October 10, 2016, Issue 520
Inside Garth’s Oyster
When Garth Brooks decided to staff Pearl Records with a promotion team (CAT 8/9), he and Mandy McCormack – then VP/Radio Promotion & Marketing Strategy for Brooks and Trisha Yearwood – quickly turned to former Arista VP/Promotion Lesly Simon as GM (Breaking News 9/19). Rounding out the team are Nathan Cruise, Hilary Hoover and Glenn Noblit (CAT 9/29), with McCormack rising to SVP/Radio Promotion, Marketing & Artist Strategy. Country Aircheck caught up with McCormack and Simon to find out more. CA: Why staff Pearl now, instead of partnering with an established label? MM: Over the past several months Garth and I have had many conversations on what this next chapter could look like for both him and Trisha. Their very own radio promotion department was the perfect next piece to add to an already amazing team. LS: He hasn’t had his very own radio Lesly Simon team before, [but] has been a part of a major label and had partnerships with other labels. Mandy McCormack The timing is perfect – he just became the No. 1 selling artist of all time with a seventh Diamond award. What is the label vision even beyond promotion? LS: Our goal is to take Garth and Trisha to new heights in their careers. We are continuing to connect their music to fans and grow their brands across a variety of platforms. Having their own promotion team is an important piece of that story. And having a company with limitless opportunity allows us to grow their business, their brands and Pearl in countless ways. (continued on page 10)
Write On: Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame’s Mark Ford (l) and Pat Alger (r) flank inductees (l-r) Bob Morrison, Aaron Barker, Will Van Zandt (for the late Townes Van Zandt) and Beth Nielsen Chapman at last night’s (10/9) NaSHOF 46th Anniversary Hall of Fame Gala.
WUSN/Chicago Evolves
Chicago’s two-way Country battle has tightened to a neck-and-neck contest according to the latest Nielsen PPM survey. September saw CBS Radio’s WUSN post a 2.8 (12) Persons 6+ as iHeartMedia’s 21-month-old WEBG pulled within a 10th of a point at 2.7 (13). WEBG has proved to be a particularly formidable opponent in recent months (see page ?), which has arguably motivated WUSN’s recent brand refreshment (CAT 8/8). August saw the departure of longtime morning host and 2016 Country Radio Hall Of Famer Lisa Dent, along with partner Ramblin’ Ray Stevens and their producer (CAT Jeff Kapugi 8/3). A new morning show from cross-hall
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