October 17, 2016, Issue 521
Thirty-Eight Special: Tigers Talk
Sony Music Entertainment, Thirty Tigers and Triple 8 Management have partnered for Triple Tigers (Breaking News 10/10) and are staffing up a promotion team. We sat down with Thirty Tigers President David Macias, Triple 8’s George Couri and Triple Tigers GM Norbert Nix for a deeper look. CA: The first one is simple: Why? DM: Thirty Tigers has been a sporadic artist development source in commercial country, starting with Chase Rice. Over time it became a significant portion of our revenue and we started seeking more relationships. Within a David Macias two year period we played a significant role in partnering with successful artists and in rapid succession saw artists we developed leave us for traditional label deals. [So] it had been in my mind to start something a little more protective. I didn’t know that we had the expertise and relationships in-house to do a great job for artists. We’ve worked with Triple 8 for 10 years and knew they had instincts, George Couri imaging smarts and relationships – as we saw on Chase Rice – that brought major value. In addition to their skills, it’s a real match in terms of values. George and Bruce [Kalmick] work unfailingly hard and handle everything, even bad news, with honesty and candor. Thirty Tigers was discussing renewal of our distribution deal with Sony, which was the right time to bring up a new venture. They knew and had warm feelings for Triple 8. Norbert Nix And as were talking and thinking about who could lead the charge at radio, the universe presented us with the person we’d all worked with on Chase. Norbert shares our values of ferocity and is an honorable human being. We got together and figured it out. (continued on page 11)
Burst Into Fame: Charlie Daniels (l), Fred Foster (c) and Randy Travis (with wife Mary) are inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame at last night’s (10/16) Medallion Ceremony.
Hall Induction Defies Gravity
Sunday night’s (10/16) Country Music Hall of Fame Medallion Ceremony is best measured in “can’t believe I get to be in this room” moments. Each was worthy of tucking away as a cherished memory – a moment of transcendence to be recalled often, warmly and with much gratitude. Collectively, these high rivers of musical brilliance and heartfelt tribute flowed together in an overwhelming torrent of beauty that challenged the bounds of human existence. Who are we to be witness to such magnificence? Who are we to participate? Who are we to claim creation? Capped by the resurrection of one of country’s greatest voices on a verse of what may be gospel’s greatest hymn, the event rose beyond time and space to exist in the spiritual. Surely, the evening proclaimed, we are a part of something greater, unseen and – if intangible – no less real. Prefacing what was to come, Hall CEO Kyle Young spoke to that confluence and the absence of conflict, earning applause – and a few cheers – with, “Here, there is no election...” He finished the statement saying, “....other than the righteous election of Fred Foster, Charlie Daniels and Randy Travis as the newest members of the Country Music Hall of Fame.”
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