JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Industry Message Forum Does "Cashbox" Online Count?

One of my friends has his album placed at #10 this week on the online Cashbox chart, and would like to know how happy I should be for him. Thanks for any info. Here is the site:

http://rootsmusicreport.com/2.0/cashbox.php?chart=truecountry

I believe Cashbox has been around for decades, pre-internet, believe it or not. If you look at the artists it follows you see it is a serious industry entity.

Does your friend have a name? Does your friend's song or CD have a name? How happy you should be for them depends on where their product stands among the other artists whose product has made them household names.

I think the Cashbox Gary's thinking off went under in the 90s. It might have been bought by Billboard like Radio and Records in the last few years.

Well, I just paused and it did go under (stop printing) in 96 but their web site says "we're back." They also have some archives. Maybe with R&R being bought by Billboard, they're trying to fill that spot again.

Johnny, the link you provide has Gene Watson listed at number 10. Is he the friend you're talking about? By my way of thinking, Gene Watson is pretty close to being a legend whether he's on a chart or not.

Then the chart changed today. #10 to #29 in a day. His name is Russ Edwards.

Just seems odd that he is just playing in our local area at coffee houses, sold a handful of CD's, yet is listed among top selling artists.

I once had that happen in a publication, and it was found to be a bogus chart. Not relative to anything other than the publisher stroking our egos to keep radio promotion up, which we found out his partner was in on that.

Just seems suspicious to have such star names, and then my friend's. He's feeling mighty high about, as we were before. Big letdown coming, I'm afraid. Just want to be certain before saying anything to him, if at all.

The Cashbox magazine folded in the late 90's. Radio and Records folded about two years ago. These charts are offshoots of them but I wouldn't expect too much in the way of reality. There are hundreds of these charts on the Internet and no one can figure out how they are compiled. Wouldn't surprise me if it was a bunch of song pluggers or organizations putting them together for their pitching services.

Billboard is the industry standard. It is comprised of sales and radio airplay. All the rest are really cool to have but of no real relevance. I have hit number one on some contemporary Christian charts. I don't even write contemporary Christian songs. I wrote a few things with an artist who attends all these conferences and pays a lot of money chasing her tail on them.

The givaway should be when you see names like Gene Watson, (who is great by the way) but has been out of a mainstream record deal for 20 years on there.

So it is more likely publicity than anything else.

MAB

I don't know Cashbox - here's a different story, but same arena .. I received an email from a songwriter friend this morning .. actually it's the 2nd one. The 1st email was a few weeks back when he told me he was contacted by a publisher and was planning on playing his song on a "Nashville" radio station ... He was checking to see if I knew anything about them ... scam alert was on, but since they were not asking him for any money seemed harmless at the moment...
Today's email....
JOANNE:
I REALLY DID HAVE A SONG PLAYED ON A NASHVILLE INTERNET STATION 2 WEEKS AGO. IT WAS REALLY COOL TO HEAR ONE OF MY DEMOS PLAYED “ON THE AIR”. SATURDAY, I RECEIVED A PACKAGE IN THE MAIL FROM THE PUBLISHER WHO PUT IT ON THE INTERNET. HE SAID THEY PLAYED IT TWICE AND IT GOT GOOD FEEDBACK. HE ALSO SAID THAT IT WILL NOT BE PLAYED AGAIN.

HOWEVER, DUE TO THE POPULARITY OF THE SONG, IT WOULD BE A SHAME NOT TO PROMOTE IT FURTHER. THIS IS WHERE HE COMES IN.

THE REGULAR FEE FOR PROMOTION, IS $750.00, BUT THE SONG IS SO GOOD, THAT HE WILL PAY $500.00 OF IT. AND FOR ONLY $250.00 HE WILL PROMOTE THE SONG. THIS INCLUDES PLAYING IT ON THE INTERNET AGAIN, AND A REVIEW OF THE SONG ON HIS “ON LINE MAGAZINE”. HE DIDN’T SPECIFY WHAT ELSE I GET FOR THE 250.00, SO I HAVE TO ASSUME NOTHING.

CAN YOU SAY SCAM???

ANYWAY, I GOT A DEMO ON THE NET, AND HE ALSO SENT ME A COMPLIMENTARY CD OF THE RADIO SHOW MY SONG WAS ON.

hmmmmmm ... scam? i don't know .. maybe, maybe not...maybe just an imaginative business tactic to reel in songwriters... i was thinking along the lines of Marc, maybe songpluggers..

just thought i'd share..
Joanne

There are a lot of variations on this theme. The Internet is set up so that people can broadcast their own shows, pod cast, etc. Kind of like we did when we were kids playing around with reel to reel tape recorders or HAM radios. Could put things out there but very small chance of anyone really hearing it.

I am always hesitant to call things a "scam." They generally do what they say they are going to do. You just have to decide if that is worth the $250 for you. Or if you could save that money toward another demo or a trip to a music center.

MAB

Interesting that you are talking about this. I just got an e-mail from a friend of mine. He was a co-writer with one of my best friends on a big number one back in the 70's. (I just got to know this guy last year)He sends me this e-mail about once every other week showing several charts. His current song is on a couple of them. It is as if to say "I am still around." Of course he is not an artist, so I am not sure what he is proving.
There are also names like the Gene Watson and other people I have not heard of in 20 years. So like I said, there are a lot of charts out there. Not sure too many of them are that relevant. I guess it is true we are all famous for 15 minutes. Or years sometimes.

MAB

Someone said, "Getting play on the internet is like winking in the dark. It probably won't get you anywhere with whoever you think you're winking at."

So much of modern commerce is bought and sold, AC sparkplugs, Jeep, Rubbermaid, and the good name carries a lot of weight, but the new owners may cut corners and make a fortune capitalizing on the goodwill the name brings with it.

Anything you can only find on the internet may be less than reliable. I wouldn't get too excited until other media start picking up on a story. Then you can figure it has some merit. It would be so easy to convince someone they need to spend some money because their song is doing so well on 'the' charts.