Lyndsay Cruz, Damon Whiteside. Photos: Courtesy The Academy of Country Music
In a challenging year for all, the Academy of Country Music, like most companies, worked hard to pivot.
Just two weeks after postponing the original April 18th show date for the 55th ACM Awards from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, the Academy produced ACM Presents: Our Country, an at-home special that reached nearly 11 million viewers after airing on CBS and on CMT. In addition to the special, the Academy produced a pre-show that aired across Academy social platforms and Twitch, to which nearly 400,000 people live streamed.
During the show’s broadcast ACM Lifting Lives, the charitable arm of the Academy of Country Music, announced the launch of ACM Lifting Lives COVID- 19 Response Fund, created to assist those in the country music industry who lost their jobs due to the pandemic. Since then, ACM Lifting Lives has raised and distributed $3.5 million. They reopened the fund on Giving Tuesday, in time to help more in need during this holiday season.
While gearing up for the first live awards show during the pandemic, ACM released its first single, “On The Road Again (ACM Lifting Lives Edition),” a collaboration featuring this year’s ACM New Artist nominees—including Ingrid Andress, Gabby Barrett, Jordan Davis, Russell Dickerson, Lindsay Ell, Caylee Hammack, Cody Johnson, and Morgan Wallen—and joined by the legendary Willie Nelson on the remake of his original hit.
Then, for the first time ever, the 55th ACM Awards took place in Nashville, Tennessee on Sept. 16 at three iconic locations including the Grand Ole Opry House, Ryman Auditorium and Bluebird Cafe. The 55th ACM Awards was the first live awards show during COVID-19, bringing a total of 7.63 million viewers, reaching the No. 1 driver of social videos online for the day. The Academy worked diligently to make sure safety protocols on-site including testing, sanitizing and health screenings were enforced leading up to and onsite. With all protocols in place, a virtual Radio Row and virtual Press Room was created in order to keep radio, media, press and artists safe during this time.
The Academy also launched a consumer-facing site to help promote label priorities and artists through summer and fall, ACM: The Hub. The Hub included virtual events such as Wine Down Wednesday, a happy hour series featuring rising female country music artists. On behalf of each artist, the Academy’s partner, 1000 Stories® Bourbon Barrel-Aged Wine, contributed a $2,000 donation towards the ACM Lifting Lives COVID-19 Response Fund, bringing in a total of $18,000 from the series. The Academy also launched the ACM: The Weekly, a live concert-like experience on ACM social platforms, on The Hub. The ACM Weekly features 3-4 artists each week.
The ACM’s CEO, Damon Whiteside, and ACM Lifting Lives Executive Director, Lyndsay Cruz, spoke with MusicRow recently about 2020, and what challenges and accomplishments the year entailed.
MusicRow: The start of the lockdown in the U.S. was so close to the ACM awards in April. You guys pivoted to the Our Country special in two weeks. Tell me about making that decision and how you guys were able to pull that together so quickly.
Whiteside: It was a pretty quick turnaround, but we felt like we already had that date secured on CBS and we knew that the fans were looking forward to an award show. So we were just so in that mode and, obviously, the artists were planning to perform and they wanted to be promoting their latest music. Of course, at the time, we thought maybe tours would be coming back in the summer, at that point we didn’t know. It just seemed like a really good opportunity for us to still utilize that date and a great opportunity to bring some comfort to the fans and just bring music to the fans. The [ACM Presents: Our Country] special was just an idea that was brought up between RAC Clark, our executive producer, myself, and our team Dick Clark Productions.
We just got on the phone one day and said, ‘Can we really pull this off?’ And at that point, too, there really hadn’t been any of the virtual shows yet. After our show aired, there were several after that. But we were about the first to do one of those. So we just jumped in; we took it to CBS and they really liked the idea, too. Within a day, we got it all approved and started reaching out to artists’ managers. It just all really came together. And of course, we gave direction to the artists, but we really had the artists shoot it themselves in their own homes or locations. It was an interesting flip of where they sort of put it together creatively themselves, where they were at. We just worked with them on all of that, and it obviously turned out really fantastic.
Eric Church performs on ACM Presents: Our Country
When it came time for the ACM Awards in September, you guys were really first out of the gate with a truly live awards show. What were the guiding posts of what was most important to you in planning that event?
Whiteside: It was the first true live awards show back, meaning that we had a lot of live elements in it, including the awards, which was really the first time that had been done where we had winners in the room, coming out on stage to accept awards. It was all live-hosted as well, Keith [Ubran] was there, live doing the hosting and several of the performances were all done live, too. So it was a lot of coordination. Our priority was that we really wanted to have as much live element to it as we possibly could, while being cognizant of the artist safety. That was a major part, ensuring that the artists felt safe, but that we could still be true to the award ceremony component of it by giving away the awards live.
We were able to accomplish that by being able to have artists essentially quarantine back on their buses and then as they needed to be on stage, then they were brought in. It was all very meticulously choreographed so that no artist would ever actually see each other, which would then cause them to go off and want to hug or talk to each other. We were really meticulous about that to make sure that an artist that came in to accept their award and then to do press, they would literally never see other artists. It was all staged that way so they were completely safe.
From the awards show perspective, it was all new for us, not only because of COVID, but it was the first time in Nashville in our history. We were in the three most iconic venues in Nashville, and going live to three different venues was something we had never done. So there were all of these elements that just were a first time thing for us. What was important was we wanted to really just honor the industry, of course, but also really honor the fact that we were in Nashville for the first time at these iconic venues and the fact that, artists had all been quarantined for so many months and we hadn’t seen them perform for so long. We just wanted to bring a really exciting show but also make sure that we were being really respectful of what was going on in the world and bringing some comfort, joy and music to the fans. It’s been dragging on so long that people feel disconnected from live events and disconnected from being able to see their favorite artists on a big stage, so it was important that we brought a full-sized show to them, but in a very safe way.
Taylor Swift’s live debut performance of “betty” at the 2020 ACM Awards. Photo: Getty Images | Courtesy of the Academy of Country Music
The ACM has given back $3.5 million in COVID relief aid and plans to continue to give back in 2021. Lyndsay, what does it mean to you for ACM Lifting Lives to have such an impact during this time?
Cruz: Oh gosh, don’t make me cry. We had a really ambitious slate of events and initiatives planned for 2020, for just the general fund of ACM Lifting Lives because [Taylor Wolf] the manager of ACM Lifting Lives—I call her my partner—we spent 2019 really trying to refine the mission of Lifting Lives. Not necessarily a rebrand, but just getting laser focused on what we do. So we’re excited about 2020 and all of the things we were going to accomplish. Of course, that all came to a screeching halt. We had always been operating a disaster relief fund, very quietly, called the Diane Holcomb Emergency Relief Fund. And that is for folks who are in the industry, who face the financial hardship or a personal disaster, whether that be a medical issue or something that happens to their home. So we had been set up to do that. And then when COVID hit, we realized we’re actually in a position to give back more. We have smart investment managers that sit on the board of Lifting Lives, we have some reserves. So we thought, ‘This is an opportunity to help people that the government wasn’t helping yet.’ We knew there was going to be a stimulus package, but we thought, ‘We can do this. We have the resources.’ So we created the application and then we started the process. We approved and allocated about a $1 million in approximately a week and a half, and these were small grants. These were $2,000, $1,000 grants based on need and criteria. Then the funds were gone.
From that point on, it was just any sort of fundraising opportunity we could grab onto, we did. We just completely focused on this fund because Stimulus checks ran out, PPP ran out, and there was no getting back on the road in sight. So we just continued to say, ‘We’ve got to keep on fundraising for this.’
[Through the fundraising efforts], we just kept banking the money and saying, ‘We know we’re going to reopen this fund. We don’t know how much, but we we’ve got to do it because the need is still so great.’ We had to close our fund, obviously, but we had a wait list. So people were just sort of waiting until we had funds to distribute.
We had about $500,000, in cash and from fundraising around September. We wanted to reopen the fund before the end of the year and we want to get money into people’s pockets before the holidays. So my awesome partner, Damon Whiteside at the ACM, and I crafted a plan to just start knocking on doors of companies that were under more financially stable footing, and the first were labels and DSPs. We got an amazing $500,000 gift from Amazon and we basically hit up every label and they all came in with a cash donation. So we raised about another $900,000, and then we made up with our reserves that difference to reopen the fund with $2 million. [As of this interview], we will have given out the $2 million. Taylor and I looked at the number today and I think we had about $75,000 left to give.
We’re so grateful that we’re in a position that we can do that, but we have a feeling that this is going to continue on for a bit longer, and so we’re trying to get ahead of it for 2021 to think about a third round.
Whiteside: I just want to give credit and kudos to Lyndsay and Taylor and their dedication this whole year. I’ve been at ACM almost a year, but I’m so impressed with Lifting Lives and the fact that it can be so nimble and it can be so many things to so many people in need. I’ve seen it just firsthand, them pivot this year from one need to another. I mean, we started the year with a tornado in Nashville and our team was out doing volunteer work and Lyndsay was working to get funds to people that needed it. And then it pivoted to COVID, and all the other things that we do on a daily basis. To me, it’s just been so powerful to see, as soon as there’s a need, Lifting Lives can identify the need and then address that need. I can’t underline enough the fact that yes, there is MusiCares out there, which was a huge fund that did great work, however, that was across the entire music industry. We’re the only ones that are doing this for country music, that’s literally serving the country music community directly with funding. So I have to applaud Lyndsay and the Lifting Lives team again on that. That’s pretty miraculous.
Damon, this was your first year at the ACM. Tell me what tackling such a difficult year was like during your first year.
Whiteside: I’ll have a better answer in January. I went into it really excited obviously, and there was a lot of major things to really tackle this year. A big part of that, too, is me just living in two cities. I was going to be half the time in L.A. and half in Nashville, so that was going to certainly be a challenge. Coming into it, I literally was just focused on the Vegas show in April and making that the best we can make it. There’s a lot of feedback I’d had from past years and I just had a lot of ideas and a lot of feedback from the staff and the board on a lot of things that we wanted to accomplish this year.
I wasn’t really [as focused on] introducing a bunch of new ideas, I really wanted to elevate what we do as an organization and elevate how we serve the industry. That would be a big win for year one. And then obviously, a couple of months in, everything started to change. I’ve said this a lot to our staff, too, that I feel like, in a strange way, the pandemic really forced us to be more innovative than we probably could have ever been. Our Country really proved it to us, where we could pivot from canceling an awards show in Vegas to immediately flipping and doing a two hour CBS special, plus the livestream. All of that was just learning, you know, there’s really no rules here. If we have a really strong idea and we have the support of the board, let’s go for it and make it happen. I think it really showed all of us that we could do things differently and we didn’t have to do things based on how we’d done them in the past. It was almost like, everything is up for discussion this year.
Is there any update on the Nashville office space?
Whiteside: Not at the moment. We’re still researching. Nothing has been decided as of yet, a lot of that being just because of the year. Hopefully early next year we’ll be able to make some decisions and determine what that’s going to look like for us. Nothing has been confirmed yet.
Of all the successes and resilience that the Academy has shown this year, what are each of you most proud of?
Cruz: All the arrows point to the COVID fund and how many people we’ve been able to help. To date, we’ve been able to help about 2,000 people. Again, these are small grants that we’re helping people just put food on the table or pay their rent or mortgage. Hearing from the folks and what a significant impact that made for them; we had people say, ‘Wow, we didn’t think anyone cared,’ and also, ‘When I’m in a better place, I’d really love to come back and help you all in some way.’ That’s incredibly powerful for us.
[I’m also proud of] the amazing partnership with Vanderbilt in Nashville. This year we had our 11th annual ACM Lifting Lives Music Camp, which is a research educational camp for people with a developmental disease called Williams Syndrome. It brings together these campers from around the country to do songwriting with the amazing Ross Copperman, and Runaway June sat in and helped write the song. We were still able to do that, even though it was virtual, and we had other artists like Tenille Townes, Michael Ray and Frankie Ballard. So we were able to still pull that off, and we expanded our partnership with Vanderbilt and were able to announce a $750,000 endowment to expand our work with people living with autism. So we’re able to create the ACM Lifting Lives Autism Lab at Vanderbilt, and it’s going to establish autism as one of our signature initiatives.
Frankie Ballard, Tenille Townes, and Michael Ray participate in ACM Lifting Lives Music Camp.
Whiteside: Obviously I want to echo everything she said, I don’t think there’s anything bigger we can point out than the COVID response. That’s just hands down, obviously our proudest moment or accomplishment of the year. But, on the ACM side, I feel like we’ve really elevated the ACM brand this year and what it means to the industry and the fans. We’ve been able to really serve the industry more than we have in a lot of years, if not ever, just in terms of having the Our Country special right at the moment our artists needed it most. It was right at the beginning of the pandemic, when people were more scared, and we got such a great response about what comfort that brought the fans. And then, I couldn’t be more proud of the show in Nashville. We started out the year thinking that we were going to be country’s party of the year, which is our normal positioning for the show, and then ended up doing a night of hurt and hits with a new host and with being the first live show back. I’m proud we were able to pay respect to the Nashville community. So between those things, it just made ACM able to really support our industry and in a huge way.
The Academy of Country Music’s Damon Whiteside And Lyndsay Cruz Recount 2020 [Interview]
/by LB CantrellLyndsay Cruz, Damon Whiteside. Photos: Courtesy The Academy of Country Music
In a challenging year for all, the Academy of Country Music, like most companies, worked hard to pivot.
Just two weeks after postponing the original April 18th show date for the 55th ACM Awards from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, the Academy produced ACM Presents: Our Country, an at-home special that reached nearly 11 million viewers after airing on CBS and on CMT. In addition to the special, the Academy produced a pre-show that aired across Academy social platforms and Twitch, to which nearly 400,000 people live streamed.
During the show’s broadcast ACM Lifting Lives, the charitable arm of the Academy of Country Music, announced the launch of ACM Lifting Lives COVID- 19 Response Fund, created to assist those in the country music industry who lost their jobs due to the pandemic. Since then, ACM Lifting Lives has raised and distributed $3.5 million. They reopened the fund on Giving Tuesday, in time to help more in need during this holiday season.
While gearing up for the first live awards show during the pandemic, ACM released its first single, “On The Road Again (ACM Lifting Lives Edition),” a collaboration featuring this year’s ACM New Artist nominees—including Ingrid Andress, Gabby Barrett, Jordan Davis, Russell Dickerson, Lindsay Ell, Caylee Hammack, Cody Johnson, and Morgan Wallen—and joined by the legendary Willie Nelson on the remake of his original hit.
Then, for the first time ever, the 55th ACM Awards took place in Nashville, Tennessee on Sept. 16 at three iconic locations including the Grand Ole Opry House, Ryman Auditorium and Bluebird Cafe. The 55th ACM Awards was the first live awards show during COVID-19, bringing a total of 7.63 million viewers, reaching the No. 1 driver of social videos online for the day. The Academy worked diligently to make sure safety protocols on-site including testing, sanitizing and health screenings were enforced leading up to and onsite. With all protocols in place, a virtual Radio Row and virtual Press Room was created in order to keep radio, media, press and artists safe during this time.
The Academy also launched a consumer-facing site to help promote label priorities and artists through summer and fall, ACM: The Hub. The Hub included virtual events such as Wine Down Wednesday, a happy hour series featuring rising female country music artists. On behalf of each artist, the Academy’s partner, 1000 Stories® Bourbon Barrel-Aged Wine, contributed a $2,000 donation towards the ACM Lifting Lives COVID-19 Response Fund, bringing in a total of $18,000 from the series. The Academy also launched the ACM: The Weekly, a live concert-like experience on ACM social platforms, on The Hub. The ACM Weekly features 3-4 artists each week.
The ACM’s CEO, Damon Whiteside, and ACM Lifting Lives Executive Director, Lyndsay Cruz, spoke with MusicRow recently about 2020, and what challenges and accomplishments the year entailed.
MusicRow: The start of the lockdown in the U.S. was so close to the ACM awards in April. You guys pivoted to the Our Country special in two weeks. Tell me about making that decision and how you guys were able to pull that together so quickly.
Whiteside: It was a pretty quick turnaround, but we felt like we already had that date secured on CBS and we knew that the fans were looking forward to an award show. So we were just so in that mode and, obviously, the artists were planning to perform and they wanted to be promoting their latest music. Of course, at the time, we thought maybe tours would be coming back in the summer, at that point we didn’t know. It just seemed like a really good opportunity for us to still utilize that date and a great opportunity to bring some comfort to the fans and just bring music to the fans. The [ACM Presents: Our Country] special was just an idea that was brought up between RAC Clark, our executive producer, myself, and our team Dick Clark Productions.
We just got on the phone one day and said, ‘Can we really pull this off?’ And at that point, too, there really hadn’t been any of the virtual shows yet. After our show aired, there were several after that. But we were about the first to do one of those. So we just jumped in; we took it to CBS and they really liked the idea, too. Within a day, we got it all approved and started reaching out to artists’ managers. It just all really came together. And of course, we gave direction to the artists, but we really had the artists shoot it themselves in their own homes or locations. It was an interesting flip of where they sort of put it together creatively themselves, where they were at. We just worked with them on all of that, and it obviously turned out really fantastic.
Eric Church performs on ACM Presents: Our Country
When it came time for the ACM Awards in September, you guys were really first out of the gate with a truly live awards show. What were the guiding posts of what was most important to you in planning that event?
Whiteside: It was the first true live awards show back, meaning that we had a lot of live elements in it, including the awards, which was really the first time that had been done where we had winners in the room, coming out on stage to accept awards. It was all live-hosted as well, Keith [Ubran] was there, live doing the hosting and several of the performances were all done live, too. So it was a lot of coordination. Our priority was that we really wanted to have as much live element to it as we possibly could, while being cognizant of the artist safety. That was a major part, ensuring that the artists felt safe, but that we could still be true to the award ceremony component of it by giving away the awards live.
We were able to accomplish that by being able to have artists essentially quarantine back on their buses and then as they needed to be on stage, then they were brought in. It was all very meticulously choreographed so that no artist would ever actually see each other, which would then cause them to go off and want to hug or talk to each other. We were really meticulous about that to make sure that an artist that came in to accept their award and then to do press, they would literally never see other artists. It was all staged that way so they were completely safe.
From the awards show perspective, it was all new for us, not only because of COVID, but it was the first time in Nashville in our history. We were in the three most iconic venues in Nashville, and going live to three different venues was something we had never done. So there were all of these elements that just were a first time thing for us. What was important was we wanted to really just honor the industry, of course, but also really honor the fact that we were in Nashville for the first time at these iconic venues and the fact that, artists had all been quarantined for so many months and we hadn’t seen them perform for so long. We just wanted to bring a really exciting show but also make sure that we were being really respectful of what was going on in the world and bringing some comfort, joy and music to the fans. It’s been dragging on so long that people feel disconnected from live events and disconnected from being able to see their favorite artists on a big stage, so it was important that we brought a full-sized show to them, but in a very safe way.
Taylor Swift’s live debut performance of “betty” at the 2020 ACM Awards. Photo: Getty Images | Courtesy of the Academy of Country Music
The ACM has given back $3.5 million in COVID relief aid and plans to continue to give back in 2021. Lyndsay, what does it mean to you for ACM Lifting Lives to have such an impact during this time?
Cruz: Oh gosh, don’t make me cry. We had a really ambitious slate of events and initiatives planned for 2020, for just the general fund of ACM Lifting Lives because [Taylor Wolf] the manager of ACM Lifting Lives—I call her my partner—we spent 2019 really trying to refine the mission of Lifting Lives. Not necessarily a rebrand, but just getting laser focused on what we do. So we’re excited about 2020 and all of the things we were going to accomplish. Of course, that all came to a screeching halt. We had always been operating a disaster relief fund, very quietly, called the Diane Holcomb Emergency Relief Fund. And that is for folks who are in the industry, who face the financial hardship or a personal disaster, whether that be a medical issue or something that happens to their home. So we had been set up to do that. And then when COVID hit, we realized we’re actually in a position to give back more. We have smart investment managers that sit on the board of Lifting Lives, we have some reserves. So we thought, ‘This is an opportunity to help people that the government wasn’t helping yet.’ We knew there was going to be a stimulus package, but we thought, ‘We can do this. We have the resources.’ So we created the application and then we started the process. We approved and allocated about a $1 million in approximately a week and a half, and these were small grants. These were $2,000, $1,000 grants based on need and criteria. Then the funds were gone.
From that point on, it was just any sort of fundraising opportunity we could grab onto, we did. We just completely focused on this fund because Stimulus checks ran out, PPP ran out, and there was no getting back on the road in sight. So we just continued to say, ‘We’ve got to keep on fundraising for this.’
[Through the fundraising efforts], we just kept banking the money and saying, ‘We know we’re going to reopen this fund. We don’t know how much, but we we’ve got to do it because the need is still so great.’ We had to close our fund, obviously, but we had a wait list. So people were just sort of waiting until we had funds to distribute.
We had about $500,000, in cash and from fundraising around September. We wanted to reopen the fund before the end of the year and we want to get money into people’s pockets before the holidays. So my awesome partner, Damon Whiteside at the ACM, and I crafted a plan to just start knocking on doors of companies that were under more financially stable footing, and the first were labels and DSPs. We got an amazing $500,000 gift from Amazon and we basically hit up every label and they all came in with a cash donation. So we raised about another $900,000, and then we made up with our reserves that difference to reopen the fund with $2 million. [As of this interview], we will have given out the $2 million. Taylor and I looked at the number today and I think we had about $75,000 left to give.
We’re so grateful that we’re in a position that we can do that, but we have a feeling that this is going to continue on for a bit longer, and so we’re trying to get ahead of it for 2021 to think about a third round.
Whiteside: I just want to give credit and kudos to Lyndsay and Taylor and their dedication this whole year. I’ve been at ACM almost a year, but I’m so impressed with Lifting Lives and the fact that it can be so nimble and it can be so many things to so many people in need. I’ve seen it just firsthand, them pivot this year from one need to another. I mean, we started the year with a tornado in Nashville and our team was out doing volunteer work and Lyndsay was working to get funds to people that needed it. And then it pivoted to COVID, and all the other things that we do on a daily basis. To me, it’s just been so powerful to see, as soon as there’s a need, Lifting Lives can identify the need and then address that need. I can’t underline enough the fact that yes, there is MusiCares out there, which was a huge fund that did great work, however, that was across the entire music industry. We’re the only ones that are doing this for country music, that’s literally serving the country music community directly with funding. So I have to applaud Lyndsay and the Lifting Lives team again on that. That’s pretty miraculous.
Damon, this was your first year at the ACM. Tell me what tackling such a difficult year was like during your first year.
Whiteside: I’ll have a better answer in January. I went into it really excited obviously, and there was a lot of major things to really tackle this year. A big part of that, too, is me just living in two cities. I was going to be half the time in L.A. and half in Nashville, so that was going to certainly be a challenge. Coming into it, I literally was just focused on the Vegas show in April and making that the best we can make it. There’s a lot of feedback I’d had from past years and I just had a lot of ideas and a lot of feedback from the staff and the board on a lot of things that we wanted to accomplish this year.
I wasn’t really [as focused on] introducing a bunch of new ideas, I really wanted to elevate what we do as an organization and elevate how we serve the industry. That would be a big win for year one. And then obviously, a couple of months in, everything started to change. I’ve said this a lot to our staff, too, that I feel like, in a strange way, the pandemic really forced us to be more innovative than we probably could have ever been. Our Country really proved it to us, where we could pivot from canceling an awards show in Vegas to immediately flipping and doing a two hour CBS special, plus the livestream. All of that was just learning, you know, there’s really no rules here. If we have a really strong idea and we have the support of the board, let’s go for it and make it happen. I think it really showed all of us that we could do things differently and we didn’t have to do things based on how we’d done them in the past. It was almost like, everything is up for discussion this year.
Is there any update on the Nashville office space?
Whiteside: Not at the moment. We’re still researching. Nothing has been decided as of yet, a lot of that being just because of the year. Hopefully early next year we’ll be able to make some decisions and determine what that’s going to look like for us. Nothing has been confirmed yet.
Of all the successes and resilience that the Academy has shown this year, what are each of you most proud of?
Cruz: All the arrows point to the COVID fund and how many people we’ve been able to help. To date, we’ve been able to help about 2,000 people. Again, these are small grants that we’re helping people just put food on the table or pay their rent or mortgage. Hearing from the folks and what a significant impact that made for them; we had people say, ‘Wow, we didn’t think anyone cared,’ and also, ‘When I’m in a better place, I’d really love to come back and help you all in some way.’ That’s incredibly powerful for us.
[I’m also proud of] the amazing partnership with Vanderbilt in Nashville. This year we had our 11th annual ACM Lifting Lives Music Camp, which is a research educational camp for people with a developmental disease called Williams Syndrome. It brings together these campers from around the country to do songwriting with the amazing Ross Copperman, and Runaway June sat in and helped write the song. We were still able to do that, even though it was virtual, and we had other artists like Tenille Townes, Michael Ray and Frankie Ballard. So we were able to still pull that off, and we expanded our partnership with Vanderbilt and were able to announce a $750,000 endowment to expand our work with people living with autism. So we’re able to create the ACM Lifting Lives Autism Lab at Vanderbilt, and it’s going to establish autism as one of our signature initiatives.
Frankie Ballard, Tenille Townes, and Michael Ray participate in ACM Lifting Lives Music Camp.
Whiteside: Obviously I want to echo everything she said, I don’t think there’s anything bigger we can point out than the COVID response. That’s just hands down, obviously our proudest moment or accomplishment of the year. But, on the ACM side, I feel like we’ve really elevated the ACM brand this year and what it means to the industry and the fans. We’ve been able to really serve the industry more than we have in a lot of years, if not ever, just in terms of having the Our Country special right at the moment our artists needed it most. It was right at the beginning of the pandemic, when people were more scared, and we got such a great response about what comfort that brought the fans. And then, I couldn’t be more proud of the show in Nashville. We started out the year thinking that we were going to be country’s party of the year, which is our normal positioning for the show, and then ended up doing a night of hurt and hits with a new host and with being the first live show back. I’m proud we were able to pay respect to the Nashville community. So between those things, it just made ACM able to really support our industry and in a huge way.
‘An Evening Of Thanksgiving With CeCe Winans’ Set For February 21st
/by Lorie HollabaughCeCe Winans is hosting the virtual Evening of Thanksgiving with Compassion International on Feb. 21, 2021 with some surprise special guests to help bring some joy and encouragement to those needing it. The event was originally slated to take place in November but was postponed due to the pandemic.
An Evening of Thanksgiving with CeCe Winans! worship live stream concert will feature praise and worship music as well as many favorites with a full band performance. Those sponsoring a child through Compassion International will receive a ticket into An Evening of Thanksgiving plus access to a separate VIP event that includes exclusive performances, a special conversation with CeCe Winans and family members, and a few additional surprises. Tickets are available here.
Helping a Hero’s Lee Greenwood Patriot Awards Gala Raises Over $500,000 For Wounded Vets
/by Lorie HollabaughPictured (L-R): GOYA Foods CEO Bob Unanue, former NFL player Jack Brewer, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, Lee Greenwood, NASCAR legend Richard Childress, and U.S. Congressman Bill Flores
The Lee Greenwood Patriot Awards Gala at The Woodlands Waterway Marriott in Houston was held earlier this month, and raised over $500,000 for the Helping a Hero organization.
This year, Helping a Hero honored five trailblazers with The Lee Greenwood Patriot Award for their leadership and commitment to our wounded warriors: NASCAR Legend Richard Childress; GOYA Foods CEO Robert “Bob” Unanue; South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem; U.S. Congressman Bill Flores (TX-17) who championed veteran reforms while in Congress; and multi-Platinum artist Michael W. Smith.
Funds raised from the evening will enable Helping a Hero serve post-9/11 severely wounded warriors through their Wounded Hero Home Program, emergency needs program, and other support programs. Plans are underway to build homes for deserving wounded warriors desperately needing specially adapted homes in Florida, Louisiana, Nebraska, North Carolina, and Texas, as well as a special project in South Carolina. Notable attendees at the event included Bass Pro Founder and CEO Johnny Morris, Kalahari Resorts Founder and CEO Todd Nelson, Woodforest National Bank President Jay Dreibelbis, Latina Voices Co-Host Sofia Adrogue, Stewart Builder’s Mark Stewart, and Herbster Angus Farms CEO Charles Herbster.
“I have been supporting Helping a Hero for a decade and I’m humbled by the work they continue to do to help our wounded warriors,” said Greenwood, who hosted the Annual Helping a Hero Gala and presented the Lee Greenwood Patriot Awards. “This year proves that there is nothing that can stand in the way of our love and support for our nation’s heroes. It is an honor to partner with Helping a Hero and help with giving back to our wounded warriors who sacrifice so much for our nation.”
“We extend our deepest thanks and appreciation to Lee Greenwood, our sponsors, supporters, honorees, board members, advisory board members, and staff for making the event a huge success,” said Helping a Hero Chairman of the Board of Directors Hector Villareal. “I am honored to serve those that have served and sacrificed protecting our freedom. God bless the USA.”
DISClaimer Single Reviews: Jimmie Allen, Lee Brice, Lady A, Tim McGraw, Shy Carter, More
/by Robert K OermannThe Big Week is here. Is your shopping done? Have you wrapped everything? If not, here’s a sampling of Nashville holiday music to get you in the mood.
It’s been a bonanza year for this kind of record in Music City. By my count, there are 109 new Yuletide releases by Nashville artists great and small. I can’t get to them all, but here are 13 selections.
Lee Brice has the Disc of the Day. The Shindellas, who collaborate with Jimmie Allen and Louis York on his debut Christmas single, win the DisCovery Award.
LADY A / “Christmas Through Your Eyes”
Writers: Charles Kelley/Dave Haywood/Hillary Scott; Publishers: none listed; Producer: Dann Huff; Label: BMLG Records
– As sweet as a sugarplum fairy. The gentle acoustic textures, lilting pace and soft soprano lead create a twinkling holiday mood.
NICK LOWE & LOS STRAITJACKETS / “Winter Wonderland”
Writers: Felix Bernard/Richard Smith; Publishers: none listed; Producer: Nick Lowe; Label: Yep Roc
– File this under “stocking rocking.” Lowe’s wry, droll delivery carries the arrangement with Nashville’s favorite masked band romping and twanging merrily in accompaniment. Highly recommended, as well as their equally zesty take on “Let It Snow.”
LEE BRICE / “Go Tell It On the Mountain”
Writers: none listed; Publishers: none listed; Producer: Lee Brice/Cody LaBelle; Label: Curb Records
– Turn it up. Brice is in rare form here, delivering an intense, fiery vocal performance that raises the rafters. Stacked harmonies and cascading instruments pile on the emotional ride. A fabulous sound.
THE OAK RIDGE BOYS / “Down Home Christmas”
Writers: Aaron Raitiere/Mando Saenz; Publishers: none listed; Producer: Dave Cobb; Label: Lightning Rod/Thirty Tigers
– As the feature attraction at the Opryland Resort, the Oaks are the “official” Nashville spokesmen for the season. This bopping ditty is a toe tapping treat, sung in full four-part harmony throughout. It’s the title tune to a green-vinyl LP.
MITCHELL TENPENNY / “Neon Christmas”
Writers: Mitchell Tenpenny/Lindsay Rimes/Matt Rogers; Publishers: none listed; Producer: Lindsay Rimes; Label: RiverHouse/Columbia
– Hey, baby, let’s head to the neighborhood dive bar, drink beer and dance to the jukebox to celebrate the season. A rollicking good time, and the title tune to Tenpenny’s new Yule-themed EP.
FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE / “Lit This Year”
Writers: Brian Kelley/Tyler Hubbard/Corey Crowder; Publishers: none listed; Producer: FGL & Corey Crowder; Label: Big Machine
– “That Christmas tree ain’t the only thing that’s lit this year.” This light-hearted stomper is as country as grits, what with the drawled vocals, banjo notes and deep-twang guitar work. A very hillbilly good time is had by all.
SHY CARTER / “All I Want for Christmas Is You”
Writers: Mariah Carey/Walter Afanasieff; Publishers: none listed; Producer: Byron Gallimore; Label: Warner
– It starts out spare, then gradually adds rhythm elements. I takes a little while to stop missing Mariah Carey’s rocking arrangement, but if you let this roll, it will get under your skin as a slow-burn jam. Carter’s soulful voice stays in the spotlight all the while. Definitely the best R&B Nashville release of the season.
DAN + SHAY / “Take Me Home for Christmas”
Writers: Andy Albert/Dan Smyers/Jordan Reynolds/Jordan Schmidt/Mitchell Tenpenny/Shay Mooney; Publishers: none listed; Producer: Dan Smyers; Label: Warner
– Wafting, rolling pop country with a winning tune and a shuffling, jaunty rhythm track. Pleasant and listenable.
ROB THOMAS & ABBY ANDERSON / “I Believe in Santa Claus”
Writers: Dolly Parton; Publishers: none listed; Producer: Marshall Altman; Label: Emblem/Atlantic
– The Matchbox Twenty rock great and the country newcomer sound terrific harmonizing together on this Kenny & Dolly favorite. I missed the tempo and bounce of the original, although this slower-paced rendition does bring out the wistfulness of the lyric. Ear opening.
JIMMIE ALLEN, LOUIS YORK & THE SHINDELLAS / “What Does Christmas Mean”
Writers: Charles T Harmon/Claude Kelly; Publishers: none listed; Producer: Louis York; Label: Stoney Creek
– Allen’s first Christmas single is a collaboration with the songwriting/production duo Louis York plus the Nashville female R&B trio The Shindellas. It has a delightful retro, doo-wop soul/pop groove with plenty of shooby-dooby-doos and a snappy beat. This one is fun, fun, fun.
TIM McGRAW / “It Wasn’t His Child”
Writers: Skip Ewing; Publishers: none listed; Producer: Danny Hemingson/Steve Gibson/Byron Gallimore; Label: Big Machine Records
– This is one of the most expressive vocals of McGraw’s distinguished career. The durable Nashville ballad has always been unusual as a version of the Christmas story that’s told from the point of view of Joseph. The superstar more than does it justice.
T.G. SHEPPARD & KELLY LANG / “Christmas in Mexico”
Writers: T.G. Sheppard/Kelly Lang; Publishers: none listed; Producer: none listed; Label: WMG/Time Life
– Kelly’s lustrous alto takes the lead with T.G. providing expert vocal harmony support here. The lively track features steel drums, mariachi trumpets, gut-string guitar and audio joy. Highly recommended.
BRETT YOUNG / “Silver Bells”
Writers: Jay Livingston/Ray Evans; Publishers: none listed; Producer: Keaton Simons/Noah Needleman; Label: BMLG Records
– This familiar holiday staple gets a highly imaginative arrangement in this release. Brett’s distinctive phrasing is accompanied by hip-hop beats, jazzy guitar work, steel accents and softly sighed backup voices. Well worth your attention.
Cage The Elephant To Play Bread And Roses’ Winter Benefit
/by Lorie HollabaughCage The Elephant is set to perform a full band and electric virtual concert for Bread & Roses’ Winter Benefit on Jan. 30. The special show will be broadcast from Blackbird Studio in Nashville, and will be available to watch exclusively on Nugs.net.
The night will consist of music, fundraising and celebration to support the essential work of Bread & Roses. The fundraiser will generate critical support for the nonprofit arts organization which produces free, live music and entertainment for Bay Area children, teens, adults, and elders who don’t have the ability to easily experience the power of the arts any other way. Tickets are available here, and previously purchased Eventbrite tickets will be honored for the new broadcast event.
The band won their second Grammy Award for 2020’s Best Rock Album with Social Cues, and has released four additional studio albums —their self-titled debut, 2011’s Thank You, Happy Birthday, the Gold-certified Melophobia, and the Grammy-winning Tell Me I’m Pretty.
Veteran Music Mogul Joe Johnson Passes
/by Robert K OermannPictured (L-R): Randy Rayburn, Joe Johnson, David Bennett at Johnson 89th birthday party.
Joe Johnson, who made his mark as label executive, record producer and the publisher of dozens of hit songs, has died at age 93.
Johnson produced, published and/or promoted more than 150 hits. He was behind such successes as “Tequila” by The Champs (1958), “Wishful Thinking” by Wynn Stewart (1960), “The One You Slip Around With” by Jan Howard (1960), “Lies” by The Knickerbockers (1966) and “Signs” by The Five Man Electrical Band (1971). He built the Music Row office building that has housed GAC and RFD-TV.
His career as a music executive touched the lives of Willie Nelson, Lorrie Morgan, Jan and Dean, Marty Robbins, Gene Autry, Ricky Nelson, Chubby Checker, Harlan Howard, Glen Campbell and dozens more.
“He was one of the last survivors of those charismatic record men who shaped this business,” said his friend and admirer Rick Sanjek. “I found his energy, demeanor and vision inspirational.”
Johnson suffered a stroke in 2018 and had been in an assisted-living facility in Hendersonville since then. He died there on Tuesday (Dec. 22).
Joe Johnson was born in 1927 in Cookeville, Tennessee. He attended Vanderbilt University law school. He went to work for Columbia Records in the early 1950s.
He was initially charged with promoting the discs of the company’s pop stars, including Tony Bennett (“Rags to Riches,” 1953), Doris Day (“Secret Love,” 1954), Frankie Laine, Johnnie Ray, Roy Hamilton, The Four Lads and Guy Mitchell.
Johnson was sent to Texas to investigate the emerging rockabilly style. He saw Elvis Presley there and urged his label to sign “The Hillbilly Cat.” Instead, he was instructed to replicate the then-unknown artist’s songs. So he took “That’s All Right” to Marty Robbins, who had a big country hit with it in 1955. Johnson also produced the 1954 Jimmy Dickens favorite “Y’All Come.”
He promoted the label’s entire country roster of that era, including Carl Smith, George Morgan, Gene Autry, Lefty Frizzell and Ray Price, as well as Robbins and Dickens. He formed a particular attachment with Autry, who hired Johnson to be the “advance man” for his road show. When Autry quit touring, he chose Johnson to run his music companies in L.A.
On an Autry recording visit to Nashville, he took the superstar to The Tennessee State Prison. They heard the incarcerated group The Prisonaires singing their composition “Just Walkin’ In the Rain.” He arranged for Autry’s Golden West Melodies to buy the publishing to “Just Walkin’ in the Rain” and then pitched the song to Columbia’s Johnnie Ray. It became a massive pop hit for the singer in 1956.
In 1957, Autry, Johnson and businessman Johnny Thompson used the profits from “Just Walkin’ in the Rain” to found Challenge Records and JAT Music. In October 1958, Autry sold his share to his two partners so that he could invest in hotel properties and the California Angels baseball team. Thompson became the Challenge general manager. Johnson handled A&R musical responsibilities.
Initially, the companies prospered thanks to Johnson publishing such tunes as “I’m Available” (Margie Rayburn, 1957) and “I’ll Be There” (Ray Price, 1957). Challenge’s first recording success was “So Tough” by the r&b vocal group The Kuf-Linx in 1958.
The backup band on that record was The Champs, who had a massive hit with “Tequila” later that year. Published by JAT, “Tequila” was at No. 1 on the pop charts for five weeks, became an international smash and won a Grammy Award. Among the future stars who performed as members of The Champs were Glen Campbell and the hit pop duo Seals & Crofts.
Produced by Joe Johnson, Jerry Wallace had a string of pop hits on Challenge. These included “Primrose Lane” (1959), “Shutters and Boards” (1962) and “In the Misty Moonlight” (1964).
In 1961, Joe Johnson bought out partner Johnny Thompson. He also bought 4 Star Records and its publishing company that year. This brought him the income from such evergreen copyrights as “Release Me,” “Lonely Street,” “Stop the World and Let Me Off,” “Hot Rod Lincoln,” “Just Out of Reach” and “Am I That Easy to Forget.” 4 Star’s recording artists had included Hank Locklin, Patsy Cline, Webb Pierce, The Maddox Brothers & Rose, Stuart Hamblen, Jimmy Dean, T. Texas Tyler and Roy Clark. So Johnson instantly had many options for repackaging.
Meanwhile, on Challenge, Jan and Dean’s “Heart and Soul” charted in 1961. The Blossoms (including Darlene Love) answered the big hit “Mother in Law” with “Son in Law” on Challenge that same year. Marty Balin, later of Jefferson Airplane, was a Challenge artist in 1962. Wayne Newton, Gene Vincent and future Monkees member Mickey Dolenz were among the other pop acts who were on Challenge Records.
Johnson acquired “Limbo Rock” as an instrumental for The Champs in 1962. Chubby Checker’s people added lyrics, and the “Twist” star scored a big hit with it later that year.
Challenge singer-songwriter Jerry Fuller provided Ricky Nelson with major hits including “Travelin’ Man” (1961), “A Wonder Like You” (1961), “Young World” (1962) and “It’s Up to You” (1963). The teen superstar also recorded 21 songs written by Challenge Records artist Baker Knight.
Golden West Melodies songwriter Dave Burgess–the leader of The Champs and the author of the Price hit “I’ll Be There ”–did his part by providing Nelson with several more successes. As a result of all these connections, Joe Johnson tried to sign Ricky Nelson to Challenge, but failed.
Johnson co-published the first 15 songs written by Harlan Howard. This led to Johnson’s re-entry into country music. He produced Wynn Stewart’s breakthrough hits on Challenge, including “Wishful Thinking” (1960) and “Big Big Love” (1962). Challenge also helped launch the careers of country artists Jeannie Seely, Jan Howard, Justin Tubb, Bobby Bare and Donna Fargo, among others.
In 1964, Joe Johnson became a co-founder of the Academy of Country Music (ACM). He also helped provide the seed money to produce the pilot of its annual awards show.
The Knickerbockers brought his label into the rock era with its Beatles-styled 1966 hit “Lies.” The following year, Johnson pitched “Release Me” to Englebert Humperdinck and reaped the benefits of a worldwide pop smash by the song. He next scored by publishing “Signs” by the Canadian group Five Man Electrical Band in 1971. It earned a Gold Record.
Joe Johnson moved back to Nashville in 1972. He got Jerry Wallace signed as a country artist to Decca and produced the star’s comeback hits, including the CMA Award nominated “To Get to You” (1972), plus “If You Leave Me Tonight I’ll Cry” (1972), “Do You Know What It’s Like to Be Lonesome” (1973) and “Don’t Give Up on Me” (1973).
Johnson reactivated 4 Star Records in 1975. He built the 4 Star Building across from the United Artists Tower on Music Row with the intention of housing the label, a song publishing company, a recording studio, a video soundstage and a manufacturing plant under one roof.
He reissued Patsy Cline’s 1959 recording of “Life’s Railway to Heaven” on 4 Star, and it made the charts in 1978. Despite this and 4 Star discs by Lorrie Morgan, The LeGarde Twins, George Morgan, Bonnie Guitar and others, Johnson was forced to sell the building and his publishing catalog in 1980.
He retained the Challenge and 4 Star recordings. He recorded Willie Nelson singing “duets” with Patsy Cline on “Just a Closer Walk with Thee” and “Life’s Railway to Heaven.” Johnson had Sony-ATV administer the licenses for his master recordings, since that’s where his song-publishing copyrights also reside. There have been legal entanglements over his former holdings for decades.
The 4 Star Building at 49 Music Square West has housed the offices of the GAC cable TV channel, the Bullet TV production complex and Quad Recording Studios. More recent tenants include RFD-TV, Trey Turner artist management and Hippie Radio 94.5.
Joe Johnson’s other business interests included the management company Advance Artists and a background-music production firm in partnership with the 3M Company to compete with Muzak.
An avid golfer, he launched a Nashville pro-celebrity golf tournament. Joe Johnson continued to play until age 85.
He is survived by his children Elizabeth Jane Johnson Donoho, Margaret Lane Johnson Palubicki, Joseph “Beau” Burgess Johnson and Charles Martin Johnson, plus four grandchildren. His memory is also cherished by his ex-wife, Marianne Rippey.
Funeral arrangements are being handled by Taylor Funeral Home in Dickson, Tennessee. Joe Johnson will be buried at the Burgess Family cemetery at Upper Cherry Creek Cemetery in Sparta, Tennessee.
Brett Young Plans Caliville Getaway With Fans In Palm Springs In June
/by Lorie HollabaughBrett Young is heading to the desert next year for his first-ever “Caliville Weekend” in Palm Springs, California on June 18-21, 2021. The experience, presented by Pollen and curated by Young, will feature daily live performances, wellness activities, pool parties, plenty of surprises and more.
“Bringing us all together for a weekend in one of my favorite places in the world is definitely a dream come true for me,” Young said. “I can’t wait for everyone to see what we have planned for them next summer!”
Ticket packages are available now here. All event packages include hotel accommodations, payment plans available and only $25 deposit to reserve your spot.
Young’s latest single, “Lady,” a heart-bending love letter to his daughter and wife written with Ross Copperman and Jon Nite shortly before his first daughter Presley’s birth in October 2019, is currently rising up the charts. While touring is on hold, Young has been tapped for several high-profile, all-genre live streams in an effort to bring music and relief to fans across the world including Live at The Ryman, Levi’s 5:01 Music Series, Visible’s Red Rocks Unpaused, Pepsi’s Unmute Your Voice Concert and Camping World’s Taking The Highways Across America series.
Scott And Sandi Borchetta Announce First Five Grant Recipients Awarded Through The Music Has Value Fund
/by Alex ParryJust over fifteen years ago, Scott Borchetta opened the doors of a small office on Music Row for a start-up label he named Big Machine Records. To celebrate the label’s historic 15-year successes, BMLG President/CEO Scott and his wife Sandi Borchetta, who is BMLG’s Senior Vice President of Creative, announced the launch of a grant fund for 501c3 non-profit music schools and organizations, awarding fifteen recipients with $10,000 grants through the Music Has Value fund.
The first five organizations to receive a grant have been announced including during a ZOOM call with the Borchetta’s. The organizations are as follows:
Chattanooga, Tennessee’s Chattanooga Boys Choir
Tacoma, Washington’s Ted Brown Music Outreach
Higley, Arizona’s United Sound
Boston’s Education Through Music
Oklahoma City’s El Sistema Oklahoma
“When we set out on this journey a little over 15 years ago, the mission was the same then as it is now—find great artists and make great music,” said Borchetta. “Music comes at us from all corners in all shapes and all sizes. Sandi and I feel the responsibility to continue to enable opportunities for all students to experience music-making, whether it’s the sheer joy of just doing it… all the way to successful recording artist. These first five recipients of MHV grants all have a unique take, and challenge, to carry out this mission. We applaud them and proudly support them.”
The Borchettas’ Music Has Value Fund is a fund they created in 2015 to provide financial support to organizations which support those who make music, aspire to make music, and access and appreciate music.
New License For U.S. Digital Audio Mechanicals Available January 1st
/by Lorie HollabaughThe new blanket mechanical license covering the use of musical works in the U.S. by eligible digital audio services established by The Music Modernization Act of 2018 will be available beginning January 1, 2021. The arrival of this new licensing system will mark the beginning of a new era of greater efficiency and transparency in mechanical licensing for musical works in the U.S.
For most digital service providers operating digital audio services in the U.S. that offer interactive streaming or digital downloads to consumers, the MMA imposes several new obligations that they will be required by law to fulfill. Some require immediate action, while others must be completed no later than February 15, 2021. The MMA created two new organizations to help DSPs fulfill their new responsibilities: The Mechanical Licensing Collective, which is responsible for administering this new blanket license, and the Digital Licensee Coordinator, which is responsible for representing the digital audio services that will be operating under the new blanket license.
The new blanket license offers a host of benefits to DSPs that opt to secure it, including helping to make the administration and payment of mechanical royalties much easier and more effective and providing services with a way to ensure that they are properly licensed to use all of the musical works that they make available on their services. DSPs that secure the blanket will also avoid the costly liability that would arise from using works that were not properly licensed. Finally, even if a service elected not to secure the blanket despite its many benefits, the MMA still imposes a number of reporting obligations on all but the smallest of those services. For this reason, The MLC and DLC hope that any service eligible to operate under the new blanket license will choose to do so.
“The MLC has engaged with more than 50 DSPs so far, both to make sure they aware of their new legal responsibilities and to preview the resources we’ve created for them, including reporting specifications and the templates for notices to The MLC,” said Kris Ahrend, CEO of The MLC. “These resources are all on The MLC’s website, and our DSP Relations Team is available to answer any questions about them that DSPs might have. All of this should ensure that currently-operating DSPs are in a position to begin operating under the new blanket license starting on January 1, 2021.”
Music Community Applauds Omnibus COVID-19 Relief Bill, Step Forward On DMCA Reform
/by LB CantrellBenjamin Franklin With Worried and Concerned Expression Wearing Medical Face Mask On One Hundred Dollar Bill.
In addition to the victory of the Save Our Stages Act being included in the $900 billion COVID relief stimulus package that Congress reached an agreement on Monday (Dec. 22), the bill also included good news on other music-industry related legislation.
The Save Our Stages Act will provide $15 billion in aid to qualified live venues, independent movie theaters, talent representatives, and cultural institutions who have faced unmeasurable challenges since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Also included in the omnibus budget appropriation passed late Monday night was The CASE Act (Copyright Alternative in Small Claims Enforcement Act). The CASE Act allows songwriters and publishers to press copyright infringement claims without going through a lawsuit, by creating a three-judge panel Copyright Claims Board at the Copyright Office that would hear and rule on claims where damages would be capped at $15,000 per claim and $30,000 in total.
Congress also made streaming of copyrighted work, without the proper licensing, a felony, with the Protect Lawful Streaming Act. This allows the Department of Justice to file charges against digital services that provide such material for financial gain. It excludes individual users from being prosecuted under the law.
Among the six Republican senators who voted against the bill was Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn, along with, Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Rick Scott of Florida, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Mike Lee of Utah, and Ted Cruz of Texas.
President Donald Trump’s signature is required for the above legislation to become law.
The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM), Artist Rights Alliance (ARA), Music Artists Coalition (MAC), Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), Recording Academy, Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), SAG-AFTRA, and Songwriters of North America (SONA) issued the following statement on the passage of the omnibus bill:
The National Independent Talent Organization (NITO), the non-profit organization comprised of over 100 independent booking agencies and 140 independent management firms, were also included in the legislation.
NITO President / High Road Touring exec, Frank Riley, offered the following statement:
Further, 22 music community organizations released the following statement on Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property Chairman Thom Tillis’ proposal to restore balance to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), so that it can best achieve its objective to address online infringement while continuing to foster the growth of internet-based services:
NMPA President & CEO, David Israelite, also offered the following statement: “We commend Congress for passing key legislation within today’s Omnibus bill that will help creators. The CASE Act provides a reasonable and needed pathway to justice for everyone from songwriters to photographers whose work is being used unlawfully. Additionally, the Protecting Lawful Streaming Act is crucial to enforcing copyrights by fixing the streaming ‘loophole,’ which has allowed rogue enterprises to run rampant and profit without the necessary law enforcement tools to prosecute them. Now, criminal penalties for illegal streaming will be aligned with illegal downloading and distribution. Both of these bills are important steps forward for the music industry and larger creative community and will allow songwriters to better enforce their rights. We sincerely appreciate Congressman Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Senator Thom Tillis’ (R-NC) leadership on these issues.”
BMI’s President & CEO, Mike O’Neill, offered: “We’re grateful that Congress has come together and passed this much needed relief package which will help many who have been impacted by this pandemic, including the songwriters and composers who have been hit particularly hard. This bill provides important relief for the self-employed, helps creators protect and enforce their rights, and importantly, provides funding for the live music venues which are so important to our songwriters’ livelihoods. We know there are still difficult months ahead, and BMI will continue working on behalf of our community, including advocating for any additional assistance needed to recover from the devastation caused by this pandemic.”
The Recording Academy’s Chair & Interim President/CEO, Harvey Mason jr., said: “The Recording Academy® is pleased that Congress heard the call of thousands of music creators and included protections for the music community in the omnibus bill. In addition to extended and improved unemployment benefits and small business loans for freelance creators, the package includes several bills which the Recording Academy, its members, and the larger music community advocated for. From the Save Our Stages Act, which provides a lifeline to performance venues and promoters, to the CASE Act, which creates an avenue for smaller creators to defend their copyrighted works, Congress has ensured that both music creators and those who act behind the scenes to bring music to life are given the support they need during this difficult time.”
The Artist Rights Alliance (ARA) commented: “As an organization by and for working artists and songwriters, we applaud Congress for making a down payment on the critical needs of a music community devastated by the pandemic. We are pleased the combined COVID relief bill and omnibus appropriations act includes economic assistance for venues and unemployment programs that determine benefit amounts by taking into account the multiple sources of income many songwriters and artists rely upon to earn a living wage.
We are also pleased that the bill includes measures to create a better music economy for the long term, including a small claims court for independent creators to use to ensure they are paid for the use of their work (the CASE Act) and a bill modernizing laws used to fight industrial scale piracy for the streaming age.”