Industry Pics: C.F. Martin, SOURCE, ACM

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Thomas Rhett joined C.F. Martin & Co., Inc. prestigious Martin Ambassador Program, which honors musicians for their understanding and appreciation of the guitar’s history and craftsmanship.
The CMA New Artist of the Year nominee joins a roster of artists across multiple genres, including Ed Sheeran, The Avett Brothers, Colbie Caillat, Jason Isbell, Hunter Hayes, Dierks Bentley, Del McCoury, The Milk Carton Kids, James Valentine of Maroon 5, among others.

Pictured (L-R): Chris Thomas (Sr. Mgr. Artist Relations), Amani Duncan (VP Brand Marketing), Thomas Rhett and Fred Greene (Chief Product Officer) Photo Courtesy of Martin Guitar

Pictured (L-R): Chris Thomas (Sr. Mgr. Artist Relations), Amani Duncan (VP Brand Marketing), Thomas Rhett and Fred Greene (Chief Product Officer). Photo Courtesy of Martin Guitar

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SOURCE, an organization of women executives in Nashville’s Music Industry, held its monthly Members Luncheon at ASCAP on Aug. 28, 2014. John Barker, President and CEO of Clearbox Rights LLC addressed the group of industry professionals on the subject of IP (Intellectual Property) and Copyright Laws.

(L-R): Denise Nichols (The Primacy Firm), Stacy Schlitz (Schlitz Law), John Barker (Clearbox Rights LLC) and Joy Fletcher (J. Fletcher Consulting). Photo: Denise Fussell

(L-R): Denise Nichols (The Primacy Firm), Stacy Schlitz (Schlitz Law), John Barker (Clearbox Rights LLC) and Joy Fletcher (J. Fletcher Consulting). Photo: Denise Fussell

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The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum hosted a packed house of music fans attending Saturday (Sept. 6)’s discussion panel with the Academy of Country Music.  Titled “50 Years of the ACM Awards,” the panelists included ACM Award winning Clint Black, ACM Awards executive producers Barry Adelman and Richard A. “Rac” Clark and ACM CEO, Bob Romeo.

Moderated by Lisa Lee, ACM senior vice president and author of the forthcoming This Is Country: A Backstage Pass to the Academy of Country Music Awards, the event covered highlights from the Academy’s show history – from its humble beginnings as a small dinner banquet in Southern California to the upcoming 50th anniversary ACM Awards, to be held Sunday, April 19, 2015 at AT&T Stadium in North Texas, broadcast LIVE in front of 65,000 attending fans and millions more at home watching on the CBS Television Network.

Pictured (L-R): ACM CEO Bob Romeo, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Ali Tonn, ACM’s Lisa Lee, ACM Awards Executive Producers Barry Adelman and Richard A. “Rac” Clark, and superstar Clint Black. Photo by Jason Davis.

Pictured (L-R): ACM CEO Bob Romeo, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Ali Tonn, ACM’s Lisa Lee, ACM Awards Executive Producers Barry Adelman and Richard A. “Rac” Clark, and superstar Clint Black. Photo: Jason Davis

Chris Young Inspires at Nashville School of Arts, Makes Local Donation

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(L-R): Dr. Gregory Stewart, Executive Principal, NSA; Chris Young, NSA students Brandon Mimms and Sara Sparks; Kara Kindall, Theater Chair, NSA; Wells Adams, Lightning 100 on-air personality and NSA Presents moderator. Photo: Edwards Photography Studios

(L-R): Dr. Gregory Stewart, Executive Principal, NSA; Chris Young; NSA students Brandon Mimms and Sara Sparks; Kara Kindall, Theater Chair, NSA; Wells Adams, Lightning 100 on-air personality and NSA Presents moderator. Photo: Edwards Photography Studios


Murfreesboro native and RCA Nashville artist Chris Young was the special guest at Nashville School of the Arts’ latest installment of “NSA Presents” yesterday (Sept. 8). The event coincided with the annual YoungArts Awareness Day, a nationwide, one-day initiative to “keep arts alive,” by “celebrating the hundreds of thousands of young artists across the country and encouraging them to pursue a career in the arts.”
Produced by the students and moderated by Lightning 100 on-air personality and morning show host, Well Adams, the “NSA Presents” program, is done in a format similar to James Lipton’s Inside The Actors Studio. During the session, Young shared insights into his successful career and discussed how music education had a significant impact on his artistic path.
Backstage prior to the event, Young, a YoungArts alumni and US Presidential Scholars in the Arts recipient, told MusicRow, “For me, arts awareness is one of the first things that gets pushed aside. But the arts are such a big growth area for kids, whether they want a career in it or not. And they don’t know until they are exposed to it and have a chance to find out. It’s something I’m very passionate about.”
As a special gift to the students, Young surprised the enthusiastic crowd at the opening of the Q&A session with a $30,000 donation to help fund improvements to the school’s auditorium.
NSA is the only arts magnet high school within Metro Nashville Public Schools, offering its students the “rare combination of rigorous, college preparatory curriculum instructed with intensely focused instruction in the performing or visual arts.”
Other celebrities that have participated in “NSA presents” include Janelle Monae, Chip Esten and Ruby Amanfu.

CMA, Nashville Entrepreneur Center To Aid Music Biz Startups

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cma_logo_detailThe Country Music Association and the Nashville Entrepreneur Center have partnered for a new music business accelerator program, a 14-week program that will develop six to eight startups into investable businesses.
The accelerator will support the development of new business models for the music industry, seeking to help programmers, technology engineers, and entrepreneurs. Each startup will receive a $20,000 investment in exchange for equity.
“CMA was created to advance Country Music and provide a forum for new ideas that support our business interests across every segment of the industry,” said Sarah Trahern, CMA Chief Executive Officer. “This is an investment in the future of our business community and city.”
Startups from around the world are invited to apply by submitting music business idea proposals. The competition will culminate in four rounds to select the top six to eight ideas that will participate in the accelerator. The accelerator will commence at the Nashville Entrepreneur Center.
“Nashville is the place where the best possible mentors for music and technology intersect. Any of our future startups will have a dream team to help them realize their vision,” said Joe Galante, mentor at the EC and member of the CMA Board of Directors.
For more information, or to get involved, please visit www.ec.co/music-tech-media.

Media Bytes: Spotify, RFD-TV, WholeWorldBand

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spotifySpotify is launching two new types of video ads that users will watch in exchange for free music streaming. With a Sponsored Session, a user views a brand-sponsored spot in exchange for 30 minutes of uninterrupted music. The other new option, Video Takeover, is where brands sponsor a video ad break on a user’s desktop. Spotfiy has 30 million-plus free users. More from Spotify.

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rfd tv
Nashville based television network RFD-TV will now be carried on AT&T U-verse.
As previously reported, Rural Media Group, RFD’s parent company, is relocating to the former GAC building.
According to the New York Times, Rural Media has been one of the most vocal critics of the proposed mergers between Comcast and Time Warner Cable, and AT&T and DirecTV.
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WholeWorldBand is a new app that lets musicians add their own vocal or instrument tracks, for a fee, to tracks started by celebrity musicians to complete the song. More from the LA Times.

The Peach Pickers To Play Nashville's 3rd & Lindsley

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(L-R): Ben Hayslip, Dallas Davidson and Rhett Akins

(L-R): Ben Hayslip, Dallas Davidson and Rhett Akins


CMS Nashville will present trio The Peach Pickers, including songwriters Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson and Ben Hayslip, on Sept. 26 at Nashville’s 3rd & Lindsley at 8 p.m. The performance will benefit the Wounded Warriors Project.
Since 2010, The Peach Pickers have garnered more than 50 No. 1 songs. Members of the trio have penned songs including “I Don’t Want This Night To End,” “Boys Round Here,” “It Goes Like This,” “Point At You,” “I Don’t Dance,” “Rain Is A Good Thing,” “We Owned The Night,” and others.
“We are thrilled to be sponsoring our friends the Peach Pickers for this unique event, especially for such a worthy cause as the Wounded Warriors Project,” states Christopher King, Chairman and CEO of CMS Nashville. “We’re excited to be creating new revenue streams for the country music industry, and this is the perfect event to introduce our client base to Nashville. ”
CMS Nashville, a division of sports and entertainment marketing firm CMS International, was developed for companies and brands interested in developing relationships in the Country music industry. CMS has relationships with 1,500 corporate clients worldwide, providing customized marketing solutions including tour sponsorships, artist endorsements, event sponsorships, product placement and more.
Tickets for the Peach Pickers’ performance are available at peachpickers.com or at 3rdandlindsley.com.

17th Annual Buds-n-Suds Preps for September

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Buds-'n'-SudsThe 17th Annual Buds-n-Suds Charity Concert, presented by NASH 103.3, will host a line-up including Craig Campbell, Chuck Wicks, and Jana Kramer. Benefiting the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA) Tennessee Chapter, the event takes place on Wednesday, Sept. 17 at 5:30 p.m. at Anthem.
A silent auction will be available throughout the evening and will include autographed memorabilia, CMA dress rehearsal passes, a Southwest Airlines voucher, Titans and Predators tickets, a private tequila home tasting party, plus much more.
VIP tickets are $50 in advance/$75 at the door and include special seating area, drink tickets and appetizers. General Admission tickets are $10 in advance/$20 at the door.
Early bird tickets are available now at budsnsuds.com
Buds-n-Suds has raised over $450,000 for charity since beginning in 1997.

MusicRowLife: Josh Turner, Lady Antebellum's Dave Haywood

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haywood11Lady Antebellum’s Dave Haywood and wife Kelli Cashiola Haywood welcomed their first child, son Cash Van Haywood, on Sunday, Sept. 7.
“So happy to have a healthy baby boy here with us! Cash Van Haywood was born last night,” the Lady Antebellum member, 32, announced on the band’s Twitter account.
 
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josh turner2111Josh Turner and wife Jennifer Turner welcomed their fourth son, Samuel Hawke Turner, on Thursday, Sept. 4. The newborn weighed 8 lbs, 6 oz. He joins big brothers Hampton, Colby and Marion.
“God has truly blessed Jennifer and me with this healthy little boy,” said Turner. “We are so thankful and excited to see our family grow yet again.”

ASCAP, SESAC, Nashville Cares Present Red Ribbon Rounds

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Screen shot 2014-09-08 at 2.52.56 PM1ASCAP, SESAC and Nashville Cares have teamed for Red Ribbon Rounds, a songwriters night benefiting the 23rd annual Nashville AIDS Walk and 5K run. Songwriters including Chris DeStefano, Brian White, Ashley Gorley, Greg Barnhill, Jon Nite,  Steve Pasch, Ken Johnson, and Jonathan Singleton will perform during two shows, which take place Tuesday, Sept. 16, beginning at 6 p.m. at Nashville’s The Listening Room.
At 6 p.m., ASCAP will present Chris DeStefano, Ashley Gorley, Jon Nite and Jonathan Singleton. At 8:30 p.m., SESAC will welcome Brian White, Greg Barnhill, Steve Pasch, and Ken Johnson.
Advance ticket prices are $20 per show, or $35 for both shows. Cost is $20 per show at the door. To purchase tickets, visit nashvillecares.org/songs
All proceeds benefit the Nashville AIDS Walk and 5K Run, which is Saturday, October 4 at Public Square Park.

Olson, O'Sullivan To Lead Pop Up Music in Nashville

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Pete Olson

Pete Olson


Television, film and commercial production company Jingle Punks has formed the offshoot Pop Up Music, which will focus on signing songwriters. Pop Up Music will be led by Jared Gutstadt, CEO of Jingle Punks. Two have been hired to run the Nashville office. Pete Olson has been added as VP, Artist Management and Development, and Liz O’Sullivan has been hired as VP, Publishing & Artist Management.
Olson was previously a manager with Rogue Music Group/AMP for five years. Prior to that, he worked as an agent at Paradigm for three years, and at WME for four years.
O’Sullivan was formerly Sr. VP at Sea Gayle for nearly 14 years. As a song plugger, she notched several No. 1 songs, including “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” and “Whiskey Lullaby.”
DSC_0116 edit333

Liz O’Sullivan


“We play in the sandbox with writers from all different publishing companies and talent from all walks of the music industry,” says Gutstadt. “Nashville is a particularly exciting space for us. We’re excited to have experienced veterans like Liz and Pete managing the day-to-day creative assets.”
Pop Up Music aims to serve as a bridge between Nashville, Hollywood, and Madison Avenue. Recently, Gutstadt and his team worked with Country artist J.R. Moore on the national re-launch of the Meow Mix brand.
Pop Up Music is located at  2613 Westwood Drive, Nashville. Olson can be reached at [email protected], and O’Sullivan can be reached at [email protected].

TuneCore Establishes Nashville Office Headed By Shelby Kennedy

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Shelby Kennedy

Shelby Kennedy


Digital music distribution and music publishing administration company TuneCore has launched a Nashville office under the direction of longtime industry player Shelby Kennedy.
TuneCore’s Entertainment Relations office is located at 1227 17th Ave. S., Unit D; Nashville, TN 37212.
Shelby brings 25 years of experience to the company, where he is serving as Vice President, Entertainment Relations. Prior to joining TuneCore, Kennedy has held diverse roles with ASCAP, BMI, Lyric Street Records, Wide Open Music Group and Cherry Heart Music and Entertainment, and his own Porch-Pickin’ Publishing. He is the son of legendary guitarist Jerry Kennedy.
“Nashville is one of the most creative cities in the world, and Shelby Kennedy has deep relationships and broad expertise in the music industry. As TuneCore expands our support for the increasing number of musicians and songwriters who choose independence to take control of their careers, both are a natural fit,” stated Scott Ackerman, CEO of TuneCore. “We’re confident that this expansion positions TuneCore to stay at the forefront of the evolving music industry.”
“I am tremendously excited to join TuneCore and take a leadership role in building the new model of the music industry,” commented Kennedy. “I hope to tap my experience spanning the spectrum of roles across the business—from songwriter to performer to business executive—to act as a catalyst in driving opportunities for artists, songwriters and other key partners.”
TuneCore has about forty employees throughout its headquarters in Brooklyn, NY, and offices in Burbank, CA and Nashville, TN. It is backed by Opus Capital and Guitar Center.
Since its inception in 2006, TuneCore Artists has distributed $438.8 million on 8.8 billion streams and downloads. In Q2 2014, it distributed $33.2 million, an increase of 18.4 percent over Q2 2013.
TuneCore Music Distribution services help artists, labels and managers sell their music worldwide through iTunes, Amazon Music, Spotify, Google Play, and other major download and streaming sites while retaining 100% of their sales revenue and rights for a low annual flat fee.