Four years ago, Carrie Underwood's "Drinking Alone" was RIAA-certified gold. #MusicIsLife

Seven years ago, Ed Sheeran spent £4M on new properties to stop his neighbors complaining about the noise. He bought two houses next door to his £19.8M mansion in London. Sheeran’s impressive portfolio of twenty-two properties had cost him £47M. #MusicIsLife

Seventeen years ago, Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss + Union Station played for President Obama at the White House in Washington, D.C. #MusicIsLife

Twenty-two years ago in my music history, Rock the Vote announced that The Chicks had donated $100,000 to the non-partisan voter registration agency, more than any other artist in history. #MusicIsLife

Thirty years ago, Alanis Morissette was #1 worldwide with her smash album Jagged Little Pill, one of the most successful albums in music history (over thirty-three million sold to date). #MusicIsLife

Happy birthday to Grammy-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member singer/songwriter Cat (Yusuf Islam) Stevens ('Morning Has Broken,' 'The First Cut Is the Deepest,' 'Peace Train,' 'Wild World,' 'Peace Train'). #MusicIsLife

Nine years ago, Toby Keith performed at Nashville's Ascend Amphitheater in his first Music City concert in 13 years. The night included surprise guest Eddy Raven, who paired with Keith for "I Got Mexico." #MusicIsLegend

Nine years ago, Linkin Park lead singer Chester Bennington died. Formed in 1996, Linkin Park sold more than seventy million albums worldwide and won two Grammys. If you have suicidal feelings, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988. #MusicIsLegend

Fourteen years ago, Kenny Chesney's current single, "Come Over," was certified gold by the RIAA, while "Don't Blink" went platinum. #MusicIsLife

Nineteen years ago in my music history, The Chicks' single "Not Ready to Make Nice" was RIAA-certified platinum. #MusicIsLife

Forty-eight years ago, Willie Nelson got an RIAA-certified gold album for "Stardust," eventually reaching Diamond status (10 million sold). #MusicIsLife

Happy birthday to singer/songwriter Radney Foster of the duo Foster & Lloyd, who penned hits for Sara Evans ("A Real Fine Place to Start") and Keith Urban ("I'm In"). #MusicIsLife

Reach out: [email protected] The first three seconds of your video aren’t your introduction. They’re your audition. #MusicIndustry #ArtistDevelopment #indieartist #indiemusic

CMT removed Jason Aldean's controversial "Try That in a Small Town" video from its platforms three years ago. Shot at a Columbia, TN, courthouse that was the site of a 1946 lynching, the location's history combined with the song's vigilante message is perceived by critics as racist.

Seven years ago, Garth Brooks and Blake Shelton played the first major concert at Boise's Albertsons Stadium. Brooks did "Fishin' in the Dark," "Callin' Baton Rouge," and "Friends in Low Places"; Shelton's set included "God's Country." #MusicIsLife

Eight years ago, Tim McGraw & Faith Hill lent their support to When We All Vote, a voter registration campaign launched by Michelle Obama that also deploys Tom Hanks, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Janelle Monae, and basketball player Chris Paul. #MusicIsLife

Twelve years ago, Ed Sheeran was at No.1 in 15 countries (including the US) with his second studio album, X (pronounced multiply). X racked up more than 430 million streams for the year on Spotify alone. #MusicIsLife

Twenty-two years ago in my music history, Gretchen Wilson's album "Here for the Party" was RIAA-certified double-platinum. #MusicIsLife

Forty years ago, Genesis hit #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 with 'Invisible Touch.' The band's former lead singer, Peter Gabriel, was at #2 with 'Sledgehammer.' #MusicIsLife

Happy birthday to Sir Brian May, PhD, guitarist, singer, songwriter, and founding member of the Grammy-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band Queen ('Bohemian Rhapsody,' 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love'). #MusicIsLife

Five years ago, Blake Shelton's show at the Country Thunder Music Festival in Twin Lakes, WI, included a surprise guest: wife Gwen Stefani, who performed the No Doubt hit "Don't Speak." #MusicIsLife

Eight years ago, Kelsea Ballerini attended Halsey's show at Nashville’s Ascend Amphitheater. The duo went to sing some post-gig karaoke at Santa's Pub, where they teamed on "Landslide" and "Picture." #MusicIsLIfe

Thirteen years ago, Jason Aldean's single "Tattoos on This Town" was RIAA-certified platinum. #MusicIsLife

Twenty-four years ago in my music history, the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics, featuring The Chicks, received eight Emmy nominations. #MusicIsLife

Forty-six years ago, Billy Joel topped the Billboard chart with his latest album "Glass Houses." #MusicIsLife

Fifty-one years ago, the Justice Department ordered John Lennon out of the US by September 10th. The US Court of Appeals overturned the order, and Lennon was granted permanent resident status the following year. #MusicIsLegend

Happy birthday to Grammy, ACM, and CMA-winning singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Ricky Skaggs, who joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1982 and became a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2018. #MusicIsLife

Chris Stapleton headlined Chicago's Wrigley Field in the last of three stadium dates on his tour schedule four years ago. Supporting acts include The Highwomen, Mavis Staples, and Dirty Knobs with Mike Campbell. #MusicIsLife

The Chicks released Gaslighter six years ago in my music history. Produced by Jack Antonoff, it was their first studio album in 14 years and debuted at #1 on the Billboard Country Albums Chart. #MusicIsLife

Maren Morris's single "Rich" was RIAA-certified gold six years ago. #MusicIsLife

Reach out: [email protected] The internet didn't kill the gatekeepers. It just changed who they are. Playlist curators, algorithm engineers, the first three seconds of your content. Just as powerful. Just less visible. The game changed. The rules underneath it didn't. #musicbusiness #in

Twenty-two years ago, Tim McGraw's "Live Like You Were Dying" began a seven-week streak at #1 on the Billboard country singles chart. #MusicIsLife

A hack just proved Suno scraped 2 million songs from YouTube alone. Spotify is removing AI slop while RIAA proposes a graduated labeling system. And the company behind Claude is now fighting the guy who literally wrote the music industry bible. 9 Signals drops every Friday. #MusicBusiness #9Signals

Thirty-three years ago, Alan Jackson's "Chattahoochee" topped the Billboard country singles chart for the first of four weeks. #MusicIsLife

Thirty-four years ago, Guns N' Roses appeared at Buenos Aires' River Plate Stadium in front of 80,000 people, the final show on their Use Your Illusion Tour. #MusicIsLife youtu.be/mSVdDbrXIm4?...

Happy birthday to ACM and CMA-winning singer/songwriter Luke Bryan ("I Don't Want This Night to End," "Drink a Beer," "That's My Kind of Night"). #MusicIsLife youtu.be/crCqWK3SmRo?...

A hack just proved Suno scraped 2 million songs from YouTube alone. Spotify is removing AI slop while RIAA proposes a graduated labeling system. And the company behind Claude is now fighting the guy who literally wrote the music industry bible. 9 Signals drops every Friday. #MusicBusiness #9Signals

Jordan Davis wrote his future hit "Tucson Too Late" with Jacob Davis, Josh Jenkins and Matt Jenkins on a tour bus in Hot Springs, Arkansas four years ago. #MusicIsLife youtu.be/aZDT4dMHJsY?...

Vince Gill and Joe Diffie inducted Luke Combs into the Grand Ole Opry seven years ago. Also on stage for the ceremony are Craig Morgan, Dustin Lynch, Chris Janson, Mark Wills, and Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers Band. Combs sang "This One's for You" to celebrate. #MusicIsLife

Ten years ago, Brad Paisley's singles "Then," "She's Everything," and the Alison Krauss duet "Whiskey Lullaby" were RIAA-certified double platinum. #MusicIsLife

Seventeen years ago, Josh Turner's single "Would You Go with Me" was RIAA-certified gold. #MusicIsLife

Twenty-six years ago, Matchbox Twenty hit #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart with 'Bent.' #MusicIsLife

Thirty-three years ago, Wynonna Judd's album "Tell Me Why" was RIAA-certified platinum. #MusicIsLife

Happy birthday to the multi-instrumentalist, and composer Stewart Copeland, best known as the drummer for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band The Police ('Every Breath You Take') and for his film soundtrack work. #MusicIsLife

Blake Shelton turned a tour rehearsal into a pop-up gig at Tishomingo, OK, Ole Red five years ago. Gwen Stefani joined him for "Happy Anywhere" and "Nobody but You." #MusicIsLife

Eight years ago, 'November Rain' by Guns N’ Roses became the first '90s video to pass a billion views on YouTube. #MusicIsLife

Eleven years ago, Brad Paisley's singles "Ticks" and "When I Get Where I'm Going" (featuring Dolly Parton) were certified platinum by the RIAA. #MusicIsLife

Reach out: [email protected] Trying to fix everything at once isn't momentum. It's scatter. Strategy is sequence. What has to happen first for the next thing to work? Answer that and everything else gets easier. #musicbusiness #musicstrategy #LPConsulting #indieartist #artistdevelopment

Fifteen years ago, Sugarland's single "Stuck Like Glue" was RIAA-certified double-platinum. #MusicIsLife

Forty-eight years ago, The Rolling Stones hit #1 on the Billboard Albums chart for the first of two weeks with 'Some Girls.' #MusicIsLife