Wayne, an accomplished songwriter, wrote five songs on the upcoming album.

* Jewel has been closing her set on Brad Paisley’s PAISLEY PARTY Tour with an unexpected surprise that is leaving crowds on their feet: yodeling. For Jewel, yodeling comes naturally: “My dad is a cowboy and he taught himself how to yodel by listening to Jimmy Rodger’s records. When I was six my parents sang at dinner shows for tourists in hotels and part of the act was me getting up and yodeling,” recalls Jewel. “Yodeling took a lot of practice, which sure didn’t make me very popular in first grade…hearing someone learn to yodel is NOT pretty! What’s been amazing to me, is the response I get from audiences all around the world. It is a very traditional and almost dying art so I’m always happy when audiences respond enthusiastically and it sure makes up for all those years I was laughed at!” Fans can see Jewel on the PAISLEY PARTY tour for their chance to hear her yodel and pick up her latest piece of merchandise—a ‘Got Yodel?’ t-shirt!

* From Country Weekly: Toby Keith takes you to his Oklahoma ranch where he and his family share the good times. Toby reveals that the ranch offers an escape from the pressures of the music business. “It’s the perfect balance,” he tells Country Weekly. “When I cross through those gates after being out on the road, I know this is where I’m supposed to be.” Toby talks about his new movie, Beer for My Horses, which hits theaters Aug. 8. “I wanted this to be a character-driven movie,” Toby says. “I wanted every person in it to matter.”

* Some of your favorite country stars know how to stretch a dollar in tough economic times––they’ve all been there before. “We minimize trips when we can, only go out when we have to,” says Craig Morgan. Josh Gracin declares that he’ll be eating out less often. “You can lose track just going through McDonald’s or Starbucks,” he says. “Take a look at your debit card receipts to see where your money’s going.”

NYT: "Rethink Any Lingering Stereotype Of Country Music As Pop’s Most Conservative Format"

Reporter Alan Light is clearly a fan of Sugarland, and today's backstage interview with Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush from the CMA Music Festival in June spins some thought-provoking theories.

“Jennifer and I are both people who had lots of different kinds of friends, ergo, the kind of person who listened to lots of different kinds of music.”

You go, Kristian! You just became the first country artist I know you use the word 'ergo' in a media interview..

(could it be that a reason “All I Want to Do” is not testing as well as their recent "Life In A Northern Town" is because it fails to live up to fan expectations of more musical diversity and a distinctive musical identity?)

On the other hand, you can't blame their label for wanting the group to come back to the mainstream core a bit, given the boos Jessica Simpson heard last weekend as she took the stage in Wisconsin following Kellie Pickler.

Oh, what a tangled web of cultural and demographic crosscurrents the best of music is capable of weaving!

Randy Pausch, Dead At Age 47

The terminally ill professor whose earnest farewell lecture at Carnegie Mellon University became an Internet phenomenon and bestselling book that turned him into a symbol for living and dying well, died Friday.

If you haven't watched him on YouTube yet, please do so today.

My "Favre" Stunt Of The Weekend

"We're faxing an offer to Brett Favre and comedian Mo Rocca, Monday!" -Star 102.5's Big Ken & Colleen

Saga’s KSTZ/Des Moines morning team, Big Ken and Colleen, are offering NFL Legend Brett Favre a contract to come and co-host their morning show for one week. Terms of the contract include numerous incentives volunteered by Big Ken and Colleen, as well as from Central Iowa listeners.

In addition, Big Ken and Colleen will donate $5,000 to the charity of Brett Favre’s choosing. Incentives of the contract include a variety of dairy products, a home to stay in while here in Des Moines, and enough spending cash to taste every fried food product at the Iowa State Fair.
“Brett is pretty much a free agent right now, so we thought we’d make a run at him. Radio is normally a lot less physical than football” said Big Ken. Additional items for the contract include: A personal driver, his own personal dental and health office, and concierge services, Free tickets to Des Moines events, Nightclub passes, Tickets to the Knoxville National Sprint Car Races. August 4th. Greta Van Susteren would be proud:

“Brett Favre, in the studio? Co-hosting our show? Yummy.” said Colleen Kelly of the STAR 102.5 morning team. “He plays football right?” -- Main Street Tattler

Equal Time

This blog is primarily written by a radio person for country radio programmers and personalities.

So, naturally, my take on the types and quality of music coming to radio from the music business as well as the question of why indie artist and label music has such an uphill battle in a time when listener feedback in research is telling us to go even slower on songs and artists than the national top ten chart numbers reflect sometimes generates - to put it nicely - "confused responses" from my many good friends in the music biz..

I tell the promotion exec's who call and email all the time that I am so glad I have my job and they have theirs.

We in radio get to open the mail and click on the digital downloads, decide if we like it or not and move on to the next one, while the promotional pro tasked overcoming those objections sees powerful sales data that seems in direct contradiction to my contentions. As a result, they sometimes diss the whole concept of researching listeners, saying that spending hard-earned dollars for music is the best research there is and there's no need for any other.

For example, this week's Soundscan sales rank Taylor Swift's two LP's #1 and #2 with 44,652 and 34,622 units bar scanned at check out. Carrie Underwood's "Carnival Ride" is ranked #6 with 12,634, Sugarland is #8 with "Enjoy The Ride" selling 12,286 in the last week. Not far behind are Miranda Lambert and Jewel. Meanwhile on the digital downloads "singles" sales chart, Sugarland's "All I Want To Do" is #1, having sold a total of 260,114 and 48.923 in the last week. Next is "Should've Said No" by Taylor Swift, adding another 30,008 units to her current sales total of 376,114. Also high on the digital sales singles chart this week are Sugarland, Miranda Lambert, Jessica Simpson and Heidi Newfield tunes.

No wonder every label in the music business wants to have at least two hot, young female artists. They SELL.

Meanwhile, I just ranked a weekly test of 30 currents by a sample of 120 25-54 fans of a major market client when they were asked which songs they would like to hear less on the radio right now. The #1? Taylor's "Should've Said Yes." #2 was "Come On Over" by Jessica Simpson, followed by #3 "Bob That Head" by Rascal Flatts, #4 Sugarland's All I Want To Do," and then "Sounds So Good" by Ashton Sheppard. One-third or more of the listeners asked the question said they wanted to hear these songs "less" on this leading major market station.

No wonder smart programmers are scratching their heads these days. The songs by the very artists that sell the most look like they could hurt our loyaly and audience shares. So, what else is new? We've been having the old "too pop/too country" argument in country radio since some folks thought Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash's horns didn't fit the format.

While we all wait for a day when, as - thankfully - has ultimately happened pretty consistently over the past five decades of the country radio format and no doubt will again soon, the songs our listeners love most and want to hear more on the radio also are the top sellers, it's time for innovation and new approaches on both sides of the radio and records conversation.

A&O is trying some new things right now, and I bet you are too if you're looking at local research on music. Give one of us a call (732-937-5757 for Mike or 206-498-6261 for me) and lets share what's working. No one wants to miss a single powerful passion-driving song or artist which appeals to emerging younger demos, but let's also be sure, as usual, we balance that with the needs and wants of the age and gender groups who are listening to us a lot.

"Beer For My Horses" Exclusive Movie Preview

... Thanks to A&O's buddy Neil Haislop, who attended the Hollywood showing: Toby Keith's Show Dog records just released the first single from the Beer For My Horses The Movie soundtrack including the track list for the rest of the album. They also released the video clip with Trailer Choir singing the single, "Off The HIllbilly Hook," plus several cool and funny scenes from the film.

The movie is a road trip comedy starring Keith and comedian Rodney Carrington as sheriff's deputies chasing a drug lord and kidnapper. Written by Keith and Carrington, the film also stars Claire Forlani (CSI: NY), guitar legend Ted Nugent, Barry Corbin, Greg Serano, with special appearances by country icon Willie Nelson and Golden Globe nominee Tom Skerritt.

Toby tells us that once he stepped back and looked at the cast of players they'd gathered, he felt right then that the project was going to be successful.

"To have all these characters, all these human beings from different parts of the world is amazing. Like Claire (Forlani) she knows nobody in country music, she didn't know me, she knew Johnny Cash and that's it. And, she lives in Hollywood and a very liberal person and then you have Ted Nugent over here on the other side, who thinks everybody should have a .50 Cal. machine gun over the portal to their home, and you've got every other thing in the middle of those extremes from musicians to Hollywood and they all get along fine on the set and come away finding everybody adorable was the kind of set we had," -- Toby Keith

To catch just some of the excitement of the Toby's film check out the video clip of the first single from the soundtrack album for "Beer For My Horses."

Looking On The Bright Side Of ARB's Earnings Call

It's easy to be upset at Arbitron following company CEO Steve Morris' analyst call Tuesday. Instead, I've decided that I am going to try to be Little Mary Sunshine on their future plans to measure new media and possibly even TV.

Sure, wild sample quality control wobbles have seemingly become business as usual for ARB diary markets, creating constant heartburn for radio exec's, even as their ratings supplier's second quarter revenues went up 4% over last year (if only we could say that about radio nationally!) and now Arbitron reports that they will probably deliver an 8-10% increase in annual revenue over last year.

So, as Morris told Wall Street, they sure can't plead poverty as a reason for lousy sample consistency, as they try to hold the line on expenses in order to keep growing their profits: “Sample size is going to be an issue for us forever. That’s going to increase demands for more and more sample.”

Morris has to know that he's going to have a hard time renewing their current radio clients with the current accelerator clauses (3-4% annually in diary markets and 60-65% when a market goes to PPM) given today's economy. So, they hope to use PPM to grow their business by measuring new media and perhaps even television.

Morris:

“We continue to see opportunity and strong advertiser support for more holistic measures of the media landscape. We’re talking to the TV industry. There is opportunity there, but it will get better as we have more [PPM] markets open.”

I'm confident that radio's story when compared by buyers in the same ratings data with television and new media is going to look very compelling. Hopefully, Arbitron will start sharing what they know from the new-defunct Project Apollo. Anyone inside a radio station knows that radio gets results and remains a bargain for the bucks. Did Nielsen pull out of the project because their TV clients would not have been pleased with what it was showing?

Radio has been paying much of the cost of ARB's moves to measure these competing media.

I am hopeful that radio's powerful reach and impact when directly compared to all other media, including TV, is a story Arbitron will start helping us tell .. and soon.

Why Is The Country Format Ignoring Its Listeners?

You are, if you're placing the top ten chart songs into your power rotation without looking at local research on all of those songs. (shown clockwise, l to r, R&R's chart this week, A&O's crosstab report from Rate The Music where they rank well by "favorite" but also have extremely high negatives and burn scores), and the Bullseye Callout ranker from R&R. To enlarge, click the item.)

After making such a radical claim, I think I need to put A&O's "bias" right up front: research is not something to be feared, it's a guideline to what listeners are saying they want/don't want to hear. Properly conducted and interpreted, research is simply the process of systematically asking random listeners what they think and then carefully analyzing their opinions, applying what you learn. This approach was new and untested thirty years ago, but for three decades it's been proven to improve targeting, cume and time spent listening growth.

At the risk of pointing out the obvious, three of the top 10 charted songs this week do not appear on most of the national callout and internet rankers higher than #13. 30% of the top spun songs this week are by females, meanwhile all ten of the top ranking researched Rate The Music and Bullseye Callout songs, to pick two of the many widely-available national research rankers, are by male artists.

Theory #1: so many copies of the Miranda Lambert and Taylor Swift albums have been sold over the past year that core listeners are already tired of hearing them before radio got around to adding them. Fly in the ointment for this theory: Sugarland's "All I Want To Do" is off the brand new "Love On The Inside" collection and yet in this week's Mediabase national callout, conducted by Clear Channel-owned Critical Mass Media, it already has 20.9% total negatives in spite of being a favorie of 36.3% of the CMM national callout panel of 844 25-44 year old country music radio listeners. When ranked by net positives (total positive percentage minus the total negatives), Sugarland is #11, with familiarity at 87.4%.

Theory #2: listeners are telling us they don't like the newest songs by Taylor, Miranda and Jennifer when compared to the new ones by men like Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley, Brooks & Dunn, Blake Shelton, Jason Michael Carroll, Jimmy Wayne, Josh Gracin, Keith Anderson, The Lost Trailors, Gary Allan, George Strait, Craig Morgan and Keith Urban.

Who knows if either of these guesses/theories is correct or if it is something else entirely, but I do know this: we should be asking ourselves why we aren't playing the songs listeners rank so well a lot more than the ones which they rank a lot lower.

Researched music drives ratings; thirty years of history has proven that. Will country's national ratings slip this summer? If so, I'll "know" why.

It's a very nice feeling when other stations are down, but yours is UP! Hopefully, you're listening to your listeners, not the charts.

Cox Gets Aggressive In Louisville

Market watch alert: keep an eye on WAMZ and WRKA (check out their TV spot, not a new tactic for Cox, of course, but with Clear Channel redefining 'less is more' and reportedly adding units right now, the timing of this move is fascinating!) .. and an ear on both streams in the coming months.

Meanwhile, New Country - on its new, improved signal - is already starting to keep score.

Let's Only Call Them "Labels" After They Last Four Years

David Ross in Music Row online: "Eleven labels recently experienced change in their radio divisions — Country Thunder, Curb, Permian Records, Universal Republic, Sony BMG, Universal Records South, Nine North Records, Big Machine, Equity, Live Nation and Robbins Nashville—all have had staff arriving and/or departing. Additional changes are still likely."

Phil Sweetland, Country Insider/Nashville notes: "In nearly all cases, the same Promo folks are rehired by different labels."

R.J. Curtis in the 7/11 R&R, quotes Capitol/Nashville President/CEO Mike Dungan: "These (labels are) being funded by people who've made a fortune in another industry who have some kind of romantic notion about being in the music business... it's as if they're in show business. Then, they wake up three years later and say 'wow, I could lose everything here very easily.' I think that's happening a lot around Nashville right now."

In the same article, which looks into the use of the word 'label' to describe many of the new 'virtual labels' now working independent music to radio. Former WEA, former now-defunct 903 Music exec and now Fame Records consultant Bill Mayne: "Let's just say exactly what it is. Those are independent promotion companies that started calling themselves labels to get around (radio) corporate rules (against dealing with independent promotion companies) in light of the Spitzer investigation."

Meanwhile, Sunday's New York Times Magazine has a thought-provoking piece on where the music business (?) may be going. (i.e. '...those who choose to download “Feed the Animals” free are asked to take a survey inquiring why. About 3.5 percent have chosen “I don’t believe in paying for music,” 0.8 percent “I don’t value music made from sampling.” The top choice (about 37 percent): “I may donate later.”...')

Billboard.biz: "The split of the Sony BMG merger is virtually a done deal. Well-placed sources say a Bertelsmann supervisory board meeting has been convened (July 11) to examine the sale of the German media giant's 50% stake, with a final decision on a deal expected to be revealed by the end of the month, following a meeting of the Sony Corp board."

Educated guess: The Sony label won't be sold by BMG to any of these new so-called labels. If that happened, it would end the argument over whether they are virtual this or that once and for all.

Instead, most likely, Sony Music will go back to being owned by Sony. And, I'd bet that the best of the 'virtual label' executives will go back to work for a real major label again, writing the latest chapter of Nashville's long history of independent music promotion.

"Hot Country" Comes To Australia

David Rogerson, Managing Director (Phone: +61 (0) 2 9532 1299) writes: "Response to date has been amazing since the first stations started to roll out in April 2008, now we’re on close to 15 stations up and down the east cost of Australia."

Anyone who works to extends the reach of country music around the world is OK with me!

Radio's "Staycation" Problem/Opportunity

As Radio-Info's Tom Taylor reports that Arbitron is preparing for the impact of summer "stay close to home" vacations...

"It’s something to watch for in both diary numbers in the 100 markets that get Summer books as well as People Meter markets. But the heavy focus is on the PPM because of what happened last Summer, when Arbitron’s Bill Rose admits the sample “came up a little bit short.” The change in lifestyle (vacations and kids being out of school) produced some notable drops in the in-tab levels, and it also evoked strong questions from subscribers in Houston and Philly. So this year Arbitron’s ready. All PPM markets are now “over-installed, in anticipation of Summer vacation.” Of course the wild card is $4-a-gallon gas and the new phenomenon of the economy-induced “staycation.” But even if panel members stay in town instead of driving to DisneyWorld, they may well have different listening patterns. Speaking of listening patterns: is there a “heavy listening threshold” in the PPM, comparable to the never-revealed tripwires that make Arbitron scrutinize heavy-listening diaries? KYW programmer Steve Butler - a veteran of the early PPM testing and now live ratings in Philadelphia – poses that question. Arbitron’s Pierre Bouvard and John Snyder combine to say that the meter gives you the chance to look at “motion patterns” and other new factors, along with listening. Bouvard says “there are still ultra-P1 people, though there are fewer in the PPM than the diary.” But Butler was getting at a key question: if such a meter-carrier exists in your market, they can be on the panel for many months – unlike a diarykeeper who’s done in 7 days..."

..WXTU is surfing the trend, by giving away close-to-home "92.5 XTU Stay-cation Weekends" within driving distance of Philly.

Who knows? It might even help your rating numbers .. by keeping your core listeners inside the metro during their vacations!?

Country's Stars .. Lookin' Out At A Sea Of Video Cameras

Remember the old days? When concerts would forbid sound recordings and cameras?

Those days are long gone.

Brent Lane of the Cat Pak Morning Show in Pensacola reports:

"We had Joshua Stevens (in the yellow shirt) in to play for the first time ever on Pensacola Beach. We had about 500 people show to see the show. He signed autographs for about 2 hours. Pensacola loves "Rock -n- Roll and Pensacola"

(click to see a video). Notice all the video cameras up front, taking photos of Stevens.

Meanwhile, I was at Pat Green's show last Friday at Seattle's Show Box Theatre and observed the same thing there. Half the fans in Pat's mosh pit first few rows no doubt went home with video of his amazing show.

Colin Lovequist, MD and midday guy at 620 CKRM, Regina was at Craven (crowd photo) all last weekend and predicts that the announcement George Strait is next year's headliner no doubt means the '09 event will probably be 'sold out by Christmas.' What did he post on the CKRM website? Pictures. Many of them taken by listeners.

Halfway serious prediction: the day is going to come when the performers come out on stage with video cameras to take pictures of the audience as they put on the show. And, of course, they'll all expect to see it on your station website within hours of the experience.

"People" Updates Shania's (Post Mutt) Story

Two months after her split from producer-songwriter husband, Robert "Mutt" Lange, Shania Twain has found strength in the two things that mean the most to her – her 6-year-old son, Eja D'Angelo, and her music.

"She's spending as much time with Eja as possible and hasn't put down her guitar since the split," a source close to singer tells PEOPLE. "The songs are pouring out of her."

Hello, Wal-Mart. How Many Taylor Swift Albums Can I Buy?

Taylor Swift’s limited edition Wal-Mart exclusive release, Beautiful Eyes, will be released this Tuesday, July 15th.

The CD/DVD collection contains exclusive content never-before-released, but Taylor wanted to make sure her fans weren’t confusing this release with her sophomore album, set for release later this year. In a recent MySpace blog, Taylor notes:

“I wanted to let you know about this limited edition release that's coming out at Wal Mart called ‘Beautiful Eyes’. This is NOT my new album that I've been working on all year. It's a two disc set, one CD and one DVD. The CD has two previously unreleased songs, “Beautiful Eyes” and “I Heart ?” ( I wrote those songs when I was 13) as well as alternate versions of “Should've Said No”, and an acoustic version of “Teardrops On My Guitar”. The DVD has of all of my videos, the ACM Performance of “Should've Said No” (in the rain!) and a video created for “Beautiful Eyes” with footage from my 18th Birthday Party. I'm only letting my record company make a small amount of these - the last thing I want any of you to think is that we are putting out too many releases. I'm not going to be doing a bunch of promotion for it, because I don't want there to be confusion about whether it's the second album or not. I've gotten so many emails from people asking for new songs, and I thought this might tie them over till the new album comes out in the fall.”

-- John Zarling, Big Machine Records