CMA Presents Triple Play Awards

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CMA leadership gathers with the newly named CMA Triple Play Award winning songwriters on Jan. 29, 2013 at Marathon Music Works in Nashville, Tenn. Back row (l-r): CMA Board President, Ed Hardy; Neil Thrasher; Rodney Clawson; Ben Hayslip; CMA Chief Executive Officer, Steve Moore; Josh Kear; CMA Board Chairman, Troy Tomlinson; and Brantley Gilbert. Front row (l-r): Eric Paslay; Dierks Bentley; Shane McAnally; and Chris Young. Photo credit: Donn Jones/CMA

CMA leadership gathers with the newly named CMA Triple Play Award winning songwriters on Jan. 29, 2013 at Marathon Music Works in Nashville, Tenn. Back row (l-r): CMA Board President, Ed Hardy; Neil Thrasher; Rodney Clawson; Ben Hayslip; CMA Chief Executive Officer, Steve Moore; Josh Kear; CMA Board Chairman, Troy Tomlinson; and Brantley Gilbert. Front row (l-r): Eric Paslay; Dierks Bentley; Shane McAnally; and Chris Young. Photo credit: Donn Jones/CMA


CMA Triple Play Awards, honoring songwriters who pen three chart-topping hits in a 12-month period, were presented yesterday (Jan. 29) at the CMA Songwriters Luncheon. Twelve songwriters achieved the feat: Dierks Bentley, Rodney Clawson, Eric Church, Brantley Gilbert, Ben Hayslip, Dave Haywood, Josh Kear, Charles Kelley, Shane McAnally, Eric Paslay, Neil Thrasher and Chris Young.
Presiding over the event at Marathon Music Works was CMA Board Chairman Troy Tomlinson, President and CEO, Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville. During the luncheon, he presented a $250,000 donation from the CMA Foundation to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Foundation to help construct the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame at the new Music City Center and “Songwriters Square,” an exterior plaza and walkway leading into the state-of-the-art Center, which will be engraved with the names of Songwriters Hall of Fame members and the titles of their most beloved compositions.
In alphabetical order, the recipients of CMA’s Triple Play Award:
Dierks Bentley: “Am I The Only One,” “Home,” “5-1-5-0”
Rodney Clawson: “Drink On It,” “Drunk On You,” “Take A Little Ride”
Eric Church: “Drink In My Hand,” “Springsteen,” “Creepin’”
Brantley Gilbert: “Dirt Road Anthem,” “Country Must Be Country Wide” “You Don’t Know Her Like I Do”
Ben Hayslip: “Honey Bee,” “I Don’t Want This Night To End,” “I’m Gonna Love You Through It”
Dave Haywood: “Just A Kiss,” “We Owned The Night,” “Dancin’ Away With My Heart”
Josh Kear: “Dancin’ Away With My Heart,” “Drunk On You,” “Blown Away”
Charles Kelley: “Just A Kiss,” “We Owned The Night.” “Dancin’ Away With My Heart”
Shane McAnally: “Alone With You,” “Come Over,” “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye”
Eric Paslay: “Barefoot Blue Jean Night,” “Even If It Breaks Your Heart,” “Angel Eyes”
Neil Thrasher: “Tattoos On This Town,” “Banjo,” “Fly Over States”
Chris Young: “Voices,” “Tomorrow,” “You”

Weekly Register: Gary Allan, Randy Houser Debuts

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gary randyTop Current Country Album Sales swelled W/W by 22 percent with debuts from Gary Allan, Set You Free (No. 1; 106k; 36 percent digital) and Randy Houser, How Country Feels (No. 3; 24k; 42 percent digital).
Tim McGraw’s Curb project was also unveiled, scanning 3.3k and landing at No. 18. McGraw has left Curb Records, so the superstar’s energies have been focused on his upcoming Big Machine album, Two Lanes of Freedom, due the week of Feb. 5 and expected to outperform this week’s tepid numbers. And Katie Armiger, after last week’s attention-grabbing No. 7 (12k) chart entry, slipped back to No. 23 (2.4k).
Grid-Lock
Stepping back to study the industry, all-genre sales slid from positive (2.3 percent) territory to a falling-behind-last-year -0.5 percent. All-genre track sales however, remain up (2 percent).
weeklygrid1-27-13Country album sales dug a deeper hole this week, sliding from last week’s -2.6 percent to -2.9 percent. It’s too early to stress about 2013, but Q1:’13 seems light on upcoming power releases. For comparison, last year (Q1 ’12) featured releases from Dierks Bentley, Tim McGraw, Luke Bryan, Craig Morgan, Gary Allan and a blockbuster from Lionel Richie that opened with almost 200k units.
Q2 ’13 however, already has a few register ringers on the list such as The Band Perry (April 2), Brad Paisley (April 9) and Kenny Chesney (April 30). And it’s likely we’ll see a few as of yet unannounced surprises.
weeklygrid1-20-13Country track sales are the week’s bright spot up 8.3 percent YTD. And leading that Music City track race is Sir Gary Allan’s “Every Storm” perched at No. 1 with 70k downloads. Filling out the Top 5 are The Band Perry (No. 2; 67k), Blake Shelton (No. 3; 60k), Hayes Hunter (No. 4; 55k) and Florida Georgia Line (No. 5; 53k).
Will Work For Food
A Jan. 28 New York Times article, “As Streaming Grows, Royalties Slow To A Trickle,” should be required reading for industry biznicks. “Spotify…lets users choose from millions of songs over the Internet free or by subscription, and is increasingly seen as representing the future of music consumption,” says writer Ben Sisario.
Most industry leaders would likely agree with that observation, but it represents a problem with respect to future revenue streams. According to the article, “On a 99-cent download, a typical artist may earn 7 to 10 cents after deductions for the retailer, the record company and the songwriter, music executives say. One industry joke calls the flow of these royalties a ‘river of nickels.’ In the new economics of streaming music, however, the river of nickels looks more like a torrent of micropennies.”
Actually, I believe that to be a pretty accurate characterization of what may lie ahead. With physical product we earned dollars. That fell to dimes with digital sales and now, with streaming models we are taking another pay cut to pennies…
Here’s another NYT quote that further illustrates the issue, “In its last four reported quarters, Pandora paid $202 million in ‘content acquisition costs,’ including licensing fees, and Spotify recently announced that it has paid $500 million in royalties since its inception. Downloads, by comparison, had $2.6 billion in sales in 2011, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.”

Hayes, Brice, Moore, Eli Young Band Get Super Bowl Gigs

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super bowl logo1As Super Bowl weekend descends on the country this Sunday (Feb. 3), numerous artists will head to New Orleans to perform at various brand-sponsored events and other private events, including Hunter Hayes, Lee Brice and Eli Young Band.
Anheuser-Busch will host several concerts between Jan. 31 and Feb. 3 at a Bud Light-branded hotel in New Orleans that will feature Eli Young Band and Lee Brice, along with Stevie Wonder, Lil Wayne, Big Boi, Pitbull and Flo Rida.
The media attention surrounding such high-profile performances certainly doesn’t hurt, George Couri of Triple 8 Management tells Billboard. “Apart from people who are going to be at the event, Budweiser is going to put out their media machine, letting people know that Eli Young is doing this event with them at the Super Bowl,” Couri says. “Bud Light is obviously one of the biggest advertisers in the Super Bowl and their publicity machine is going to get the word out. That doesn’t hurt.”
Meanwhile, Pepsi has added performances by Hunter Hayes, along with Trombone Shorty and the Roots to an invite-only event at the Metairie Country Club.
Even performances directly outside of New Orleans get a boost from the Super Bowl festivities. Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Biloxi’s Sr. VP of Marketing Vince Lentini says that the Super Bowl plays a role in booking artists for that particular weekend. Justin Moore will perform at the venue, located about 70 miles outside of New Orleans, on Feb. 1. “When we do Super Bowl, we typically try to book two acts that are going to appeal to potentially a slightly younger demographic,” Lentini says, citing the increase in attendance during Super Bowl weekend.

Celebrating "Cruise" At No. 1

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Pictured (L-R): Front Row – BMI's Penny Everhard; Florida Georgia Line's Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley; co-writers Jesse Rice, Joey Moi, and Chase Rice; and Big Machine Label Group's Scott Borchetta; Back Row (l-r): Republic Nashville's Jimmy Harnen; Big Loud Mountain's Craig Wiseman, Seth England, and Kevin "Chief" Zaruk; SESAC's Tim Fink; Artist Revolution Publishing's Sam Brooker; and BMI's David Preston. Photo Credit: Steve Lowry

Pictured (L-R): Front Row – BMI’s Penny Everhard; Florida Georgia Line’s Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley; co-writers Jesse Rice, Joey Moi, and Chase Rice; and Big Machine Label Group’s Scott Borchetta; Back Row (l-r): Republic Nashville’s Jimmy Harnen; Big Loud Mountain’s Craig Wiseman, Seth England, and Kevin “Chief” Zaruk; SESAC’s Tim Fink; Artist Revolution Publishing’s Sam Brooker; and BMI’s David Preston. Photo Credit: Steve Lowry


First No. 1s are always the best. Yesterday (Jan. 29) the industry congregated at CMA to cheer the charttopping success of “Cruise,” co-written by Florida Georgia Line’s Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley, with Jesse Rice, Chase Rice and Joey Moi. It was the first No. 1 for Republic Nashville duo FGL as well as writers Jesse Rice and Chase Rice (no relation). Moi’s track record includes a string of hits producing and writing with Jake Owen and Nickelback.
Florida Georgia Line’s solid work ethic, positive go-getter attitude and devotion to fans was the theme running through the celebration. Handling the honors for BMI, David Preston congratulated the duo, saying, “You came to town to leave a mark, and guys, you did it.”
Republic Nashville Pres. Jimmy Harnen shared his memory of meeting Kelley and Hubbard for the first time, where he noticed their tireless dedication to fans and that “they are not only great musicians, but great people.”
Seth England, who handles management duties for FGL at Big Loud Mountain, was instantly impressed with the band’s touring and talent when he met them a few years ago. He introduced them to Big Loud Mountain’s Craig Wiseman, who jumped on board immediately. “They had a fearless attitude and they wouldn’t take no for an answer,” said England. Big Loud Mountain presented the songwriters and FGL team members with Cruise license plates.
FGL producer/cowriter Moi added, “Keeping up with a [big hit] song like this is a daunting task,” and Hubbard and Kelley met the challenge every step of the way.
SESAC’s Tim Fink noted the odds against songs finding success, and congratulated the duo on beating those odds. In 2012 there were 32 No. 1 songs on MusicRow’s Country Breakout chart, with Florida Georgia Line being only one of two new acts with a chart-topper. The duo was the only newcomer who spent multiple weeks at the pinnacle. The track found early success on the MusicRow chart, where it peaked at No. 1 in November, which helped lay the groundwork for its rise up the mainstream charts.
In addition to receiving their own honors, Kelley and Hubbard presented plaques to their family members who were in attendance. Hubbard choked up a little as he remembered the band’s early days, where he and Kelley prayed before their shows at Hotel Indigo. It worked, “God blessed us like crazy,” he assured. Kelley fondly recalled early career meetings with BMI’s Mark Mason, who told the young songwriter he was the “light beer of country music,” and guided him to finding his “dark beer” writing side.
Co-writer Chase Rice, who grew up with Kelley in Florida, offered a long list of thank yous. Jesse Rice, who dreamed of being a songwriter since a childhood trip to the Bluebird Cafe, added, “If I had a script to write, this would be how it went.”
Sam Brooker, Jesse Rice’s publisher at Artist Revolution, presented the rising songwriter with a new Gibson guitar. Brooker shared how Jesse Rice’s relationship with Kelley and Hubbard was founded on a love of music, ever since they met in the parking lot of their apartment complex where the duo was playing guitars on a truck tailgate.
Also on hand to bestow congratulations were Avenue Bank’s Ron Cox, CMA’s Brandi Simms, CRS’s Bradford Hollingsworth, and Country Aircheck’s Chuck Aly, who toasted the “No. 1 that isn’t afraid to break the rules of grammar.”

Word Entertainment Teams With Creative Soul

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creativesoulEffectively immediately, Creative Soul’s artist development services will be monitored by the A&R team at Word Entertainment for a variety of possible opportunities.
“When we approached Word Entertainment about the work we were doing, we were very transparent,” says Creative Soul president Eric Copeland. “Our goals have always been to provide true artist development, amazing music production and opportunity to Christian artists and songwriters. The one problem we have always faced was legitimacy.”
“Since we know Creative Soul and the quality they bring to every project, we see this relationship as a way to keep apprised of new talent and original ministries we might be able to be part of,” said Josh Bailey, Sr. VP of A&R at Word Entertainment.
To learn more about Creative Soul and their development, production and marketing opportunities for Christian artists, visit www.CreativeSoulRecords.com.

Zavitson Music Group Adds VP

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gann

Lynn Gann


Russ Zavitson, president of Zavitson Music Group (ZMG), announced that Lynn Gann, a 25-year music industry veteran has joined ZMG as Vice President, Country Division, a newly created position focused on catalog exploitation, artist development and management opportunities.
Gann is the former VP/Founder of Full Circle Music Publishing. The Nashville native was instrumental in No. 1 hits including “When I Get Where I’m Going,” “Anything Like Me” and “Old Alabama” (Brad Paisley), “Fly Over States” (Jason Aldean), “Homewrecker” (Gretchen Wilson) and “Boys Of Fall” (Kenny Chesney). His career includes time at Tom Collins Music, MCA Music Publishing and Zomba Enterprises.
“Lynn’s reputation as a true industry professional is well documented,” said Zavitson. “He’s widely recognized for his ability to spot a hit well ahead of the pack and his track record for securing a placement he believes in borders on legendary. We’re confident that Lynn’s involvement will be instrumental in making sure our writers are aligned with the right co-writers and our songs find their way into the hands of the artists who can get them heard.”
ZMG’s current roster of writers includes Walker Hayes (Capitol Records), John Ramey of the duo Martin/Ramey (Curb), Tony Haselden, Liz Hengber, Steve Misamore, Jeffrey East, Mike Demay and Terry Dennis. The company has had recent cuts by Thompson Square, Rodney Atkins, Chris Young, Reba McEntire, Dierks Bentley, Point of Grace and Selah.
Gann can be reached at [email protected] or 615-321-2212.

Johnny Cash Receives Forever Stamp

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JCThe United States Postal Service will release a Johnny Cash Forever stamp as part of the 2013 Music Icons series.
The portrait was made by Frank Bez during the 1963 photo shoot for the project Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash. Greg Breeding served as art director and designer for the stamp.
“We get about 40,000 suggestions for stamp ideas each year but only about 20 topics make the cut,” said USPS representative Mark Saunders to Matt Murray of TODAY. “These suggestions are reviewed by the Postmaster General’s Citizens’ Stamp Advisory, whose role is to narrow down that 40,000 to roughly 20 and then provide their recommendations to the Postmaster General for final approval.”
A release date for the Johnny Cash stamp has not yet been announced. The name and likeness remain under license from the John R. Cash Revocable Trust.
The Music Icon series is issued as part of the 2013 program, which includes the Hatch Show Print Emancipation Proclamation design.Tejano music’s Lydia Mendoza inaugurated the Music Icons Series, which is expected to include three influential music makers.

Artist Updates (1/30/13)

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ticketsforcharityCarrie Underwood has teamed with Tickets-for-Charity.com® to give fans some of the best seats in the house on her Blown Away Tour, while at the same time benefiting the Academy of Country Music’s ACM Lifting Lives and the C.A.T.S. Foundation at TicketsforCharity.com/ACMLiftingLives.
The program gives fans access to great seats in sold-out sections for concerts across the country. Fans pay the same or a better price than they will find elsewhere, only their purchase through Tickets-for-Charity.com supports causes and organizations that are important to artists and fans, rather than ticket resellers.
 Zac Brown Band, Toby Keith and Brad Paisley have also taken part in this generous program.

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Mtn Dew LogoMountain Dew has welcomed Brantley Gilbert into the Dew family with a new partnership.
“I have been a fan of Mountain Dew for as long as I can remember,” said Gilbert. “I’m honored to be able to partner up with the DEW family for some exciting projects this year.”
“Being part of the DEW family means making a style that’s all your own, and never conforming to a traditional mold,” said Greg Lyons, Mountain Dew’s VP of Marketing. “Brantley exemplifies all that DEW stands for – making country music that is true to its rebel roots, in very much the same way that the brand stays true to its own.  We couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome Brantley into the DEW Nation, and hope our fans will join us in helping him rock.”

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luke bryan spring break1Luke Bryan is set to release his fifth Spring Break-themed album, Spring Break..Here To Party, on March 5. The 14-song project will contain many of the songs on Bryan’s previous Spring Break EPs, as well as two original songs.
To promote the project, Bryan will pause his Dirt Road Diaries Tour to once again play concerts at Spinnaker’s Beach Club in Panama City. The dates are set for March 12 and 13.

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Merlefest-Logo1Artist and songwriter Matraca Berg, along with songwriters Lynda Dawson and Chris Smither, will be a judge for MerleFest 2013’s Chris Austin Songwriting Contest. Now in its 21st year, the contest is a well-known vehicle for aspiring songwriters to get their compositions heard.
Contest entries for the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest are accepted via two methods: U.S. Mail (P.O. Box 121855, Nashville, TN 37212) or via Sonicbids (www.sonicbids.com/chrisaustinsongwritingcontest). The deadline for submissions is Feb. 19.
 
 

NSAI Presents Inaugural Kris Kristofferson Award To Willie Nelson

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wiliekris

Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson pictured at the Bluebird Cafe on Jan. 27.

willieLegendary songwriter Kris Kristofferson presented the inaugural Kris Kristofferson Award to colleague and fellow musical icon Willie Nelson Sunday night (Jan. 27) in a private ceremony at the Bluebird Café. The NSAI Board of Directors created the award which will be bestowed at the board’s discretion to songwriters and artists of all genres. It is given in recognition of a lifetime of achievement to music creators whose songs have inspired generations and touched listeners worldwide.

Songwriter members of NSAI’s Board and lifelong friends and colleagues of Kristofferson and Nelson attended the Sunday night presentation.
Kristofferson is one of NSAI’s founding members. “Kris Kristofferson inspired me and countless others to become songwriters,” said NSAI President Lee Thomas Miller. “He is the standard of greatness to which we all aspire.” Kristofferson is a three-time recipient of both NSAI’s Song of the Year and Songwriter of the Year awards, for “For The Good Times” (1970), “Sunday Morning Coming Down” (1971) and “Why Me Lord” (1973).
krisLike Kristofferson, Nelson is a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. An actor, author, activist and philanthropist, he is an inductee of the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry, and a Kennedy Center Honoree who has won multiple Grammy Awards and countless other accolades. “Just think of his songs,” added Miller, “‘Crazy,’ ‘Funny How Time Slips Away,’ ‘Hello Walls,’ ‘Night Life,’ ‘Good Hearted Woman,’ ‘Time of the Preacher,’ ‘Yesterday’s Wine,’ and ‘On the Road Again.’ Willie has moved the hearts and souls of generations of fans through his music. He is truly an American treasure.”
See a video of the presentation here.
Photos courtesy of NSAI

lee

Lee Miller watches Nelson and Kristofferson.

YEP to Host Second Birthday Bash

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yep2YEP will celebrating their 2nd Birthday Bash tonight (1/29) at Tin Roof. The party starts at 6 p.m. There will food and drink specials.

On Feb. 4, YEP will celebrate YEP at the Basement beginning at 6 p.m. The event features songwriters Brian Burke, Josh Dorr, Ernie Halter, Jillian Jaqueline, Matt Jenkins, Jared Mullins, Josh Osborne, Matt Ramsey, Trevor Rosen and Brett Tyler.

For more information about YEP, visit www.yepnashville.com.