May 16, 2024 News@CountryAircheck.com

Burn Notice: Chris Stapleton, Jessie Jo Dillon and Parker McCollum received Artist-Songwriter, Songwriter and Visual Media of the Year, respectively, ahead of tonight's 59th ACM Awards. The wins marked Stapleton's 17th and Dillon's first. McCollum was recognized for his "Burn It Down" video during his ACM Lifting Lives benefit concert at Topgolf yesterday (5/15). The awards stream live from the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, TX tonight (5/16) on Prime Video and the Amazon Music channel on Twitch.

WCCQ Cuts: No official word, but Alpha WCCQ/Joliet, IL Dir./Content and morning host Todd "Bossman" Boss and midday host Maura Myles have exited. Boss had been with the station since 2008 and rose to his current position in 2021 (CAT 3/29/21). Myles had been with the cluster since 2012 and the station since 2019; she previously spent time as a news anchor and traffic reporter on Chicago stations, including WLS-AM, WLUP and WUSN.

Gig Alert: Saga Classic Country WSIG/Harrisonburg, VA morning co-host Ivy Lee departed in February, leaving an opening alongside incumbent Quinn Alexander that OM Brandy Lindsey is working to fill. Email aircheck audio and resume to Lindsey here. Lee handled mornings for WSIG from 2015-2019 (CAT 7/22/19) before relocating to serve as East Texas Broadcasting/Paris, TX Dir./Traffic. She returned to WSIG in 2022 (CAT 4/7/22).

Hit The Spot: The National Music Publishers' Assn. (NMPA) sent a cease & desist letter to Spotify yesterday (5/15) over what it termed "copyright infringement of our members’ musical works." Specifically, the letter takes issue with Spotify's use of lyrics in music videos and podcasts, as well as the streamer's "remix" feature, which lets users speed up, mash up or edit songs to create derivative works. NMPA maintains that such uses are copyright violations that must be paid for. Spotify issued a statement in response characterizing the cease & desist as "a press stunt filled with false and misleading claims." The NMPA letter is the latest salvo in the continuing friction between Spotify and music publishing groups (CAT 5/13).

Peace & Quiet: The next CRS360 webinar "Mental Health in The Music Industry: Saying the Quiet Part Out Loud" will be held May 23 at 1pm CT. Timed to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Month, the webinar features Jason Prinzo, who spoke on the topic at CRS 2024. Moderated by Moxie Coalition's Zena Burns, the session will offer strategies for fostering a healthy and positive mental outlook. Registration is free here.

Bits & Pieces: Martina McBride will serve as a judge on new talent competition Second Chance Stage, debuting this fall on Chip and Joanna Gaines' Magnolia Network. Filmed in Kansas City, the eight-episode series offers dancers, singers and standup comics "who have pushed their dreams aside for years, even decades, a second chance at their big break," plus an opportunity to win $100,000. Judges also include Taye Diggs and SNL's Heidi Gardner.

Stories Of The Week: Search for news and people in the archives at countryaircheck.com.

Opry guest hosts share their experiences, Post Malone's format debut is given context and drivetime leaders are revealed in Country Aircheck Weekly.
Fritz Moser joined Midwest/Peoria, IL as OM.
Brendon Anthony was named Big Loud Texas VP.
Cumulus' Travis Daily was elevated to VP/Country.
Natalie Kilgore returned to Brown Sellers Brown as VP/Publicity.
Chronicle: Robert Lindsey.

ICYMI: Tim McGraw will star in a new Netflix series set in the world of competitive bull riding. The show will follow "a megastar champion facing a life-or-death crossroads when confronted by the arrival of a fearless young rider whose existence challenges his ways and unearths secrets that force him to reckon with his past.” "This is like nothing I’ve ever done before … so excited for you to see what we’ve been working on," he shared alongside a photo of the script.

Country Aircheck Today Top 5: Here are the Top 5 songs for May 15, according to Mediabase 24/7.

TYLER HUBBARD/Back Then Right Now (EMI Nashville) 4647 points
BAILEY ZIMMERMAN/Where It Ends (Elektra/Warner/WEA) 4282 points
JELLY ROLL/Halfway To Hell (BMG/Stoney Creek) 3911 points
KENNY CHESNEY/Take Her Home (Warner/WEA) 3896 points
JORDAN DAVIS/Tucson Too Late (MCA) 3851 points

Country Aircheck Top Point Gainers: Here are the top point gainers for May 12-15 compared with the same days last week, according to Mediabase 24/7.

POST MALONE f/MORGAN WALLEN/I Had Some Help (Mercury/Republic/Big Loud) +7868 points
LAINEY WILSON/Hang Tight Honey (Broken Bow) +5585 points
THOMAS RHETT/Beautiful As You (Valory) +2105 points
TYLER HUBBARD/Back Then Right Now (EMI Nashville) +1814 points
MORGAN WALLEN f/ERNEST/Cowgirls (Big Loud) +1008 points

Tomorrow's Birthdays (5/17): Benton Blount, John Horton, Ed Bunker, the late Grant Turner.

Tube Check Tonight (5/16): The 59th Academy of Country Music Awards, streaming live on Prime Video and the Amazon Music channel on Twitch from Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, TX at 8pm ET.

Opry TexStage: Stoney Creek's Jelly Roll hosts Opry NextStage Live From Texas at the Lava Catina in Frisco. Pictured (front, l-r) are Restless Road's Garrett Nichols, Columbia's Ella Langley, WMN's Madeline Edwards, EMI Nashville's Anne Wilson, Flatland Cavalry's Wesley Hall, Adam Gallegos and Jonathan Saenz and Columbia's Tenille Townes; (back, l-r) Restless Road's Colton Pack and Zach Beeken, Warner/WAR's Chase Matthew, Island/Republic's Wyatt Flores, Mr. Roll, Flatland Cavalry's Jason Albers, Celto Cordero and Reid Dilllon and Warner/WEA's Ian Munsick.

Say Luccheese: MCA's Parker McCollum with Lucchese's John Muse (l) and Triple Tigers' Scotty McCreery with Lucchese's Doug Kindy at the company's (5/14) ACM pre-party.

It's Gonna Be Kay: WUSN/Chicago's Scotty Kay with Warner/WMN's Ashley McBryde and Big Loud's Ashley Cooke at ACM radio remotes.

Deep In The iHeart Of Texas: Records Nashville's Erin Kinsey celebrates ACM Awards week. Pictured (l-r) are the label's Helena Akhtar, iHeart's Michael Jordan, Kinsey and iHeart's Rod Phillips.