Country's success, by the numbers
As executive director of the Country Music Association, it's Ed Benson's job to sell country music. Therefore, it's not surprising that he's buoyant about the genre's future, and he has the numbers to back up that feeling.
Sales figures show the country sound entering a golden era.
"All the indicators are very, very good. With the new artists in the industry, the buzz is back in country music," Benson says.
Gretchen Wilson, of course, is the new artist making the biggest name for herself. The native of Pocahontas, Ill., was kicking around Nashville, playing jam sessions with a group of musicians known as the Muzic Mafia when she got an audition for Sony's John Grady. She sang "Redneck Woman," Grady committed to her immediately, and the face of country music changed overnight.
Playing guitar for Wilson's audition was longtime buddy John Rich, another member of Nashville's Muzik Mafia. He is one half of the duo Big & Rich, which has brought a unique, hick-hop country sound to the industry. Besides Wilson, they've been the biggest new act this year.
"Gretchen Wilson: 2 million albums already. It's pretty extraordinary. Last year, no one had heard of her," Benson says. "And Big & Rich: they kept selling more records as the weeks went along. Now they have over a million sold. They've been built on word of mouth."
In 2003, there were 69.3 million country records sold. By last week, sales this year were 14 percent ahead of the same time last year. Some executives are predicting that the year will finish with close to 87 million in sales, or about a 25 percent increase over 2003.
"Numerous albums have debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. For a record, that first week is really critical because it creates a lot of interest. Record labels watch that first week as closely as movie studios do," Benson says.
What 2004 has seen is almost the perfect storm for record sales. Often an established artist can go two to three years between a record. This year, those records are all hitting during the same calendar year. Five country artists or groups, including Kenny Chesney, Jimmy Buffett, Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts, and George Strait debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, which is the record chart for all genres. Of those, McGraw sold 769,000 records the first week, Chesney sold 551,000, Strait 343,000, Buffett 240,000, and Rascal Flatts sold 201,000 in the first week.
As icing on the cake, the biggest discs of the year are likely to be on the horizon. Toby Keith and Shania Twain are releasing their greatest hits albums during the next two weeks, and Brooks & Dunn has just released their greatest hits CD.
But perhaps the best indicator of future success for country music is the growth in the number of young listeners. According to recent Arbitron figures, the audience share in the 18-24 age group jumped from a 9.5 to a 10.9 during the past year. For 12 to 17-year-olds, it climbed from 4.9 to 5.2. Overall, country had a 13.7 share, the highest mark since the spring of 2000.
"It used to be impossible to sell 1 million albums so quickly, but now with country being the No. 1 format, plus the emergence of country music videos, growth is happening," Benson says. "For me, it's interesting to see the consumers coming back. It's an exciting trend."
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Brian Dugger's column on country music runs the last Saturday of each month.
» E-mail him at
bdugger@theblade.com
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbc...IST35/410300331
- Tommy
, but until I hear another song of hers other than "redneck woman", then she really "Does not impress me much"
But anyway, come November 9, every artist in Nashville better watch out, playing off of an old song "The Boys Are Back in Town", when "Shania's back in Town" for the CMA's, I hope the executives there have enough food prepared for dinner....
:LMAO . Taking off of the beef commercials......"Crow it's what's for dinner".....
Linear Mode
