CRS '23 Daily Buzz (3/14)

DAILYBUZZ

March 14, 2023, Issue 2

Honor Roles

CRB Exec. Dir. RJ Curtis officially welcomed attendees to CRS 2023 during Monday afternoon’s (3/13) “CRS Honors” before introducing Warner Music Nashville’s Avery Anna, who sang the National Anthem. Initiatives sponsored by Music Health Alliance and Broadcasters Foundation of America were introduced with videos about each organization’s mission and offerings.

Townsquare SVP/Content & Programming and CRB Board Pres. Kurt Johnson offered teases of upcoming sessions. “We have a packed week ... and we can’t wait for you to see all we have for you,” he told attendees. Consultant and CRB Board VP John Shomby introduced Rusty Walker and Lisa McKay Scholars Tori Dunn, Brooke Summers, Caitlin Fisher, Chelsea Lee and Liz DelGrosso (CAT 1/10). Johnson welcomed Big Machine’s Carly Pearce, who performed “Show Me Around” as the In Memoriam segment played on screen.

Country Radio Hall of Fame (CRHoF) Committee co-chairs

Joel Raab and Tim Roberts were joined by Black River’s Kelsea Ballerini to unveil the CRHoF class of 2023: Pam Green, the late Wade Jessen, Charlie Morgan, John Willyard, Trish Biondo and “Dollar Bill” Lawson. The session concluded with an emotional video of each CRHoF inductee being told of their

Desk Jockey: The calm before the storm as team CRS 2023 (Brooke Sanders, Sheree Latham, Kelly Yeatts, Heather Martin, Chasity Crouch, Ashley Bourque, Hope St. Germain, Brooke Cliatt, RJ Curtis, Allie Nicolini

Lauren Raybon, l-r) opens registration Sunday (3/12).

selection via surprise Zoom meetings prior to the event. Curtis and Johnson dismissed attendees with a reminder to enjoy the week, “With or without a cocktail, but don’t drink and drive.”

–Monta Vaden

Powered by Country Aircheck RJ Curtis Kurt Johnson

WMN: Down With The Munsickness

The “Warner Music Nashville Luncheon” introduced some of the label’s newer artists, including Chase Matthew, Avery Anna and Ian Munsick, who closed the show with an energetic four-song set. Despite his voice becoming increasingly hoarse with each track, Munsick pushed through “River Run,” “Dig,” “More Than Me,” “Barn Burner” and “Long Live Cowgirls,” the latter of which was missing label mate Cody Johnson, who had to bow out due to illness. “As you can probably tell, I’m losing my voice,” Munsick admitted. “But when I was given this opportunity, I knew I had to come and play.”

Nashville native Matthew performed “Love You Again,” “The Way I Am” and his inaugural gold record, “County Line,” before Anna stepped out of the bathtub – where she filmed several of her viral TikTok covers – and onto the CRS stage for the first time. She opened with “Just Cause I Love You,” followed by a cover of “Say Something” and a medley of songs introduced to her by her grandfather, including “Ring Of Fire,” “Forever And Ever, Amen” and “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?” Anna’s gold-certified “Narcissist” preceded a surprise appearance by Gabby Barrett, who was joined by fellow American Idol alum Colton Dixon for their first live performance of “Build A Boat.”

“Besides the fact that it was a phenomenal performance, this was my sneaky way of getting you out here so I could brag on you very uncomfortably,” SVP/Radio Kristen Williams told Barrett, who was presented with plaques for newly platinum “Pick Me Up” and 7x platinum “I Hope.” “I know I’ve kind of been MIA the past little bit while I try to figure out the balance of everything, but thank you for your patience,” Barrett said. “This would definitely not be possible without everybody in this room.” –Caitlin

Garth: Fence And Sensibility

DeForest

Country Music Hall of Famer Garth Brooks closed out day one of CRS 2023 (3/13) with an in-depth artist interview moderated by CRB Exec. Dir. RJ Curtis. Brooks discussed the establishment of a new industry honor, The Garth Brooks No Fences Award (CAT 11/3/22), which will recognize an individual in the country music industry who boldly demonstrates innovation, creativity and tenacity.

Continuing with the No Fences theme, as defined by Brooks’ sophomore album, Curtis walked through the impact Brooks’ music and career has had on country music and the world. Brooks shared why he feels he’s both lucky and blessed: “this is about the music ... this could have happened to anyone.” In summarizing his accomplishments and the feeling of hearing 100,000 fans sing his songs back to him, Brooks said, “This may be the only time God has made a mistake.” He cataloged how his early success coincided with both radio airplay and the CRS events themselves. “It wasn’t until I came on stage at Central Park [in 1997] that I really thought, ‘Shit, something is happening here!’” Brooks quipped. “It’s so cool. I can’t thank you and God enough for the gift you’ve given me.”

Looking to the future, Brooks touched on his plans for touring as his Garth Brooks/Plus One Vegas residency kicks off in six weeks (CAT 11/14/22). He also shared insight into plans for the Friends In Low Places bar in Nashville (CAT 4/5/22). Brooks even tackled audience questions, offering teases about forthcoming

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Ian Munsick Garth Brooks

plans to have an archive (“it wouldn’t be a museum, because I’m not dead!”) of career memorabilia, and alluding to an interest in getting into radio.

Offering parting words, Brooks reminded on-air talent and programmers that, as the country becomes more divided, radio has the power and responsibility to use “its big voice” to unite. “Who on the planet has a single voice to cover this entire nation?” Brooks asked. “You do. Think about what you say when you open your mouth on those airwaves. Think about the music you play. Do people listening to your station feel better about the future than they did? This country needs a big voice spreading the most important thing, and that’s love.”

–Monta Vaden

Digital Music Summit: Streamscape

Opening promptly at 8am, Country Radio Seminar’s Digital Music Summit offered the “Sweet Streams (Are Made Of These)” soup-to-nuts overview of music services. Spotify Head/Editorial, Artist & Label Partnerships Rachel Whitney, Pandora Head/ Country Programming Johnny Chiang and Amazon Music Head/Country Michelle Tigard

Kammerer detailed their respective platforms’ tools for independent artists. Access protocols for curated playlist

consideration were detailed by Whitney and Kammerer, but Chiang suggested a low-tech approach. “Maybe it’s because of my 18 years of running a Country radio station, or maybe because I’m a sadist – call me,” he said. “Reach out. It’s happened; there’s a small handful of [artists that] have their music on our curated lists.”

As the panel rounded the corner toward labels, radio and signed artists, Kammerer reacted strongly to a comment from moderator Tim Foisset (WMN SVP/Commercial Partnerships). “I love the fact you said, ‘Playlists are not a marketing plan,’” she laughed. “We say that all the time.” Like other facets of the industry, DSPs consider a wide range of artist and song data including social, ticketing, consumption and radio. But data doesn’t stand alone. “There is a certain amount of gut,” Whitney added. “We really spend time listening to the music. –Chuck Aly

Map-Free Marketing

Case studies and takeaways from the Covid-forced shift to digital-centric marketing were the focus in Monday morning’s “Flex Ability: Marketing Without A Map.” Q Prime Head/Digital Doug Phillips, WMN SVP/Artist Development Clark Mims Tedesco and Sandbox Head/Digital Lucia Kaminsky shared their on-the-fly pandemic adjustments to project rollouts for Ashley McBryde, Ingrid Andress and Kelsea Ballerini, respectively. Moderator Cameo Carlson (CEO mTheory) suggested the shutdown pushed digital marketing years forward as a tool for reaching country consumers. “TikTok blew up because of the pandemic,” Tedesco said. “It was going that way regardless, but it was about that stripped-back peek behind the curtain.” Phillips pointed to the benefits of Covid experimentation. “We’re more comfortable putting out weird things,” he said. Meanwhile, social video has had many unexpected benefits. “TikTok and Reels are

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©2023 Country Aircheck™ — All rights reserved. Sign up free at www.countryaircheck.com. Send news to news@countryaircheck.com Tom Foisset, Rachel Whitney, Johnny Chiang and Michelle Tigard Kammerer

huge when it comes to catalog,” Kaminsky said. “It’s changed the way we think about social media.” –Chuck Aly

Where Guitar

UMG/Nashville Dir./Data Analytics & Research Kristen Reed; Crowd Surf co-founder Jade Driver; Warner Music Nashville Sr. Mgr./Analytics Addison Nunes; and ACM VP/ Marketing, Digital Strategy & Engagement Rory Levine for a conversation centered on today’s music discovery methods. “Reach Out: Meeting Listeners Where They Are” was moderated by outgoing Pandora Head/Country Music Beville Dunkerley, who walked panelists through listening sources

including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and streaming services, in addition to radio.

Of interest: the average country music fan is spending 56 hours per month listening to music – four more than fans of other genres – but Gen Z (ages 11-28) spends 63. For Millennials (ages 27-42), 24% of monthly music consumption comes from AM/FM radio, 19% from audio streaming and 18% from video streaming. Among discovery methods on the rise – television shows and movies, where 62% of country fans report finding new music.

Places country fans can currently be found include:

• YouTube: 68%

• Spotify: 44%

• Pandora: 37%

• Amazon Music: 28%

• iHeartRadio Streaming: 23%

• Facebook: 75%

• Instagram: 49%

• TikTok: 38%

See the complete panel slide deck here –Monta Vaden

Dance Like Everyone Is Watching

“Luck is when preparation meets opportunity,” moderator and Monument GM Katie McCartney said during Monday’s (3/13) “How They Built It: ”Fancy Like’ And Its Path To No. 1.” She was joined by Amazon Music’s Emily Cohen Belote and SmackSongs’ Robert Carlton and Marissa Turk in a discussion of the meteoric rise of Walker Hayes’ inaugural No. 1. Despite initially arguing his audience wasn’t on the app, TikTok became the driving force of the song, something his team may not have expected, but was prepared for, nonetheless. “We were ready,” says McCartney. “We had spent years preparing for that moment.” When asked how radio should utilize TikTok, Turk stressed finding your own lane. “Task yourself with opening the app and scrolling to see what you like,” she suggests. “Don’t go straight to posting, and most importantly, stay authentic.” –Caitlin DeForest

AOB’s Map Quest

Albright & O’Malley & Brenner’s 28th Annual Pre-CRS Seminar kicked off yesterday morning (3/13) and dove straight into their annual RoadMap perceptual study. A total of 6,787 country music fans across the US and Canada were surveyed, with AOB’s Becky Brenner and Kenny Jay detailing several key takeaways. The potential power of P1s as influencers was displayed, with 96%

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Beville Dunkerley, Kristen Reed, Addison Nunes, Rory Levine, Jade Driver

saying they would be very or somewhat likely to advocate for their favorite station, possibly providing an invaluable source of wordof-mouth marketing.

Listening via smart speakers continued to grow, with 59% of owners having one in their kitchen, 54% in their living room and 48% in the bedroom. Brenner and Jay advocated narrowly focused imaging on those three main home listening locations (e.g.: “While you’re making the kids’ lunches…”) to help remind listeners to use their smart speakers to listen in those locations.

Listeners also rated the most important qualities of a station, and how their favorite stations are delivering them. Radio overdelivered on values like “makes me feel good when I listen” and “has fun DJs that sound like friends,” but there was under-delivery on the top quality, “plays the best music,” which 81% ranked as important, but only 77% said was being delivered. Verbatim comments pointed to country sounding too “pop,” as part of that dissatisfaction, underscoring the importance of sound coding to deliver a properly balanced sound and mix of music.

Contesting was probed, with only 9% of P1s saying they don’t play radio contests. Concert tickets are the most sought-after prize (chosen by 80% of respondents,) leading to another key takeaway: radio’s opportunity to capitalize on creating engaging giveaways.

Workplace situations were also analyzed, and with a quarter of P1s either staying at home, working from home or unemployed, radio has to be cognizant of that portion of the audience and be able to relate to them, as well as remind them how of the alternatives of how to listen when not in the office or car.

The survey asked respondents if they would be willing to pay a subscription fee to hear a commercial-free stream of their favorite station. Though only 21% of 25-54s indicated interest in such a model, that number jumped to 54% of 18-24s, a generation that is comfortable with the idea of subscriptions for services. While not a short-term prospect, Jay noted it was something worth “putting on the radar.”

The top source for music discovery remained FM music radio, off slightly from 66% to 63%, though among 18-24s that is 52% with DSPs nearly even at 51%. Jay noted what he referred to as “DisoverAid” and using digital and social assets to assist listeners in discovering more music from their favorite artists.

Following a mid-morning performance by BMLGR’s Shane Proffitt, and a surprise appearance by labelmate Chris Janson, who discovered Proffitt, the seminar continued with Girlilla Marketing Managing Dir. Stevie Escoto and WYCT/Pensacola, FL Sr. Marketing Consultant Taska Rockett-King discussing successful digital marketing tactics. Rockett-King said there were

basically two categories: social/websites and ad exchanges, the latter being useful to reach new listeners. She also implored stations, “don’t plug and play, you have to keep the creative fresh.” Escoto pointed to the high value of short-form video, and added the importance of captions for those videos since many people would see them on their phone without the sound on.

Triple 8 Management Dir./Brand Partnerships & Sponsorships

Ben Hutto detailed his work in integrating artists with brands, and how radio can take advantage of similar opportunities with talent. One of his secrets - an extensive questionnaire probing all an artist’s interests and tastes, even what kind of deodorant they use, that can lead to potential endorsements.

Wrapping up the seminar was WQLK/Richmond, IN MM Amy Dillon, who recounted that station’s “Loot Boot” giveaway: a new spin on the classic scavenger hunt which had listeners searching for a decorative boot through on-air clues while also utilizing the digital angle. Dillon says it wasn’t so much about the cash prize, “it became a real family activity, it was something to engage together with.”

Consulting partner Michael O’Malley also took time to sign copies of his new book, Last But Not Fleeced, for those in attendance.

To see more about Roadmap 2023, reach A&O&B here. –Chris Huff

The Day Ahead

Tuesday, 3/14

6:30-7:50am

CRS Believers