Radio
There’s No More Country Radio in NYC — Will It Ever Come Back?
Cumulus Media launched WNSH in New York in 2013, ending a decade-long gap in country radio programming there after WYNY-FM flipped to Spanish contemporary in 2002. Audacy (formerly Entercom) took over WNSH in 2019. In September, WNSH ranked 21st in the New York marketing, pulling in a 1.9% share of the local market, according to Nielsen Media. Its highest share over the past six months had been 2.5 in July. “Clearly, Audacy saw a better opportunity with a different format. You can’t blame them for that,” says Joel Raab, country radio station and media consultant. “There’s a 2 share for country in New York if you just put it on and if you heavily market it, I think there’s a 3 share unless you put on personalities who appeal beyond the country format.” WNSH’s departure from terre...
Erykah Badu Launches New BADUBOTRON Radio On Sonos, Shares Details Of What To Expect
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Josh Brasted / Getty Erykah Badu has been one of the most compelling artists of her era and of all time for well over two decades, and she continues to find creative ways to bring her innovation and vision to the masses. Today (October 20), the talented singer, songwriter, producer, and DJ launched her new BADUBOTRON Radio station on Sonos, and she graciously spoke with during a media event earlier this week to share details of what to expect. Badu, radiantly beautiful as always, took time out of her busy touring schedule to speak with media during a roundtable discussion moderated by Carmel Holt, host of SHEROES MIXTAPE MEMOIR as part of the Sonos original programming lineup. Related Stories Taking a break to speak via video from her bus during the Live ...
Carly Pearce Reveals Winners for 2021 CMA Broadcast Awards
The nominees for broadcast personality of the year were evaluated based on aircheck, ratings, community involvement and biographical information; while nominees for radio station of the year were evaluated based on aircheck, ratings, community involvement and format leadership. Market size was based on population as determined by Nielsen. Here’s the full list of winners. CMA broadcast personality of the year Weekly national: Country Countdown USA, Lon Helton – Westwood OneDaily national: CMT After Midnite, Cody Alan – Premiere NetworksMajor Market: Double-L, Lois Lewis – KNIX, Phoenix, Ariz.Large Market: Ridder, Scott and Shannen, “Ridder” Shaun Ridderbush, Scott Dolphin, and Shannen Oesterreich – WMIL, Milwaukee-Racine, Wis.Medium market: Mo & St...
Coldplay, Twenty One Pilots, Imagine Dragons Tapped for iHeartRadio’s ALTer EGO
iHeartMedia’s ALTer EGO is bringing the biggest names in alternative rock music back to Los Angeles. On Jan. 15, Coldplay, twenty one pilots, Imagine Dragons and more will perform at the Forum with a nationwide livestream. The lineup for the fifth annual iHeartRadio ALTer EGO Presented by Capital One will also include Dragons, Kings of Leon, Willow, All Time Low and more. The winter event will be hosted by Woody of iHeartRadio ALT 98.7’s nationally-syndicated The Woody Show. “I’m psyched!” Woody said in a release. “When the line-up is this good, with so much talent on the stage, it takes the pressure off the host. No one will notice and/or remember and/or care if I did a good job or not!” You D...
Man of Steel: Will Paul Franklin’s 30th CMA Nomination Translate To His First Win?
“I gave up on winning,” he says candidly. But there’s no malice or self-pity in his response. At age 67, he’s still a first-call studio musician, playing on such recent hits as Thomas Rhett’s “Country Again,” Kane Brown’s “Homesick,” Brett Young’s “Catch” and Justin Moore’s “Why We Drink.” When Franklin listens to country radio, he rarely goes an hour without hearing himself, and that confirmation of his daily successes in the studio trenches outstrips the once-a-year status as an also-ran. “Everybody that gets nominated wants to win, of course,” he says. “But I can’t believe at my age that I’m still being nominated. That’s flattering.” Franklin’s absence from the winner’s circle may have something to ...
Nashville Labels Turn to Pop Partners as Streaming Changes the Game
This kind of arrangement is growing more common to the point that every big Nashville label now works with a pop counterpart. Sony Music Nashville has teamed with RCA Records to promote several acts including Tenille Townes and Kane Brown, who has released songs with several acts on RCA’s pop roster, including Khalid and H.E.R. At first, Brown’s deals were renegotiated per song, but as it became clearer that the country star would continue to delve into pop, SMN and RCA now have a “broader partnership” for the “Be Like That” singer, says SMN executive vp/COO Ken Robold. “Basically it was [RCA Records COO John] Fleckenstein and I coming up with what we thought was a fair deal.” While he wouldn’t give specific percentages, Robold says RCA is “incenti...
The 165 Songs Banned from American Radio Following 9/11 Terrorist Attacks
Following the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, close to 200 songs were shadow banned from American radio stations by Clear Channel Communications, known today as iHeartMedia. There were little to no consequences for DJs who broke the embargo, though as The Daily Beast, Kerrang, and others have noted, it had a chilling effect on radio play for the targeted songs. Today, the list stands as a curious relic of a time where unfathomable tragedy led to one of the most sweeping censorship movements in recent history. Clear Channel announced the “suggestions” in a memorandum sent out to its over 1,100 radio stations on September 14th. Many songs were cited as “lyrically questionable,” which meant that the words could be triggering, as in James Taylor’s...
Elton John Makes Record Return to Pop Airplay Chart With Dua Lipa Mash-Up ‘Cold Heart’
And, the No. 1 song on Pop Airplay at the time of John’s last visit until this week? Savage Garden’s “Truly Madly Deeply,” which took over for Chumbawamba’s “Tubthumping.” John never got knocked down: He’s grossed $1.27 billion in touring since the start of 1998, according to Billboard Boxscore; tallied four top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 in that span; and, in 2019, he celebrated the release of his hit musical biopic Rocketman. But, he’s certainly back up again at pop radio. “Top 40 thrives when it’s diverse, and listens to its audience,” says Alex Tear, SiriusXM and Pandora vp of pop music and programming. “We’re excited to have Sir Elton John back.” In “Cold Heart,” released Aug. 13 ...
New L.A. Radio/Record Promotion Hall of Fame Will Honor Local Trailblazers: ‘It’s About Time!’
A 20-member committee, led by board member Steve Resnik, is spearheading a list of candidates that will include Southern California radio trailblazers, personalities, programmers and executives in all formats; and local and national leaders in record promotion from the music industry. Inductees will be honored at an in-person event. Like Alexenburg, Resnik achieved considerable success in the record industry. He worked at A&M, ABC/Dunhill and United Artists/EMI. He started New Marketing/The Charts with former Billboard associate publisher Tom Noonan before moving on to The Gavin Report and Radio & Records. He is co-founder and partner of RAMP (Radio and Music Pros) industry magazine. Other board members include top radio personalities Rick Dees and Shadoe Stevens. Los Angeles radio...
SiriusXM Wins Appeal in Turtles Lawsuit Over Pre-1972 Royalties
“We are gratified that this important issue has been finally and correctly resolved,” Sirius’ attorney, Daniel Petrocelli of O’Melveny & Myers, said over email. Billboard has reached out to Flo & Eddie’s attorney for comment. The ruling is the latest to come from a series of royalties disputes between the parties, stemming from a complex web of state and federal laws governing radio providers and recent changes to those laws. When an AM/FM radio station plays a song over the air, it does not have to pay public performance royalties to the owner of the original sound recording. On the other hand, digital and satellite radio providers including Sirius must pay public performance royalties whenever they broadcast post-1972 recordings — but unti...
Morgan Wallen’s ‘Sand in My Boots’ Officially Heads to Country Radio: Is Seven-Month Ban Over?
“Sand in My Boots” marks the first country radio release for Wallen since his music was temporarily banned from country radio stations, after TMZ posted a video Feb. 2 of Wallen uttering a racial slur outside his home in Nashville. Country radio station conglomerates, including iHeartMedia, Cumulus, Cox Media and Beasley, yanked Wallen’s music from the airwaves shortly after the video surfaced. Several country stations quietly added some of Wallen’s hits back this summer, including “Whiskey Glasses,” and then began playing “Boots” several weeks ago, prior to its official release. “Boots” stands at No. 39 in its seventh week on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart dated Aug. 21 and gained 6% over the previous week, reaching 2.3 million audience impressions, according to MRC Data. Currently, 29...
Dua Lipa, Ariana Grande & More Receive iHeartRadio Titanium Awards for Reaching 1 Billion Audience Spins
Lipa alone is being honored for “Levitating,” according to iHeart, because the 1 billion total audience spin figure includes both her solo version and the remix featuring DaBaby. The remix alone doesn’t meet the criteria. These are the first titanium award recipients announced in 2021. The total audience spins calculation is based on Mediabase airplay and is multiplied by the number of persons listening to the radio at the time of those plays, delivering total audience impressions, which iHeart regards as the broadcast equivalent of the number of streams from a streaming music service. Post Malone and Shawn Mendes were the top titanium award winners in 2020, taking three awards each. Posty scored with “Sunflower,” “Wow” and “Circles”; Mendes with “...
