River House Artists & Sony Music Publishing Sign Neil Medley

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Pictured (L-R): Kayla Adkins, Zebb Luster, Neil Medley, Lynn Oliver-Cline, Rusty Gaston. (Not Pictured: Scott Safford)

River House Artists, in partnership with Sony Music Publishing, has signed country songwriter Neil Medley to a worldwide publishing agreement.

Medley has written popular songs including “Tailgate Blues” by Luke Bryan; “Wasn’t That Drunk” by the Josh Abbott Band featuring Carly Pearce; “Damn Good Friends” by Tyler Farr and Jason Aldean; and “Glad to be Here” by Hailey Whitters featuring Brent Cobb. Throughout his career, Medley has celebrated cuts with prominent acts such as Cody Johnson, Tiera, King Calaway, Kid Rock, Brent Cobb, Whiskey Myers, and many others.

Medley achieved his first No. 1 song with Jake Owen’s “Made For You,” and earned success with Lindsay Ell’s single “I Don’t Love You,” which was the No. 1 most added song on country radio the week of its release and reached the Top 10 on Billboard’s Canada Country airplay chart. Medley was also nominated for MusicRow‘s Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year this year.

“Our family at River House couldn’t be more excited to have Neil join the team. His happy personality is infectious, and his love for songwriting has helped him to maintain success throughout his career. We are thankful he has trusted us to help him continue to grow as a writer and we look forward to landing many more hits together,” says Zebb Luster, vice president/general manager of River House Artists.

Medley adds, “River House Artists is one of the most respected publishing and artist development companies in Nashville. Their track record, combined with Sony’s horsepower and industry-wide reach, is an ideal situation for any writer. I am so excited to be a part of such a special roster and I’m confident we are going to do some great things together.”

Morgan Evans Talks New EP, His Full Band & “Love Is Real” [Interview]

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Morgan Evans. Photo: P Tracy

Australian-born singer-songwriter Morgan Evans has a busy fall season ahead of him. As support on Brett Eldredge‘s “Good Day Tour 2021,” which kicked off on Sept. 16, Evans has also recently unveiled plans for his next studio project: The Country And The Coast Side A.

The six-song EP, set for release on Oct. 29, includes his newest release “Country Outta My Girl,” written by Evans, Ben Johnson, Hunter Phelps, and Mark Holman and produced by Dann Huff. The upbeat track gives not-so-subtle mentions of his wife, Kelsea Ballerini, and the habits and traits that she picked up from her hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee, and has taken with her all over the world.

Also included on the forthcoming project is Evans’ current radio single, “Love Is Real,” which has spent six consecutive weeks at the top of the AU Country Radio chart and is currently climbing the airplay charts in the United States. Written with Parker Welling and Jordan Reynolds, the timely track aims to capture the feeling of when everything in the world feels right, which is a welcomed feeling in our world right now.

“I tried to write the title a couple of different ways, but I felt like it was trying to be too clever or something,” Evans tells MusicRow. “When we wrote the song it was really as simple as that small feeling, but as songs tend to do, it’s found new meanings. That one feeling has become, ‘Even when all this awful stuff is happening around us, those feelings are still out there. Make sure you look for them and make sure you appreciate them when they come.’ It’s growing every time we get to play it and every time I get to talk to someone about it which is a great feeling as a songwriter.”

Of the new things that have been brought out of the pandemic, Evans has also emerged with a full band backing him for the first time since moving to the states.

Formerly using a loop pedal to build his tracks in real-time during live performances, Evans jokes, “I feel like I’m on vacation on stage now because all I have to do is play guitar and sing.

“In one way, it’s so nice because I can actually look elsewhere and I can connect with people. I can be in the moment rather than being in the technical moment of the loop pedal. In another way, it’s just so nice to have the camaraderie of a band and know that we’re doing this together,” he explains. “It’s what I started playing music for. I didn’t start playing music to be like, ‘Oh, I want to be this singer-songwriter that travels the world by myself.’ I wanted to play guitar in a band and I’m getting to do that again.”

Evans will be traveling around the country on the “Good Day Tour 2021” which has upcoming stops in Orlando, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Denver, and Salt Lake City, among others, before wrapping in Verona, New York on Nov. 6.

Before the tour’s launch, Evans shared, “I’m just looking forward to the feeling of playing live again. I’ve noticed at these [one-off] shows that everybody is equally as excited to be at a live show again. You get the energy from the stage going back and forth from the crowd, and it’s a pretty magical time to play music. Nobody’s taking it for granted right now.”

Named one of Country Radio Seminar’s 2020 New Faces of Country Music, Evans has earned nearly 610 million career streams, topped the charts with his debut single “Kiss Somebody,” and spent 25 weeks in the No.1 spot in Australia with “Day Drunk.” His upcoming EP, The Country And The Coast Side A, is available everywhere on Oct. 29.

The Country And The Coast Side A Track List:
1. Love Is Real
2. Country Outta My Girl
3. Beautiful Tonight
4. American Dream Truck
5. Sing Along Drink Along
6. Love Is Real (Int’l Mix)

Jameson Rodgers Offers Hook After Hook On Debut Album, ‘Bet You’re From A Small Town’ [Interview]

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Jameson Rodgers. Photo: Matthew Berinato

In just a year, River House Artists/Columbia Nashville artist Jameson Rodgers has had his debut single “Some Girls” hit No. 1, embarked on his first headlining tour, released an EP (In It for the Money), sent another single to the Top 5 (“Cold Beer Calling My Name”), and, most recently, released his debut album Bet You’re From a Small Town.

He was named MusicRow‘s Discovery Artist of the Year in 2020, and was nominated for the publication’s Breakthrough Artist of the Year just a year later in August.

When asked about the past year, Rodgers grins and quietly admits it’s been a crazy time. “The last two or thee years have been an absolute whirlwind. They call it a 10 year town, I’ve been here 11, so I hit it right on the head,” he says.

His debut album, Bet You’re From a Small Town, features fifteen songs produced by Chris Farren and Jake Mitchell. Rodgers, who co-wrote 14 of the album’s 15 tracks, really shows off his knack for writing a modern country hook on several songs throughout the project.

In addition to his Platinum-certified, No. 1 debut single “Some Girls,” and his current Top 5 hit “Cold Beer Calling My Name,” which features Luke Combs, Rodgers’ penmanship shines on the other 13 songs on Bet You’re From a Small Town.

This is most evident on “You Won’t,” a song co-written with Smith Ahnquist, Will Bundy and Lynn Hutton that lists all the things that come back around like old songs, bird dogs, football season and Jesus, but that his lost love won’t.

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Another great song on Bet You’re From a Small Town is “Missing One,” which starts with Rodgers singing about missing an Eagles record from his collection and wraps up in the chorus with him missing a girl. Rodgers wrote it with Phelps and Ahnquist, who appear a lot on the record.

“This is probably the oldest song on the record,” Rodgers says. “We were sitting in the writing room that day. Smith had done a demo session and the engineer had sent him some songs back. He was going through them and he said, ‘Oh, I’m missing one.’ When he said that Hunter perked up and said, ‘We’re writing that today,’ but it took us four months to finish it for some reason. Most of them fall out in an hour or two, but we had to work for that one.”

The track “Merle Haggard” not only pays homage to one of Rodgers’ heroes, but features the singer tapping into Haggard’s mastery of heartache tunes. Rodgers sings, “You’re the leaving in the story, you were good but no good for me / Mama tried to warn me you’d break my heart in two, Merle Haggard woulda wrote songs about you.”

Another tear-jerker is “Good Dogs,” a heart-wrenching tribute that captures the misery of losing a dog.

“That song was born on a writing retreat. I wrote it with Hunter Phelps, Brent Anderson and Jake Mitchell. Hunter had just gotten a dog and came in with that title,” Rodgers says. “It was one of those where we had to keep walking out of the room to go cry in private thinking about dogs. It’s hard to write those songs, dogs are family members that don’t get to stick around as long as they should.”

On top of more gems on the project, like “Girls That Smoke,” “Bars Back Home” and the title track “Bet You’re from a Small Town,” Rodgers’ shows off the shine of his 11-year journey on his debut album.

“They say you have your whole life to write album one,” Rodgers says. “I’ve taken advantage of that.”

Jason Aldean, Carrie Underwood Return No. 1 On MusicRow CountryBreakout Chart

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“If I Didn’t Love You” by Jason Aldean and Carrie Underwood returns to No. 1 on the MusicRow CountryBreakout Radio Chart this week, marking its third week on top. The singles holds +57 spins over the No. 2 position despite losing a total of -29 spins the last two weeks.

“If I Didn’t Love You” was written by Kurt Allison, Tully Kennedy, John Morgan and Lydia Vaughan, and produced by Michael Knox.

Underwood earned a nomination for Entertainer of the Year at this year’s 55th Annual CMA Awards, which airs live from Nashville on Wednesday, Nov. 10 (8:00 – 11:00 p.m. EST) on ABC. Click here to see a full list of nominees.

Click here to view the latest edition of The MusicRow Weekly containing the MusicRow CountryBreakout Radio Chart.

RaeLynn Takes Fans Back Home On Full ‘Baytown’ Album [Interview]

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RaeLynn. Photo: Alysse Gafkjen

Two-time ACM New Female Vocalist of the Year nominee RaeLynn has many things to celebrate this season with the birth of her first child, daughter Daisy Rae, on Sept. 8, and the release of her new full-length album, Baytown, which is available everywhere today (Sept. 24).

After releasing a six-song EP by the same name in 2020, the Baytown album expands upon the original set by adding eight more tracks to the full-length project.

Marking her debut studio album on Florida Georgia Line‘s Round Here Records and her first full-length release since 2017’s Wildhorse, RaeLynn is a writer on all 14 songs on the Corey Crowder-produced album alongside some of Nashville’s most in-demand writers, including Bob DiPiero, Brett James, Emily Weisband, Tyler Hubbard, and Crowder.

Baytown, named after RaeLynn’s hometown outside of Houston, Texas, draws serious inspiration from the place that made her the person and artist that she is today.

“Any artists I meet that didn’t come from Nashville are all unique in their own way. What makes them unique is where they grew up, what they were around, what music they were surrounded by, and what their environment was,” RaeLynn tells MusicRow. “For the first couple of years, I was trying to figure out who I was in Nashville. I realized that what makes me different and what makes me special is that I grew up in a place called Baytown and being the baby of eight kids. I realized that all of these different things that are woven inside of me have made me who I am, and that’s going to show into my music,” she explains.

“The best way for me to describe Baytown is country people with a little grit and sass.” When describing Baytown in a sonic sense, she sums, “It’s like if Cardi B and Dolly Parton had a baby. It’s fun, but a little ratchet in the best way.”

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With tracks like the heartfelt “Small Town Prayer” and the revealing “Only In A Small Town,” RaeLynn offers up the different shades of growing up in a place like Baytown on the aptly named record.

“I love those two songs because they go to show the undeniable pureness and authenticity of a small town that makes us who we are, but then they also have the rowdiness of what a small town represents too. Everybody knows each other and gets into a little bit of trouble, but everybody has each other’s back too,” she comments.

Additionally, the album includes a couple of welcomed duets, including the entertaining “Why I Got A Truck” with her former The Voice coach Blake Shelton, and the flirty “Get That All The Time” with Mitchell Tenpenny.

Baytown also features familiar favorites like “Keep Up,” “Judgin’ To Jesus,” “Rowdy,” and “Bra Off,” while also giving fans new tracks that showcase more sides of the Platinum singer-songwriter that they haven’t heard before.

RaeLynn. Photo: Ford Fairchild

“She Chose Me,” which undoubtedly serves as the album’s centerpiece, takes listeners behind the curtain of RaeLynn’s life as she learned that she was the result of an extramarital affair. Giving a vulnerable invitation into how she came into this world, the track chronicles her mother’s momentous choice to keep the pregnancy despite the small town scrutiny while also serving as a prequel to her 2016 breakout Gold-certified single, “Love Triangle.”

Coming full-circle from there, RaeLynn also shares a demo version of “Made For Me To Love,” which make her own daughter, Daisy, her muse for the first of what’s sure to be many times to come.

With over 840 million career streams and nearly half a million album equivalents sold, one of country music’s newest parents will be spending the next few months diving into motherhood with plans of returning to the road in early 2022.

“I don’t know anything about [motherhood] so it’s all gonna be new to me, but I’m beyond excited,” she shared as she was preparing for Daisy’s arrival. “This pregnancy has honestly been an incredible experience… I’ve had such a beautiful time being pregnant, and it’s been so cool to be able to do something beyond myself.

“I’m gonna miss being pregnant for those special moments, but I am excited to drink a margarita,” she jokingly admits.

RaeLynn’s full-length album, Baytown, is available now.

Nashville A-Team Musician Bob Moore Dies

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Pictured: Bob Moore, circa 1960. Photograph by: Bill Forshee, courtesy of CMHOF

Nashville A-Team bassist, Bob Moore, has died. He was 88.

Throughout his more than 60-year career, Moore was one of the lead musicians to utilize the bass guitar as a country music instrument and was the first-call bassist on Music Row’s A-Team of session musicians from the 1950s through the 1970s. Along the way, he provided rhythmic support and ideas for an array of classic country hits, including Patsy Cline’s “I Fall to Pieces,” Brenda Lee’s “I’m Sorry,” Loretta Lynn’s “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” Roger Miller’s “King of the Road,” Elvis Presley’s “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” Marty Robbins’s “El Paso,” Kenny Rogers’ “The Gambler,” and Conway Twitty’s “Hello Darlin’,” among countless others.

Pictured: Bob Moore on bass during a Brenda Lee recording session at Bradley’s Film and Recording Studio. Photograph by: Elmer Williams, courtesy of CMHOF

Born in 1932, he was raised by his grandmother near Nashville’s Shelby Park. By age nine he set up a shoeshine box near the entrance of the historic Ryman Auditorium, and before long was invited backstage to shine the boots and shoes of Opry stars.

Only a year later, Moore had begun performing in a band he formed called the Eagle Rangers. When Moore was 14, he joined the Grand Ole Opry duo Jamup & Honey before joining Little Jimmy Dickens’ band at 18. At age 23, he accepted an offer to play on the famed Red Foley television show, Ozark Jubilee.

Moore eventually met pianist and record producer Owen Bradley, who told Moore that he would soon be operating a Nashville office for Decca Records to which Moore would be a regular session bassist.

In the 1950s, Moore began playing on Nashville recordings that represented what would become known as rockabilly, including for Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Brenda Lee, Bobby Helms, Wanda Jackson, and Johnny Burnette and the Rock & Roll Trio.

In 1961, Moore also enjoyed a major pop hit of his own with his instrumental recording “Mexico.” The song went No. 1 in Germany and reached No. 7 on the U.S. pop charts.

Moore was honored as part of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museums’ Nashville Cats: A Celebration of Music City Session Players program, and was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2007, along with other members of the Nashville A-Team.

“Bob Moore’s contributions to American music are incalculable,” shares Kyle Young, CEO, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. “Raised in East Nashville, he was a musical master and the most-recorded bass player in country music history. As a key member of the much-vaunted ‘A-Team’ of Nashville session players, he was both an inspiration and an innovator. He was the heartbeat behind classics including Patsy Cline’s ‘Crazy,’ Sammi Smith’s ‘Help Me Make It Through the Night,’ Kenny Rogers’s ‘The Gambler,’ and hundreds of other recordings that changed the course of country music. He played with Johnny Cash, Tom T. Hall, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley and so many others, and he helped establish Monument Records, where he was a player, a producer, an arranger and a hit artist. He once said, ‘Anyone who has heard me play the bass knows my soul.’ We’re fortunate that he shared his soul with us for so many years.”

Memorial arrangements have not yet been announced.

Brandi Carlile, Sturgill Simpson, Black Pumas Win At 2021 Americana Honors & Awards

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Pictured (L-R): Amanda Shires and Maren Morris of The Highwomen, Yola, Brandi Carlile of The Highwomen, Jason Isbell and Natalie Hemby of The Highwomen perform onstage at the 20th Annual Americana Honors & Awards. Photo: Getty Images for the Americana Music Association

The Americana Music Association heralded its best and brightest at the 20th Annual Americana Honors & Awards at the Ryman Auditorium last night (Sept. 22), with Brandi Carlile taking home her second Americana trophy for Artist of the Year.

Other big winners of the night include Sturgill Simpson who won Album of the Year for his first bluegrass project, Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1 – The Butcher Shoppe Sessions; the Black Pumas, who were named Duo/Group of the Year; and the late John Prine, whose song “I Remember Everything,” written by Pat McLaughlin and Prine, received Song Of The Year honors.

Charley Crockett received the award for Emerging Act of the Year while Kristin Weber, a 14-year veteran of worldwide touring and recording as a fiddler, was named Americana Instrumentalist of the Year.

“Given today’s uncertain times, there is no greater assurance that the power of music brings people together to uplift their spirits when they need it the most,” said Jed Hilly, Executive Director of the Americana Music Association. “I’m beyond proud of our artists and community for reminding me again why this is my favorite night of the year, every year.”

Keb Mo’ performs at the 20th Annual Americana Honors & Awards. Photo: Getty Images for the Americana Music Association

Highlights from the evening included a rendition of “I Believe” by the Fisk Jubilee Singers, as well as Carla Thomas offering a performance of her Stax Records staple, “B-A-B-Y.” The Mavericks delivered a sweeping Spanish performance of “La Sitiera,” and Carlile, Margo Price and Amanda Shires paid tribute to the great John Prine with a heartfelt take on “I Remember Everything.”

Throughout the night, attendees were treated to additional performances by Crockett, Steve Earle, Henry with O’Donovan, The Highwomen (Carlile, Natalie Hemby, Maren Morris, Shires) with Yola, Jason Isbell with Shires, Sarah Jarosz, Valerie June with Thomas, Amythyst Kiah, Buddy Miller, Keb’ Mo’, Price, Allison Russell and Aaron Lee Tasjan.

2021 Americana Honors & Awards Winners and Honorees:
Album of the Year: Cuttin’ Grass – Vol. 1 (The Butcher Shoppe Sessions), Sturgill Simpson
Artist of the Year: Brandi Carlile
Song of the Year: “I Remember Everything” John Prine, written by Pat McLaughlin and John Prine
Duo/Group of the Year: Black Pumas
Emerging Act of the Year: Charley Crockett
Instrumentalist of the Year: Kristin Weber
Legacy of Americana Award, presented in partnership with the National Museum of African American Music: Fisk Jubilee Singers
Trailblazer Award: The Mavericks
Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance: Keb’ Mo’
Lifetime Achievement Award for Producer/Engineer: Trina Shoemaker
Inspiration Award: Carla Thomas

Lauren Daigle Continues Her Record-Setting Streak [Interview]

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Pictured (L-R): Grand Hubbard, Kris Love, Chris Hauser, Greg Chimento, Lauren Daigle, Caren Seidle, John Stokes, Andrew Lambeth, Steve Ford

Christian singer-songwriter Lauren Daigle is continuing to break records with her music.

Since the release of her Grammy-winning, Platinum certified album Look Up Child in 2018, Daigle has remained in the upper echelons of the Billboard charts. The album debuted at No. 3 on the Top 200 Albums chart, making Daigle the first female artist to simultaneously hit the Top 10 on both Billboard’s Pop and Christian Billboard Album Charts. After spending 100 weeks at No. 1, Look Up Child also holds the record for the greatest number of weeks atop the the Billboard Top Christian Albums chart in its history.

Additionally, the Centricity Music artist’s Grammy-winning crossover hit, “You Say,” became the longest-running No. 1 song of any genre on the weekly Billboard “Hot”-named song charts (which blend streaming, airplay and sales data, as tabulated by Nielsen Music/MRC Data.) “You Say” remained at No. 1 for an incredible 132 weeks and was recently certified 4x Platinum by the RIAA.

“I feel kind of awestruck [by Look Up Child‘s achievements] to be honest,” Daigle tells MusicRow. “I really feel like there’s something about people’s stories and people’s connection to this record that really keeps me in a space of being in awe. I’m super grateful for the connection that people have had to it. I don’t take it for granted and I’m honored to have had something like this that I get to be a part of in life.”

Daigle most recently extended her record of most No. 1 hits among women on the Hot Christian Songs chart with her sixth No. 1 single, “Hold On To Me.”

“‘Hold On To Me’ is a song about having people around you that see the best in you and remind you of those things when you might only see the worst of who you are,” Daigle says. “It’s a song about someone who doubts themselves or questions their worth or whether they’re able to make it through a difficult time and realizes what it means to have people around them that can see beyond the current circumstance and remind them, ‘Hey, there’s more beyond this. Keep your head up, stay focused.’ I really believe there’s power when people are unified. Life is a journey and anytime that you’re doing it alone, it only feels half full. I think there’s something beautiful about people holding onto each other in the worst of times, it allows us to get through difficult things together rather than alone.”

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“I hope that aspiring female CCM artists can see that the sky is the limit,” she continues. “There’s so much potential, and if you bring artistry, if you bring your craft, if you bring diligence, and if you find a team around you that can support all your efforts, the sky is truly the limit. I hope that people, especially aspiring females, can look at this and say, ‘OK, she did it, I’m gonna work hard to do it too.’ I hope that it allows more female vocalist to be on the radio and on these charts.”

Daigle has earned seven Billboard Music Awards, four American Music Awards, ten GMA Dove Music Awards and sold-out concert venues all over the world. She will head back out on the road again with her arena tour kicking off Friday (Sept. 24) in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The “Lauren Daigle World Tour” will make stops throughout the U.S. including Kansas City, Atlanta, Lafayette, Houston, and New Orleans before wrapping in Nashville on Nov. 19.

“I cannot wait to be in front of a crowd, to hear applause and hear people screaming at the top of their lungs,” Daigle says. “It is a feeling of joy that doesn’t just stop at me. It circulates around the room, and I think that is something I will never take for granted again especially after this time. I’m also looking forward to the beauty of playing music with people that I love so dear. I feel like I’m back with a family that I’ve missed for so long.”

ASCAP Announces Winners For 2021 Christian Music Awards

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ASCAP has announced the winners of its annual ASCAP Christian Music Awards today (Sept. 22).

Honoring the most performed Christian music of the past year, the social media event will feature exclusive photos, videos, performances, acceptance speeches and more from some of the winning songwriters and publishers posted with the hashtags #ASCAPAwards to @ASCAP on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

For the fourth time, Matthew West has been named ASCAP Christian Songwriter of the Year, honoring his hit songs like Jeremy Camp’s “Keep Me in the Moment,” and Casting Crowns’ “Love Moved First” and “Start Right Here.” With over 130 songwriting credits for artists including Rascal Flatts, Scotty McCreery and Amy Grant, as well as his own hits as an artist, West has also been recognized as ASCAP’s Christian Songwriter-Artist of the Year in 2013, 2015 and 2016.

Grammy-nominated songwriter, artist and worship leader Cory Asbury took home ASCAP Christian Songwriter-Artist of the Year for the first time. After winning ASCAP Song of the Year in 2019 for his chart-topping hit “Reckless Love,” he adds two ASCAP most-performed song awards for “The Father’s House” and “Sparrows.”

The Grammy and Dove Award-nominated song, “Famous For (I Believe),” earned ASCAP’s Christian Song of the Year. Co-written by ASCAP member Alexis Slifer and published by All Essential Music and Buddybabe Music, the Tauren Wells and Jenn Johnson track spent 54 weeks on the charts.

Capitol CMG Publishing receives ASCAP Christian Music Publisher of the Year for the 19th consecutive year for songs including “Good God Almighty,” “Out Of My Hands” and “Peace Be Still.” To celebrate the honor, the Capitol CMG publishing team gathered virtually to accept the award.

ASCAP Chairman of the Board and President Paul Williams says: “My heart is full of gratitude for you, ASCAP’s family of songwriters, composers and music publishers. Your beautiful music shines a light in both hard and joyful times, guiding us forward with messages of love, hope, faith and mercy… Congratulations to all of this year’s winners for your achievements.”

The two-day social media celebration running through tomorrow (Sept. 23) will feature exclusive photos, videos, performances, acceptance speeches and more from some of the winning songwriters and publishers, including a performance of “Rise Up (Lazarus)” from chart-topping newcomers CAIN and an acceptance speech from Dave Haywood of Lady A for their winning song “Who You Are to Me.”

Other songs honored as the most performed from the last year include “Battle Belongs” (Phil Wickham), “Graves Into Gardens” (Elevation Worship), “Still Rolling Stones” (Lauren Daigle), and “Together” (For King & Country), among others. Click here to view full list of ASCAP’s most performed Christian songs of 2020. 

NMPA & Twitch Reach Agreement

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The National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) and Twitch announced today (Sept. 21) that the organizations have reached an agreement that aims “to work together to build productive partnerships between the service and music publishers,” according to the release.

The purpose of the deal is to change the way the economics of new gaming models work to increase visibility and revenue for songwriters. This agreement comes after months of conflict between the organizations regarding the payment of songwriters.

Twitch will provide new opportunities to music publishers who will be offered an opt-in deal allowing for future collaborations to bring new facets to both the gaming experience and songwriter exposure. Additionally, Twitch has created a new process that participating music rights holders can opt into to report certain uses of their music, to address when creators inadvertently or incidentally use music in their streams.

NMPA President & CEO David Israelite says, “Both NMPA and Twitch are creator-focused and our respective communities will greatly benefit from this agreement, which respects the rights of songwriters and paves the way for future relationships between our publisher members, songwriters and the service. Through our discussions, Twitch has shown a commitment to valuing musicians and to creating new ways to connect them with fans in this burgeoning and exciting space.”

Twitch Head of Music Tracy Chan adds, “We are pleased to reach this agreement with the NMPA and excited about our shared commitment to empowering songwriters and other creators to share their work and passions while connecting with audiences. That’s what Twitch is all about, and we know that great music starts with a great song. We look forward to innovative collaborations that further unlock the incredible potential of our service and our community for music publishers and their songwriter partners.”