Taylor Swift – Page 11 – Country Universe

Grammy Pre-Telecast Winners

February 10, 2013 Kevin John Coyne 0

Grammy Pre-Telecast Winners

Here are the winners in country and country-related categories, including all-genre categories that include a country-related nominee:

Best Long Form Music Video: Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros & Old Crow Medicine Show, Big Easy Express

Song Written for Visual Media: T Bone Burnett, Taylor Swift, John Paul White & Joy Williams, “Safe and Sound”

Americana Album: Bonnie Raitt, Slipstream

Bluegrass Album: Steep Canyon Rangers, Nobody Knows You

Folk Album: Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile, The Goat Rodeo Sessions

Country Duo/Group Vocal Performance: Little Big Town, “Pontoon”

Country Song: Josh Kear & Chris Tompkins, “Blown Away”

Single Review: Lady Antebellum, "Downtown"

February 10, 2013 Jonathan Keefe 13

Credit where credit is due: After a run of two full albums’ worth of singles that were each exponentially more tepid than the last, Lady Antebellum realized the urgent need for a course correction. “Downtown,” the lead single for the trio’s fourth album, may not be a return to the roots-rock sound of their promising debut, but it’s a definite, deliberate shift in style from the somnolent lite-AC pap that had become their signature. Lady A needed to do something different, and “Downtown” certainly is.

CU's Top Singles of 2012

December 29, 2012 Ben Foster 47

2012 Something you probably already know about us here at Country Universe: We love country music. A lot. While truly great country music has become scarce on country radio, we are fortunate to live in an age in which modern technology has made great music more accessible than ever, regardless of whether Top 40 radio dares touch it.

At the close of each year we separate the grain from the chaff, and share the music we discovered over the past year that made us glad that we stuck with our genre of choice. We at Country Universe have put our heads together to create the following lists of favorite singles and albums of 2012.

2012 CMA Awards: Staff Picks & Predictions

October 28, 2012 Tara Seetharam 38

While the rest of the country fixates on “Nashville,” the 46th annual Country Music Association Awards air live from Music City with equal drama and ridiculousness November 1 at 7 p.m. CST. The CU staff picked and predicted the awards below. Chime in with your thoughts, and check back for our live blog on Thursday night!

Entertainer of the Year

Should Win:

Jason Aldean – Dan, Ben, Kevin
Kenny Chesney
Brad Paisley
Blake Shelton
Taylor Swift – Jonathan, Tara, Leeann

Will Win:

Jason Aldean – Dan, Ben, Jonathan, Kevin
Kenny Chesney
Brad Paisley
Blake Shelton
Taylor Swift – Tara, Leeann

Single Review: Madonna, "Love Spent"

October 14, 2012 Kevin John Coyne 14

Thirty years ago, Madonna released her first single. In the years that followed, she dominated radio formats across the dial, but never released a single targeting the country market. Until now.

The Day the Music (Chart) Died

October 11, 2012 Kevin John Coyne 127

So, Billboard decided to completely change its chart methodology today:

Billboard unveils new methodology today for the long-standing Hot Country Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Latin Songs charts. Each receive a major consumer-influenced face-lift, as digital download sales (tracked by Nielsen SoundScan) and streaming data (tracked by Nielsen BDS from such services as Spotify, Muve, Slacker, Rhapsody, Rdio and Xbox Music, among others) will now be factored into the 50-position rankings, along with existing radio airplay data monitored by Nielsen BDS. The makeovers will enable these charts to match the methodology applied to Billboard’s signature all-genre songs ranking, the Billboard Hot 100.

On the surface, this seems like a good idea. After all, the country singles chart included both sales and airplay data for decades, until switching to airplay-only in 1989. Declining availability of retail singles made this change necessary.

Single Review: Taylor Swift, "Begin Again"

September 28, 2012 Kevin John Coyne 24

The title of Taylor Swift’s new single is oddly appropriate, as her label hits the reset button at country radio.

“We are Never Ever Getting Back Together” was apparently too pop for her genre home base, though it will certainly continue to dominate top forty for a good long while. Country radio is now getting its own single, and it’s quite the genre exercise.

2012 CMA Nominations

September 5, 2012 Ben Foster 60

The list of nominees for the 46th annual Country Music Association Awards has been released. Eric Church had a big breakthrough this past year, and such is reflected in the nominee list – Church leads the pack with five nominations. Current favorite power couple Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert follow with four each, including a shared Song of the Year nod for their co-write “Over You.”

Single Review: Taylor Swift, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"

August 14, 2012 Kevin John Coyne 69

Building a Taylor Swift single around the vocal is like building a hamburger around the bun.

iPod Check: Most Played Song by Twenty Country Artists

August 12, 2012 Kevin John Coyne 24

Since bringing back Recommend a Track proved so popular, I’m resurrecting another CU oldie but goodie: the iPod check.

I’ve only recently discovered the Most Played feature on iTunes, since it never had any relevance until iPods were large enough in memory to sync all of my music. So going back to early 2011, I have a lengthy list of the songs I’ve played the most.