Taylor Swift performs at the VAULT Concert Stage at LP Field in Downtown Nashville Saturday, June 13 during the 2009 CMA Music Festival. Photographer: John Russell / CMA.
Remember a few years back when Leonardo DiCaprio's character in the film Titanic proclaimed "I'm the king of the world!" Well move over Leo cause it looks like Taylor Swift is actually taking over the world. At least when it comes to album sales.
Taylor Swift's Fearless album is not only approaching quadruple-platinum sales in the US, it's racking up impressive sales awards in a total of 13 other countries spanning five continents.
Fearless has gone Platinum or better in Australia, Canada, Singapore, New Zealand, Ireland, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Taiwan. It has acheived Gold status in the UK, Norway, South Africa, Hong Kong and the Philippines. Looks like country music knows no boundaries, especially when it's Taylor Swift at the mic.
Now keep in mind that Platinum and Gold sales levels vary from country to country, so she really hasn't sold tens of millions of albums, yet. But she has sold more albums than any artist in the world so far this year, and her paid music downloads now exceed 19.5 million songs.
Did we mention that Taylor now has more than a million followers on her Twitter account, and this week surpassed the 250 million mark for music streams on her MySpace page.
Taylor makes a swing through the UK this weekend for a couple of sold out shows before returning the US for her much publicized date at Madison Square Garden on August 27. Tickets for that show sold out in one minute earlier this year.
Brad Paisley Honored For No. 1 "Then"
Brad Paisley photo by David McClister, courtesy of Arista Nashville.
Aug. 21, 2009 — Brad Paisley and co-writers Chris DuBois and Ashley Gorley stepped into familiar territory Thursday when they were honored by the performing rights organization ASCAP for their No. 1 single "Then."
It was the 14th chart-topping song Brad has garnered as an artist and the 11th he's written. It was the seventh No. 1 for Chris and the sixth for Ashley.
But it's the first song any of them had written that was dedicated to the President and First Lady of the United States during a concert at their home. Much has been made about Brad's show at the East Room of the White House last month, which closed with Brad singing his current single, "Welcome To The Future," to Barack Obama, whose historic election inspired it. But Brad also sang "Then" to one of the women who inspired it: Kimberly Williams-Paisley watched with obvious interest as her husband performed for the Obamas and a cadre of influential20politicians.
"That was one of my wife's proudest moments, I think," Brad said. "When she got involved with this redneck hick from Tennessee, I don't think she ever saw herself in the East Room of the White House being serenaded. And so for her to be able to experience that? it's like, yeah, for the first time she's probably convinced that she didn't make a huge mistake. That's a nice feeling."
The Country Music Association, Country Weekly magazine and Country Radio Broadcasters all joined ASCAP in presenting honors to Brad, Ashley and Chris, the publishers and producer Frank Rogers.
Because No. 1 singles are the result of significant airplay, they have their unfortunate side effects. Brad noted that one of his fans sent him a message via Twitter suggesting that it had been played more than enough: "I thought I loved it then; I don't love it anymore."
"That," Brad laughed, "is a good problem to have."
Brad's East Room performance for his wife, and the Obamas, can be seen on GAC's special Country At The White House, slated for rebroadcast Sunday at 8 p.m. ET and twice on Monday.
Darius Rucker: Nice Guys Finish First
Darius Rucker photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.
Aug. 21, 2009 — The site: Sambuca, a trendy restaurant at the edge of downtown Nashville.
The scene: Doc McGhee, the manager of Chris Cagle, is having dinner with Mike Dungan, the head of Capitol Records. Somewhere along the way, Doc and Mike begin talking about another of Doc's clients, Hootie + The Blowfish. From the conversation comes an idea to sign the '90s pop band's lead singer, Darius Rucker, to a country deal.
Thursday, Darius, Mike, Doc and a contingent of music-industry well-wishers returned to Sambuca, the place where the idea was hatched, to celebrate the platinum status of Learn To Live. Capitol brought out plaques to commemorate a million sales of the CD for Darius, Doc and producer Frank Rogers in an event that became a tad emotional for the label head.
Like every other industry, the music business has been hit hard by the struggling economy. Making it more difficult, the digital revolution has led many music f ans to download singles instead of the entire album. Executives have said it requires as much as $1 million just to market a new artist, and Darius was a risk. He had a history in another genre, and country fans can be skeptical about artists trying to cross over. In addition, only one African-American artist, Charley Pride, had ever had consistent success in the genre, and his heyday was 25 years ago.
"We had plenty of people in the early days that told us that they had doubts about this," Mike said, "and that this just would not work."
Mike rightly called the album's sales, which have now reached 1.3 million copies, a "milestone" for the company, and that's where his words stumbled. He lauded the platinum award and added that the project had launched three No. 1 singles.
"Through it all, Darius showed us one thing prominently and always, which was that he was a nice guy," Mike gushed. "The nice-guy part of him carries through everything that he does. And more than anything, I'm proud that in addition to our accomplishments here today, I'm friends with a really nice guy."
Sappy? Well, yeah. And Darius could have potentially shrugged it all off. Platinum? He's seen that before. Hootie's Cracked Rear View was certified for sales of 16 million copies. But he recognized that Capitol had wagered much more on him than he had risked on them.
"If this hadn't worked for me, it would've be en a flop and I'd have gone on and I'd have spent my millions and lived my life and been fine," he said. "But [Dungan], man, took a chance on somethin' that nobody really wanted. You talk to anybody that's runnin' a label right now and they'll tell you they would've signed me. And they're all lying. [Mike] took a chance, and I say to people all the time, 'I'm happy for me, but damn, am I happy for Mike Dungan!'"
"If this hadn't worked for me, it would've be en a flop and I'd have gone on and I'd have spent my millions and lived my life and been fine," he said. "But [Dungan], man, took a chance on somethin' that nobody really wanted. You talk to anybody that's runnin' a label right now and they'll tell you they would've signed me. And they're all lying. [Mike] took a chance, and I say to people all the time, 'I'm happy for me, but damn, am I happy for Mike Dungan!'"
Darius won't have the opportunity to hang his plaque at home in South Carolina for some time. He's in Hampton Beach, N.H., on Friday and Hyannis, Mass., on Saturday. He returns to Nashville for a Monday show at the Grand Ole Opry House as part of the Samsung/AT&T Summer Krush free concert series.
Reba McEntire Loving You On GAC’s Top 20
Reba McEntire performs at the VAULT Concert Stage at LP Field in Downtown Nashville Thursday, June 11 during the 2009 CMA Music Festival. Photo by Donn Jones, courtesy of the Country Music Association.
Aug. 21, 2009 — Reba McEntire released her Keep On Loving You album on Tuesday, and she'll join host Nan Kelley to promote the project on this week's edition of GAC's Top 20 Country Countdown.
It's Reba's first solo studio album since Room To Breathe, released nearly six years ago in the midst of her run on the "Reba" sitcom. The video for the first single, "Strange," remains at No. 9 on the countdown, while she's already launched a follow-up single, "Consider Me Gone," to radio. The album's title is a nod to the people who keep her career going.
"It's a kind of a gesture to my fans, Keep On Loving You," she told Suzanne Alexander on the national radio show GAC Nights: Live From Nashville. "I always will love 'e m because they're so good to me. They've stayed with me whether I'm in television, with radio on my singing, with Broadway, acting, whatever. They're staying with me, and I keep on loving 'em."
Top 20 Country Countdown counts down the week's top country videos from No. 20 to No. 1 as voted by viewers on each week on GACTV.com. A new countdown premieres every Friday at 8 p.m. ET on GAC and airs again Saturdays at 10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. ET; Sundays at 1 p.m. ET; and Mondays at 10 a.m. ET. Viewers can vote for their favorite videos, as well as purchase Top 20 artists' albums and ringtones at GACTV.com.
THIS WEEK'S CHART:
1. Billy Currington "People Are Crazy"
2. Luke Bryan "Do I"
3. Kellie Pickler "Best Days Of Your Life"
4. Taylor Swift "You Belong With Me"
5. Jason Aldean "Big Green Tractor"
6. Miranda Lambert "Dead Flowers"
7. Martina McBride "I Just Call You Mine"
8. Lady Antebellum "I Run To You"
9. Reba McEntire "Strange"
10. Brooks & Dunn "Indian Summer"
11. Keith Urban "Only You Can Love Me This Way"
12. Darius Rucker "Alright"
13. Gloriana "Wild At Heart"
14. Sugarland "Nightswimming/Joey"
15. Whitney Duncan "Skinny Dippin'"
16. Jimmy Wayne " I'll Be That"
17. Randy Houser "Boots On"
18. Rascal Flatts "Summer Nights"
19. Caitlin & Will "Address In The Stars"
20. Kenny Chesney "Out Last Night"
2. Luke Bryan "Do I"
3. Kellie Pickler "Best Days Of Your Life"
4. Taylor Swift "You Belong With Me"
5. Jason Aldean "Big Green Tractor"
6. Miranda Lambert "Dead Flowers"
7. Martina McBride "I Just Call You Mine"
8. Lady Antebellum "I Run To You"
9. Reba McEntire "Strange"
10. Brooks & Dunn "Indian Summer"
11. Keith Urban "Only You Can Love Me This Way"
12. Darius Rucker "Alright"
13. Gloriana "Wild At Heart"
14. Sugarland "Nightswimming/Joey"
15. Whitney Duncan "Skinny Dippin'"
16. Jimmy Wayne " I'll Be That"
17. Randy Houser "Boots On"
18. Rascal Flatts "Summer Nights"
19. Caitlin & Will "Address In The Stars"
20. Kenny Chesney "Out Last Night"
Taylor Swift's Fearless Earns Numerous International Certifications
August 20, 2009
Taylor Swift's Fearless has earned 14 gold and platinum certifications around the world. The album is approaching quadruple-platinum status in the U.S. for shipments of 4 million units. In addition, it has been certified triple-platinum in Australia (210,000 units) and Canada (240,000), as well as platinum in Singapore (12,000), New Zealand (15,000), Ireland (15,000), Indonesia (150,000), Malaysia (20,000) and Taiwan (14,000). Gold certifications come from the United Kingdom (double gold for 200,000), Norway (15,000), South Africa (20,000), Hong Kong (15,000) and the Philippines (15,000). Swift will perform this weekend (Aug. 22-23) in Chelmsford, England. She's also scheduled to perform at Wembley Arena in London on Nov. 23.
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