A Podcast Conversation With ... Randy Stark
Via his work at Warner Music Canada and as an artist manager, the new inductee into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame has boosted the careers of many top country stars. Learn more in this informative FYI podcast.
By Bill King
At the end of November, Randy Stark will be inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame
Born in Edmonton and Calgary-raised, Stark has been a longtime advocate of Canadian talent, and he has helped develop such Canadian country artists such as Paul Brandt, George Fox, Jason Blaine, Aaron Prichett, and fellow 2021 HoF inductee Patricia Conroy.
After graduating from high school, Stark answered an ad in a local Calgary newspaper and landed a job picking orders at a record warehouse. He wasted no time rising through the ranks to become warehouse manager and sales rep then working at record labels, A&M and GRT. All led to senior management and a role as VP of marketing and promotion at Warner Music Canada. Eventually, Stark started his own companies, establishing Stark Ravings, a management company behind the careers of Diane Chase, Blaine, Pritchett, Jake Mathews, Kylee Epp and Lisa Hewitt. Stark also worked as a radio tracker aiding the careers of Deric Ruttan, Gord Bamford, Michelle Wright, Clayton Bellamy and others.
Stark’s fifty-year career flourished behind a discerning ear for identifying hit songs and artists with career potential.
I caught up with Stark and found that life on this side of retirement outfits him well. Learn more in this FYI podcast.
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Ed Sheeran Topples Drake's 8-Week Chart Supremacy
Ed Sheeran’s = debuts at No.
By External Source
Ed Sheeran’s = debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart, achieving the highest album and digital song sales, and on-demand streams for the week and ending Drake’s eight consecutive weeks run at the top of the chart. It is Sheeran’s fourth consecutive album to debut at No. 1.
The remainder of the top five falls one position from last week’s chart, with Drake’s Certified Lover Boy, Lil Nas X’s Montero, Doja Cat’s Planet Her and The Kid Laroi’s F*ck Love sitting at Nos. 2 through 5.
Francophone rapper Enima debuts at No.15 with Resilience, his highest-charted album to date. His previous top peak was #35 with his 2018 release OPN.
Mastodon’s Hushed and Grim debuts at No. 18, the American metal band’s first release since Emperor Of Sand reached No. 4 in March 2017.
The War On Drugs’ I Don’t Live Here Anymore debuts at No. 33, their first release since A Deeper Understanding peaked at No. 8 in 2017.
Thanks to consumption activity around Halloween for the title cut, Michael Jackson’s Thriller bullets 90-26, the album’s highest chart position in the SoundScan era.
– All data courtesy of SoundScan with additional detail provided by MRC Data's Paul Tuch