[Updated] Staffers Exit NSAI

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Four staffers resigned from their posts at NSAI this week. Leaving the songwriters advocacy organization are David Petrelli, Sheree Spoltore, Debi Cochran and Shawn Bowling. All had worked there for six years or longer.
David Petrelli, NSAI Director of Events, is leaving the organization on Fri., Jan. 18. His job included working on SongPosium, which will not return in 2013. Petrelli can be reached at [email protected].

Those who have already exited include:

Sheree Spoltore served as Assistant Executive Director for Membership and Operations. She can be reached at [email protected] or www.globalsongwriters.com.

Debi Cochran was the Legislative and Workshops Director. She can be contacted at [email protected].
Shawn Bowling worked as Song Evaluations Director. Reach him at [email protected].
MusicRow was unable to reach NSAI leadership for comment.

(L-R)

(L-R): Debi Cochran, Sheree Spoltore, and Shawn Bowling

YEP Announces Board of Directors for 2013

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Young Entertainment ProfessionalsThe Young Entertainment Professionals Network (YEP) has announced their 2013 board of directors and advisory board. YEP services members through networking mixers, educational sessions and showcases in Nashville.
The organization’s first event of 2013 will be YEP’s 2nd birthday bash, to be held at Tin Roof on Jan. 29 at 6 p.m. The event is open to all and free to attend.
YEP Board of Directors and advisory board for 2013:
Executive Director:
Andrew Cohen (Crush Management)
Board of Directors:
Jimmy Chapin (Big Machine)
Matt Cottingham (ICS Law Group)
Penny Everhard (BMI)
Kenley Flynn (Combustion Entertainment)
Shea Fowler (Cornman Music)
Allison Hardy (UMG/Capitol Nashville)
Michael Hausman (Puryear Hamilton Hausman & Wood)
Jarrod Holley (The Invasion Agency)
MaryAnn Keen (Razor & Tie)
Lee Krabel (HoriPro)
Kendall Lettow (Kobalt Music)
Marc Rucker (Crush Management)
Garrison Snell (Red Dog Music Group)
Jordan Stephens (CMT)
Advisory Board:
Clay Bradley (BMI)
Mark Brown (Root 49 Music)
John Grady (Crush Management)
Sara Johnson (BMG)
Beth Laird (Creative Nation)
Mark Montgomery (Flo)
LeAnn Phelan (ASCAP)

Music City Roots Opens New Season Tonight

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mcrMusic City Roots, Live From The Loveless Cafe, kicks off its Winter 2013 Season with a sold-out show tonight (Jan. 9) at 7 p.m. The 11-show series will run weekly through Wednesday, March 20.
Each season’s inaugural show benefits The Nature Conservancy. Tonight’s concert features performances by Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Leon Russell, bluegrassers Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out, East Nashville songwriter Josh Farrow, Chattanooga’s own WTM Blues Band and Memphis indie folk trio Star & Micey.
The Jan. 24 installment will be broadcast from Tamworth, New South Wales, Australia during the 41st Tamworth Country Music Festival with musical hosts Jim Lauderdale, Elizabeth Cook, David Jacobs-Strain, Kirsty Akers and Felicity Urquhart. MCR also produced 13 episodes for Australia’s Country Music Channel (CMC).
Elsewhere, the winter season will showcase The Danberrys, The McCrary Sisters, The Vespers, John Cowan, The Steeldrivers and more. On Jan. 30 Belmont University will present Josh Mirenda, Elenowen, Two Story Road, Vickie Vaughn Band and Roots of a Rebellion.
“This is an exemplary MCR lineup to start the year – legends, award-winners, newcomers and multiple genres of music all sharing a platform built on integrity,” said MCR Executive Producer John Walker. “The fact that we’re doing our first live show on another continent is a milestone on the path to our global vision.”

Weekly Register: The Start Of A New Horse Race

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raceThe CDs are in their digital and physical bins and there’s the bell, “We’re Off!!” Yes, it’s the start of another horse race, er, music sales year and Weekly Register remains at your side to chart the highs and lows and call the plays each week—as they happen.
However, after that exciting rave-up intro I have to admit 2013’s first week didn’t generate anything even as exciting [yawn] as news about the $11 million mansion purchased by Kim Kardashian and Kanye West so they’ll have room for a nursery. But I promise we’ll find some relevant facts, so read on…
As our grid shows the first week of 2013 is ahead of the first week of 2012 largely carried by a strong crop of post-holiday Top 5 albums: Les Miserables soundtrack (92k); Mumford & Sons (91k); Taylor Swift (69k); Phillip Phillips (63k) and One Direction (61k).
weeklygrid1-6-13On the country list Swift led by a 3 to 1 margin followed by Carrie Underwood (23k); Florida Georgia Line (FGL) (20k); Jason Aldean (20k) and Luke Bryan (20k). Four out of the country Top 5 this week have scanned platinum or multi-platinum (Swift 3X). (FGL is the exception, but the album is only five weeks old.)
Track sales were off 38% compared with last week’s year-end, gift-card-cashing charts, but up 5% compared with the same week in 2012 (see grid). Frisky FGL topped the Digital Genre Country tracks list as “Cruise” downloaded another 103k units on its double platinum trajectory moving it to 1.738 million. No. 2 on the country tracks list was Swift’s “We Are Never Ever…” which added 96k this week for a total of 3.15 million. Ms. Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble” sits at No. 1 on the all-genre Digital Tracks Current list downloading a massive 326k units for 2.367 million RTD. (This track is not also listed on the Digital Genre Country list for an unexplained reason known only to the folks that compile the Nielsen SoundScan data.)
Albums On Deck
MusicRow’s calendar for Upcoming Album releases can be found here. The next two months show dual Tim McGraw releases (Curb and BMLG) and some great projects from Katie Armiger, Randy Houser, Gary Allan, The Mavericks and power vocal trio Blue Sky Riders.
During the first two months of 2012 new offerings from Dierks Bentley, McGraw, Kellie Pickler, Martina McBride plus a soundtrack for Act Of Valor boosted unit totals. This year we have fewer top line titles, but we are blessed with a consistent tonnage title, like Red, so expect year-over-year comparisons for the next two months to remain close, even as digital percentages grow.

The Road Ahead
The new sales frontier—access—or digital streaming lacks a comprehensive measurement yardstick, but indications continue that it is gaining favor with consumers. Muve Music service, bundled by Cricket Communications announced this week that it has over one million subscribers. Muve Music customers get unlimited full track downloads, ringtones and ringback tones all included in their monthly rate plan. Muve has jumped from 600k subscribers to 1.1 million in less than a year. Spotify, an international on-demand music service now boasts five million paid subscribers with one million in the U.S. Rhapsody, another large player in the streaming on-demand market has also grown its paid base to over one million. According to research from digitalmusicnews.com, Muve, Rhapsody and Spotify have enjoyed a 340% paid subscriber growth in the last 13 months.
Pandora, also a key player in the space, is a webcaster service (users can’t pick exactly what they want to hear) with about 1.5 million subscribers.

'NYT': Nashville Is The New 'It' City

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nashville_skyline_photoA flattering article in today’s (Jan. 9) New York Times explains why Nashville is the country’s “it” city. It’s the latest love from a national publication, coming on the heels of stories in GQ, Rolling Stone, and other NYT articles showcasing the city’s culinary scene, the hit ABC television show Nashville, and more.
The report highlights the $623 million Music City Center, low unemployment rates, job growth, technology start-ups, and, of course, the music industry.
Nashville’s drawbacks, the article notes, include public education. Keep reading.

New Regional Promotion Manager for Arista Nashville

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Ali O'Connell

Ali O’Connell


Arista Nashville has added Ali O’Connell as a regional promotion manager. Based in Atlanta, O’Connell will report to VP, National Promotion for Arista Nashville, Lesly Tyson. She will begin in her new role on Feb. 4.
“Ali is one of the absolute best promotion executives I have ever met. Her enthusiasm, passion and drive are infectious. She is the perfect addition to the Arista family!” says Tyson.
“I am so excited to join the Arista Nashville family,” says O’Connell. “I have known and respected Lesly Tyson for years and I know that I will be able to learn so much from her.”
O’Connell began her radio career as Marketing Director for the then eight station Citadel cluster before transitioning to the music side, becoming the APD/MD/On-air at WSSX in Charleston (Top 40) and WSUY in Charleston (AC).
Prior to her work with Arista Nashville, she was a regional promotion manager with Atlantic Records.

Industry Veteran Skip Bishop Announces New Label

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Skip Bishop

HitShop Pres. Skip Bishop


Music industry veteran Skip Bishop announced the launch of record label HitShop Records this morning (1/9) and will serve as President of the new company. Country star Ronnie Dunn and longtime friend of Bishop attended the press conference to introduced the new label head at Nashville’s Sirius XM Studios. HitShop Records, a subsidiary of Ramblin’ Music Group, will be distributed by Warner Music Nashville.
“This is one of the most innovative and creative gatherings of musical talent and staff I’ve ever seen,” said Bishop. “The young, brilliant minds and compelling musicians involved are building a new model of discovery from the street up. This is the new label configuration of the future! Everyone at HitShop is deeply committed and involved in studying the new paths music fans walk. We look forward to a productive relationship with Warner Music Nashville.”
“Skip is one of the most savvy and creative executives in Nashville,” added John Esposito, President, Warner Music Nashville. “His track record for breaking hit records is what excited us to be in business with him and his team. We’re pleased to be providing this impressive new label with distribution services and to be working closely with this team.”
HitShop is launching with a diverse lineup of music makers including pop funk duo Gimm+Icky, whose music has been heard in national promo spots for ABC and E!; and Fort Payne, Alabama native Weston Burt, who cut his teeth playing over 150 dates a year while in college at Auburn University. Weston starts his country radio promotion tour today after performing with Gimm+Icky at this morning’s press conference.
Bishop’s 40-year career in radio and records includes serving as President/CEO, Bishop Bait & Tackle Marketing; Sr. VP Promotion at RCA Records in New York; MCA Records in Los Angeles; and Sony Music in Nashville.
Diane Monk-Harrison, whose promotion experience includes Arista Nashville, Columbia and MCA Records, will take the helm as VP Promotion for HitShop Records. The radio promotion staff will include East Cost Director Rick Baumgartner; West Coast Director Kelly Symone; and Director, Secondary Promotion and National Promotions Coordinator Will Hamrick.
A&R will be let by Emmy Award winning composer Cliff Downs, alongside VP, A&R Micah Wilshire. Rounding out the team is National Director, Digital Marketing Tim Gerst and Sr. Executive Assistant Amara Hall. HitShop staff can be contacted at:
logoSkip Bishop, [email protected], 615-730-6344
Diane Monk-Harrison, [email protected], 214-824-4124
Rick Baumgartner, [email protected], 615-730-6344 ext. 109
Kelly Symone, [email protected], 916-868-3331
Will Hamrick, [email protected], 615-730-6344 ext. 102
Cliff Downs, [email protected], 615-730-6344 ext. 101
Micah Wilshire, [email protected], 615-730-6344
Tim Gerst, [email protected], 615-730-6344
Amara Hall, [email protected], 615-730-6344
For more information visit www.hitshoprecords.com.

Wireless Carrier will offer FM Radio via Smartphones

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sprint1Sprint users will soon be able to access their local FM radio stations via select Android and Windows smartphones. The wireless carrier will allow users to listen to local radio channels through the NextRadio tuner for the next three years. The service is expected to become available later in 2013.
“We look forward to bringing Sprint customers another entertainment choice through NextRadio,” Sprint Sr. VP/Product Development and Operations Fared Adib said via a release. “This new, easy-to-use service adds another dimension to the versatility of our wide array of smartphones and will deliver a new avenue for thousands of local radio stations across the country to reach customers.”
“This opportunity combines the strengths of the Sprint network with the impact of America’s radio stations,” NAB president Gordon Smith added via a release. “It is the type of business-to-business partnership that recognizes the unique strengths of the wireless networks and the radio industry and provides services that are so important to the American people.”
 

Industry Ink (1/9/13)

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abcnews1ABC News Radio Producer Hunter Kelly has new contact information, 506 2nd Ave South, Nashville, TN 37210. He can be reached at (615) 727-6959 or [email protected].

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Cumulus LogoCumulus Media/Nashville has relocated to 506 2nd Ave. South, Nashville, 37210. Reach Bryan Switzer at 615-727-6933 (o), 615-838-0809 (c) or [email protected]; reach Donnie Walker at 615-727-6987 (o), 623-206-2502 (c) or [email protected].

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naxos1Mitzi Matlock has resigned from her position of Senior Marketing Manager at Naxos of America. She can be reached at [email protected] or her cell (615) 772-8868.

Artist Updates (1/9/13)

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grammy logo1Taylor Swift, the Black Keys, FUN., Mumford & Sons and Rihanna are the first performers announced for the 55th Annual Grammy Awards telecast, which will air on Feb. 10 on CBS. Swift is up for three Grammys, including Record of the Year, Best Song Written for Visual Media and Best Country Duo/Group Performance. LL COOL J will be host for the event. Additional performers, presenters and special segments will be announced in the coming weeks. For MusicRow’s list of nominees, click here.

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K$

Ke$ha for Musicians On Call.


Musicians On Call announced that Ke$ha will be the headline performing act at the organization’s Presidential Inaugural Charity Benefit at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. The Jan. 21st, invitation-only event will help raise money to expand the organization’s Bedside Performance Program to other cities. The red carpet evening is produced and sponsored by the RIAA. Currently, the organization is based in New York with branches in Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia, Nashville and Washington, D.C. Click here for more information.

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Black Crowes. Credit: Rod Synder

Black Crowes. Photo: Rod Synder


The Black Crowes will bring their Lay Down With Number 13 world tour to Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium for a two-night engagement on April 20-21. The second evening (April 21) will mark the tour’s only acoustic show featuring yet-to-be-announced special guests. A limited number of VIP packages are available with ticket information here.