CRS 2018 Adds Dierks Bentley, Cumulus Media’s Mary Berner

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Mary Berner, Dierks Bentley

Dierks Bentley and Cumulus Media President/CEO Mary Berner have been added to this year’s Country Radio Seminar (CRS) speakers lineup.

Berner will be this year’s keynote speaker on Feb. 6 from 3:30 p.m.-4:20 p.m. Emmis Communications’ Charlie Morgan will conduct the interview, titled “Radio Today with Cumulus Media’s CEO Mary Berner.”

Berner has been in the role since 2015.

Bentley has been named CRS 2018’s Artist Humanitarian of the Year and will be the featured speaker on Monday, Feb. 5 from 4-5 p.m.

The conversation, sponsored by DAV and titled “Climbing The Mountain,” will spotlight Bentley’s rise to superstardom built by following his own path and not trends, ultimately celebrating a career built on the combination of commercial success and critical acclaim. The CRS 2018 Artist Humanitarian Award presentation, sponsored by Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, will take place during the CRS Opening Ceremonies (sponsored by Sarah Cannon), prior to Bentley’s conversation.

The $699 final registration rate for CRS 2018 is available at CountryRadioSeminar.com. Single-day passes are also being made available. Single-day passes (limited to two day passes per person) are $200 per pass. In addition, today (Jan. 8) marks the last day to reserve rooms at Omni Nashville. Single rooms are $259 and double rooms are $269, and only a limited number of rooms are still available. To book a room, please call 1-800-THE-OMNI (1-800-843-6664).

Weekly Register: Kane Brown Tops Country Albums, Makes Two Entries On Country Digital Songs

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Kane Brown

Kane Brown‘s self-titled debut album moves from No. 5 to No. 1 this week on Nielsen’s country albums rankings (total consumption), with 15K. Brown was featured recently as part of the West Coast celebration of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest.

Thomas Rhett‘s Life Changes is at No. 2 with 14.9K (up from No. 4 last week), followed by Chris Stapleton‘s From A Room Vol. 2 with 14.7K (the album falls from No. 2 to No. 3 this week). Luke Bryan‘s What Makes You Country falls from No. 3 to No. 4 with 13K. Chris Stapleton’s Traveller is at No. 5 with 12K.

On the Country Digital Songs chart, Bebe Rexha (ft. Florida Georgia Line) top the chart with “Meant To Be” totaling 42K this week. Sam Hunt‘s “Body Like A Back Road” is at No. 2 with 24K, followed by Thomas Rhett’s “Marry Me” at No. 3 with 22K. Kane Brown notches the No. 4 and No. 5 slots, with “Heaven” at No. 4 with 15.5K and “What Ifs” (ft. Lauren Alaina) at No. 5 with 15K.

Information courtesy of Nielsen Soundscan.

WME Nashville Office Promotes Four

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Pictured (L-R): Brian Carothers, Adi Sharma, Hayley Warner and Chris Hrovat.

WME recently announced the promotion of four new agents in the Nashville office. Those who advanced to agent are Brian Carothers, Chris Hrovat, Adi Sharma and Hayley Warner.

Carothers began his career with WME in 2013 and most recently assisted in booking large venues and festivals in the West territory. Carothers will join the Development team as a booking agent in the Southwest.

Hrovat began his career at WME in 2013 and has assisted in booking fairs and festivals as well as venues in the South Central territory. Most recently, he has worked directly with several of the artists on WME’s roster. Hrovat will be a multi-genre development agent, working with both country and non-country artists.

Sharma began his career in the agency’s Beverly Hills office in 2014 and transferred to the Nashville office in 2016. Most recently he has worked on national touring for several headlining artists on WME’s roster. Sharma will be leading a new team that specializes in large venue touring.

Warner is a 2012 graduate of Purdue University. Warner most recently assisted in booking clubs in Texas and Oklahoma. She will be joining the Development team as a booking agent in the Midwest.

The promotions follow a string of new artists and executives joining WME, including Scott Clayton, Buster Phillips, Brandi Brammer, Matthew Morgan, and artists Train, My Morning Jacket, Kings of Leon, and more.

Loretta Lynn Falls And Breaks Hip

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Loretta Lynn

Loretta Lynn is recovering after she fell and broke her hip last week, according to an Instagram post from Lynn’s sister and fellow country entertainer Crystal Gayle.

“My birthday wish is for everyone to send love and prayers to my sister, Loretta Lynn, who fell and broke her hip last week. I was with Loretta yesterday. She is in good spirits and is doing as well as can be expected with this type of injury,” Gayle said.

In May, Lynn was hospitalized after suffering a stroke. The stroke caused Lynn to cancel a tour and postpone an album release. She was still recovering in August, when her sister Patsy appeared to thank the Country Music Hall of Fame during the preview for Loretta Lynn’s exhibit Blue Kentucky Girl.

By September, Lynn had made an appearance at the 2017 Tennessee Motorcycle and Music Revival at her ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. In October, she was on stage to induct Alan Jackson into the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville.

#birthdayweek #birthdaywish #prayers @lorettalynnofficial ❤️?❤️

A post shared by Crystal Gayle (@thecrystalgayle) on

Carrie Underwood Signs With PMK BNC For Publicity

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Carrie Underwood

Carrie Underwood has signed with Brad Cafarelli at PMK BNC for publicity services, MusicRow has confirmed. Underwood was previously represented for publicity by Nashville firm Schmidt Public Relations, which also represents Luke Bryan, Easton Corbin, the Grand Ole Opry, Cole Swindell and Eric Paslay.

Underwood continues to be managed by The HQ and repped by CAA.

The signing follows last year’s label shakeup, when Underwood left longtime label home Sony Music Nashville and signed with Universal Music Group. She is in the studio working on her first album for UMG and recovering from a 2017 fall that reportedly left her with an injured wrist and face stitches.

She also previewed a new song, “The Champion,” on Saturday (Jan. 6) during the NFL playoff matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and the Atlanta Falcons.

Carrie Underwood's New Song Previewed During Falcons/Rams

Check out something special from Carrie Underwood that aired tonight during halftime! #SBLII #TheChampion

Posted by Sunday Night Football on NBC on Saturday, January 6, 2018

Hank Cochran Pen Fund Benefit Set For January 17

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Songwriters Rafe Van Hoy, Marla Cannon-Goodman, Dale Dodson, Waylon Payne, Don Sampson and Ronnie Bowman will pay tribute to Hank Cochran and Red Lane at 3rd & Lindsley on Wednesday, Jan. 17 to benefit The Hank Cochran Pen Fund.

Tickets are $10, and doors open at 6 p.m. with the show beginning at 7:30.  The charity focuses its efforts on financially assisting songwriters with cancer. The family of Country Music Hall of Fame member Hank Cochran launched the fund in his honor following his death from Pancreatic cancer in 2010 and it is helmed by Hank’s daughter, Booth.

“Honoring Hank was the inspiration for the Fund, but Red was instrumental in getting us motivated to act,” Booth recalls. “Hank is why we did it; Red is how we did it. They were lifelong friends, and Red was a huge support to our family as Hank fought the disease – and as we grieved. I thought it fitting to honor them both with our first fundraiser of 2018, and I hope a sell-out crowd can help us pay tribute to these two music men.”

Sony/ATV Music Publishing Inks Licensing Deal With Facebook

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Sony/ATV Music Publishing and Facebook have entered a multi-territory, multi-year licensing agreement that allows Sony/ATV songwriters to earn royalties from the use of their music on both Facebook and Instagram. The deal is the second major publisher to sign with Facebook and the first agreement made with the social media giant and Sony/ATV, which oversees a catalog of more than 3 million songs.

Under the agreement, users can upload and share videos on Facebook, Instagram, and Oculus that contain compositions licensed from Sony/ATV’s catalog, as well as personalize their music experiences with songs from the catalog.

Sony/ATV Chairman and CEO Martin Bandier said, “We are thrilled that in signing this agreement Facebook recognizes the value that music brings to their service and that our songwriters will now benefit from the use of their music on Facebook. We are looking forward to a long and prosperous relationship.”

Sony/ATV’s contemporary roster includes The Chainsmokers, Drake, Pink, Ed Sheeran, Sia, Sam Smith, Taylor Swift, Kanye West and Pharrell Williams, while it also represents the songs of legends such as The Beatles, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, Carole King and Queen, the Jobete catalog of Motown songs and standards including “Over The Rainbow,” “Moon River” and “Singin’ In The Rain.”

Tamara Hrivnak, Head of Music Business Development and Partnerships, Facebook said: “We’re excited to work with the largest music publisher in the world to bring amazing songs which deepen connections between friends and fans. Sony/ATV is a true leader and an absolute champion of writers in the digital space, and we’re thrilled to work with them as they grab new opportunities by the horns across all of our platforms.”

Songwriter Petition Circulates To Support Music Modernization Act

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The National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) has created a petition to collect and amplify the voice of songwriters in agreement of H.R. 4706, The Music Modernization Act of 2017, which is aimed at updating what the association calls “archaic laws” for the biggest achievement music creators have seen in the Digital Age.

Thousands of signatures have been collected so far in support of the December 21, 2017 legislation Congressman Doug Collins and Congressman Hakeem Jeffries introduced.

Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) has encouraged its members to sign the NMPA’s petition “that will give songwriters a new rate standard for digital mechanical royalties which should lead to better streaming royalty rates. The bill creates a new mechanical licensing entity that will represent all songwriters equally at no cost, establishes a licensing process controlled by music publishers and songwriters instead of tech companies or the government, ends the disastrous Copyright Office mass ‘Notice of Intent’ program, and mandates songwriters receive more than half of all unclaimed funds.”

Additional support for the bill comes from the Songwriters of North America (SONA), the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI), the Church Music Publishers’ Association (CMPA), the Production Music Association (PMA), MusicAnswers, the Music Publishers Association (MPA), the Council of Music Creators (CMC), the Society of Composers and Lyricists (SCL) and the Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP). The bill is also supported by the Digital Music Association (DiMA) which represents Amazon, Apple, Pandora, Spotify and YouTube.

Visit gopetition.com to read more or add your voice.

Kalie Shorr To Release New EP ‘Awake’ This Month

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Kalie Shorr is set to release her new EP Awake on Jan. 26, and she’ll be celebrating the release with a launch party on Jan. 25 at The Back Corner in Nashville. The new project features seven songs, and will be available for pre-sale on iTunes Jan. 15. The project’s first single “Two Hands” is currently playing on SiriusXM The Highway’s “On The Horizon,” Radio Disney Country, TuneIn Country Roads and on Apple Music playlists Breaking Country and Cool Country.

“Sometimes, this industry makes you second guess yourself,” Shorr explains. “It might not even mean to — there are just so many opinions and it’s easy to try to please everyone. This project is the first time I’ve tuned everything else out but my own gut feeling on who I am and what makes me unique. This past summer, I bought a new electric guitar, met an amazing producer, and fell back in love with the records that made me want to write songs in the first place. Before I knew it, the Awake EP was born. I couldn’t be more excited for it’s release, this record feels like the most authentic introduction to me I could give anyone.”

Shorr will hit the road beginning in February on the CMT Next Women of Country Presents Sara Evans All The Love Tour.

Shorr, who is part of the women-only music showcase in Nashville dubbed Song Suffragettes, recently teamed with fellow Song Suffragettes members including Lacy Cavalier and Lena Stone to cover Keith Urban’s “Female,” garnering praise from fans and critics alike.

Awake Track Listing:
1. Awake
2. Two Hands
3. Candy
4. Backseat
5. Damn Sky
6. Who What When Where Why
7. Cool Kids

Justin Timberlake’s 2018 Tour To Include Bridgestone Arena Date

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Justin Timberlake’s Man of the Woods video trailer.

Justin Timberlake announced he will launch his Man Of The Woods Tour in March, and the 27-city trek will include a stop at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on May 9.

The tour supports Timberlake’s album of the same name, which will release Feb. 2, two days before Timberlake performs the Super Bowl LII halftime show.

The tour will end May 30 at the FedEx Forum in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee.

Timberlake’s Man Of The Woods album will feature collaborations with Alicia Keys (“Morning Light”), and Chris Stapleton (“Say Something”).

Ticket sale dates vary depending on desired tour date. Although, American Express Card Members get access to presale tickets. Visit JustinTimberlake.com to see the full schedule of release dates.