COUNTRY RADIO ISSUE (February/March 2020)

The 2020 Country Radio Issue highlights the winners of MusicRow‘s 18th Annual CountryBreakout Awards, for songs that topped the CountryBreakout Radio Chart the prior year. This issue also spotlights YouTube’s Copeland Isaacson and Margaret Hart, takes an inside look at country radio tours with Trea Landon, highlights playlist creation with WCFT’s Shelly Marx and explores artist-led podcasts such as those launched by Midland, Kelleigh Bannen, Reba McEntire and more.

INCHARGE ISSUE (April/May 2020)

MusicRow‘s 2020 InCharge Issue highlights key music industry executives in Nashville’s entertainment community. Each of the 396 profiles includes updated contact information, career biography, and detailed board and organizational membership affiliations. The guide also includes a company appendix, record label staff appendix, and a professional categories appendix which lists executives by their areas of expertise, including music publishing, legal, finance, performing rights organizations and more.

ARTIST ROSTER ISSUE (June/July 2020)

The 2020 Artist Roster Issue includes an updated company directory featuring Nashville record labels, managers, talent agencies, publicists and additional artist services. The Artist Grid lists today’s top artists, with their corresponding label, management, agent and PR companies. The issue also includes interviews with Dierks Bentley, TikTok executives Danny Gillick and Mary Rahmani, Warner Music Nashville’s Wes Vause, and MusiCares’ Debbie Carroll.

MUSICROW AWARDS (August/September 2020)

MusicRow‘s yearly reader-voted awards issue honors the 32nd Annual MusicRow Awards winners, as well as the Top 10 All Star Musicians. The issue also includes features on the future of live shows, a look at diversity within country music, a tribute to the late studio musician and longtime Grand Ole Opry guitarist Jimmy Capps, a deep dive into how music studios are facing the ongoing pandemic, and a roundup of music industry awards.

PUBLISHER ISSUE (October/November 2020)

The 2020 Publisher Issue includes the 2020 Publisher Directory, listing Nashville’s top publishing companies, as well as organizations and services available for songwriters. This issue includes interviews with top executives including Sony/ATV Music Nashville’s Rusty Gaston, ASCAP’s Mike Sistad, BMI’s Clay Bradley, SESAC’s ET Brown and Lydia Schultz, NMPA’s David Israelite, Jody Williams, Wide Open Music and RECORDS Nashville’s Ash Bowers, and BMG’s Chris Oglesby. The issue also highlights songwriters and artists Ashley Gorley, Luke Laird, Sam Ellis, Jonathan Singleton, Alysa Vanderheym, Kelly Archer, BRELAND, and Jessie Jo Dillon.

TOURING/N.B.T. ISSUE (January 2021)

The 2021 Touring/N.B.T. Issue features MusicRow‘s 7th annual Next Big Thing class of artists as well as the N.B.T. Industry Directory. This issue also celebrates MusicRow Magazine Owner/Publisher Sherod Robertson‘s 10-year anniversary of leading the publication, and features interviews with WME Nashville Co-Heads Becky Gardenhire and Jay Williams, UTA Nashville’s Curt Motley, and CAA Music Nashville Co-Head Marc Dennis. Lighting and design expert Chris Lisle looks at how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted touring professionals, and touring specialists Trent and Joey Hemphill offer one example of how their touring company has pivoted during the pandemic. Additionally, the 2021 Touring Directory is included in this issue, featuring contact information for touring transportation, production and insurance companies.

Copies of each print issue can be purchased here.

To become a member of MusicRow Magazine, click here.

 

IMPORTANT PRINT DATES FOR 2021:

COUNTRY RADIO & STREAMING ISSUE (February/March 2021)
1/22 – Space Deadline
2/2 – Camera Ready Art Deadline
2/16 – Street Date

INCHARGE ISSUE (April/May 2021)
3/26 – Space Deadline
4/6 – Camera Ready Art Deadline
4/20 – Street Date

ARTIST ROSTER ISSUE (June/July 2021)
5/21 – Space Deadline
6/1 – Camera Ready Art Deadline
6/15 – Street Date

MUSICROW AWARDS (August/September 2021)
7/9 – Space Deadline
7/20 – Camera Ready Art Deadline
8/10 – Street Date

PUBLISHER ISSUE (October/November 2021)
9/10 – Space Deadline
9/21 – Camera Ready Art Deadline
10/5 – Street Date

TOURING/N.B.T. ISSUE (December 2021/January 2022)
10/29 – Space Deadline
11/9 – Camera Ready Art Deadline
11/30 – Street Date

To book ad space, contact Sherod Robertson, and view MusicRow‘s 2021 Rate Card here.

Loretta Lynn is releasing her 50th studio album, Still Woman Enough, a celebration of women in country music, on March 19.

Produced by Patsy Lynn Russell and John Carter Cash at the Cash Cabin Studio in Hendersonville, Tennessee, the icon’s fourth project for Legacy Recordings features a host of guest artists including Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood, Margo Price and Tanya Tucker. The album includes a career-spanning selection of 13 new recordings illuminating different aspects of Lynn’s repertoire.

The collection is centered around Loretta’s original compositions, from songs like “Still Woman Enough” (which shares its title and attitude with her 2002 autobiography, and was co-written with her daughter, Patsy Lynn Russell) through fresh interpretations of classics including “I’m a Honky Tonk Girl” (her first single, originally released March 1960), “You Ain’t Woman Enough” (the title track for her first No. 1 Billboard Hot Country Album in 1966), and an emotional “Coal Miner’s Daughter Recitation,” commemorating the 50th anniversary of the release of her signature song (October 5, 1970) and album (January 4, 1971).

In addition to her original compositions, Still Woman Enough includes Loretta’s take on American traditional music, with “I Don’t Feel at Home Any More,” Stephen Foster’s “Old Kentucky Home; gospel, with The Carter Family-popularized “Keep On The Sunny Side,” “Where No One Stands Alone,” “I’ll Be All Smiles Tonight,” and Hank Williams’ “I Saw the Light;” and contemporary songwriting with Shel Silverstein’s satirical view of motherhood, “One’s On The Way,” a hit for Loretta in 1971.

“I am just so thankful to have some of my friends join me on my new album. We girl singers gotta stick together,” said Lynn. “It’s amazing how much has happened in the fifty years since Coal Miner’s Daughter first came out and I’m extremely grateful to be given a part to play in the history of American music.”

Celebrating 50 years of Lynn’s landmark album, Coal Miner’s Daughter will be reissued on black vinyl by MCA Nashville/UMe on February 12.

Loretta Lynn’s Still Woman Enough Track Listing:
1. Still Woman Enough (featuring Reba McEntire and Carrie Underwood) (Loretta Lynn and Patsy Lynn Russell)
2. Keep On The Sunny Side (A.P. Carter)
3. Honky Tonk Girl (Loretta Lynn)
4. I Don’t Feel At Home Any More (Traditional, arrangement by Loretta Lynn)
5. Old Kentucky Home (Stephen Foster and Loretta Lynn)
6. Coal Miner’s Daughter Recitation (Loretta Lynn)
7. One’s On The Way (featuring Margo Price (Shel Silverstein)
8. I Wanna Be Free (Loretta Lynn)
9. Where No One Stands Alone (Lister Mosie)
10. I’ll Be All Smiles Tonight (T.B. Ransom)
11. I Saw The Light (Hank Williams)
12. My Love (Loretta Lynn)
13. You Ain’t Woman Enough (featuring Tanya Tucker) (Loretta Lynn)

Still Woman Enough is available for pre-order now in in digital, CD and 12″ vinyl LP formats.

The Bluebird Cafe is hosting a year-long streaming series with a variety of songwriters in 2021 to help raise funds for Alive Hospice. For the past 28 years the Bluebird has partnered in January with Alive Hospice to help raise funds for the organization, and revenue from a month’s worth of shows donated by the songwriters performing has provided a significant portion of the nonprofit hospice’s annual budget over the years.

COVID-19 has forced longtime friends and partners to re-imagine the annual fundraiser due to the tiny venue’s continued closure and lack of opportunity for social distancing. The shows this year will be live streamed from the cafe via StageIt, and the Bluebird has forged a new partnership with Green Door Gourmet as well to ensure that the show will go on. Green Door Gourmet will partner with Alive for a series of fundraisers at their 350-acre farm including concerts and invitation-only tastings. 

This year’s “Alive at The Bluebird” series will consist of fifteen live streamed shows from The Bluebird over the course of the year. Shows will stream every Thursday at 7:30 PM Central in January (January 7, 14, 21, and 28), and the first Thursday of each month thereafter. Alive at The Bluebird’s 2021 lineup features new and returning performers including:

●   January 7: Gary Burr, Georgia Middleman, Jim Photoglo
●   January 14: Marc Beeson, Lucie Silvas & friends
●   January 21: Erin Enderlin, Kendell Marvel, Waylon Payne
●   January 28: JT Harding & friends
●   February 4: Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne & friends

Tickets will cost $20 and attendance will be limited. Starting in February, The Bluebird will continue to donate proceeds from one show per month to Alive. Audience members will be able to send applause, donations, requests, and messages to the performers via SategeIt’s live chat feature.

“Over the past 28 years, Alive at The Bluebird has become a joyful reunion where old friends reconnect, and new members of the community are welcomed into the circle. This year’s event will embody that same spirit,” said Kimberly Goessele, Alive’s President/CEO.

“This year forced all of us to think more about what really matters and find creative ways to sustain our work. When it came time to start planning Alive at The Bluebird, we knew we couldn’t let uncertainty overshadow a beautiful tradition that means so much to our community,” said Erika Wollam Nichols, President/GM of the Bluebird Cafe.

 

The MLC (Mechanical Licensing Collective) officially began administering the new blanket license, established by the Music Modernization Act of 2018, on Jan. 1, 2021. The MLC anticipates sending out its first royalty payments and statements in April of 2021.

Services operating under the blanket license will be required to send monthly usage reports and mechanical royalty payments to The MLC, who will then match the usage activity to the appropriate musical works owners using the data in The MLC’s new musical works database, and distribute the royalties it has received to music publishers, musical works administrators and self-administered songwriters, composers and lyricists.

“The MLC has spent more than a year preparing for the License Availability Date, developing numerous resources for creators and music publishers to help them navigate the changes to mechanical licensing, conducting crucial outreach with well over 50 digital service providers (DSPs) and undertaking a widespread outreach campaign to educate music publishers, administrators, self-administrated songwriters and others in the broader music industry about The MLC’s mission and purpose,” said Kris Ahrend, CEO of The MLC. “We have also been fortunate to receive valuable input and guidance from our Board and Committee members—songwriters, publishers and digital service executives themselves—which has helped shape The MLC’s mission and scope of work since passage of The MMA. The arrival today of the License Availability Date marks yet another milestone in the process of making the promises of the MMA a reality, and The MLC team could not be more excited.”

Since last summer, The MLC has engaged with more than 50 DSPs expected to be eligible to secure the new blanket license to ensure those services are aware of their new legal responsibilities and solicit feedback. Working closely with the Digital Licensee Coordinator, the organization created by The MMA to represent digital audio services, The MLC conducted a series of webinars specifically designed for DSP representatives. Last Fall, The MLC launched a dedicated DSP Resources page on its website (TheMLC.com/dsp-resources) that includes an online form for DSPs to use to submit their Notices of License, usage reporting specifications they will need for submitting their monthly usage reports to The MLC and a calendar of key dates for them to track.

The MLC will also offer a number of key benefits for rightsholders, starting with The MLC Portal, a brand new online resource where members can review and update their existing musical works data, submit new registrations for new works and, starting later this Spring, access their royalty statements. Since beginning the roll-out of The MLC Portal in September, more than 8,000 members have been invited to set up their user accounts and member profiles in The MLC Portal, which will continue to be enhanced for even greater functionality. Prospective members who have not yet begun that process can now do so by clicking on the “Connect to Collect” button on The MLC’s website.