SESAC And SUISA’s Mint Digital Launches With Warner/Chappell As First Client

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Mint Digital Services, the joint venture between SESAC and the Swiss authors’ rights society SUISA formed to handle invoicing and administration of multi-territorial license agreements with online service providers, will assume those duties of Warner/Chappell Music’s online licensing business for iTunes.

The new Mint Digital Services database includes approximately 16 million musical works and 96 million sound recordings, over 25 million of which are pre-linked to musical compositions, providing one of the most comprehensive international databases for the identification of musical works.

The joint venture, which is headquartered in Zurich, will handle the billing and administration of licenses issued on behalf of The Harry Fox Agency, SESAC Performing Rights and SUISA, and also offers its services to publishers.

“By combining the expertise of the most accurate licensing process in Europe and the largest database of composition to recording links, Mint has created a platform that identifies more revenue from digital providers,” said Alexander Wolf, Delegate of the Board of Directors, Mint Digital Services. “This also enables publishers, such as Warner/Chappell Music, to realize more revenue faster and more accurately than ever before, and we’re thrilled to have them as a partner.”

iHeartRadio Reaches 100 Million User Mark

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iHeartRadio has reached another monster milestone, having surpassed 100 million registered users. The service reached 90 million registered users just seven months ago. The number is additive to the quarter of a billion listeners iHeartMedia reaches monthly on its 850 broadcast stations across the country. To celebrate this milestone, iHeartRadio is debuting a Top 100 live radio station – The iHeart100 – to showcase listeners’ top songs on the platform.

With more than a billion downloads, iHeartRadio is now reaching 85 percent brand awareness among consumers in less than five years. In January, iHeartMedia launched its new on-demand subscription services, iHeartRadio Plus and iHeartRadio All Access powered by Napster, which are the first fully differentiated streaming music services to provide listeners with the best of live radio combined with easy on-demand functionality.

“100 million registered users is an amazing milestone, and we are thrilled to see such great momentum and traction for iHeartRadio,” said Darren Davis, President of iHeartRadio. “We are committed to continuing to provide an exceptional listening experience for our millions of fans and listeners, and with the official launch of our new on demand services, we are able to offer even more iHeartRadio features for our listeners who want to enhance their radio experience.”

Exclusive: Date Set For ACM Honors

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The 11th annual ACM Honors will be held Wednesday, Aug. 23, at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. The event recognizes special honorees and off-camera winners of the annual ACM Awards.

Unlike previous years, the honorees in ACM Honors categories such as Industry Awards and Studio Awards will be announced after the 52nd annual ACM Awards are aired from Las Vegas, though no specific date for the ACM Honors announcement has been set.

“We decided to create greater separation between our [ACM] awards in Las Vegas and the ACM Honors, really as a way to lift up ACM Honors to an even higher profile,” ACM CEO Pete Fisher said. “So instead of announcing prior to the ACMs, we thought these winners deserved to have their own moment, versus kind of getting lost in all of the activity surrounding Las Vegas.”

Last year, the ACM Honors reached more than 4 million viewers when it aired for the first time on CBS. “At this point, we are still in discussions with CBS, but all signs point to yes, that it will be televised for a second year,” Fisher said.

“We felt that ACM Honors has really found a personality of its own,” said Fisher. “It’s distinctive and filled with a lot of heart. Even as we’ve moved to a televised show last year, I think the team did a great job of preserving the heart. So this is a great way for us to kind of elevate and express our even greater devotion to making ACM Honors one of our two flagship events in Music City annually, the other one being the ACM Lifting Lives Summer Camp.”

MusicRowPics: Brooke Eden Brings Country Soul To Her ‘Weekend’

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Brooke Eden with MusicRow owner/publisher Sherod Robertson.

Florida native and Red Bow Records artist Brooke Eden just might be one of the most soulful country vocalists to come out of Nashville in some time.

“I didn’t even know there was another kind of music other than country until I was 15,” Eden says. When she turned 18, she discovered the music of soulful songstress Etta James. “I became obsessed with her music,” says Eden, who recently performed the James classic “At Last” during a performance on the Grand Ole Opry.

Eden melds those influences on “Act Like You Don’t,” the first single from her Welcome To The Weekend EP. She co-wrote the track with Jesse Frasure and Cary Barlowe.

“I brought them the idea because I was going through a breakup,” Eden says. “[My partner and I] never had one really big blowup fight. It was like, ‘I’m not the one for you and you’re not the one for me,’ and we both knew it, but we still were ‘friends.’ We did this thing where we would breakup, then hang out, get back together and then it would happen again.”

Finally Eden had enough. “I told him, ‘I can’t do this anymore. If you ever loved me at all, I need you to act like you don’t love me anymore, because I can’t move forward.’ The song helped me get through that time.”

During a visit with the MusicRow offices, Eden performed the single along with another track from her EP, titled “Silence Speaks,” and a rendition of “At Last.” On her EP, Eden collaborates with writers including Brett James, Chris DeStefano, Ingrid Andress, Justin Wilson, and Will Weatherly.

Brooke Eden with MusicRow staff.

Eden comes by her love of music honestly. Growing up, she was performing alongside her father in a country band by the age of 5.

“I had sequin chaps and a cowgirl hat with rhinestones and cowboy boots that my mom had bedazzled. I sang ‘Any Man of Mine’ that night,” Eden recalls her first time performing onstage. Her mother, who dressed mannequins in department store windows, still helps Eden with her fashion.

Eden’s strong vocals and transparent songwriting are backed by an intense work ethic. For two years before fully moving to Nashville, Eden split her time writing in Music City and working the stage in a regular circuit back in Florida.

“I would spend two weeks in Nashville networking and recording, then fly home to Florida. I would spend two weeks there performing four hours per night, five nights a week, so I didn’t have to have a 9-5 job in Nashville. When I was in Nashville, I could focus on music all the time.”

Eden became a full-time Nashville resident in 2015, writing 100 songs that year. She says those intense years focused on writing paid off.

“Before I moved to Nashville, I loved English and loved writing stories. I got to come here and take all of those ideas and melodies and turn them into real songs. It was a great way to learn who I am as a writer and as an artist.”

Dualtone Records To Release Final Chuck Berry Studio Album

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Dualtone Records will release Chuck, the final album from music icon Chuck Berry, on June 16. The album was in the works prior to Berry’s death last week at age 90.

The album features Berry’s first new recordings in nearly four decades, following 1979’s Rock It. Eight of the project’s 10 songs were penned by Berry.

“Lady B. Goode” serves as a spiritual sequel to the classic “Johnny B. Goode” featuring solos from three generations of Berry guitarists. The country balladry of “Darlin'” is a duet with Berry’s daughter Ingrid Berry. Tom Morello and Nathaniel Rateliff appear on “Big Boys.”

Chuck was recorded and produced by Berry in various studios around St. Louis and features his longtime hometown backing group—including his children Charles Berry Jr. (guitar) and Ingrid Berry (vocals, harmonica), plus Jimmy Marsala (Berry’s bassist for forty years), Robert Lohr (piano), and Keith Robinson (drums). The album also includes guest performances from Gary Clark Jr., Morello, Rateliff, and Chuck’s grandson Charles Berry III.

“Working to prepare the release of this record in recent months and in fact over the last several years brought him a great sense of joy and satisfaction,” the Berry family said in a statement earlier this week. “While our hearts are very heavy at this time, we know that he had no greater wish than to see this album released to the world, and we know of no better way to celebrate and remember his 90 years of life than through his music.”

When health concerns forced him to stop touring and recording in 2015, Berry continued to oversee production and planning for the studio project, enlisting his family and close friend Joe Edwards.

“Working on my Dad’s record has been one of the best experiences of my life,” said Charles Berry Jr. “I will forever treasure the musical conversations we had, and the time we spent together completing it.”

Chuck Track List:
“Wonderful Woman”
“Big Boys”
“You Go To My Head”
“3/4 Time (Enchiladas)”
“Darlin’”
“Lady B. Goode”
“She Still Loves You”
“Jamaica Moon”
“Dutchman”
“Eyes Of Man”

Kane Brown, Chase Bryant Club Dates To Benefit ACM Lifting Lives Program

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Pictured (L-R): Maren Morris with Ed Warm, ACM Lifting Lives Chairman and Joe’s Bar Owner

Upcoming club dates from Kane Brown and Chase Bryant will help give back by donating a portion of the night’s proceeds to the Academy of Country Music’s Lifting Lives program. Participating clubs are donating a portion of each ticket sold to ACM’s Lifting Lives program, and proceeds raised will help fund organizations that are improving lives through the healing power of music.

Bryant’s upcoming Bluestone club date on March 23 in Columbus, Ohio, and Kane Brown’s Billy Bob’s show on April 21 in Fort Worth, Texas, will donate to the Lifting Lives program. Maren Morris headlined a date earlier this year at Joe’s Bar in Chicago that raised $3,600 for the Academy’s charitable arm.

Thomas Rhett, Chris Stapleton, Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, More Added To ACM Awards

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More performers have been added to the 52nd Annual ACM Awards coming up on April 2. Added to the list of artists performing on the show are Faith Hill, Sam Hunt, Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts, Reba McEntire with Lauren Daigle, Thomas Rhett, Chris Stapleton, Cole Swindell, Carrie Underwood, and Keith Urban. Co-hosted by Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley, the show will broadcast live from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on the CBS Television Network.

Previously announced performers on the telecast include Jason Aldean, Kelsea Ballerini, Dierks Bentley, Brothers Osborne, Luke Bryan, Florida Georgia Line with the Backstreet Boys, Lady Antebellum, Kelsea Ballerini, Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town, Maren Morris, and Jon Pardi.

Tim McGraw and Faith Hill will perform a duet of their brand new single “Speak to a Girl” on the show, which will be the song’s television world premiere.

The official red carpet pre-show for the awards will live stream exclusively on Twitter on April 2, starting at 6pm ET. The pre-show will be available to logged-in and logged-out audiences on Twitter and connected devices.

Record Store Crawl Dates Set For Nashville, Los Angeles, Seattle And More U.S. Cities

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While many record enthusiasts are known to spend the better part of a day browsing through stacks of vinyl at various record stores in their cities, the second annual Record Store Crawl series elevates audiophiles’ and record enthusiasts’ favorite pastime, with artist performances, food, drinks and other amenities.

This year’s series will take place from April through August, in cities including Nashville, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and more.

Among the artists taking part in the series in various cities are Ryan Kinder (Warner Music Nashville), Savoire Adore (Nettwerk Records); Craig Brown Band (Third Man Records); Four By Fate (The End Records); The Sweeplings (Nettwerk Records), Angelica Garcia (Warner Bros. Records), Steff and the Articles (independent), and more to be announced.

The Nashville Record Store Crawl, slated for Aug. 26, will include a Record Store Crawl bus, giveaways, lunch at Two Boots Pizza, and discounts at Nashville vinyl stores including The Groove, Grimey’s and Grimey’s Too, Vinyl Tap, and more. Tickets are $49.95 and can be purchased at recordstorecrawl.com.

The full Record Store Crawl itinerary will be revealed the week of each journey. Record Store Crawl is presented in partnership with Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Record Store Crawl Schedule:

April 22 – New York, NY
June 10 – Minneapolis, MN
June 17 – Phoenix, AZ
June 24 – Chicago, IL
June 24 – Rochester, NY
July 8 – Seattle, WA
July 22 – Los Angeles, CA
July 29 – Birmingham, AL
July 29 – Washington, DC
Aug. 6 – Austin, TX
Aug. 12 – Portland, OR
Aug. 26 – Nashville, TN

ASCAP Rebrands Admin Services As Songwize

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ASCAP is relaunching its administration services business as Songwize. The services aid rightsholders such as major and independent music publishers who direct license their performance rights to digital services, functioning as their royalty administration arm. Services include performance matching, royalty and market share calculations, distributions, and standard business intelligence and data analytics.

ASCAP’S administration services business has been in operation since 2013. In the last year, it added technological and analytical expertise to a team headed by Senior Vice President Administration Services, Lisa Selden. In 2016, SONGWIZE administered a 121 percent year-over-year increase in performances across digital service providers including Amazon, Apple, Google Play, Pandora and YouTube.

“With the increase in streaming music consumption, the number of individual public performances that are occurring is increasing dramatically,” said ASCAP Chief Executive Officer Elizabeth Matthews. “Songwize, built on our trusted matching system and transparent distribution rules, ensures that songwriters and publishers can depend on ASCAP for proper royalty processing and payment under a variety of licensing scenarios.”

The Band Perry To Headline St. Jude Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon In Nashville

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The Band Perry will perform the post-race concert following this year’s St. Jude Rock ‘n’ Roll Nashville Marathon & ½ Marathon on Saturday, April 29 at Ascend Amphitheater. The Toyota Rock ‘n’ Roll concert series event is open exclusively to runners and their friends and family, and will start at 7 p.m.

The musically-themed race attracts more than 30,000 runners who will take on the 26.2, 13.1-mile and 5K courses, while many of Nashville’s best live bands perform along the route. In addition, 3,500 junior racers will participate in KiDS ROCK Nashville, a one mile race taking place on Sunday, April 30. The St. Jude marathon weekend kicks off April 27 with a free, two-day Health & Fitness Expo at the Nashville Music City Center. Race participants will visit the expo to pick up their numbers and browse over 100 exhibitors featuring free samples, the latest in running gear and sports apparel, and interactive clinics.

New for 2017 is a one mile race on Thursday night, warming runners up for the main event. Participants can earn a third, bonus medal for taking on two days of running over the weekend, completing the inaugural ‘Remix Challenge’. Thursday’s (April 27) mile race ends at Ascend Amphitheater where Jake Owen will play a ticketed performance, open to the public.

“St. Jude Rock ‘n’ Roll Nashville Marathon & ½ Marathon, is a marquee event in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series,” said Katie Holmes, Event Manager. “We are thrilled that The Band Perry will headline this year’s post-race concert at the new Ascend Amphitheater celebrating the many musical genres that Nashville is known for. Their country roots and new pop sound are sure to keep the party rocking for runners and spectators after the race.”