Carl Perkins

A special panel discussion and performance to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Carl Perkins’ “Blue Suede Shoes” will be presented by The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on April 9 at 2 p.m. in the museum’s Ford Theater. This celebration of Perkins’ signature song—and his influential career—will take place on what would have been his 84th birthday. Perkins died in 1998.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the creation and first recording of the rockabilly classic “Blue Suede Shoes” by Perkins. In 1956, “Blue Suede Shoes” set sales records for Sam Phillips’ Sun label just weeks after Elvis Presley left Sun for RCA. The recording achieved the rare distinction of climbing the national charts in three genres: pop, country, and R&B. “Blue Suede Shoes” is in the Grammy Hall of Fame, Rolling Stone’s “Greatest Songs of All Time” and the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry.

A panel discussion about Perkins will include his son Stan Perkins (Carl’s longtime drummer), close friend Naomi Judd (of the Judds, for whom Perkins wrote the #1 hit “Let Me Tell You About Love”); David McGee (co-author, with Carl Perkins, of Go, Cat, Go!: The Life and Times of Carl Perkins, the King of Rockabilly); Peter Guralnick (author of Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock ‘n’ Roll), and moderator Dr. Mark Crawford (associate professor of music at Tennessee State University).

Chuck Mead (founding member of BR5-49 and music director for the stage musical Million Dollar Quartet) will perform a brief set with his band.

Presented in support of the museum’s exhibition Flyin’ Saucers Rock & Roll: The Cosmic Genius of Sam Phillips, the program is included with museum admission and free to museum members. The interview and performance will be streamed live at countrymusichalloffame.org/streaming.

NMPA and Spotify have reached an agreement allowing independent and major publishers to claim and receive royalties for certain compositions used on Spotify in the United States where ownership information was previously unknown.

In addition to identifying the rightful recipients of Spotify royalties, the agreement establishes a bonus compensation fund that is a substantial percentage of what is currently being held by Spotify for unmatched royalties, and creates a better path forward for finding the owners of publishing rights who should receive streaming royalties.

For years, the issue of “unmatched works” — the lack of proper ownership information — has made it difficult to pay timely royalties to writers and publishers. Not only does the agreement distribute royalties to writers, it also improves processes for identifying and compensating writers for their work and establishes a better database for future payments.

The deal will allow copyright owners to identify their works and receive the money Spotify has set aside for the past usage of unmatched works. It will allow the entire industry to benefit by filling in the gaps in ownership information, which help to ensure that royalties are promptly paid to their rightful owners in the future. Any royalties associated with works that remain unmatched after each claiming period will be distributed to publishers and songwriters who participate in the settlement, but the agreement will not affect the royalties owed to any publisher or writer who does not choose to participate.

The agreement is a key step in improving transparency in the music community and ensuring that music’s creators receive royalties when their music is used. In addition to allowing copyright owners to identify and receive payment for unmatched works, the agreement enables publishers and Spotify to establish improved practices to identify proper ownership and ensure timely payment of royalties in the future.

National Music Publishers’ Association President and CEO David Israelite praised the agreement, saying, “NMPA’s goal has always been to ensure publishers and songwriters receive the money they deserve. I am thrilled that through this agreement both independent and major publishers and songwriters will be able to get what is owed to them. We must continue to push digital services to properly pay for the musical works that fuel their businesses and after much work together, we have found a way for Spotify to quickly get royalties to the right people. I look forward to all NMPA members being paid what they are owed, and I am excited about the creation of a better process moving forward.”

Spotify Global Head of Communications and Public Policy Jonathan Prince said, “As we have said many times, we have always been committed to paying songwriters and publishers every penny. We appreciate the hard work of everyone at the NMPA to secure this agreement and we look forward to further collaboration with them as we build a comprehensive publishing administration system.”

The agreement:
· Includes payment of bonus compensation.
· Provides the ability to easily identify and properly claim “unmatched” works online.
· Ensures that Spotify will continue working with the NMPA and its members to implement practices that will allow Spotify to match works more accurately and efficiently.
· Where ownership has not been identified or claimed by publishers, there will be a distribution to publishers and songwriters of royalties held by Spotify based on known usage on Spotify’s service.
· Provides a path to direct licensing between Spotify and publishers, with the goal of strengthening business relationships.

Music films American Epic and Born in Bristol have been added to the 2016 Nashville Film Festival lineup, running April 14-23 at Regal Cinema Green Hills.

American Epic will be shown as a three-night closing spotlight event. The film journeys across time to the birth of modern music, with appearances by T Bone Burnett, Jack White, Nas, Alabama Shakes, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Steve Martin, Edie Brickell, Beck, Elton John, Taj Mahal, and The Avett Brothers. The film was directed by Bernard MacMahon

Born in Bristol explores the origins of one of America’s most important genres of music. This is the story of country music’s historic event, The Bristol Sessions. Through cinematic reenactments, the movie revisits 12 days in 1927 when musicians recorded the songs that would go on to be known as the “Big Bang of Country Music.” The cast includes Dolly Parton, Vince Gill, Ashley Monroe, Sheryl Crow, Keb Mo and Carl Jackson. The film was directed by Chusy.

The festival’s official daily schedule has not been released.

Carla Wallace and Robert Neese are proud to announce the birth of their daughter Ella June Neese. She was born Feb. 23, weighing 6 lb., 7 oz., and measuring 19 3/4″ long.

Wallace is co-owner of Big Yellow Dog Music and Neese is a captain in the downtown Metro fire department.