CountryBreakout winners hailed for radio spins
The MusicRow CountryBreakout Awards were once again the unofficial kickoff to the Country Radio Seminar (CRS). Air personalities, program directors, radio execs, recording artists and record label folks gathered at the Listening Room in Nashville, Wednesday, February 12 for the 17th annual MusicRow CountryBreakout Award show.
Each year, MusicRow magazine recognizes the artists and songwriters who have made the greatest impact on the secondary-market radio stations whose airplay reports provide the statistics for MusicRow’s weekly charts.
Attendees were treated to performances from CJ Solar, who opened the proceedings with an energetic and rockin’ full-band set, and Chase McKinney who closed the show with a cool acoustic set. In between, MusicRow owner and publisher Sherod Robertson announced the winners for 2018 and presented the awards.
CJ Solar
CJ Solar was called back to the stage to receive the Independent Artist of the Year Award. CJ’s two singles, “Airplane” and “American Girls,” together totaled 38,689 spins. Both singles entered the MusicRow CountryBreakout Chart, and appear on his five-song EP, Get Away With It (Sea Gayle Records). An accomplished songwriter, CJ scored his first No. 1 as a writer in 2018 with “Up Down,” recorded by Morgan Wallen featuring Florida Georgia Line.
Jordan Davis
Breakout Artist of the Year Award went to Jordan Davis (UMG Nashville) with a total of 76,360 spins. For Davis, the ‘break out’ was “Singles You Up” that hit No. 1 on the MusicRow CountryBreakout Chart. The song also topped the Billboard Country Airplay chart, picking up an RIAA Platinum certification along the way. His follow-up song, “Take It From Me,” added to his spins total, topping MusicRow’s chart in the fall of 2018.
Shane McAnally
The unstoppable Shane McAnally received Songwriter of the Year Award with an amazing seven Number One writing credits on the MusicRow CountryBreakout Chart. Shane’s chart-topping hits: “Female,” “Written in the Sand,” “Marry Me,” “Get Along,” “I Hate Love Songs,” “Burn Out” and “Down to the Honky Tonk.” He had previously tied for the award in 2016 with Josh Osborne and Ashley Gorley, but this was Shane’s first solo win as Songwriter of the Year.
Florida Georgia Line
Florida Georgia Line won Group/Duo of the Year for the fifth year in a row. Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard earned 72,042 spins on reporting stations in 2018. “Meant To Be,” their collaboration with Bebe Rexha, and the follow-up titled “Simple” both reached No. 1 on MusicRow’s chart last year. “Meant to Be” also brought FGL their first Grammy nomination for Best Country Duo/Group Performance.
Jason Aldean
Jason Aldean received the Male Artist of the Year award for the second time with a total of 84,659 spins. Jason topped the MusicRow charts three times in 2018 with “You Make It Easy,” “Drowns the Whiskey” (featuring Miranda Lambert) and “Girl Like You.” He is currently the reigning ACM Entertainer of the Year.
Kelsea Ballerini
Kelsea Ballerini picked up her third win as Female Artist of the Year for 63,303 spins. “I Hate Love Songs” topped the MusicRow charts in September 2018. “I feel so tall,” said Kelsea, teetering a little on high, high heels as she received the award and acknowledged the applause from the music industry audience. “I Hate Love Songs” is the second single from her album, Unapologetically (Black River Entertainment).
Capitol Records Nashville
Additionally, Capitol Records Nashville received MusicRow’s Label of the Year Award with 512,537 spins. It was the 14th consecutive year that they received this award. The Reporter of the Year Award went to Derek Beck, Program Director of reporting station KRGI-FM in Grand Island, Nebraska.
The MusicRow CountryBreakout Awards 2019 show was sponsored by Vaden Group Elliott Davis
You can read full details about the Awards and much more in the February/March edition of MusicRow. More information at https://musicrow.com/
Preshias Harris is a music journalist and music career development consultant with the emphasis on new and aspiring artists and songwriters. Her book, ‘The College of Songology 101: The Singer/Songwriter’s Need to Know Reference Handbook’ is available at www.collegeofsongology.com Follow her blog at www.nashvillemusicline.com