BILLBOARD.COM/NEWSLETTERS EDITED BY TOM ROLAND, tom.roland@billboard.com FEBRUARY 5, 2015 | PAGE 1 OF 7

INSIDEMakin’ Tracks: Maddie & Tae’s

‘Fly’ >page 2

Stark Report: Radio Promo Tours Gone

Wrong >page 3

Questions Answered: Recording Academy Senior VP

Nancy Shapiro >page 4

Brandy, You’re A Fine Girl

For Dwight >page 4

Lady A, EYB Take CRS To

WSM-AM >page 4

Sam Hunt claims a fourth cumulative (and third consecutive) week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart with Mon-tevallo (MCA Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville). The run marks the most chart-topping weeks by a newcomer’s first full-length album since Florida Georgia Line reigned for 10 frames in 2013-14 with Here’s to the Good Times. It’s the most for such a re-lease by a rookie male since Scotty Mc-Creery logged six weeks at No. 1 in 2011 with Clear As Day. Hunt’s set sold 14,000 copies (down 14 percent) in the Nielsen Music tracking week ending Feb. 1, and has sold 288,000 to date. He previewed Montevallo with his EP X2C, which has sold 31,000.

Concurrently, Montevallo’s second single, “Take Your Time,” reaches a new peak with a 6-5 hop on Hot Country Songs. It adds Streaming Gainer honors with 1.6 million U.S. streams (up 40 percent). The track is Hunt’s second leader on Country Streaming Songs, where it rises 2-1. His first No. 1 on the chart, “Leave the Night On,” ranks at No. 2 (1.4 million, up 4 percent). Hunt also dominates Country Digital Songs for a third week with “Time” (43,000, down 10 percent). Hunt’s first head-

lining tour kicked off Jan. 29 in West Hollywood. Carrie Underwood re-enters Hot Country Songs at No. 30

with new single “Little Toy Guns” (19/Arista Nashville) follow-ing the Jan. 31 premiere of its video. The song, one of two previously unreleased studio tracks from her Greatest Hits: De-cade #1 (No. 3 on Top Country Albums), first charted for a week (No. 40) on the Dec. 27, 2014 list. It re-enters Country Digital Songs at No. 17 (15,000, up 2,585 percent). Its streams should surge fol-lowing a first full week of views, fueling it further on next week’s charts. Prior single “Something in the Water” falls 2-7 on Hot Country Songs after ruling for a career-best seven weeks.

Randy Houser earns his fourth straight (and fifth total) top 10 on Hot Country Songs with “Like a Cowboy”

(Stoney Creek), up 12-10 in its 34th chart week. Houser first reached the upper tier with “Boots On” (2009). His current top 10 streak includes “How Country Feels” (No. 6, 2013), “Run-nin’ Outta Moonlight” (No. 3, 2013) and “Goodnight Kiss” (No. 9, 2014), prior to “Cowboy.” His new top 10 reaches the top five (7-5) on Country Airplay (39 million in audience, up 4 percent).

HOUSER

WADE JESSEN wade.jessen@billboard.com

Country MID- WEEK

UPDATE

Hunt’s ‘Montevallo’ Holds At No. 1; Underwood’s ‘Guns’ Reload

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It’s a song with all-female harmony surrounded mostly by acoustic instrumenta-tion, including fiddle and banjo. The lyrics embrace the possibilities for a young woman moving to a new city, much like “Wide Open Spaces.” And the song is titled “Fly,” the same name as the second Dixie Chicks album.

It’s easy to think of Maddie & Tae’s sophomore single, now in its second week on Country Airplay, as a modern version of the Chicks, who have been missing from country’s mainstream for a dozen years after a controversial comment about a then-impending war. Maddie & Tae embrace the sty-listic comparison.

“No matter what people say about the whole po-litical thing, at the end of the day they made amazing music,” says lead vocalist Maddie Marlow.

Marlow had just turned 3 when “Wide Open Spaces” was released in July 1998. Little could the tike have known that the Chicks were singing a piece of her fu-ture life. Maddie & Tae relocated to Nashville in 2013, intent on pursuing country music. Breaking into that industry is more difficult than most hopefuls expect, and once they arrived in Music City, the duo encoun-tered a bundle of fear and uncertainty.

“I had a really hard time moving 13 hours away from my family and figuring out how to pay your bills at 17,” says Marlow. “You have to grow up fast whenever you’re chasing big dreams. Tae and I were going through all these changes in our lives and really figuring out who we were.”

In the middle of that drama, they were set up for a co-writing session with Tif-fany Vartanyan, who had had her own heartbreaking experiences with Music Row. The Colorado native had come to town several times from 2000-2009, try-ing to kick-start a career as an artist that never really caught hold.

“It was one failed attempt after the next,” she concedes. “My issue was I just didn’t know who I was as an artist, and so I let a lot of people tell me who I was.”

Fortuitously, she worked with OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder, who offered to mentor her for a short time in Los Angeles, encouraging her to refo-cus on writing full time instead of being an artist. She found a groove with feet in both the pop and country camps, penning — among others — Demi Lovato’s “Neon Lights” (No. 7, Billboard’s Mainstream Top 40 chart) and Chuck Wicks’ “Us Again” (No. 36, Hot Country Songs).

Vartanyan had been encouraged at another juncture to write songs for guys, since Nashville had so few successful female artists. But with some writing ac-complishments under her belt, she was more willing to take chances. She jumped at the opportunity to write with a female duo, and she met Maddie & Tae for the first time on Oct. 7, 2013, at Big Machine Music Publishing.

Vartanyan arrived with a kernel of an idea — “You can learn to fly on the way down” — and Maddie & Tae, having just left the nest, were sold. They wrote the song in sequence, taking the opening lines — “Baby blues starin’ in the win-dowpane/Just countin’ drops of rain” — from a real-life moment of melancholy.

“It was raining and raining in Nashville, and I was having one of those days where I just didn’t think I could do it,” recalls Tae Dye. “We just kind of went off that very, very vulnerable state and just kept describing it, and then turned it into the chorus.”

The song captured someone in a state of dejection still grasping for rays of hope. Those rays make a figurative appearance in the second verse — “Searchin’

for a sign in the night/Even like a lonely string of lights” — with an image again grafted from experience.

“We wanted to get little Christmas lights on our porch because in Nashville in [winter], it’s gray and nasty, and it gets really depressing,” says Marlow. “When I would go out on our porch, even in the middle of an ugly day, if I had the Christ-

mas lights on it would make me feel better.”They built the melody of the hook to match the

words. “Fly-y-y-y-y” ascends. After a pause, the notes dip down into reality as they continue “on the way down.”

The song was finished in a scant two hours, and they recorded a quick iPhone version with a simple acous-tic guitar lick that’s still a part of the intro. “Amazing things can come from your shortcomings,” explains Vartanyan. “I was just teaching myself how to play the guitar, because I’m a piano player. I could only play the guitar [simply], because I didn’t really know how to pick anything yet.”

Aaron Scherz, who co-wrote and co-produced Maddie & Tae’s debut single, “Girl in a Country Song,” produced a proper demo, but the song got lost for a time in a pile of material they were accumulating. When “Country Song” spurred their signing with Dot, Big

Machine Music vp Mike Molinar rediscovered “Fly,” and everyone involved agreed that it should be part of their first series of sessions for an eventual album with producer Dann Huff (Keith Urban, The Band Perry).

Huff stayed true to the Chicks inspiration and followed Scherz’s template as he cast the musicians for a session at John and Martina McBride’s Blackbird Stu-dios. Ilya Toshinsky covered Vartanyan’s simple acoustic part, guitarist Derek Wells — who had played on the demo — added a single repeated synth-like note to Toshinsky’s part to create a haunting tension, and Stuart Duncan supplied elongated notes on the fiddle. Drummer Dorian Crozier waited until the bridge to unleash muscle at the most appropriate time.

“This song really is about music; it’s about mood, it’s about subtlety,” says Huff. Maddie & Tae instinctively used Marlow’s solo voice and Dye’s harmonies to

create strategic differences in texture as “Fly” built. “Maddie is the toughest person on herself,” says Huff. “Watching her go through

the emotions of cutting a vocal, she goes through the elation of singing it, then a self-loathing period. She has the toughest time listening to herself, even when it’s great. Tae is a little more even-keeled. They’re a good balance for each other. There’s a reason why they sing well together.”

With its sensitive subject matter and delivery, “Fly” was chosen as a second single to offset the cheeky nature of “Girl in a Country Song.” It arrived at radio via Play MPE on Jan. 5 ,and is currently at No. 50 in its second week on Hot Coun-try Songs.

Though “Fly” was inspired by the trauma of starting over in a new city, it was written so that it could be applicable to other difficult scenarios, including moving on from a broken heart or recovering from an illness. Feedback from the public suggests it’s working that way. In one instance, a 10-year-old boy who had been diagnosed with a brain tumor used “Fly” as a soundtrack for a video that docu-ments his journey back to health.

“In a dark world, always try to be a light,” says Marlow. “We’re definitely hop-ing that this song does that.”

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE FEBRUARY 5, 2015 | PAGE 2 OF 7

Maddie & Tae Channel Dixie Chicks For ‘Fly’

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

MADDIE & TAE

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Country labels spend hundreds of thousands of dollars every year taking their new artists around to reporting radio stations with the obvious intention of mak-ing a favorable impression on the programming decision makers. But the plan doesn’t always work.

Sue Wilson, vp operations for Rubber City Radio Group in Akron, Ohio, can cite by name the artists who came across “awkward and uncomfortable.” One had such poor social skills that when they went to dinner the artist was on her phone the entire time, and another young wannabe star just came across as “a smart ass.”

WDAF Kansas City PD Wes Poe recalls one artist who got up and walked out of a dinner with station staff with no explana-tion. (“Awkward,” he says.) And all KSON San Diego operations director Kevin Cal-lahan remembers about one visiting artist was that she handled percussion duties dur-ing her performance by slapping her stomach with her hand. (“Sexy,” he says sarcastically.)

WQDR Raleigh, N.C., station manager/PD Lisa McKay, a lifelong vegetarian and animal lover, can still remember the artists who turned her stomach with graphic stories about their hunting exploits.

But there are also bad radio tour experiences that aren’t the artists’ fault. WCTK Providence, R.I., Bob Walker took a visiting artist to a restaurant where she would have a chance to sing. Mid-performance, “the stuffed, talking-moose mascot above the bar started saying marketing info — ‘Don’t forget to join us for trivia nights on Sundays,’ ” he says. “We asked the bartender to shut it off. He said he couldn’t without permission from corporate.”

Talking moose aside, programmers have several suggestions regarding what artists and labels should do — and definitely not do — to maximize the impact of these visits, especially during this time of year when traffic from Nashville is heavy.

KSJO (NASH-FM) San Jose, Calif., PD Mac Daniels gets irritated when artists run late, don’t make it to an event and treat visiting a station “like a ‘cattle call,’ rushing through just to get it over and move to the next place.” He also doesn’t care for label reps who can’t speak well in front of people. “I always like to have the label rep tell the story of how and why this artist was discovered and why the record company believes in this artist. I’ve had situations where I felt I was more excited about the artist than the rep was.”

McKay’s two pet peeves are artists “being late and playing too long, especially if it is a staff lunch. Everyone is popping in for the few free minutes of time they have here, and it should run like clockwork. If it’s just a quick conference room gig, three songs is plenty.” Poe asks that labels “communicate with us what we’re in for … Give us a realistic ballpark on how long me and my staff are going to be pulled away from our workday.”

Agrees Callahan, “The most common mistakes are forgetting that there is a full day of activity for the programming department. Performances should be kept to 30 minutes or so.” His other complaint is labels “bringing artists that are not morning people to the station in the morning.”

Don Gosselin, operations manager for iHeartMedia in San Antonio, thinks labels ought to skip tours altogether with artists who come across “looking like they would rather have been just about anywhere else.”

For Wilson, booking a last-minute visit prevents the station from inviting lis-teners and turning it into “an experience. It costs so much to bring an artist on a radio tour, why not plan it out so that the station can do a rising-star showcase?

It seems a waste to just come in and play for two people in my office … and is sometimes awkward.”

Walker doesn’t care for the label rep “forcing more songs. Last year I had one of my jocks chatting with a new artist. They were hitting it off, and I was rolling tape. The novice rep kept pushing the artist to get to the next song. The jock looked at me like, ‘Really?’ We can hear the songs anytime. Conversation is what will play well on social media. Let them chat.”

“If a new artist goes to the label’s ‘charm school,’ one of the first things they probably should learn is no curs-ing during a station visit,” says Mike James, operations manager for Hall Communications’ Lakeland, Fla., cluster. “I’ve seen employees and lis-teners cringe when the artist starts cursing. Also, sometimes an artist will do the entire acoustic set with their eyes closed. If they really want

to connect with us and ultimately their future fans, they’ll want to keep their eyes open during the performance.”

KUZZ-AM-FM Bakersfield, Calif., PD Tom Jordan also dislikes artists who perform either looking down or with their eyes closed. “Look at me and others in the room while performing,” he suggests. On another note, sometimes the baby acts coming through the station are so green that “it’s almost like the label rep picked someone up on the way to the station off the street and didn’t tell them anything! Be prepared.”

Other than having a hit single, there are a few key things that will leave a lasting positive impact on programmers and their staff. KSCS/KPLX Dallas operations manager J.R. Schumann urges artists to “just be real. So many times the entire presentation seems canned and insincere.” And he has some direct advice for the label reps, too: “Don’t ask for the add, on the spot, in front of the artist. And for God’s sake, don’t have the artist ask for it.”

Chris Huff, KILT Houston assistant PD/music director, says, “The best thing a label can do is to let the artist be themselves … It really behooves the labels to know their artists’ strengths and weaknesses, and work to find the best way to showcase their talents.”

Despite the many potential pitfalls, most country programmers still see great value in radio tours. WGH-FM (Eagle 97.3) Virginia Beach, Va., PD Mark McKay says getting a chance to see a talented new artist “in an intimate, up-close setting when they’re brand new” makes him feel more invested in the artist’s career. “It always feels gratifying watching someone ‘graduate’ from their first —or second, or third — radio tour to big success.”

Daniels believes the responsibility for a great visit doesn’t just lie with the label rep and artist, but with the station as well. “Every station should have a procedure for artist visits much like a procedure they have for remotes or station events, a checklist of items that they do to make the artist feel welcome … feel like a star and feel special, because the artist is sharing their music, which is something very special,” he says. “A great artist visit is everyone’s responsibility.”

Originally teased to run this week, we’ve bumped the conclusion of this series to the Feb. 12 issue, where we’ll hear from programmers about whether radio tours forge long-lasting friendships with artists—and why some programmers hope they don’t. Read part one of the series here.

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE FEBRUARY 5, 2015 | PAGE 3 OF 7

When Radio Tours Go Wrong… And How To Prevent It

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

CALLAHAN HUFFMcKAY

I can’t say something’s changed in that regard, but I will say people that get slated for the show are thrilled and people who wanted to get on the show and don’t are unhappy every year. We thrill some people, and we disappoint. That’s just the nature of it. I’m just glad that it means so much to people.

When you started at the academy, it was basically a one-person [Nashville] operation,

and there wasn’t even money in the budget to buy a couch. How did the financial situation turn around? In about ’94-’96, the seven chapters, who were their own corporations, merged with the larger corporation, and we be-came one entity, and then it wasn’t up to each individual chapter to support itself. That’s one thing. And of course, the show [gets] ratings. People were buzzing and buzzing, and the Grammy becomes more valuable.

It seems like your public relations background would be helpful, because I assume there’s a lot of politics in your job. I don’t think it’s politics. The only politics I think about is when we are advocating on behalf of the creators. That’s what I think of as politics. What you’re referring to, I think about as relationships. I think relationships are key to the success of any professional. Sometimes you agree, sometimes you don’t, but with strong relationships, al-most always — unless you’re in Congress — you can come to a consensus.

When I say politics, though, there may be multiple agendas at work, and sometimes you don’t know what those agendas are, and sometimes you can guess. That’s interesting that you say that. One of the things that I have found that the Recording Academy is so good at is bringing some of those agen-das together. Either it’s appropriate to take off your corporate hat and think be-yond that, or it’s important to keep on your corporate hat and express your point of view ... We know there’s different agendas — of course there is — but who better to serve, to hear everyone out and bring people together than us?

What ends up on the ballot every year is often different than what the public would expect, based on the radio. Is that good or bad? I think one of the misconceptions is that the Recording Academy chooses the nominees. I always say to people who don’t like who’s on the ballot, “I’m not able to vote.” We have 26,000 members, but 13,000 of them are voting members. They de-cide who’s on the ballot. It’s the highest accolade a creator or technician can receive. They receive it from their peers, and I think that’s important. We’re not the radio play award show. That’s just not who we are. —Tom Roland

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE FEBRUARY 5, 2015 | PAGE 4 OF 7

Q U E ST I O N S

AnsweredNancy Shapiro

Senior VP, The Recording Academy@nan_shap

After working as a catering manager for The Radisson Hotel and a publicist for a TV production company, Nancy Shapiro landed a job at the Nashville office of the Recording Academy, where she has been a fixture for three decades. She now splits her time between Music City and Los Angeles, and has her hands in numerous parts of the acad-emy, which is involved in music education, social advocacy and mu-sic professionals’ ongoing growth, in addition to the annual Grammy Awards. She’ll watch the Feb. 8 ceremony from an enviable seat on the floor at the Staples Center.

You sit near the satellite stage at the awards. I assume it’s im-portant for you to jump up and clap at certain points. Yeah, which is not hard to do. It’s such an exciting show. You know ... what’s amazing to me is this is my 31st show – and I’m not just say-ing this – every time it is thrilling. It never loses its luster. Every year I can’t believe I’m there. When I look back, you know how people always say, “I remember where I was,” or “I remember what I was wearing”? There are very few of those moments in your life you re-member so vividly, but Grammy moments I remember like one of those types of things.

For years there was always somebody in Nashville who would be publicly unhappy about the number of performance slots that were given to country music. Not just in Nashville.

I know. But I don’t think there’s been a controversy in Nash-ville since the Eagles tribute in 2007. Has something changed?

DWIGHT: GUITARS, CADILLACS & BRANDYThis late addition to the Feb. 8 Grammy Awards lineup should interest fans of tra-ditional country: Brandy Clark, whose 12 Stories has her in the running for best new artist and best country album, will team with Dwight Yoakam on the CBS telecast. For Yoakam, it’s a bit of exposure-building as he prepares the release of his next album, Second Hand Heart, on April 14. Among the

tracks on that album is his take on “Man of Constant Sorrow.” For the third straight year, WSM-AM Nashville will broadcast an edition of the Grand Ole Opry from the Nashville Convention Center during the Country Radio Seminar on Feb. 25. Talent for the night includes Lady Antebellum, Eli Young Band, The Oak Ridge Boys, Lee Brice, Chase

Bryant, RaeLynn, Mickey Guyton and Mo Pitney. Rdio, a Cumulus online partner, has introduced Nashville Rising, a program that highlights some of country’s rising talent. Warner Music Nashville act Michael Ray is the first spotlight artist, introduced during the month of February. Along with the recognition, Ray pieced together a playlist of his personal favorites. It includes music by Eric Church, Merle Haggard, Way-lon Jennings and Mark Chesnutt. So The Rolling Stones did a 50th-anniversary tour? Big deal — they’re being topped by Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers, who kick off their 60th-anniversary tour on Feb. 6 in Harrington, Del. The Stones’ anniversary tour, of course, marked five decades since the band coalesced through club gigs in London. The Gatlins are marking six decades since Larry, Steve and Rudy Gatlin first performed informally at home in Texas when Rudy was 2. The Gatlins are also prepping the release of a gospel album.

MIDWEEK NEWS UPDATE

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TITLE Artist PRODUCER (SONGWRITER) IMPRINT / PROMOTION LABEL CERTIFIED

PEAK POSITION

l1 1 2 14 I SEE YOU ★★No. 1 (2 weeks)★★ Luke Bryan J.STEVENS (L.BRYAN,L.LAIRD,A.GORLEY) CAPITOL NASHVILLE

1

2 3 3 20 TALLADEGA Eric Church J.JOYCE (E.CHURCH,L.LAIRD) EMI NASHVILLE 2

3 4 5 20 SUN DAZE Florida Georgia Line J.MOI (C.R.BARLOWE,J.FRASURE,S.BUXTON,T.HUBBARD,B.KELLEY) REPUBLIC NASHVILLE 3

l4 5 6 14 LONELY TONIGHT Blake Shelton Featuring Ashley Monroe S.HENDRICKS (B.ANDERSON,R.HURD) WARNER BROS./WMN 4

l5 6 13 14 TAKE YOUR TIME ★★Streaming Gainer★★ Sam Hunt Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,J.OSBORNE,S.MCANALLY) MCA NASHVILLE

5

l6 7 8 23 MAKE ME WANNA Thomas Rhett J.JOYCE (THOMAS RHETT,B.BUTLER,L.MCCOY) VALORY 6

7 2 1 19 SOMETHING IN THE WATER Carrie Underwood M.BRIGHT (C.UNDERWOOD,C. DESTEFANO,BRETT JAMES) 19/ARISTA NASHVILLE 0 1

l8 9 11 15 JUST GETTIN’ STARTED Jason Aldean M.KNOX (C. DESTEFANO,R.AKINS,A.GORLEY) BROKEN BOW 8

9 8 10 23 DRINKING CLASS Lee Brice M.MCCLURE,K.JACOBS,L.BRICE (J.KEAR,D.FRASIER,E.M.HILL) CURB 6

l10 12 16 34 LIKE A COWBOY Randy Houser D.GEORGE (R.HOUSER,B.LONG) STONEY CREEK 10

11 11 14 23 MEAN TO ME Brett Eldredge L.LAIRD (B.ELDREDGE,SCOOTER CARUSOE) ATLANTIC/WMN 11

l12 15 19 18 AIN’T WORTH THE WHISKEY Cole Swindell M.CARTER (C.SWINDELL,A.SANDERS,J.MARTIN) WARNER BROS./WMN 12

l13 14 17 20 LONELY EYES Chris Young J.STROUD (J.BULFORD,J.MATTHEWS,L.VELTZ) RCA NASHVILLE 13

l14 18 4 4 HOMEGROWN ★★Airplay Gainer★★ Zac Brown Band J.JOYCE,Z.BROWN (Z.BROWN,W.DURRETTE,N.MOON) VARVATOS/REPUBLIC/BMLG/SOUTHERN GROUND

4

15 10 7 20 SHOTGUN RIDER Tim McGraw B.GALLIMORE,T.MCGRAW (H.LINDSEY,M.GREEN,T.VERGES) MCGRAW/BIG MACHINE 0 1

16 17 18 23 HOMEGROWN HONEY Darius Rucker F.ROGERS (D.RUCKER,C.KELLEY,N.CHAPMAN) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 16

l17 19 20 25 TAKE IT ON BACK Chase Bryant D.GEORGE,C.BRYANT (C.BRYANT,T.L.JAMES,D.ALTMAN) RED BOW 17

l18 20 22 16 SAY YOU DO Dierks Bentley R. COPPERMAN (M.T.RAMSEY,S.MCANALLY,T. ROSEN) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 18

19 13 9 18 TIL IT’S GONE Kenny Chesney B.CANNON,K.CHESNEY (R.CLAWSON,D.L.MURPHY,J.YEARY) BLUE CHAIR/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 8

l20 21 21 25 WHAT WE AIN’T GOT Jake Owen J.MOI (T.J.GOFF,T.MEADOWS) RCA NASHVILLE 20

l21 22 23 19 A GUY WALKS INTO A BAR Tyler Farr J.CATINO,J.KING (M.PEIRCE,J.SINGLETON,B.TURSI) COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 21

22 16 12 24 PERFECT STORM Brad Paisley L.WOOTEN,B.PAISLEY (B.PAISLEY,L.T.MILLER) ARISTA NASHVILLE 4

l23 23 25 9 GIRL CRUSH Little Big Town J.JOYCE (L.ROSE,L.MCKENNA,H.LINDSEY) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 23

l24 24 24 14 FREESTYLE Lady Antebellum N.CHAPMAN,LADY ANTEBELLUM (D.HAYWOOD,C.KELLEY,H.SCOTT,S.MCANALLY) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 24

l25 27 31 4 SMOKE A Thousand Horses D.COBB (M.HOBBY,J.M.NITE,R.COPPERMAN) REPUBLIC NASHVILLE 25

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

SALES, AIRPLAY & STREAMING DATA COMPILED BY

THIS WEEK

LAST WEEK

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AGOWKS ON CHART

TITLE Artist PRODUCER (SONGWRITER) IMPRINT / PROMOTION LABEL CERTIFIED

PEAK POSITION

l26 26 27 13 SHE DON’T LOVE YOU Eric Paslay M.ALTMAN (E.PASLAY,J.WAYNE) EMI NASHVILLE 26

27 25 26 15 TRAILER HITCH Kristian Bush K.BUSH,T.TAPLEY (K.BUSH,B.BUSH,T.OWENS) STREAMSOUND 25

l28 29 34 4 LITTLE RED WAGON Miranda Lambert F.LIDDELL,C.AINLAY,G.WORF (A.MAE,GINSBERG J.) RCA NASHVILLE 28

l29 28 28 18 LOVE YOU LIKE THAT Canaan Smith B.BEAVERS,J.ROBBINS (C.SMITH,B.BEAVERS,J.BEAVERS) MERCURY 28

l30 RE-ENTRY 2 LITTLE TOY GUNS Carrie Underwood M.BRIGHT (C.UNDERWOOD,C. DESTEFANO,H.LINDSEY) 19/ARISTA NASHVILLE 30

l31 43 — 2 RAISE ‘EM UP ★★Digital Gainer★★ Keith Urban Featuring Eric Church N.CHAPMAN,K.URBAN (J.JOHNSTON,J.STEELE,T.DOUGLAS) HIT RED/CAPITOL NASHVILLE

31

l32 31 30 11 DON’T IT Billy Currington D.HUFF (J.JOHNSTON,A.GORLEY,R.COPPERMAN) MERCURY 30

l33 32 32 13 BABY BE MY LOVE SONG Easton Corbin C.CHAMBERLAIN (J.COLLINS,BRETT JAMES) MERCURY 32

34 30 29 11 LAY LOW Josh Turner F.ROGERS (R.COPPERMAN,T.MARTIN,M.NESLER) MCA NASHVILLE 29

l35 46 48 5 ONE HELL OF AN AMEN Brantley Gilbert D.HUFF (B.GILBERT,M.DEKLE,B.DAVIS) VALORY 35

36 33 33 16 DRUNK AMERICANS Toby Keith T.KEITH,B.PINSON (B.CLARK,B.DIPIERO,S.MCANALLY) SHOW DOG NASHVILLE 33

l37 34 35 10 LOVE ME LIKE YOU MEAN IT Kelsea Ballerini F.G.WHITEHEAD (K.BALLERINI,J.KERR,F.G.WHITEHEAD,L.CARPENTER) BLACK RIVER 34

38 35 38 14 MAKE YOU MISS ME Sam Hunt Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,J.OSBORNE,M.T.RAMSEY) MCA NASHVILLE 32

l39 36 36 7 WHEN I’VE BEEN DRINKIN’ Jon Pardi B.BUTLER,J.PARDI (J.PARDI,B.BUTLER,J.SPILLMAN) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 36

40 37 37 8 HARD TO BE COOL Joe Nichols M.J.CONES (R.HATCH,J.SELLERS) RED BOW 37

l41 40 43 4 RIOT Rascal Flatts J.DEMARCUS,RASCAL FLATTS (J.BOYER,S.HAZE) BIG MACHINE 40

l42 38 44 19 EX TO SEE Sam Hunt Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,J.OSBORNE,M.T.RAMSEY) MCA NASHVILLE 37

43 39 40 4 GOING OUT LIKE THAT Reba T.BROWN (B.HAYSLIP,R.AKINS,J.SELLERS) NASH ICON/VALORY 28

l44 42 42 5 TROUBLE Gloriana M.SERLETIC (R.REINERT,M.GOSSIN,R.COPPERMAN,J.M.NITE) EMBLEM/WARNER BROS./WAR 42

l45 45 46 4 HELL OF A NIGHT Dustin Lynch M.J.CONES (Z.CROWELL,A.SANDERS,J.BOYER) BROKEN BOW 45

46 41 41 20 HOUSE PARTY Sam Hunt Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,Z.CROWELL,J.FLOWERS) MCA NASHVILLE 39

47 44 45 9 GONNA WANNA TONIGHT Chase Rice C. DESTEFANO (S.MCANALLY,J.M.NITE,J.ROBBINS) DACK JANIELS/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 34

l48 NEW 1 DIAMOND RINGS AND OLD BARSTOOLS ★★Hot Shot Debut★★ Tim McGraw With Catherine Dunn B.GALLIMORE,T.MCGRAW (L.LAIRD,B.DEAN,J.SINGLETON) MCGRAW/BIG MACHINE

48

49 47 47 8 SPEAKERS Sam Hunt Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,B.HOOD,K.SACKLEY) MCA NASHVILLE 40

l50 49 — 2 FLY Maddie & Tae D.HUFF (M.MARLOW,T.DYE,T.VARTANYAN) DOT 49

For week ending February 1, 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 FEBRUARY 5, 2015 | PAGE 6 OF 7

ALBUMSDIGITAL

ALBUMS*DIGITAL TRACKS

This Week 460,000 194,000 1,996,000

Last Week 469,000 207,000 2,125,000

Change -1.9% -6.3% -6.1%

This Week Last Year 484,000 176,000 2,657,000

Change -5.0% 10.2% -24.9%

*Digital album sales are also counted within album sales.

Weekly Unit SalesYear-Over-Year Album Sales2014 2015 CHANGE

Albums 2,490,000 2,374,000 -4.7%

Digital Tracks 14,320,000 11,506,000 -19.7%

YEAR-TO-DATE

Overall Unit Sales

2014 2015 CHANGE

Physical 1,579,000 1,412,000 9.0%

Digital 911,000 961,000 5.5%

Sales by Album Format

SALES, AIRPLAY & STREAMING DATA COMPILED BY

’15

’14

DIGITAL TRACKS SALES

’15

’14

2.5 million

2.4 million

000.0 million

’14

’13

11.5 million

14.3 million

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1 1 14 TAKE YOUR TIME SAM HUNT (MCA Nashville/UMGN)

2 3 15 LONELY TONIGHT BLAKE SHELTON FEAT. ASHLEY MONROE (Warner Bros./WMN)

l3 10 18 MAKE ME WANNA THOMAS RHETT (Valory/BMLG)

4 2 19 SUN DAZE FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE (Republic Nashville/BMLG)

5 5 13 I SEE YOU LUKE BRYAN (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

l6 9 19 TALLADEGA ERIC CHURCH (EMI Nashville/UMGN)

7 4 18 SOMETHING IN THE WATER CARRIE UNDERWOOD (19/Arista Nashville/SMN)

8 8 21 DRINKING CLASS LEE BRICE (Curb)

l9 12 17 AIN’T WORTH THE WHISKEY COLE SWINDELL (Warner Bros./WMN)

10 6 3 HOMEGROWN ZAC BROWN BAND (Southern Ground/Varvatos/Republic/BMLG)

11 11 13 JUST GETTIN’ STARTED JASON ALDEAN (Broken Bow/BBMG)

l12 14 6 GIRL CRUSH LITTLE BIG TOWN (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

13 7 20 SHOTGUN RIDER TIM MCGRAW (McGraw/Big Machine/BMLG)

14 15 22 MEAN TO ME BRETT ELDREDGE (Atlantic/WMN)

15 13 26 GOD MADE GIRLS RAELYNN (Valory/BMLG)

l16 16 15 LONELY EYES CHRIS YOUNG (RCA Nashville/SMN)

l17 RE-ENTRY LITTLE TOY GUNS CARRIE UNDERWOOD (19/Arista Nashville/SMN)

l18 18 11 A GUY WALKS INTO A BAR TYLER FARR (Columbia Nashville/SMN)

l19 27 21 LIKE A COWBOY RANDY HOUSER (Stoney Creek/BBMG)

l20 21 6 SAY YOU DO DIERKS BENTLEY (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

21 19 27 BURNIN’ IT DOWN JASON ALDEAN (Broken Bow/BBMG)

22 23 19 HOMEGROWN HONEY DARIUS RUCKER (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

l23 24 23 WHAT WE AIN’T GOT JAKE OWEN (RCA Nashville/SMN)

l24 28 7 SHE DON’T LOVE YOU ERIC PASLAY (EMI Nashville/UMGN)

l25 30 14 LOVE YOU LIKE THAT CANAAN SMITH (Mercury/UMGN)

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26 20 33 LEAVE THE NIGHT ON SAM HUNT (MCA Nashville/UMGN)

27 29 24 NEON LIGHT BLAKE SHELTON (Warner Bros./WMN)

28 17 22 PERFECT STORM BRAD PAISLEY (Arista Nashville/SMN)

l29 NEW SMOKE A THOUSAND HORSES (Republic Nashville/BMLG)

30 25 28 SOMEWHERE IN MY CAR KEITH URBAN (Hit Red/Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

31 22 29 GIRL IN A COUNTRY SONG MADDIE & TAE (Dot/BMLG)

32 33 62 PLAY IT AGAIN LUKE BRYAN (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

l33 44 3 TAKE IT ON BACK CHASE BRYANT (Red Bow/BBMG)

l34 45 3 LITTLE RED WAGON MIRANDA LAMBERT (RCA Nashville/SMN)

35 31 29 DIRT FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE (Republic Nashville/BMLG)

l36 RE-ENTRY RAISE ‘EM UP KEITH URBAN FEAT. ERIC CHURCH (Hit Red/Capitol Nashville)

37 32 62 THIS IS HOW WE ROLL FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE FEAT. LUKE BRYAN (Republic Nashville/BMLG)

38 34 33 AMERICAN KIDS KENNY CHESNEY (Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville/SMN)

39 35 23 BREAK UP IN A SMALL TOWN SAM HUNT (MCA Nashville/UMGN)

40 37 134 CRUISE FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE (Republic Nashville/BMLG)

41 36 37 BARTENDER LADY ANTEBELLUM (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

42 39 3 TRAILER HITCH KRISTIAN BUSH (Streamsound)

43 40 6 MAKE YOU MISS ME SAM HUNT (MCA Nashville/UMGN)

44 42 40 DRUNK ON A PLANE DIERKS BENTLEY (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

45 41 48 I DON’T DANCE LEE BRICE (Curb)

46 38 4 LAY LOW JOSH TURNER (MCA Nashville/UMGN)

l47 NEW WHEN I’VE BEEN DRINKIN’ JON PARDI (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

l48 NEW ONE HELL OF AN AMEN BRANTLEY GILBERT (Valory/BMLG)

49 50 72 BOYS ‘ROUND HERE BLAKE SHELTON FEAT. PISTOL ANNIES & FRIENDS (Warner Bros./WMN)

50 47 97 WAGON WHEEL DARIUS RUCKER (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

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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1 1 1 14 SAM HUNT MontevalloMCA NASHVILLE 021502/UMGN 1

2 2 3 17 JASON ALDEAN Old Boots, New DirtBROKEN BOW 7105/BBMG 1 1

l3 3 4 8 CARRIE UNDERWOOD Greatest Hits: Decade #119/ARISTA NASHVILLE 500876/SMN 0 1

l4 4 11 18 BLAKE SHELTON BRINGING BACK THE SUNSHINEWARNER BROS. 544918/WMN 0 1

5 6 5 16 FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE Anything GoesREPUBLIC NASHVILLE /BMLG 0 1

6 5 2 12 GARTH BROOKS Man Against MachinePEARL/RCA NASHVILLE 501135/SMN 1 1

7 7 6 78 LUKE BRYAN Crash My PartyCAPITOL NASHVILLE 018733/UMGN 2 1

l8 9 16 38 STURGILL SIMPSON Metamodern Sounds In Country MusicHIGH TOP MOUNTAIN 002*/THIRTY TIGERS 8

9 8 10 51 ERIC CHURCH The OutsidersEMI NASHVILLE 019402*/UMGN 1 1

l10 13 14 35 MIRANDA LAMBERT PlatinumRCA NASHVILLE 379278/SMN 0 1

11 10 8 24 CHASE RICE Ignite The NightCOLUMBIA NASHVILLE 22573/DACK JANIELS 1

l12 18 17 37 BRANTLEY GILBERT Just As I AmVALORY BG0200A/BMLG 0 1

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

14 15 13 20 GEORGE STRAIT The Cowboy Rides Away: Live From AT&T StadiumMCA NASHVILLE 021477/UMGN 2

l15 20 18 21 LEE BRICE I Dont DanceCURB 79392* 1

16 14 — 2 RALPH STANLEY Ralph Stanley & Friends: Man Of Constant SorrowCB MUSIC /CRACKER BARREL 14

17 11 23 64 BRETT ELDREDGE Bring You BackATLANTIC 525855/WMN 2

l18 19 21 15 LITTLE BIG TOWN Pain KillerCAPITOL NASHVILLE 021360*/UMGN 3

19 17 20 19 KENNY CHESNEY The Big RevivalBLUE CHAIR/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 306274/SMN 1

l20 35 — 2 VARIOUS ARTISTS 21 Country HitsLEGACY DIGITAL EX 20

l21 21 28 21 DUSTIN LYNCH Where It’s AtBROKEN BOW 7337/BBMG 2

l22 RE-ENTRY 7 RAY PRICE Beauty Is...: The Final SessionsAMERIMONTE 41 22

l23 24 19 50 COLE SWINDELL Cole SwindellWARNER BROS. 541372/WMN 2

24 23 22 20 TIM MCGRAW Sundown Heaven TownMCGRAW/BIG MACHINE TM0200A/BMLG 1

25 22 15 18 LADY ANTEBELLUM 747CAPITOL NASHVILLE /UMGN 2

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l1 2 5 TAKE YOUR TIME SAM HUNT

l2 1 32 LEAVE THE NIGHT ON SAM HUNT

l3 4 8 I SEE YOU LUKE BRYAN

l4 3 49 THIS IS HOW WE ROLL FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE FEAT. LUKE BRYAN

l5 6 96 CRUISE FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE

l6 5 30 DIRT FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE

l7 8 58 BOTTOMS UP BRANTLEY GILBERT

l8 9 45 PLAY IT AGAIN LUKE BRYAN

l9 10 9 TALLADEGA ERIC CHURCH

l10 12 56 YOU BELONG WITH ME TAYLOR SWIFT

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11 7 18 SOMETHING IN THE WATER CARRIE UNDERWOOD

l12 11 15 SUN DAZE FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE

l13 15 12 DRINKING CLASS LEE BRICE

14 13 13 GOD MADE GIRLS RAELYNN

l15 16 77 THAT’S MY KIND OF NIGHT LUKE BRYAN

l16 17 28 ROLLER COASTER LUKE BRYAN

17 14 13 SHOTGUN RIDER TIM MCGRAW

l18 23 2 LONELY TONIGHT BLAKE SHELTON FEAT. ASHLEY MONROE

l19 18 28 GIRL IN A COUNTRY SONG MADDIE & TAE

l20 — 1 HOMEGROWN ZAC BROWN BAND

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 +361

LONELY TONIGHT Warner Bros./WMN Blake Shelton Feat. Ashley Monroe +254

TAKE YOUR TIME MCA Nashville Sam Hunt +212

RAISE ‘EM UP Hit Red/Capitol Nashville Keith Urban Feat. Eric Church +187

I’M TO BLAME MCA Nashville Kip Moore +168

DIAMOND RINGS AND OLD BARSTOOLS McGraw/Big Machine Tim McGraw W/Catherine Dunn +167

WILD CHILD Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville Kenny Chesney w/ Grace Potter +157

MEAN TO ME Atlantic/WMN Brett Eldredge +155

DON’T IT Mercury Billy Currington +149

JUST GETTIN’ STARTED Broken Bow Jason Aldean +143

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 FEBRUARY 5, 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