Non-profit distributor of digital performance royalties, SoundExchange will partner with BandPage, an online tool for musicians, to deliver more than $2 million in unclaimed digital performance royalties.

Bandpage musicians with unclaimed performance royalties will be notified directly by the company via email if registered with the royalty distributor.

“This initiative with BandPage allows us to reach all types of musicians and is part of our ongoing effort to spread the news about these royalties to all that have earned them,” said SoundExchange President Michael Huppe.

Earlier this year, the two companies hosted an educational webinar as part of an ongoing series informing and educating artists, labels and services of digital music.

SoundExchange has paid out $1 billion in royalties to recording artists and labels for statutory royalties collected from satellite radio, internet radio, cable TV music channels and other streaming services granted by the Copyright Royalty Board as the only U.S. entity to collect and distribute these royalties.

Watkins College of Art, Design & Film will present Paint It Black, a Rolling Stones tribute commemorating 50-years of music through original letterpress posters in partnership with Hatch Show Print.

Using a variety of wooden type and wooden image blocks from the Hatch collection, 11 Graphic Design juniors and seniors created hand-set, oversized posters for the one-day summer workshop organized by Associate Professor Steve Wilkison. Titles influencing the works included “Paint It Black,” “Wild Horses” and “Dead Flowers.”

The free show, which runs August 10–26 in the Brownlee O. Currey, Jr. Gallery, includes an open-to-the-public reception Thurs., August 23, from 5-7 pm.

Currey Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 9 am-8 pm; Saturday, 10 am-4 pm; and Sunday, 2-4 pm. For more information, click here.

Rascal Flatts featured their new music video for “Come Wake Me Up,” with a behind-the-scenes special that launched August 6 at CMT.com. The full video will make its world premiere Friday, August 10 on CMT at 6 a.m. ET, and run at the top of every hour during music hours.

Filmed in Nashville, the video includes a cameo by Joe Don Rooney’s wife, Tiffany Fallon. Two-time female street freestyle world champion Dena Sodano steps in Fallon’s role as the motorcycle stunt driver. “Come Wake Me Up” was directed by Shaun Silva.

To preview the making of the video, click here.

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Bucky Covington and Shooter Jennings have teamed up with Maxim.com for the world-premiere of their music video, “Drinking Side Of Country.” The neo-outlaw action clip, which depicts Covington and Jennings stirring up trouble in a tiny town, can now be viewed here.

Directed by Blake Judd, the raucous music video was shot in Greensburg, KY in the midst of a record-setting heat wave in the region. Friends Kellie Pickler, X Games medalist Kenny Bartram and TNA Impact Knockout wrestler Mickie James make cameo appearances as they help Covington and Jennings evade the law and celebrate over a cold beer. “Drinking Side Of Country,” written by Covington and twin brother Rocky along with Ducky Medlock, can be found on Covington’s forthcoming sophomore album Good Guys, set to release September 11.

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Heidi Newfield recently released the music video for “Why’d You Have To Be So Good.” Directed by Eric Welch, the video features Newfield in two settings: one totally black and one totally white. “There’s a constant struggle between hope and fear within all of us. This video allows the viewer to watch that internal struggle play out.” To view the video, click here.

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The first in a series of fan generated music videos for Mary Chapin Carpenter’s new song, “Soul Companion,” premiered August 1 on YouTube. Featuring a duet with James Taylor, “Soul Companion” is the first single from Carpenter’s Zoë/Rounder Records album, Ashes and Roses. The video features images that were sent in by fans. The remaining videos will premiere throughout the next few weeks. Click here to view the video. In celebration of the album, Carpenter is currently in the midst of a North American headlining tour, including dates at Wolf Trap and Ravinia as well as an appearance at Lincoln Center’s 2012 White Light Festival.

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Corey Wagar recently released the official music video for “Take Ya Back.” The video brings viewers a glimpse into Wagar’s life at a young age. Filmed in the heart of Music City, Corey relives the moments she cherished most growing up, listening to her father’s old records and her own personal favorite country classics. Penned by Wagar and songwriters Beau Fuller and Cece DuBois, “Take Ya Back” has been receiving rave reviews since its radio release in June. It immediately charted at No. 71 on the MusicRow Country Breakout chart. To view the video, click here.

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Southern California country crooner Nick 13 has premiered a serene new music video for “Carry My Body Down” from his debut self-titled album. To view the video, click here.

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Up and coming country rockers, Whiskey Myers, recently released the music video for the song, “Anna Marie.” Directed by Matt Bizer of Robot Fondue, the 1940’s-esque video follows the tale of five moonshine-drinking outlaws on the hunt for money and trouble. Little do they know, they’ll meet their match with the equally dangerous Anna Marie, played by Natalie Wilemon. To view the video, click here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nashville-based Gibson Guitar Corp. agreed to pay a $350,000 penalty to resolve criminal charges brought by the US Government and the Department of Justice for illegally importing ebony wood from Madagascar and rosewood and ebony from India.

The agreement defers prosecution under the Lacey Act by requiring Gibson to pay a penalty amount of $300,000 in addition to a community service payment of $50,000 to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, which promotes efforts surrounding protected tree species used in the musical instrument industry.

Gibson will implement a compliance program regarding controls and procedures in addition to withdrawing claim to the wood seized for the investigation, total invoice value of $261,844.

“As a result of this investigation and criminal enforcement agreement, Gibson has acknowledged that it failed to act on information that the Madagascar ebony it was purchasing may have violated laws intended to limit overharvesting and conserve valuable wood species from Madagascar, a country which has been severely impacted by deforestation,” said Assistant Attorney General Moreno.

“We felt compelled to settle as the costs of proving our case at trial would have cost millions of dollars and taken a very long time to resolve,” said Gibson CEO, Henry Juszkiewicz. “This allows us to get back to the business of making guitars.”

Juszkiewicz spoke of the prosecution in his July 19 Wall Street Journal piece, which he says cost his company $2-3 million in products and productivity. He called the Government’s actions an “overreach” and a “job killer.”

This case was investigated in part by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee.