Rich Men North of Richmond
He is one of the most sought after artists in the agency world and now he finally has major a booking team behind him.
Oliver Anthony has signed with UTA for exclusive worldwide representation in all areas.
“We’re honored to represent such an authentic artist, and excited to put together a global strategy to bring Oliver Anthony and his music to the people,” shared UTA co-head of Nashville Jeffrey Hasson and music agent Curt Motley in a statement to Billboard. Some of UTA’s other clients include Brittney Spencer, Megan Moroney, Parmalee, Elvie Shane, Ian Munsick and Jamey Johnson, who has performed recently with Anthony.
The “Rich Men North of Richmond” singer’s profile skyrocketed in August after a performance video went viral, generating more than 69 million views on Youtube and leading to a historic No. 1 debut on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. With that song, Anthony became the first artist ever to top the chart without having appeared on it previously.
“Rich Men North of Richmond” is also the first song by a solo male to debut at No. 1 on the Hot 100 and Hot Country Songs charts simultaneously. The Farmville, Virginia, native’s other songs — such as “Ain’t Gotta Dollar,” “90 Some Chevy” and “I Want to Go Home” — have also earned solid streaming numbers.
A quick bidding war followed, with music executives from all around the country to try to sign the hot new phenom. One label head told Billboard at the time, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this before.” Rapper Gucci Mane even posted on Instagram that he wanted to sign Anthony to his label and needed help finding him. Anthony, who sings of populist ideals that have grown him a grassroots following, seemed largely nonplussed by the newfound attention. He told social media followers he was determined not to make any rash decisions and that he had turned down record deals worth upwards of $8 million.
Meanwhile, Anthony has continued to perform for his new fanbase with a number of regional shows that have grown from the Eagle Creek Golf Club and Grill in Moyock, N.C., on Aug. 19, to Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge’s annual block party in Nashville last weekend on Sept. 17, where he notably performed with a full band for the first time. While in Nashville, Anthony apparently made his new agreement with UTA — marking his first major deal since breaking out.
Coming up, Anthony is slated to perform two sets at the upcoming Louder Than Life Festival, which opens Thursday (Sept. 21) and runs through Sept. 24 at the Highland Festival Grounds at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, Ky. And then he has a sold out show at Smokies Stadium in Sevier County, Tenn., scheduled for Sept. 28.
Earlier this month, Anthony canceled a Sept. 27 concert at Cotton Eyed Joe in Knoxville, Tenn., due to a disagreement over ticket prices, which were listed at $99 and $199 for a meet and greet. Anthony posted to social media discouraging his fans from buying the tickets, explaining that he didn’t agree to those prices. Anthony explained his friend had been acting as his booking agent and he booked the show without asking what the ticket prices were. (The venue later responded, saying the high prices were the only way it could cover Anthony’s $120,000 booking fee.) Anthony continued to say his shows “never cost more than $40, ideally no more than $25,” pointing out that two of his four recent shows were “completely free.”
When Anthony’s co-manager Draven Riffe spoke with Billboard in August, he said the artist is “very passionate about bringing other unknown, unheard musicians up and helping them get their music out as well” — and that help also means providing jobs for those in Anthony’s community where he can. “We’re doing all the booking ourselves,” Riffe said, adding the Anthony is booked through the end of the year. “We’re trying to keep everything in-house as much as we can… If we could have a hand in helping get a person a job they’ll love then we want to do that rather than contracting it out to something that we don’t even know where the money is going.”
Additional reporting by Jessica Nicholson.
Oliver Anthony is still reeling off the success of his breakout hit, “Rich Men North of Richmond,” which is currently enjoying its second week atop the Billboard Hot 100 albums chart. In a rare interview, the 31-year-old singer joined the Joe Rogan Experience podcast to share more about how the whirlwind past week has felt. […]
Artists have long complained that streaming pays poverty wages — fractions of a cent per stream — and increases the difficulty of sustaining a recording career through a slow trickle of royalties. Some conservative-leaning artists are proving to be an exception to the rule with fans who still buy downloads at a time when streaming dominates music consumption.
Oliver Anthony’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” became a surprise hit — and could reach No. 1 on the Hot 100 — thanks to a confluence of two factors: As we’ve seen with several other songs recently, when a song gets caught up in — or leans into — the American culture wars, conservatives often buy downloads. “Rich Men North of Richmond” was an instant success: From Aug. 10 — the day with the first sales and audio streaming activity — to Aug. 15, daily U.S. streams went from zero to nearly 700,000 in just two days, according to Luminate, while daily U.S. downloads went from zero to more than 20,000 in each of the next four days. To put that in context, in a typical week the top track on the Hot 100 might sell 15,000 downloads.
In the seven-day period ended Aug. 15, “Rich Men North of Richmond” had 11.2 million on-demand audio streams that earned him roughly $40,000, Billboard estimates. But the track amassed an impressive 117,000 track downloads that netted Anthony about $81,000 — or 65% of the royalties earned from U.S. sales and streams. And because the track is distributed by DistroKid, which charges a flat fee for distribution, and owned by Anthony, he pockets the entire amount. Although the YouTube video hosted by radiowv has 21.6 million views, Luminate shows no video streams for the recording and Billboard does not know if Anthony is earning royalties from YouTube.
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Such high download sales make “Rich Men North of Richmond” an outlier in popular music. More often than not, a No. 1 track on the Hot 100 gets most of its revenue from streaming. Download sales have fallen precipitously in recent years and accounted for just 1.1% of U.S. track equivalent albums year to date, according to Luminate. On the most recent Hot 100, for the week of Aug. 19, Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping “Last Night” generated about 80% of its revenue from 20.8 million on-demand audio streams compared to just 5% from 5,000 track downloads. When Olivia Rodrigo’s “Vampire” topped the chart for a week in July, 81% of its revenue came from 31.3 million on-demand audio streams compared to 6% from 9,000 track downloads.
Some people have speculated that the song’s instant success must be the result of astroturfing — the use of fake grass-roots campaigns to gain public awareness. The themes in “Rich Men North of Richmond” — it criticizes both tax-hungry politicians and poor welfare recipients — struck a chord amongst conservatives and almost overnight became a favorite of rightwing politicians, pundits and instigators such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, Matt Walsh and Kari Lake. While there’s no clear evidence of such a campaign at the moment, the track’s rise was quick even by the standards of today’s internet viral hits.
What’s clearer, though, is that “Rich Men North of Richmond” has a lot in common with K-pop tracks that soar to the top of the Hot 100 because fans buy downloads with the express purpose of getting the artist a good chart position. When Jimin’s “Like Crazy” topped the Hot 100 for a week in April, 241,000 track downloads accounted for 85% of its revenue. When his BTS bandmate Jung Kook hit No.1 with “Seven” in July, 59% of its revenue came from 138,000 downloads.
Conservative music fans act like K-pop fans when it comes to supporting a song. Track purchases helped Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town” reach No. 1 on the Hot 100. In the week of Aug. 5, when the track sat atop the chart, 175,000 downloads accounted for 56% of revenue generated from streams and sales, according to Billboard’s estimate. Two weeks ago, “American Flags,” a patriotic song by rapper Tom MacDonald, sold 18,000 track downloads in the week — second only to “Try That in a Small Town” that week. The following week, the No. 11 most downloaded song was “Go Woke Go Broke” by Jokes on Woke, a country song that attacks recent villains in conservative culture such as Bud Light, CMT, Disney, Ford, Adidas and Barbie.
It’s not necessarily just fans voting with their money, though. The shopping habits of conservative-leaning music fans can help explain why Oliver, Aldean and the others have sold so many downloads. Notably, the country music market — which tends to lean conservative — was slower to adopt streaming (however, it has recently been catching up) and sees a higher-than-average level of purchases. Country music accounted for 35% of the top 100 track downloads in the week ended Aug. 10 — and six of the top 10 — while Christian/gospel accounted for 3%. Both genres have less representation on the Hot 100, which also incorporates streaming and radio spins. Country accounted for just 21% of the tracks on the current Hot 100 chart, while Christian/gospel was absent from the chart.
Whether it’s K-pop or country, songs typically can’t count on download sales alone to provide longevity on the charts. “Try That in a Small Town” sales fell 85% in a week, dropping the track from No. 1 to No. 21 on the Hot 100 in the week dated Aug. 12. Similarly, “Like Crazy” fell from No. 1 to No. 45 the week after its peak. As the culture wars quickly move onto the next issue, the lasting endurance of “Rich Men North of Richmond” depends on how many real fans Anthony has made in this time.
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