Pictured (L-R):  Marc Driskill, Executive Director, AIMP; Doug Howard, Dean, Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business (CEMB); Sarah Cates, Director of Development & Industry Relations (CEMB); Anthony Manker, Pipeline 4.0; Alex Marsh, Pipeline 4.0; Hanna Seymour, Coordinator of Student Enrichment (CEMB); David Schrieber, Lecturer of Music Business (CEMB); Drew Ramsey, Instructor of Songwriting (CEMB); James Elliott, Chair of Songwriting (CEMB)

Sea Gayle Music Executive Vice President/General Manager and Executive Director of the Nashville Chapter of the Association of  Independent Music Publishers (AIMP) Marc Driskill, along with several representatives from Belmont University, including Doug Howard (Dean of the Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business) and Sarah Cates (Director of Development & Industry Relations), gathered at Nashville venue Citizen on Tuesday, March 3 to celebrate the recent success of Belmont University students involved in research as part of the Belmont Pipeline Project 4.0.

Driskill and Brad Peterson of 5/3 Bank engaged Belmont and the student members of the Belmont Pipeline Project 4.0 this past summer to take a deeper look into the current conversations surrounding copyright laws.

Belmont students Devin Dawson, Anthony Manker and Alex Marsh took the lead in the Belmont Pipeline Project 4.0, interviewing members from different facets of the music industry to get their opinions on the issues and solutions driving the current state of copyrights. “The first week I sat down with them, I told them there wouldn’t be a structure,” said Driskill. “I said, ‘You are going to learn, interview, and come back with your aggregated opinions on this. They went and sat through the copyright roundtables that Belmont University helped set up. They interviewed people across the industry spectrum, including Vincent Candilora at ASCAP, Jody Williams at BMI, others from RIAA, SoundExchange. They interviewed everyone that was a part of this. Kudos to them for the work they did.”

The students shared their research of identifying common patterns between stakeholders and expressed what they thought to be the ‘three keys to licensing reform,’ including efficiency, fair compensation and understanding.  The students then submitted a full proposal to the copyright office with their recommendations, in addition to presenting at an open forum to students and the music industry in September 2014. According to Driskill, the copyright office referred to the students’ proposal approximately 12 times in the recent 245-page study Copyright and the Music Marketplace: A Report of the Register of Copyrights.

“I just think that’s a big deal to have taken on a project like this and made an impact in such a short time,” Driskill said. “They worked for most of the summer on this. I and AIMP and 5/3 wanted to take the time to congratulate them on their accomplishments. This project engages the voices of the next generation. These are important voices and we saw that engaging them this way would be beneficial to us all.”

The students’ career plans are varied. Dawson has plans to continue pursuing a career as a songwriter, while Manker aims to become a music publisher, and Marsh has his sights set on law school.

Pictured: Front row (L-R): Beth Laird, co-owner of Creative Nation Music; and Luke Laird. Back row (L-R): Travis Gordon, UMPG Creative Director; Kent Earls, Executive VP/GM of UMPG Nashville; Missy Wilson, UMPG Sr. Creative Director; and Ron Stuve, UMPG VP A&R.

Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) Nashville has renewed its deal with Grammy-winning songwriter/producer Luke Laird, extending his longstanding relationship with the company.

Laird’s exclusive worldwide deal encompasses his entire catalogue as well as future works. Throughout more than a decade with UMPG Nashville as his publisher, Laird has garnered more than 800 credits to his name.

“From his first No. 1 co-written single in 2007 through his 19th No. 1 last week, we have been honored to work with Luke Laird every step of the way. His tireless passion, endless creativity and genre leading songwriting excites the UMPG staff every day. We look forward to what he delivers next!,” said UMPG Nashville Executive Vice President/General Manager Kent Earls.

“I’ve been part of the Universal Music Publishing family for over 10 years and I’m excited to continue the partnership with Kent and the entire team,” Laird said.

Over his career, Luke Laird has co-written 19 No.1 songs on Billboard’s Nashville Country Airplay chart. To date, his songs have contributed to the sales of more than 20 million albums. Laird has penned No.1 hits for a multitude of artists including Luke Bryan (“I See You”), Kenny Chesney (“American Kids”), Lady Antebellum (“Downtown”), Tim McGraw (“One of Those Nights”), Rodney Atkins (“Take a Back Road”), Eric Church (“Give Me Back My Hometown,” “Talladega,” and “Drink in My Hand”), Chris Young (“You”), Carrie Underwood (“Undo It,” “So Small,” “Last Name,” and “Temporary Home”), Brad Paisley (“Beat This Summer”), Sara Evans (“A Little Bit Stronger”), Blake Shelton (“Hillbilly Bone” feat. Trace Adkins), Little Big Town (“Pontoon”), Frankie Ballard (“Sunshine and Whiskey), and Hunter Hayes (“Somebody’s Heartbreak”).

In 2012, Laird received both BMI’s Country Songwriter of the Year award and won the Frances W. Preston Award Song of the Year Award for “Take A Back Road.” In 2014, he received his first Grammy Award in 2014 for co-producing Kacey Musgraves’ album, Same Trailer Different Park. In early 2015, he also received his fourth CMA Triple Play Award for three No.1 singles in a 12-month period.

Laird has worked with such other major artists as Miranda Lambert, John Legend, Ne-Yo, Rascal Flatts, Lee Ann Womack, Amy Grant, Lauren Alaina and Charlotte Church among many others.