Mark Miller's Beach Street Ent. Debuts Feature Film

/by

005791oRing The Bell, the first feature film from Beach Street Entertainment, is set to release to DVD April 9 (Provident Films). The movie was produced by Beach Street Records’ founder and Casting Crowns’ producer Mark Miller. Miller, the lead singer and founder of country music group Sawyer Brown, co-wrote the script with Thomas Weber, and Weber directed the production.
Provident Films (Courageous, Fireproof and October Baby) is a partner in the marketing and distribution of this family-friendly movie. Ring The Bell is the first in a slate of faith-based films to be produced by Beach Street Entertainment, the independent studio affiliated with Miller’s Beach Street Music.
Ring The Bell features appearances by a host of well-known Christian music artists, such as Steven Curtis Chapman, Matthew West, and Mark Hall along with his band Casting Crowns. Several former and current Major League Baseball all-stars are also featured in the film: ESPN analysts John Kruk and Rick Sutcliffe (a former Cy Young Award winner), along with Ben Zobrist.
Ring The Bell is the story of a big city sports agent who becomes stranded in a small town while trying to sign a high school baseball star.
Churches interested in simulcasting the world movie premiere, or offering screenings after the premiere can find out more at LifeWay.com/ringthebell or RingTheBellTheMovie.com/movieevents.

Q Prime South Hires Angela Lange

/by

langeQ Prime South has added Angela Lange as VP, Country Radio Promotion. Lange will report to John Peets and Warren Christensen, Sr. VP, Promotion.
“We are excited to add Angela to our Q Prime South family,” said Peets. “I have worked closely with her for years and have always valued her deep understanding of promotion. I look forward to her helping us build our company with a greater understanding of country radio. In addition to continuing her work with Eric Church, she will be spearheading the radio plan with EMI’s The Brothers Osborne.”
“I am thrilled to be working with such passionate and creative people with such an amazing company and excited to be able to continue my working relationship with Eric Church and John Peets,” said Lange.  “I am looking forward to growing the Q Prime South footprint in Country Music!”
Lange comes to Q Prime South from EMI Records Nashville where she was VP, Promotion from April 2010 to May 2012 working with Church, Alan Jackson, Troy Olsen, Eric Paslay and Kelleigh Bannen.
Prior to EMI Records Nashville, Lange held two Regional Director of Promotion posts at Capitol Records Nashville from 2002-2012, one in the Southeastern United States and one on the West Coast. During those years she played a role in launching the careers of Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Lady Antebellum and Darius Rucker at Country radio. She also worked Trace Adkins, Garth Brooks, Keith Urban and Little Big Town. Over the course of her career, Lange has held positions in radio promotion and marketing. She started her career in the music business as an intern in the promotion department at Atlantic Records in 1988.
 

Eleven Eleven Music Adds Shannon Lawson

/by

Pictured, Standing (L-R): Jason Morris, Jewel Coburn, and Lucky Diamond Music writer/manager Cory Gierman. Seated: attorney Chip Petree and Lawson.

Pictured, standing (L-R): Jason Morris, Jewel Coburn, and Lucky Diamond Music writer/manager Cory Gierman. Seated: attorney Chip Petree and Lawson.


Eleven Eleven Music has added singer-songwriter Shannon Lawson to its roster. A native of Taylorsville, Ky., Lawson signed as an artist to MCA Records in 2001 and then with Equity Records in 2004. He has had songs recorded by John Anderson, Jamey Johnson, Gretchen Wilson, Diamond Rio and James Otto.
Founded in 2012 by publishing veterans Jewel Coburn and Jason Morris, Eleven Eleven Music got off to a rocket start when Country Music Hall of Famer Don Williams and Alison Krauss cut the Doug Gill co-penned ballad “I Just Come Here For The Music.” The record subsequently won a Grammy nomination.

Little Big Town, Kacey Musgraves Bring Country to Knoxville

/by

LIttle Big TownAfter earning their first No. 1 with one of the biggest hits of the summer in 2012, “Pontoon,” and picking up their first CMA awards for Vocal Group of the Year and Single of the Year (“Pontoon”), Little Big Town kicked their touring schedule up another notch with The Tornado Tour. The outing visited Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday (Feb. 23) at the Historic Tennessee Theater, which opened in 1928.
Show opener Kacey Musgraves proved her frank and catchy first single, “Merry Go Round,” is just a tasty appetizer of the lyrical wit that peppers her upcoming album, Same Trailer, Different Park (March 19). She sailed through several songs with humility and charm. Her knack for storytelling was on full display, including tales of nosy neighbors using the guise of friendship to get into other people’s business (“Go Back To Your Trailer”), and a lonely woman seeking companionship and pseudo intimacy on “It Is What It Is.”
To garner the crowd’s attention, Musgraves enchanted the gathering with well-crafted wordplay and razor-sharp observations of the monotony and occasional bouts of hopelessness that can plague small-town life, along with its pleasures. She was pure confidence as she performed “Mama’s Broken Heart,” a Musgraves-penned song recorded by Miranda Lambert. She also performed “Undermine,” a song featured on Nashville.
Little Big Town proudly staked their claim at the corner of rock and country, launching their headlining show with “Pavement Ends” and following it with “Front Porch Thing,” along with a smattering of their own hits throughout the set, including “Little White Church,” “Home” and “A Little More You.” They performed a spot-on cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain,” before later serving up a medley of the cover songs featured in their video series “Scattered, Smothered and Covered” including Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” and Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger,” among others. Whether originals or countrified remakes, the crowd’s attention stayed on the group’s air-tight harmonies and polished stage presence.
Smart lighting added appropriate drama to the ornate yet intimate venue. A lone spotlight highlighted Karen Fairchild as her haunting vocals capably handled “Shut Up Train,” while she and husband Jimi Westbrook were featured on the sizzling ballad “Your Side of the Bed.” During “Pontoon,” lights spelled out the group’s name, a nice addition to the summer-themed song.
The group ended the evening with a couple of its most well-known songs. Fairchild took the lead on “Tornado,” complete with a slight costume change for Fairchild and smoke and wind machines underscoring the drama of the song. They ended the set with what could be considered a signature song, “Boondocks.” Both tunes kept the sold-out crowd on its feet to the very end.

Slight Revenue Increase For Int'l Recording Industry

/by

ifpicover

Click to see the full report.


The IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) released its annual Digital Music Report.
Report highlights:

  • Global recorded music industry revenues increased by an estimated 0.3 percent in 2012, the first year of industry growth since 1999, to US $16.5 billion.
  • Digital revenues increased by an estimated 9 percent to US $5.6 billion in 2012, now accounting for around 34 percent of global industry revenues.
  • Download sales increased in volume by 12 percent globally in 2012 and represent around 70 percent of overall digital music revenues.
  • The number of people paying to use subscription services leapt 44 percent in 2012 to 20 million.  Subscription revenues are expected to account for more than 10 percent of digital revenues for the first time in 2012.
  • Digital channels account for the majority of record companies’ income in an increasing number of markets including India, Norway, Sweden and the US.
  • Digital retailers’ rapid global expansion is opening up the potential for markets such as Brazil and India, to become major sources of future industry growth. At the start of 2011, the major international services were present in 23 countries. Two years later, they are in more than 100 countries.
  • Digital music consumption has become mainstream, as shown by consumer research by Ipsos MediaCT across nine markets in four continents. Two-thirds of internet users (62%) have used a licensed digital music service in the past six months. Among younger consumers (aged 16-24) this figure jumps to 81 percent.
  • Consumer satisfaction with licensed music services is high. 77 percent of users of licensed services rate them as excellent, very good or fairly good. 57 percent of those who use unlicensed services believe “there are good services available for legally accessing digital music.”
  • Many non-digital revenue channels are also increasing. Performance rights income increased in value by an estimated 9.2 percent in 2012 and now accounts for around 6 percent of overall industry revenues, up from 3 percent in 2007.
  • The recording industry annually invests 26 percent of its trade revenues (U S$4.5 billion) in developing and marketing talent.
  • IFPI estimates, based on data from Nielsen and ComScore, that as many as a third of all internet users (32%) still regularly access unlicensed sites.
  • Advertising is a major source of funding for unlicensed music services worldwide. Major brands should no longer consider it acceptable to help fund illegal music sites.
  • The music industry wants search engines to prioritize search results relating to licensed services. However, searches for the names of popular artists followed by the term “mp3” still return a large number of results for illegal sources on the first page.
  • Internet service providers (ISPs) have had a demonstrable effect on levels of copyright infringement on the internet when required to act. For example, in five European countries where ISPs were required by courts to block access to The Pirate Bay (Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Italy and UK), usage levels fell 69 percent during 2012 (ComScore/Nielsen). By contrast, in countries without the block, traffic rose by 45 per cent over the same period.

chart

Kobalt Beefs Up Label Services Division

/by

Karen Lieberman

Karen Lieberman


Kobalt Label Services continues to expand operations with the addition of Shari Segalini and Karen Lieberman, who also works with Kobalt Music Group. They are the latest executives to join the company which has added more than 50 employees globally in less than two years.
KLS, the division of Kobalt which offers recorded music marketing and distribution services, recently announced the opening of its New York City office.
Lieberman has been appointed VP Digital Strategy and Marketing. Based in New York, she will report to Richard Sanders, President of Kobalt Music Group, and Paul Hitchman, Managing Director of Kobalt Label Services.
In addition to directing and implementing marketing campaigns for Kobalt Label Services, Lieberman will support new initiatives that promote and expand revenue opportunities for Kobalt Music Publishing clients.
Shari Segalini

Shari Segalini


Lieberman comes to Kobalt from Sony Music Global Marketing where she was VP of Global Marketing.
Segalini has been hired as SVP of Sales, North America, overseeing sales campaigns. She reports to Hitchman.
Segalini was previously VP of Field Sales at RED Distribution. Prior to RED Distribution she was a longtime VP of Sales at RCA Records.
One of KLS’s first major releases was Push the Sky Away by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, which came out earlier this month. Releases from the company’s Nashville office could follow.

Digital Weblinks: Apple and Google Eye Streaming Services

/by

google• • • According to the LA Times and Financial Times, Google is in talks with the majors to launch a streaming music service similar to Spotify. Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple has its own streaming service in the works.
apple
• • • Songwriters are getting more love from iTunes. The latest iTunes update, version 11.0.2, includes a new Composers view. After installing the update, the view doesn’t display automatically, users have to select the option under the Preferences menu. The update also includes a redesigned Store, a new MiniPlayer and more.
• • • The New York Times offers an interesting look at revenue paid by streaming services.
• • • Spotify will soon be available via an app in Ford cars, according to the New York Times.
• • • Sprint will unlock the radio chip in its phones which will allow the hardware to pick up terrestrial signals. Charlie Cook has the story on MusicRow.com.
• • • A new RIAA report states Google has failed to follow through with its plan to lower the search ranking of sites that are known copyright infringers.
• • • The implementation phase of the Copyright Alert System (CAS) began this week. ISPs will receive notices of alleged P2P copyright infringement and forward those notices, or Copyright Alerts, to consumers. Alerts are meant to educate rather than punish, and direct consumers to legal alternatives.

Sammy Kershaw, Aaron Tippin, Joe Diffie Team For 'Roots & Boots' Tour

/by

roots and boots11Sammy Kershaw, Aaron Tippin and Joe Diffie have teamed up for the Roots & Boots tour. The trio of stars will take the stage together, performing acoustic versions of their over 40 Top Ten hits and sharing stories about the roots of their music. The 15+ city tour kicks off March 8 in Wilkesboro, N.C. at the John A. Walker Community Center, with more dates to be added soon.
“The ‘Roots & Boots’ tour is three friends who love country music having a good time, telling jokes about each other and telling jokes on each other,” says Kershaw. “We tell stories behind all of our songs. It’s a great show, so don’t be square, be there!” Tippin adds, “Being onstage with Sammy and Joe is a blast. I admire both of these guys so much. We have a great time together and the show is different every night and always a lot of fun.”
A full listing of ‘Roots & Boots’ tour dates is below.
March 8 – Wilkesboro, N.C. John A. Walker Community Center
March 12 – Palm Desert, Calif. – McCallum Theatre for the Performing Arts
March 13 – Modesto, Calif. – Gallo Center for the Arts
March 14 – Redding, Calif. – The Cascade Theatre
March 15 – La Mirada, Calif. – La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts
March 16 – Chandler, Ariz. – Chandler Center for the Arts
March 17 – El Cajon, Calif. – Sycuan Casino
March 18, 19 – Folsom, Calif. – Three Stages At Folsom Lake College
March 23 – Rising Sun, Ind. – Rising Star Casino Resort
March 24 – Meadville, Pa. – Alleghey College Auditorium
March 29 – Mahnomen, Minn. – Shooting Star Casino
April 6 – Biloxi, Miss. – IP Casino Resort & Spa / Convention Center
April 19 – Moncton, Canada – The Centre At Casino New Brunswick
May 10 – Branson, Mo. – RFD-TV Theatre
May 11 – Sand Springs, Okla. – Osage Casino – Sand Springs
May 24 – Pigeon Forge, Tenn. – Country Tonite Theatre
 

View the tour EPK below.

YouTube video

Vince Gill, Dan Auerbach, Kip Moore To Appear on 'Nashville'

/by

dan auerbach vince gill11

Pictured (L-R): Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys and Vince Gill. Photo: Katherine Bomboy-Thornton/ABC.


Vince Gill, Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, Pam Tillis, Kip Moore and Kate York will appear on Wednesday’s (Feb. 27) episode of ABC’s Nashville. The episode, titled “Dear Brother,” features a surprise birthday party for Deacon (played by actor Charles Esten) which takes place at The Bluebird Café.

“I had a really fun time hanging out with the cast and crew,” commented Gill. “I really do enjoy watching the show and I think it’s great for Nashville. Plus, I was playing myself which wasn’t a big stretch.”
Nashville stars Connie Britton as Rayna Jaymes, Hayden Panettiere as Juliette Barnes, Clare Bowen as Scarlett O’Connor, Eric Close as Teddy Conrad, Charles Esten as Deacon Claybourne, Jonathan Jackson as Avery Barkley, Sam Palladio as Gunnar Scott, Robert Ray Wisdom as Coleman Carlisle and Powers Boothe as Lamar Wyatt.

Garth Brooks Added To George Jones Farewell Concert

/by

George Jones

George Jones


The star-packed lineup for George Jones’ final concert continues to grow with the addition of Garth Brooks, Kid Rock, Shelby Lynne, The Oak Ridge Boys and Sam Moore. The event is set for Friday, Nov. 22 at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena.
Previously announced special guests at the hometown show include Dierks Bentley, Charlie Daniels, Jamey Johnson, Montgomery Gentry, Lorrie Morgan, Kenny Rogers, Randy Travis, Tanya Tucker, Josh Turner and Gene Watson. More stars are expected to be added.
Jones will mark the end of an era with 2013’s farewell tour titled The Grand Tour. The outing will make more than 40 stops. Tickets for the Nashville finale are available at all Ticketmaster locations.