Week of 03/25/24
ROCK birthday wishes to Atreyu guitarist Travis Miguel (3/25); Impending Doom guitarist Manny Contreras and Demon Hunter guitarist Jeremiah Scott (3/26); booking agent Jordan Cocklin (3/27); War Machine Marketing’s Ro Kohli (3/28); Blood Company’s Tim Smith and Cosa Nostra PR’s Michelle Kerr (3/31).
Week of 03/18/24
ROCK birthday wishes to producer Aaron Sprinkle (3/20); music video director Darren Doane and booking agent Mike Monterulo (03/21); Knotfest’s Audrey Flynn (3/22); and Budderside frontman Patrick Alan Stone (3/23).
Week of 02/26/24
ROCK Happy Birthday wishes to Markus Jacob at Nuclear Blast Records (02/26); producer Michael "Elvis" Baskette (02/28); Warner Music Group's J. Andrew Peterson (02/28); Exciter guitarist and Knotfest/BangerTV host Daniel Dekay (03/01); Facedown Records founder Jason Dunn (03/01); Cowboy Chords' Chris Trovero (03/01); Nuclear Blast Records' Holger Tiefenbach (03/01); and Tobbe Falarz at Arising Empire (03/02).
Nirvana & Metallica Among 2023’s Top-Selling Cassettes
The Guardians of the Galaxy franchise and Taylor Swift accounted for 29% of all cassette sales, according to Luminate (via Billboard). 436,000 cassettes were sold in the U.S. in 2023 (vs. 439,700 this year before). Cassettes made up just 0.41% of the 105.32 million albums sold (cassettes, vinyl, CDs, digital downloads). TOP 10-SELLING CASSETTE ALBUMS OF 2023 IN THE U.S. Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 (18,000) Taylor Swift 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (17,500) Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2: Awesome Mix Vol. 2 (16,000) Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3: Awesome Mix Vol. 3 (13,000) Taylor Swift Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) (11,500) Nirvana Bleach (8,000) Metallica 72
DEAFHEAVEN & HIGHER POWER Among February Label Signings
A handful of rock-label signings have come to light this month, including: GRAMMY-nominated American black metallers DEAFHEAVEN with the Warner Music-owned Roadrunner Records Melodic hardcore merchants HIGHER POWER with the Believe Digital-owned Nuclear Blast DREAM THEATER keyboardist JORDAN RUDESS with the Sony/Century Media-distributed InsideOut Music THRICE frontman DUSTIN KENRUSE with BMG for his forthcoming solo work Alt-metal band A KILLER'S CONFESSION with MNRK Heavy ALL FOR METAL with the newly launched Reigning Phoenix Music
Week of 02/19/24
ROCK Happy Birthday wishes to SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park Director of Artist & Industry Relations (and a former KROQ staffer of 20 years) Aissa Juarez-Leiker (02/19); Crown The Empire bassist Hayden Tree (02/19); MDDN manager Lior Grunberg (02/19); The Orchard's Darci Elizabeth (02/20); SKH Music's Steve Karas (02/20); Too Close To Touch drummer Kenneth Downey (02/20); 10th Street Management's Agustin "Pog" Mota (02/20); Raw Power Management's Matt Ash (02/21); iHeartRadio's Jimmy Alvarez (02/21); Townsquare Media's Chad Childers (02/22); Better Artists' Tim Zahodski (02/22); In De Goot's Bam Bino (02/23) and Vincent Hartong (02/24); Pierce The Veil guitarist Tony Perry
PAPA ROACH Scores 10th Mainstream Rock No. 1 with ‘Leave a Light On’
PAPA ROACH is No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart this week for the tenth time. "Leave a Light On" climbs from No. 4 to the top spot on the survey dated February 24. It's the fourth No. 1 single from the band's 2022 album, Ego Trip. This makes PAPA ROACH one of 11 bands with ten or more No. 1 singles in the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart's 43-year history. (SHINEDOWN tops 'em all, with 19.) Ego Trip is one of only eight albums (from seven different bands) to produce four or more chart-toppers from the same album. Two
#HAPPENS And Ryan J. Downey Partner To Super Serve ROCK Music Community
#HAPPENS taps longtime journalist and rock manager Ryan J. Downey to lead new ROCK division. Downey will curate a New Music Discovery experience for the Active Rock and Mainstream Rock community, bringing new content to the recently relaunched #HAPPENS website and delivering a rock-oriented #HAPPENS VIP newsletter to inboxes three times per week. These new services will operate in tandem with the #HAPPENS New Music Discovery Download Service soft-launched in January 2024. “I’m very excited to help the team at #HAPPENS expand the service they provide to the rock music community,” says Downey. “Music is a universal language, and rock,
DAUGHTRY Secures First Mainstream Rock Airplay No. 1 with ‘Artificial’
Daughtry achieved a significant milestone as "Artificial" ascended to the top spot on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Airplay chart, dated February 17. It's been 17 years since the Chris Daughtry-led band first broke into the chart with "It's Not Over," which peaked at No. 5 in March 2007. Chris Daughtry began his career in earnest as a contestant on American Idol, where he placed fourth during the competition show's fifth season in 2006. Though "Artificial" is Daughtry's first Mainstream Rock No. 1, the band has previously topped other Billboard airplay charts multiple times. This includes four No. 1 hits on Adult
