Aldean’s “Party” Starts Today

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It’s street day for Broken Bow star Jason Aldean, who is wrapping a successful 2010 with the release of his fourth studio album My Kinda Party.

“We took more time to make this record than any other we’ve done, and I definitely think you can hear that in the singing,” says Aldean. Among the album’s highlights is a duet with pop star Kelly Clarkson. By offering a total of 15 tracks, Aldean wants to give fans more value in their purchase.

Aldean’s promotional media visits started this morning (11/2) with a performance on NBC’s Today and an intimate sold-out album release show at NYC’s Irving Plaza. He will make his way to the west coast for The Tonight Show With Jay Leno on Nov. 5, and from there Aldean will head back to Nashville to perform on ABC’s broadcast of the 2010 Country Music Awards on Nov. 10. He will also perform on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Nov. 15.

Aldean is currently nominated for two American Music Awards, two People’s Choice Awards, and an American Country Award.

Reba Previews New Album; McGraw Single Out Today

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At a recent listening party (L-R) Valory's George Briner, Miranda Williams, JoJamie Hahr, Reba, Scott Borchetta, Brooke Yancey and Jon Loba.

The Valory promotion team is traveling across the country letting fans and radio preview the new album from Reba. All The Women I Am lands in stores Nov. 9, and until then the ‘Rate The Reba’ tour is hitting anywhere from 2-5 cities per day. The dates are a mix of VIP listening sessions for stations and fan-driven events for local listeners.

Also, radio network Dial Global descended on Nashville last week to host Reba’s album premiere special from Starstruck Studios. Contest winners were in the studio audience. The radio special will air the week of Nov. 8 on more than 600 stations nationwide, and across the world on Armed Forces Radio Network.

•••••••••

“Felt Good On My Lips,” Tim McGraw’s latest single, is available today at all digital retailers. After just six weeks at country radio, the song is already Top 20 on MusicRow’s Country Breakout Chart.

Written by Brett Warren, Brad Warren, Brett Beavers and Jim Beavers, “Felt Good On My Lips” is one of two bonus tracks that will be included on Number One Hits. The double-CD collection features 22 chart-topping singles and will be released Nov. 30 by Curb Records.

A new studio album is expected from McGraw in 2011. In the meantime, fans can catch him on the big screen in Country Strong, which will be released in theatres nationwide on January 7, 2011.

Bentley To Kick-off CMA Awards Day; Last Day For Voting

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Dierks Bentley

•••Reminder: Voting for the final ballot of the CMA Awards closes today (11/2).•••

Dierks Bentley will kick-off CMA Awards day (11/10) with a performance on ABC News’ Good Morning America, and will take the stage again that night on The 44th Annual CMA Awards.

Also on Good Morning America, CMA Awards co-host Brad Paisley and NASCAR superstar Jeff Gordon will present a new 2011 Chevrolet Cruze to the winner of the “Chevrolet Salutes America’s Heroes” contest honoring a member of the armed services.

The Good Morning America performance and car presentation will take place on the plaza of the Bridgestone Arena, site of the 2010 CMA Awards. The event is free and open to the public on the corner of Broadway and Fifth Avenue in Nashville and is presented by Chevrolet.

In more CMA Awards news, Jason Aldean will join pop/rock star Kelly Clarkson for a performance, and newly announced presenters include Martina McBride, JoAnna Garcia (ABC’s Better With You) and Ty Pennington (ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition). Rodney Atkins will present Awards in categories announced during the Pre-Telecast Ceremonies.

Bentley and Paisley are each nominated in three categories this year.

The Judds and Shania Twain Set For TV Series

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The Judds and Shania Twain will each star in new original series for OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, a multi-platform media company that will debut Jan 1, 2011 on what is currently the Discovery Health Channel.

The Judds follows the lives of duo Naomi and Wynonna Judd as they prepare for their first tour in ten years together. “After 25 years of touring, recording and singing the music we love, we are beyond excited to begin this new adventure together and share it with the fans. To have this opportunity is amazing and the OWN Network is the perfect home for us,” adds Wynonna and Naomi.

According to Oprah.com, “in their first television series…Wynonna and Naomi are ready to share their celebrated and complicated lives and as Wynonna says, ‘the good, the bad, and the ugly’ with viewers.”

Oprah.com describes Why Not? With Shania Twain: “By the age of 17, she had survived a childhood of poverty and the loss of both her parents in a devastating accident, but Shania Twain still went on to become the best-selling female artist in country music history. Then, at the height of superstardom, she was blindsided by a double betrayal shattering her 14-year marriage. Now in Why Not? with Shania Twain, Shania opens up about her life-altering heartbreak and how she’s moving on. Follow her as she begins her climb back to the top, a personal journey filled with risk, revelations and unexpected adventures.”

Sound Exchange Offers New Artist Checklist

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SoundExchange is a non-profit performance rights organization appointed by congress to pay digital royalties earned through play on Internet radio, satellite radio, cable TV music channels plus revenue collections from foreign societies. The organization recently distributed $54.8 million to recording artists and sound recording copyright holders in Q2 2010 payments, its largest ever quarterly payments. SoundExchange also recently joint ventured with AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) to identify and distribute SoundExchange royalties owed to AFTRA member recording artists who are not yet registered with SoundExchange. AFTRA will mail letters, send email notices and make direct person-to-person phone calls to all its members who are due royalties.

The following “New Artist Checklist” was created by SoundExchange to help answer artist questions regarding launching a career and protecting creative works. It’s not intended as a complete list or legal advice, but offers some good advice nonetheless.

New Artist Checklist

Register your copyrights
Copyrights to your original creative works exist as soon as you fix the sounds or words or notes to a medium (written down or recorded). But to secure additional legal rights, you must register your copyrights with the US Copyright Office. Electronic registrations can be processed much more quickly than mailed registrations. Also, sound recording and music composition recordings can be registered together, which, if you own both, is cheaper than doing them separately.

Draft an agreement between band members
In the glow of the creative process, it’s easy to forget to put things in writing. Write out an agreement in case issues come up at a later time (and they often do). The agreement should address the rights and responsibilities of the band members including who owns what percentage of the business, what property is owned or controlled by the business (including the band name, web site, and equipment) and who funds the bands and looks after its finances. Break out the percentage of ownership rights of each track – who wrote it? How will you split royalties? Discuss what will happen if band members depart, or new members join. Again, we suggest you consult a qualified attorney, to see if and when incorporation or a formal partnership would be recommended to help protect your assets. At any stage, it’s important to have some kind of written agreement in place.

Trademark your name and logo
The US Patent and Trademark Office oversees trade and service marks. Make sure no one else owns the rights to your name and/or logo and if not, be sure to register it. It may be your only way to prevent someone from claiming he or she owned the name first, or claiming to be you later. Registrations can be made in different “classes” to cover recordings, live performances, merchandise and other classes, so make sure you cover the bases. Registration costs can add up in a hurry, but a band or artist name and brand may become one of your biggest assets, so it’s well worth it to protect it early.

Form a company (or companies as necessary) for your label, songwriting/publishing, touring, merchandising, etc.
It’s important to look at your work as a small business, not just a creative hobby, and to get all your legal protections in place. Forming a company, partnership, sole proprietorship or LLC and keeping separate financial records can help ensure that you’re compliant with taxes and can protect your interests. At the very least, develop a system to track your expenditures and income, even if it’s just entering them into a notebook or spreadsheet. As your revenue streams diversify, you may want to consider some small business accounting software. A consultation with an entertainment attorney and/or an accountant is strongly recommended.

Pick a songwriting Performing Rights Organization and register – ASCAP, BMI or SESAC
If you’re a songwriter or publisher with a song copyright, you’re entitled to collect royalties from public performances of your musical compositions (for instance, the royalties that you are entitled to receive when the songs you wrote are played on the radio). ASCAP, BMI and SESAC take care of this kind of licensing, collect fees from them and pay them to you. They all cover the same copyright, so you only need to affiliate with one. Check out their websites and see which might be best for you.

Register with SoundExchange
If you performed on and/or own the masters of a sound recording, you can collect royalties from anyone who streams that track digitally (webcasters, satellite or Internet radio, etc). SoundExchange is the only organization designated by the US government to collect and distribute these royalties, so register now to claim your money. It’s totally free.

Arrange for Distribution
Set up an account for digital distribution with an aggregator like IODA, INgrooves, TuneCore, The Orchard or similar companies which allow you to make your music available to the public for digital downloading at popular sites like iTunes, Amazon and others. Be sure to properly enter all metadata accurately during this process since it will propagate everywhere after that. Understand the obligations, splits and commitments you make by entering into an agreement so that you know how it may limit other opportunities.

Embed metadata about each track into each digital file
If a music service opens your file or pops in your CD, and sees ‘Track 1’ and ‘Artist Unknown,’ you could miss out on royalties. While services and webcasters are supposed to report all the tracks they play, they’re busy, and you need to make it as easy as possible. Many millions of dollars have been earmarked for “promo only,” “self-released” and “artist unknown.” Include, at the very least, the artist or group name, copyright holder or label name, and track and album titles, and the ISRC number, if available. Most mastering software includes the ability to embed this data, and online services are available.

Buy/register your website address and social network domains
Start your online marketing and fan building by registering and creating your domain names. It’s common practice for vendors to buy up domains in hopes they’ll be able to jack up the price to sell them back to you when you need them, so pin down the names as soon as you can. Also, create your band’s official profiles on the various popular social networking and sharing sites such as MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, iLike and YouTube.

Check out organizations and associations which may benefit you
There are lots of groups out there doing great things for musicians. Not all of them will be right for you, but a few of them may be. Consider unions like the American Federation of Musicians and the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists, which represent a wide variety of musicians and performers, at all stages in their careers. Check out what groups like The Recording Academy and musicFIRST are doing to protect your work. There are also payment funds, including the Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies (www.aarcroyalties.com) and the AFM & AFTRA Intellectual Property Rights Distribution Fund (www.ahra.org/index_flash.html), which may have funds to offer for certain kinds of work you’ve done. Many regional and local organizations are also available, and many of these groups offer member benefits and discounts on services you may use. Educate yourself about all the associations which may be open to you, and find out what choices can help you advance your career.

Build your web presence
Use your site and social network profiles to sell merchandise, display a photo gallery, and dispense news updates and tour events. Keep the information fresh and interesting. Cross-link and expand your social network communications to drive fans to your website. Consider periodic email or other mass-blasts to keep your audience informed. Be authentic and consistent.

Get health and equipment insurance
You want to be able to rock on for years to come, so don’t take any risks. When you’re on the road or at gigs, equipment can disappear, so find affordable but adequate insurance. In addition to private companies, some labor unions and organizations, offer health plans, but do your research to find the right plan for you. Visit http://tinyurl.com/HINTprogram to check out the Health Insurance Navigation Tool (HINT) program—a good place to start looking, and get some free advice.

Build your team and assign responsibilities (merchandising, bookings, social media, accounting, licensing, publicity, email management, etc.)
Build your business by having the right helpers in place. Assign those tasks to the person or group best suited to them. Many online enhancements or replacements for hired help are available (SonicBids, CDBaby, TopSpin, ReverbNation, Rumblefish, FanBridge, Nimbit and others) which allow artists to take on many of these tasks themselves.

Create great music!
There is no substitute for creative productivity. This is what artists do. So create often and let your audience know what you’ve been up to. It’ll take a lot of work, but before you know it, you could be living the dream.

ACM Awards Voting Timeline

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The Academy of Country Music has announced the ballot timeline for professional membership voting for the 46th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, to be held in Spring 2011 on an as-yet-unannounced date. Details and timeline for fan voting will be announced at a later date.

In addition, the Academy is announcing that new membership applications must be completed by 5:00 PM PT on Friday, November 19, 2010 for members to be eligible to vote during the 2011 Awards cycle.

Existing membership renewals must be completed by 5:00 PM PT on Monday, November 29, 2010 for members to be eligible to vote during the 2011 Awards cycle.

The ballot timeline for professional members is as follows:

1st Ballot Opens – Wednesday, December 1, 2010

1st Ballot Closes – Wednesday, December 15, 2010

2nd Ballot Opens – Monday, January 10, 2011

2nd Ballot Closes – Friday, January 21, 2011

3rd Ballot Opens – Monday, March 7, 2011

3rd Ballot Closes – Friday, March 18, 2011

Nominees for the Academy of Country Music Awards will be announced in February 2011 at a date to be announced. For more information on ACM Awards criteria, please visit http://www.acmcountry.com/awards/votingcriteria.php

Photos: Warner Patio Party; Jamey Johnson; Joe Diffie

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••••Warner Music Nashville hosted its final Pickin’ On The Patio party of the inaugural season last Thursday. Over 300 attendees were treated to a songwriter round with tunesmiths Jim Collins (“She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy”), Tony Arata (“The Dance”) and Marv Green (“Amazed”), whose demos of these smash hits are featured on the recent Warner Bros. Records release Original Songwriter Demos. Also performing were new Atlantic Records signee Ty Stone and the JaneDear girls whose debut single “Wildflower,” is already a Top 20 hit on the MusicRow chart.

Top Photo: Warner Music Nashville President and CEO John Esposito and the JaneDear girls. Bottom Photo (L-R): Esposito, Ty Stone, and Warner Music Nashville Sr VP Brand Management and Sales Peter Strickland.

••••UMG Nashville artist Jamey Johnson will appear on CMT’s Southern Fried Flicks with Hazel Smith Saturday night, November 6.

Hazel Smith and Jamey Johnson on the set of her show.

•••Rounder Records artist Joe Diffie stopped by BMI last week to deliver his new CD Homecoming: The Bluegrass Album. Diffie, known for hits such as “If the Devil Danced (In Empty Pockets),” “Third Rock from the Sun,” and “Pickup Man,” collaborated with several bluegrass leaders including The Grascals and Rhonda Vincent on the new album which is available now.

Pictured (l-r): Big Show Music’s Al McManus, BMI’s Jody Williams, Joe Diffie, Big Show Music’s Jeff Lysyczyn, and Rounder Records’ Brad Paul.

Underwood Performs/Writes Narnia Title Track

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Carrie Underwood will be on the silver screen this holiday season, well at least her voice will. Underwood, has co-written the title song, “There’s A Place For Us” from the upcoming film The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, scheduled to hit theaters on Dec. 10. A rough cut of the film was shown for Underwood, together with co-writers Hillary Lindsay and David Hodges. Producer Mark Bright was also part of the team.

“I’m a big fan of the ‘Narnia’ books and films,” says Underwood. “I was blown away by the film. People are going to be really excited when they see it. The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader presents an imaginative world that’s also relatable because it’s easy to connect the characters and themes to our own lives,” Underwood continues. “The land of Narnia represents a place where the young heroes truly belong. That inspired me to get together with David and Hillary and write ‘There’s a Place for Us,’ which says that for everybody, there’s a place where you’re powerful and where you belong. The movie and song are about finding that place where you fit in.”

“There’s a Place for Us” will receive major broadcast and online debuts this month, and will be available for purchase exclusively at iTunes on November 16th.

Industry Items: Rondal Richardson, Rob Crosby, Third Coast

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Rondal Richardson

••••Rondal Richardson has been named entertainment industry relations manager for Vanderbilt University Medical Center. In this newly created position, Richardson will develop and strengthen relations between VUMC and professionals in music, athletics and performing arts.

Richardson was previously the manager for Wynonna Judd. Throughout his career and with his business, Greater Purpose Productions, he has worked closely with key artists to generate more than $100 million for charities.

Richardson, a graduate of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., serves on the board of directors of the W.O. Smith Community Music School in Nashville and is an active volunteer with many community groups. He is a member of the Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music.

••••Songwriter Rob Crosby has signed a worldwide publishing deal with Universal Music/ FireFly Music in Europe. Crosby has had over 65 songs recorded, including such hits as  “Concrete Angel,” by Martina McBride; “She’s More,” by Andy Griggs; and “Holding a Good Hand,” by Lee Greenwood. Crosby will continue to be based in Nashville.

••••New contact info for Third Coast Talent, LLC
P.O. Box 334, Kingston Springs, TN 37082
615-685-3331 (Phone), 615-685-3332 (Fax)
Carrie Moore-Reed, CEO/Agent, [email protected]
Debbie Moore, Entertainment Coordinator, [email protected]
www.ThirdCoastTalent.com

SESAC To Honor Jim Lauderdale

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Jim Lauderdale will receive SESAC's Inspiration Award.

SESAC will honor the top songwriters and publishers in the Country and Americana genres at the SESAC Nashville Music Awards on Monday, November 8, 2010 at the performing rights organization’s Nashville headquarters.

This year, SESAC will be presenting revered artist/songwriter/producer Jim Lauderdale with the “Inspiration Award.” His genre-defying songs have been recorded by George Strait, Patty Loveless, Vince Gill, Mark Chestnutt, Dixie Chicks, Lee Ann Womack and many others. As an artist, he has collaborated with Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, and Ralph Stanley. Lauderdale, a two-time GRAMMY winner, will be on hand to accept the award.

The invitation-only event will offer performances, and salute the most popular songs of the past year with awards for Songwriter of the Year, Song of the Year and Publisher of the Year.