Industry Ink: Sony Music Nashville, Change The Conversation, Young Entertainment Professionals
Sony X Seaforth

Pictured (L-R): RCA Nashville SVP, Promotion Dennis Reese; SMN SVP, Legal & Business Affairs Angie Magill; Seaforth’s Mitch Thompson; SMN Chairman & CEO Randy Goodman; Seaforth’s Tom Jordan; SMN EVP, Promotion & Artist Development Steve Hodges; SMN VP, Sales & Streaming Caryl Atwood; SMN Director, Marketing Jen Way; SMN EVP, A&R Jim Catino. Photo: Hunter Berry
Sony Music Nashville duo Seaforth debuted new songs during an industry showcase on Monday evening at Nashville’s 12th & Porter. On April 12, the Australian-born duo released their debut EP Love That. The duo’s Tom Jordan and Mitch Thompson co-wrote all four songs on the EP and co-produced the project with award-winning producer Dann Huff (Keith Urban, Thomas Rhett). They are currently on the road with Sony label-mate Kane Brown.
Change The Conversation, Women’s Audio Mission Support Female Studio Creators

Pictured : Producer/engineer Jordan Hamlin, producer Linda Perry, producer/engineer Gena Johnson and Tracy Gershon, co-founder of Change the Conversation
More than 200 women from around the world attended a weekend audio arts conference, WAMCon Nashville, sponsored by Change the Conversation and Women’s Audio Mission.
The organization is necessary for females aiming to network and build careers in the audio space, given that less than five percent of the people creating music through various studio work are women.
WAMCon Nashville featured interactive workshops covering topics from studio recording and mixing techniques to songwriting, guided by award-winning female producers and engineers like Linda Perry (P!nk, Adele, Alicia Keys), Emily Lazar (David Bowie, Foo Fighters, Beck), Shani Gandhi (Alison Krauss, Old Crow Medicine Show, Jewel), Simone Torres (Cardi B, Sia, Dua Lipa, Usher, Sean Garrett), Gena Johnson (Brandi Carlile, Kacey Musgraves), Jordan Brooke Hamlin (Indigo Girls, Lucy Wainwright Roche), Jennifer Decilveo (Andra Day, Beth Ditto), and Melissa Peirce (Carrie Underwood, Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire).
Change the Conversation founders Tracy Gershon and Beverly Keel also spoke at the event with Ann Mincieli, owner of Jungle City Studios and engineer for Alicia Keys.
“While female artists including Ariana Grande, Halsey and Lady Gaga have dominated the charts in 2019, women throughout the music industry still remain hugely underrepresented,” said WAM Executive Director Terri Winston. “Programs like WAMCon Nashville, featuring some of the country’s most talented audio engineers and music professionals, are designed to inspire and grow the next generation of successful female producers and engineers and address this disparity. Nashville is country music’s creative hub and we look forward to bringing our program to its thriving music community.”
Young Entertainment Professionals, SOLID, Belmont University Lead Discussion On Music And Mental Health

Pictured (L-R): Dave Barnes, Hayley Williams, Kelly Clague, Al Andrews, Charlie Worsham. Photo: Amy Wolff
Nashville’s Young Entertainment Professionals (YEP) partnered with Belmont University and SOLID on April 24 to host a collaborative panel discussion tackling the struggles and importance of mental health within the entertainment industry.
Shifting the stigma about mental health, panelists held open conversation to a packed-out BMI lobby including mental health expert Al Andrews, hit songwriter and artist Dave Barnes, country recording artist Charlie Worsham, EM.CO’s (Tim McGraw) Kelly Clague, and recording artist and frontwoman of Paramore, Hayley Williams.
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