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Country UPDATE

BILLBOARD.COM/NEWSLETTERS EDITED BY TOM ROLAND, tom.roland@billboard.com JUNE 11, 2015 | PAGE 1 OF 7

INSIDEMakin’ Tracks:

Tyler Farr’s ‘Withdrawals’

>page 2

Stark Report: Women Are

Money-Makers >page 3

Questions Answered:

CMA Marketer Damon

Whiteside >page 4

Carrie Underwood Tops CMTs

>page 4

Martina McBride

Brings Home The Beacon

>page 4

Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard extend their illustrious lega-cies, as their collaborative Django and Jimmie (Legacy) debuts at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart (dated June 20). The set starts with 30,000 sold, according to Nielsen Music. With the bow, the icons pad their totals of No. 1 titles. While George Strait rules with 25 leaders on Top Country Albums (which originated in 1964), Haggard lands his 16th, breaking a tie with Tim McGraw (15) for the second-best sum, and Nelson ties Garth Brooks, Kenny Chesney and Alan Jackson with 14.

Nelson notches his second Top Country Albums No. 1 in less than a year, having debuted atop the July 5, 2014 list with Band of Broth-ers. He last reigned in 1986. Hag-gard crowns the chart for the first time since Sept. 22, 1984 with It’s All in the Game. His 30-year, nine-month break between No. 1s is second only to Johnny Cash’s nearly 35-year gap between leading sets (1971-2006) and passes Nelson’s 28-year, one-month interval ended by Brothers.

On the all-genre Billboard 200, the launch of Nelson and Hag-gard’s new collab is also impressive: As it opens at No. 7, Nelson notches his fourth top 10 and Haggard his first. For Haggard, who first appeared on the Billboard 200 in 1967, Django and Jim-

mie easily bests his prior top peak, set when his first duets effort with Nelson, Pancho & Lefty, peaked at No. 37 in 1983. Django and Jimmie, the pair’s sixth shared set, is named after late genre-spanning guitarist Django Reinhardt and country icon Jimmie Rodgers. “Both of those guys were very influential in both of our careers,” Nelson said in a statement about the album.

Also on Top Country Albums, Billy Currington debuts at No. 3 with Summer Forever (Mer-cury/Universal Music Group Nash-ville) (20,000). The set is his fifth top five entry and bests the high of his last release, We Are Tonight, which debuted and peaked at No. 5 (Oct. 5, 2013). Currington has collected three No. 2-peaking titles on Top Country Albums: Doin’ Somethin’ Right (2005), Little Bit of Everything (2008) and Enjoy Yourself (2010). Summer Forever’s lead single, “Don’t It,” became his ninth Country Air-play No. 1 on the June 6 chart. New single “Drinkin’ Town With a Foot-ball Problem” kicks off at No. 41 (June 20).

This column was written by Billboard co-directors of charts Keith Caulfield (keith.caulfield@billboard.com) and Gary Trust (gary.trust@billboard.com).

HAGGARD (left) and NELSON

Country MID- WEEK

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Legendary Leaders: Willie & Merle (And Django & Jimmie)

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Might as well face it: You’re addicted to love.Robert Palmer was neither the first nor the last artist to view personal re-

lationships as a narcotic. Dan Seals’ “Addicted,” Roxy Music’s “Love Is the Drug,” Kenny Chesney and Grace Potter’s “You and Tequila,” B.J. Thomas’ “Hooked On a Feeling” and Hank Williams Jr.’s “Old Habits” all viewed love as a force that could take unreasonable control over a life. A Thousand Horses just rode the similarly themed “Smoke” to No. 1 on the Country Airplay chart dated June 13.

Those kinds of comparisons raised a question for songwriter Josh Kear ( “Dr u nk on a Plane,” “Drink ing Class”): If love is addictive, what hap-pens when the object of your affection vanishes?

The result is “Withdrawals,” a new Tyler Farr single doused with scraping guitars, start-and-stop drum rhythms and impassioned vocals.

“The song has so much tension and angst,” says Farr. “It’s like the guy is going through withdrawals over a woman, and there’s nothing he can do about it.”

Psychological dependence occurs when a person develops repeated, uncon-trollable cravings for something that brings short-term pleasure but creates long-term damage. “Even the idea of not using the substance, or engaging in the behavior, will cause them discomfort,” according to AlcoholRehab.com.

So it’s appropriate that the creation of “Withdrawals” was uncomfortable. Kear had the title when he started writing it at his Music Row office with Hill-ary Lindsey (“Wasted,” “Girl Crush”) and Gordie Sampson (“Jesus, Take the Wheel,” “Song About a Girl”). Kear also brought the first line, “You were like whiskey running through my veins,” and maybe even the second, “You were that first sweet taste of Mary Jane.” But where those phrases belonged in the song were unclear.

“That piece could have been a proper verse, that could have been the chorus, that could’ve been anything,” recalls Lindsey. “It was just like a little nugget that he had. And he knew those lyrics were leading toward, you know, withdrawals.”

Kear sang the parts passionately in the office that day, and his co-writers were “truly mesmerized with it,” says Lindsey. “And then we just kept rolling.”

The whiskey/Mary Jane coupling developed into a four-line section to kick off the song. Another section followed, and they ended up at a chorus that starts off with a line that — like addiction — isn’t quite right: “I bang my head against the moon.” Not wall. Moon.

“It’s an unusual graphic, if you think about it literally,” says Sampson. “You kind of get this hammer effect of somebody truly going through withdrawals.”

Three of the last four lines in the chorus repeated the phrase “I’m going through withdrawals” over and over. It’s an atypical approach for a country song. “We hit on that ending, and it just felt right,” says Kear. “I think that was one of the few things about the song that just happened, and we were all good with it right away.”

They didn’t bother with a second verse the first day, but they returned to “Withdrawals” during a second writing session, where they added a new stanza. The structure was weird. Since the melody of that opening section was never repeated, it felt like it should be a bridge. But the words were out of place if they

came later in the song, and Lindsey insisted that it stay at the opening, where it basically serves as a 38-second vocal intro, or prologue. They also added a two-line bridge — “I’m going through withdrawals,” repeated twice — which isn’t as much of a departure from the song as most bridges. But it didn’t need to be.

“Our intro essentially is our bridge, so adding yet another new melody sec-tion felt like too much,” explains Kear. “So we tried to do the simplest thing that worked.”

Kear put together a piano-driven demo with programmed drums. An un-identified artist put “Withdrawals” on hold, but after they officially passed,

the demo was emailed to Farr. He was intrigued by the title and gave it a listen during the first session for his Suffer in Peace album at Loud Recording Studio on Music Row.

Farr had covered Awolnation’s “Sail” on his 2014 concert tour and hoped to find something similarly tor-mented for the album. “Withdrawals” had the right attitude, though Farr — who doesn’t have a keyboard player in his live band — needed a different ar-

rangement. Working with producers Jim Catino and Julian King, they con-verted it into a rock-edged power ballad in the vein of Linkin Park’s “In the End” or 3 Doors Down’s “When I’m Gone” and recorded it at that same session.

“The track is even more aggressive than the track in ‘Redneck Crazy,’ ” ob-serves Catino, “but Tyler’s country voice always kind of finds a way to bring it back to normal and bring it back to the format, where it doesn’t feel like we’re straying from country music.”

Guitarist Adam Shoenfeld plugged in a scorching solo, and drummer Miles McPherson added intentionally jerky, syncopated pops that match the anxiety and irritability that accompany withdrawals.

“Miles played a huge role,” says King. “Some of the transition fills in this record are over the top. They’re probably more than most [country] drummers would let themselves play, but we were stressing that we were going for the angst on this.”

Catino and King encouraged Farr to get plenty of sleep the night before he cut the final vocals, which were pitched in a challenging key. “By the end of the song I’m practically screaming,” says Farr, who got most of the vocal on his second pass. “Our job as artists is to sell the song, to make people feel something. You try to sing with as much passion as you can, and that’s kind of what it took at the end.”

Live audiences tried to sing along with “Withdrawals” as they were hearing it for the first time, and Sony released it as a single on May 19. And there’s a deft storyline in the order of singles for Farr, whose last release reached No. 1 on Country Airplay: “A Guy Walks Into a Bar” leads to “Withdrawals.”

“That kind of wasn’t an accident,” Sony Music Nashville vp A&R Catino says. “It’s hilarious how we overthink the stuff that we do.”

The label asked for first-week adds on “Withdrawals” on June 15. Meanwhile, all the song’s unsettling angst and uncertainty is physically represented in the video, which premieres June 15 on Vevo.

“I would almost compare it to like a Nine Inch Nails [video],” says Farr. “I don’t want to give it away, but I’ll just say I had to change shirts and jeans about five times because there’s water in it, smoke. It was the most physically drain-ing, emotionally draining video I’ve ever done.”

He’s hoping the video, and the song, will be as addictive as love.

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE JUNE 11, 2015 | PAGE 2 OF 7

Tyler Farr Brings The Angst To New Single ‘Withdrawals’

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

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Female country artists may comprise a small fraction of playlist space on country radio right now, but their branding power is an entirely different story.

When global celebrity evaluation index Celebrity DBI recently listed the top six celebrity endorsers who were musicians, four were country acts, and three of those are female: Carrie Underwood, Reba McEntire and Faith Hill were listed alongside Blake Shelton and non-country acts Adele and Yolanda Adams.

Laura Huftless, an agent in Creative Artists Agency’s Nashville office and its music brand partnership division, says, “Brands are engaging with female artists — proven by the $25 million-plus [in] deals for female music artists CAA brokered in 2014 — and they continue to spend with female talent at all levels, all ages, all demographics and all genres.”

CAA represents such female country and pop/country stars as Underwood, Hill, Kellie Pickler, Jewel, Martina McBride, Shania Twain, LeAnn Rimes, Kacey Mus-graves, Cassadee Pope and newcomers Kelsea Ballerini and Mickey Guyton. The numerous recent deals it has put together include Underwood’s Calia workout line with Dick’s Sporting Goods; Pickler’s Pandora jewelry endorsement and the launch of her new home-goods line, Selma Drye, in conjunction with the Grand Ole Opry; and a cookbook deal for Little Big Town’s Kimberly Schlapman, along with her upcoming line of home goods and kitchenware that retailers will start carrying in the fall. The agency also brokered a previous deal for Schlapman and bandmate Karen Fairchild to curate a home-goods line for retailer Joss and Main.

“Country artists are totally open to brand partnerships, probably more so that other genres,” says Huftless. She says brands are primarily seeking art-ists to partner with who are perceived as relatable and trustworthy, have a high awareness level and have “an authentic connection and a voice. As females we do look to other women — whether it’s girlfriends, sisters, moms or female celebrity talent — to really influence our purchasing decisions. We look for

recommendations. So a lot of these brands look to female celebrity talent be-cause they’re so relatable to women.”

It’s no secret that women also hold the purchasing power. According to research by Marketing Zeus, women make 85 percent of all U.S. consumer purchases.

Surprisingly, when considering potential artist partners, brands tend to care much less about radio chart positions than they do about social media reach. “The commercial appeal of these art-ists isn’t connected to their success at radio,” says Huftless. “An artist can build a really strong brand and relate to lots of women, and it’s not totally dependent upon [radio].” One example is Jewel, who Huftless says “is a mom, and all about health, and passionate about several issues.” The singer-songwriter has built a presence in that space with such brands as Fisher-Price, Pampers, Hallmark and Oscar Meyer.

“Women really have an opportunity to build themselves a brand,” says Huftless. “Radio and music [are] a small piece of that … There’s a lot of opportunities for female artists to explore outside of music [around] their other in-

terests, whether it’s fitness or food or home goods, or style or design.”On the social media side, says Huftless, acts with a million or more followers

have many opportunities. “Social media plays a huge role as brands are determin-ing who to work with. [It’s] a way for brands to determine reach and fan base.”

Not surprisingly, female country artists do particularly well with categories like beauty, home goods, health, accessories, footwear and kids, but Huft-less thinks there are no limits to categories they can represent. “Look at Mi-randa [Lambert] with the Ram trucks deal,” she says. “Kellie Pickler had a Ram truck deal two years ago, so I don’t think there’s any barriers. And look at Faith Hill and Carrie Underwood and the NFL. That’s football, and they worked with two female country artists now for that theme. That definitely says something.”

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE JUNE 11, 2015 | PAGE 3 OF 7

Female Artists’ Branding Power Far Outweighs Their Airplay

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

HUFTLESS

The country music industry’s must-havesource for news, analysis and chart info withexpert commentary from Tom Roland andPhyllis Stark. Sign up for FREE delivery every Monday and Thursday.

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Country UPDATE

and what their interests are, and it reminds us that it’s not just about a generic concert- goer. This is our core country fan base.

Was there anything that surprised you in terms of the makeup of those people? The youthfulness of it ... We’re seeing a lot more in the teen and the millennial demographic. It’s growing in leaps and bounds. Right now, mil-lennials account for over 30 percent of our fan

base. It’s really tomorrow’s generation of country music fans, so we just keep getting younger and younger, but it really is a cross-section of fans.

What has been the biggest surprise for you about the Nashville music com-munity now that you’re part of it? The close-knit nature of the industry here was very surprising and very rewarding. It really is about collaboration, and it’s about relationships. There’s definitely a common goal that you feel when you’re in a meeting — and especially being at CMA. We’re in such a unique position where we’ve got members of the entire industry from competitive labels and radio groups and [performing rights organizations] and publishing companies, and I really see competitors celebrating other competitors’ success just because it’s growing the genre and it’s making country even more mainstream than it’s been. That’s first and foremost before the individual agendas come into play, and that’s so unlike New York and L.A. and other markets.

Nashville tends to be fairly provincial. What do you feel the community could do better to ingrain itself with national media and national mar-keters? We’ve talked a lot about that internally here at CMA, and also with our board, about how we continue to reach the media tastemakers and deci-sion makers out there in the more mainstream market. We’re starting to look at some opportunities to do more country music-based events and education ses-sions and networking sessions in New York. In fact, recently CMA sponsored an event with ABC Television around the Nashville TV series concert tour that’s been out on the road. We’re looking to do more of those types of events.

So why were you willing to leave Los Angeles? Traffic. (Laughs.) Seriously, that was a reason. I do love L.A. It’s always going to be home, but I was really excited to experience, No. 1, a new segment of the industry ... And then from a lifestyle perspective, it sounded really exciting to live in Nashville. Even though everyone says there is traffic here, there isn’t. And the lifestyle is so great. I just love the small-town feeling of it. My blood pressure has come down tremen-dously. I don’t think I’ve honked my horn since I’ve lived here. —Tom Roland

BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE JUNE 11, 2015 | PAGE 4 OF 7

Q U E ST I O N S

AnsweredDamon Whiteside

Senior VP marketing and strategic partnerships, Country Music Association

Southern California native Damon Whiteside got his start in the mu-sic industry at age 16, rising through the ranks in music marketing and branding. That included 14 years with Disney and/or ABC, where his work on the musical side of TV and film franchises connected him in varying degrees to Miley Cyrus, Rascal Flatts and Phil Collins. White side moved to Nashville at the beginning of 2014 to take over the marketing reins at the Country Music Association, where he has forged deeper connections between the country music business and entertainment marketers from other cities. Some of the results will be evident at the CMA Music Festival June 11-14.

2014 was your first CMA Music Festival. What was your biggest takeaway about that event? The magnitude of it. With the 11 stag-es that we have going for four days — actually five, if you count the kickoff concert — there’s so many components to it all happening at the same time with so much entertainment for the fans throughout the day all over the downtown footprint. It’s pretty incredible to see how everything stays on schedule. My highlight was being at LP Field at night, though, and looking at the 50,000 fans in the stadium and seeing their excitement.

The people who attend are your P1 customers. Did seeing all of them impact who you feel the audience for this genre is? It definite-ly helps to see it firsthand and put a face to the demographic, basically. These are diehard, passionate country music fans and they love these artists, and that’s really rewarding. When you really see them firsthand and see what they react to, it helps us kind of learn more about them

UNDERWOOD’S CMT TRIPLE PLAYCarrie Underwood re-emerged from her maternity leave in a big way, win-ning three buckle-shaped trophies during the CMT Music Awards on June 10. “Something in the Water” nabbed video of the year and female video, while her duet with Miranda Lambert, “Somethin’ Bad,” claimed collab-orative video. Underwood also delivered current single “Little Toy Guns.” She’s scheduled to close the third night of concerts at LP Field during CMA

Music Festival on June 13. Live-streaming application Meerkat re-portedly became the first platform to beam an awards show performance live from the front row during the June 10 CMT Music Awards. Florida Georgia Line’s rendition of new single “Anything Goes” was pre-sented in conjunction with Mountain Dew.

The performance can continue to be seen for one week online. Martina McBride received the Beacon of Hope Award during the 2015 Night of Broadway Stars on June 9 at Lincoln Center in New York. The honor recognized her for raising $300,000 on behalf of the youth organization Covenant House. Weeks after a consultant compared female country acts to tomatoes in a mostly male salad, the topic was alluded to several times during the CMT Music Awards. It also continues to resonate with marketers. Average Joes announced the July 24 release date for Sarah Ross’ debut EP, Calm Before the Storm, by hailing her as a “rising country tomato.” WGLR Platteville, Wis., is promoting a “Free Tomato Friday” on June 12. The station promises “freshly hand-picked tomatoes every hour” with Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert among the menu items.

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LAST WEEK

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AGOWKS ON CHART

TITLE Artist PRODUCER (SONGWRITER) IMPRINT / PROMOTION LABEL CERTIFIED

PEAK POSITION

1 1 1 27 GIRL CRUSH ★★No. 1 (7 weeks)★★ Little Big Town J.JOYCE (L.ROSE,L.MCKENNA,H.LINDSEY) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 1 1

l2 2 3 32 TAKE YOUR TIME ★★Digital Gainer★★ Sam Hunt Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,J.OSBORNE,S.MCANALLY) MCA NASHVILLE 1 1

l3 3 4 12 SANGRIA Blake Shelton S.HENDRICKS (J.T.HARDING,J.OSBORNE,T. ROSEN) WARNER BROS./WMN 3

l4 4 2 4 KICK THE DUST UP Luke Bryan J.STEVENS,J.STEVENS (D.DAVIDSON,C. DESTEFANO,A.GORLEY) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 2

l5 5 5 19 SIPPIN’ ON FIRE Florida Georgia Line J.MOI (R.CLAWSON,M.DRAGSTREM,C.TAYLOR) REPUBLIC NASHVILLE 0 3

6 7 6 29 DON’T IT Billy Currington D.HUFF (J.JOHNSTON,A.GORLEY,R.COPPERMAN) MERCURY 4

l7 8 8 28 LOVE ME LIKE YOU MEAN IT Kelsea Ballerini F.G.WHITEHEAD (K.BALLERINI,J.KERR,F.G.WHITEHEAD,L.CARPENTER) BLACK RIVER 7

l8 10 10 20 LITTLE TOY GUNS Carrie Underwood M.BRIGHT (C.UNDERWOOD,C. DESTEFANO,H.LINDSEY) 19/ARISTA NASHVILLE 8

l9 9 9 18 WILD CHILD Kenny Chesney With Grace Potter B.CANNON,K.CHESNEY (K.CHESNEY,S.MCANALLY,J.OSBORNE) BLUE CHAIR/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 9

10 6 7 22 SMOKE A Thousand Horses D.COBB (M.HOBBY,J.M.NITE,R.COPPERMAN) REPUBLIC NASHVILLE 5

l11 11 12 36 LOVE YOU LIKE THAT Canaan Smith B.BEAVERS,J.ROBBINS (C.SMITH,B.BEAVERS,J.BEAVERS) MERCURY 11

l12 12 15 31 BABY BE MY LOVE SONG Easton Corbin C.CHAMBERLAIN (J.COLLINS,BRETT JAMES) MERCURY 12

l13 16 13 16 LIKE A WRECKING BALL Eric Church J.JOYCE (E.CHURCH,C.BEATHARD) EMI NASHVILLE 13

l14 17 19 14 TONIGHT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU ★★Airplay Gainer★★ Jason Aldean M.KNOX (D.DAVIDSON,R.AKINS,A.GORLEY) BROKEN BOW

8

l15 18 18 9 CRASH AND BURN Thomas Rhett D.HUFF,J.FRASURE (J.FRASURE,C.STAPLETON) VALORY 15

l16 14 17 19 DIAMOND RINGS AND OLD BARSTOOLS Tim McGraw With Catherine Dunn B.GALLIMORE,T.MCGRAW (L.LAIRD,B.DEAN,J.SINGLETON) MCGRAW/BIG MACHINE 13

l17 15 14 23 ONE HELL OF AN AMEN Brantley Gilbert D.HUFF (B.GILBERT,M.DEKLE,B.DAVIS) VALORY 14

18 13 11 22 HOMEGROWN Zac Brown Band J.JOYCE,Z.BROWN (Z.BROWN,W.DURRETTE,N.MOON) JOHN VARVATOS/REPUBLIC/BMLG/SOUTHERN GROUND 2

l19 20 24 7 LOVING YOU EASY Zac Brown Band Z.BROWN (Z.BROWN,N.MOON,A.ANDERSON) JOHN VARVATOS/REPUBLIC/BMLG/SOUTHERN GROUND 19

l20 19 20 18 CRUSHIN’ IT Brad Paisley L.WOOTEN,B.PAISLEY (B.PAISLEY,K.LOVELACE,L.T.MILLER) ARISTA NASHVILLE 19

l21 22 25 7 BUY ME A BOAT Chris Janson C.JANSON,C.DUBOIS,B.ANDERSON (C.JANSON,C.DUBOIS) WARNER BROS./WAR 21

l22 25 26 24 HOUSE PARTY Sam Hunt Z.CROWELL,S.MCANALLY (S.HUNT,Z.CROWELL,J.FLOWERS) MCA NASHVILLE 22

l23 23 23 13 KISS YOU IN THE MORNING Michael Ray S.HENDRICKS (J.WILSON,M.WHITE) WARNER BROS./WEA 23

l24 21 22 15 YOUNG & CRAZY Frankie Ballard M.ALTMAN,S.HENDRICKS (A.GORLEY,S.MCANALLY,R.AKINS) WARNER BROS./WAR 21

l25 28 29 22 HELL OF A NIGHT ★★Streaming Gainer★★ Dustin Lynch M.J.CONES (Z.CROWELL,A.SANDERS,J.BOYER) BROKEN BOW

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Hot Country SongsBILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE JUNE 11, 2015 | PAGE 5 OF 7

SALES, AIRPLAY & STREAMING DATA COMPILED BY

THIS WEEK

LAST WEEK

TWO WEEKS

AGOWKS ON CHART

TITLE Artist PRODUCER (SONGWRITER) IMPRINT / PROMOTION LABEL CERTIFIED

PEAK POSITION

26 26 21 15 GAMES Luke Bryan J.STEVENS (L.BRYAN,A.GORLEY) CAPITOL NASHVILLE 21

l27 29 28 22 RIOT Rascal Flatts J.DEMARCUS,RASCAL FLATTS (J.BOYER,S.HAZE) BIG MACHINE 27

28 24 16 20 RAISE ‘EM UP Keith Urban Featuring Eric Church N.CHAPMAN,K.URBAN (J.JOHNSTON,JEFFREY STEELE,T.DOUGLAS) HIT RED/CAPITOL NASHVILLE 8

l29 31 27 4 I’M COMIN’ OVER Chris Young C.CROWDER,C.YOUNG (C.YOUNG,C.CROWDER,J.HOGE) RCA NASHVILLE 8

l30 33 31 7 LOSE MY MIND Brett Eldredge R. COPPERMAN,B.ELDREDGE (B.ELDREDGE,H.MORGAN,R.COPPERMAN,B.BURTON,T.D.CALLAWAY,G.F.REVERBERI,G.P.REVERBERI) ATLANTIC/WMN 30

l31 34 30 16 FLY Maddie & Tae D.HUFF (M.MARLOW,T.DYE,T.VARTANYAN) DOT 30

32 30 48 3 21 Hunter Hayes D.HUFF,H.HAYES (D.DAVIDSON,K.LOVELACE,A.GORLEY,H.HAYES) ATLANTIC/WMN 30

l33 37 36 13 BREAK UP WITH HIM Old Dominion S.MCANALLY (M.RAMSEY,T. ROSEN,B.TURSI,G.SPRUNG,W.SELLERS) RCA NASHVILLE 33

l34 35 32 18 I’M TO BLAME Kip Moore B.JAMES (K.MOORE,J.WEAVER,W.DAVIS) MCA NASHVILLE 31

35 27 — 2 REAL LIFE Jake Owen S.MCANALLY,R. COPPERMAN (R.COPPERMAN,A.GORLEY,S.MCANALLY,J.OSBORNE) RCA NASHVILLE 27

l36 36 35 16 I GOT THE BOY Jana Kramer S.HENDRICKS (T.NICHOLS,C.HARRINGTON,J.L.SPEARS) ELEKTRA NASHVILLE/WAR 31

l37 40 40 8 LET ME SEE YA GIRL Cole Swindell M.CARTER (C.SWINDELL,M.CARTER,J.STEVENS) WARNER BROS./WMN 37

l38 38 34 22 GOING OUT LIKE THAT Reba T.BROWN (B.HAYSLIP,R.AKINS,J.SELLERS) STARSTRUCK/NASH ICON/VALORY 23

l39 39 38 22 GONNA WANNA TONIGHT Chase Rice C. DESTEFANO (S.MCANALLY,J.M.NITE,J.ROBBINS) DACK JANIELS/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 34

l40 42 41 10 NOTHIN’ LIKE YOU Dan + Shay C. DESTEFANO (D.SMYERS,S.MOONEY,A.GORLEY,C. DESTEFANO) WARNER BROS./WAR 40

l41 43 42 9 STAY A LITTLE LONGER Brothers Osborne J.JOYCE (J. OSBORNE,T.J. OSBORNE,S.MCANALLY) EMI NASHVILLE 41

l42 44 44 9 ALREADY CALLIN’ YOU MINE Parmalee NV (M.THOMAS,S.THOMAS,B.KNOX,P.O’DONNELL,W.KIRBY) STONEY CREEK 42

43 41 39 12 BISCUITS Kacey Musgraves K.MUSGRAVES,L.LAIRD,S.MCANALLY (K.MUSGRAVES,S.MCANALLY,B.CLARK) MERCURY 28

44 32 — 2 ROOTS AND WINGS Miranda Lambert F.LIDDELL,C.AINLAY,G.WORF (M.LAMBERT) RCA NASHVILLE 32

45 45 43 8 TURN IT ON Eli Young Band R. COPPERMAN,J.S.STOVER (M.ELI,J.YOUNG,R.CLAWSON,M.DRAGSTREM) REPUBLIC NASHVILLE 42

l46 46 — 14 RIDE Chase Rice C. DESTEFANO (J.SOMERS-MORALES,D.C.TARPLEY JR.) DACK JANIELS/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 38

l47 NEW 1 JOHN COUGAR, JOHN DEERE, JOHN 3:16 ★★Hot Shot Debut★★ Keith Urban D.HUFF,K.URBAN (S.MCANALLY,R.COPPERMAN,J.OSBORNE) HIT RED/CAPITOL NASHVILLE

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l48 49 45 3 WE WENT Randy Houser D.GEORGE (J.WILSON,M.ROGERS,J.KING) STONEY CREEK 45

l49 48 50 3 I LOVE THIS LIFE LoCash L.RIMES,P.BRUST,C.LUCAS (D.MYRICK,C.JANSON,C.LUCAS,P.BRUST) REVIVER 48

l50 NEW 1 COUNTRY Mo Pitney B.LAWSON (M.PITNEY,B.TOMBERLIN,B.ANDERSON) CURB 50

For week ending June 7, 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 JUNE 11, 2015 | PAGE 6 OF 7

ALBUMSDIGITAL

ALBUMS*DIGITAL TRACKS

This Week 531,000 184,000 2,350,000

Last Week 461,000 168,000 2,391,000

Change 15.2% 9.5% -1.7%

This Week Last Year 786,000 279,000 2,883,000

Change -32.4% -34.1% -18.5%

*Digital album sales are also counted within album sales.

Weekly Unit SalesYear-Over-Year Album Sales2014 2015 CHANGE

Albums 13,545,000 11,722,000 -13.5%

Digital Tracks 63,684,000 53,234,000 -16.4%

YEAR-TO-DATE

Overall Unit Sales

2014 2015 CHANGE

Physical 8,889,000 7,348,000 9.0%

Digital 4,656,000 4,374,000 -6.1%

Sales by Album Format

SALES, AIRPLAY & STREAMING DATA COMPILED BY

’15

’14

DIGITAL TRACKS SALES

’15

’14

13.5 million

11.7 million

000.0 million

’14

’13

53.2 million

63.7 million

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1 1 24 GIRL CRUSH LITTLE BIG TOWN (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

2 2 3 KICK THE DUST UP LUKE BRYAN (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

l3 4 32 TAKE YOUR TIME SAM HUNT (MCA Nashville/UMGN)

4 3 10 SANGRIA BLAKE SHELTON (Warner Bros./WMN)

l5 5 17 LIKE A WRECKING BALL ERIC CHURCH (EMI Nashville/UMGN)

l6 8 9 CRASH AND BURN THOMAS RHETT (Valory/BMLG)

l7 10 7 BUY ME A BOAT CHRIS JANSON (Warner Bros./WMN)

8 9 17 DON’T IT BILLY CURRINGTON (Mercury/UMGN)

l9 12 19 SMOKE A THOUSAND HORSES (Republic Nashville/BMLG)

l10 13 32 LOVE YOU LIKE THAT CANAAN SMITH (Mercury/UMGN)

11 11 15 SIPPIN’ ON FIRE FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE (Republic Nashville/BMLG)

l12 18 10 HOUSE PARTY SAM HUNT (MCA Nashville/UMGN)

l13 15 17 LOVE ME LIKE YOU MEAN IT KELSEA BALLERINI (Black River)

l14 14 12 TONIGHT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU JASON ALDEAN (Broken Bow/BBMG)

l15 22 7 LOVING YOU EASY ZAC BROWN BAND (John Varvatos/Southern Ground/BMLG/Republic)

l16 19 4 I’M COMIN’ OVER CHRIS YOUNG (RCA Nashville/SMN)

17 16 13 ONE HELL OF AN AMEN BRANTLEY GILBERT (Valory/BMLG)

l18 21 20 LITTLE TOY GUNS CARRIE UNDERWOOD (19/Arista Nashville/SMN)

19 17 21 HOMEGROWN ZAC BROWN BAND (John Varvatos/Southern Ground/BMLG/Republic)

l20 27 7 KISS YOU IN THE MORNING MICHAEL RAY (Warner Bros./WMN)

21 23 16 DIAMOND RINGS AND OLD BARSTOOL TIM MCGRAW WITH CATHERINE DUNN (McGraw/Big Machine/BMLG)

22 25 15 GAMES LUKE BRYAN (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

l23 28 15 WILD CHILD KENNY CHESNEY WITH GRACE POTTER (Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville/SMN)

24 20 52 BOTTOMS UP BRANTLEY GILBERT (Valory/BMLG)

l25 38 6 LOSE MY MIND BRETT ELDREDGE (Atlantic/WMN)

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26 6 2 REAL LIFE JAKE OWEN (RCA Nashville/SMN)

l27 30 11 CRUSHIN’ IT BRAD PAISLEY (Arista Nashville/SMN)

28 31 8 RIOT RASCAL FLATTS (Big Machine/BMLG)

l29 35 11 BABY BE MY LOVE SONG EASTON CORBIN (Mercury/UMGN)

30 7 2 ROOTS AND WINGS MIRANDA LAMBERT (RCA Nashville/SMN)

l31 43 4 BREAK UP WITH HIM OLD DOMINION (RCA Nashville/SMN)

l32 32 3 HELL OF A NIGHT DUSTIN LYNCH (Broken Bow/BBMG)

33 34 4 YOUNG & CRAZY FRANKIE BALLARD (Warner Bros./WMN)

l34 37 16 I GOT THE BOY JANA KRAMER (Elektra Nashville/WMN)

35 36 35 AIN’T WORTH THE WHISKEY COLE SWINDELL (Warner Bros./WMN)

36 26 25 SHE DON’T LOVE YOU ERIC PASLAY (EMI Nashville/UMGN)

37 24 2 21 HUNTER HAYES (Atlantic/WMN)

38 33 50 LEAVE THE NIGHT ON SAM HUNT (MCA Nashville/UMGN)

l39 44 21 RIDE CHASE RICE (Dack Janiels)

40 40 80 THIS IS HOW WE ROLL FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE FEAT. LUKE BRYAN (Republic Nashville/BMLG)

l41 48 78 PLAY IT AGAIN LUKE BRYAN (Capitol Nashville/UMGN)

42 39 21 LITTLE RED WAGON MIRANDA LAMBERT (RCA Nashville/SMN)

43 46 152 CRUISE FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE (Republic Nashville/BMLG)

44 29 29 A GUY WALKS INTO A BAR TYLER FARR (Columbia Nashville/SMN)

l45 NEW GOOD NIGHT BILLY CURRINGTON FEAT. JESSIE JAMES DECKER (Mercury/UMGN)

46 47 23 MY WISH RASCAL FLATTS (Lyric Street)

l47 49 3 LET ME SEE YA GIRL COLE SWINDELL (Warner Bros./WMN)

l48 RE-ENTRY FLY MADDIE & TAE (Dot/BMLG)

49 45 39 DRINKING CLASS LEE BRICE (Curb)

50 41 101 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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l1 NEW 1 WILLIE NELSON / MERLE HAGGARD Django And JimmieLEGACY 509378 1

l2 1 2 6 ZAC BROWN BAND JEKYLL + HYDEJOHN VARVATOS/SOUTHERN GROUND/BMLG 022962/REPUBLIC 1

l3 NEW 1 BILLY CURRINGTON Summer ForeverMERCURY 022745/UMGN 3

4 4 3 32 SAM HUNT MontevalloMCA NASHVILLE 021502/UMGN 0 1

5 2 1 55 BRANTLEY GILBERT Just As I AmVALORY BG0200A/BMLG 0 1

6 5 6 33 LITTLE BIG TOWN Pain KillerCAPITOL NASHVILLE 021360*/UMGN 3

7 6 7 69 ERIC CHURCH The OutsidersEMI NASHVILLE 019402*/UMGN 1 1

8 7 9 35 JASON ALDEAN Old Boots, New DirtBROKEN BOW 7105/BBMG 1 1

9 3 — 2 THE LACS Outlaw In MeBACKROAD 265/AVERAGE JOES 3

10 9 8 13 LUKE BRYAN Spring Break... Checkin’ OutCAPITOL NASHVILLE 022540/UMGN 1

11 10 10 34 FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE Anything GoesREPUBLIC NASHVILLE /BMLG 0 1

12 8 5 8 REBA Love SomebodySTARSTRUCK/NASH ICON /BMLG 1

l13 NEW 1 GLORIANA ThreeEMBLEM/WARNER BROS. 549776/WMN 13

14 12 4 3 KELSEA BALLERINI The First TimeBLACK RIVER 2015 4

15 14 14 96 LUKE BRYAN Crash My PartyCAPITOL NASHVILLE 018733/UMGN 2 1

16 15 13 10 DARIUS RUCKER Southern StyleCAPITOL NASHVILLE 021931/UMGN 1

17 16 21 42 CHASE RICE Ignite The NightCOLUMBIA NASHVILLE 22573/DACK JANIELS 1

18 17 15 36 BLAKE SHELTON BRINGING BACK THE SUNSHINEWARNER BROS. 544918/WMN 0 1

19 13 11 6 TYLER FARR Suffer In PeaceCOLUMBIA NASHVILLE 500719/SMN 2

20 11 12 5 CHRIS STAPLETON TravellerMERCURY 019405*/UMGN 2

21 18 16 26 CARRIE UNDERWOOD Greatest Hits: Decade #119/ARISTA NASHVILLE 500876/SMN 0 1

l22 NEW 1 KANE BROWN Closer (EP)KANE BROWN 22

23 19 18 68 COLE SWINDELL Cole SwindellWARNER BROS. 541372/WMN 2

24 20 23 53 MIRANDA LAMBERT PlatinumRCA NASHVILLE 379278/SMN 0 1

25 22 25 37 KENNY CHESNEY The Big RevivalBLUE CHAIR/COLUMBIA NASHVILLE 306274/SMN 1

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l1 1 23 TAKE YOUR TIME SAM HUNT

l2 2 15 GIRL CRUSH LITTLE BIG TOWN

l3 3 11 SIPPIN’ ON FIRE FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE

l4 6 11 DON’T IT BILLY CURRINGTON

l5 11 2 KICK THE DUST UP LUKE BRYAN

6 5 67 THIS IS HOW WE ROLL FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE FEAT. LUKE BRYAN

l7 7 76 BOTTOMS UP BRANTLEY GILBERT

l8 13 9 LIKE A WRECKING BALL ERIC CHURCH

9 9 4 CRASH AND BURN THOMAS RHETT

10 8 50 LEAVE THE NIGHT ON SAM HUNT

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11 10 114 CRUISE FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE

12 12 63 PLAY IT AGAIN LUKE BRYAN

l13 15 4 SANGRIA BLAKE SHELTON

l14 20 2 21 HUNTER HAYES

15 14 16 HOMEGROWN ZAC BROWN BAND

l16 17 7 LITTLE TOY GUNS CARRIE UNDERWOOD

17 16 73 YOU BELONG WITH ME TAYLOR SWIFT

l18 18 4 SMOKE A THOUSAND HORSES

l19 – 76 WE ARE NEVER EVER GETTING BACK TOGETHER TAYLOR SWIFT

l20 – 2 HOUSE PARTY SAM HUNT

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

JOHN COUGAR, JOHN DEERE, JOHN 3:16 Capitol Nashville Keith Urban +980

LOVE YOU LIKE THAT Mercury Canaan Smith +180

DIAMOND RINGS AND OLD BARSTOOLS McGraw/Big Machine Tim McGraw With Catherine Dunn +175

TONIGHT LOOKS GOOD ON YOU Broken Bow Jason Aldean +164

HELL OF A NIGHT Broken Bow Dustin Lynch +150

LOVING YOU EASY Varvatos/BMLG/Southern Ground Zac Brown Band +145

SANGRIA Warner Bros./WMN Blake Shelton +136

REAL LIFE RCA Nashville Jake Owen +136

WILD CHILD Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville Kenny Chesney With Grace Potter +133

KICK THE DUST UP Capitol Nashville Luke Bryan +123

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 JUNE 11, 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