AIMP‘s social media panel, scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 20 at ASCAP, has sold out.  The panel features Ariel Hyatt (Cyber PR), Wayne Leloy (Warner Music), Marcus Whitney (Moontoast) and John Barker (Clearbox Rights, LLC). They have also added moderator David M. Ross, who founded MusicRow magazine and recently released the book Secrets of the List. Ross received the Canadian Country Music Association’s Leonard T. Rambeau Award for International Achievement in 2003 and the CMA President’s Award in 1998. He also hosted the first CMA Awards Internet simulcast in 1997.

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New York-based songwriter David Worby has entered into an agreement with Dan Hodges Music, LLC for worldwide catalog representation and royalty administration for his personal catalog and that of songwriters he currently sponsors, including Nashville-based songwriter Amanda Martin.

Dan Hodges Music LLC’s current current music writers include Mike Britt, Pete Best, Rick Monroe and Ryan Griffin, among others.

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UMPG Nashville hosted their first Winter Getaway event at Nashville’s Magaritaville. The event included performances from Chase McGill, Kalisa Ewing, Ryan Hurd and Jackie Lee.

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SESAC songwriter Andi Zack has signed an exclusive publishing contract with Diamond Eye Music. Zack’s songwriting credits include cuts by Danielle Peck, Josh Thompson, Jenny Gill, Elle Maze and Etta Britt among others. Diamond Eye Music CEO Chris Burch says, “Andi’s unique writing talents combined with her experience and great work ethic make this opportunity a ‘no-brainer’ for us. We are extremely excited about our future together.”

 
 
 

‪Publishing giant Kobalt has officially launched a label services division. One of the first noteworthy releases will be Push the Sky Away, the fifteenth studio album by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. Releases from the company’s Nashville office could follow.
Kobalt Label Services (KLS) is designed to be a full-service solution for releasing and marketing records while letting artists maintain ownership of the masters. The division is providing a full spectrum of services including global distribution via digital retail, D2C, physical retail and subscription services, as well as marketing and promotion, advanced data analytics and royalty tracking, and synch licensing.
KLS worked closely with Cave and his management on all aspects of the release, which will be available Feb. 18 via KLS and Cave’s Bad Seed Ltd. Push the Sky Away will be released on CD, Limited CD-DVD, vinyl and digital formats.
“We look forward to unveiling a wide range of promotional activity in support of the release this year,” said Paul Hitchman, MD of Kobalt Label Services.
Two tracks from the album, “We No Who U R” and “Jubilee Street,” are available via all digital retailers, and album pre-orders are being accepted at nickcave.com.
As previously reported, BMG Rights Management is among the other major publishing companies offering label services.

ASCAP Senior Creative Director LeAnn Phelan and Creative Manager Ryan Bueschel have announced the names of the twelve talented, unsigned songwriters that will make up the ASCAP GPS Project Class of 2013. Now in its third year, the program puts emphasis on getting the best of Nashville’s unsigned ASCAP songwriters in front of the city’s vibrant publishing community. Twelve writers are paired with twelve publishers for one meeting a month, along with a follow-up meeting to help develop the writer and solidify the relationship.
ASCAP’s GPS Project Class of 2013 participants are: Jillian Arciero, Brittany Aultman, Brian Burke, Chris Drizen, Kris Hitchcock, Jonathan Kingham, Anthony Olympia, Ryan Plappert, Dara Sisterhen, Austin Smith, Sarah Allison Turner and Keith Walker.
“With shrinking man power and increasing workloads, as a community we can’t afford to take our eyes off the importance of writer development. The ASCAP GPS Project gets some of Nashville’s finest publishers involved in an invaluable learning experience for these talented writers,” commented Phelan.
The 2013 ASCAP GPS Project kicked off in January and will continue with events taking place through the end of the year. Additional special activities will include a mid-year writers’ round, guidance for participants from attorneys and other industry influentials, networking events and more. For more information, please contact the ASCAP Nashville office at nashville@ascap.com.

Nashville’s music industry braved chilly, rainy weather on Wednesday (Jan. 16) to help Carrie Underwood and ASCAP songwriters Josh Kear and Chris Tompkins celebrate the No. 1 song, “Blown Away.” Held at the Country Music Association offices, CMA CEO Steve Moore introduced ASCAP’s Mike Sistad to kick off the party.
Kear has four songs on Underwood’s current album and penned Lady Antebellum‘s smash hit “Need You Now,” while Tompkins has penned songs for Florida Georgia Line, Tim McGraw and Blake Shelton. Together, Kear and Tompkins also penned Underwood’s “Before He Cheats” and Luke Bryan‘s “Drunk On You.”
The writers and singer accepted plaques, medallions and congratulations from the CMA’s Brandi Simms, Big Loud Shirt’s Craig Wiseman, Country Radio Broadcasters and Carla Wallace of Big Yellow Dog Music.
“I’m just honored that they write songs and I get to sing them,” said Underwood. “I’m a lucky lady indeed. I’m lucky to know you guys. Whatever way the song get to me, just keep doing what you’re doing. I definitely look forward to more of these in the future. It’s just such a blessing to be able to write songs and hear songs that are amazing and that I know from the first second that I hear them start to play, that I want to sing them.”
“We respect you as an artist and you are such a great singer and we know that with the kind of songs that we write, we can deliver something that at least touches on something that you might want to record,” said Tompkins. He also thanked ASCAP, Sistad, Big Loud Shirt and singer Caitlin Lynn, who sang the demo for ‘Blown Away.’ “Carrie’s such a strong singer so we needed a strong singer.”
“You changed our lives,” Kear told Underwood, referring to his and Tompkins’ hit “Before He Cheats.” “Everything we’ve had since then, all comes back to that song.”
The gracious singer was quick to reflect the praise back to Kear. “Well then you changed your own life by writing it.”