Dec
29
Taylor Swift's Speak Now CD. Photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.
Billboard.com has compiled their list of the Top 200 Albums of 2011. Adele’s 21 was named the No. 1 album of the year, but Taylor Swift’s Speak Now album came in at No. 2. Jason Aldean’s My Kinda Party was also in the Top 5, coming in at No. 4. Rascal Flatts‘ Nothing Like This album took the No. 17 spot and Lady Antebellum’s Need You Now came in at No. 19.
Other country albums in the Top 50 include Zac Brown Band’s You Get What You Give at No. 23, Lady Antebellum’s Own The Night at No. 25, The Band Perry’s self-titled debut at No. 30, Sugarland’s The Incredible Machine at No. 33, Keith Urban’s Get Closer at No. 36, Kenny Chesney’s Hemingway’s Whiskey at No. 42, and Brad Paisley’s This Is Country Music at No. 46.
The Year-End top-selling albums are ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.
Top 20 Albums of 2011:
- 21 – Adele
- Speak Now – Taylor Swift
- Born This Way – Lady Gaga
- My Kinda Party – Jason Aldean
- The Gift – Susan Boyle
- Tha Carter IV – Lil Wayne
- Pink Friday – Nicki Minaj
- Sigh No More – Mumford & Sons
- Loud – Rihanna
- Teenage Dream – Katy Perry Continue Reading
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Dec
27
Taylor Swift photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.
Billboard.com has released its list of the Top Artists of 2011. Adele tops the multi-genre chart with Rihanna, Katy Parry, Lady Gaga and Lil Wayne rounding out the Top 5. Taylor Swift is the only country artist to make the Top 10, ranking No. 8. Jason Aldean and Lady Antebellum found themselves ranked inside the Top 20 with Jason coming in at No. 13 and Lady A at No. 20.
Artists are ranked according to chart performance on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart and the Billboard 200 albums chart. Other country artists making the Top 50 include Kenny Chesney at No. 28, Blake Shelton at No. 29. Zac Brown Band at No. 32, The Band Perry at No. 35, Rascal Flatts at No. 38 and Brad Paisley at No. 45.
Top 20 Artists of 2011:
- Adele
- Rihanna
- Katy Perry
- Lady Gaga
- Lil Wayne
- Bruno Mars
- Nicki Minaj
- Taylor Swift
- Justin Bieber
- Chris Brown
- The Black Eyed Peas
- Eminem
- Jason Aldean
- Britney Spears
- Wiz Khalifa
- P!nk
- Pitbull
- Kanye West
- Ke$ha
- Lady Antebellum
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Nov
9
Taylor Swift photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.
Taylor Swift has received three People’s Choice Awards nominations while Blake Shelton and Lady Antebellum snagged two apiece. Keith Urban and Rascal Flatts are also nominated for a PCA Award each. The People’s Choice Awards will air live on CBS on November 11 at 9/8 CT from Los Angeles.
Taylor received nominations for Favorite Country Artists along with Blake, Lady Antebellum, Keith Urban and Rascal Flatts. She is also nominated for all-genre Favorite Female Artist with Adele, Beyoncé, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga as well as Favorite Tour Headliner with Bon Jovi, Katy Perry, U2 and Usher. Continue Reading
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Aug
9
Photo by Mark DeLong, courtesy of the CMA.
Christian Kane’s latest video, “Let Me Go,” is now playing on GAC and GACTV.com. The video tells the story of the challenges and surprises that come with being in love. “I believe this ballad speaks to everyone,” Christian said of the song. “Women are always smarter than us, but we never listen…they seem to always know what’s better for us than we do.”
Shot in the desert of East Lancaster, California, the video showcases Christian’s acting skills and was directed by Roman White, whose credits include videos for Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Reba McEntire, Justin Bieber, Martina McBride and Taylor Swift. Roman has been nominated for 11 Emmy awards and has taken home three. He and Christian worked together on Carrie’s video for “So Small.” Continue Reading
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Jun
16
Taylor Swift photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.
Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood work hard – and their bank accounts prove it. Both country superstars were recognized on Forbes Best Paid Celebrities Under 30 list along with artists from across all genres, the big screen and athletics. Pop star Lady Gaga topped the list, grossing $170 million from 137 shows in 22 countries.
Following Lady Gaga is Justin Bieber, who is also the youngest moneymaker on the list. The teen heartthrob made a cool $53 million while Miami Heat star LeBron James came in third with $48 million and fourth place went to tennis star Roger Federer with $47 million. Taylor, with a sold-out world tour and several multi-platinum records to her name, rounded out the top 5 with $45 million.
Carrie came in at No. 19 on the list with Continue Reading
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May
31
Brantley Gilbert photo courtesy of The Valory Music Co.
Justin Bieber who? Brantley Gilbert has reached the fan-requested No. 1 spot on Eventful as the most in-demand artist across all formats, beating out Justin Bieber. Brantley was quick to thank those who got him there – his fans.
“Look what ya’ll have accomplished!” Brantley said. “We really can’t take credit for this. Thanks to each and every one of you, y’all are more than a blessing, and words can’t express how much we appreciate that everywhere we go feels like home… Country Must Be Country Wide!”
“We love being able to help a great artist like Brantley connect with his fans through the Demand it! platform,” said Jordan Glazier, CEO of Eventful. “It’s an example of how artists can utilize social media to drive awareness and ticket sales for their live performances.” Continue Reading
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Apr
18
Taylor Swift photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.
Last week Billboard.com released the list of finalists for the 2011 Billboard Music Awards, scheduled to air on May 22nd at 8p ET/PT on ABC.
The Billboard Music Awards take a holistic look at artist performance based on key fan interactions with music — finalists and winners are determined by chart performance and social and streaming activity as chronicled in Billboard magazine and on Billboard.com during the eligibility period of Feb, 28, 2010 and Mar. 1, 2011.
The 46 award categories are based on measures provided by Billboard’s data partners including sales data shared by Nielsen SoundScan, radio airplay monitored by Nielsen BDS, streaming data measured by Tubemogul and Nielsen BDS, social media consumption gauged by Next Big Sound and tour grosses tracked by Billboard Boxscore.
Here’s a look at some of the key categories and finalists country fans will be most interested in: Continue Reading
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Feb
11
Taylor Swift performing for fans at her 13-hour Meet and Greet during the 2010 CMA Music Festival in Downtown Nashville. Photo courtesy of John Russell / CMA
Billboard.com has just released their “Top 40 Money Makers 2011″ list outlining the artists who rolled out of 2010 with the most dough! Billboard has a very in-depth and complicated formula for projecting the net earnings of artists based primarily on what they make from touring and music sales. My guess is these are pretty good estimates but on what I know about their calculations but don’t hold me to it. It definitely shows how much a major tour and a hit record can impact a bottom line.
It should come as no surprise that the overall top money maker on Billboard’s list is Lady Gaga. From our side of the tracks, a total of 11 country acts made their way onto the list lead by Taylor Swift who lands at the No. 6 position, sandwiched smack in between Bublé and Bieber.
Here’s how the country acts stacked up:
No. 6 – Taylor Swift: $20,730,431
No. 12 – Brad Paisley: $13,995,990 Continue Reading
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Feb
7
Rascal Flatts photo courtesy of Big Machine Records. Photo credit Chapman Baehler.
It looks like not even country superstars are immune to Bieber Fever. Rascal Flatts has recorded a duet with teen pop sensation Justin Bieber, “That Should Be Me,” which will be included on Justin’s new seven song album, Never Say Never: The Remixes. The album hits store shelves on Valentine’s Day, three days after Justin releases his 3D movie, Never Say Never, on February 11.
This isn’t the first time Rascal Flatts has collaborated with someone outside the country genre. The trio recorded “She Goes All The Way” with Jamie Foxx and Natasha Bedingfield duets with them on “Easy,” a cut from their latest album, Nothing Like This. Continue Reading
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Nov
23
Taylor Swift photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.
Earlier this year, Taylor Swift headlined stadium shows in Baton Rouge and Foxborough, Mass., for the first time in her career.
Next year, she’s expanding the number of giant-sized venues on her itinerary as she plays a full half-dozen stadiums during her Speak Now World Tour, which begins Feb. 9 in Singapore. In all, she’ll play 87 shows in 19 countries across four continents with six NFL sites on the books. She’ll return to Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts in addition to stadium gigs in Dallas, Kansas City, Detroit, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
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