Tay Keith turns up the volume on one of his produced tracks Wednesday, Sept. 29, on the campus of his alma mater, Middle Tennessee State University, during a special sneak-peek visit to the MTSU Department of Recording Industry’s new studios on campus. Listening behind him are a group of MTSU students and university president Sidney A. McPhee. Photo: Cat Curtis Murphy/MTSU

Middle Tennessee State University has opened a new set of recording studios for its students in the Department of Recording Industry.

The new studios are located nearby to the university’s original free-standing studio, opened a few years after MTSU’s recording industry program awarded its first bachelor’s degree in 1974. The new MTSU studios, Studios D and E, contain nearly 5,000 square feet of customized, expandable, “world-class” space, complete with control rooms, equipment rooms and an open gathering/reception area.

The combination control room and working classroom of the Department of Recording Industry’s new Studio E at Middle Tennessee State University, with the recording studio visible through the window, is a mirror image of the adjoining Studio D in the East Main Building on campus. The department relocated and customized two expandable recording facilities for students in a nearly $2 million studio project, which covers almost 5,000 square feet of recording space, control rooms, equipment rooms and an open gathering/reception area. Photo: J. Intintoli/MTSU

“These are going to be extraordinarily valuable,” department chair John Merchant said of the nearly $2 million facilities. “It’s a massive upgrade from where we were; the previous studios were very modest.”

2018 graduate BryTavious “Tay Keith” Chambers was recently invited back to campus to get a sneak peek of the new facilities. Tay Keith is a Memphis native and an Integrated Studies graduate of MTSU’s University College. The same month that he graduated from MTSU, a track he co-produced, Travis Scott’s “SICKO MODE,” went double Platinum and No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and he was nominated for two Grammy Awards.

Since then the 25 year-old has seen “Sicko Mode” reach Diamond-sales status; worked with artists including Drake, BlocBoy JB, Wiz Khalifa, Future, Beyonce, DJ Khaled, Miley Cyrus, Gucci Mane, Lil Nas X and Lil Baby; and was included in Billboard’s 50 Greatest Producers of the 21st Century list.

Pictured (L-R): Tyland Jackson; Cambrian Strong; Tay Keith; MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee; Nick Brownlow; College of Media and Entertainment Dean Beverly Keel; and John Merchant, chair of the Department of Recording Industry. Photo: Cat Curtis Murphy/MTSU

Also at the tour of the new facilities was MTSU student and Tay Keith’s stylist, Tyland Jackson; Tay Keith’s manager, former MTSU student and Howard University grad, Cambrian Strong; and MTSU alumnus, Tay Keith’s PR director and executive at their Drumatized record label and production company, Nick Brownlow.

“I love these ceilings. The sound’s going to be tight,” Chambers said after listening to recordings, inspecting equipment and answering a handful of students’ questions in a studio control room, then walking out and gazing up nearly 17 feet in the recording area.

Merchant and the college named both Tay Keith and Brownlow “honorary professors” in the recording industry department during their visit, citing their devotion to completing their own education as well as educating future students with scholarships, internships, classes and other opportunities.

“We’re all graduates of MTSU and appreciate the university supporting us like this,” Tay Keith said. “We’re connecting the dots from MTSU and education to the culture.”

Britney Spears and Madonna perform at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. Photo: John Shearer

Cryptograph, the luxury and celebrity NFT auction platform, will release an NFT featuring the iconic image of Britney Spears and Madonna‘s onstage kiss at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. The original image was captured by veteran photographer John Shearer, who has now partnered with Cryptograph to immortalize the moment into an exclusive NFT.

Shot at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on August 28, 2003, the kiss between Madonna and Spears was one of the most iconic moments in award show history. Spears, who was 21 at the time, opened the show by singing Madonna’s “Like a Virgin,” coming out of a wedding cake, dressed just like Madonna in her 1987 VMAs performance. The image caught the attention of nearly every major publication and TV outlet around the world.

Shearer is a Nashville-based photographer who has photographed a myriad of entertainers throughout his career. He was profiled in MusicRow‘s August/September print issue, available for purchase here.

The Kiss NFT will go live Thursday, Oct. 7 at 12 p.m. CT for 72 hours, exclusively at www.cryptograph.co. A percentage of revenue will benefit GLAAD-a nonprofit organization devoted to countering discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community.

The AIMP Nashville Chapter will be hosting a Legends of Music Row webinar this Thursday (Oct. 7) at 3 p.m. CT. The online event is free with registration required via Zoom.

Moderator Leeds Levy of Leeds Music will lead a conversation with Music Row mainstays David Conrad, Karen Conrad, and Pat Rolfe. The group will discuss the days of old and how each of them made a name for themselves in Nashville’s music industry.

David Conrad’s career spans over thirty five years in the music publishing business. He has played a major role in the development of Nashville as one of the world’s primary songwriting capitals. In 1981, Conrad opened the Nashville office of Almo (ASCAP) and Irving Music (BMI), the publishing arm of A&M Records. Through his direction, the company became a leader in cultivating songwriting of all genres placing hundreds of songs not only on the country music charts but pop, adult contemporary and R&B as well.

Karen Conrad began her career in the music industry as receptionist for the Hubert Long Agency, where she quickly discovered working with creatives and joined the world of songwriting and publishing. After working in promotion at Mercury Records and handling tour coordination and publishing administration for Jimmy Buffett’s Coral Reefer Music, BMG Music Publishing appointed her to head its Nashville office. After a decade at BMG and rising to Sr. Vice President, Conrad retired in 2007.

Rolfe began her career with Lamar Fike at Hill & Range songs in 1966 where she stayed through 1972. That year she was elevated to General Manager, becoming one of the first females to head a major publishing company. In 1975, Chappell Music purchased the Hill & Range companies and Rolfe joined Chappell Music where she rose to the position of Vice President. In 1987, Connie Bradley offered her the position of Director of Membership Relations and she remained with ASCAP, rising to the position of Vice President, until 2010. She co-founded SOURCE Nashville and the Music Row Ladies Golf Tournament.

President of Leeds Music, Levy serves as co-chair of ASCAP’s Survey & Distribution Committee and as a member of ASCAP’s Strategic Planning, Governance and Legislative committees. Beginning his career in music publishing at ASCAP, Levy also spent time at MCA Music Publishing as MCA’s head of creative. Later appointed President of MCA’s worldwide operations, Levy grew the firm’s revenues sixfold by opening multiple offices in key global music markets, launching three separate and successful multi-genre record labels as well as in-house record production.

Jameson Rodgers. Photo: Matthew Berinato

Jameson Rodgers has reached the top of the Billboard Country Airplay and Mediabase/Country Aircheck charts this week with his latest hit, “Cold Beer Calling My Name” featuring Luke Combs. The song is his second consecutive No. 1, and marks the first time Rodgers has topped the charts as an artist with a track he also co-penned.

“The only thing better than writing a No. 1 song is writing a No. 1 song with your friends,” says Rodgers, who co-wrote the track with Hunter Phelps, Brett Tyler, and Alysa Vanderheym. “I can’t believe we get to do this for a living. I’m proud of this song and this team.”

“Cold Beer Calling My Name” has earned more than 104 million on-demand streams, and follows Rodgers’ Platinum-certified debut No. 1 single “Some Girls.” Both tracks appear on his recently released debut album, Bet You’re From a Small Town.

Rodgers recently spoke to MusicRow about the new project and the journey to his debut record, saying: “The last two or thee years have been an absolute whirlwind. They call it a 10 year town, I’ve been here 11, so I hit it right on the head.” To read the full interview, click here.

Rodgers is currently crossing the country on his “Cold Beer Calling My Name” tour with upcoming stops in New York, Philadelphia, Knoxville, and more through December.