New Site Aims to Discover the Hits

Skip Bishop and Jane Crossman

Music industry veteran Jane Crossman has created www.songstash.com, a new website featuring uncut songs for artists looking for material to record.

Crossman initially met with Nashville publishers and songwriters to build a collection of songs and discuss her idea to build a more efficient process. The result was a design that links singers with the writers and publishers who manage copyrights.

The company will also sign songwriters without publishing deals. “If you have a deal or if you are looking for a deal, contact us and we can help,” Crossman says.

To complete the project, Crossman brought on promotion veteran Skip Bishop. “Jane approached us at Studio1Bee with one of the more innovative ideas we’d seen in some time,” Bishop says.

Crossman has previous experience as a Program Director, Marketing Director and Web Director. Before launching his new company Studio1Bee, Bishop was a Senior Executive at Sony and is credited with facilitating over 40 number one hits at Country radio.

Contact them at jane@songstash.com or skip@studio1bee.com.

Major Publishers Awarded $6.6 Million in Lyrics Lawsuit

The NMPA and plaintiffs Warner/Chappell Music, Peermusic and BMG (Bug Music Inc.) were granted $6.6 million for copyright infringement from various websites under the umbrella of LiveUniverse and its owner, MySpace founder Brad Greenspan, on Oct. 9.

The U.S. District Court of California awarded awarded damages of $12,500 per infringement for 528 copyrights, including “China Girl,” “Moondance,” “Georgia On My Mind” and “(Don’t Go Chasing) Waterfalls.”

The first-of-its kind case established liability for posting unlicensed song lyrics websites, which potentially generate millions in advertising revenue.

“Although the music industry continues to feel the impact of their work being illegally provided online, this victory and legal precedent will serve to aid songwriters and music publishers as they continue the fight to protect their creative rights in the digital world,” commented NMPA President and CEO David Israelite.

The publishers were represented by Arent Fox intellectual property partners Ross Charap and Paul Fakler.

“One of the principal purposes of our lawsuit was to obtain a large statutory damage award which would serve as a warning to persuade illegal lyric site operators that it makes good business sense to become licensed and avoid having their site shut down and damages awarded against them,” said Charap.

Greenspan himself received more than $60 million from the sale of Myspace to News Corps, which he unsuccessfully challenged in court on the grounds the company had been undervalued. He founded LiveUniverse, featuring dozens of social media sites under its umbrella including the three that were at the heart of this lawsuit.

Promotion Veteran Publishes Novel

Broken Bow Records VP of National Promotion Lee Adams is an important part of the team that has launched the careers of Jason Aldean, Dustin Lynch and more. To that impressive resume she can now add Author, following the recent publication of her first novel.

Titled Strawberry Wine, the story revolves around Tanya Smith, a music executive forced to revisit the past in fictional Laurel Lake. As a naive 17-year-old, Tanya spent time at the lake drinking strawberry wine and thinking that her childhood friendships would last forever. But her final summer in Laurel Lake changed everything, and she has to return to the lake as an adult to confront it.

Strawberry Wine is published by Belle Isle Books, and available for purchase here.

SESAC Introduces Monthly Payments

SESAC will begin monthly royalty distributions starting Oct. 31. The new program includes domestic, terrestrial radio performance royalties, and makes SESAC the only PRO offering songwriters and publishers monthly payments. In the past, these distributions were paid quarterly.

The organization plans to roll out monthly royalty distributions to other performance platforms in the near future.

“SESAC is thrilled to offer our talented affiliates the opportunity to receive royalty compensation for their work in the fastest, most accurate way possible,” said Pat Collins, SESAC’s President and Chief Operation Officer. “The new monthly royalty distribution system is yet another example of SESAC’s dedication to providing the most comprehensive and advanced service to our songwriters and music publishers.”

SESAC utilizes Broadcast Data Systems (BDS) to monitor radio performances. It has also fully integrated fingerprinting technology into its survey and distribution systems.

Headquartered in Nashville, the company also has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami and London.

Big Machine Music Expands Songwriting Roster

Aaron Scherz

Songwriter/producer Aaron Scherz has signed an exclusive songwriting agreement with Big Machine Music. Scherz was formerly a writer with Big Machine Music’s Mike Molinar and Martha Earls’ publishing company Effusion Entertainment.

Scherz penned the title cut, “The Rock,” on Tracy Lawrence’s 2009 album and has composed national advertising jingles for both Dodge and Coca-Cola. Most recently he experienced cuts by newcomers Greg Bates, Joanna Smith, Matt Kennon and Dakota Bradley. Scherz’s music will also have placement in the upcoming drama Nashville.

“Aaron is one of the most gifted, young, songwriter/producers on Music Row,” said Molinar. “We hope to utilize all of his talents, especially when it comes to identifying and developing new songwriter/artists.”

The independent publishing company is home to writers Justin Moore, Raul Malo, Dustin Lynch, Greg Bates and Sunny Sweeney.

Honorees at the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Dinner

(L-R): John Van Mol, chairman of the board, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Foundation; Gregg Morton, President of AT&T of Tennessee and inductees Tony Arata, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Larry Henley and Kim Williams.

The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame 42nd Anniversary Hall of Fame Dinner & Induction Ceremony was held last night (10/7) at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel.

Nashville Songwriters Hall Fame inductees 
Larry Henley: “Til I Get It Right,” “Is It Still Over,” “The Wind Beneath My Wings”
Kim Williams: “Papa Loved Mama,” “New Way To Fly,” “Three Wooden Crosses”
Mary Chapin Carpenter: “The Hard Way,” “He Thinks He’ll Keep Her”
Tony Arata: “Here I Am,” “Holding My Own,” “The Change,” “The Dance”

Frances Williams Preston Mentor Award: the late Donna Hilley, former president and chief executive officer of Sony/ATV Nashville

Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) Songwriter Achievement Awards
Song of the Year: “I Will Always Love You” by Dolly Parton, which returned to radio this year following the untimely death of superstar Whitney Houston.

Songwriter/Artist of the Year: Taylor Swift won for the fifth time in six years for self-penned hits including “Sparks Fly,” “Ours,” “If This Was A Movie,” and “The Story Of Us.”

Songwriter of the Year: Dallas Davidson, co-writer of hits such as “We Owned The Night” and “Just A Kiss” by Lady Antebellum, “I Don’t Want This Night To End” and “Country Girl (Shake It For Me)” by Luke Bryan, “If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away” by Justin Moore, “Where I Come From” by Montgomery Gentry, “This Ole Boy” by Craig Morgan, “Take It Off” by Joe Nichols and  “A Buncha Girls” by Frankie Ballard.

“The Songs I Wish I’d Written”
“A Woman Like You” (Phil Barton, Johnny Bulford, Jon Stone / recorded by Lee Brice)
“Better Than I Used To Be” (Ashley Gorley, Bryan Simpson / recorded by Tim McGraw)
“Cost Of Livin’” (Phillip Coleman, Ronnie Dunn / recorded by Ronnie Dunn)
“Even If It Breaks Your Heart” (Will Hoge, Eric Paslay / recorded by the Eli Young Band)
“Fly Over States” (Michael Dulaney, Neil Thrasher / recorded by Jason Aldean)
“I Will Always Love You” (Dolly Parton / recorded by Whitney Houston)
“Just Fishin’” (Casey Beathard, Monty Criswell, Ed Hill / recorded by Trace Adkins)
“Red Solo Cup” (Brett Beavers, Jim Beavers, Brad Warren, Brett Warren / recorded by Toby Keith)
“Springsteen” (Eric Church, Jeff Hyde, Ryan Tyndell / recorded by Eric Church)
“You And Tequila” (Matraca Berg, Deana Carter / recorded by Kenny Chesney w/ Grace Potter)

As announced last week, the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame will soon have a physical home in the new Music City Center.

For exclusive awards coverage, read the subscriber-only column, “Bobby Karl Works The Room.”

Bobby Karl Works The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Inductions

(L-R): John Van Mol, chairman of the board, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Foundation; Gregg Morton, President of AT&T of Tennessee and inductees Tony Arata, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Larry Henley and Kim Williams.

Chapter 408

On Sunday evening (10/7) at the Renaissance Hotel downtown, Tony Arata, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Larry Henley and Kim Williams took their places in the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, while the late song publisher Donna Hilley was also honored.

Their inductions were accompanied by momentous news. On Thursday (10/4), Mayor Karl Dean announced that the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame will become the anchor attraction in the massive, new Music City Center. The Hall has been just a virtual entity for more than four decades.

“After 42 years, we’re finally going to build a Hall of Fame,” said Troy Tomlinson to the capacity hotel ballroom crowd. “Nashville will be the first city, anywhere, to house a songwriters hall of fame.” He entreated the attendees to make financial pledges toward the creation of the exhibit space. The facility will also include a songwriters’ plaza performance venue and entryway stone steps engraved with the name of each songwriter in the Hall plus a representative song title.

Tomlinson also recalled the late Frances Preston, who passed away on June 13. She was a presence at BMI for six decades, and the Frances Williams Preston Mentor Award is named in her honor. “We were blessed to know her, and we miss our friend and our close confidante,” said Tomlinson.

This year’s recipient of the award is the late Donna Hilley of Sony/ATV-Tree publishing. Don Cook, Paul Worley and Kix Brooks honored her with heartfelt and telling anecdotes. Hilley’s three daughters accepted on her behalf. Hilley died on June 20.

Richard Leigh inducted Larry Henley into the Hall. Bekka Bramlett & Billy Burnette saluted Henley with soulful versions of the songwriter’s “Is It Still Over,” “Lizzie and the Rainman,” “He’s a Heartache” and “Til I Get it Right.” Trisha Yearwood sang “The Wind Beneath My Wings” for the tunesmith. “I’m about to cry,” responded Henley. “I fee like Susan Lucci.” Like the much Emmy-nominated TV soap star, Henley has been nominated for this honor many prior times. “This is a treasure to me,” Henley continued. “This is a blessing.”

Garth Brooks inducted Kim Williams, singing “New Way to Fly,” “Papa Loved Mama” and “Three Wooden Crosses” in his honor. “Looking backward, it looks like something planned it,” said Williams of his remarkable journey. “God planned it.” His saga includes a horrific East Tennessee industrial accident and multiple reconstructive surgeries. During his lengthy recuperation in Nashville, he began to write. Williams also overcame alcoholism, pain-pill addiction, narcolepsy and a nearly fatal automobile accident. “I dedicate this award to my wife, Phyllis, who has walked through fire for me,” he said. “She was there when my world turned to ashes and pain.”

Don Schlitz did the honors for his sometime song collaborator Mary Chapin Carpenter. “She has no idea the impact her songs have had on the Nashville songwriting community,” he said. Marc Cohn performed Carpenter’s anthemic “The Hard Way.” Yearwood returned to the stage to sing the Carpenter/Schlitz hit “He Thinks He’ll Keep Her.” “Songwriting has been the one constant in my life, since I was in the second grade,” said Carpenter. “This town is filled with songwriters who have inspired me and allowed me to stand on their shoulders. I am humbled beyond words.”

Pat Alger inducted fellow Georgia native Tony Arata. Accompanied by Jelly Roll Johnson, super vocalists Fred Knobloch and Pete Wasner sang the Arata songs “Here I Am,” “I’m Holding My Own,” “The Change” and “I Used to Worry.” I yearned for my favorite Arata song, “Handful of Dust,” but it was not to be. Brooks reappeared to cap the salute with “The Dance.” “This is a town where some of the most important chapters in the American songbook have been written,” said Arata. “We all come here with the same hope, that we might put something to paper worth remembering. Thank you for this evening, for the chance to share it with family and friends. It’s a sweet memory.”

The ballroom was awash with songwriting greats. Attending were such former Hall of Fame inductees as Jerry Foster, Jerry Chesnut, Roger Murrah, Roger Cook, Tom Shapiro, Thom Schuyler, Bobby Braddock, Bob DiPiero, Allen Reynolds, Allen Shamblin, Paul Overstreet and Kenny O’Dell. In addition to inductors Alger, Leigh, Brooks and Schlitz, the room also held Mark D. Sanders, Hugh Prestwood, Dennis Morgan, Whitey Shafer, Gary Burr, Mike Reid, Dickey Lee, Red Lane, Ted Harris, Kye Fleming, Phil Everly, Wayne Carson, Rory Bourke and Matraca Berg.

NSF board chairman John Van Mol welcomed the crowd and later thanked announcer Bill Cody, publicist Jenny Bohler, event director Mark Ford, production coordinator Erika Wollam Nichols, the rest of the NSF board and returning Gold Sponsor AT&T and its exec Gregg Morton.

The Nashville Songwriters Association International’s Bart Herbison and Lee Miller began the gala by presenting this year’s NSAI “10 Songs I Wish I’d Written,” as voted on by its membership. They were “A Woman Like You” by Phil Barton/Johnny Bulford/Jon Stone, “Better Than I Used to Be” by Ashley Gorley/Bryan Sampson, “Cost of Livin’” by Phillip Coleman/Ronnie Dunn, “Even If it Breaks Your Heart” by Will Hoge/Eric Paslay, “Fly Over States” by Michael Dulaney/Neil Thrasher, “Just Fishin’” by Casey Beathard/Monty Criswell/Ed Hill, “Red Solo Cup” by Brett & Jim Beavers/Brett & Brad Warren, “Springsteen” by Eric Church/Jeff Hyde/Ryan Tyndell and “You and Tequila” by Matraca Berg/Deana Carter.

Recording artists Church, Dunn and Hoge were not present. Neither was Song of the Year winner Dolly Parton, whose “I Will Always Love You” returned to the charts following Whitney Houston’s death this year. Dolly sent a video: “I will treasure this,” she said. “I will put it in my museum in Dollywood, but it will be near and dear to my heart.”

Also sending a video was Songwriter/Artist of the Year winner Taylor Swift. This was her fifth time in six years to claim this prize. “I’m blown away,” she said via video. “Thank you for doing that. Keep doing that. I am so happy. I’ll see you guys soon.”

Dallas Davidson won the NSAI’s Songwriter of the Year honor. His recent copyrights include “We Owned the Night,” “Just a Kiss,” “Country Girl (Shake it for Me)” and “If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away.” “I’m truly blessed to be the guy this year,” said Davidson. “I thank God.”

We dined on iceberg lettuce wedges with blue cheese and bacon crumbles, a main course of steak and mixed veggies or a ratatouille-and-cheese torte, with pumpkin cheesecake for dessert.

Attending fabulons included Tim Nichols, Tim Fink, Pat Collins, Pat Higdon, Mark Mason, Marc Beeson, Mark Miller, Melanie Howard, Perry Howard, Barry Walsh, Barry Coburn, John Briggs, Jon Vezner, John Beiter, Juan Contreras, Jim Rooney, Rep. Jim Cooper, Jenny Yates, Billy Yates, Billy Ray Cyrus, Bill Catino, Ron Cox, Ron Samuels, Dan Hill, Dan Ekback, Sherrill Blackman, Rep. Marsha Blackburn, Roy Wunsch, Lee Roy Parnell, Joey + Rory, Raul Malo and Byron Hill.

“It’s like being at a family reunion with all the greatest songwriters in the world,” observed Pat Alger.

Spotted in the throng were Gretchen Peters, Kathy Louvin, Bernie Nelson, Larry Weiss, Brett Jones, Suzi Ragsdale, Bucky Wilkin, Corky O’Dell, Duane Eddy, Monty Holmes and Layng Martine Jr., not to mention Amy Kurland, Anita Hogan, Connie Bradley, Nancy Shapiro, Harry Chapman, Lisa Sutton, Dale Bobo, Gilles Godard, Harold Shedd, Sherod Robertson, David Maddox, Andrew Kintz, Wes Bulla, Holly Bell, Chuck Flood, Walter Campbell, Van Tucker, Mike Vaden, Scott Hendricks, Hank Adam Locklin, Diane Pearson, Dennis Lord, Jason Morris, Jewel Coburn, Jody Williams, Terry Wakefield, Bob Doyle and Pete Fisher. 

Martin Guitar Presents “The Pub Deal” Contest

Martin Guitar has teamed with American Songwriter and its subsidiary, American Songspace, for a contest awarding a year-long non-recoupable $20,000 publishing contract with HoriPro Entertainment Group.

“The Pub Deal” competition, open to songwriters of all levels, began September 12 and will run for 10 weeks on the American Songspace website. Songwriters may enter three best songs for consideration with a $20 submission fee.

The panel of judges, which currently includes John Ritchie (Songspace), Caine O’Rear (American Songwriter), and Amani Duncan (VP of brand marketing, Martin Guitar), will select 25 finalists. The Top 5 will be evaluated by final decision makers including Butch Baker and Lee Krabel of HoriPro Entertainment Group.

“Martin Guitar is thrilled to be partnering to help discover great new songwriting talent,” said Duncan. “Martin Guitar has a long and storied history with many of the country’s best songwriters, and we are always excited to support gifted new songwriters!”

Additionally, Martin Guitars is offering a second contest on the American Songspace website through October 22, by submitting “the albums you couldn’t live or die without” for a chance to win a recently released Martin HD-28E Retro guitar, valued at $4,499.00.

Exclusive Interview: BMG’s Laurent Hubert and Darrell Franklin—Part 2

Laurent Hubert and Darrell Franklin

BMG Rights Management President Creative & Marketing North America Laurent Hubert and Executive VP BMG Chrysalis Darrell Franklin sat down with MusicRow recently to discuss digital music services, growing a recorded music division, buying out KKR, acquisitions and signings. MusicRow Publisher/Owner Sherod Robertson and Sr. News Editor Sarah Skates conducted the interview. See Part 1 here.

MR: Let’s talk about the future of digital music services. 

Hubert: I’m an optimist about the business from that perspective. The idea is to engage at every level, to place as much music as we can. We’ve been very aggressive in the digital space to engage with Google, which has Android and YouTube. We were in negotiation for almost five years with YouTube and settled that earlier this year. Look at Amazon and Apple which are in the hardware business and technology business. They are market makers and it would be silly not to engage with them.

Since 1999 I have used a pre and post-Napster comparison. Pre-Napster, music was bought; post-Napster music is consumed. It is a profound change in the perceived value of music. It’s no longer an activity that you go and buy, it’s in the background of your life, it’s on your PDA, it’s on your computer, or satellite radio. The question is how to monetize it.

In the US, we are in a very unique situation. Under the copyright law we have a set rate, determined by a CRB [Copyright Royalty Board] process. So you don’t really have a willing buyer, willing seller environment yet, but I think eventually we’ll get to that point.

Look at precedents when you have a willing buyer, willing seller. Look at the sync market, you find that market rates are much more favorable than a set rate. Not only is it more favorable in terms of payment themselves, but also in terms of the parity between the label and the publisher: the master is 50% of the fee and publishing is 50% of the fee. That’s clearly not the case today. Look at an iTunes download, where we only get 9.1 cents.

I am convinced that adoption of streaming services will continue to increase, and the real challenge for the industry is how to monetize it. I want to be an optimist that we will ultimately bring those rights to market. In fact, if you look at the CRB, starting in January 2013 the rates have improved, not only in terms of the headline rate, but also in terms of the parity between publishers and master owners, so that’s good news.

MR: Are there any plans to develop a recorded music division?

Hubert: We created a division back in October 2011 where we have both publishing and master, and we work on the 75/25 formula with 75 in favor of the artist/writer. It is taking the concept of a co-pub split and applying it to a label model, where both the publishing and master are crossed. It is not advance driven, it’s project driven.

We commit an investment to a project and every project will have a different team. We have a traffic controller project manager, that handles some of the signings and then assembles the right team around each project. Some projects don’t need radio promotion, and others do, so obviously the investment would be different. We try to customize each project as much as we can. We’ve done a few deals, but we plan to accelerate that in 2013 and Nashville is one of the markets we want to be in.

If you look at [the traditional label model] the biggest issue for artists is number one, they have no real input in the project, basically the label takes control; and number two, they don’t own their masters. They may have those masters reverting at some point, but in most cases they don’t own them. Number three: the lack of transparency when it comes to accounting, in many cases, is appalling.

We looked at it and said, “how can we build an attractive alternative?” We’ve taken into account three pillars. When it comes to control they are going to be partners with us, and because they have 75 percent of every dollar, it creates a sense of partnership because they have skin in the game. If the project does well, the upside is so tremendous that they want to be partners. The second aspect is we don’t actually own the master, we work under an exclusive license for a period of time, typically 12-15 years, but we never really own the master. The third aspect is to provide clear accounting. We build a budget together and both parties approve it, so there won’t be any surprises when the artist gets the statement.

I’m not saying the label model is a bad business, but we don’t think it’s our business. This is an alternative and it doesn’t fit everyone, and we’ve seen that in some negotiations. Some managers who have grown up in the current label system, where there’s little input and you push all the responsibility to the label [don’t like this model]. We go to them and say, “you’re equally responsible, so come to the table and make these decisions,” some of them don’t want to do it, or they prefer a big advance. That doesn’t work for us. Obviously you can’t pay a 75 percent royalty rate and pay a significant advance, because we need to put that advance money toward the project.

MR: What do you want the Nashville music industry to know about BMG?

Hubert: We’ve taken a lot of flack for being a company that is all about acquisitions and I want to address that head on. Bertelsmann is the oldest media company in the world. They strategically exited the record business in 2008, and the music publishing business in 2006 and 2007, not because they didn’t like the business, but because they had to. Today, number one, there is a real commitment to be in this business. This is not about flipping an asset.

Number two, in 2011 we’ve started to invest heavily in talent signings. You can see this especially in Nashville, and not only in the U.S., but across different companies. The U.S. market tends to derive about 60% of our investment, and that’s the nature, the size of the U.S. market. We’ve also been hiring and putting in place a creative and marketing team that is fairly sizable.

Our business is the talent business and we believe in building a catalogue of tomorrow. The only way you can build a catalogue of tomorrow is signing today and taking risks on those investments. We’ve been taking our share of risks of investments and risks in our portfolio. Risks may be different from one market to another or one deal to another, but the idea is to build a business around talent and we’ve done that in Nashville. We’ve invested far more than our share of our market in Nashville and that’s starting to pay, if you look at those recent No. 1 hits we referred to earlier.

Franklin: We are also investing a lot of time, energy and money into developing new writers, because that is what’s so unique about Nashville. If you’re not doing that, if you’re not investing in the future, then you’re not in the game here.

Hubert: Because songwriting is so core to the Nashville business and the way the process works—which is essentially you have to create those opportunities—you can’t be a passive publisher here. You have to be an active publisher and therefore you have to invest, you have to put a team together, and you have to have the best material behind it, which is the writer.

Read Part 1. For more music publishing news, check out MusicRow’s upcoming print Publisher issue.   

Magic Mustang Inks New Writer

(L-R): BBR Music Group President/Owner Benny Brown, David Fanning, Magic Mustang Music Sr. Creative Director Juli Newton-Griffith

Magic Mustang Music has expanded its writer roster with the addition of songwriter, artist, and producer David Fanning.

As one of the members of Nashville-based production team New Voice (Thompson Square, Kristy Lee Cook, Parmalee), Fanning has songwriting credits with Thompson Square, Bonnie Tyler, Tracy Lawrence and more. He also co-wrote Parmalee’s current single “Musta Had a Good Time.”

“David is a fantastic songwriter, producer and artist,” said Juli Newton-Griffith, Sr. Creative Director of Magic Mustang Music. “He’s a triple threat and I foresee great things for him in the years ahead. We’re ecstatic to have landed him.”

Also on the Magic Mustang roster are Jason Aldean, Thompson Square, Steve Bogard, Sherrie Austin, and more.