From its Leadership Conference in Nashville, Tenn., beauty company Mary Kay has announced its partnership with the 2015 ACM Awards as the Official Beauty Sponsor. The awards show celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, capping off three days of events including the 3rd annual ACM Party for a Cause® festival held on April 17-18. The outdoor event will feature multiple stages for live country music performances and a Mary Kay booth where fans will receive product samples and learn more about how to connect with an independent beauty consultant.

Throughout the awards show on Sunday, April 19, there will also be six Mary Kay commercials that air nationwide.

“The 50th ACM Awards is a landmark event and we’re thrilled to be part of a historical country music experience at one of the biggest venues in the country in our own backyard,” said Sara Friedman, Vice President of U.S. Marketing for Mary Kay Inc. “This platform allows us to showcase our irresistible beauty products to a national audience while providing an opportunity to engage Mary Kay’s independent sales force and reach Mary Kay brand lovers, as well as new customers, through a new and different avenue.”

Audiam, a New York-based online music collection service will be hosting a free seminar and luncheon to assist the local independent music community on how to get paid from YouTube, Spotify, Rhapsody, and other digital music services. The seminar will be hosted by Audiam CEO, Jeff Price.

“Songwriters, publishers and artists’ works are being used by technology companies to sell hardware, software, gain market share and/or generate billions of dollars via IPOs,” says Price. “However, the music copyright holders are not getting paid for the use of their music. And there is no better city in the world to discuss this issue than at the heart of the songwriter universe, Nashville, TN.”

Investors in the company include Jimmy Buffett, Jason Mraz, Bill Silva, Marc Geiger and GSO Business Group. It represents the publishing catalogs of Dolly Parton, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Trent Reznor, Graham Nash, Herbie Hancock, Tom Waits, Tori Amos, Aimee Mann, Pretty Lights, Puscifer and more.

The event will take place Friday, Jan. 30 from 11 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. at the Frist Lecture Hall at Belmont University’s Inman Center. Free parking is available on the first floor of the Belmont North Garage.

To RSVP, contact attend@audiam.com

Sturgill Simpson made a notable showing atop the Nashville Scene‘s recently released 15th Annual Country Music Critics’ Poll, as the first artist without a Top 40 Country single to top the critics’ Album list. Simpson released his successful Metamodern Sounds in Country Music last year on his own label, High Top Mountain/Thirty Tigers), though he recently announced a deal with major label Atlantic Records.

Country music critics entered their nominations in a range of categories, including the top Artists of the Year, live acts, duo/group, male vocalists, female vocalists, songwriters and more.

Simpson narrowly beat singer-songwriter Miranda Lambert for the top Album title by a razor-thin margin of a single vote. Lambert’s Platinum project (RCA) earned the No. 2 ranking.

Simpson also garnered the Best Male Vocalist honor, and the top Songwriter designation this year as well.

Lambert took home the overall Artist of the Year title. She earned the title by a comfortable margin over runner-up Simpson, with Eric Church, Rosanne Cash, and Lee Ann Womack rounding out the Top 5. Lambert was also honored with the Female Vocalist honor.

Newcomers Maddie & Tae earned Song of the Year honors for the brave anti-bro country hit “Girl In A Country Song,” while Little Big Town earned top Duo/Group.

Eric Church, who recently brought his The Outsiders tour to Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, earned the top Live Act honor. He also earned nods as the runner-up to Sturgill in the Best Male Vocalist category, and No. 3 Best Artist based on the success of his album, The Outsiders.

Singer-songwriter Angaleena Presley earned the New Act of the Year, followed closely by Sam Hunt, Maddie & Tae, Parker Milsap, and Simpson rounding out the Top 5.

Here are some of the results:

Albums
1. Sturgill Simpson, Metamodern Sounds in Country Music (High Top Mountain/Thirty Tigers)
2. Miranda Lambert, Platinum (RCA)
3. Lee Ann Womack, The Way I’m Livin’ (Sugar Hill)
4. Rosanne Cash, The River and the Thread (Blue Note)
5. Angaleena Presley, American Middle Class (Slate Creek/Thirty Tigers)

Singles
1. Maddie and Tae, “Girl in a Country Song” (Republic/Dot)
2. Miranda Lambert, “Automatic” (RCA)
3. Eric Church, “Give Me Back My Hometown” (EMI Nashville)
4. Lee Ann Womack, “The Way I’m Livin'” (Sugar Hill)
5. Dierks Bentley, “Drunk on a Plane” (Capitol Nashville)

Songwriters
1. Sturgill Simpson
2. Rosanne Cash
3. Shane McAnally
4. Angaleena Presley
5. Brandy Clark

Artists of the Year
1. Miranda Lambert
2. Sturgill Simpson
3. Eric Church
4. Rosanne Cash
5. Lee Ann Womack
6. Little Big Town
7. George Strait
8. Blake Shelton
9. Angaleena Presley
10. Dierks Bentley

For the complete lists, visit Nashville Scene.

Royal Bank of Canada will acquire all outstanding shares of City National Corp. in a transaction valued at approximately $5.4 billion. RBC will pay, on average, about $93.80 per City National share ($47.25 in cash and 0.7489 of an RBC common share) for each share of City National common stock, based on RBC’s closing stock price on January 21, 2015.

The deal has been approved by the boards of both companies and is expected to close before year’s end.

Following completion of this transaction, Russell Goldsmith will remain Chairman and CEO of City National, and will be responsible for RBC’s U.S. Wealth Management unit. Goldsmith has served as City National’s CEO since 1995, during which time the company’s assets have grown from $3.1 billion to $32.6 billion.

City National Bank has 75 branches and offices, including 16 full-service regional centers in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area, Nevada, New York City, Nashville and Atlanta. City National and its investment affiliates manage or administer $60.8 billion in client investment assets, including $48.1 billion under direct management.

Headed by President and CEO Dave McKay, RBC is Canada’s largest bank and one of the largest banks in the world, based on market capitalization. RBC employs approximately 78,000 employees who serve more than 16 million clients through offices in Canada, the U.S. and 38 other countries. In the United States, RBC already has a top-10 investment bank and the 8th largest wealth management firm. RBC has 8,000 employees in the U.S.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Sandler O’Neill + Partners, L.P. served as financial advisors to City National. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz served as legal advisor to City National. RBC Capital Markets, LLC and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC served as financial advisors, and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP served as legal advisors to Royal Bank of Canada in this transaction.