Music agent Bobby Cudd has joined WME’s Nashville office. A well-known agent, especially in Americana music circles, Cudd brings to WME a roster that includes David Rawlings, The Doyle & Debbie Show, Gillian Welch, I’m With HER, Junior Brown, Kasey Chambers, Old Crow Medicine Show, Robert Earl Keen, Ricky Skaggs, Sarah Jarosz and more.

“Bobby Cudd is one of the most well-known and beloved agents in Nashville, and we are thrilled that he has decided to join our team,” said Jay Williams, partner and co-head of WME’s Nashville office.

After arriving in Nashville four decades ago to support his South Carolinian friends in uncle walt’s band, Cudd carved out a niche in the music industry, working with a diverse range of clients over the course of his career. He spent nearly three decades at Monterey Peninsula Artists (which would later become Paradigm Talent Agency) before moving to Billions in 2016. Among other achievements, Cudd is a former CMA board member, an alumnus of Leadership Music, and a past recipient of the IEBA Talent Agent of the Year award.

A&R pioneer Dorothy Carvello will discuss her new book, Anything For a Hit: An A&R Woman’s Story of Surviving the Music Industry, during an event hosted by music industry organization Change the Conversation on March 20 at 6 p.m. at Analog At Hutton Hotel in Nashville.

Change The Conversation was launched in 2014 by Nashville music industry executives Tracy Gershon, Leslie Fram and Beverly Keel and is committed to fighting gender inequality within the country music industry.

“I’m excited to engage Nashville as it is now the creative hub for music,” says Carvello. “We are at a defining moment right now with the treatment of female artists at country radio. Who will stand for the women now, and be on the right side of history?”

Carvello began working in the music industry in 1987, as a secretary to Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun; Carvello rose through the ranks to become the label’s first female A&R exec. She also worked with some of the most well-known music executives, including Doug Morris, Irving Azoff, Joe Galante and Don Ienner, at Atlantic, Giant, RCA, Columbia and Relativity.

According to the New York Times, Carvello’s book “goes a long way toward explaining the culture of misogyny that, at best, looked the other way as women were mistreated and, at worst, cultivated abuse.”

“I am hearing stories of sexual harassment and bullying from women and men in the past and present music industry,” Carvello says. “We have abusers currently working in our business. Time’s Up. Every woman has a story of sexual harassment. I want the women entering this business to see my story as a cautionary tale, and embrace the list of what I learned at the end of my book. It’s a road map for proper work place behavior.”

She will also sign copies of her book at the event, which is free and open to the public. RSVPs for the event can be sent to officialchangetheconvo@gmail.com.

The National Music Publishers Association is taking to task Spotify’s recent blog post, which attempted to explain the streaming service’s appeal of the Copyright Royalty Board’s (CRB) royalty rate determinations. Google, Pandora and Amazon have also filed notices of intention to appeal; notably, Apple Music has not appealed the ruling.

The CRB’s final rate determination, which was released in February, would increase the payments from digital services to songwriters and music publishers by 44 percent over four years (2018 through 2022), increasing the rate writers and publishers receive from 10.5 percent to 15.1 percent of digital revenues.

National Music Publishers’ Association’s chief David Israelite released the following information on the organization’s official blog on Tuesday (March 12), with a point-by-point rebuttal to Spotify’s reasons for appealing the CRB ruling.

SPOTIFY:  Is Spotify suing songwriters? No, Spotify is not suing songwriters. Spotify, Amazon, Google, and Pandora have each individually appealed the CRB outcome. The National Music Publishers’ Association, or NMPA, also filed an appeal. An appeal is the only avenue for anyone to clarify elements of the CRB ruling.

NMPA: Spotify is appealing the decision of the CRB to the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit in order to reduce or eliminate the royalty rate increases granted to songwriters by the CRB.  It’s that simple.  Everything else –including Spotify’s attempt to describe its filing as “clarifying elements” of a ruling—is misleading spin.

Simple question for Spotify – do you want to reduce or eliminate the rate increase?  If the answer is anything but an unqualified “no,” then all songwriters should see right through Spotify’s attempt to divert and distract. Further, NMPA made clear it would not appeal unless the digital services appealed first. If the digital companies withdraw their appeal, so will NMPA.

SPOTIFY:  Does Spotify think songwriters deserve to be paid more? Yes – this is important to songwriters and it’s important to Spotify. The industry needs to continue evolving to ensure that the people who create the music we all love — artists and songwriters — can earn a living. The question is how best to achieve that goal.

NMPA: Let’s start with the most obvious falsehood. Spotify put on a case at the CRB trial where it had an opportunity to propose any rate structure it wanted. Did Spotify propose paying songwriters more? No. Spotify actually proposed a REDUCTION from the old rates. If Spotify thinks songwriters deserve to be paid more, and it’s just a question of by how much and how best to achieve that goal, why did it propose to the CRB to CUT what songwriters earn? Spotify claims songwriters deserve to be paid more, but Spotify fought in the CRB to cut rates, and now Spotify is fighting in an appeal to prevent the rate increase ordered by the CRB. Spotify should understand that actions speak louder than words. There is no way to spin this Spotify.

SPOTIFY:  Do you support the CRB rates? We are supportive of US effective rates rising to 15 percent between now and 2022 provided they cover the right scope of publishing rights. But the CRB’s 15 percent rate doesn’t account for all these rights. For example, it doesn’t consider the cost of rights for videos and lyrics.

NMPA: Spotify’s answer is an attempt to trick you. Let’s be clear, Spotify knows Section 115 doesn’t include the video and lyric rights of songwriters. So, Spotify tries to fool you into thinking it supports the 15 percent rate as long as it includes the “right scope” of rights, and then names two rights over which the CRB has no authority. The CRB ordered a 15.1 percent rate for ONLY the Section 115 mechanical reproduction rights structure. If Spotify wants the video and lyric rights of songwriters, Spotify knows it has to negotiate for those rights in a free market, on TOP of the Section 115 compulsory rate. What Spotify is saying is that it doesn’t want to pay any more for your lyric or video rights, even though every other digital service must do just that.  No one should be fooled by this smokescreen.

SPOTIFY:  So why is Spotify appealing? The CRB rate structure is complex and there were significant flaws in how it was set. A key area of focus in our appeal will be the fact that the CRB’s decision makes it very difficult for music services to offer “bundles” of music and non-music offerings. This will hurt consumers who will lose access to them. These bundles are key to attracting first-time music subscribers so we can keep growing the revenue pie for everyone.

NMPA: Let’s talk about “bundles.” Spotify complains it will be difficult for music services to offer “bundles” of music and non-music offerings under the new rate structure.

Let’s be straight about how Spotify (and Amazon) want “bundles” to work. Say that Spotify wants to partner with a non-music service, like a gym. You join the gym, and pay $50 every month, and you get Spotify for “free,” something that would cost $10 a month if you paid for it alone. Let’s also say the rate stays at the 15 percent of revenue. For a music service alone, Spotify would owe the songwriters/publishers 15 percent x $10 which would equal $1.50. Simple, right? So if the $10 Spotify service is “bundled” with a $50 a month gym membership, and the rate is 15 percent, how much should Spotify pay the songwriters/publishers? Under the CRB ruling, Spotify would have to value the music service at $10 per month, and still owe $1.50. That’s what Spotify calls “flawed.” So, how does Spotify want it to work? Spotify wants to be able to “deduct” the value of the non-music value from the revenue pool, before applying the rate. So, if the gym membership is arguably worth $50, Spotify wants to claim that the value of the music service is then $0, and 15 percent of $0 is … well… you get the picture.

Spotify tries to deceive songwriters into thinking “bundles,” a topic few people understand well, is driving its decision to appeal, and makes NO mention of intending to fight against the rate increase.

SPOTIFY:  So what’s the right way to split the pie? Music services, artists, songwriters and all other rightsholders share the same revenue stream, and it’s natural for everyone to want a bigger piece of that pie. But that cannot come at the expense of continuing to grow the industry via streaming. The CRB judges set the new publishing rates by assuming that record labels would react by reducing their licensing rates, but their assumption is incorrect. However, we are willing to support an increase in songwriter royalties provided the license encompasses the right scope of publishing rights.

NMPA: Ok – there is spin, and then there is black and white falsehood. Spotify alleges the CRB judges “assumed” record labels would react to the publisher rate increase by reducing their rates. Not only is that not true, the judges wrote the opposite in their opinion. For those who want to fact check, read footnote 75 on page 35 of the CRB’s Final Determination. The truth is that unlike songwriters, Spotify and record labels are in a free market. What Spotify pays record labels is negotiated between the parties. How those two parties split the 85 percent of revenue left over after paying songwriters and publishers their 15 percent of revenue is irrelevant and has no relationship to the value of the songs to Spotify’s business model. Simple solution – let songwriters and publishers negotiate the value of their copyright the same way that record labels do – but Spotify opposes that.

SPOTIFY:  We hope this helps explain why we took this step, and what you can expect from Spotify as the industry works together moving forward. These are hard issues but we will listen and be open about what we think. Our mission is clear: we want to help more artists and songwriters make a living doing what they love.

NMPA: What can we expect from Spotify?  We can expect them to attack songwriters to cut what it pays them, and then try to deceive you about what it is doing.  Yes – Spotify’s mission IS clear. And for songwriters, and those who care about songwriters, our mission is clear too. This fight has just started.

Sea Gayle Music and BMG Nashville have signed country band Leaving Austin to a co-publishing deal, which encompasses the group’s catalog and future works.

“Leaving Austin has their fingers firmly planted on the pulse of where the country format is heading,” remarked Jake Gear, Senior Creative Director, BMG Nashville. “Their songs are made for radio, and their live show for arenas. I’ve been a fan of these guys for quite some time – and thrilled to partner with them alongside Chris & Marc at Sea Gayle.”

The California trio, which comprises Austin Machado, Davis Forney and Michael Stevens and has earned more than 5.5 million streams, will release their EP Southern Gold on April 12. Their single “Nothing But You” earned more than 1 million streams and they recently released the track “She Can.”

“I have been working with the Leaving Austin guys in the writers room and the studio over the last year or more and have been blown away by their talent, artistic vision and chemistry as a band,” commented Sea Gayle’s Chris DuBois. “Sea Gayle is excited to partner with BMG and represent Leaving Austin in the publishing world. Big things are coming for this band and we are proud to be part of it.”

“Our passion for creating music together has brought us through six years of writing and recording songs at night, touring on the weekends and working on dairy farms and in coffee shops during the day,” Stevens remarks. “We recorded our first album in a bedroom and did it all on our own. We have always known, no matter how long this takes, we’re doing this, and we’re just beyond grateful to now have the folks at BMG and Sea Gayle to come along side of us and believe in us.”

Leaving Austin’s independently-released EP’s, Leaving Austin and That Feel Good, have over 3.5 million streams to date. The band has opened shows for Michael Ray, Josh Turner, Thompson Square, Parmalee, Cassadee Pope, Chris Lane, Brett Young, Joe Nichols, Eric Paslay and more.

Through these local shows, the band caught the attention of Steve Pleshe, Program Director at Fresno’s Kiss Country/KSKS, and his popular morning show duo, Gnarley Charley and Jody Jo.

“We’ve been fans of Leaving Austin from the beginning,” remarked Pleshe. “They have a great sound that is going to fit in perfectly with country radio. I can’t wait to brag about them when they get their first No. 1.”