Billboard Magazine 10/8/2016

THE ALL-STAR ANTHEM “forever countr y” BY the 30-act collective billed as Artists of Then, Now & Forever, blasts in at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart (dated Oct. 8). It also debuts at No. 21 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100. The song, which celebrates 50 years of the Country Music Association Awards (to be held Nov. 2), launches with 93,000 downloads sold (good for a No. 2 start on Digital Song Sales) and 5.7 million U.S. streams in its first week (ending Sept. 22), according to Nielsen Music. Profits will benefit music education causes through the Country Music Association Foundation. The Shane McAnally-produced track is a medley of three classics: John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” (from 1971), Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You”…

“WE have SEEN A LOT OF streaming services built for tech-savvy early adopters,” says iHeartRadio president Darren Davis. Instead, he wants his company’s new on-demand venture to remind users of an earlier, more intuitive Internet service. “AOL was so easy to use that millions of people did.” That kind of simplicity could set apart iHeartRadio’s newly announced initiative in the fiercely competitive world of on-demand streamers. In January, the company plans to add two tiers to its existing radio-style streaming service: iHeartRadio Plus (ad-free radio with additional features) and iHeartRadio All Access (closer to an on-demand streaming service). Features and prices have not been announced but are expected to cost around $5 and $10 per month, respectively. Unlike Spotify and Apple, which trumpet innovative music-discovery tools or exclusive content to…

ON SEPT. 29, 300 delegates from all sectors of the electronic music industry will converge in Shanghai for the third International Music Summit in the Asia-Pacific region to discuss one thing: how to unlock the world’s largest untapped market for dance music. In many ways, the shift is already happening. In 2012, Ultra Music Festival expanded to South Korea, gradually raising the number of events and countries to eight in 2016 — with headliners including Afrojack, DJ Snake, Deadmau5, Kygo and Martin Garrix — which attracted more than 350,000 fans, a 56 percent increase over 2015, bringing in an estimated $29.5 million in ticket sales. IMS launched its annual Asian conference in 2014, and during the past two months, two of the world’s largest dancemusic promoters — SFX’s Made Event…

Though the fourth quarter is considered the most fertile for potential Oscar releases, there already is a “luxury of riches” — as one Academy Awards voter puts it — when it comes to best original song prospects. Leading the contender charge for the Feb. 26 ceremony is Sia, who has cowritten three strong potential entries, including “Unforgettable“ from Pixar’s Finding Dory and “Try Everything” from Disney’s Zootopia. She also will have another song — her fourth — eligible from Lion, which opens Nov. 25. “Sia could have a category of her own,” says new Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences memberat-large Mike Knobloch, president of film music and publishing for Universal Pictures, who worked with the Australian artist on 50 Shades of Grey. “There’s something amazing and cinematic about…

Lyor Cohen has been named global head of music for YouTube, the company announced on Sept. 28. In a letter to the YouTube Music staff, Cohen said he would focus on bridging “the worlds of technology and music in ways that benefit everyone.” Cohen, who turns 57 on Oct. 3, becomes the latest music industry executive to join a streaming company in a label or artist relations role, following former Interscope chief Jimmy Iovine at Apple and ex-Lady Gaga manager Troy Carter at Spotify. He arrives at YouTube at a time when the online video platform has come under increasing attack from the music industry, which accuses it of low payments. In an open letter to the company in June, veteran manager Irving Azoff wrote, “You have built a business…

CO-FOUNDER/CEO, TICKETFLY As music industry TRAILblazers go, Andrew Dreskin stands in rarefied company, having pulled off two ticketingbusiness feats during his 25-year career. He co-founded TicketWeb, the first online ticketing platform, which was sold to Ticketmaster in 2000 for $35.2 million. Then, in October 2015, Ticketfly, a 2.0 version of Dreskin’s vision (for which he serves as co-founder/CEO, overseeing a staff of 208), was acquired by Internet radio giant Pandora for $450 million. It’s a long way from New Orleans’ Tipitina’s, where the New Jersey native promoted his first show while at Tulane University. Post-college, Dreskin eventually landed at Bay Area-based indie label Beserkley Records (Greg Kihn Band, Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers), where he built the company’s website during the Internet’s infancy. Later, partnering with Rick Tyler, who…