New "Nash Icons" Record Label Launched

[rsmatto]

It's a joint-venture between Big Machine and Cumulus, giving BMLG 5 imprints. This one will focus on 'legacy' artists from the past 25 years, artists whose hit making days may be behind them but artists who still are active and want to record.

www.roughstock.com/blog/big-machine-label-group-cumulus-launch-new-nash-icons-record-label-stations-and-branding

I used The Mavericks as the photo to go with this story because they're the perfect artists for this label. Well-liked band that can tour that had hits in the 90s but no longer is a big radio act. I could see Nash Icons label signing folks like Collin Raye, Joe Diffie, Pam Tillis, Clint Black, Diamond Rio, etc. This is a label that will also be able to get airplay for these acts on the Nash Icons channels, new 'classic country' channels which will focus on Country music from the last 25 years. Obviously, Terri Clark -- who is part of the Nash morning show -- will be a great act for the label and has new material in the fall. I suspect she and The Mavericks could be the first official folks on the label.

It's an interesting development that will also include merchandising, touring and video productions.

[sabre14]

I wonder how their going to work this with a 24/7 Nash Icon format. I assume there will be syndicated radio programs on cumulus owned stations that will probably air once a week or perhaps every day? I also wonder how this will effect chart and sales success? Will other non-cumulus owned stations decide to add these new songs from the "Nash Icon" label? Or is it just strictly cumulus stations that will be allowed to spin these new songs. Maybe a few of the new songs (singles) can gain some traction. It will be interesting to see how many artists are going to be on this label imprint as well. Just one more olive branch extended by Scott Borchetta.

The fact this is a partnership with a radio company has me concerned about how this will effect future potential partnerships. As much as I would love to hear new music from past their prime artists of the 80's and 90's, it remains to be seen how exactly this will turn out. The fact that BMLG now has 5 imprints with the announcement of Dot Records recently as well, is quite astonishing since BMLG is only 8 1/2 years old. I'm kind of just throwing out questions, concerns, and predictions as you can tell.

[onebuffalo]

I can see this being an 'Intersound of the 21st century', meaning the artists involved will rerecord their greatest hits and record new material as well.

[rsmatto]

Naw, it's about creating new product from heritage acts. There WILL be a radio show through Westwood one for non Nash Icon stations.

[Kanenrá:ke]

I'm really interested to see who they're going to sign. There's plenty of artists from the 90's or even the 80's who would be viable candidates to sign and be able to sell enough to turn a profit. This is one of the most interesting developments in the industry in a while, imo.

[bjer127]

I would love to see Ricky van Shelton come out of retirement. My friends mom lives next door to him. Really nice guy

[someguy]

I like this idea a lot. I'm intrigued to see what comes of it.

[jferstler]

Neal McCoy , Sammy Kershaw, Aaron Tippin, Tracy Lawrence, Tracy Byrd, John Michael Montgomery, Jo De Messina, Ken Mellons, Mark Chesnutt would all be fun to see on this label.

[tim]

May 14, 2014 17:39:53 GMT -5 bjer127 said:

I would love to see Ricky van Shelton come out of retirement. My friends mom lives next door to him. Really nice guy

I'd put RVS pretty close to the top at the list of country artists from late 80's/early 90's. I still need a RVS fix now and then. He is one artist I wish I would have had the chance to see live.

[zaclord 🌈]

Whoa, this is a fantastic idea! Props to Borchetta on still believing in country music! Can't wait to see what comes from this.

[.indulgecountry]

I really like the sound of this label. I'm looking forward to seeing who and what comes out of the Nash Icons imprint, and to see if this new platform could actually give some minor success to artists whose radio careers are otherwise over.

[Deleted]

I have mixed feelings about this. I'm definitely excited that some older and former radio stars might get the chance to get a bit more exposure with some of their newer product, but I don't really like the idea of labels partnering with specific radio corporations. Older artists that don't get signed to Nash Icons/Big Machine will be completely excluded from this show, and other radio stations (Clear Channel, CBS, Entercom, independent-owned ones) likely will have no access to it. It just seems like a conflict of interest to me...I don't think any radio corporations should be able to make deals with one specific label. It reminds me of how ESPN partnered with the SEC to start the SEC Network for college football...that's been heavily debated, because most people feel that ESPN, whose job it is to fairly cover sports, is showing strong bias in favor of the SEC.

I don't like all of this brand-building stuff. I wish a show like this could be a syndicated show that any radio station would have the option to pick up.

[Uncle Lumpy]

May 15, 2014 2:13:40 GMT -5 jhomes87 said:

I don't really like the idea of labels partnering with specific radio corporations.

^THIS.

Plus I just have a real hard time trusting anything that comes out of Scott Borchetta's mouth. I am intrigued that there may still be a reason for me having a terrestrial radio in my vehicles though....

[sabre14]

May 15, 2014 2:13:40 GMT -5 jhomes87 said:

I have mixed feelings about this. I'm definitely excited that some older and former radio stars might get the chance to get a bit more exposure with some of their newer product, but I don't really like the idea of labels partnering with specific radio corporations. Older artists that don't get signed to Nash Icons/Big Machine will be completely excluded from this show, and other radio stations (Clear Channel, CBS, Entercom, independent-owned ones) likely will have no access to it. It just seems like a conflict of interest to me...I don't think any radio corporations should be able to make deals with one specific label. It reminds me of how ESPN partnered with the SEC to start the SEC Network for college football...that's been heavily debated, because most people feel that ESPN, whose job it is to fairly cover sports, is showing strong bias in favor of the SEC.

I don't like all of this brand-building stuff. I wish a show like this could be a syndicated show that any radio station would have the option to pick up.

I echo this sentiment, as was my concerns and questions in my earlier post.

Something about a label, especially BMLG, partnering with a radio corporation is off putting and perhaps worrisome. I feel this might cause more conflict within the Nashville community. I understand that this will be great for some older artists, but the fact that other radio corporations will be excluded from this, might create some problems. Jamie's point about ESPN and the SEC Network is a great comparison. If I had a dime for every time a fan, coach, or media member, said that ESPN is SEC bias I would certainly be better off financially.

It remains to be seen exactly how this will turn out, but I'm going to hold off judgment till I see how this turns out.

[rsmatto]

Aircheck got a quote from the Cumulus CEO.
"If Country is Top 40 and Classic Country is Oldies, Nash Icon is Hot AC," Cumulus EVP/co-COO John Dickey tells Country Aircheck. "It's really about capturing where the format has grown and creating a natural fragmentation that, like Hot AC or Adult Top 40, is more gold-based and enjoying a lot of success." But new music from these iconic artists – Dickey mentions Reba, Garth Brooks, The Judds, Faith Hill and more – is also a key part of the plan.

This is a genre fragmentation idea, not a golden oldies situation. It's been successful in helping John Legend and others cross over to regular mainstream so it could happen with Country too, if the right single hits.

As for what jhomes87 says about the Big Machine component, it seems that it'll only help them get new programming content and will be just another label for Big Machine, this one more tailored for 'older' artists. It now seems to me that Reba will anchor this label.

This is the 'parting of the sea,' so to speak. This is what MANY fans have wanted, to remove some of those "Bro" and "Hip Hop" and overt "pop" off their playlists, though if it's like Hot AC, some of that WILL translate to this new format, it's just that past hits will have HEAVY airplay mixed in and stars like Toby Keith, Reba, etc will have chances to have bonafide hits whereas it might be harder to gain access to the more younger focused "Country" type of chart. For that reason alone, I like it and I'd hope most here would too, even if I, too, had reservations about radio companies owning parts of labels but I don't think anything that Cumulus does as owner of the Nash Icons label will cause other station groups from NOT playing a song from Reba just cause Cumulus is part owner in that label. All of this leads me to believe that the label component is no different than any 'financial backer' working with labels to fund them. It strikes me as that sort of deal and apart from the name, Big Machine will have complete autonomy in the artists they sign to the Nash Icons label.

Then again, Target doesn't stock Beyonce's latest or anything that gets Digital first release or exclusive windows anywhere else because THEY didn't get the exclusive.

[carriekins]

This is a great read about Nash Icons. Billboard Biz

[jferstler]

May 15, 2014 13:28:54 GMT -5 rsmatto said:

Aircheck got a quote from the Cumulus CEO. 
"If Country is Top 40 and Classic Country is Oldies, Nash Icon is Hot AC," Cumulus EVP/co-COO John Dickey tells Country Aircheck. "It's really about capturing where the format has grown and creating a natural fragmentation that, like Hot AC or Adult Top 40, is more gold-based and enjoying a lot of success." But new music from these iconic artists – Dickey mentions Reba, Garth Brooks, The Judds, Faith Hill and more – is also a key part of the plan.

This is a genre fragmentation idea, not a golden oldies situation. It's been successful in helping John Legend and others cross over to regular mainstream so it could happen with Country too, if the right single hits.

As for what jhomes87 says about the Big Machine component, it seems that it'll only help them get new programming content and will be just another label for Big Machine, this one more tailored for 'older' artists. It now seems to me that Reba will anchor this label.

This is the 'parting of the sea,' so to speak. This is what MANY fans have wanted, to remove some of those "Bro" and "Hip Hop" and overt "pop" off their playlists, though if it's like Hot AC, some of that WILL translate to this new format, it's just that past hits will have HEAVY airplay mixed in and stars like Toby Keith, Reba, etc will have chances to have bonafide hits whereas it might be harder to gain access to the more younger focused "Country" type of chart. For that reason alone, I like it and I'd hope most here would too, even if I, too, had reservations about radio companies owning parts of labels but I don't think anything that Cumulus does as owner of the Nash Icons label will cause other station groups from NOT playing a song from Reba just cause Cumulus is part owner in that label. All of this leads me to believe that the label component is no different than any 'financial backer' working with labels to fund them. It strikes me as that sort of deal and apart from the name, Big Machine will have complete autonomy in the artists they sign to the Nash Icons label.

Then again, Target doesn't stock Beyonce's latest or anything that gets Digital first release or exclusive windows anywhere else because THEY didn't get the exclusive.

So this label would give older artists the chance to put out new music and reach more people but what type of radio would it be played on? Or how would that work

[Deleted]

I did see that Aircheck snippet yesterday and that at least sounds promising, even if I still have reservations about the Big Machine-Cumulus partnership. But country radio has progressed so far away from the genre's roots that I've come to believe that splitting the genre up would be a good thing...new "country" music could be called something like "contemporary country radio" and the older stuff "traditional country radio", or something along those lines. At the very least, this move by Big Machine might help speed up that process.

Thanks for sharing that Billboard article, carriekins. It was a great read and I encourage others to read it as well. I like everything about this idea with the exception of a one label (Big Machine) and one corporation (Cumulus) partnership. But if the Nash Icons label can do well in a small "sample", so to speak, it might lead other labels to sign older artists, and other radio stations to switch to this more gold-based country type of format, thus resulting in a total fragmentation of the genre.

[rsmatto]

May 15, 2014 23:55:07 GMT -5 jhomes87 said:

I did see that Aircheck snippet yesterday and that at least sounds promising, even if I still have reservations about the Big Machine-Cumulus partnership. But country radio has progressed so far away from the genre's roots that I've come to believe that splitting the genre up would be a good thing...new "country" music could be called something like "contemporary country radio" and the older stuff "traditional country radio", or something along those lines. At the very least, this move by Big Machine might help speed up that process.

Thanks for sharing that Billboard article, carriekins. It was a great read and I encourage others to read it as well. I like everything about this idea with the exception of a one label (Big Machine) and one corporation (Cumulus) partnership. But if the Nash Icons label can do well in a small "sample", so to speak, it might lead other labels to sign older artists, and other radio stations to switch to this more gold-based country type of format, thus resulting in a total fragmentation of the genre.

Other labels already have artists who would fit this new format. Vince Gill, Shania and George Strait at UMG Nashville. Kenny Rogers, Randy Travis at Warner. Sara Evans at Sony, Dolly at Sony Masterworks. Garth is soon to work with a label company too. So whatever label gets him *rumor is it WON'T be Big Machine* he AND Trisha will go to whatever label he partners with. So, really, this new idea to create that "Hot AC"-like format. The great thing would be if a song does awesome there it can/will be able to cross over to the mainstream "Country" too. And certain "mainstream" stuff would definitely get played on the "Country AC" format. It's an interesting play and I think it CAN do well -- but maybe not as first --. This really should've been created a decade ago.

[Uncle Lumpy]

May 15, 2014 19:11:12 GMT -5 carriekins said:

This is a great read about Nash Icons. Billboard Biz

Thanks for the article! While I'm still not crazy about Scott Borchetta , Big Machine records and Cumulous being involved , Ive wanted to see the genre split for atleast a decade now! I'm nervously optimistic about this....

[Deleted]

Monday's Country Aircheck Weekly had a big story on the Big Machine/Cumulus "Nash Icons" partnership, and it hadn't really been discussed yet, so I figured this would be relevant here.

From Country Aircheck:

We’ve been thinking about this [fragmented country format] for four or five years in terms of where country music is and where fan bases still are for a lot of artists who aren’t able to get on today’s radio. The format has really pulled forward the last three or four years to be, in essence, Top 40 with just different records. But there’s a whole generation of artists from the last 20-25 years who are still relevant, have large fan bases, put lots of music out, but don’t have a platform for what they do.

Thinking about the conundrum, the only choices are to weave more of that music into a contemporary station’s playlist, which changes the complexion of what is a younger format, or create a business around all that great music and those iconic artists.

- Cumulus EVP/Co-COO John Dickey

Full article here (page 1 and continued on page 9).

**

And there you have it, the big head honcho at Cumulus admits that country radio is basically a different version of Pop/Top 40...and Clear Channel stations and all other big country stations play the same music that Cumulus does. If more roots-based and traditional country music can no longer find its way on to mainstream country playlists, then I don't think a fragmented format is that bad of an idea.

[kw9461]

May 22, 2014 12:27:57 GMT -5 jhomes87 said:

Monday's Country Aircheck Weekly had a big story on the Big Machine/Cumulus "Nash Icons" partnership, and it hadn't really been discussed yet, so I figured this would be relevant here.

**

And there you have it, the big head honcho at Cumulus admits that country radio is basically a different version of Pop/Top 40...and Clear Channel stations and all other big country stations play the same music that Cumulus does. If more roots-based and traditional country music can no longer find its way on to mainstream country playlists, then I don't think a fragmented format is that bad of an idea.

I agree with this, though I wish that the new format would get to keep the heritage and history of the country charts, but I guess I can get behind basically an Adult Country format. I just hope it allows for new artists as well, so that the sound will live on beyond just the golden years of the top 80's/90's artists.

[Deleted]

May 22, 2014 22:25:20 GMT -5 kw9461 said:

May 22, 2014 12:27:57 GMT -5 jhomes87 said:

Monday's Country Aircheck Weekly had a big story on the Big Machine/Cumulus "Nash Icons" partnership, and it hadn't really been discussed yet, so I figured this would be relevant here.

**

And there you have it, the big head honcho at Cumulus admits that country radio is basically a different version of Pop/Top 40...and Clear Channel stations and all other big country stations play the same music that Cumulus does. If more roots-based and traditional country music can no longer find its way on to mainstream country playlists, then I don't think a fragmented format is that bad of an idea.

I agree with this, though I wish that the new format would get to keep the heritage and history of the country charts, but I guess I can get behind basically an Adult Country format. I just hope it allows for new artists as well, so that the sound will live on beyond just the golden years of the top 80's/90's artists.

Agreed completely. I wouldn't want the "adult country" format to exclude newcomers. I think Charlie Worsham and Chris Stapleton would be great fits there. Kellie Pickler, Greg Bates, Kacey Musgraves, Easton Corbin...lots of the more traditional-minded newcomers who struggle at today's mainstream "country" radio.

Wouldn't it just be awesome if a handful of Cumulus stations rebranded as 'adult country', and were in the same markets as current Cumulus "country" stations, but the new 'adult country' stations beat the old "country" stations in the ratings? That would be so funny (and awesome), because it could show the corporate gatekeepers how foolish they are/have been for taking country radio so far away from its roots.

[onebuffalo]

Interesting:

www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-615/6099350/nash-icons-country-music-label-big-machine-cumulus

[straitfan87]

May 27, 2014 16:22:12 GMT -5 onebuffalo said:

Interesting:

www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-615/6099350/nash-icons-country-music-label-big-machine-cumulus

Sounds like good news to me! I'd love to see Alan to sign

[onebuffalo]

May 27, 2014 18:36:24 GMT -5 straitfan87 said:

May 27, 2014 16:22:12 GMT -5 onebuffalo said:

Interesting:

www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-615/6099350/nash-icons-country-music-label-big-machine-cumulus

Sounds like good news to me! I'd love to see Alan to sign

Alan Jackson would have to get out of his EMI contract first. Second, would Nash Icons let him partner up with his Alan's Country Records?

[Deleted]

May 27, 2014 18:41:37 GMT -5 onebuffalo said:

May 27, 2014 18:36:24 GMT -5 straitfan87 said:

Sounds like good news to me! I'd love to see Alan to sign

Alan Jackson would have to get out of his EMI contract first. Second, would Nash Icons let him partner up with his Alan's Country Records?

I don't know that he necessarily would. It's possibly that Mike Dungan and UMG would allow Nash Icons to release new Alan Jackson material to radio, but he could still keep his partnership with EMI if he ever wanted to do any side projects (a la his bluegrass and gospel albums).

[Deleted]

Billy Ray Cyrus:

Because Billy Ray has been putting out music that spans multiple decades, we also wanted to get his opinion on the forthcoming "Nash Icons" brand, that would seemingly give new life to the artists we have all grown up on -- himself included.

"I’m on It!" Cyrus excitedly exclaimed. "My new album is on the Nash Icons label, and it is called "The Distance". Some of my friends who joined me on the album, the late George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Miley also has a song on it ... It’s an honor to be a part of the legacy of Country music -- music that’s heard around the world. I’m just proud to be a part of it."

Source: AllAccess

[Deleted]

Jun 6, 2014 21:31:20 GMT -5 jhomes87 said:

Billy Ray Cyrus:

Because Billy Ray has been putting out music that spans multiple decades, we also wanted to get his opinion on the forthcoming "Nash Icons" brand, that would seemingly give new life to the artists we have all grown up on -- himself included.

"I’m on It!" Cyrus excitedly exclaimed. "My new album is on the Nash Icons label, and it is called "The Distance". Some of my friends who joined me on the album, the late George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Miley also has a song on it ... It’s an honor to be a part of the legacy of Country music -- music that’s heard around the world. I’m just proud to be a part of it."

Source: AllAccess

Billy Ray, an icon? That's...interesting.

[sabre14]

^ While Billy Ray Cyrus is far from an "icon", he has had many good songs over the span of his career. Many just remember his debut "Achy Breaky Heart" (which I didn't mind and actually somewhat enjoyed) and being the father of Miley and appearing on the Disney channel on a regular basis. But he's had singles like "Could've Been Me", "Some Gave All", "Words By Heart", "You Won't Be Lonely Now" and "Busy Man". All of which I liked and find to be quality songs.