Marty Stuart Celebrates 20 Years at the Opry

Pictured (L-R): Pete Fisher, Marty Stuart. Photo: Chris Hollo

Marty Stuart celebrated his 20th Anniversary as a Grand Ole Opry member this past Saturday (Dec. 8). Taking the stage were Stuart, members of his band The Fabulous Superlatives, wife Connie Smith, Charley Pride, Old Crow Medicine Show and up-and-comer Brandy Clark.

The Opry’s Vice President and General Manager Pete Fisher honored Stuart with a framed print commemorating the anniversary.

The evening also featured appearances by the Chief of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Phyliss J. Anderson, who was accompanied by four Choctaw dancers who honored Stuart’s heritage.

Marty Stuart and Little Jimmy Dickens celebrate Stuart's Grand Ole Opry induction on Nov. 28, 1992. Photo: Alan Mayor

 

 

More ACA Highlights From Las Vegas

Pictured (L-R) Luke Bryan, UMG Nashville Chairman & CEO Mike Dungan, Lauren Alaina

Country music’s newest trophyfest, the American Country Awards, held its third annual event Monday night (12/10) at Las Vegas’s Mandalay Bay Events Center. The show was packed with performances, starting with Luke Bryan’s opening number “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye.” As usual, he was having as much fun onstage as onlookers were in the audience. He went on to earn nine guitar awards, including top honor Artist of the Year. Full winners list here and photos here.

Hosts Kristin Chenoweth and Trace Adkins kept the hokey jokes flying, including Adkins carrying his half-pint counterpart in a baby-sling during a reference to Hillary Scott’s recent pregnancy news. Unfortunately, all the gags weren’t as timely, such as Chenoweth’s impersonation of Honey Boo Boo, and the “motorboating” jokes that just won’t go away.

The event had several highlights, including a teary-eyed Lauren Alaina winning New Artist who confessed to the audience, “I can’t breathe!” The show also handed out Breakthrough Artist honors to Jake Owen, but didn’t elaborate on the difference in the categories.

Dierks Bentley turned in a solid performance of “Country and Cold Cans.” Kip Moore showed growing stage confidence as he worked the front row, slapping hands during his medley of hits “Somethin’ ‘Bout A Truck” and “Beer Money.”

Jason Aldean offered a solo take of “The Only Way I Know,” his current single which features Luke Bryan and Eric Church on the recorded version.

Following an introduction by Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham, Keith Urban took the stage with seven young musicians who participated in the GRAMMY Camp music program for an inspiring performance of “Crossroads.”

Owen sang his hit “The One That Got Away,” but the set borrowed a little too heavily from LBT’s much-talked-about CMT Awards performance of “Pontoon.”

The show scored a 1.4 rating for the key demographic, adults 18-49, down 30% from last year’s 2.0, according to preliminary ratings from Zap2It.com. About 5.12 million tuned in.

The ACAs will re-air on GAC Wednesday, Dec. 26, at 9:00 pm ET.

Pictured (L-R): Charles Kelley, Mike Dungan, Karen Fairchild, UMG Nashville SVP/COO Tom Becci

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Names Inductees for 2013

Donna Summer

Heart, Albert King, Randy Newman, Public Enemy, Rush and the late Donna Summer (who resided in Nashville) will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013. Lou Adler and Quincy Jones will be awarded the Ahmet Ertegun (non-performer) Award.

The 28th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is scheduled for Thursday, April 18, 2013. For the first time, the ceremony will be held on the West Coast at Los Angeles’ Nokia Theatre L.A. The ceremony will be open to the public.

Joel Peresman, President and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, said via a release, “We are thrilled to announce this year’s class of inductees, which again represents the broad, compelling and significant definition of rock and roll.”

The induction ceremony will broadcast on HBO on Saturday, May 18 at 9pm ET/PT. Said Michael Lombardo, President of HBO Programming, “We are excited to team up once again with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for what is sure to be an incredible evening of one-of-a-kind performances.”

BMG Chrysalis Renews Agreement with Producer busbee

BMG Chrysalis US has renewed its exclusive, worldwide co-publishing agreement with songwriter and producer busbee.

Busbee, who is based in Los Angeles, has had success in multiple formats. He co-wrote “Our Kind of Love” with the members of Lady Antebellum and co-wrote “Summer Nights,” a hit for Rascal Flatts, with Brett James. Busbee co-wrote Hunter Hayes‘ “Storm Warning” with Hayes and Gordie Sampson. He has also worked with P!nk, Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson, Backstreet Boys, Timbaland and many others.

BMG Chrysalis US also has a joint venture in place with busbee under which writers JP Clark, Luke Dick, Ben West and Deion Blaster are signed.

Darrell Franklin, Executive VP, Nashville said via a release: “busbee was one of the first writers that BMG signed in Nashville seven years ago. He always had his sights set on being a worldwide hit songwriter with cuts spanning all genres. His work ethic, determination and raw talent have helped busbee achieve his goal with hits in the pop world, film and TV, as well as hits in the country market both here and globally.”

“BMG is really approaching the business of music in a new way,” added busbee. “They work aggressively for their clients worldwide…and they truly feel and function like a boutique-major. I am incredibly excited to continue my partnership with them.”

CMT To Launch ‘CMT Hot 20 Countdown’ in January

CMT will ring in 2013 with a new series to count down the Top 20 country music videos and cover the top stories in country music.

CMT Hot 20 Countdown will launch on Jan. 5 at 10:30 a.m. CT on CMT. CMT’s Cody Alan, Alecia Davis and Katie Cook will host the weekly, two-and-a-half hour series. The series will also feature in-studio live performances and interviews with both established and up-and-coming artists.

CMT Hot 20 Countdown will be taped in front of a live audience at its new location at the Music City Tower, just outside the Bridgestone Arena at the corner of 5th and Broadway.

Fan participation will be an essential component of the new show, as they will be able to interact with the hosts via social media integration on Twitter (using the hashtag #CMTHot20), Facebook and Instagram. Those interested in becoming part of the live, studio audience can email audience@cmt.com for details.

For booking artists on ‘CMT Hot 20 Countdown,’ contact Jaclyn Krimmel at  jaclyn.krimmel@cmt.com. To pitch entertainment stories for the series, contact Ray Sells at ray.sells@cmt.com or Jennifer Meyer at jennifer.meyer@cmt.com.

 

 

rpm entertainment adds VP, Digital

James Stewart

rpm entertainment has expanded its staff, hiring James Stewart as VP, Digital, where he will work with rpme’s label, management, and publishing divisions to implement and maximize sales and marketing directives on physical and digital fronts. Stewart reports to Senior VP April Rider, effective immediately.

“We are excited to expand our growing label’s digital strategy and reach,” says Rider via a release. “Adding James to our rpme family will ensure our acts are in the digital forefront and we are thrilled to have his expertise.”

Stewart was most recently with UMG Nashville, where he worked on various digital campaigns for George Strait, Kip Moore, Jamey Johnson, Sugarland, Lionel Richie, Scotty McCreery, Lauren Alaina, David Nail, Easton Corbin, and others.

Prior to UMG Nashville, he worked with the Sun Record Company where he facilitated new digital distribution deals and acted as a consultant on issues from marketing and distribution, to licensing and merchandising.

“April and the whole crew at rpme are amazing,” says Stewart. “I’m happy to be here and excited about all the great things to come in 2013.”

Stewart can be reached at james@rpmegroup.com.

Patrick Joseph Publishing Announces First Signing

Pictured (L-R) Back: Pat Higdon, Matt Pincus, Casey Del Casino (Teren's attorney), Ron Perry (SONGS). Seated: George Teren

Pat Higdon of Patrick Joseph Music and Matt Pincus, CEO of SONGS Music Publishing, have announced Nashville-based George Teren as the first writer signed to Patrick Joseph Music/SONGS Music Publishing.

“I’ve been a huge fan of George’s songwriting for a long time and I’m so excited to finally get to work with him directly,” said Higdon. “He’s a talented professional who knows how to craft songs for today in timeless fashion.”

“George Teren is an incredible talent, with a rich career in creating music for the Nashville market and in many other genres,” said Pincus. “I am honored to have him join us as the inaugural member of the PJM/SONGS family, and look forward to working with Pat in making many more great things happen with George’s music.”

Teren’s catalog includes “Real Good Man” (Tim McGraw), “Homewrecker” (Gretchen Wilson), “When I get To Where I’m Going” (Brad Paisley) and “Ladies Love Country Boys” (Trace Adkins). Teren has also had cuts by Britney Spears, Nick Lachey, Tower of Power and Avalon, among others.

In 2012, Higdon relaunched the original Warner/Chappell joint venture with SONGS Music Publishing, containing catalogs from Matraca Berg, Tim Mensy, Troy Verges, Gary Harrison, Carolyn Dawn Johnson and Brett James.

 

Spotify Aims To Increase Discovery

Members of Metallica share playlists on Spotify.

Spotify is rolling out music discovery features in coming weeks. There will be new tabs labeled “Discover” and “Follow,” which will help listeners find new music by following the tastes of hit artists and other tastemakers. It will also offer songs, playlists, and performance videos based on users’ past listening habits. Visually, Ad Age reports the Discover section incorporates lots of images and videos in a Pinterest-inspired way.

In 2013, Spotify will begin adding marketers to the Discover section. Many big-name brands also have Spotify apps, which they promote on the site with ads.

The free version of the on-demand music service is ad-supported and has more than 15 million users. Globally there are about 5 million paying subscribers, including 1 million in the U.S. who pay either $4.99 or $9.99 a month for the ad-free version. More here.

Jewel Remakes Hits with Pistol Annies, Kelly Clarkson

Jewel

Jewel recruited Pistol Annies and Kelly Clarkson for her first greatest hits album, set for release Feb. 5. Pistol Annies joined her to record a new version of “You Were Meant For Me,” while Clarkson teamed with the songstress for “Foolish Games.” Rhino will release the project, which also contains a yet-to-be-announced new single.

During her almost two decade career, Jewel has sold more than 27 million albums. Her 1995 debut, Pieces of You, dominated the charts with “Who Will Save Your Soul,” “You Were Meant For Me” and “Foolish Games,” on its way to selling more than 12 million copies in the U.S. She has released 10 albums, including country efforts Perfectly Clear and Sweet and Wild. She’s earned four Grammy nominations, the most recent for her 2010 country ballad, “Satisfied.”

Additionally, the first leg of her Greatest Hits tour will begin in March.

Jewel—Greatest Hits Track Listing (Not Sequenced)
“Who Will Save Your Soul”
“You Were Meant For Me”
“Foolish Games”
“Hands”
“Down So Long”
“Jupiter”
“Standing Still”
“Break Me”
“Intuition”
“Good Day”
“Stronger Woman”
“Somewhere Over The Rainbow”
“Satisfied”
“Foolish Games” – with Kelly Clarkson
“You Were Meant For Me” – with the Pistol Annies
New Single (details to be announced shortly)

RIAA Releases November Awards

The RIAA’s November Gold and Platinum certifications for U.S. Single and Album shipments reflect positively on Nashville this month.

Taylor Swift received high honors for triple-platinum sales alongside BMLG labelmates, including Florida Georgia Line’s Platinum single “Cruise,” Tim McGraw’s Gold certified “Truck Yeah,” and Justin Moore’s Gold album, Outlaws Like Me.

Country holiday albums shipments were strong this past month, including Christmas with Scotty McCreery (Mercury/19/Interscope) and Blake Shelton’s Cheers It’s Christmas (Warner Bros), each receiving Gold recognitions.

Kenny Chesney’s Blue Chair Records/Columbia Nashville release, “Come Over,” earned platinum status as well as Miranda Lambert’s RCA Records Nashville single, “Over You.” Chesney’s Greatest Hits II, Toby Keith singles from Mercury and DreamWorks, and Zac Brown Band’s Uncaged also received honors.

See the full list of November Awards here.