BILLBOARD.COM/NEWSLETTERS EDITED BY TOM ROLAND, tom.roland@billboard.com JANUARY 29, 2015 | PAGE 1 OF 7

INSIDEMakin’ Tracks:

Parmalee’s ‘Already Callin’

You Mine’ >page 2

Stark Report: Broadcasters

Evaluate Radio Promo Tours

>page 3

Questions Answered:

Borman Digital Queen

Cameo Carlson >page 4

Five Festivals Fight For

Face Time >page 4

The ‘Waiting’ Almost Over

For Carrie Underwood

>page 4

Luke Bryan banks his fourth Billboard Hot Country Songs leader from his 2013 album Crash My Party (Capitol Nashville/ Universal Music Group Nashville), as “I See You” rises 2-1. The set yielded its first No. 1 with second sin-gle “That’s My Kind of Night,” which led for 12 weeks beginning Aug. 31, 2013. “Play It Again” (nine weeks) and “Drink a Beer” (five) followed in 2014. (The al-bum’s title track and lead single reached No. 2, while fifth single “Roller Coaster” climbed to No. 5.) Bryan has scored nine No. 1s overall.

Crash My Party is the first album to generate four No. 1s since Zac Brown Band’s You Get What You Give in 2010-11. The most Hot Country Songs No. 1s that were ever spawned from one album is five. It was first accomplished by Rod-ney Crowell’s Diamonds& Dirt (1988-89), and it was matched by Brad Paisley’s 5th Gear (2007-08).

Bryan’s new No. 1 halts a seven-week run atop Hot Country Songs by Carrie Underwood’s “Something in the Water” (19/Arista Nashville), which dips to No. 2. The single still controls Hot Christian Songs chart for a 17th week, extending the record for the list’s longest reign by a woman.

Sam Hunt’s Montevallo (MCA Nashville/UMGN) leads Top Country Albums for a second straight week (and third cumula-tive frame) with 16,000 copies sold (down 1 percent), according

to Nielsen Music. In anticipation of Hunt’s Lipstick Graffiti Tour launch (Jan. 29) in West Hollywood (his first as a headliner; it sold out its first 15 markets in minutes), second single “Take Your Time” returns to No. 1 for a second week on Country Digi-tal Songs, posting his second-largest weekly digital sum (48,000, up 31 percent). He notched his best digital week when lead Montevallo single “Leave the Night On” sold 50,000 (Sept. 6, 2014). With top Dig-ital and Streaming Gainer honors, “Time” flies 13-6 on Hot Country Songs. It shoots 10-2 on Country Streaming Songs with 1.1 million U.S. streams (up 37 percent),

below “Night,” which rules the chart for a sixth cumulative week (1.4 million, up 5 percent).

Keith Urban nabs the Hot Shot Debut on Hot Country Songs at No. 43 with “Raise ’Em Up” (featuring Eric Church) (Hit Red/Capitol Nashville). The track is the fifth single from Urban’s Fuse, which debuted at No. 1 on Top Country Albums in September 2013. It has sold 430,000 copies.

BRYAN

WADE JESSEN wade.jessen@billboard.com

Country MID- WEEK

UPDATE

Luke Bryan’s ‘Party’ Still Rocking; Sam Hunt’s Album Holds At No. 1

With the burning guitar chords in the intro, the hooky melodicism in the chorus and the insistent backbeat throughout the performance, it’s easy to view Parmalee’s new single, “Already Callin’ You Mine,” as a throwback to 1980s power pop/rock.

Don’t think for a second, though, that the track’s target lies anywhere outside of the present moment. The lyrics are grounded in urgency, and urgency is all about now.

“We’ve all had that moment when you’re into somebody and you finally decide, ‘OK, I’m all in,’ and this is what this song is all about,” says lead vocalist Matt Thomas. “It’s like that moment when you change your Facebook status from ‘single’ to ‘in a relationship.’ That’s kind of the whole theory behind the title.”

Modern digital platforms, of course, are not foolproof, and a tech-related snafu laid the foundation for some very real urgency when “Already Callin’ You Mine” was created two years ago.

Thomas and bassist Barry Knox were hosting a songwriting session in the base-ment studio at Parmalee’s home on the west side of Nashville. “It’s kind of a band house,” says co-writer Wade Kirby (“All Over the Road,” “I Saw God Today). “It’s real conducive to a bunch of guitar players. Everywhere you look is music stuff.”

Even with his GPS, songwriter Phil O’Donnell (“Doin’ What She Likes,” “She Won’t Be Lonely Long”) had trouble finding the place and needed an extra phone call to locate it. Philbilly, as he’s better known, in turn texted the address to Kirby, but he mistakenly inserted an extra digit. So when Kirby headed out, he went at least 30 miles past his destination.

“I swear he must have drove to Memphis,” says O’Donnell. “He almost went to Dickson on Highway 70.”

That led to some frantic tension for Kirby. “I don’t get nervous in co-writes, but I get nervous when I’m late — and I was sooo late,” he notes with a laugh. “That’s the nuts part on this song. Matt’s a nice guy, and anybody else would have went on without me.”

Instead, they noodled a bit in the studio while waiting for Kirby. The band was in the process of collecting and recording songs for its debut album and needed an uptempo love song. The Parmalee guys already had a bit of what became the foundational rhythm — “We call it the money beat,” says Thomas — and when Kirby finally arrived, he tossed the “Already Callin’ You Mine” title into the soup.

Knox and Thomas wanted a song that embraced love at first sight, and once the title, the beat and the direction were set, it was a group effort to find the right words and melody.

“It was almost like passing a hot potato around the room,” observes O’Donnell. “We all just start throwing stuff. Everybody was singing, and I don’t think it took a couple hours.”

It helped that the band’s lead singer was part of the process. “He knows better than anybody knows where his wheelhouse is,” says O’Donnell.

Thomas made slight revisions in the melody, the phrasing and the words as they pushed through it, shaping it for his range and the band’s point of view.

“Philbilly is a pretty country dude,” explains Knox. “He’s always in his overalls, and he’s got his glasses on, and a lot of times his lyrics come out real country. I re-

member us saying a few times, ‘Nah, we wouldn’t say that — that’s too country for us, Phil.’ I can’t remember exactly what it was, but I do remember that happening.”

As the end of the session neared, Thomas insisted that the song have a bridge. They needed just two lines — “If you like the way that sounds/We can leave this place right now, right noooow” — to lift the energy a final notch before a compact, ’80s-like guitar solo.

“It’s a really short bridge,” allows Knox. “But it says a lot.”

They made an iPhone work tape that day with all four guys playing guitar, and O’Donnell used that as the basis for a demo at Legends Studio. The demo amped up the energy and incorporated a steel guitar, and it set the tone for the master session when the NV produc-tion team — David Fanning and three Jason Aldean sidemen: bassist Tully Kennedy, guitarist Kurt Allison and drummer Rich Redmond — stepped into the studio with Parmalee during sessions for the Feels Like Carolina album.

Scheduling was a problem — Aldean and Parmalee were both touring — and they cut a bunch of songs in a blur. “Already Callin’ You Mine” was relatively easy to finish, since so much of it had already been laid out during the writing session and the demo.

“When you have a good demo to start off with, your job is just to give it a little face-lift, make it pop a little bit more,” says Fanning.

Parmalee’s Josh McSwain added a Hammond B-3 for texture, NV put echo effects on the vocals in the bridge, and they wedged additional instruments into empty spaces to give the track more momentum.

“We always go a little more aggressive — more guitars, you know,” says Fan-ning. “After he sings in the chorus, the guitars add a little drive. And where there’s holes, we try to create different [signature] licks everywhere.”

The track was built one instrument at a time, and the interplay between Knox’s bass and Scott Thomas’ drums became a central, powerful building block.

“Almost every kick drum you hear in our music, I’m playing a bass note with that kick drum,” says Knox. “I don’t normally skip ’em, and I don’t normally hold out the notes as he plays the kick drum. I’m playing right along with him.”

As they started playing it live, Parmalee could see people in the crowd who weren’t familiar with the song trying to mouth the words to the chorus, a good sign that the audience was responding. Stoney Creek wanted something uptempo for the next single, and “Already Callin’ ” was an easy choice.

It changes things up a bit from the midtempo nature of the band’s two previous singles, but Parmalee does hope “Callin’ ” will repeat its chart success. “Carolina” hit No. 1 on Country Airplay, and “Close Your Eyes” reached No. 4. The release schedule certainly re-establishes a very familiar timeline for the act: “Carolina” was shipped to radio via Play MPE on Jan. 14, 2013; “Close Your Eyes” followed on Jan. 13, 2014; and “Already Callin’ ” was released Jan. 12, 2015.

“I think this song defines us more than just about any of them on that record,” says Matt Thomas. “It’s not going to throw anybody for a loop, but once the chorus hits, it sounds like a Parmalee song.”

A little power pop during the Facebook era. Much like Kirby, this one arrives a little late in the process. But it might be right on time.

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE JANUARY 29, 2015 | PAGE 2 OF 7

After A Late Start, Parmalee Finds An Uptempo Groove

MAKIN’ TRACKS TOM ROLAND tom.roland@billboard.com

PARMALEE

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If you’re having trouble getting a country radio programmer on the phone right now, it’s likely because he or she is in the station’s conference room watching one of many new potential stars belt out a few songs.

Introductory radio tours — largely unique to the country format — go on year ’round, but this time of year the traffic is particularly heavy as label promotion reps brave potentially snowy weather in an effort to get their artists in front of radio early on and make what they hope will be a lasting impression.

But with costs to labels typically in the tens of thousands of dollars, are radio tours still an effective tool? To answer that ques-tion, we reached out to various country radio programmers for their opinions.

For the most part, programmers remain bullish on radio tours. iHeartMedia San Antonio operations manager Don Gosselin calls them “a fantastic way to be intro-duced to new artists, get a feel for their personality and learn about their history.”

Mike James, operations manger for Hall Communications’ Lakeland, Fla., cluster, also feels that such visits still have great value. “We believe that we can get a much better sense of the artist’s true talent and personality when we get a chance to meet them face to face and hear them perform acoustically.”

Sue Wilson, vp operations for Rubber City Radio Group in Akron, Ohio, agrees. “When the PD and MD and staff experience an artist early in their career and feel invested, then I believe it does encourage airplay … Sometimes the live perfor-mance and engagement is the tipping point.”

WDAF Kansas City PD Wes Poe says such visits also show “commitment from the labels these artists are on that they are worth the trouble and hassle associ-ated with shuffling around the country through over 100 stations ... It does affect new-music decisions here.”

However, WCTK Providence, R.I., PD Bob Walker is less convinced. “To be blunt, most radio tour stops are a waste of time,” he says. “We add songs based on what comes out of the speakers, not how they sound singing in our

conference room or in my office.”With so many new artists knocking on doors and a limited amount of time in

any given week to see them, programmers have to curb such visits to between one and three a week, depending on the station. Words like “crazy” and “extreme” are how programmers describe the volume of requests for visits they’re getting

from Nashville.Says KSCS and KPLX Dallas operations

manager J.R. Schumann, “It seems like we’re getting hammered with requests every week for artists to come by. Any more than one per week is tough, and having one every week is also tough.”

WQDR Raleigh, N.C., station manager/PD Lisa McKay says that even though the

artist visits are “usually the best part of my day,” she “loses track” after more than three new acts in a week.

“We do need a traffic light, that’s for sure,” says KUZZ AM/FM Bakersfield, Calif., PD Tom Jordan. “At times it is overload. I have figured out we can do two conference room visits a week,” but any more than that, and “I’ve started shut-ting people down … I do have a regular schedule to adhere to.”

Says KILT Houston assistant PD/music director Chris Huff, “I always try to be as respectful to the artist as possible, and never lose sight of the fact that, for many, these radio tours are a really big deal … That being said, when we start get-ting requests for third or fourth visits in one week, it really becomes too much.”

Poe has a different reason for limiting artist visits that he thinks labels should consider: “The volume of what is coming through far exceeds the amount of space I have to add new music from untested, unfamiliar artists,” he says.

In the Feb. 5 issue, we will examine the common mistakes artists make on radio tours and what labels and artists should be doing to make the best possible im-pression. We’ll also share a few radio-tour-gone-wrong stories and hear from pro-grammers about whether these outings forge long-lasting friendships with artists — and why some programmers actually hope they don’t.

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE JANUARY 29, 2015 | PAGE 3 OF 7

Are Country Radio Tours Still Worth Labels’ Investment?

THE STARK REPORT PHYLLIS STARK phyllis.stark@billboard.com

THE COUNTRY MUSIC INDUSTRY’S MUST-HAVE SOURCE FOR NEWS, ANALYSIS AND CHART INFO EVERY MONDAY AND THURSDAY

Lee Ann Photoglo, 615-376-7931, laphotoglo@gmail.comTO ADVERTISE, CONTACT:

Get your message front and center with top country radio programmers and other

key music infl uencers

Country UPDATE

POE SCHUMANN JORDAN

viously done extremely well in country and has some crossover, but this put him in front of a dif-ferent audience on television two nights a week. I was really excited about that. Plus, I knew that people would fall in love with Keith, so it made it very easy for us to genuinely go in there and make those connections with the fan base and make sure they were connecting it back to the music.

As the recording business has shifted from sales to streaming, does that change how you

conduct business, or where you are trying to drive people? There’s sort of a micro and a macro answer for this. The macro is yes, we have to make sure that we strategize around streaming and what makes sense for each artist, and part of our job as management is education, making sure that our artists understand how it works specific to them, because every contract is different. Then micro, it’s been a really interesting case study with Mickey Guyton. There were a lot of partners that were interested in her early on, and we wanted to really work the streaming services to make sure that people weren’t able to put her in a box when it came time for radio. We were really big on playlisting and that content was in the right place and that people have a way to explore it. We took an artist that was virtually unknown and got to a place where she was a little over 4 mil-lion streams before she went to radio with her first single.

A couple years ago at an Americana conference panel, you were talking about social media as helpful, but you said an email list is a retirement plan. I still believe that email is a retirement plan because that’s data that you own. Those are the people that you can talk to that are going to buy tickets, buy merchandise, well after the peak of a radio career or the peak of hit singles. It’s great to use social media, it’s incredibly important — you can have dialogue, you can build communities — but ultimately if you don’t own that relationship in some way, you are selling yourself short. When that hit song is gone, if you don’t have a way to talk to people other than that same format, you’re going to be missing out on people who would still buy a ticket and buy a T-shirt and sup-port you financially. It’s a very fleeting thing in social media.

It looks like, from reading your Twitter account, that you’re a Seattle Seahawks fan. I’m assuming you’re very happy at the moment. I’m a huge Seahawks fan. [The Packers game] was simultaneously the best and worst game of the entire season. So, yes, I’m very happy, although I have to admit that I had sort of lost hope. I wasn’t thinking [the Super Bowl] was go-ing to happen. —Tom Roland

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE JANUARY 29, 2015 | PAGE 4 OF 7

Q U E ST I O N S

AnsweredCameo Carlson

Head, digital business development@DigiMusicBitch

After working at iTunes and the Universal Motown Republic Group, Cameo Carlson moved to Nashville in 2011 to work with Gary Borman’s management firm, Borman Entertainment. She guides the division’s clients — including Keith Urban, Alison Krauss, Mickey Guyton and Clayton Anderson — in their digital and online outreach. And, despite relocating in Tennessee Titans territory, she remains a Seattle Seahawks fan. It’s a good time to catch up with her, given a come-from-behind victory against Green Bay that put them in the up-coming Super Bowl (Feb. 1).

You came to Nashville from New York about four years ago. How has your experience with the town been so far? I ran the label rela-tions and editorial teams at iTunes, so there’s been a long-standing relationship there with Nashville. I felt kind of comfortable, but it was a different position because I was going into management. There’s some things that are misnomers about Nashville and how we work, particularly as it pertains to digital. There are some of the stereotypes for the fan base and certain artists that live up to that stereotype. But it’s a community, which is so different from the rest of the music in-dustry. People are connected, so you can’t just rush through things. Coming straight out of New York, that was sort of my M.O. You’ve got to slow down a little bit and have conversations and make connec-tions here. The town sort of requires that from you.

When Keith took the American Idol role, how did that change the parameters for what you can do? It gave us another platform that we could market to and talk to on the digital front. Keith has ob-

COUNTRY GETS ULTRA-FESTIVEThe competition is on for con-sumers’ festival dollars. In a scant 24 hours Jan. 27-28, five country events were either announced or added more talent: Tortuga Music Festival in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., April 11-12 (The Band Perry, Josh Turner); the Key West Songwriters Festival, May 6-10 (Chris Young,

Kacey Musgraves); the Shaky Boots Festival in Atlanta, May 16-17 (Blake Shelton, Brad Paisley); the Taste of Country Music Festival in Hunter, N.Y., June 12-14 (Billy Currington, Eli Young Band); and the Windy Lake Shake in Chicago, June 19-21 (Dierks Bentley, Florida Georgia Line). After waiting all year for the Super Bowl, NFL fans will get one last look at

Carrie Underwood on Feb. 1 when she rolls out the season’s final edition of the NBC Sunday Night Football theme. “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night” has been rerecorded as “Waiting All Day for a Super Bowl Fight” with a spe-cial set design and revamped lyrics that reference the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks. Streamsound has assigned an April 7 release date to the solo debut by Sug-arland’s Kristian Bush. The lead single from Southern Gravity, “Trailer Hitch,” is currently No. 25 on Hot Country Songs. Ovation TV will celebrate the Man in Black’s Feb. 26 birthday with at least 10 back-to-back shows about Johnny Cash. The mini-marathon includes six editions of Song by Song, each focusing on one specific title, such as “Ring of Fire,” “I Walk the Line” and “Sunday Morning Coming Down.” Johnny Cash in San Quentin and Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison will also be included in the programming.

MIDWEEK NEWS UPDATE

THE BAND PERRY

THIS WEEK

LAST WEEK

TWO WEEKS

AGOWKS ON CHART

TITLE Artist PRODUCER (SONGWRITER) IMPRINT / PROMOTION LABEL CERTIFIED

PEAK POSITION

l1 2 4 13 I SEE YOU ★★No. 1 (1 week)★★ Luke Bryan J.STEVENS (L.BRYAN,L.LAIRD,A.GORLEY) CAPITOL NASHVILLE

1

2 1 1 18 SOMETHING IN THE WATER Carrie Underwood M.BRIGHT (C.UNDERWOOD,C. DESTEFANO,BRETT JAMES) 19/ARISTA NASHVILLE 0 1

l3 3 3 19 TALLADEGA Eric Church J.JOYCE (E.CHURCH,L.LAIRD) EMI NASHVILLE 3

l4 5 5 19 SUN DAZE Florida Georgia Line J.MOI (C.R.BARLOWE,J.FRASURE,S.BUXTON,T.HUBBARD,B.KELLEY) REPUBLIC NASHVILLE 4

l5 6 7 13 LONELY TONIGHT Blake Shelton Featuring Ashley Monroe S.HENDRICKS (B.ANDERSON,R.HURD) WARNER BROS./WMN 5

l6 13 15 13 TAKE YOUR TIME ★★Digital & Streaming Gainer★★ Sam Hunt Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,J.OSBORNE,S.MCANALLY) MCA NASHVILLE

6

l7 8 9 22 MAKE ME WANNA Thomas Rhett J.JOYCE (THOMAS RHETT,B.BUTLER,L.MCCOY) VALORY 7

l8 10 10 22 DRINKING CLASS Lee Brice M.MCCLURE,K.JACOBS,L.BRICE (J.KEAR,D.FRASIER,E.M.HILL) CURB 6

l9 11 11 14 JUST GETTIN’ STARTED Jason Aldean M.KNOX (C. DESTEFANO,R.AKINS,A.GORLEY) BROKEN BOW 9

10 7 2 19 SHOTGUN RIDER Tim McGraw B.GALLIMORE,T.MCGRAW (H.LINDSEY,M.GREEN,T.VERGES) MCGRAW/BIG MACHINE 0 1

l11 14 14 22 MEAN TO ME Brett Eldredge L.LAIRD (B.ELDREDGE,SCOOTER CARUSOE) ATLANTIC/WMN 11

l12 16 16 33 LIKE A COWBOY Randy Houser D.GEORGE (R.HOUSER,B.LONG) STONEY CREEK 12

13 9 8 17 TIL IT’S GONE Kenny Chesney B.CANNON,K.CHESNEY (R.CLAWSON,D.L.MURPHY,J.YEARY) BLUE CHAIR/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 8

l14 17 13 19 LONELY EYES Chris Young J.STROUD (J.BULFORD,J.MATTHEWS,L.VELTZ) RCA NASHVILLE 13

l15 19 19 17 AIN’T WORTH THE WHISKEY Cole Swindell M.CARTER (C.SWINDELL,A.SANDERS,J.MARTIN) WARNER BROS./WMN 15

16 12 6 23 PERFECT STORM Brad Paisley L.WOOTEN,B.PAISLEY (B.PAISLEY,L.T.MILLER) ARISTA NASHVILLE 4

l17 18 17 22 HOMEGROWN HONEY Darius Rucker F.ROGERS (D.RUCKER,C.KELLEY,N.CHAPMAN) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 17

l18 4 41 3 HOMEGROWN ★★Airplay Gainer★★ Zac Brown Band J.JOYCE,Z.BROWN (Z.BROWN,W.DURRETTE,N.MOON) VARVATOS/REPUBLIC/BMLG/SOUTHERN GROUND

4

l19 20 21 24 TAKE IT ON BACK Chase Bryant D.GEORGE,C.BRYANT (C.BRYANT,T.L.JAMES,D.ALTMAN) RED BOW 19

l20 22 25 15 SAY YOU DO Dierks Bentley R. COPPERMAN (M.T.RAMSEY,S.MCANALLY,T. ROSEN) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 20

l21 21 22 24 WHAT WE AIN’T GOT Jake Owen J.MOI (T.J.GOFF,T.MEADOWS) RCA NASHVILLE 21

l22 23 23 18 A GUY WALKS INTO A BAR Tyler Farr J.CATINO,J.KING (M.PEIRCE,J.SINGLETON,B.TURSI) COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 22

l23 25 30 8 GIRL CRUSH Little Big Town J.JOYCE (L.ROSE,L.MCKENNA,H.LINDSEY) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 23

24 24 27 13 FREESTYLE Lady Antebellum N.CHAPMAN,LADY ANTEBELLUM (D.HAYWOOD,C.KELLEY,H.SCOTT,S.MCANALLY) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 24

l25 26 29 14 TRAILER HITCH Kristian Bush K.BUSH,T.TAPLEY (K.BUSH,B.BUSH,T.OWENS) STREAMSOUND 25

Hot Country SongsBILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE JANUARY 29, 2014 | PAGE 5 OF 7

SALES, AIRPLAY & STREAMING DATA COMPILED BY

The country music industry’s must-have source for news, analysis and chart info with expert commentary from Tom Roland and Phyllis Stark, and chart analysis from Wade Jessen. Sign up for FREE delivery every Monday and Thursday.

www.billboard.biz/newsletters

Country UPDATE

THIS WEEK

LAST WEEK

TWO WEEKS

AGOWKS ON CHART

TITLE Artist PRODUCER (SONGWRITER) IMPRINT / PROMOTION LABEL CERTIFIED

PEAK POSITION

l26 27 31 12 SHE DON’T LOVE YOU Eric Paslay M.ALTMAN (E.PASLAY,J.WAYNE) EMI NASHVILLE 26

l27 31 48 3 SMOKE A Thousand Horses D.COBB (M.HOBBY,J.M.NITE,R.COPPERMAN) REPUBLIC NASHVILLE 27

l28 28 32 17 LOVE YOU LIKE THAT Canaan Smith B.BEAVERS,J.ROBBINS (C.SMITH,B.BEAVERS,J.BEAVERS) MERCURY 28

l29 34 — 3 LITTLE RED WAGON Miranda Lambert F.LIDDELL,C.AINLAY,G.WORF (A.MAE,GINSBERG J.) RCA NASHVILLE 29

l30 29 33 10 LAY LOW Josh Turner F.ROGERS (R.COPPERMAN,T.MARTIN,M.NESLER) MCA NASHVILLE 29

l31 30 35 10 DON’T IT Billy Currington D.HUFF (J.JOHNSTON,A.GORLEY,R.COPPERMAN) MERCURY 30

l32 32 36 12 BABY BE MY LOVE SONG Easton Corbin C.CHAMBERLAIN (J.COLLINS,BRETT JAMES) MERCURY 32

l33 33 34 15 DRUNK AMERICANS Toby Keith T.KEITH,B.PINSON (B.CLARK,B.DIPIERO,S.MCANALLY) SHOW DOG NASHVILLE 33

l34 35 37 9 LOVE ME LIKE YOU MEAN IT Kelsea Ballerini F.G.WHITEHEAD (K.BALLERINI,J.KERR,F.G.WHITEHEAD,L.CARPENTER) BLACK RIVER 34

l35 38 39 13 MAKE YOU MISS ME Sam Hunt Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,J.OSBORNE,M.T.RAMSEY) MCA NASHVILLE 32

l36 36 44 6 WHEN I’VE BEEN DRINKIN’ Jon Pardi B.BUTLER,J.PARDI (J.PARDI,B.BUTLER,J.SPILLMAN) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 36

l37 37 40 7 HARD TO BE COOL Joe Nichols M.J.CONES (R.HATCH,J.SELLERS) RED BOW 37

l38 44 43 18 EX TO SEE Sam Hunt Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,J.OSBORNE,M.T.RAMSEY) MCA NASHVILLE 37

39 40 28 3 GOING OUT LIKE THAT Reba T.BROWN (B.HAYSLIP,R.AKINS,J.SELLERS) NASH ICON/VALORY 28

l40 43 46 3 RIOT Rascal Flatts J.DEMARCUS,RASCAL FLATTS (J.BOYER,S.HAZE) BIG MACHINE 40

l41 41 42 19 HOUSE PARTY Sam Hunt Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,Z.CROWELL,J.FLOWERS) MCA NASHVILLE 39

l42 42 45 4 TROUBLE Gloriana M.SERLETIC (R.REINERT,M.GOSSIN,R.COPPERMAN,J.M.NITE) EMBLEM/WARNER BROS./WAR 42

l43 NEW 1 RAISE ‘EM UP ★★Hot Shot Debut★★ Keith Urban Featuring Eric Church N.CHAPMAN,K.URBAN (J.JOHNSTON,J.STEELE,T.DOUGLAS) HIT RED/CAPITOL NASHVILLE

43

l44 45 47 8 GONNA WANNA TONIGHT Chase Rice C. DESTEFANO (S.MCANALLY,J.M.NITE,J.ROBBINS) DACK JANIELS/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 34

l45 46 — 3 HELL OF A NIGHT Dustin Lynch M.J.CONES (Z.CROWELL,A.SANDERS,J.BOYER) BROKEN BOW 45

l46 48 49 4 ONE HELL OF AN AMEN Brantley Gilbert D.HUFF (B.GILBERT,M.DEKLE,B.DAVIS) VALORY 46

l47 47 50 7 SPEAKERS Sam Hunt Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,B.HOOD,K.SACKLEY) MCA NASHVILLE 40

48 39 38 12 GENTLE ON MY MIND The Band Perry D.HUFF (J.HARTFORD) BIG MACHINE/REPUBLIC NASHVILLE 35

l49 NEW 1 FLY Maddie & Tae D.HUFF (M.MARLOW,T.DYE,T.VARTANYAN) DOT 49

l50 NEW 1 THIS KIND OF TOWN Justin Moore J.S.STOVER (A.DORFF,C.TOMLIN) VALORY 50

For week ending January 25, 2015. Figures are rounded. Compiled from a national sample of retail store and rack sales reports collected and provided by Nielsen Music.

For inquiries about any Nielsen Music data, please contact Josh Bennett at 615-807-1338 or josh.bennett@nielsen.com

The week’s most popular country songs, ranked by radio airplay audience impressions as measured by Nielsen Music, sales data as compiled by Nielsen Music and streaming activity data from online music sources tracked by Nielsen Music. Descending titles below No. 25 are moved to recurrent after 20 weeks.

COUNTRY MARKET WATCHA Weekly National Music Sales Report

Hot Country SongsBILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE JANUARY 29, 2015 | PAGE 6 OF 7

ALBUMSDIGITAL

ALBUMS*DIGITAL TRACKS

This Week 469,000 207,000 2,125,000

Last Week 451,000 180,000 2,195,000

Change 4.0% 15.0% -3.2%

This Week Last Year 455,000 166,000 2,720,000

Change 3.1% 24.7% -21.9%

*Digital album sales are also counted within album sales.

Weekly Unit SalesYear-Over-Year Album Sales2014 2015 CHANGE

Albums 1,993,000 1,914,000 -4.0%

Digital Tracks 11,663,000 9,509,000 -18.5%

YEAR-TO-DATE

Overall Unit Sales

2014 2015 CHANGE

Physical 1,261,000 1,147,000 9.0%

Digital 732,000 767,000 4.8%

Sales by Album Format

SALES, AIRPLAY & STREAMING DATA COMPILED BY

’15

’14

DIGITAL TRACKS SALES

’15

’14

2.0 million

1.9 million

000.0 million

’14

’13

9.5 million

11.7 million

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TITLEARTIST (IMPRINT/LABEL)

l1 2 13 TAKE YOUR TIME SAM HUNT (MCA Nashville/UMGN)

l2 6 18 SUN DAZE FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE (Republic Nashville/BMLG)

3 3 14 LONELY TONIGHT BLAKE SHELTON FEAT. ASHLEY MONROE (Warner Bros./WMN)

4 4 17 SOMETHING IN THE WATER CARRIE UNDERWOOD (19/Arista Nashville/SMN)

5 7 12 I SEE YOU LUKE BRYAN (Capitol Nashville)

6 1 2 HOMEGROWN ZAC BROWN BAND (Southern Ground/Varvatos/Republic/BMLG)

7 5 19 SHOTGUN RIDER TIM MCGRAW (McGraw/Big Machine/BMLG)

8 8 20 DRINKING CLASS LEE BRICE (Curb)

9 9 18 TALLADEGA ERIC CHURCH (EMI Nashville/UMGN)

l10 11 17 MAKE ME WANNA THOMAS RHETT (Valory/BMLG)

11 10 12 JUST GETTIN’ STARTED JASON ALDEAN (Broken Bow/BBMG)

l12 13 16 AIN’T WORTH THE WHISKEY COLE SWINDELL (Warner Bros./WMN)

13 12 25 GOD MADE GIRLS RAELYNN (Valory/BMLG)

l14 16 5 GIRL CRUSH LITTLE BIG TOWN (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

l15 17 21 MEAN TO ME BRETT ELDREDGE (Atlantic/WMN)

16 15 14 LONELY EYES CHRIS YOUNG (RCA Nashville/SMN)

17 14 21 PERFECT STORM BRAD PAISLEY (Arista Nashville/SMN)

l18 20 10 A GUY WALKS INTO A BAR TYLER FARR (Columbia Nashville/SMN)

19 18 26 BURNIN’ IT DOWN JASON ALDEAN (Broken Bow/BBMG)

l20 21 32 LEAVE THE NIGHT ON SAM HUNT (MCA Nashville/UMGN)

l21 24 5 SAY YOU DO DIERKS BENTLEY (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

l22 25 28 GIRL IN A COUNTRY SONG MADDIE & TAE (Dot/BMLG)

23 19 18 HOMEGROWN HONEY DARIUS RUCKER (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

24 22 22 WHAT WE AIN’T GOT JAKE OWEN (RCA Nashville/SMN)

25 23 27 SOMEWHERE IN MY CAR KEITH URBAN (Hit Red/Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

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l26 34 5 TIL IT’S GONE KENNY CHESNEY (Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville/SMN)

l27 26 20 LIKE A COWBOY RANDY HOUSER (Stoney Creek/BBMG)

l28 32 6 SHE DON’T LOVE YOU ERIC PASLAY (EMI Nashville/UMGN)

l29 35 23 NEON LIGHT BLAKE SHELTON (Warner Bros./WMN)

l30 33 13 LOVE YOU LIKE THAT CANAAN SMITH (Mercury/UMGN)

31 28 28 DIRT FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE (Republic Nashville/BMLG)

32 27 61 THIS IS HOW WE ROLL FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE FEAT. LUKE BRYAN (Republic Nashville/BMLG)

33 31 61 PLAY IT AGAIN LUKE BRYAN (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

34 30 32 AMERICAN KIDS KENNY CHESNEY (Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville/SMN)

l35 40 22 BREAK UP IN A SMALL TOWN SAM HUNT (MCA Nashville/UMGN)

36 29 36 BARTENDER LADY ANTEBELLUM (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

37 38 133 CRUISE FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE (Republic Nashville/BMLG)

l38 47 3 LAY LOW JOSH TURNER (MCA Nashville/UMGN)

l39 41 2 TRAILER HITCH KRISTIAN BUSH (Streamsound)

l40 RE-ENTRY MAKE YOU MISS ME SAM HUNT (MCA Nashville/UMGN)

41 37 47 I DON’T DANCE LEE BRICE (Curb)

42 36 39 DRUNK ON A PLANE DIERKS BENTLEY (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

43 44 35 SUNSHINE & WHISKEY FRANKIE BALLARD (Warner Bros./WMN)

44 43 2 TAKE IT ON BACK CHASE BRYANT (Red Bow/BBMG)

l45 RE-ENTRY LITTLE RED WAGON MIRANDA LAMBERT (RCA Nashville/SMN)

46 46 33 SOMETHIN’ BAD MIRANDA LAMBERT DUET WITH CARRIE UNDERWOOD (RCA Nashville/SMN)

l47 RE-ENTRY WAGON WHEEL DARIUS RUCKER (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

48 48 34 DAY DRINKING LITTLE BIG TOWN (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

l49 RE-ENTRY ROLLER COASTER LUKE BRYAN (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

l50 RE-ENTRY BOYS ‘ROUND HERE BLAKE SHELTON FEAT. PISTOL ANNIES & FRIENDS (Warner Bros./WMN)

Top-selling paid download country songs compiled from sales reports collected and provided by Nielsen Music. Charts update weekly on Thurdays at www.Billboard.Biz/charts. Copyright 2015, Prometheus Global Media, LLC and Nielsen Music, Inc. All rights reserved.

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ARTIST TitleIMPRINT & NUMBER / DISTRIBUTING LABEL

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PEA

K

POSI

TION

1 1 3 13 SAM HUNT MontevalloMCA NASHVILLE 021502/UMGN 1

2 3 2 16 JASON ALDEAN Old Boots, New DirtBROKEN BOW 7105/BBMG 1 1

3 4 4 7 CARRIE UNDERWOOD Greatest Hits: Decade #119/ARISTA NASHVILLE 500876/SMN 0 1

l4 11 7 17 BLAKE SHELTON BRINGING BACK THE SUNSHINEWARNER BROS. 544918/WMN 0 1

5 2 1 11 GARTH BROOKS Man Against MachinePEARL/RCA NASHVILLE 501135/SMN 1 1

6 5 5 15 FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE Anything GoesREPUBLIC NASHVILLE /BMLG 0 1

7 6 6 77 LUKE BRYAN Crash My PartyCAPITOL NASHVILLE 018733/UMGN 2 1

l8 10 9 50 ERIC CHURCH The OutsidersEMI NASHVILLE 019402*/UMGN 1 1

l9 16 14 37 STURGILL SIMPSON Metamodern Sounds In Country MusicHIGH TOP MOUNTAIN 002*/THIRTY TIGERS 9

10 8 16 23 CHASE RICE Ignite The NightCOLUMBIA NASHVILLE 22573/DACK JANIELS 1

l11 23 21 63 BRETT ELDREDGE Bring You BackATLANTIC 525855/WMN 2

12 12 13 11 ZAC BROWN BAND Greatest Hits So Far...ROAR/SOUTHERN GROUND/ATLANTIC 546369/AG 5

13 14 11 34 MIRANDA LAMBERT PlatinumRCA NASHVILLE 379278/SMN 0 1

l14 NEW 1 RALPH STANLEY Ralph Stanley & Friends: Man Of Constant SorrowCB MUSIC /CRACKER BARREL 14

15 13 8 19 GEORGE STRAIT The Cowboy Rides Away: Live From AT&T StadiumMCA NASHVILLE 021477/UMGN 2

l16 29 26 22 BRAD PAISLEY Moonshine In The TrunkARISTA NASHVILLE 305528/SMN 1

l17 20 17 18 KENNY CHESNEY The Big RevivalBLUE CHAIR/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 306274/SMN 1

18 17 10 36 BRANTLEY GILBERT Just As I AmVALORY BG0200A/BMLG 0 1

19 21 18 14 LITTLE BIG TOWN Pain KillerCAPITOL NASHVILLE 021360*/UMGN 3

20 18 20 20 LEE BRICE I Dont DanceCURB 79392* 1

l21 28 22 20 DUSTIN LYNCH Where It’s AtBROKEN BOW 7337/BBMG 2

22 15 12 17 LADY ANTEBELLUM 747CAPITOL NASHVILLE /UMGN 2

23 22 15 19 TIM MCGRAW Sundown Heaven TownMCGRAW/BIG MACHINE TM0200A/BMLG 1

24 19 19 49 COLE SWINDELL Cole SwindellWARNER BROS. 541372/WMN 2

l25 26 27 65 THOMAS RHETT It Goes Like ThisVALORY TR0100A/BMLG 2

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l1 1 31 LEAVE THE NIGHT ON SAM HUNT

l2 10 4 TAKE YOUR TIME SAM HUNT

3 2 48 THIS IS HOW WE ROLL FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE FEAT. LUKE BRYAN

l4 6 7 I SEE YOU LUKE BRYAN

5 3 29 DIRT FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE

l6 5 95 CRUISE FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE

7 4 17 SOMETHING IN THE WATER CARRIE UNDERWOOD

l8 7 57 BOTTOMS UP BRANTLEY GILBERT

l9 9 44 PLAY IT AGAIN LUKE BRYAN

l10 11 8 TALLADEGA ERIC CHURCH

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l11 13 14 SUN DAZE FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE

l12 20 55 YOU BELONG WITH ME TAYLOR SWIFT

13 12 12 GOD MADE GIRLS RAELYNN

l14 14 12 SHOTGUN RIDER TIM MCGRAW

l15 15 11 DRINKING CLASS LEE BRICE

l16 17 76 THAT’S MY KIND OF NIGHT LUKE BRYAN

l17 16 27 ROLLER COASTER LUKE BRYAN

18 18 27 GIRL IN A COUNTRY SONG MADDIE & TAE

l19 – 1 MAKE ME WANNA THOMAS RHETT

20 8 64 WE ARE NEVER EVER GETTING BACK TOGETHER TAYLOR SWIFT

Country Streaming Songs -The week’s top Country streamed radio songs, on-demand songs and videos on leading online music services. Charts update weekly on Thurdays at www.Billboard.Biz/charts. Copyright 2015, Prometheus Global Media, LLC and Nielsen Music, Inc. All rights reserved.

BUILDING AIRPLAY GAINERSTITLE Label Artist GAIN

HOMEGROWN Varvatos/Republic/Southern Ground/BMLG Zac Brown Band +402

RAISE ‘EM UP Hit Red/Capitol Nashville Keith Urban Feat. Eric Church +260

LONELY TONIGHT Warner Bros./WMN Blake Shelton Feat. Ashley Monroe +259

MAKE ME WANNA Valory Thomas Rhett +247

AIN’T WORTH THE WHISKEY Warner Bros./WMN Cole Swindell +243

JUST GETTIN’ STARTED Broken Bow Jason Aldean +241

SAY YOU DO Capitol Nashville Dierks Bentley +193

SMOKE Republic Nashville A Thousand Horses +170

LIKE A COWBOY Stoney Creek Randy Houser +168

DIAMOND RINGS AND OLD BARSTOOLS McGraw/Big Machine Tim McGraw W/Catherine Dunn +160

Building Gainers reflects titles with the top increases in plays from Monday through 5pm ET Wednesday, as compared to the same period in the previous week, according to Nielsen Music.

TOP COUNTRY ALBUMSCOUNTRY DIGITAL SONGS

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE JANUARY 29, 2015 | PAGE 7 OF 7

STREAMING DATA COMPILED BY

The week’s most popular country albums, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen Music. Albums are defined as current if they are less than 18 months old or older than 18 months but still residing in the Billboard 200’s top 100. Charts update weekly on Thurdays at www.Billboard.Biz/charts. Copyright 2015, Prometheus Global Media, LLC and Nielsen Music, Inc. All rights reserved.

COUNTRY STREAMING SONGS

SALES, AIRPLAY & STREAMING DATA COMPILED BY

SALES, AIRPLAY & STREAMING DATA COMPILED BY