MusicRow’s Publisher Issue Features ‘State Of The Union’ Panel, A Look Into Catalog Sales, More

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MusicRow Magazine has released its 2022 Publisher Issue print edition, with Mercury Nashville’s Maddie & Tae on the cover.

This annual resource includes the 2022 Publisher Directory, listing Nashville’s top publishing companies, as well as organizations and services available for songwriters.

Inside the issue, MusicRow brings back its State of the Union roundtable, this time featuring UMPG’s Cyndi Forman, Sony Music Publishing’s Josh Van Valkenburg, Endurance Music’s Michael Martin, Warner Chappell’s Jessi Vaughn Stevenson, and Tape Room Music’s Kelly Bolton

The five publishers sat down with MusicRow to discuss returning from the pandemic, multi-genre success in Nashville, “interpolation fever” in the songwriting community, and more.

“There’s a wider range of talents that we can base our decision on now,” shares Van Valkenburg when asked what attracts him to signing a new songwriter. “I still go back to lyric and melody—it’s still the most important part of the song. That being said, we can’t deny the fact that the producer-writer faction has come along strongly. There are songwriter-producers that are simply creating productions that cannot be replicated. That’s a very special talent that has to be paid attention to, even if they may not be the strongest lyricist.”

Elsewhere, MusicRow taps entertainment attorney Jess L. Rosen to explain the recent uptick in catalog sales. “If you do the calculations of what the money in your pocket now would be worth 10 or 15 years from now even at a modest interest rate, there’s a great value of having that working for you now,” Rosen shares.

The Publisher Issue also features an opinion piece on cutting outside songs from Ben Vaughn, President & CEO of Warner Chappell Nashville.

“If you look at the charts, you’ll see that over the last few years, about 75% to 80% of the singles released in country music were co-written with the artist,” Vaughn writes. “Now, obviously Nashville is blessed with tremendous artist-writers that have strong voices and something to say, but it does seem that the ecosystem is out of balance.”

Additionally, music industry veterans Clay Bradley, Jody Williams and Suzanne Lee look back on the history of a well-loved Nashville tradition: No. 1 parties.

This issue also offers a glimpse into Prescription Songs’ multi-genre success. “It’s called Music City, it’s all genres and all types of music,” shares Prescription Songs Nashville’s Head of A&R, Katie Fagan. “My hope is that one day people aren’t going to feel like they have to go to a different city to have success, and I’m hoping that we’re helping to change that.”

NSAI’s Bart Herbison helps explain the recent royalty rate change, boiling down what that means for songwriters. Reel Muzik Werks’ Teri Nelson Carpenter discusses the journey to starting her Nashville office.

MusicRow’s 2022 Publisher Issue also highlights the work and careers of some of Nashville’s most in-demand songwriters, including Sony Music Publishing’s Elle King, 50 Egg Music/UMPG’s Shane Minor, Big Loud’s Jamie Moore, BMG’s Emily Landis, Boom Music Group/Warner Chappell’s Chris Tompkins and SMACK’s Josh Jenkins.

Single copies of MusicRow’s 2022 Publisher Issue are available for purchase at musicrow.com for $45, and are included with yearly MusicRow subscriptions.

LB Cantrell
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