Chip Peay Returns to the Row
After an eight year hiatus from the entertainment business, Chip Peay has returned to Nashville to re-open Chip Peay Entertainment, LLC along with three music publishing companies. Peay was recently joined by songwriters, producers and industry leaders as he announced his new endeavor at a party held at Regions Bank Music Row. Peay managed Alan Jackson from 1995 to 2000 and oversaw all facets of his career. Prior to that time he managed the careers of Ricky Skaggs, The Bellamy Brothers, Don Williams, Steve Wariner, Ronnie Milsap, Restless Heart, Michael Johnson, Baillie & The Boys, Kim Richey and others. He began his music industry career as a talent agent and worked with Crescent Moon Talent, United Talent, Inc., and with Top Billing, Inc.
All three of Peay’s new publishing companies, Big Wide Pants Music (ASCAP), Blue Canary Music (BMI) and Bogey Blue Music (SESAC), will focus on single song deals. In the late ‘70s, prior to his success as an artist manager, Peay dabbled in music publishing, scoring two big hits with Alabama’s “Close Enough to Perfect” and “Love’s Gonna Get You Someday” with Skaggs. When his management career took off, Peay sold his catalog to Welk Music. Returning to Music Row after an eight year absence, Peay found a drastically different landscape, where “big publishing deals are a thing of the past, and great writers are not having their deals renewed.” With so many hit writers and catalogs out of circulation, Peay decided the time was right to try something different. He’s currently working with a group of writers including Christina Aldendifer, Kathie Baillie, David Ball, Michael Bonagura, Dede Day, Jim McBride and Michael Spriggs, going through catalogs, dusting off the great songs and getting them back out on the street.
“There’s all kinds of ways to skin a cat,” Peay said. “And right now there are a lot of great songwriters and great catalogs in this town laying dormant. We’re trying to find the right deal for everybody involved.”
(l-r) Michael Spriggs, Christina Aldendifer, Chip Peay, Dede Day, David Ball, Jim McBride, Kathie Baillie and Michael Bonagura (photo: Chris Hollo)
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.
Music rights licensing organization The Harry Fox Agency (HFA) announced today that its President & CEO, Gary Churgin, has accepted a contract extension to continue to lead the organization through 2011. HFA’s governing Board of Directors unanimously voted to extend Churgin’s contract, confirming the work of he and his team in transforming HFA into a key player in the digital music marketplace. During this 
tenure, HFA transformed its technology systems and business processes, adding new online applications for publishers and licensees through a new registered user area of www.harryfox.com, including the licensing platform eMechanical®, the catalog maintenance tool eSong®, and a completely revamped version of Songfile®, the popular online licensing store aimed at the smaller-quantity licensee.
(Updated 4/6/09) The Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville’s Volunteer Lawyers & Professionals for the Arts and the Tennessee Bar Association Sports & Entertainment Law Section are hosting a Nashville Entertainment Law Clinic in the SunTrust Community Room at the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum on Saturday April 18, 9:00 AM-1:00 PM. At the clinic, songwriters are welcome to sign up for a 30-minute slot to receive pro-bono legal advice from entertainment lawyers, who will answer questions about intellectual property matters, including copyrights, trademarks, licensing and related law issues. Attendees must sign up for a time slot by noon on Friday, Apr. 17 by calling the Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville at (615)743-3055 or by sending a request to info@tnvla.org or mbyrd@abcnashville.org .
The Music City Tennis Invitational committee announced today (4/1), that the annual charity tennis tournament will be held on Saturday, April 25 and Sunday, April 26 at Vanderbilt University’s Brownlee O. Currey Jr. Tennis Center. Arista artist Brad Paisley will serve as this year’s celebrity spokesperson for the tournament, with Fox 17 Tennessee Mornings co-host Kelly Sutton serving as celebrity host. The Music City Tennis Invitational is the only fundraiser that directly benefits the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. Over the past 35 years, the fundraiser has raised over $1 million in charitable contributions. The Music City Tennis Invitational is the longest-running music-related charity tennis tournament in the country and was named the 2008 USTA Tennessee Charity Event of the Year.
Two research studies released today (3/31), reveal some interesting trends in how consumers are interacting with music. A study conducted by Port Washington, New York-based market researchers the NPD Group finds that U.S. teens are listening to more music in more formats, but buying and sharing significantly less music. According to NPD, teens acquired 19 percent less music in 2008 than in 2007. CD purchasing fell 26 percent among teens, while paid digital downloads fell 13 percent. 32 percent of teens expressed discontent with the music that was available, while 24 percent of teens cited cutbacks in entertainment spending as another reason for the downturn in downloads. The number of tracks downloaded from peer-to-peer networks fell six percent, while the number of teens “borrowing” music, either to rip to a computer or burn to a CD, fell by 28 percent. NPD’s surveys also noted big jumps in teens’ usage of online listening sources and satellite radio in 2008.
But hold the phone. According to annual mobile music projections for the coming year from BMI, teens and other consumers do like to interact with music through ringback tones. BMI is predicting that ringback tones (those customized songs you hear when you call your mobile subscriber friend) will surpass $235 million in U.S. retail sales during 2009. That’s a 15 percent increase over BMI’s 2008 estimate and a 68 percent increase over 2007. BMI estimates that more than 10 million U.S. subscribers are signed up for ringback-tone services with their wireless carriers. Ringback tones are sold by all major carriers, with the vast majority of tones selling at $1.99. The fee allows the subscriber to use the tone for anywhere from 90 days to 12 months.