The Country Music Hall of Fame^® and Museum will present an interview with Recording Academy Senior Vice President of Membership Services Nancy Shapiro at the sixth annual Louise Scruggs Memorial Forum on Monday, Dec. 3, 2012, at 6 p.m. in the Ford Theater. A reception will follow the program. The event is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. Visit countrymusichalloffame.org or call 615-416-2040 for details.

The forum interview with Shapiro, who has served over 25 years with the Recording Academy, will be hosted by Museum Editor Michael Gray. Since joining the Recording Academy, Shapiro has championed programs engaging music and education communities across the country. She is the highest ranking woman at the Recording Academy, the organization behind the Grammy Awards, the charitable MusiCares Foundation and more.

Based in Nashville and Los Angeles, she oversees all 12 of the Recording Academy chapters across the country, as well as the organization’s Corporate Governance, GRAMMY U, Producers & Engineers Wing and GRAMMY Professional Development arms. As a member of Nashville’s Music City Music Council, Shapiro played a major role in the development of Music Makes Us: The Nashville Music Education Project.

Made possible by the Gibson Foundation, the forum annually recognizes an individual who represents the legacy of pioneering agent-manager Louise Scruggs, the adoring wife and savvy business partner of Country Music Hall of Fame member Earl Scruggs. Previous honorees are Denise Stiff, Liz Thiels, Mary Martin, Bonnie Garner and Sarah Trahern.

Shania Twain still knows how to make a big entrance, even by Las Vegas standards.

To mark her arrival in Vegas yesterday (11/14) for the upcoming debut of her Caesars Palace show Shania: Still the One, the international superstar rode on horseback–along with a controlled “stampede” of more than 40 horses–up to the fountains at Caesars. Traffic on a portion of the famed Las Vegas Strip was shut down while fans and Caesars executives welcomed Twain to her new musical home.

Performances of Shania: Still the One begin at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on Dec. 1, with ticket prices ranging from $55-250 (plus fees). Show dates are included below, and tickets are available here. Shania: Still the One was developed by Twain, produced by AEG Live, and directed by Raj Kapoor.

Shania: Still the One dates:
Dec. 2012: 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15

March 2013: 19, 20, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29, 30

April 2013: 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10

Filmworkers, a post-production facility with offices in Chicago, Nashville, and Dallas, has announced the appointment of Robert Zimmerman as executive producer of the Nashville office, where he will oversee operations. Zimmerman brings more than 20 years experience to the role, including commercial, music video, and corporate media production.

“Rob Zimmerman enjoys wide respect among advertising agencies and production companies in Nashville and throughout the region,” said Filmworkers president Reid Brody. “Our clients will benefit greatly from his experience and insights as a producer in planningtheir projects. We are very excited to have him as a member of our team.”

Most recently, Zimmerman served as executive producer of Piranha Pictures, which he founded in 1995. His recent ad campaign productions include Farm Bureau Insurance and Tempur-Pedic.

In related news, Filmworkers has hired Kenny Barrickman as a producer in the Nashville office. He previously spent 10 years with the company, and his role will be working directly with clients to oversee projects passing through the facility.

Zimmerman’s plans for the facility include upgrades such as a “virtual” editing suite, close collaboration with other facilities in the Filmworkers family, and exploitation of the regional advertising market.

More info on Filmworkers here.

Lauren Alaina’s Surprise Birthday Prom
Lauren Alaina celebrated her 18^th birthday with a prom-themed party last weekend in her hometown. Friends and family in Rossville, GA surprised her with the party, and a dress to change in to, because she missed the prom while on tour. Teens with special needs were honored as prom kings and queens through one of her favorite organizations, Special Olympics Project Unify. Also in attendance was Jordan Trunfio, a high schooler with a brain tumor who was surprised when Lauren joined him at his homecoming dance. She just wrapped her 18-City-Inch-By-Inch Tour supporting current single “Eighteen Inches.” Next up, Lauren will vy for New Artist honors at the ACA Awards on Dec. 10 in Las Vegas.

Little Big Town Fights Hunger
Little Big Town volunteered at the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee recently. They were working in support of the Backpack program which provides meals for children. The initiative was part of ConAgra Foods’ Child Hunger Ends Here campaign, which helps raise awareness of the nearly 17 million kids in the U.S. impacted by hunger.

Krystal Keith Joins BMI
Krystal Keith stopped by BMI’s Nashville offices recently to celebrate becoming a BMI songwriter. It was her second time at the BMI offices in recent weeks. She joined dad Toby Keith at the BMI Country Awards, where he took home a plaque for his hit “Made in America.”

 

The musicFIRST Coalition and SoundExchange have released an open letter opposing the Internet Radio Fairness Act backed by Pandora and numerous other online radio outlets. Members of the Coalition include artists such as Zac Brown Band, Roger Waters, Rihanna, Jackson Browne, Sheryl Crow and organizations like The Recording Academy, SAG-AFTRA, AFM and more.

“We are big fans of Pandora. That’s why we helped give the company a discount on rates for the past decade,” says the letter. “Why is the company asking Congress once again to step in and gut the royalties that thousands of musicians rely upon? That’s not fair and that’s not how partners work together.”

The Internet Radio Fairness Act (IRFA) aims to equalize the royalty rate set by the Copyright Royalty Board and paid to artists being played by online radio, which would mean a significant reduction. Pandora claims to pay over 50% of its revenue in artist royalties to SoundExchange, considerably more than other radio formats. “The current law penalizes new media and is astonishingly unfair to internet radio,” says a statement on Pandora’s website. Pandora’s argument is that lowering rates will encourage webcasting and investment, and by extension, more discovery.

Of course, part of musicFIRST’s mission is to ensure artists are compensated by terrestrial radio stations, who at present pay only PRO licensing fees for songwriters and publishers and no artist royalties. It makes sense the group would want to prevent any reduction to artist payments, which it claims could be cut by up to 85% if IRFA passes.

“This issue is critical to the tens-of-thousands of recording artists we represent – all of whom rely on this digital performance revenue stream to make a living,” says SoundExchange President Michael Huppe. “It is important that we protect artists and the long-term value of their music, which is, after all, the foundation of Internet radio.”

Pandora also recently filed a lawsuit against ASCAP, seeking lower fees in the performances of its copyrighted works.