Feb/March ’12—On the Cover: Jana Kramer

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If you ask Jana Kramer to describe her life in this very moment she would say, “Dreams really do come true.” The singer/songwriter/actress has already had success with three songs that were featured on The CW’s One Tree Hill, where she plays the firecracker actress, Alex Dupre. Kramer also debuted a fourth song on One Tree Hill in mid-January.

Growing up in Michigan, Kramer is no stranger to the rich history of Country music, crediting one of her favorite memories to baking cookies with her grandmother while listening to Patsy Cline. These little moments are one of the many reasons why Kramer hopes to share her music with others.

Kramer recently released her first official debut single “Why Ya Wanna,” which debuted with a record-breaking 55 radio adds. Kramer says the song is something everyone can relate to. “When I first heard the song, I was hooked immediately. It was literally everything I was going through and more, so it meant a lot to record a personal song that became my first single.” Kramer added, “I have to thank country radio for believing in me. I’m beyond humbled and excited for this amazing start to my music career.”

Management: McGhee Entertainment
Label: Elektra Nashville
Album Title: TBD
Producer: Scott Hendricks
Single: Why Ya Wanna
Booking: CAA
Influences: James Taylor, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Patty Griffin
Hometown: Rochester Hills, MI
Birthday: Dec 2
TV / Film: One Tree Hill, Entourage, Friday Night Lights 
Interesting facts Kramer knew how to throw a spiral from age 5 and figure skated for 13 years. Her favorite sport is hockey. Kramer can also speak German.
Outside Interests: Horseback riding and all things sports
Twitter: @kramergirl
Facebook: www.facebook.com/janakramermusic

MusicRowPics: 10th Annual CRS Meet & Greet and CBO Awards

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MusicRow held its 10th Annual CRS Meet & Greet and CountryBreakout Awards yesterday with performances by JT Hodges, The McClymonts, and Marlee Scott as well as a special appearance from Joanna Smith.

The invitation-only event at Margaritaville in downtown Nashville served as an unofficial kick-off to Country Radio Seminar, which began at the Nashville Convention Center today (Feb. 22).

Awards based on CountryBreakout Chart airplay were presented to Independent Artist of the Year, Eric Lee Beddingfield; Label of the Year, Capitol Records Nashville; Breakout Artist of the Year, Thompson Square; Artist of the Year, Brad Paisley. WPPL/Blue Ridge, GA PD Jim Quinton was presented with the editorial CountryBreakout Reporter of the Year. An in-depth profile of each recipient is featured in the February/March 2012 MusicRow print magazine.

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Photos: Izzynashville.com

Pittman and Houle Kick Off CRS 2012

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Country Radio Seminar 2012 officially opened its first full agenda day, Wednesday February 22, with a keynote address form Clear Channel CEO Bob Pittman and a presentation from futurist David Houle.

But first, Country Radio Broadcasters Executive Director Bill Mayne welcomed the crowd with hopes that the upcoming event might accomplish three basic things for the gathered attendees—increase station revenues, market share and advance personal careers.

Next it was Nashville Mayor Karl Dean’s turn to salute the convention crowd. Dean pleaded with a big smile, “Please spend a lot of money while you’re here.” Dean then told the crowd about the city’s new convention center scheduled to open in April 2013, Music City Center. He also discussed the new Omni Hotel that would connect with a Country Music Hall of Fame that would double in size. “The Hall of Fame has seen about 450,000 visitors in the past year,” Dean said. “And that is during very challenging times, especially with all the construction and parking issues in the area. We’re confident that once completed that visitor count will double.”

Bob Pittman

Bob Pittman, a former CEO of MTV Networks and COO of America Online was next. “America loves radio,” said Pittman. “There’s nothing wrong with this business. It’s the most exciting business in the the country, with nothing but upside.” The Clear Channel executive showed research that named TV, Radio and the Web as the media with which people spend the most time. “Country radio reaches over 65 million listeners every week,” he said. “The consumer loves radio.”

Pittman noted that digital was “wonderful” for the future of radio because radio is not about a tower and transmitter, but a content franchise. Pittman showed that radio can drive social media and offered the iHeart Radio concert last year as an example. The digital app’s Facebook Page had about 80,000 likes, but after an extensive concert promotion that number grew to over 1.5 million.

Pittman also touched on the subject of Radio vs. “music collection” or “audio stream” technologies such as Pandora, Spotify, Rdio and others. “Listeners want to hear about the outside world and get new music,” he explained. “That’s what radio is about. Music Collection is more about being inside your own world. People can’t bond with a thing or a technology,” he added. “Only to humans.”

Pittman’s feel-good, warm and fuzzy analysis never identified even one challenge facing radio for the future. For example, he talked glowingly about the synergistic relationship between radio and the record labels, but never discussed whether that meant he might consider agreeing to pay a sound copyright royalty to artists and labels. Pittman never discussed the fact that radio ad revenues have fallen over the past few years, or for that matter that his own company is struggling under a debt load of over $20 billion dollars and still paying more in interest than it makes through operations. Also missing from the dialogue was any consideration about the expanding reach of the Internet into automobile dashboards.

• • •

David Houle

The morning’s next presentation, “Flows” was from futurist David Houle who discussed material from his upcoming book, Entering The Shift Age. Houle described his futurist role as acting as a catalyst to get people thinking about the future. He told the attendees, “I’m going to speak about change in the larger context of the future, you’ll have to decide how it fits for the radio business.”

Houle suggested that compared to 1,000 years ago, (1012), the rate of change in our world has increased perhaps 100 times. Therefore, what took 1,000 years to happen will now happen in ten years. Part of his premise is that we are experiencing three major force flows as part of the ShiftAge. First is a “Flow to Global.” The world is no longer city, state or national, it is happening on a global scale. “This is why national governments can’t seem to solve the problems they are facing anymore,” he explained.

The second force is a “Flow to the Individual,” which has resulted from an explosion of choice. Thirdly was the “Flow of Accelerated Connectedness,” which has meant that the time communication differential between speaking to someone 25 ft. away or 12,000 miles away (via cellphone) is only about 2 seconds. Place is now irrelevant to communication.

Houle covered numerous additional topics, but one of my favorite was his coining the phrase “Digital Natives” to describe people under 18 years old. Everyone else is a “Digital Immigrant” he said.

“Radio and the music business will change shape and form over the next decade,” he warned. “Legacy thinking will no longer work.” At the end of his talk he called Facebook the first 21st Century online utility, but said that like the phone company, it really didn’t have much brand loyalty. “The digital natives will show us the next big thing,” he predicted. “Keep your eyes on them.”

(L-R) Clear Channel CEO Bob Pittman, Lauren Alaina who sang "The Star Spangled Banner" and CRS Executive Director Bill Mayne

Don Schlitz Named To Songwriters Hall of Fame

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Don Schlitz

Nashville’s own Don Schlitz is among the new class of inductees for New York’s Songwriters Hall of Fame. He will be inducted at the organization’s 43rd Annual Induction and Awards Dinner on Thurs., June 14 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.

Also joining the Songwriters Hall of Fame that night will be folk-pop hero Gordon Lightfoot (“Early Morning Rain,” “Sundown,” “Rainy Day People”), rock stalwart Bob Seger (“Against The Wind,“ “Turn The Page,” “Night Moves”), famed Broadway composers Harvey Schmidt & Tom Jones, and theater/film/pop music composer Jim Steinman (Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell album, “Total Eclipse Of The Heart”).

“Each of our 2012 inductees has created a unique range of extraordinary contributions, a body of work that has resonated with audiences around the world, and greatly enriched our global culture,” said SHOF Chairman Jimmy Webb. “We are looking forward to celebrating their craft and careers at our Annual Awards Gala.”

Schlitz’s first recorded song “The Gambler,” sung by Kenny Rogers, won the 1978 Grammy for Country Song of the Year. Randy Travis’ classic “Forever And Ever, Amen” earned the same award in 1988.

Schlitz’s songbook includes 24 No. 1 hits: “On The Other Hand,” “I Feel Lucky,” “Houston Solution,” “One Promise Too Late,” “He Thinks He’ll Keep Her,” “40 Hour Week (For A Livin’),” “Rockin’ With The Rhythm Of The Rain,” “When You Say Nothing At All,” “Deeper Than The Holler,” “Learning To Live Again,” and “Strong Enough To Bend.”

His songs have been recorded by Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks, Keith Whitley, Alison Krauss, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Tanya Tucker, The Judds and many others. In 2001 he wrote the songs for the Broadway show, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. This four-time ASCAP Country Songwriter of the Year was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1993 and the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2010. Schlitz has won three CMA Song of the Year Awards and two ACM Song of Year Awards. Schlitz received the ASCAP Creative Achievement Award in 2007 and in 2010 was honored with the Academy of Country Music’s Poet’s Award for Lifetime Achievement in Songwriting.

Bobby Karl Works the Johnny Cash Museum Press Conference

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Chapter 387

Johnny Cash in 1959. Photo by Sony Music Entertainment

I don’t care where you are in the world; if you tell someone you’re from Nashville, you will almost inevitably get this response, “Ah! Johnny Cash!”

He is unquestionably our single greatest icon, and at a ceremony Tuesday morning (2/14) it was officially announced that Cash is getting his own museum in Music City.

The event was billed as a “Press Conference and Social.” It was social, all right. The attending mob was so packed together that you couldn’t help being “social.”

Mayor Karl Dean said that it was appropriate that the gig was being staged on Valentine’s Day, because, “Everybody loves Johnny Cash.” He added, “The one name that will draw people to Nashville over and over again is Johnny Cash.” Both statements are abundantly true.

Museum founder Bill Miller was deeply emotional during his remarks. He choked up when reminiscing about his late friend of more than 30 years.

“This is something for Johnny,” Miller said, “something that Johnny deserves. We intend to make this the best single celebrity museum in the world.”

The press conference was held at the museum’s site, 119 3rd Avenue South, downtown. The facility, set to open this summer, will eventually include a permanent exhibit that will be “a walk through Johnny Cash’s life,” space for rotating exhibits, a 250-seat performance venue, radio and TV facilities, food vendors, a store and an archive in 18,000 square feet of space. The historic former warehouse is just behind the Schermerhorn Symphony Center and just around the corner from the Music City Convention Center and the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum, plus an easy stroll from the hubbub of Lower Broadway.

Miller promises it will have, “the most comprehensive Johnny Cash collection in the world.” A portion of the iconic Cash lakeside home will be excavated and rebuilt in the museum, thanks to the generosity of current owners Barry & Linda Gibb. Various displays will recreate Cash’s Arkansas cotton-patch childhood, his time in the Air Force and other significant biographical milestones.

“There is no death in this museum,” Miller vows. “Johnny Cash is everywhere.” In addition to Miller’s extensive collection of artifacts, the museum will incorporate materials from the Cash estate and interactive components.

Many members of the Cash family attended, including brother Tommy Cash, sister Joanne Cash, Rosanne’s daughter Chelsea Crowell, Johnny’s daughter-in-law Laura Cash, grandson Joey Cash and niece Kelly Hancock.

Son John Carter Cash said, “Seeing this come together is a blessing. It’s the unity of spirit that made this happen.

“My mother and father had a way of preserving their integrity. I truly believe my dad would be excited about this.” He dedicated the museum to, “people who love and respect Dad and what he did and how he touched the world.”

Cash publicist Hugh Waddell added to the throng, “God bless you, and God bless Johnny Cash.”

Massed shoulder to shoulder were Bonnie Sugarman, Craig Hayes, David Olney, Bonita Hill, Doak Turner, Bill Carter, Jimmy Carter, Chuck Thompson, Shannon Miller, Heather Byrd, Pam Lewis and a blue-zillion Cash fan club members. We schmoozed and sampled a barbecue lunch. Souvenir Johnny Cash Valentine’s Day red M&Ms and commemorative Cash “backstage” laminates were given to the V.I.P. attendees. The space was decorated with wall-sized Johnny Cash photographic portraits.

Johnny Cash’s Facebook page still has more than 8 million followers, way more than most living entertainers. He has 17 Grammy Awards, has sold more than 100 million records and is a member of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Songwriter Sue Fabisch Scores With Hit Musical

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Sue Fabisch is the Queen Mother—just not the one you’re thinking of. The songwriter and brains behind Motherhood The Musical has built a successful career by celebrating the ups and downs of mommydom, including, as the show’s tag line goes: “The Good, The Bad, and The Laundry.”

The hit theater production is wooing audiences on a nationwide tour, and continuing a two-year trek through Australia. It runs indefinitely in Philadelphia, and has upcoming dates in Huntsville, Atlanta, Chicago, and more.

Fabisch’s real life plays like a scene from her show—she talked exclusively to MusicRow while running errands in her minivan in Franklin.

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Sue Fabisch is proof that there’s more than one way to write a hit song.

In 2000, she moved to Nashville to focus on commercial songwriting, and eventually discovered her funny songs about parenthood were resonating much more loudly than her country efforts. “People come to Nashville to learn to write songs, and that’s what I did,” she recalls. With three children—four if you count her husband like she does—Fabisch found plenty of inspiration on the home front, and she began to hone in on the mom market.

In 2002 she debuted the show O’ Mother, Where Art Thou? at the Bluebird Cafe, which spawned the parody hit “The MOM of Constant Sorrow.” She went on to found her own Mommy Music label and release a few moderately successful albums, including Music 4 Mommies: Volume 1- Songs To Make You Laugh,  which was a Billboard Top 10 Comedy hit in 2006. She also began hosting a weekly talk show called “MommyTime Radio” with radio personality Karla Lawson.

Eventually, Fabisch had so much mommy material that she compiled it into a one-woman show that she performed at luncheons and other events. The production evolved and Fabisch added dialogue. “I wanted my songs to have a home,” she explains of the play. Then she upped the ante by adding a cast. “Once I put it in the four-woman format, everything took off.”

After successful readings and workshops in Tennessee, Fabisch took her production to the big leagues. Ironically, the New York native had come to Nashville, written a musical, and was taking it back to the theater epicenter, New York. She organized readings in front of several producers, and against the advice of Broadway big-wigs, she used the Music City cast for the New York readings. By December 2008 she had three production offers on the table.

The result is Motherhood The Musical, featuring 20 songs Fabisch wrote or cowrote with fellow Nashville tunesmiths including Bill Flowerree, Jesse Goldberg, and Ilene Angel, who has since relocated. The play centers around four women at a baby shower, with a song list that runs from hilarious to touching with titles such as “Baby Weight Blues,” “Costco Queen,” “Grannyland,” and “Minivan.”

Today, the show is produced by GFour Productions & Management, which is also behind the hits 9 to 5 The Musical, Ring of Fire, and Menopause the Musical.

The early Nashville cast included Janna Landry, Jaclyn Brown, Jewel Lucien and Fabisch. Today’s touring incarnation recruits local cast members for each stop. Unfortunately for Music City moms, there aren’t any plans for a Nashville run, partly due to lack of theater availability.

Fabisch credits NSAI’s Bart Herbison as one of her biggest early supporters, especially when other execs on the Row dismissed her idea as niche and unmarketable. Her success proves the importance of thinking outside the box when it comes to songwriting. “I encourage people to open their blinders a little bit,” she adds. “And while everyone keeps calling it a niche market, I would beg to differ. Everyone either has a mom, had a mom, or is a mom, right? Doesn’t sound too niche to me.”

DISClaimer Single Reviews (2/15/12)

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Eric Church and David Nail are finishing in a dead heat for the Disc of the Day award.

David’s single is a range-y ballad. Eric’s is a throbbing tempo tune. What’s interesting is that they are both singing about how deeply blue-collar rock classics can penetrate your heart and mind. We can all relate to the extraordinary lyrics of “The Sound of a Million Dreams” and “Springsteen.” These songs are both smashes, folks.

The DisCovery Award goes to Thomas Rhett. This kid comes out rocking.

THE DIRT DRIFTERS/There She Goes
Writer: none listed; Producer: Justin Niebank; Publisher: none listed; Warner Bros. (track)
—I like these guys, and this is their best yet. This time around, the ultra-cool lead vocal is answered by a ghostly “Greek chorus” commenting on his heartbreak while the country-rock track canters along with chiming guitars and dusty percussion. Delicious sounding.

RECKLESS KELLY/I Never Liked St. Valentine
Writer: Willy Braun/Todd Snider; Producer: David Abeyta, Cody Braun & Willy Braun; Publisher: C&P Fah-Q/Nobody’s Collecting on These Songs, BMI; No Big Deal (track)
—He praises St. Cecelia for music, St. Francis for companionship, St. Patrick for booze, plus St. Christopher and St. Nick and but forget that heartbreaker Valentine. This mid-tempo, acoustic-based groover has a drawling wit that’s hard to resist. Timely, too, considering the season.

DAVID NAIL/The Sound of a Million Dreams
Writer: Scooter Carusoe/Phil Vassar; Producer: Chuck Ainlay & Frank Liddell; Publisher: Scrambler/Abbott’s Creek/Carnival/Phylvester, ASCAP; MCA Nashville (track)
—Magical. He’s not only a world-class vocalist, but this song about the power of music on your memory is downright breath taking. Chuck Leavell’s rippling piano accompaniment is simply gorgeous.

ADAM GREGORY/High on You
Writer: Adam Gregory/James Dean Hicks/Jamie Houston; Producer: Mark Moffatt; Publisher: On the Mantel/BPJ/Seven Peaks/John and Nancye’s Sons/Adam Gregory/Marc Isle/Walkerbout, BMI/ASCAP; Calusa/GMV Nashville (track) (www.adamgregory.com)
—Sung with confidence, produced with panache and written with craftsmanship. This rolling groove is more than ready for airplay. Well worth your spins.

ERIC CHURCH/Springsteen
Writer: Eric Church/Ryan Tyndell/Jeff Hyde; Producer: Jay Joyce; Publisher: Sony-ATV Tree/Sinnerlina/Purple Cape/Bug, BMI; EMI (track)
—The deep rumbling thump and the wistful vocal both pushed my buttons immediately. And any lyric about the nostalgia conjured by hearing “Born to Run” and “I’m on Fire” hits me directly in the heart. Amen, brother.

SONIA LEIGH/Bar
Writer: Sonia Leigh; Producer: Zac Brown, Matt Mangano & The Southern Ground Recording Group; Publisher: Southern Ground, BMI; Southern Ground (www.southerngroundartists.com)
—She sings with Southern-accented moxie and the rollicking song is tailor-made for Saturday night. Unapologetic drinking songs sung by women are as scarce as hen’s teeth, and this one’s as raucous as they come.

DARRYL WORLEY/You Still Got It
Writer: Darryl Worley/Brett Jones; Producer: Jim “Moose” Brown; Publisher: none listed; Tenacity (www.darrylworley.com)
—This jaunty bopper is a sunny ode to enduring romance. It’s not the deepest thing you’ll ever hear, but it goes down easily. I particularly liked the silky organ playing in the production.

BILL ANDERSON & THE OAK RIDGE BOYS/Gone Away
Writer: S. Ripley/T. DuBois/J. Wooley/B. Anderson; Producer: none listed; Publisher: Time Standing Still/NuBois/Laugh-Thot-I’d-Die/Mr. Bubba/Sony-ATV, BMI/ASCAP; TWI (www.billanderson.com)
—These veterans sound strikingly contemporary here. The echoey, evocative production is wonderfully moody. The lyric about people and things that are no more is as haunting as the trembling melody. Ear opening, to say the least. If you’re a country fan, definitely give this a listen.

THOMAS RHETT/Something to Do with My Hands
Writer: Thomas Rhett Akins/Lee Thomas Miller/Chris Stapleton; Producer: Jay Joyce; Publisher: EMI Blackwood/Cricket on the Line/Writers of Sea Gayle/Itchy Baby/House of Sea Gayle/New Son of a Miner, BMI/ASCAP; Valory
—What a debut. This kid comes out swinging with a frenzied, insistent country rocker that grabs you by the lapels from the opening note and never lets go. The song is a sexy come-on with winks to spare.

LUKE BRYAN/Drunk on You
Writer: Rodney Clawson/Chris Tompkins/Josh Kear; Producer: Jeff Stevens; Publisher: Big Red Toe/Amarillo Sky/Big Loud Songs/Angel River/Global Dog/Lunalight, BMI/ASCAP; Capitol (track)
—It might be winter outside, but this tune is all about the heat of summer and romance. It simmers and shimmers and sizzles like a July heat wave.

DERYL DODD/Anybody Out There
Writer: Deryl Dodd; Producer: Deryl Dodd; Publisher: none listed; Smith Entertainment (track) (www.deryldodd.com)
—This Texan’s current CD is Random As I Am, and this track from it shows us a side of him we haven’t seen before. It’s a contemplative power ballad about feeling like an outsider, wondering who you are and seeking understanding. Different, and different is good. He has evidently undergone a strong songwriting spurt, because 10 of the album’s 13 tracks are Deryl solo compositions.

Bentley Debuts At No. 1

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Dierks Bentley’s Home debuted at the pinnacle of the Soundscan Country chart today, moving 55k units, with digital downloads accounting for 35 percent of album sales. It is the Capitol Nashville star’s sixth studio album, and his fourth time to open in the top spot.

Elsewhere, many acts were basking in the post-Grammy/Valentines sales glow. Awards queen Adele saw a 95 percent bump, moving 237k units of her smash 21, for a RTD total of 6.62 million.

Artists scoring week-to-week upswings in album sales totaling 20k or more include Jason Aldean (60%, 25k sold this week), Lady A (46%, 25k), Luke Bryan (20%, 23k), and The Band Perry (60%, 20k).

Toby Keith’s “Red Solo Cup” kept partying in the top Country tracks spot, funneling down another 60k paid downloads.

This week, total Country album sales got an 18 percent bump, selling 836k units. Current Country was up 32 percent, moving 407k.

Digital Country tracks rose 9 percent, selling 3.158 downloads.

Valory Goes Maverick With New Signing

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Photo: Ivan Clow

The Valory Music Co. has announced the signing of country vocal group The Mavericks to its artist roster. The group is currently working on an album that will be released later in 2012, marking the 20th anniversary of their self-titled 1991 debut.

To celebrate the occasion, Valory has also announced that the Mavericks will perform a private, invitation-only show in Nashville during CRS on Feb. 21.

The Mavericks have also been gearing up for the touring circuit in 2012. They recently signed with Creative Artists Agency for booking representation, and they’ll make their first public performance since 2003 at Stagecoach Festival in Indio, CA in late April.

The Mavericks won multiple Vocal Group awards from both the ACM and CMA during the ‘90s, as well as a Grammy in 1995. Their body of work contains the chart-topping hits “All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down,” What A Crying Shame,” “O What A Thrill,” “Here Comes The Rain,” and “There Goes My Heart.” The group consists of Raul Malo (lead vocals, guitars), Robert Reynolds (bass, vocals), Paul Deakin (drums, vocals), and Eddie Perez (lead guitar, vocals).

TuneCore To Host Nashville Artist/Writer Copyright Sessions

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Nashville artists and songwriters will gain a chance to hear about TuneCore from its Founder/CEO Jeff Price on February 27 in a free presentation entitled “Every Artist’s Six Legal Copyrights: How They Generate Money, Where Your Money Is and Why You Aren’t Getting It.” There will be Q&A during the discussion and a meet & greet after the event which will take place at the Embassy Suites Commodore Room, located at 1811 Broadway, Nashville from 5:30-9 p.m. To RSVP email: [email protected]

Price will also be interviewed by Belmont University’s Harry Chapman earlier that day at the Massey Performing Arts Center. (A link to information about both Feb. 27 events can be found here.)

Jeff Price

According to Price, “In 2009 and 2010, TuneCore Artists and songwriters sold over 400 million units of music generating over $170 million dollars in gross music sales.” TuneCore describes its services saying, “TuneCore goes direct with music services to collect digital public performance royalties for songwriters…which brings the songwriter earnings of up to 25% more with complete transparency and an audit trail. When you use TuneCore for distribution, we can use your distribution information to assure they are paying every penny owed to the songwriter.” TuneCore monitors on the songwriter’s behalf, but does not collect royalties for non-digital public performances which are collected by ASCAP/BMI/SESAC.

(For a complete list of royalties collected by TuneCore click here.)

Price, who has appeared in national press outlets like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, ABC News and CNN, has been a strong advocate for songwriter rights and claims that the mechanical royalties due from streams, downloads (outside of the US & Mexico) and physical sales are not being collected fully for songwriters. “The digital stores that stream and sell downloads do not have your songwriter information,” Price warns. “Therefore the money goes unclaimed. The TuneCore Songwriter Service registers your information with the stores, song by song, so you get paid. We also license and collect royalties for print, ringtones, synchronization fees (for film and TV licenses) and collect directly from some digital stores for streaming performances.”