Taylor Swift photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.

Taylor Swift has been named Billboard’s Woman of the Year. At 21, Taylor is the youngest artist in history to receive the honor. She will be presented with the award during the 2011 Billboard Women in Music event on December 2 in New York City.

“Taylor has shown the power of good songwriting with music that has transcended genres, and we’re thrilled to recognize all of her successes over the past year by honoring her with the Billboard Woman of the Year Award,” Bill Werde, Billboard‘s Editorial Director, said. “At the young age of 21, Taylor has already made a major impact on music and has been an incredible role model for aspiring singers/songwriters and young women everywhere. I look forward to watching her career continue to flourish in the years to come.”

Watch Taylor Swift’s “Sparks Fly” video! >>

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The Band Perry photo courtesy of Republic Nashville.

Country stars have proven they aren’t afraid to cross genres to collaborate and The Band Perry is no exception. The sibling trio has set their sights on an interesting collaboration should they ever get the chance – meat dresses, pantless outfits and all.

“I’m gaga for Gaga,” Kimberly Perry said. “Rumor has it that she wants to come to Nashville and write country songs. That’s the next endeavor that she is curious to, I guess, partake in and be a part of. So we’ll see. We would love to be her guinea pig when it comes to that.” Continue Reading

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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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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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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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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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Lady Antebellum photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.

When Lady Antebellum wrote “Need You Now” in 2009, the band had no idea that the song was going to vault them into the same pop world inhabited by the other lady — Lady Gaga — in 2010.

In fact, a lot of songwriters in Nashville thought “Need You Now” was a bold song — it was built around a drunken booty call, and since country radio stations are very attuned to offering family-friendly material, many Music Row writers were a bit shocked when the song caught on. And it caught on very quickly. Not only was it a multi-week No. 1 single at the end of ‘09, it also got picked up by pop stations who played it frequently throughout 2010, aiding a jump for the oddly-named trio into music’s big leagues.

Lady Antebellum’s ascent ranks at No. 4 as GAC counts down the dozen biggest stories of country music from 2010.

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Lady Antebellum photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.

Hello, world: Just in case anyone was left on the planet that hadn’t figured out how significant Lady Antebellum was this year, the Recording Academy slipped the band into three of the big-four, multi-genre categories on the prestigious Grammy Awards ballot. Finalists in the general-interest categories were unveiled Wednesday during a one-hour nominations special on CBS.

“Need You Now” and the album of the same name were tabbed as finalists for Record, Song and Album of the Year, pitting Lady A against such pop, rock and rap acts as Eminem, Katy Perry and Arcade Fire.

Miranda Lambert sang her snarky “Only Prettier” on the special, which also saw “The House That Built Me” gain a Song of the Year nomination for composers Tom Douglas and Allen Shamblin. As a result, two country titles — “Need You Now” and “House” — are among the five Song of the Year finalists, something that’s only happened seven times in the Grammys’ previous 52 years.

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Jerrod Niemann photo by Jeremy Cowart, courtesy of myspace.com/jerrodniemann.

When Jerrod Niemann went over and over the vocal parts for “Lover, Lover” — literally singing all eight or nine harmony lines himself — he had no idea what the song’s future held.

At the time, Jerrod was an unsigned singer-songwriter who had decided to put some of his friends to work and build an album that may, or may not, find a label home. Not only did it eventually land somewhere, the single rose all the way to No. 1 on the Billboard Country Songs chart this week. It hit that spot as Jerrod is observing a personal anniversary.

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Jaron and the Long Road to Love photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.

One of the songs that’s truly generated a response among country fans in 2010 is “Pray For You” by Jaron And The Long Road To Love, which sounds like a band but really is just a solo artist: Jaron Lowenstein.

Part of Jaron’s history is membership in a duo, Evan & Jaron, that made waves in pop about 10 years ago. So “Pray For You” makes him just the latest in a line of artists who’ve made the shift from pop and rock into country. He’s happy to be in the new genre, but if you’re upset with him because you think traditional country is getting short shrift these days, well, Jaron maintains he’s not at fault.

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