Author Archive: Sarah Skates
Sarah Skates has worked in the music business for more than a decade and is a longtime contributor to MusicRow.
New Music From Dolly and More
Dolly Parton’s latest single, “Change It,” is from the Broadway Musical, 9 to 5. It is being delivered exclusively through AirPlay Direct. ——————————– Radney Foster has added a slew of tour dates in support of his album Revival, to be released Sept. 1 on his own Devil’s River label. The project features Dierks Bentley and […]
S1 Signs Sheryl Crow
S1 Songs Group global CEO Steve McMellon has announced the acquisition of the Sheryl Crow music publishing catalogue and also the execution of a co-publishing agreement for her future works. The deal sees S1 Songs add 153 songs released by Crow between 1993 and 2008 to its existing portfolio of more than 30,000 songs, as […]
Category: Artist, Featured, Publishing
Strait’s Sales, CMA’s Songwriters Series, Redmond’s New Company
As reported in this morning’s @MusicRow sales analysis article, George Strait’s new release is the top selling album in the U.S. this week. Twang debuted at No. 1 today on The Billboard 200 and the Top Country Albums chart selling over 155,000 units. This is the fourth time in Strait’s career that a new release […]
Category: Artist, Featured, Label, Organizations, Radio, Sales/Marketing
MySpace Purchases iLike, Stops Auto-Song Play
MySpace has purchased music based social networking site iLike for an estimated $20 million. The sites will continue to operate separately but will begin sharing technology, such as iLike’s search capabilities, syndication network and discovery tools. MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta says the acquisition is about technical talent, as well as promoting MySpace across the […]
Category: Featured, Financial/Legal, Sales/Marketing
SouthComm buying “Scene,” “Nfocus”
Nashville, TN (8/19/09)– SouthComm Inc., the parent of MusicRow Magazine and other niche publications, has signed an agreement to buy the assets of Nashville Scene and Nfocus magazine from City Press LLC. “The Scene is the strongest arts and entertainment brand in Nashville,” said SouthComm CEO Chris Ferrell. “Pairing it and Nfocus with our other […]
Category: Featured, Financial/Legal, Sales/Marketing
Chesney To Debut Clothing Line
Kenny Chesney has inspired a clothing line called Blue Chair Bay which is set for an official launch Sept. 1 at the MAGIC Marketplace, a nationwide clothing event in Las Vegas. Reflecting his casual beach lifestyle, the clothing for men and women is described as classic, with an emphasis on all-natural fabrics. During the fashion […]
Dolly Box Set Coming This Fall
A four-CD box set simply-titled Dolly, will debut Oct. 27. Comprising 99 songs, it is the first multi-CD, multi-label deluxe box set compilation ever to represent her life’s work and will be released through RCA Nashville/Legacy, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. Dolly Parton is distinguished for having charted at least one Top 5 country […]
Leadership Music, CMA Industry InSite, and the “Just Plain Folks” Awards
Grammy winner Steve Wariner and noted studio owner John McBride have been added to the Leadership Music Dale Franklin Award salute to Jim Foglesong, Allen Reynolds and Garth Brooks, set for Sunday, Aug. 23 at the Renaissance Hotel. Wariner (co-writer of Brooks’ hit “Longneck Bottle”) joins in the tribute to Brooks with his wife Trisha […]
Category: Artist, Featured, Financial/Legal, Organizations
Wanna Dunk An Exec, Critic, or Charlie Monk?
Well, now’s your chance. Because several good sports—many of them from MusicRow’s In Charge list—will be sitting in the dunking booth at the Country Cares party on Thurs., Aug. 20. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® will host a street party from 5-8 PM at Roy Acuff Place as a thank-you to the music industry for […]
Category: Featured
TV Shuffle: Reba, Billy, Shania, Brad, Love & Theft
Reba McEntire will be on this week’s CMT Top 20 Countdown, chatting with host Lance Smith about her new album, and her installment of CMT’s Invitation Only which premieres this Friday, August 21 at 8:00 PM/CT. Tomorrow, (8/19) from 2:45-3:15 PM/CT, Reba will conduct a live Web chat from New York City in partnership with […]
Paid Downloads On The Rise, But CD Still Rules
According to The NPD Group, a leading market research company, while CDs remain the most popular format for paid music purchases, digital music sales are making up an ever-greater share of U.S. music sales. CDs comprised 65 percent of all music sold in the first half of 2009 compared to paid digital downloads, which comprised […]
Category: Featured, Sales/Marketing



