Lofton Creek Records' Gwen Sebastian performed at the recent CRB Board meeting breakfast. Pictured (L-R): Lofton Creek Pres. Mike Borchetta, WQYK’s Mike Culotta, KMPS’s Becky Brenner, Gwen Sebastian, Mike McVey of McVey Media, Max Media of Hampton Roads, John Shomby and WSIX’s Keith Kauffman.

Country Radio Seminar organizers have been finalizing plans for the upcoming event, to be held Feb. 24-26, 2010, at the Nashville Convention Center. Attendees at CRS 41 can expect changes in scheduling, panels and radio liner tapings.

To reduce scheduling conflicts, the new lineup ensures that no more than three panels will be held simultaneously during the seminar. Additionally, the designation of radio market-specific panels has been eliminated and panels should appeal to all attendees regardless of market size or location. The single-day sales panels have been redistributed throughout the three days of the seminar, and the Artist/Attendee Welcome Reception and Consumer Focus Group events are returning to CRS for the first time in years.

Country Radio Broadcasters is also planning a new digital liners system that replaces the on-site Artist Radio Taping Session which was previously part of CRS. The new digital process enables radio stations to submit their custom liner requests directly to CRB, which will have them recorded by the artists and ready for pick-up at CRS. The first 150 stations to sign up for the new digital liners system will be given priority access to participating artists such as Jason Aldean, Rodney Atkins, Brooks & Dunn, Sara Evans, Craig Morgan, Carrie Underwood, Gretchen Wilson and Darryl Worley.

Stations must register for the new system by Dec. 18, 2009 (the CRS 41 Advance Rate deadline) to submit custom requests. Stations that have already registered for CRS are automatically included.

Registration and a detailed schedule can be viewed at www.CRB.org.

Montgomery Gentry is planning a new album to be released in early 2010. The lead single “Oughta Be More Songs About That,” is at radio now and has an official impact date of Nov. 30.

The song, co-penned by Eddie Montgomery, recognizes the importance of hard work, forgiveness, and social responsibility. It will be on the duo’s forthcoming CD for Columbia Nashville, which marks their seventh studio effort. Montgomery Gentry rejoins Blake Chancey, who produced their 2008 album Back When I Knew It All. That most recent project yielded the No. 1 hits “Back When I Knew It All,” and “Roll With Me,” the Top 10 “One In Every Crowd,” as well as a nod for ACM Album of the Year.

The growing royalty spat between radio broadcasters and record labels continues to deepen as labels demand a performance rights royalty for themselves and artists, while radio asserts it simply is not affordable. As industry observers know, currently songwriters and publishers are the only stakeholders to get paid a performance fee by U.S. terrestrial radio.

According to arstechnica.com the latest salvo aimed at solving the dispute has come from Congress who has pushed the two parties into a “Capitol Hill conference room” where they have been instructed to hash out a solution in two weeks that will then be voted upon.

Until now, terrestrial radio has been exempted from a performance in sound copyright thanks to a long standing clause in the copyright rules. Satellite radio and webcasters, however, are mandated to pay royalties to labels and artists as are radio stations throughout most of the rest of the world.

The House Judiciary Committee and Senate Judiciary Committee have already approved a Performance Rights Act, which still has to be voted on in each chamber. The upcoming talks would be lead by members from the two committees who have invited representatives from the National Association of Broadcasters and the musicFIRST coalition made up of SoundExchange, RIAA and A2IM. “With your good faith participation, we are confident that an acceptable and mutually beneficial resolution to this longstanding disagreement can be found,” reads the letter aimed at bringing the sides together and sent from the leaders of both Congressional committees. The talks are scheduled to begin on Nov. 17 and reach a compromise by Dec. 1. A final solution, however, is not a foregone conclusion since the radio industry claims it has the support 252 House members and 27 Senate members who support the Local Radio Freedom Act and oppose the Performance Rights Act.