The Business of Placing Country Music In Film

COUNTRY DVDS: Position, Promote and Profit

By Edward Morris

Keith Urban's "Livin' Right Now" DVD has sold more than 130,000 copies since its release in September 2005. But high production costs, limited means of promotion and uncertain prospects of sales continue to restrict the number of concert DVDs record labels make available to Country fans. More common - and less costly - are the DVD compilations of the artists' previously released music videos.

Montgomery Gentry's "You Do Your Thing: The DVD," which collects six of the duo's videos, was certified Gold (for the sale of 50,000 units) within two months of its release in April 2004. Urban's "Video Hits" DVD - also a six-pack - was declared Platinum (100,000) 20 months after it debuted in February 2004.

Bill Kennedy, VP of Sales for Capitol Records Nashville, said that the Urban concert DVD, which was shot at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles, is the only one of that type that his label has done lately. "And it has met all of our expectations for sales and in what we want to accomplish concerning Keith's exposure," he noted.

"Besides getting to the core fan base you can use that footage for other things," Kennedy continued. "In Keith's case, where you have a great performer - the 2005 CMA Entertainer of the Year - you want to capture that and give fans a chance to purchase something [visual] so they don't have to get it via some other avenue [such as being] bootlegged." (Technology has gotten to the point that fans can surreptitiously tape and sell entire concert performances.)

Kennedy said he thought Capitol artists Trace Adkins and Dierks Bentley were "pretty close" to being eligible for their own concert DVDs. "There's a lot that goes into it," he explained. "You end up shooting more than one [show], and it takes a while." Although production, editing and licensing costs of concert DVDs vary widely, Kennedy estimated, "as a general rule, if you're going to do a concert DVD, you'd want to sell from a low end of 50,000 copies to a high end of 100,000."

Capitol has released two music video-based DVDs on Adkins since 2004. The first has gone Platinum (100,000) and the second has reached Gold status, (50,000 units) according to the Recording Industry Association of America. Urban, the 2006 CMA Male Vocalist of the Year, is one of the hottest acts in Country Music, so it follows that his DVD would sell well. But is there a rationale for producing such a DVD on a new act that has no name recognition or on an older artist who has long since fallen off the charts? And how will the DVD be financed?

The PovertyNeck Hillbillies is a seven-man band from the Pittsburgh area. Beginning in 2002, the band built such a large regional following that it was able to secure a number of deep-pocket sponsors, notably 84 Lumber, Cricket mobile phones and Coors Light beer. Last year, Pittsburgh public television station WQED brought the Hillbillies into its studio and taped a live performance. The show became a part of WQED's programming, a special offered to other PBS stations and a DVD for sale to fans.

In 1997, singer Don Williams took a TV crew with him to record one of his concerts in Zimbabwe, a country where he has a large and intensely devoted following. Initially, Williams, who was last on the charts in 1992, sold VHS copies of "Into Africa" at his shows. In 2004, his label, Intersound/Compendia, released "Into Africa" as a DVD. Afterward, Robert Pratt, Williams' manager, negotiated a deal to have the show syndicated nationally to PBS stations.

In recent months, WNPT, Nashville's public television outlet, has aired both "PovertyNeck Hillbillies Live" and "Into Africa," a strong demonstration that concert DVDs, if properly licensed for broadcast, can find audiences for artists well beyond their regular fan base.

Harmon McBride, WNPT's Program Director, said that WQED sent him a copy of the Hillbillies DVD and asked him to consider broadcasting it. "I thought the program was good and I thought the group was good," he reflected. "PovertyNeck Hillbillies Live" was syndicated to other PBS stations by NETA. The band's label, Rust Records, licensed the DVD from WQED to sell in a package with the band's debut album. The Williams show came to WNPT as part of a larger package of programs that WLIW/Long Island, was offering for syndication.

"The aim [of broadcasting "Into Africa" on PBS] was to show the American people that they have an artist who has such a massive following in another country," Pratt said. "We're doing a number of projects with PBS during the course of the year - some concerts with Don in various parts of America. They will air the 'Africa' video prior to the concert in the local area." The DVD will also be offered for sale as part of the PBS tie-in.

Rhonda Vincent & The Rage's DVD, "Ragin' Live," has been edited down to an hour and is being syndicated to PBS stations, McBride said. Jointly sponsored by Vincent's label, Rounder Records, and Martha White Flour, the DVD was filmed during a live performance at Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis.

Whether concert or compilation, one of the primary purposes of a DVD is to convey a feeling of intimacy between artist and fans. One of the best current examples of this is "Gretchen Wilson Undressed," a simulated post-concert jam session shot at Charleston Civic Center in Charleston, W.Va. It should also be noted that the "Rascal Flatts Live" DVD, released in September 2003 went double-Platinum in March 2004. Toby Keith has scored two Gold and one Platinum DVDs, all video compilations.

There are several bluegrass concert DVDs available, including "Telluride Bluegrass Festival" (shot at the 2003 event), Dolly Parton's "Live and Well" (shot at Dollywood in 2002), Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder's "Soldier of the Cross: The Concert" (filmed in 2003 at the Gibson Bluegrass Café in Nashville), the Platinum-selling "Alison Krauss & Union Station Live" (filmed at Louisville Palace in 2003), "A Gospel Bluegrass Homecoming" (recorded at Fisk University in Nashville in 2003) and "Bluegrass Journey: A Documentary" (released in 2003).

RECENTLY RELEASED COUNTRY ARTIST DVDs

Alison Krauss & Union Station / "Alison Krauss & Union Station & Union Station Live" / Rounder

Trace Adkins / "Video Hits" and "Video Hits 2" / Capitol

Chris Cagle / Video Hits" / Capitol

Glen Campbell / "In Concert" / Image

Johnny Cash / "Man in Black: Live in Denmark 1971" / Columbia/Legacy

Charlie Daniels Band / "CDB DVD Live" / Blue Hat/Koch

Cross Canadian Ragweed / "Back to Tulsa: Live and Loud at Cain's Ballroom" / Universal Records

Emmylou Harris and Mark Knopfler / "Real Live Roadrunning" / Warner Bros.

Faith Hill / "When the Lights Go Down" / Warner Bros.

Alan Jackson / "Precious Memories: Live at the Ryman" / ACR/Arista

Waylon Jennings / "Nashville Rebel" / Bear Family