New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The
Music Business Association (Music Biz) will honor newly-minted Pop star
Meghan Trainor with the Breakthrough Artist of the Year Award at the
Music Biz 2015 Awards Luncheon on May 14 at the Sheraton Nashville Downtown Hotel in Nashville. Prior to achieving massive success with her album, Title, and its smash singles "
All About That Bass" and "Lips Are Movin," Trainor was a high school prodigy who came to Nashville after scoring a publishing deal at the age of 17. While there, she co-wrote tracks for major acts such as
Rascal Flatts and
Hunter Hayes before breaking through on her own after deciding to record "
All About That Bass" herself.
"Many people think Meghan was an overnight success, but she has actually been working in the music business for several years, a lot of that time in Nashville," said
James Donio, President of
Music Biz. "Now, we're thrilled to recognize her incredible talent in the city where her songwriting kicked into high gear."
Before hitting the big-time with Title, Meghan self-released three full-length albums before turning 17, wrote songs for some of the biggest names in Country music, and shored up her songwriting chops in the Reggae, Rock, and R&B genres by writing tracks for
Common Kings and
Hot Chelle Rae singer Ryan Follesé. She has more than earned her place among past Breakthrough Artist of the Year Award winners such as
Ariana Grande, Emeli Sandé, Nicki Minaj, John Legend, The Killers, Ne-Yo, and Carrie Underwood.
"I'd like to thank the
Music Business Association for this great honor," said Trainor. "When I first wrote 'All About That Bass,' I had no idea that it would completely change my life, but I'm glad that the song's message of self-empowerment has caught on. I'm excited to accept this Award."
Trainor began her career in music early, writing her first song, a reworking of Hoagy Carmichael's "Heart & Soul," when she was only 7 years old. By the time she hit 17, she had already recorded and self-released three albums - Meghan Trainor, I'll Sing with You, and Only 17 - and won multiple awards, including Best Female Artist at the 2009 International Acoustic
Music Awards and the Grand Prize at the 2010 New Orleans Songwriters Festival. She then declined a full scholarship to the prestigious Berklee College of
Music to pursue a publishing deal, eventually moving to Nashville and meeting songwriter and producer
Kevin Kadish, with whom she wrote the massively popular smash single "All About That Bass." After offering the track to major recording artists such as Beyoncé and Adele, Trainor decided to record the song herself, leading to a record deal with Epic Records, sales of more than 6 million copies of the track, two GRAMMY nominations for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, and the release of her full-length album Title, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200.
Music Biz 2015, which will be held in Nashville for the first time in Association history on May 12-14, is the music industry's premier event, giving the commerce and content sectors a place to meet with trading partners, network with new companies, and learn about new trends and products impacting the music business. Registration is available now. For more information or to sign up for the conference, visit https://musicbiz2015.com.
About the
Music Business Association
The
Music Business Association (Music Biz) is a membership organization that advances and promotes music commerce — a community committed to the full spectrum of monetization models in the industry. It provides common ground by offering thought leadership, resources and unparalleled networking opportunities, all geared to the specific needs of its membership. By leveraging the legacy of the former
National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM) and its hub for digital initiatives, digitalmusic.org,
Music Biz brings a unique perspective and valuable insight into the trends and changes that innovation brings. Today, we put our collective experience to work across all delivery models: physical, digital, mobile and more.
Music Biz and its members are committed to building the future of music commerce — together.
To apply for press access to
Music Biz 2015, fill out the form at https://musicbiz.wufoo.com/forms/music-biz-2015-editorial-press-application.
Music Biz 2015 Media Contacts
Laurie Jakobsen, Jaybird Communications —
[email protected], 646.484.6764
Nicole Hennessey,
Music Biz —
[email protected], 856.313.5532
Ipsos Research Study Highlights Continued Strength Of AM/FM
Radio In Cars
A research study conducted by Ipsos, a leading global independent market research company, makes it clear that AM/FM radio remains the overwhelmingly preferred audio entertainment option in the car.
"This study shows that the consumer isn't replacing existing services and products with new ones; instead, they want them all -- making the car even more music-enabled with a number of choices at any given time."
While consumers use new streaming services, virtually all consumers - 99% -- are comfortable with the current AM/FM in-car radio operation. And 91% of consumers say they prefer physical AM/FM radio buttons and controls built into the car dashboard, rather than AM/FM being an app that appears in the car's electronic interface (with only 9% saying they would want it changed into a dashboard app).
An additional eye-opening finding was that while AM/FM radio remains paramount in the car, consumers use their in-car CD player three and a half times as much as they use any digital music service.
The survey also detailed other facts highlighting the unparalleled importance to consumers of AM/FM radio in the car; the demand for digital services is increasing, but they are still behind AM/FM radio, the CD player and satellite radio:
AM/FM radio still dominates in-car listening as the top platform used, with 84% of consumers using it in the car, followed by CD players at 64% -- but radio still maintains a huge leadership position over the next closest service choice, Sirius/XM - which had 22%.
Pandora was 18%; iHeartRadio was 8%; HD
Radio 7%; and Spotify was 7%.
80% of consumers chose AM/FM car radio as the top option for their car's entertainment system, followed by the CD player at 68%, satellite radio at 45%, and a streaming music service at 34%.
"Overall, this study makes it clear that in spite of consumers' love of apps and new digital products, they have a great attachment to their AM/FM radio and an overwhelming desire to keep its operation and function as it is," said
Thomas Spinelli, Vice President of Ipsos MediaCT. "The in-car AM/FM radio is still a universally known audio platform - and its ease of use, convenience, features and familiarity continue to make it a top consumer choice for in-car audio."
Spinelli added, "This study shows that the consumer isn't replacing existing services and products with new ones; instead, they want them all -- making the car even more music-enabled with a number of choices at any given time."
