Our favorite time of year is finally here and it couldn’t come soon enough. For many across the USA there have been tornados, endless storms, floods and the like. For some of us here in California we’re facing a state financial crisis and political “business as usual”. The brightest spot so far has been the fact that we’re getting a lot of great new music in. It seems that artists and bands have been working hard since the start of the year and many are finally ready with their product. We’ll try to highlight some of the very best so far at the start of the Summer of 2011 in this issue. Many artists are already getting some rather impressive chart activity right here on our charts and that is helping them present their story to the entire world. Our trade publication continues to be the very best vehicle for breaking acts as we provide many “tools of the trade” to make that happen.

One of the bright events kicking off the summer has been the NBC show “The Voice”. Just when you thought all you had to deal with was America’s Got Talent & with Idol out of the way, here came a little gem for artist’s that could actually sing. One of the top 4 superstar judges, Blake Shelton, is near and dear to the New Music Weekly family. We first interviewed Blake years back at CRS. We remember him showing up extra early, talking a lot about Oklahoma and seeming quite a bit “out of his element”. It was also funny at that time that he showed up wearing a cowboy hat back then, making him even taller than he already is. A few years later he was hosting a CRS event at the Cadillac Ranch where he showed his “star power” alongside his then gal pal Miranda Lambert. We also covered Blake at this year’s event and it was amazing to see just how far he’s come. Catching him on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno last week, we realized that he’s really come quite a long way since we first spoke with him. The Voice gave a great opportunity for artists that needed a chance to “voice their talent”.

In this Summer Music Preview we are also thrilled to be sending along our Future Hits volume #40. Once again we are able to deliver music right to our radio stations, music and program directors and industry professionals via a CD compilation. This is a Great mix of music for Top40, Country, Hot AC to College radio. Our programmers can pick their favorites and get it into the audio systems right away. For the many labels that get our publication, you might take a real close listen to these great new artists and see if any of them could add to your labels roster. Our Future Hits music sampler continues to be the very best way get your music out to “all of radio”. These artist are also serviced digitally through the Airplay Access music system so we have you covered with amazing service.

Many artists and bands like to use the Summer as a time for touring. As it is always a thrill to get out there and play for your audience, it’s also a time to really think about the how, when and the where of this challenge. With gas prices still in the high side and with the economy in a struggling recovery, many artists and bands need to really think about making a smart move. Even major artists will tell you how expensive the tours are getting these days. For many of you, since you’ve spent some much time, energy and money on your CD, it might be best to let your music do the work for you until touring can be a money making proposition. With many of the clubs around the country being “pay for play” it may make more sense to spend your money on radio promotion and publicity before you run out of funds trying to keep a band on the road.

New Music Weekly will continue to provide the “tools of the trade” for all of our artists. Each and every week hundreds of stations report to us from Top40, Country, Hot AC to College. We’re getting set and ready for our Future Hits volume #41 that will also provide music for the holidays so get set and ready for that. We all hope that we’ll look back to find that the very best Summer was 2011.