ACM Lifting Lives and the Academy of Country Music announced today (April 8) the ACM Lifting Lives COVID-19 Response Fund allocated $1 million in less than a week following the ACM Presents: Our Country special that aired Sunday, April 5 on CBS. The special was viewed by early 8 million music fans around the country, and featured at-home acoustic performances from country artists, along with clips from past ACM Awards moments and an introduction of the ACM Lifting Lives COVID-19 Response Fund.
Since the announcement, $1 million was raised thanks to ACM Lifting Lives sponsors FirstNet, Built with AT&T and Amazon Music, and donors, including The Bobby Bones Show, City National Bank, and other individuals. The ACM Lifting Lives COVID-19 Response Fund—which was created to assist individuals working in the country music industry who are suffering a financial crisis as a result of the pandemic—began with an initial endowment of $250,000, matched $250,000 in outside support, and is now contributing another $250,000 due to the need of applicants. To date, more than $500,000 has been distributed to country music industry professionals who demonstrate immediate financial needs due to COVID-19 and meet the outlined criteria.
“In less than 48 hours, ACM Lifting Lives was able to send financial support to hundreds of applicants with the ACM Lifting Lives COVID-19 Response Fund at an expedited pace,” said Lyndsay Cruz, Executive Director of ACM Lifting Lives. “A huge thank you to our generous private corporate donors, partners, and many individual industry leaders for their contributions. Because of them, ACM Lifting Lives matched donations to aid those in the county music community during these extraordinary times. We are hopeful to continue supporting future applicants with this fund and thank you to all for the support.”
It was also announced that ACM Presents: Our Country will rebroadcast Saturday, April 11 at 7:00 p.m. CT on the CBS Television Network and on CBS All Access. The special features performances from Kelsea Ballerini, Dierks Bentley, Kane Brown & John Legend, Luke Bryan, Brandi Carlile, Eric Church, Luke Combs, Sheryl Crow, Florida Georgia Line, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town, Tim McGraw, Old Dominion, Brad Paisley & Darius Rucker, Thomas Rhett, Blake Shelton & Gwen Stefani, Shania Twain, Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban. Additionally, the special will honor 10-time ACM Award winner Kenny Rogers with performances by Luke Bryan, Brad Paisley and Darius Rucker.
“The Academy thanks the artists that participated in the special as they brought comfort and music to nearly 8 million people in this time of uncertainty,” said Damon Whiteside, CEO of the Academy of Country Music. “The show also spread the message about the good work of ACM Lifting Lives through the generosity of our artists and partners, and directed viewers to our ACMOurCountry.com website where they can apply or discover how to support this important cause.”
The ACM Presents: Our Country Pre-Show is available to watch via the ACM Facebook, YouTube and the newly launched ACMOurCountry.com website. Lauren Alaina, Ingrid Andress, Gabby Barrett, Lee Brice, Blanco Brown, Lindsay Ell, Riley Green, Mickey Guyton, Caylee Hammack, Ashley McBryde, Jake Owen, Carly Pearce, and Tenille Townes appear on the Our Country Pre-Show. The Pre-Show also pays tribute to 6-time ACM Award nominee Joe Diffie, who passed away due to complications with COVID-19, with a special performance by Chris Young.
For more information about the COVID-19 Response Fund including corporate partnerships, visit ACMLiftingLives.org.
Victoria Shaw To Hold Virtual Garage Sale For ‘Show-Business’ Relics On Saturday
/by LB CantrellVictoria Shaw
Award winning songwriter, producer and music business professional Victoria Shaw will be holding a virtual garage sale of various ‘show-business’ relics on Saturday, April 11 at 3 p.m. CST on her Facebook page.
“I have so many fun things in my music room that I have collected and enjoyed literally since childhood, probably, but it’s time to let it go,” Shaw said in a Facebook video.
Shaw detailed that some items that will be up for grabs are assorted Spice Girls dolls, John Stamos puzzles, Gold records, vintage magazines, and other ‘show-business’ relics.
Shaw is the writer of such No. 1 hits as ”The River” (Garth Brooks) and “Nobody Wants To Be Lonely” (Ricky Martin & Christina Aguilera), an ACM winner, and a two-time Emmy award-winner. Shaw also co-produced Lady Antebellum’s double Platinum debut, which was nominated for two Grammy Awards and earned her a CMA Award for Single of the Year for “I Run to You.”
MusicRow’s Newly Launched Live Stream Calendar Grows Exponentially In First Week
/by Sherod RobertsonIn its first week, MusicRow’s newly launched Live Stream Calendar proves to be Nashville music industry’s comprehensive aggregation of country music’s live streamed appearances with over 80 current listings. The calendar is updated daily.
To submit a live stream to appear on the calendar, email news@musicrow.com with the artists’ name, date of live stream, time in CST format, platform in which the live stream will be taking place (with links), and a one sentence description of the live stream (if applicable.)
The Live Stream Calendar can easily be assessed by going to musicrow.com and clicking on title in the top menu.
The listings selected for the Live Stream Calendar are at the sole discretion of MusicRow Magazine.
Industry Ink: 117 Music, Visionary Media Group, Beatdapp
/by Jessica Nicholson117 Music Launches
Zach Farnum‘s 117 Entertainment Group, which includes publicity, management, artist development and live entertainment services, has launched 117 Music as a digital distribution and label services component of the firm. 117 has teamed with music distribution company The Orchard for global digital distribution and will offer artists services including marketing, sync and more.
Max DaCosta will add the role of Label Manager to his continued role as day-to-day Artist Manager. The first releases on the new venture will come from Scooter Brown Band, Honey County and singer/songwriter Paul Bogart.
Visionary Media Group Promotes Cory B. Savage To CEO
Cory B. Savage
Visionary Media Group (VMG) has promoted Cory B. Savage to CEO of the entertainment and media company. Savage previously served as CEO for its subsidiary record label One Vision Music Group. In his new role, he will continue to oversee the labels operations which includes executing music publishing, sync licensing, legal expertise and finance services for a roster that includes Kree Harrison. He will also direct VMG’s film production and scores in addition to forth coming music projects. The VMG team, guided under the direction of President Ronald Zamber, M.D., features the expertise of fellow team members Senior Advisor Nick Sciorra and Chief Financial Officer Robert Grenley.
Visionary Media Group’s film productions and scores have been featured across a body of work that includes performances by Paul Rudd, James Franco, Bryan Cranston, Robert Duvall, Vincent D’Onofrio, Selena Gomez, Ed Harris, Sam Shepard, Jeremy Renner, Alec Baldwin Anjelica Houston, Josh Hartnett, Mira Sorvino, Finn Wittrock, Josh Peck, Aubrey Peeples, Valerie Cruz and Robbie Kay.
Joe Galante Joins Beatdapp Advisory Board
Joe Galante
Beatdapp has announced that industry veteran Joe Galante has joined its Advisory Board. Beatdapp is a company that has been supported by the Nashville Entrepreneur Center’s Project Music initiative.
“Unique networking is one way we help,” said Jane Allen, president and CEO of Nashville Entrepreneur Center. “We ask industry experts to give their time and resources to educate and work with our teams. When teams like Beatdapp, build their companies to the degree that experts like Joe Galante want to join their boards, this is something we celebrate. We look forward to our continued work with Beatdapp as it grows.”
TikTok Commits $375 Million To Coronavirus Relief
/by Jessica Nicholson“We are committed to playing our part in that global outpouring of mutual support and giving,” TikTok president Alex Zhu wrote in a blog post. “We want to magnify all we are seeing across our community and translate it into concrete relief for those most affected by this crisis.”
The post detailed TikTok’s contributions, which are outlined below:
TikTok Health Heroes Relief Fund: Health care workers are the heroes of this global battle, and deserving heroes within the TikTok community. We are passionate about our small role in supporting their efforts through the provision of $150M in funds toward medical staffing, supplies, and hardship relief for health care workers. These distributions will be focused on local organizations to support local health workers. For example, we’re partnering with the CDC Foundation to donate $15M toward supporting surge staffing for local response efforts through state and local health departments. We’re also looking to assist global health workers, including our $10M contribution to the WHO COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. Our employee matching program will deliver aid to organizations including Direct Relief and the Red Cross. And we are working with global and local partners to distribute masks and other personal protective equipment to hospitals across India, Indonesia, Italy, South Korea, and the US, among other hard-hit countries.
TikTok Community Relief Fund: We are all operating in uncertain times, and vulnerable communities have been deeply impacted by the health and economic damage caused by this crisis. To provide critical relief to these communities, TikTok will allot $40M in cash to local organizations that serve groups representative of TikTok’s diverse user communities, including musicians, artists, nurses, educators, and families that have come together on our platform. And since we’re all in this together, we will be further matching $10M in donations from our community to support the community. Through this fund we’re supporting programs like After-School All-Stars, where we have already donated $3M to provide food for families who rely upon school lunch programs affected by school closures across the US, and $2M to MusiCares to support artists, songwriters, and music professionals whose livelihoods have been severely impacted as a result of cancelled performance and gig work.
TikTok Creative Learning Fund: With tens of millions of students around the world out of school, educators and parents need help facilitating ongoing learning from a distance. The same is true for the millions of creative professionals, from nonprofits like museums to those in the wellness industry, who were suddenly forced to find new ways to connect with people who depend on their services. Creative educational content on platforms like TikTok can help, and we will be providing $50M in grants to educators, professional experts, and nonprofits whose real-world skills and expertise can help spread educational information and useful course material in an accessible, distance learning format.
Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews To Appear On ‘At Home With Farm Aid’ COVID Benefit
/by Lorie HollabaughPictured (L-R): Willie, Micah, and Lukas Nelson. Photo: Janis Tillerson.
Farm Aid and AXS TV are presenting a special broadcast of At Home With Farm Aid, featuring performances by Farm Aid Board Members Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Dave Matthews, on Saturday, April 11 at 8 p.m. ET. The hour-long live event reunites Farm Aid president Nelson, joined by sons Lukas and Micah, with Mellencamp, Young, and Matthews for an intimate performance to raise funds and awareness for farmers impacted by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The unique concert captures the quartet as they each tune in from their own homes and studios to deliver an unforgettable night of music. At Home With Farm Aid airs as part of AXS TV’s new “@Home And Social” initiative, an ongoing series giving artists a platform to broadcast live performances from their homes and studios directly to their fans, with proceeds supporting those in need from the coronavirus. Viewers can enjoy the simulcast on AXS TV and at farmaid.org, as well as across the network’s various social media platforms.
“The coronavirus has disrupted our entire country and is a grave threat to all of us. One of its many impacts is that it has helped us to better see the value of essential people like healthcare workers, grocery store clerks, delivery truck drivers, and farmers and ranchers,” said Nelson. “Farm Aid has worked for 35 years to build a family farm centered agricultural system, and we are here now to support farmers and ranchers in this crisis, without whom we could not eat. The time to build a resilient family farm food system is now!”
Viewers can also relive performances from Nelson, Mellencamp, Young, Matthews and more when AXS TV presents The Best Of Farm Aid 2019 on Sunday, April 12, at 8 p.m. ET. The special compiles footage from AXS TV’s live broadcast of the 2019 festival, giving viewers the best seat in the house for hit-packed sets from Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Margo Price, Yola and Lukas Nelson & Promise Of The Real, among others, as well as Bonnie Raitt‘s previously-unaired performance of “Devil Got My Woman.”
With COVID-19 presenting farmers across the country with a new set of challenges to overcome, Farm Aid is responding immediately to invest in farmer-led solutions to the COVID-19 crisis, including making emergency grants to farmers and ranchers in need, creating comprehensive resources for farmers, connecting farmers to legal, financial, and mental health support resources, supporting local, state, and national farm organizations, and advocating for COVID-19 recovery funds and resources from the federal government for short-term relief and long-term resilience. To make a donation so that Farm Aid can support and strengthen our farmers, visit farmaid.org/donate.
Scotty McCreery’s "Five More Minutes" Video Hits 100 Million Mark For YouTube Views
/by Lorie HollabaughScotty McCreery. Photo: Jeff Ray
Scotty McCreery‘s video for “Five More Minutes” has now garnered more than 100 million views on YouTube.
The video, directed by filmmaker Jeff Ray, featured rare footage of McCreery growing up with family and friends and peaked at No. 1 on both the CMT Hot 20 Countdown and the GAC Top 20 Countdown. Ray also directed McCreery’s videos for his second No. 1 hit “This is It” (nearing 60 million videos views on YouTube) and his current top 15 single “In Between,” in addition to directing all three acoustic videos from his recent digital EP, The Soundcheck Sessions.
“Jeff Ray went through hundreds of hours of rare family footage and perfectly captured what ‘Five More Minutes’ was all about,” said McCreery. “I wanted the video to feel as intimate as the song that I wrote with Frank and Monty, and Jeff did an incredible job of presenting some very personal moments that visually gave the song a different dimension. When I saw what he did with the ‘Five More Minutes’ video, I knew I loved his creative vision and wanted him to direct all the music videos from the Seasons Change album.”
“Five More Minutes” was McCreery’s first No.1 hit on both Mediabase/Country Aircheck Country Singles Chart and Billboard Country Airplay Chart. He wrote it with Frank Rogers (who also produced the song) and Monty Criswell, and it was the lead single from his album Seasons Change, which debuted at No.1 on the Billboard Country Albums Chart.
Country Radio Hall Of Fame Induction Rescheduled
/by Jessica NicholsonCountry Radio Broadcasters (CRB) has rescheduled the 2020 Country Radio Hall of Fame induction and dinner, which was originally set for June 24, has been moved to Thursday, Sept. 3 at Nashville’s Westin Hotel.
As previously announced, the 2020 Country Radio Hall of Fame inductees will include three off-air radio broadcasters and three on-air radio personalities. The off-air honorees include Jim Duncan, Victor Sansone and George Beasley. The on-air honorees include Tim Wilson, Chuck Edwards and Mark “Hawkeye” Louis. Country Radio Hall of Fame honorees must have made a significant contribution to the radio industry over a 20-year period, in which 15 of those must have been in the country radio format.
CRB’s Board President, Kurt Johnson, commented, “For the safety of our country family attending the ceremony, we are delaying the CRHOF event, and encourage everyone to stay safe. I want to say congratulations to the Class of 2020. While we are sad to hold off an evening celebrating you, it will definitely be all the sweeter when we can gather later. See you then!”
Kory Caudill Launches Inside Music Nashville
/by Jessica NicholsonPictured (Back row): Matt Reviere, Roger Lee Coleman II, Donnie Marple, Dave Dubas. Front row: Martin ‘Bucky’ Seja, Marc Costanzo, Kory Caudill
Production and songwriting company Inside Music Nashville has opened in Music City, spearheaded by producer/keyboardist and arranger Kory Caudill. Also joining the new company is writer and music publishing executive Marc Costanzo, as well as Matt Williams, who will serve as General Manager. Inside Music Nashville is located at 2741 Larmon Drive in Nashville.
“When Marc and I first met, what stood out the most was how important roots are to both of us,” said Caudill. “Marc is an absolute guru when it comes to writing and producing pop music. He’s also bringing to Inside Music Nashville many of the resources from his world, including his longtime R&B and Hip Hop production partner, Martin ‘Bucky’ Seja.”
“It’s a real pleasure to bring together the knowledge, resources, and personnel from both Kory and Marc’s vastly different cultural, musical and business backgrounds,” said Williams. “We are looking forward to bringing together two different worlds of music and business and working together towards a common goal.”
Caudill adds, “I couldn’t be more excited about the team we’ve put together. When working with Marc and Bucky, there’s an endless amount of hooks, ideas and production coming out of these guys daily. We’re looking forward to welcoming writers and Nashville-based publishers who want to jump in on some ideas and collaborations with us. While social distancing guidelines have us temporarily away from the studio, we’ve always been setup for high quality remote work and we’re going to see a lot of music come out of our camp in the next six months.”
ACM Updates: COVID-19 Response Fund; ‘Our Country’ Rebroadcast
/by LB CantrellACM Lifting Lives and the Academy of Country Music announced today (April 8) the ACM Lifting Lives COVID-19 Response Fund allocated $1 million in less than a week following the ACM Presents: Our Country special that aired Sunday, April 5 on CBS. The special was viewed by early 8 million music fans around the country, and featured at-home acoustic performances from country artists, along with clips from past ACM Awards moments and an introduction of the ACM Lifting Lives COVID-19 Response Fund.
Since the announcement, $1 million was raised thanks to ACM Lifting Lives sponsors FirstNet, Built with AT&T and Amazon Music, and donors, including The Bobby Bones Show, City National Bank, and other individuals. The ACM Lifting Lives COVID-19 Response Fund—which was created to assist individuals working in the country music industry who are suffering a financial crisis as a result of the pandemic—began with an initial endowment of $250,000, matched $250,000 in outside support, and is now contributing another $250,000 due to the need of applicants. To date, more than $500,000 has been distributed to country music industry professionals who demonstrate immediate financial needs due to COVID-19 and meet the outlined criteria.
“In less than 48 hours, ACM Lifting Lives was able to send financial support to hundreds of applicants with the ACM Lifting Lives COVID-19 Response Fund at an expedited pace,” said Lyndsay Cruz, Executive Director of ACM Lifting Lives. “A huge thank you to our generous private corporate donors, partners, and many individual industry leaders for their contributions. Because of them, ACM Lifting Lives matched donations to aid those in the county music community during these extraordinary times. We are hopeful to continue supporting future applicants with this fund and thank you to all for the support.”
It was also announced that ACM Presents: Our Country will rebroadcast Saturday, April 11 at 7:00 p.m. CT on the CBS Television Network and on CBS All Access. The special features performances from Kelsea Ballerini, Dierks Bentley, Kane Brown & John Legend, Luke Bryan, Brandi Carlile, Eric Church, Luke Combs, Sheryl Crow, Florida Georgia Line, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town, Tim McGraw, Old Dominion, Brad Paisley & Darius Rucker, Thomas Rhett, Blake Shelton & Gwen Stefani, Shania Twain, Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban. Additionally, the special will honor 10-time ACM Award winner Kenny Rogers with performances by Luke Bryan, Brad Paisley and Darius Rucker.
“The Academy thanks the artists that participated in the special as they brought comfort and music to nearly 8 million people in this time of uncertainty,” said Damon Whiteside, CEO of the Academy of Country Music. “The show also spread the message about the good work of ACM Lifting Lives through the generosity of our artists and partners, and directed viewers to our ACMOurCountry.com website where they can apply or discover how to support this important cause.”
The ACM Presents: Our Country Pre-Show is available to watch via the ACM Facebook, YouTube and the newly launched ACMOurCountry.com website. Lauren Alaina, Ingrid Andress, Gabby Barrett, Lee Brice, Blanco Brown, Lindsay Ell, Riley Green, Mickey Guyton, Caylee Hammack, Ashley McBryde, Jake Owen, Carly Pearce, and Tenille Townes appear on the Our Country Pre-Show. The Pre-Show also pays tribute to 6-time ACM Award nominee Joe Diffie, who passed away due to complications with COVID-19, with a special performance by Chris Young.
For more information about the COVID-19 Response Fund including corporate partnerships, visit ACMLiftingLives.org.
Artists Remember John Prine
/by Jessica NicholsonOne of music’s premier songwriters, John Prine, died on Tuesday (April 7) at age 73. Since the release of his self-titled debut album in 1971, a project which contained instant classics such as “Sam Stone,” “Angel From Montgomery,” “Hello in There,” “Paradise” and “Illegal Smile,” Prine has become a revered artist and songwriter who has won two Grammy awards (and was named a Lifetime Achievement Award recipient by the Recording Academy for 2020). He released 18 full-length studio albums over the course of his career and had the highest debut of his career with 2018’s The Tree of Forgiveness. Last year, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
In recent years, artists such as Jason Isbell, Margo Price, Kacey Musgraves and more have cited him as a chief influence. Prine worked with and earned praise from artists including Bob Dylan, “Cowboy” Jack Clement and Kris Kristofferson.
Following news of Prine’s passing, tributes poured in from many artists, including Bruce Springsteen, Miranda Lambert, Isbell, Bonnie Raitt and more. Also among those offering tributes to Prine was Trisha Yearwood, who was among Prine’s collaborators on his 1999 album In Spite of Ourselves.
Read below for several tributes to Prine: