(Reuters) -- Country singer Jason Aldean debuted at the top of the weekly U.S. Billboard 200 album chart on Monday, edging out rapper Drake's long-standing "Views."
Aldean's "They Don't Know" sold 138,000 album units, which comprised 131,000 albums, 62,000 song sales and 1.4 million online streams, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan.
The Billboard 200 album chart tallies units from album sales, song sales (10 songs equal one album) and streaming activity (1,500 streams equal one album).
The figures for Aldean's record reflect the trend for country music listeners to buy full albums over single songs and streaming music.
In comparison, Canadian R&B singer Drake's "Views" climbed one spot to No. 2 this week on the strength of streaming activity. "Views" sold just 8,400 albums and 77,000 songs in its 20th week on the chart, but was streamed nearly 64 million times.
Other new entries in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 chart this week include British alt-rockers Bastille at No. 4 with "Wild World," folk group Head & The Heart at No. 5 with "Signs of Light" and rocker Jack White at No. 8 with "Jack White Acoustic Recordings."
Also new on the chart this week is veteran British rockers The Beatles' "Live at the Hollywood Bowl" at No. 7.
The record is a remastered re-release of the band's 1977 album featuring live performances at the Hollywood Bowl venue from 1964 and 1965.
The new record coincides with "The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years," a new documentary released last week on the Fab Four's touring years, directed by Ron Howard.
One of Wyoming's top radio personalties was killed Sunday in a two-motorcycle crash in central Montana near Lewistown. Brian Scott Gamroth, just Brian Scott on KTWO 1030 AM, was returning from a Shriner's event in Canada
Montana Highway Patrol says Scott and another Wyoming motorcyclist were eastbound trying to pass several vehicles when oncoming traffic forced them to veer back into their lane and they bumped, causing them both to crash.
According to the Associated Press, Scott was killed on the scene while his companion, whose name has not been release, was taken to Lewistown with what appeared to be non-life threatening injuries.
Scott grew up in Wyoming and spent the last 20 years as the morning man at KTWO radio and its sister stations in Casper, winning a Marconi Award as Small Market Radio Personality of the Year.
Townsquare Media Wyoming general manager Bob Price says Scott's death has devastated his co-workers, calling him "one of those people who loved what he did, loved this city, and loved Wyoming," but whose family always came first.
“For over 2 decades, listeners to K2 and KWYY, My Country, have made Brian a part of their day, and their lives. From the Governor to the man on the street, Brian’s love for, and work for this community has been a part of his life. Charities, community organizations, and events all over Wyoming have benefited from his hard work on their behalf. The word “institution” is overused in our profession. In Brian’s case, it’s inadequate.”
In 1921...KDKA in Pittsburgh established the world's first radio newsroom and started one of the first daily radio newscasts in the country, reporting from the city desk of The Pittsburgh Post.
In 1930...Longtime NYC Personality Harry Harrison was born in Chicago.
Harrison was a popular radio personality for over 50 years. Harrison is the only DJ to be a WMCA "Good Guy", a WABC "All-American", and on the WCBS-FM line-up when the New York station flipped to the "Jack" format in June 2005.
Harrison worked at WCFL in the early 50s as a summer replacement, yet remained there eight months, substituting for the permanent DJs. In 1954, Harrison became program director at WPEO, Peoria and hosted the morning show as the "Morning Mayor of Peoria." In just six months, Harrison made WPEO the top station.
In 1959, Harrison joined WMCA, New York, as the mid-day "Good Guy." Joe O'Brien (mornings) and Harrison gave WMCA a "one-two punch" for over eight years. In 1965, he recorded the nationally charted holiday narration "May You Always" on Amy Records.
Harrison became popular with his "Housewife Hall of Fame” feature, and participated in the 1966 WMCA Good Guy picnic. Often, he scored the highest ratings on WMCA. WABC program director Rick Sklar took note.
In 1968, when WABC morning man Herb Oscar Anderson left the station, Rick Sklar hired Harrison to replace him. Harrison was followed in the WABC day by Ron Lundy.
Every year, Harrison played seasonal songs, such as his holiday greeting "May You Always” in the winter (the Amy records single of this song made the Billboard Christmas charts in 1965).
Harry with Ron Lundy
Harrison had a number of "trademark" phrases, such as "Morning, Mom", "Every brand new day should be opened like a precious gift", "Stay well, stay happy, stay right here" and "Harry Harrison wishing you the best... because that's exactly what you deserve!” Also, on the last day of every year, Harrison would bring his four children to work with him and at the end of his shift, he would join them in giving listeners New Year's wishes.
Harrison was let go from WABC as the station changed direction in November 1979.
In March 1980, Harrison became the morning personality at WCBS 101.1 FM, playing oldies.
In 1984, with Lundy joining the station, they were once again heard back-to-back. Harrison would interact with Morning Crew engineer Al Vertucci, Phil Pepe, who reported sports, and joke about "wacky weather" and toupee warnings with Irv “Mr. “G” Gikofsky (weather), Mary Jane Royce, and Sue Evans. At 7:20 AM, Harrison opened the "birthday book" and announced listener and celebrity birthdays.
On April 25, 1997 New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani issued a proclamation, naming April 25 "Harry Harrison Day" in honor of the second "Mayor."
On March 19, 2003, after a 44-year career in New York radio, Harrison left WCBS-FM, saying "I am not retiring." His farewell to his loyal radio friends (from 5:30 to 10:00am) was held before a live audience at the Museum of Television and Radio in New York City.
Shortly after he left WCBS-FM, Harrison's long-time wife, Patti, who he had always referred to as "Pretty Patti" on the air, died.
Harrison returned to WCBS-FM with a Saturday morning show in 2004. It offered two hours of variety and two hours of Beatles music and memories.
In 1953...Jimmy Stewart debuted NBC's radio western, "The Six Shooter".
Circa 1969
In 1969...Frustrated by what he sees as a lack of artistic fulfillment, John Lennon announces privately to the rest of the Beatles that he will be leaving the band.
The announcement, which comes at one of several grueling financial meetings designed to untangle the band's mismanaged assets, comes abruptly and takes everyone by surprise: when Paul announces that the band should go out on tour anonymously, playing small clubs to get back the feel of band unity, Lennon declares "I think you’re daft. I want a divorce."
The band realizes they cannot go on without him, but agrees to delay the announcement until after the release of the Let It Be soundtrack -- an agreement Paul will break. On the same day, ATV (Associated Television) of Britain buys up controlling interest in the Beatles' songwriting catalog.
In 1973...The great Jim Croce, who was on the verge of superstardom, died at age 30 when his light plane crashed shortly after takeoff in Natchitoches, Louisiana.
In 1986...Billboard's Hot 100...Huey Lewis & the News grabbed the #1 spot with "Stuck with You" but Gloria Loring & Carl Anderson were close behind with their song "Friends and Lovers". Lionel Richie fell after peaking at 2 with "Dancing on the Ceiling".
The rest of the Top 10: Run-D.M.C. with their remake of the Aerosmith classic "Walk This Way" (never remake classics...). The rest of the Top 10: Canada's Glass Tiger with "Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone)", Daryl Hall's solo hit "Dreamtime", Janet Jackson had "When I Think of You" which moved from 14 to 7, Stacey Q and "Two of Hearts", Berlin was down with their former #1 "Take My Breath Away" and Billy Ocean's sixth but next-to-last Top 10 "Love Zone" was #10.
In 1997…Bob Hudson, of the radio and recording comedy duo Hudson & Landry, died at age 66.
"Emperor" Bob Hudson (born Robert Howard Holmes on October 7, 1929 in Erie, Pennsylvania) got his start in radio while serving in the United States Air Force in Anchorage, Alaska. He began his civilian career in radio during the mid-fifties first in Erie, Pennsylvania; Cleveland, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana; and San Francisco before settling in the Los Angeles area.
He was consistently ranked among the top 10 DJs in Southern California from 1957 until his retirement in 1988. Hudson worked at a variety of LA radio stations, including KFWB, KBLA, KEZY, KFI and KGBS, and came to prominence when he replaced Bob Eubanks as morning man on KRLA in 1963. In 1966, Billboard ranked Hudson #1 in his morning drive time slot.
After Hudson & Landry split up, Hudson continued working in radio, including a stint at WMEX, later WITS, in Boston, until his retirement.
Millions of New Yorkers were jolted by the ringing of a mass alert sent to cellphones across the area Monday morning to notify the public of the suspect they were seeking in connection to the weekend bombing in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood.
According to CBS News, the alert was sent shortly before 8 a.m. local time as part of the nation’s Wireless Emergency Alert system, which is designed to allow authorized government agencies to issues alerts directly through cellphone carriers. It included a distinct high-pitched tone and a vibration, both repeated twice.
The alert said, “WANTED: Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28-yr-old male. Call 9-1-1 if seen.” It did not include a picture of the suspect but instead told the public to “see media for pic.”
It’s believed to be the first time the alert system was used for an active manhunt.
The system was designed to circulate information on extreme weather, threatening local emergencies, child abductions (Amber Alerts), and presidential announcements during national emergencies, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
The alerts are sent free of charge and do not count towards users’ texting plans.
NuVoodoo Media Services, a data-driven media marketing, programming and content intelligence provider, announces that its recent NuVoodoo Ratings Prospects Study of over 3,500 subjects revealed that 49% of likely PPM participants believe most radio station contests are rigged – and over half among 18-44 year olds.
Among likely PPM participants who think that most radio station contests are rigged, some are aware that stations are trying to extract more listening, while even more complain about their inability to contact the station. A lack of transparency also comes into play, with groups complaining they don’t see or hear the prize drawings or they have suspicions most of the prizes aren’t actually given away.
Leigh Jacobs, Executive Vice President, Research Analysis, NuVoodoo Media Services observes: “Our findings point to a need for greater transparency in radio contests. While these issues are less important to the large numbers of listeners who are not susceptible to contests, they are very important to the smaller group whose listening stations want to influence.”
Mike O’Connor, Executive Vice President, Marketing, NuVoodoo Media Services said: “We know that only about 5% of radio listeners care about contests, but the number goes up tenfold among likely ratings respondents. Yet half that group thinks the game is rigged. When Nielsen runs compliance contests for PPM participants, they announce the results in monthly newsletters – offering proof that rewards offered are real and attainable. Radio needs to follow the ratings company playbook and put the spotlight on winners!”
According to the Nielsen’s latest edition of its Music 360 report, consumer's are paying for music..music that's live.
Of all the ways to experience music, Nielsen found, 36% of consumers’ money spent goes toward live events, far and away the most popular way of consuming music, reports The LA Times.
Of course, that no doubt partly reflects the fact that the cost of tickets for most live events far outpaces the cost of buying downloads, CDs or paying for a monthly streaming subscription.
But in an intriguing facet of the study into the changing habits of fans in an era in which music is increasingly defined by streaming services, 21% of overall music spending still goes toward physical CDs or downloaded digital singles and albums, compared to only 6% to streaming service subscriptions.
Among 13- to 17-year-old consumers, 38% of their money is spent on physical and digital albums and tracks, with a higher-than-average 9% for streaming services, and just 5% for satellite radio subscriptions.
Those are just a couple of highlights of the report, which Nielsen has excerpted for public consumption from the full paid study that goes out this week to its entertainment industry subscribers.
“Fans are interacting with music differently,” the report’s summary states, “but their passion for music remains strong. In fact, listeners are spending more time and more money on music-related expenses in 2016 than they did in 2015.”
On the streaming front, Nielsen reports that 80% of music listeners used such a service during the 12 months preceding the study. The report was conducted from July 14 to Aug. 5 of this year, among 3,554 consumers “reflective of the population of the United States.”
In terms of the time spent listening to music, Nielsen reports that radio is still the most popular method, accounting for 27% of the time people spend listening by format. Digital music collections accounted for an additional 20%, followed by streaming of on-demand audio (12%), programmed audio (11%), and music video and physical music collections (tied at 10% each).
Demographically, Hispanic consumers (as defined by Nielsen) spent on average 90% more on music than the general population and also scored higher numbers than average for attending DJ events and smaller live music sessions.
Hispanics also posted higher numbers than teens or millennials (ages 18 to 34) for attending live concerts with one main headliner, small live music sessions, live concerts with multiple headliners, music festivals, club events with DJs and club events with a specific DJ.
The survey also explored music preferences broken down by political affiliation, with Democrats scoring higher than the general population in money spent on club events with DJs (124% more than average), small live music sessions (+54%), digital music (+43%) and video on demand or pay-per-view services (+38%).
Republicans, meanwhile, spent more on premium TV subscriptions (76% above the general population), comedy performances (+65%), sports events (+35%) and satellite radio services (+32%).
Pop music superstar Lady Gaga has officially signed on to perform at Super Bowl LI at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, on February 5, 2017.
The event will be televised on Fox.
The Grammy-award winning artist's current single, "Perfect Illusion" was released on Sep. 9. That song is from her upcoming album, "Joanne", Gaga's first solo album in three years, set for an Oct. 21 release.
Lady Gaga is not a stranger to the Super Bowl stage, having sung the Star-Spangled Banner at the start of Super Bowl 50 back in February 2016.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Fantasy drama series "Game of Thrones" and comedy "Veep" proved repeat winners for cable giant HBO at the Emmy awards on Sunday, but newcomers and actors of color also made their mark in a ceremony where election-year politics played large.
Fan favorite "Game of Thrones," went into Sunday's show with a leading 23 nominations and won a total of 12 Emmys, including for best drama series, directing and writing. It beat off a challenge from USA network's "Mr. Robot," as well as Netflix's dark Washington D.C. drama "House of Cards."
"We're standing up here because George Martin created the world that we all live and play in," said co-creator Dan Weiss.
True crime was also a big winner.
"The People v. O.J. Simpson," FX's 10-hour dramatization of the former football player's 1995 double murder trial and sensational acquittal won nine Emmys, including for best limited series and for actors Sarah Paulson, Courtney B. Vance and Sterling K. Brown.
Paulson, who played losing Los Angeles trial prosecutor Marcia Clark in the show, brought Clark along with her to the Emmys.
"The more I learned about the real Marcia Clark... the more I had to recognize that I along with the rest of the world had been superficial and careless in my judgment," said Paulson, accepting her first Emmy.
Host Jimmy Kimmel opened Sunday's show with a string of jokes about Republican presidential contender and former "Celebrity Apprentice" star Donald Trump.
"If Donald Trump gets elected and he builds that wall, the first person we are throwing over it is Mark Burnett," quipped Kimmel, addressing Burnett, the British producer who created "Celebrity Apprentice." ALSO READ: Ranked...The 10 best Emmys jokes, from O.J. to Long Duk Dong. Click Here
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
"Veep" star Julia Louis-Dreyfus won her fifth straight Emmy for her role in the satirical White House comedy in which she plays a graspingly ambitious and inept president battling to stay in power.
Louis-Dreyfus apologized for what she called "the current political climate," seven weeks before the presidential election.
"I think that 'Veep' has torn down the wall between comedy and politics. Our show started out as a political satire but it now feels like a sobering documentary," she quipped, in an oblique reference to the presidential campaign.
Sunday's Emmys were notable for having a record 21 nominees of color, in contrast to this year's all-white Oscars acting lineup.
Several took home Emmys, many for the first time. Along "O.J. Simpson" winners Brown and Vance, Egyptian-American Rami Malek beat veterans Kevin Spacey and Liev Schreiber to scoop his first Emmy for playing a socially inept computer hacker in "Mr. Robot."
"Oh my god. Please tell me you are seeing this too," said a stunned Malek, 35.
Indian-American Aziz Ansari shared a writing Emmy with Asian-American Alan Yang for their comedy series "Master of None," while black actress Regina King won for her role in "American Crime" and African-American comedians Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele were honored for their sketch series "Key & Peele."
Other Emmy newcomers included Canadian Tatiana Maslany, a surprise best drama actress winner who beat out presumed front runner Robin Wright for playing a woman with multiple cloned personalities in "Orphan Black."
Elsewhere, Jeffrey Tambor won best comedy actor for a second time for his role as a father who transitions to a woman in Amazon's ground-breaking "Transparent."
"Saturday Night Live" comedian Kate McKinnon, who plays Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, won supporting comedy actress, and John Oliver's biting "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" won the Emmy for variety talk series.
WINNER’S LIST:
OUTSTANDING DRAMA: Game of Thrones LEAD ACTOR, DRAMA: Rami Malek, Mr. Robot LEAD ACTRESS, DRAMA: Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black SUPPORTING ACTOR, DRAMA: Ben Mendelsohn, Bloodline SUPPORTING ACTRESS, DRAMA: Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey WRITING, DRAMA: David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, Game of Thrones DIRECTING, DRAMA: Miguel Sapochnik, Game of Thrones OUTSTANDING COMEDY: Veep LEAD ACTOR, COMEDY: Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent LEAD ACTRESS, COMEDY: Julia Louis Dreyfus, Veep SUPPORTING ACTOR, COMEDY: Louie Anderson, Baskets SUPPORTING ACTRESS, COMEDY: Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live WRITING, COMEDY: Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang, Master of None DIRECTING, COMEDY: Jill Soloway, Transparent OUTSTANDING MOVIE OR SPECIAL: Sherlock OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES: The People v. O.J. Simpson LEAD ACTRESS, LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR SPECIAL: Sarah Paulson, The People v. O.J. Simpson LEAD ACTOR, LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR SPECIAL: Courtney B. Vance, The People v. O.J. Simpson SUPPORTING ACTOR, LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR SPECIAL: Sterling K. Brown, The People v. O.J. Simpson SUPPORTING ACTRESS, LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR SPECIAL: Regina King, American Crime WRITING, LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR SPECIAL: D.V. DeVincentis, The People v. O.J. Simpson DIRECTING, LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR SPECIAL: Susanne Bier, The Night Manager OUTSTANDING VARIETY SKETCH SERIES: Key & Peele OUTSTANDING VARIETY TALK SERIES: Last Week Tonight With John Oliver WRITING, VARIETY SERIES: Patton Oswalt, Patton Oswalt: Talking for Clapping DIRECTING, VARIETY SERIES: Thomas Kail and Alex Rudzinski, Grease Live REALITY COMPETITION: The Voice
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The government lost a fight with music licensing giant BMI on Friday over whether it needed to change how it collects royalties for music.
The Justice Department had said in August that it would require the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, or ASCAP, and Broadcast Music Inc, or BMI, to only license music to digital streaming services, radio and television stations, bars and other music users if they could issue a "full-work" license.
Requiring full-work licenses raised complications for a certain group of songs - no one knows how many - where songwriters did not agree to give each other joint ownership to the songs. ASCAP and BMI had been issuing "fractional" licenses for songs and assuming that if services took licenses with both ASCAP and BMI that all royalties would be paid.
BMI challenged the Justice Department's decision, and a hearing was held at 3 p.m. on Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
In his ruling, which was issued just before 5 p.m., Judge Louis Stanton took issue with the Justice Department, citing a decades-old consent decree between BMI and the government, which is still in effect.
"Nothing in the consent decree gives support to the (Justice Department Antitrust Division's) views," wrote Stanton. "It (the consent decree) does not address the possibilities that BMI might license performances of a composition without sufficient legal right to do so."
The Justice Department has similar consent decrees in effect with ASCAP and BMI. The change had affected both of them but only BMI challenged it in court.
BMI President and Chief Executive Officer Mike O’Neill said in a statement that he was "gratified" by the Judge's ruling. "Today’s decision is a victory for the entire music community,” he said.
ASCAP also said it was pleased with the decision. "This is terrific news for all of us in the songwriting community as we continue to work on modernizing the consent decrees to reflect the real world," said ASCAP CEO Beth Matthews in a statement.
Justice Department spokesman Mark Abueg said that the government "has received the order and is reviewing it."
The court oversees consent decrees which govern the complicated world of music royalties, where songwriters and publishers hire ASCAP, BMI and other performance rights groups to license songs to the streaming services and others.
ASCAP and BMI license about 90 percent of music heard online and in movies, TV shows and bars. ASCAP counts some 575,000 U.S. composers and songwriters among its members, while BMI has some 700,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers.
ASCAP represents such artists as Beyonce, Billy Joel, Katy Perry and Hans Zimmer, while BMI is home to Willie Nelson, Carlos Santana and Rihanna.
According to a lawsuit, KLAX La Reza 97.9 FM made musicians pay $5,000 if they wanted their songs played on the station.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Stephanie Himonidis, a popular Hispanic television and radio star known as "Chiquibaby," alleges in a new lawsuit that she along with her husband Gerardo Lopez were fired by the Spanish Broadcasting System after objecting to an illegal payola scheme.
Himonidis once worked for Univision and had one of the highest-rated radio shows in Los Angeles and served as a celebrity judge on the Spanish-language equivalent of American Idol. According to her complaint, SBS knew Himonidis was in a relationship with Lopez, who worked as a programming manager for their radio stations KLAX-FM and KXOL-FM, and began courting her to poach her from Univision. In April 2014, she accepted an offer to work as a morning radio show host for KLAX. She got more than $200,000 in salary plus hundreds of thousands more in bonuses.
But after being hired, Lopez allegedly discovered the payola scheme, referring to the federally prohibited practice of secret cash payments from record companies in exchange for broadcasting of certain music.
"Defendant SBS demanded that Mr. Lopez engage in an illegal payola scheme by selling 'music spots' to musicians who wanted SBS to play thir music on the air," states the lawsuit. "SBS executives instructed Mr. Lopez that part of his job duties were to sell 'music spots,' whereby musicians would buy an on-air announcement or advertisement promoting one of their songs or albums. No such 'announcement' or 'advertisement' was actually made, however. SBS simply played the song along with its other music programming as if they were one and the same."
The lawsuit further alleges that SBS demanded $5,000 from musicians for the playing of a song, and that if the musicians refused, their music wouldn't be played. Lopez was allegedly required to collect at least five "fees" per month, per station.
Lopez told Himonidis and complained to management, according to the complaint. He was fired that September in alleged retaliation.
Hubbard Radio St. Louis’ 106.5 The Arch is looking for a programming leader following the departure of Charlie Quinn. Quinn had been on duty for the past ten months at ubbard WARH 106.5 FM The Arch).
Vice President and Market Manager John Kijowski notes, “We want a passionate leader, who coaches, inspires and builds winning teams – a great communicator, highly competitive, and who is committed to excellence.”
Charlie Quinn
The research, marketing, and resources the Program Director needs, along with the support of a product-oriented company that invests in talent to entertain audiences, awaits the right candidate at Hubbard Radio.
It is in the Hubbard Radio DNA that radio must be strategic, compelling, creative, and entertaining.
The next 106.5 The Arch programmer must execute the adult hits format with precision and be the biggest advocate possible for the audience to grow the brand.
This position requires a minimum 5 years of successful programming experience.
For more information regarding the search for the future 106.5 The Arch Program Director, please contact John Kijowski via the Hubbard St. Louis main phone number at 314-982-6000.
