GMA Seeks Exec. Director

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The Gospel Music Association is seeking a new Executive Director. The GMA board, led by chairman Mitchell Solarek, hopes to have the new leader in place by early September 2011. Qualified candidates may read the job description and submit resumes by downloading info here.
The organization has been without a full-time leader since the September 2009 exit of Pres. and CEO John Styll, a 30-year executive of the Christian music industry.
Earlier this week, the GMA also announced that its Dove Awards show will return to Atlanta in 2012. The event was held there for the first time earlier this year, and was a sold-out success. It is set to air on the Gospel Music Channel.

ZBB Wraps First International Tour

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ZBB onstage at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London.


The Zac Brown Band just wrapped its first overseas tour, which included four dates in the UK. The group opened for Nashville based rock band Kings of Leon at London’s Hyde Park on June 22-23, and at Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium on June 26. ZBB also headlined at Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London.
Now that the band is back in the states, its premiering the music video for “Knee Deep.” The song features guest Jimmy Buffett, who also appears in the new video. Shot on-site in Careyes, Mexico under the direction of Darren Doane, the video features the return of Flody Boatwood (from the “Toes” video), along with his “siblings” Brody and Jody, played by guest star Juliette Lewis.


Luke Bryan Shakes It Straight To Gold

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Luke Bryan is powering toward his August album release with hit single “Country Girl (Shake It For Me).” The lead track from Tailgates and Tanlines has been certified Gold by the RIAA, with sales totaling 615,800 digital downloads [Soundscan].
Co-written by Bryan and fellow Georgia native Dallas Davidson, the song is the fastest rising single of Bryan’s career, and debuted at No. 1 with 105,498 downloads. See the full track list from his upcoming Capitol release here.
Bryan is on a roll with three back-to-back No. 1 singles: “Do I,” “Rain Is A Good Thing” and “Someone Else Calling You Baby.” Those tracks are from his Gold-certified Doin’ My Thing, which recently won MusicRow’s Marketing Achievement Award.
Bryan is spending the summer on Tim McGraw’s Emotional Traffic Tour, and will headline CMT On Tour: Luke Bryan Tailgates & Tanlines this fall.

Quonset Hut Hosts Reunion Celebration

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Ray Stevens (L) honors iconic guitar player Harold Bradley (R).


Legendary artists and musicians including Harold Bradley, Whispering Bill Anderson, Little Jimmy Dickens and Ray Stevens gathered Monday night (6/27) at Nashville’s famed Quonset Hut for a reunion, swapping stories and songs.
The Curb Foundation, Belmont University and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame arranged the celebration to honor the legacy of the studio and those who worked there. Also on hand for the event were Charlie McCoy, Jim Glaser, David Frizzell, Beckie Foster, Norbert Putnam, Steve Gibson, Ray Edenton and Glenn Snoddy.
Originally purchased in the mid-‘50s by producer Owen Bradley and his “A-Team” guitarist brother Harold, The Quonset Hut played host to sessions by Buddy Holly, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Marty Robbins, Bob Dylan, Dusty Springfield and Brenda Lee.
After 25 years of churning out hit songs in the country, pop and rock genres, the Quonset Hut doors were shut in 1982, and eventually the building was used for office and storage space. Mike Curb acquired the property in 2005 and had the studio restored back into a recording facility. Belmont University now operates the Quonset Hut for teaching, sessions and events.

MySpace Purchased By Specific Media and Justin Timberlake [Updated]

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News Corp. has reportedly sold social-media site MySpace to ad network Specific Media and its partner, pop star Justin Timberlake.
The Wall Street Journal says the sale was valued at $35 million in cash and stock, far below News Corp’s $100 million asking price. News Corp. will also retain a small stake in the site going forward.
MySpace was purchased by News Corp. in 2005 at the height of its popularity for $580 million, but has since seen its usage dwindle after the rise of Facebook. MySpace now has about 157 million active users, compared to Facebook’s 600 million.
Following the sale, Myspace CEO Mike Jones will be vacating his post though he plans to work with News Corp. and Specific Media to help the transition. Additionally, MySpace will begin laying off a significant number of its employees.
Timberlake, who recently played Facebook affiliate Sean Parker in The Social Network, will have an office at MySpace’s Beverly Hills headquarters as well as a small staff devoted to developing ideas for the site. Specific Media and Timberlake say plans for MySpace’s future will be unveiled in the next couple of months.
Specific Media was founded in 1999 by brothers Tim, Chris and Russell Vanderhook and assists marketers in buying web, mobile and TV ads. The company’s advertising network is now one of the country’s biggest, and since 2007 it has acquired digital advertising companies, an online video company, and an ad technology company.

Songwriter News

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Signing at My Good Girl
My Good Girl Music has signed songwriter Allison Veltz to an exclusive publishing agreement. My Good Girl Music is a joint venture between producer Mark Bright and Sony/ATV Music Publishing. Veltz is currently working on her debut album, with Bright on board as producer.

(L-R): Mark Bright, My Good Girl's Ashley Hertzog, Allison Veltz, Sony/ATV's Troy Tomlinson, and My Good Girl's Stephanie Greene


 
The Voice Finalist In Nashville
Patrick Thomas, a recent finalist on hit singing competition The Voice, was in Nashville earlier this month for a writing trip. While in town, the ASCAP member stopped by the PRO’s Music Row offices to visit with the creative team. The live finale of The Voice airs tonight (6/29) on NBC.

Pictured (L-R): ASCAP's Michael Martin, Tim DuBois, Patrick Thomas, ASCAP's Robert Filhart. Photo: Anna Maki


 
Infinity Music Signing, Hiring
Phil Parker, President of Infinity Music Group, has signed songwriter Brent Baxter to an exclusive publishing deal. The Arkansas native has already had a hit with “Monday Morning Church,” recorded by Alan Jackson. He’s also had cuts by Lady Antebellum (“A Woman Scorned,” “Last Night Last”), Randy Travis,  Lonestar, Ray Stevens and Randy Kohrs.
Parker has also tapped longtime publishing executive Paul Compton and his Music Highway Writer Services company to represent Infinity’s song catalog. Compton previously spent 18 years at Murrah Music, ending as Sr. Vice President. He can be reached at paul.compton@musichighway.net.

(L-R) Phil Parker, Brent Baxter, and Paul Compton


 
Ray Scott Debuts Music At Local Show
Ray Scott played cuts from his upcoming album Rayality to a packed house at East Nashville’s The 5 Spot recently. Scott is managed by Dennis Entertainment and writes for Universal Music Publishing.

Ray Scott onstage at the 5 Spot.


 
Tompkins Family Tree Growing
Congratulations to hit songwriter Chris Tompkins and wife Jessica on the birth of Emmy Rose Tompkins on June 16. She weighed 8 lbs 2 oz, and joins big brother Hayes, age 2. Tompkins is a co-writer of the No. 1 songs “Voices” (Chris Young), and “Before He Cheats” (Carrie Underwood).
 

Industry Ink Wednesday

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Eric Beggs


Rodeowave Adds To Promo Staff
Eric Beggs has joined Rodeowave Entertainment handling Southeast regional promotion. During his 20-plus years in the industry, Beggs has worked promotions for CBS Records, Liberty Records, and Capitol. Rodeowave is busy with “Let’s Get Together,” the current single from flagship artist Phil Vassar. Beggs reports to Bill Macky, VP of Radio Promotion, and can be reached at eebeggs@gmail.com or (603) 244-2022.
Fred Steiner Passes
Fred Steiner, noted TV music composer and father of former Nashville songwriter Wendy Waldman, has died at age 88. Steiner was active from the 1950s-90s, and wrote the themes for Perry Mason and Rocky and Bullwinkle, and also contributed scores for episodes of The Twilight Zone, Star Trek, Gunsmoke, Hawaii Five-O, and Dynasty.
Waldman’s Nashville songwriting successes include the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band classic “Fishing in the Dark,” as well as hits by Crystal Gayle (“Baby What About You”) and The Forester Sisters (“Letter Home”). More on Steiner here.



Leigh Nash





Leigh Nash Joins Vocal Studio
Leigh Nash has joined the team of vocal instructors at Nashville’s Brett Manning Studios. As lead singer of the group Sixpence None The Richer (“Kiss Me,” “There She Goes”), Nash recently completed a new album with the band and is touring. Visit BrettManningStudios.com or call (615) 866-1099.
100 Reasons to Celebrate
Doak Turner’s 3rd Sunday at 3:00 songwriter event will mark 100 months in a row on July 17. The event is held at 701 Brook Hollow Rd., 37205. Details at NashvilleMuse.com or call (615) 354-6400.
CMT Radio Live With Cody Alan recently added its 100th affiliate.
PLA Media Signing
Public relations and marketing firm PLA Media has added DeeAnn Dominy to the roster. The company’s other clients include Lynn Anderson, Chase Rice, Adam Fisher, and Richie McDonald.

Justin Moore Reels In Sales

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Justin Moore fishing for album sales in Central Park.


Album Sales
Justin Moore’s sophomore effort debuted at the top of the Country album charts this week moving 65K units, which also brought him in at No. 5 on the all-genre chart [Soundscan].
Outlaws Like Me was propelled by hit single “If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away,” and a launch event where the Valory artist held a six-hour media fest from a bass boat in the Central Park lake.
Thirty-four percent of Moore’s sales were digital downloads, while fellow new country releases from Corey Smith and Cody Canada & the Departed reaped almost 50 percent digital.
Canada, previously of Cross Canadian Ragweed, sold a total of 7.8K units, and the debut from Average Joe’s artist Smith moved 4.8K.
Outside the Country front, Jill Scott and Bon Iver had big debuts, with 135K and 104K, respectively.
Digital Tracks
On the singles front, Jason Aldean and Blake Shelton are ruling the roost. Aldean’s “Dirt Road Anthem” rap has reacted with fans to the tune of 1.11 million paid downloads. This is the combined tally from both his solo, and Ludacris-duet versions.
Shelton’s performance of “Honey Bee” on The Voice made fans buzz over to their computers, equaling a 35 percent bump from the week before. This additional 110K units brings the song’s RTD total to 938K.
2011 Sales Status

As we near next week’s mid-point for 2011, Country music is down 2.6% YTD, while all-genre album sales are up a tiny .4%. Overall digital track sales continue to climb, and are up 10% YTD.

Google Goes Social With Google+

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Google has revealed details of its new social networking service, Google+, which is now in limited use by invitation only. The service aims to integrate seamlessly with Google’s other products like maps and images, while enriching the experience of online interaction.
According to Google’s official blog, online sharing is “awkward,” and Google+ is an attempt to correct that. By adding selective features such as +Circles for organizing friends into niche groups (work, music buddies, running partners, etc.) and +Sparks for easy discovery and sharing of web content that matches user interests, Google+ is addressing what it deems Facebook’s problem of being too “rigid.”
Other features in Google+ include +Hangouts, which hopes to promote group video chat and encourage easy, low-pressure interaction with friend circles. Mobile apps, starting with Android, are also in development.
If successful, the service could be serious competition for social king Facebook. The appearance and operation (see screen shots here) are similar enough that users should have little trouble making the transition. The Google navigation bar has been redesigned and will now appear black instead of the usual gray. Once the service is ready, Google+ icons with options for profile access, notifications, and content sharing will appear in this area.
At present membership is invitation-only, but interested parties can request an account here. There is also a Twitter feed to keep everyone informed about developments with the service. The limited invite rollout is not unlike Google’s introduction of Gmail a few years back, which successfully drove demand for addresses sky high.

BE Music & Entertainment Opens in Nashville

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Dallas-based London Broadcasting Company has opened BE Music & Entertainment, headed by executives Terry London, Carl Kornmeyer and Michael Blanton. With offices in Dallas and Nashville, the full-service artist development agency provides management, production and publishing services to clients across a range of music genres, as well as in film, television, visual art, and literature.
All three executives have more than 30 years of experience in the entertainment industry, including time at Gaylord Entertainment, where London previously served as President and CEO.
Today he is President and CEO of London Broadcasting, which owns and operates 12 television stations in Texas and also owns 41 Entertainment, a Dallas-based television production company.
Kornmeyer is COO of the company’s Content Group, and Blanton is on board as President of BE Music & Entertainment.
Blanton’s background in production and management has been instrumental in developing the careers of Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith.
For more information, visit www.BEMusicEntertainment.com or call them at (866) 339-8686.

Michael Blanton, Carl Kornmeyer and Terry London