Singer Sheryl Crow is releasing her first new album in two years and first country album ever. Warner Music Nashville is celebrating her performance of new single “Easy” on late night television and looking forward to worldwide exposure with the aid of airplay on country radio.
Crow is of course no stranger to radio, which has helped her sell over 35M records during the course of her career.
Crow performed “Easy” on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” 1/24/13. The album which “Easy” will be part of is forthcoming.
Warner’s John Esposito said, “I couldn’t be more happy or proud than to have Sheryl join us and become a wonderful part of Warner Bros. Records’ rich musical history. She is an incredibly special artist whose songwriting and performances are beyond magical. Sheryl has made a masterpiece that we know country radio and fans from all across the world are going to love.”
Added Crow, “I’m excited that my country debut album will be released on Warner Bros. Records. I believe a lot of my songs would probably be played on country radio today if they were just being released. The country music community has been incredibly welcoming and I’m excited to work with John Esposito and his team at Warner Music Nashville.”
RBR-TVBR observation: And another label exec and another musician provide testimony to the value of airplay. Are you getting this, judiciary committee members on Capitol Hill?
If you see the performance rights issue as radio benefitting on the back of the music industry, you are only seeing half the picture. Every time a radio station plays a song, it is on average a three-minute free commercial for the music side, helping to sell recordings, concert tickets and all kinds of paraphernalia.
The intrinsic value of airplay has to be part of the equation when this issue is aired out in Congress this year. And the recording side clearly understands this, or they wouldn’t talk about it so much.
