Kobalt Shares Revamped Admin System

Sarah Skates – 09/25/2008

Kobalt Music Group demoed the latest version of its online publishing administration system today (9/25) for an industry crowd at Cabana. Willard Ahdritz, Kobalt’s Founder and CEO, was in town to share the company’s next generation portal alongside Kobalt Nashville's Whitney Daane.

The portal offers access to money through an online pipeline advance system and access into nearly every aspect of copyright management. Additionally, it offers real-time status of every synchronization license request that has been quoted to potential licensees of music for use in films, TV, advertising and other media. Synchronization license information includes: a detailed status of the license quote; if music was used; if the corresponding licensing fees have been paid; if the client denied the use; and/or if the license quote has been closed out.

Kobalt describes the third generation program as “the most advanced online music publishing administration system available worldwide.” It is said to offer “unparalleled transparency and features not available through any other company.” Other new and improved features in the portal include: royalty analysis matrixes linking products to works and revenues; real-time duplicate claims reports; more detailed works summaries and royalty tracking reports; and access to the original client agreements.

More than 700 songwriters, publishers and managers, including Desmond Child, Dennis Matkosky, Gary Burr, Toby Keith, and Cal IV Entertainment are already using the system. Ree Guyer Buchanan, Owner of Wrensong Music Publishing, uses Kobalt for foreign royalty collections because it offers quarterly payment and the technology “makes it easier to keep track of what's going on outside our backyard.”

CMA Makes $1 Million Endowment to “Words and Music” School Program

09/25/2008

The Country Music Association announced a $1 million endowment gift to the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum’s “Words & Music” program yesterday (9/24). Now in its 30th year, it is one of eight educational programs that the Museum currently offers to area schools, and is designed to assist language arts and music teachers with classroom instruction in the basics of writing song lyrics.

The Association will fund the “Words & Music” Endowment with an annual donation of $200,000 over a five year period (2008-2012). Over the past 10 years, CMA has contributed $3.7 million to the Hall of Fame and its various programs. The new endowment raises that figure to $4.7 million, making CMA one of the Museum’s most generous and consistent benefactors.

CMA Chief Executive Officer Tammy Genovese and Kix Brooks, co-chairman of CMA’s Artist Relations Committee, present a $1 million endowment check to Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum Director Kyle Young for the "Words and Music" program. (L-R): Young, Genovese and Brooks. Photo: Amanda Eckard/CMA

Industry News Thursday (9/25/08)

MySpace Music opens today (9/25) with added features and content. The social networking site’s much talked about music service has been completely reworked and now offers songs from all four major labels, including EMI which...

In the Round, On the Row Songwriter Series Kicks-off

09/24/2008

Jason Matthews, Jason White and Michael Peterson performed at the recent opening installment of the In the Round, On the Row songwriter series at Edgehill Studios café in Nashville. Matthews treated the crowd to some of his biggest hits and songs from his own Valhalla Records debut release, Hicotine. In the Round, On the Row will be taped on a regular basis and made available online at www.DigitalRodeo.com beginning in mid-October. Viewers will be able to watch the series in weekly webisode installments.

(L-R): Scotty Huff, IROR Co-Producer; John Pyne, Digital Rodeo Dir. Mktg. and Promotions; Robert Reynolds, IROR Co-Producer and Digital Rodeo Dir. Industry Relations; Glenn Sweitzer, owner Fresh Design & Films; Peterson; White; and Matthews.

Country Hall Plans Second Annual New York Benefit

Sarah Skates – 09/24/2008

Click for details.

On Wed., Oct. 15, Rodney Crowell, Vince Gill and Emmylou Harris will perform at the second annual All for the Hall New York benefit for the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum. The guitar pull gala at the Nokia Theatre in Times Square will feature special guest Jerry Douglas and will be hosted by Billy Bob Thornton and the Boxmasters. The evening includes a cocktail reception, dinner, live auction and performances.

Nancy Jarecki, owner of bettybeauty inc. and self-proclaimed country music ambassador of New York, will co-chair the event with AEG Live Chairman Tim Leiweke, while Rod Essig (CAA) and Ken Levitan (Vector Management) are on board as entertainment producers.

With performances including Bill Anderson, Vince Gill, Jewel, John Rich, Taylor Swift, and Trisha Yearwood, the 2007 inaugural event was such a success that the Museum decided to host All for the Hall again this year. Museum Director Kyle Young said afterward, “we had high hopes for the event, and it topped all expectations. New York... embraced us with love and enthusiasm.”

Anthony To Head Country For Satellite Radio

Sarah Skates – 09/24/2008

Jon Anthony

Jon Anthony has been upped to Vice President, Country of the newly combined SIRIUS XM Radio. He will report directly to Jon Zellner, Sr. VP, Music Programming. Today (9/24) Zellner also announced others on what he called “the next level of management on the music programming team.” The realigned executives reporting to him include Kid Kelly, VP, Pop / Dance / Urban; Gregg Steele, VP, Rock; Trinity, VP, Classical / Jazz / Latin; and Mitch Todd, Sr. Dir., Music Production.

“These individuals have been important contributors to the success of SIRIUS and XM as leaders in audio entertainment and bring many years of programming experience to the company,” said Zellner. “This team’s skill, creativity and depth of knowledge in their respective music formats will help us combine the best of both SIRIUS and XM programmers and on-air talent to produce commercial-free music channels spanning every genre of music.”

Country Digital Album Sales Trending Up?; Tsk Tsk 2 Sandisk

Country Digital album sales as a percentage of total sales have been showing momentum lately. Perhaps too early to be named a trend it bears watching. 2007 country digital album sales averaged 5.1% of total...

AMA Nighttime Showcases Delight

There are times when I wouldn’t mind having a clone (or two). Case in point: last week’s Americana Music Association Conference and the many related (and incredibly good) nighttime showcases. Those of us bound to...

Dee Mc Laughlin Joins CMT In New Sr. VP Role

Sarah Skates – 09/23/2008

Dee Mc Laughlin

Dee Mc Laughlin has joined CMT as Senior Vice President, Brand Marketing. She recently relocated from Los Angeles to Nashville following nine years at Virgin Group. In the newly-created position at CMT, Mc Laughlin will oversee all aspects of marketing and creative for the network with a focus on brand stewardship and strategic alignment across all CMT businesses. She will report to Exec. VP/GM Brian Philips.

As VP of Marketing for Virgin, Mc Laughlin led all efforts for the store and online operations of Virgin Megastores, as well as for Virgin Entertainment Group. Her previous roles at the company included Sr. Dir. of Marketing, and Dir. of Brand Marketing. Prior to her career with Virgin, Mc Laughlin was a freelance writer and editor for such publications as Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and LA Weekly. A native of Ireland, Mc Laughlin graduated from Loughborough University in England and promptly moved to Los Angeles to pursue her dream of owning a Harley and riding it down Route 66.

BMI Re-Elects Bryant, Bustos, Jones and Walker

David M Ross – 09/23/2008

September 23, 2008 – Del R. Bryant, President & CEO, BMI, New York, NY; Amador Bustos, President & CEO, Bustos Media, LLC, Sacramento, CA; Philip A. Jones, Mission Hills, KS; and Cecil L. Walker, former Chairman & CEO, Gannett Broadcasting, Atlanta, GA; were re-elected to the Board of Directors for Broadcast Music, Inc. at the company’s annual shareholder meeting, held today in Nashville. Their new terms will expire in 2012. Jack Sander, former Vice Chairman of Belo Corporation in Dallas was re-elected as Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Continuing in their terms on the board of directors are: N. John Douglas, Pres./CEO, AIM Broadcasting, LLC, Palo Alto, CA; Catherine L. Hughes, Founder & Chairperson, Radio One, Inc., Lanham, MD; Jerome L. Kersting, EVP, Tribune Company, Chicago, IL; Virginia Hubbard Morris, VP, Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc., St. Paul, MN; Mark Pedowitz, Pres., ABC Studios, Burbank, CA; G. Neil Smith, Pres., GNS Media, LLC, Liberty, SC; K. James Yager, CEO, Barrington Broadcasting Group, LLC, Hoffman Estates, IL; Susan Davenport Austin, Sr. VP/CFO, Sheridan Broadcasting Corporation and Pres., Sheridan Gospel Network, New York, NY; Craig A. Dubow, Chairman, Pres. & CEO, Gannett Co., Inc., McLean, VA; Kenneth J. Elkins, Pres. & CEO, Pulitzer Broadcasting and Sr. VP, Broadcasting, Pulitzer Publishing Co. (retired), St. Louis, MO; Paul Karpowicz, Pres., Meredith Broadcasting Group, Rocky Hill, CT; and Frank Melton, Mayor, City of Jackson, Jackson, Mississippi.

Founded by a group of leading broadcast executives in 1939, BMI is an American performing right organization that represents more than 375,000 songwriters, composers and publishers in all genres of music, with a repertoire of more than 6.5 million musical works from around the world. The U.S. corporation collects license fees from businesses that use music, which it then distributes as royalties to the musical creators and copyright owners it represents.