Industry Ink: Nickel Creek, Music Row Administrators Group, Live Nation

Following their sound check at Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Theater on Saturday (Aug. 23), Nickel Creek was presented with the band’s first platinum album for its Sugar Hill Records debut, Nickel Creek. On hand to present the honor were Sugar Hill GM Cliff O’Sullivan, Sugar Hill VP of A&R Gary Paczosa (who also engineered Nickel Creek), Austin City Limits producer Terry Lickona, Waterloo Records owner John Kunz and more.

Pictured (L-R): Cliff O’Sullivan, John Kunz, Terry Lickona, Sara Watkins, Chris Thile, Sean Watkins and Gary Paczosa

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The Music Row Administrators Group will launch its fall series on Sept. 18, at the 6th floor theater at BMI Nashville. Linda Edell Howard of Adams and Reese will be the featured speaker on the topic ‘Heirs/Estates-Wills-Trusts-Pre-Planning: What Will You Leave To Your Heirs?’

She joined Adams and Reese in 2001 and opened the firm’s Music Row office. She has more than 25 years of experience in entertainment, new media and technology, domestic and international intellectual property law and is the leader of the Entertainment/New Media team. She is also passionate about representing the family members of deceased creators. This meeting will include guests who have recently “crossed the mine field” of settling a loved one’s estate/affairs.

The meeting will begin at 1 p.m. Seating is limited to 50. To RSVP, send name, company name, and email address to musicrowadmingroup@aol.com.

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Live Nation is helping artists such as Jason Aldean and Billy Joel cut back on stadium show production costs by splitting costs between non-competing acts who perform back-to-back concerts at the same venue. According to Billboard, the strategy is saving $500,000 to $700,000 per artist–a considerable savings when production costs can reach $1.8 million.

The move also integrates hirings for staging the set. One stagehand crew, video crew and audio crew oversee the shared stage production, including video and sound components, and leave it in place for both shows. According to Chris Parr, part of Aldean’s mangement team, sharing production costs can be one of the deciding factors when considering playing a stadium show or several shows at a smaller venue.