Garth Brooks Confirms Album Release Date

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Garth Brooks. Photo: Bev Moser/Moments By Moser.

Garth Brooks. Photo: Bev Moser/Moments By Moser.


Garth Brooks confirmed today (September 19) at a tour press conference in Atlanta, GA that his highly-anticipated new album will be available on November 11. The yet-to-be-titled album will be released on Pearl/RCA Nashville and will feature his current Country radio single, “People Loving People.”
Fans can pre-order the album at garthbrooks.com and ghosttunes.com. In addition to the album, fans can order an additional mega bundle including all eight studio albums digitally updated, the new double live 25th Anniversary Edition featuring 30 songs along with 30 videos, an instant download of “People Loving People” and the bonus track, “Send ‘Em On Down The Road.”
Brooks, who in 2000, was certified by the RIAA as the No. 1-selling solo artist in U. S. history and has sold 134 million albums to date, virtually receiving every music award possible, is currently on his world tour.

Bloss-Baum Named To SoundExchange Sr. Director Role

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linda bloss baum11SoundExchange has named Linda Bloss-Baum as Sr. Director of Industry Relations. She will drive awareness and visibility for SoundExchange across multiple channels related to performance and music entertainment.
Bloss-Baum most recently served as an independent consultant with recording artists through her agency LBB Creative Strategies. SoundExchange was a client of LBB Creative Strategies.
“We are pleased Linda Bloss-Baum will be joining the Industry Relations department at SoundExchange,” said SoundExchange VP of Industry Relations Barry LeVine. “Her solid reputation and strong industry connections, in particular her work with the Nashville community where, as a consultant to SoundExchange, she established the well-regarded SoundExchange Influencers Series at the Bluebird Cafe, make her a tremendous asset –  particularly as we develop new programs for the community we serve.”
Prior to her work with LBB Creative Strategies, Bloss-Baum ran the Warner Music Group office in Washington, D.C. for six years. She also served as VP, Public Policy/Government Relations at Universal Music Group/NBC Universal and Time Warner, Inc. She graduated from Catholic University Law School and is an adjunct professor at the KOGOD School of Business at American University, where she teaches a class on “Protecting the Creative Class in the Digital Age.” She is a member of the Leadership Music Class of 2009 in Nashville.
“I am honored to be part of the SoundExchange family. There is no stronger foundation to continue my work for recording artists and rights holders than SoundExchange,” said Bloss-Baum.

Industry Ink: The Agency Group, South X Sea, Makin' Music

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Restless Heart has signed with The Agency Group for live booking representation. The Agency Group’s Travis James will act as the band’s agent.
“The Agency Group is extremely proud to become a part of the outstanding legacy already created by Restless Heart,” says James. “To see all the original guys still singing and performing the hits at the top of their game is inspiring on so many levels. I’m honored to be a part of the band’s touring future, as are the other TAG agents who will be involved on a daily basis.”

Pictured (L-R): Bobby Roberts (The Agency Group), Travis James (The Agency Group), Greg Jennings, Dave Innis, John Dittrich, Paul Gregg, Larry Stewart, Nick Meinema (The Agency Group). Photo: Absolute Publicity

Pictured (L-R): Bobby Roberts (The Agency Group), Travis James (The Agency Group), Greg Jennings, Dave Innis, John Dittrich, Paul Gregg, Larry Stewart, Nick Meinema (The Agency Group). Photo: Absolute Publicity

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southxseacroppedProducer Brandon Metcalf has launched the new independent label, South X Sea. The label launches with two artists, Dallas-based indie alternative band TEAM, and Nashville-based indie pop band Kaptan. Metcalf will lead the company with Dave Conway (previously of Atlantic, Doghouse/Warner, and Working Group Management) acting as GM and Head of A&R, and Andrew de Torres rounding out the A&R team.

Metcalf will continue operating his studio Destiny Nashville, where he recently produced/wrote tracks and records for Jewel, Blues Traveler, Veronica Ballestrini, Trent Dabs, Ella Mae Bowen, and others. The studio will be used to produce records released through the new South X Sea label.

For more information, visit southxsea.co.

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making musicMakin’ Music and Foremost Records have hired Jessica Reeves as National Head of Promotion and Marketing. Reeves graduated from Middle Tennessee State University with a degree in Music Business and Public Relations. The Lafayette, Tenn., native moved to Nashville after interning with Girlilla Marketing.

“In college, I always thought I would go into publishing. I never even considered anything else because I was so convinced on the path my career was going to go, ” Reeves said. “It wasn’t until I got my internship that I knew marketing and promotion was my thing.”

Artist Updates: "If Trees Could Sing," Luke Bryan, Lee Ann Womack, Jim Ed Brown

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Reba

Reba


The Nature Conservatory, in partnership with Metro Parks Nashville, has launched “If Trees Could Sing” at Nashville’s Centennial Park. The project features videos of 18 musicians, including Reba, Suzy Boggus, Rodney Atkins, Will Hoge, Jim Lauderdale, Big Kenny, Jerry Douglas, Kim Richey and Ben Folds, talking about their favorite trees.
Trees at Centennial Park have been outfitted with signs, each with an artist’s photo and a QR code, which, when scanned with a smart phone, will allow visitors to view a video of the artist speaking about that specific tree.
Artists and trees include:

  • Rodney Atkins and the Eastern redbud
  • Big Kenny highlights the benefits of trees
  • Suzy Bogguss and the flowering dogwood
  • Jerry Douglas and the red maple
  • Mike Farris and the Eastern red cedar
  • The Fisk Jubilee Singers and the bald cypress
  • Ben Folds and the sweetgum
  • Giancarlo Guerrero of the Nashville Symphony and the green ash
  • Will Hoge and the willow oak
  • Taylor Hicks and the sweetbay magnolia
  • Jim Lauderdale and the sugarberry
  • Reba McEntire and the pin oak
  • Tim O’Brien and the chinkapin oak
  • Kim Richey and the sycamore
  • Jason Ringenberg and the hackberry
  • Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show and the osage orange
  • Webb Wilder and the blue spruce
  • Victor Wooten and the black walnut

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luke bryan farm tour111Luke Bryan will feature Cole Swindell, The Peach Pickers (Dallas Davidson, Rhett Akins and Ben Hayslip), Chancie Neal, and DJ Rock during his upcoming Farm Tour, which will visit eight cities in Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, beginning in October.
Farm Tour 2014 Dates
Oct. 1, Knoxville, Tenn., Maple Lane Farms
Oct. 2, Auburn, Ala., Ingram Farms
Oct. 3, Tallahassee, Fla., Cross Creek Place
Oct. 4, Gainesville, Fla., Whitehurst Cattle Farm
Oct. 8, Statesboro, Ga., Perry Field
Oct. 9, Athens, Ga., Meldon Farm
Oct. 10, Columbia, S.C., Culler Farms
Oct. 11, Macon, Ga., Midway at Central City Park
(dates & cities subject to change)

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Lee Ann Womack and John Legend. Photo: Jason Davis/Getty Images

Lee Ann Womack and John Legend. Photo: Jason Davis/Getty Images


Lee Ann Womack and John Legend taped an episode of CMT Crossroads in Nashville this week. CMT Crossroads: John Legend and Lee Ann Womack premieres Friday, Sept. 26 at 10 p.m. ET on CMT.
They were joined onstage by musicians Mac McAnally, Glenn Worf, Jedd Hughes, and Jim Hoke. Womack and Legend performed songs including Legend’s “All of Me,” and “Green Light,” and Womack’s “I May Hate Myself In The Morning” and “I Hope You Dance.”
They also played Legend’s current single “You and I (Nobody In The World)” and Womack’s title track from her upcoming album The Way I’m Livin,’ which releases next week.

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jim ed brown1Jim Ed Brown will release his first solo recording in 30 years, with the release of In Style Again, his debut project for Plowboy Records. The project, which is slated for release next year, will include duets with Vince Gill and The Whites, as well as a track with the reunited group The Browns.
“I love new music.” Brown said. “I guess the whole world does. It’s always good to hear a new song. I love what I do. People have always been great to me. They have accepted me into their homes and lives. It’s unreal what radio and television has done for me. I am a very blessed man.”

Weekly Chart Report (09/19/14)

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Gold Village Entertainment Expands to Nashville

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House of Blues Studios’ Gary Belz and Gold Village Entertainment’s Danny Goldberg have established management company Gold Village Entertainment Nashville. Located at the House of Blues Studios complex in Nashville’s Berry Hill neighborhood, the company and partnership will be an expansion of Gold Village Entertainment.
Brady Brock, an executive with Gold Village Entertainment New York City since 2008, has been named Vice President of Gold Village Entertainment Nashville. Gold Village Entertainment New York City and Nashville manages the careers of Steve Earle, The Hives, Against Me!, and others.
Goldberg stated, “This venture allows me to fulfill two longtime wishes: to work professionally with Gary Belz and combine our interests, values and networks, and to develop and renew my relationships with the Nashville music community. Brady Brock has been one of my closest colleagues in New York for many years and the fact that he is heading up our efforts in Nashville was the additional catalyst to bring Gold Village Entertainment Nashville to life. I’m looking forward to spending more time in Nashville.”
Brock can be reached at bradyb@goldve.com or at 615-777-0640.
 

Round Hill Music Launches Round Hill Records

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Pictured (L-R): John Sadocha, Josh Gruss (CEO/Chairman, RHM), Bob Morelli (President, RED), Jonnie Davis (Sr. Vice President, A&R/ Head of Label Services, RHM), Alan Becker (SVP Product Development, RED), Michael Lau (COO, RHM)

Pictured (L-R): John Sadocha, Josh Gruss (CEO/Chairman, RHM), Bob Morelli (President, RED), Jonnie Davis (Sr. Vice President, A&R/ Head of Label Services, RHM), Alan Becker (SVP Product Development, RED), Michael Lau (COO, RHM)


Round Hill Music has launched Round Hill Records, with an exclusive distribution deal with Red. Initial releases include recordings from Bush, Spacehog and Howie Day. The announcement comes on the heels of a co-ownership deal with Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale, who worked with Round Hill Music to acquire the first four Bush albums from Kirtland Records. The platform was created to manage various master recordings that Round Hill Music acquires.
“While we are a music publisher at our core, expanding into the world of master ownership and exploitation is a natural and organic next step. Thus, Round Hill Records was born,” explains Round Hill Music president, Neil Gillis.
​”We intend to grow our master recording assets in the next few years,” adds Round Hill Music’s CEO and Chairman, Josh Gruss. ​
Round Hill Music opened a Nashville office in January 2014, led by Mark Brown and Kari Smith.

BMI Royalties Reach All-Time High

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BMI logoBMI today (Sept. 18) reported that it had achieved the highest revenues and royalty distributions in its 75-year history for its fiscal year ended June 30. BMI generated revenues of $977 million, and distributed and administered more than $840 million to its songwriters, composers and music publishers.
For the 2013 fiscal year, BMI reported revenues exceeding $944 million and royalty distributions of $814 million.
This year, the largest category of the company’s domestic revenue was delivered by cable and satellite distributed entertainment. Licensing income from digital services, international sources and from businesses such as bars, hotels, fitness facilities and restaurants all posted significant gains.
BMI singer/songwriters including Taylor Swift, Adam Levine, Shakira, Miranda Lambert, P!nk and Nicki Minaj contributed some of the most-performed songs of the year. Income was received from the mega-smash “Let It Go,” by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, from the highest-grossing animated film of all time, Disney’s Frozen. Also adding to the tally were Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Daft Punk and Nile Rodgers, Kacey Musgraves, Imagine Dragons, and film and television composers James Newton Howard, Steve Jablonsky, Mark Mothersbaugh, Brian Tyler, and John Williams.
This year’s results cap a ten-year period during which BMI has generated more than $8 billion in revenues and distributed royalties of more than $7.5 billion. BMI operates on a non-profit-making basis and returns more than 85% of all revenue to the musical creators and copyright owners it represents.
BMI Pres. and CEO Michael O’Neill said, “We are extremely pleased with these results and are already hard at work trying to better them this year. BMI has a well-earned reputation as a trusted broker between the creative community and businesses that perform music to enhance their customer experience. In an ever-evolving marketplace for music rights, our leadership, operational expertise and ability to deliver value at so many different levels to our songwriters, composers, publishers and licensees, enables us to maximize royalties for the creative community.”

LifeNotes: Gospel's Speer Family Member Passes

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Mary Tom Speer Reid1

Mary Tom Speer Reid


Gospel Music Hall of Fame member Mary Tom Speer Reid died Tuesday in Nashville at age 89.
She was a member of the celebrated Speer Family, one of the most enduring groups in the history of Southern gospel music. The group was founded in Alabama in 1920 by her parents “Dad” George Thomas Speer (1891-1966) and “Mom” Lena Brock Speer (1900-1967). During the next decade, the Speer children gradually joined the group, including Mary Tom, her sister Rosa Nell and her brothers Brock and Ben.
The Speer Family moved to Lawrenceburg, Tenn., in 1929. Dad Speer joined that city’s James D. Vaughan Music Publishing company in 1934 and subsequently wrote or co-wrote more than 600 songs for the firm. The family traveled extensively throughout the South, selling Vaughan gospel songbooks from church to church.
By 1941, The Speer Family had its own daily radio show in Montgomery, Ala., on WSFA. Mary Tom Speer sang alto to her mother’s lead soprano vocal.
The Speers moved to Nashville in 1946 and began making records a year later. The group eventually recorded more than 60 albums, won 14 Dove Awards from the Gospel Music Association and was nominated for five Grammys.
Mary Tom left the group in 1954 when she married the Rev. Robert Reid. Following his death, she rejoined The Speer Family on a part-time basis beginning in 1969. By that time, Brock and Ben headed the group.
She also became the secretary for the Ben Speer Music publishing company and worked as a staff member of the Stamps-Baxter School of Music. In later years, Mary Tom Speer Reid became quite active in the Gaither Homecoming video series of the 1990s. The Speer Family retired in 1998.
The Speers were inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1997 and into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame the following year. Mary Tom Speer Reid was a 2006 inductee into the Southern Gospel Hall of Fame.
She is survived by her sister Rosa Nell Speer Powell, brother Ben Speer, son Timothy Scott Reid, daughter Teri Reid Fontaine, daughter Cynthia Lee Reid, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
A gathering of family and friends will be on Friday, Sept. 19, from 4-8 p.m. at Woodlawn-Roesch-Patton Funeral Home at 660 Thompson Lane in Nashville.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Stamps-Baxter Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 40201, Nashville, TN 37204 or to the Altzheimer’s Association, 4825 Trousdale Dr., Nashville, TN 37220.

Industry Ink: Sam Hunt Goes Gold, Jason Isbell, SAE Nashville, Taryn Pray

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MCA Nashville recording artist Sam Hunt was surprised during his album listening party Tuesday evening in Nashville with a plaque to commemorate his first RIAA-certified Gold record as an artist. His single “Leave The Night On” has surpassed 500,000 units sold.
“[‘Leave The Night On’] is a song I’m excited about that represents what’s to come with the album in a lot of ways,” Hunt said. “It’s a good sign because people are reacting to ‘Leave The Night On’ and giving us such a great response that it really excites me about the music to come.”
The single is from Hunt’s forthcoming debut album Montevallo, which will release Oct. 27.

sam hunt111

Pictured (L-R): Mike Dungan, UMG Nashville Chairman & CEO, MCA Nashville’s Sam Hunt. Photo: Alan Poizner

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Americana Music Honors & Awards winner Jason Isbell enjoyed an after-party at City Winery in Nashville. Isbell earned accolades for Best Song, Best Album and Artist of the Year.

Caption: Founder/CEO City Winery Michael Dorf, singer/songwriter Jason Isbell and wife/ fellow recording artist, Amanda Shires. Photo: Getty Images

Caption: Founder/CEO City Winery Michael Dorf, singer/songwriter Jason Isbell and wife/ fellow recording artist, Amanda Shires. Photo: Getty Images

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Dr. E Michael Harrington

Dr. E Michael Harrington


SAE Nashville Music Business Program Chairperson Dr. E. Michael Harrington was a featured speaker at roundtable discussions about U.S. copyright law, which were held at Vanderbilt University Law School in Nashville, Tenn. The event was organized and sponsored by the U. S. Patent & Trademark Office, The U. S. Department of Commerce and the NTIA (National Telecommunications and Information Administration).
Harrington has taught music business and entertainment law courses for Berklee College of Music, Belmont University, University of Alabama Birmingham, University of Miami, University of Pittsburgh, Ohio State University, and William Paterson University. He has been involved in intellectual property and copyright issues involving Lady Gaga, Steven Spielberg, HBO, The White Stripes, the Black Keys, T-Pain, Keith Urban, Britney Spears, Rascal Flatts, Avril Lavigne and others.

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Harrison James Pray

Harrison James Pray

Publicist Taryn Pray (of Taryn Pray PR) and husband Brad welcomed second child, son Harrison James Pray, on Wednesday, Sept. 17. The 8lb 1oz baby boy joins older sister Brynn Pray.