Artist Confidential on SIRIUS XM

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image003SIRIUS XM has announced the 2009 fall season for its popular Artist Confidential series, which will kick off next Monday, September 28 and feature some of music’s biggest names giving candid interviews and live performances. The first presentation on 9/28 will feature Reba McEntire, whose segment will air on SIRIUS 61 and XM 17, as well as David Gray on SIRIUS 30 and XM 51. Other guests scheduled to appear throughout the season include Melissa Etheridge (9/29, live from the Hard Rock Cafe), Lynyrd Skynyrd (10/5), Oak Ridge Boys (10/5), Testament (10/5), Ziggy Marley (10/12), and Ronnie Milsap (10/12). Tentatively scheduled for 10/19 are John Fogerty and Smokey Robinson. Each presentation airs 8 pm CT Mondays on its respective channel, with encore showings throughout the week.

Chesney Curbs Tour

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chesneyFirst hand reports indicate that Kenny Chesney’s final show from his Sun City Carnival tour was an emotional moment for the Luttrell, TN troubadour. Guests who took part in front of 45,000 screaming Indianapolis fans included Sugarland, Miranda Lambert, Zac Brown Band and others.

“It’s hard to believe we’re putting this thing up on blocks,” an emotional Chesney said after the sold-out show at Lucas Oil Stadium. “The response from the fans, out in the crowd and the internet, it makes you feel like people understand… and that they know we’re not gone for good, it’s just a breather…And I hope people understand, I’ve never been an all or nothing kind of guy. This doesn’t mean there will be no shows or no music. It means I’m not going to be staging a major tour – I’m not going to take two weeks off and be meeting with people to build a stage, to start thinking about how we can do the lights different and what the video’s gonna be. This isn’t just a show, it’s a major production… and it’s not just ‘lets decide what to play, rehearse for a couple weeks and get out there’. I need a break from that, so I can get back inside from a fresh place. I’m really looking forward to that, because I don’t know anyone who keeps their foot on the gas like this for 8 years. There are all kinds of things to explore within the music, I can’t wait to take the time to see where some of this will take me, and where I might turn up, because, you know, I now have the time to maybe get into some interesting places… We’ll just have to figure it out.”

Big and Rich Greatest Hits Includes DTC Piece

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Big225Big & Rich will release the duo’s first greatest hits collection on Sept. 29. The DVD/CD combo Big & Rich: Greatest Hits, will include 15 hits plus the unreleased track, “The Man I Am Right Now.” The DVD includes nine music videos. A specially created direct-to-consumer piece will also be available only from the band’s website, www.bigandrich.com and will include all the above mentioned highlights plus three additional bonus tracks.

Big & Rich’s debut triple-platinum CD Horse Of A Different Color arrived in May 2004 and contained hits such as “Save A Horse (Ride A Cowboy)” and “Holy Water,” both of which are contained on the Greatest Hits outing. John Rich was awarded the ASCAP Songwriter/Artist Of The Year Award in 2005, 2006 and 2007, and has penned No.1 hits for Gretchen Wilson, Faith Hill, and Jason Aldean. Big Kenny was the 2005 BMI Songwriter Of The Year, and scored a No. 1 hit for Tim McGraw’s “Last Dollar.” The duo has also garnered multiple Grammy, ACM, CMA and CMT Music Award nominations.

Worley’s River Run Raises $175k

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Worley presenting a check from the Darryl Worley Foundation in the amount of $100,000 to Charlotte Burns of Hardin County Medical Center, where the Darryl Worley Cancer Treatment Center will be built.

Worley presenting a check from the Darryl Worley Foundation in the amount of $100,000 to Charlotte Burns of Hardin County Medical Center, where the Darryl Worley Cancer Treatment Center will be built.

Darryl Worley’s 8th Annual Tennessee River Run, which took place Sept. 10-13 near Savannah, Tennessee, raised $175,000 for the Darryl Worley Foundation. The benefit included numerous events spread over four days, and benefited the building of a cancer treatment center at the Hardin County (Tennessee) Medical Center.

Tennessee River Run 2009 kicked off with an “Evening with Darryl Worley & Friends Fish Fry,” which featured a sold-out acoustic in-the-round concert and dinner with Worley and hit tunesmiths Walt Aldridge, Jim “Moose” Brown, Steve Leslie and Wynn Varble. Performers at the country concert on Saturday (9/12) included Coon Dog Funeral, Jonathan Singleton & the Grove, Caitlin & Will, Craig Morgan and Worley. Sunday’s community sing and picnic featured perennial favorites Geron Davis & Kindred Souls and Jason Crabb of The Crabb Family.

The next event to benefit the Darryl Worley Foundation is the Tennessee River Run Bass Fishing Tournament, Saturday, November 7 on Pickwick Lake. Interested anglers and sponsors can contact www.fishteamtrails.com for registration information, entrance fees, rules and payouts.

Tech Update: Ringtones and Spotify

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iphone-07-01-09-1According to an article on digitalmusicnews.com, researcher IBISWorld says that ringtone revenues in the United States are at $750 million, down from the 2007 peak of $880 million.

The shift can possibly be attributed to a mobile consumer base that prefers full-track downloads as substitutes, as well as the uploading of unpaid full-length tracks that can be easily converted to ringtones.

Though the ringtone business is still alive and well, IBIS predicts that it will be completely gone in 15 years.

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logoAdvertising Age contends that Spotify might not be the music industry’s great savior, at least not without overcoming some difficult odds. The much-hyped Swedish company is gearing up for its U.S. launch and provides a technology capable of streaming music as quickly as most players can load an mp3. The Spotify business model includes both free (ad-supported) and an ad-free subscription service (price not yet determined) with access to all recorded music. If successful, it could offer a new way going forward to monetize digital music, as well as provide Apple’s iTunes with some viable competition.

However, the piece points out that subscription-based services in the U.S.—such as Rhapsody and Napster—haven’t fared incredibly well. Rhapsody leads the pack with under 800,000 subscribers, and Napster slightly above 700,000. Ad-supported digital music has also been slow to catch on, but shows some promise: Pandora has raised $56 million and CBS paid $280 million for last.fm in 2007.

But this could also pose a barrier for Spotify, because these ad-supported companies have millions of users for leverage with Fortune 100 agencies, and Spotify will be starting at zero.

Hall of Fame to Expand?

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cmhof-smallThe Tennessean reports that the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum would like to double its size. Nashville Mayor Karl Dean reported the Hall’s ambitions yesterday (9/21) during a speech to the Rotary Club of Nashville. Museum Dir. Kyle Young acknowledged in an interview after the event that expanding the museum’s size is a possibility.

“We really need to expand,” Young told the Tennessean. “We know what happens when you don’t do that. … It’s good business to want to build on success.” Young and Dean reportedly met recently to discuss the idea of expansion, but Young did not request government funding for the project.

The Hall has also had a flurry of high-profile booster meetings lately. Keith Urban recently announced his We’re All For The Hall benefit October 13 at the Sommet Center featuring Vince Gill, Faith Hill, Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift, Lady Antebellum, Jason Aldean, and Little Big Town, which sold out almost immediately. A Los Angeles version of the benefit, featuring Gill, Emmylou Harris, Dwight Yoakam, and Melissa Etheridge is set for Oct. 1 at Club Nokia.

ACM Lifting Lives Raises $750k

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The Academy of Country Music has announced a $750,000 endowment to its philanthropic arm ACM Lifting Lives, thanks to ticket sales from the “George Strait: ACM Artist of the Decade All Star Concert.” The gift is the second disbursement of a three-year funding commitment and fundraising campaign begun by the ACM last fall. ACM Lifting Lives works to improve lives through music.

Taped before a sold out Las Vegas crowd in April, “George Strait: ACM Artist of the Decade All Star Concert” featured Strait along with ACM Artist of the Decade for the ‘90s Garth Brooks and other performers including Dierks Bentley, Brooks & Dunn, Jamie Foxx, Faith Hill, Jack Ingram, Alan Jackson, Jamey Johnson, Toby Keith, Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, Tim McGraw, Montgomery Gentry, John Rich, LeAnn Rimes, Blake Shelton, Sugarland, Taylor Swift, Keith Urban and Lee Ann Womack. More than 10 million viewers tuned in for the CBS television special in May.

“The artists who gave of their time in April are the reason we can make this announcement today,” said Bob Romeo, Executive Director of the Academy of Country Music. “They put their time and energy into the Artist of the Decade taping, and they asked for nothing in return. They showed up, they blew the doors off the house and the ratings through the roof, reaching millions of fans with the message of ACM Lifting Lives.”

“The artists work every day to improve the lives of others with their craft,” said Erin Spahn, Director of ACM Lifting Lives. “With this endowment, their good work continues through the programs Lifting Lives supports. We are so thankful to them.”

Clary Promoted at BMI

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claryBMI has announced the promotion of Kay Clary to Senior Director, Media Relations. Clary will continue to be based in Nashville, but will report directly to BMI Assistant VP, Corporate & Media Relations Hanna Pantle, who is based in Los Angeles.

“Since joining BMI, Kay has brought her own style and verve to the task of increasing awareness of BMI’s affiliates and activities,” said Pantle. “She is a leader in the Nashville music community and an expert at creating media opportunities and campaigns that serve the essence of the creative process and the performing right. She is an effective and valued executive at BMI, and this promotion is a result of the outstanding work she’s done on behalf of the company and its affiliates.”

Clary joined BMI in 2005, after running her own Commotion PR since 2002 where her clients included Ricky Skaggs, Del McCoury Band, Rodney Crowell and more. She also spent time at PR firms AristoMedia and Front Page Publicity, working on media campaigns for artists like Radney Foster and Jack Ingram. Throughout the ‘80s she was a partner in Praxis International, where she was involved with the careers of Jason & the Scorchers, the Georgia Satellites and others. She is a graduate of Belmont University and serves on the boards of the Americana Music Association and Nashville Film Festival.

Love and Theft Joins Aldean’s Tour

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Carolwood Records trio Love and Theft willl join Jason Aldean’s Wide Open tour this fall, to support the trio’s recently released album World Wide Open. They will play a total of fourteen shows on the tour, beginning in Lexington, KY Sept. 25 and ending Nov. 14 in Southhaven, MS.

Love and Theft

Love and Theft

Love And Theft recently performed its single, “Runaway,” live on The Today Show and has also been featured on Access Hollywood and in the pages of Country Weekly and People. Their debut album, released August 25, was produced by Robert Ellis Orrall and Jeff Coplan, and features a collection of 11 songs all co-written by Love And Theft’s Brian Bandas, Eric Gunderson and Stephen Barker Liles.

Root 49 Records Launches With Bridgette Tatum

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Bridgette Tatum

The close ties between NASCAR and Music Row insiders get a little closer with the formation of MPR Entertainment Group, a collaboration between NASCAR driver Ryan Newman and his wife Krissie with Nashville publisher Carolyn Miller. As a part of the arrangement the company will launch a record label division, Root 49 Records, which plans to release an album by artist Bridgette Tatum in early 2010. As a songwriter, Tatum has already experienced No. 1 success with Jason Aldean’s “She’s Country,” which she co-wrote with Danny Myrick. The song was the first cut for Miller’s Root 49 Music publishing company, which now also falls under MPR Entertainment Group. The Newmans will take an active role in the company as CEOs working along with Miller.

“We have watched Bridgette grow over the past few years and she has a natural talent, a strong voice and driven nature,” says Krissie Newman. “Our business experiences, as well as Carolyn’s amazing accomplishments with her company, can only fuel the momentum surrounding Bridgette. We look forward to a long career in country music.”

Ryan Newman adds, “Krissie and I are involved in all aspects of my racing career—from marketing and promotion to creative and PR; we can help bring new opportunities to Bridgette’s already skyrocketing career.”

Tatum is already visiting country radio promoting her first single, “I Like My Cowboys Dirty.” Additional team members helping Root 49 Records efforts will be Grassroots Promotion, Nine North Records, Wortman Works Media & Marketing and Artisanal Management.