Industry Ink: BMI in Maui, Ole, Amazon

BMI Songwriters Bring Country Sounds to Maui Shore

The BMI Maui Songwriters Festival is in full swing, featuring shows every day from top country songwriters including Kacey Musgraves, Willie Nelson, Rodney Clawson, Nicolle Galyon and more. Held December 8 to 13 on the sunny shores of Maui, the festival highlights country music from well-established hit-makers, as well as the next wave of up-and-comers. The group paused for a photo as the sun set on the first night of the event. Ticket proceeds benefit the Dorvin and Betty Leis Charities, Inc. and the BMI Foundation.

Pictured (Standing, L-R): BMI songwriters Maggie Rose, Misa Arriaga, Kacey Musgraves, Bob DiPiero, Jeffrey Steele, Kimberly June and Greylan James, host Storme Warren, songwriter Rodney Clawson with Loving Mary’s Marti Frederiksen, Elisha Hoffman, Sarah Tomek and Rebecca Lynn Howard, songwriter Brandon Kinney, Loving Mary’s Suzie McNeil and songwriters Claudia Goodfellow and Danny Goodfellow. (Sitting, L-R): BMI songwriters Nicolle Gaylon, Willie Nelson, Rhett Akins and Loving Mary’s Andrew Mactaggart.

ole Promotes Chris Giansante

Chris Giansante has been promoted to Vice President of Administration of ole, an independent rights management company.

Giansante previously was named General Manager of Administration in January 2015, where he was charged with improving ole’s client service and data analytics, refining ole’s online portal, managing ole’s digital collections and services, and maximizing royalty collections from the ole catalog and those the company administers. Under his leadership, ole’s global admin team has made significant strides in these areas and more, earning Giansante increased responsibility as Vice President.

He first joined ole in 2010, when he was hired as a Financial Analyst in the company’s Acquisitions department, earning a promotion to Senior Analyst in 2013. Prior to joining ole, Giansante served in an analyst capacity at RBC Capital Markets, and with firms in the automotive and environmental technologies sectors. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration in 2008 and his MBA in 2010, both from the University of Windsor. He is also a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario as a CPA, CMA.

Chris Giansante

Amazon Selects Nashville Band Moon Taxi For Holiday Sampler

Nashville rock band Moon Taxi is part of Indie For the Holidays, a new collection of holiday music exclusively available to stream on Amazon Prime Music and purchase on Amazon.

Other artists on the mix include YACHT, Rogue Wave, Lisa Loeb, Langhorne Slim, Tuxedo, Ivan & Alyosha, The LeeVees & Matisyahu, A Silent Film and Sondre Lerche.

“We always want to deliver something special to our customers and Indie for the Holidays is the next great way we’re connecting customers with not only new, original holiday music but with amazing artists and bands that they may not have discovered yet,” stated Steve Boom, VP of Digital Music for Amazon. “We’re excited to follow last year’s popular All Is Bright holiday collection with songs from some of today’s best indie artists for customers to enjoy throughout the season.”