Jason Aldean is slated to host Westwood One’s all-star A Thanksgiving Weekend Celebration, including music from Garth Brooks, Florida Georgia Line, Brad Paisley, Luke Bryan, Blake Shelton and others. Several artists, including Miranda Lambert, Keith Urban, Lady Antebellum, Dierks Bentley and Tim McGraw, will join Aldean in sharing what they are grateful for this holiday season.
Aldean will share songs from his new album, Old Boots, New Dirt, as well as stories behind the songs during the four-hour special. Those songs include his single “Burnin’ It Down,” along with “Two Night Town,” Just Gettin’ Started,” “Tonight Looks Good on You,” and the title track.
Stations can air A Thanksgiving Weekend Special from Thursday, Nov. 27 through Sunday, Nov. 30 between 6:00 am and 12 midnight. For more information, contact Donny Walker at dwalker@westwoodone.com.

The national sales force of Westwood One now provides exclusive ad sales representation for streaming service Rdio. Cumulus and Westwood One celebrated the expansion of Rdio’s free ad-supported streaming options with a star-studded event last night (Oct. 7) at NYC’s Diamond Horseshoe. Singer-songwriter Matt Nathanson hosted and performed at the event, which was led by Florida Georgia Line and featured performances by The Madden Brothers and Capital Cities.

Rdio offers access to more than 50 curated stations and over 30 million songs.

Photos: Brittni Moten

The Country Radio Hall of Fame Induction Dinner and Awards, typically scheduled in conjunction with the Country Radio Seminar, will be held June 24, 2015. The dinner will now coincide with the Country Radio Broadcasters’ annual summer Board and Agenda committee meetings.
CRS Hall of Fame Chairman RJ Curtis stated, “Due to a slightly abbreviated CRS 2015 schedule, hotel rooms and event space were not available for our Country Radio Hall of Fame event to coincide with the Seminar, as is usually the case. Nonetheless, we are excited to restore the Hall of Fame Induction and Dinner as a companion piece to the June Board and Agenda meetings. Before it served as the front-door to CRS, the Hall of Fame Dinner was the centerpiece of Summer and a successful, stand-alone event. We’re both confident and excited that our beautiful, new and soon-to-be revealed location will serve as the perfect venue to honor our deserving Class of 2015 inductees to the Country Radio Hall of Fame.”
Ticket price information and event location will be made known in coming months.

Promotion executive Bruce Shindler will retire from the music business at the end of 2014. He began his career in 1972 at Associated Distributors in Phoenix, and later worked at Buddah Records in New York City, as well as Elektra/Asylum, Infinity Records, MTM Records, RCA Records, seven years at his independent company Shindler-Turner Promotions, DreamWorks Records, and the past 10 years at UMG Nashville.
“I made a decision a while ago that there are other interests in my life that I would love to pursue after 41 great years in record promotion,” says Shindler. “The time has arrived to spend more time with my family and to pursue a license in alcohol and drug counseling. Leaving the folks and terrific artists at UMG as well as my friends at radio and industry is not an easy decision as many have been an important part of my life in a business that I’ve loved. I want to thank Mike Dungan, Luke Lewis, Royce Risser, Damon Moberly and my family at UMG for the last 17 years. I will always value our relationship with all my heart.”
Damon Moberly (VP, Mercury Promotion) adds, “Bruce Shindler is a true Promotion Legend. With over 40 years in the music business, Bruce’s tenured career speaks volumes about his passion for the songs and his belief in the artists who make the music. Everyone at Universal Music Group, specifically the Mercury Records team, feels fortunate to have worked alongside such a talented and dedicated professional. Bruce is leaving UMG Nashville and the business at the top of his game, and he (and his wicked sense of humor) will be greatly missed.”
With Shindler’s departure, the Mercury Nashville promotion team has announced that Jack Christopher will be the new Director of Southeast Promotion for Mercury Records. Beginning Tuesday, Sept. 30, Jack Christopher will report alongside Shindler for the rest of the year until the music veteran makes his exit at the end of 2014.
Christopher has 30 years of experience in the country music industry including 10 years in broadcasting at WDSY/Pittsburgh. Christopher has had stints at Bigger Picture Group (Regional Promotion), Equity Music Group (National Director), 13 years as Northeast Regional at Sony Music/Columbia Nashville and most recently VP Promotion for RPM Entertainment.
Universal Music Group Nashville is home to artists including Gary Allan, Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Easton Corbin, Billy Currington, Vince Gill, Alan Jackson, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Kip Moore, Kacey Musgraves, Jennifer Nettles, Darius Rucker, George Strait, Shania Twain and Keith Urban.

SiriusXM lost in a legal battle against The Turtles’ Flo & Eddie, over the public performance of pre-1972 sound recordings. The plaintiffs seek $100 million in damages.
The lawsuit involved music created prior to the period when sound recordings began to fall under federal copyright protection. Flo & Eddie claimed SiriusXM did not seek authorization (and did not pay royalties) to play songs including “Happy Together,” “It Ain’t Me Babe,” and other Turtles hits.
U.S. District Judge Phillip Gutlerrez gave a summary judgment on the issue, after examining a California law from 1982 was meant to address pre-1972 recordings, but did not address whether exclusive ownership of pre-1972 recordings included the exclusive right to publicly perform the recording.
Judge Gutierrez wrote that he “infers that the legislature did not intend to further limit ownership rights, otherwise it would have indicated that intent explicitly. Although the breadth and specificity of cases acknowledging that exclusive ownership of a sound recording includes the right to publicly perform the recording are slight, Defendant has not directed the Court to a single case cutting against the right to public performance, even implicitly or in dicta.”
Plaintiffs lack sufficient evidence that SiriusXM violated reproduction rights by copying recordings on servers. Though the ruling will likely be appealed, it could spur SiriusXM and other music tech companies to lobby Congress for updated copyright laws concerning pre-1972 recordings.
The ruling will potentially open the door to additional lawsuits involving pre-1972 recordings.