CMA To Unveil Research
The Country Music Association will unveil key findings from its 2008 Country Music Consumer Segmentation Study during a free Town Hall meeting Tuesday, April 28 from 2:00-4:00 PM/CT in the Boone Crockett Room at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Nashville. The meeting is free and open to CMA members and their invited guests. The research project was the largest and most comprehensive look at the country music consumer in the CMA’s 50-year history. The Town Hall meeting will also include an opportunity to discuss “next steps” and ways to incorporate the findings into constituents’ individual business plans. The study offers information on media consumption including country record sales, radio and touring, as well as media usage and consumer analysis culled from a phase one sample of 7,000 individuals; a second sample of 1,850; and 10 focus groups from three regions of the country. In addition, findings from a followup study to determine the impact of the current economic crisis on the country consumer will be presented. The meeting will also include the introduction of an algorithm that CMA members can apply to their own consumer databases. The algorithm is a set of 14 screening questions that will enable the user to replicate the segmentation study in their own research vehicles to identify core and potential country consumers with a minimum of 75 percent accuracy, enabling members to use their marketing dollars effectively and efficiently.
“Giving our members the tools necessary to analyze the enormous amount of data we collected and make it applicable to their day-to-day operation is the logical next step,” said CMA Chief Executive Officer Tammy Genovese. “From booking agents to artist managers to record labels, there is something for everyone who relies on the country music consumer in this study.”
Seats to the free Town Hall meeting are limited and are available to CMA individual and organizational members only. Attendees may also bring a limited number of guests to the event based on the level of their CMA membership. CMA members who would like to attend must register online, and they can do so here.
Songwriter Paul Williams, whose long list of hits includes classic songs like “We’ve Only Just Begun,” “Just An Old Fashioned Love Song” and “Rainy Days and Mondays,” was elected President and Chairman of the Board of ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) today (4/16) by the ASCAP Board of Directors at its meeting in Nashville. Williams’ election follows songwriter Marilyn Bergman’s decision to step down from the ASCAP Presidency effective today, although she will continue as an active Board Member). Songwriter Jimmy Webb has been elected writer Vice Chairman to replace Williams, who held that post for the prior two years. On the publisher side, the re-elected officers are: Irwin Robinson of Paramount Allegra Music as Vice Chairman; Kathy Spanberger of peermusic as Secretary; and James M. Kendrick of Schott Music Corporation/European American Music Corporation as Treasurer.
The Robert Johnson Blues Foundation has announced that Zakk Knight of Indianapolis, Indiana has been named winner of the 2009 New Generation Award Contest. Knight will receive a Gibson “Robert Johnson” edition guitar, a Robert Johnson harmonica, a certificate signed by Claud Johnson (son and heir of Robert Johnson) and an invitation to perform at the Robert Johnson Birthday Blast on May 9. The Birthday Party — the only event sanctioned by and benefiting the Robert Johnson Foundation — is a spring festival held annually at Chataugua Park in Crystal Springs, MS. This year’s show will run from 2 – 7 PM and is free and open to the public. The festival will feature several nationally recognized artists including Stevie J Blues Eruption, Mo Thomas, the Straitway Ministries Choir and other special guests. Also featured will be a special legacy tribute to Robert Johnson featuring his grandson Seven, along with the 2008 New Generation winner, Gabriel Lambrith. Knight’s winning entry can be viewed 
The Board of Directors of Leadership Music has announced that Garth Brooks, Jim Foglesong and Allen Reynolds have been selected as the 2009 recipients of the Leadership Music Dale Franklin Award. The three prominent country music figures, whose careers intertwined when Brooks signed to Capitol Records with Foglesong at the helm, and Reynolds produced his groundbreaking 
albums, will be honored at a gala tribute banquet on Sunday, August 23, at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Nashville. The Dale Franklin Leadership Award, named for the first Executive Director of Leadership Music, was created in 2004 “to recognize music industry leaders who exemplify the highest quality of leadership and leading by example.” Brooks, Foglesong and Reynolds join previous Dale 
Franklin Award winners Tony Brown (2004), Gerry House (2005), Emmylou Harris (2006), Frances W. Preston (2007), and The Bradley Family; Owen (posthumously), Harold, Jerry, Connie and Patsy (2008).
It’s not often that a country singer manages to step up to solo stardom after becoming closely identified with a successful group. Wynonna’s post-Judds career comes to mind. And now there’s Heidi Newfield. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that the former Trick Pony singer turned to producer Tony Brown, who oversaw Wynonna’s debut, when it came time to make her own solo statement. Whatever the reason, “Johnny and June,” the leadoff single from her first solo effort, What Am I Waiting For, hit the Top 10, putting the singer in some rare company. Along with Miranda Lambert, Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood, Newfield is one of only four solo women in country to have had a Top 10 single in 2008. She’s also the first female to score a Top 10 hit with her debut single since Swift’s “Tim McGraw.” And with her sophomore single, the title song from What Am I Waiting For, picking up steam, it looks like Newfield is decidedly not just another one trick pony. She’s recently been covered in Billboard, Blender, Country Weekly, First for Women, The New York Times, People, and USA Today. In addition, the singer has been featured on CNN, CNN.com, Gannett News Wire, Associated Press, “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” CBS TV, EW.com, TV Guide.com and more. Following are some of Newfield’s upcoming tour dates:
Legends & Lyrics, a new Public Television show spotlighting high-profile artist/songwriters alongside some of the not so well known songwriters behind the hits, will air weekly through the months of April and May. In each episode, artists including Kris Kristofferson, Kenny Loggins, Charlie Daniels, Patty Griffin, Shawn Colvin, John Hiatt, 3 Doors Down, Kip Winger and others perform “in-the-round,” sharing their most memorable songs and the inspiration behind them. A “Rising Star” segment will feature artists and writers including The Laws, Stephanie Chapman, Corinne Chapman, Jonathan Singleton, Nathan Lee, Mike Musick, Will Hoge and more. Legends & Lyrics blends live performances from intimate halls, with season one shot in Shreveport, Louisiana’s Scottish Rite Theatre and in Nashville at the historic Masonic Lodge. Also woven into each episode are one-on-one conversations with legendary artists such as Garth Brooks, Loretta Lynn, Ray Stevens, Steve Cropper and others who have left an indelible mark on the music industry. Check local listings for air dates and times. For more information visit legendsandlyrics.com.
AT&T is currently in talks with Apple to extend its exclusive US agreement to sell the iPhone from 2010 to 2011, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson said that he plans to shift the company’s focus away from the US landline phone business into wireless. Apple’s 
iPhone has sold 17 million units worldwide since it was launched in June of 2007. Apple has a number of relationships with other wireless carriers who service the iPhone in 80 countries. Those carriers include 02 in the United Kingdom, Softbank in Japan, Orange in France and T-Mobile in Germany. on, was too high, the Journal said, quoting people familiar with the discussions.