Representatives of the international music brand, Nashville Meets London (NML), have announced the return of Nashville Meets London Week, set for July 24-27, 2019.

Kicking off the event series is Nashville Meets London Presents at PizzaExpress Live! on Wednesday and Thursday, July 24-25, followed by the return of the Nashville Meets London ‘Southern Fridays’ Boat Cruise, in partnership with Buck’ N Bull Saloon, on Friday, July 26 and the popular Nashville Meets London Music Festival on Saturday, July 27 at Canary Wharf.

Launched in August 2016 as a music festival, Nashville Meets London has developed into a global music brand providing opportunities that support the globalization of country and Americana music. The brand’s mission is to expand on the cultural and economic exchange of music while driving more synergy between the recording and live performance industries in the United States and the UK.

The festival, which has become London’s largest free country music festival, is held at Canada Square Park in Canary Wharf and is part of Canary Wharf’s Arts + Events program. Talent confirmed to appear in 2019 will be announced soon.

The Nashville Meets London Music Festival is co-produced by Peter Conway Management, Christy Walker-Watkins and Matt Watkins of Nashville-based agency, The AristoMedia Group, and Canary Wharf Group. U.K. based radio DJ Baylen Leonard leads the artistic programme and serves as the host. Ascot Travel Services exclusively books travel for the Nashville Meets London Music Festival.

Tickets are available here.

Pictured (L-R): Joe Don Rooney, VP Label Relations at Pandora Jeff Zuchowski, Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus

Rascal Flatts were surprised during a visit to Pandora’s New York office yesterday (March 19), when they were presented with a Billionaire Plaque, commemorating the trio’s success in reaching over four billion streams on Pandora.

The trio’s new single “Back To Life” is currently ascending at country radio and follows back-to-back chart-topping singles “Yours If You Want It” and “I Like The Sound Of That.” They recently dropped a four-song EP, JUKEBOX as a surprise for fans that features special spins on their most-loved songs. The group has also earned over 40 trophies from the ACA, ACM, AMA, CMA, People’s Choice and more, also making them the most-awarded country group of the past decade. Known as one of the hottest-selling touring acts in any genre with over 10 million tickets sold, the trio just announced their headlining Summer Playlist Tour, kicking off in Cincinnati on May 16.

Dierks Bentley will headline a free concert on Saturday, April 27 as part of the 2019 St. Jude Rock ‘n’ Roll Nashville Marathon & ½ Marathon and 2019 NFL Draft on the Draft Main Stage in downtown Nashville.

“This year’s St. Jude Rock ‘n’ Roll Nashville Marathon & ½ Marathon and NFL Draft festivities are going to be memorable as we celebrate 20 years in Nashville and the NFL celebrates 100 years,” said Keats McGonigal, Senior Regional Director for Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series. “We are excited to work closely with the NFL and the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp. to engage our runners in the numerous events and concerts coinciding with our race and the 2019 NFL Draft. This is especially true on Saturday night with Dierks Bentley, which gives our runners an exciting headliner to celebrate the conclusion of our race in Music City.”

The concert will take place following the day’s selections on the Draft Main Stage which is located on First and Broadway in downtown Nashville. The designated viewing areas will be from Second to Fifth on Lower Broadway and Music City Walk of Fame Park. Throughout the site, there will be food trucks, beer, soft drinks and water, as well as video screens.

In addition, more than 20 Nashville-based acts will perform during the three days of activities on the NFL Draft Experience Stage, including Chip Esten, Rayland Baxter, Mikky Ekko, and Charlie Worsham.

Mojo Music & Media, a new publishing and brand and legacy marketing company formed by Spirit Music Group founder Mark Fried, former Spirit SVP Peter Shane and former Ernst & Young executive Alan Wallis, has formally launched with the acquisition of Nashville-based HoriPro Entertainment Group.

The deal brings 15,000 songs, spanning 6 decades and reflecting more than 250 charted hits, including the collected works of ‘80s hit-makers REO Speedwagon, a 50 percent interest in the songs of hard rock pioneers KISS, the complete catalog of singer, songwriter and actor Jerry Reed and more than 25 hits and cuts by country legend George Strait, with whom the company has had a long relationship. Thanks to nearly 30 years of deals which saw HoriPro purchase such vaunted collections as Merit Music, Double J Music and Dick James Music’s Nashlon and Dejamus companies, the catalog boasts a trove of iconic songs chronicling the history of country music, including Top 10 singles by Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Charly McClain, George Jones, Reba McEntire, Alabama, John Anderson, Diamond Rio, Gretchen Wilson, Toby Keith, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Blake Shelton, Jason Aldean and The Band Perry, among others.

The company’s active writer roster, which includes Bart Butler, Joe Clemmons, Neil Medley, Sarah Allison Turner and Mike Walker, has turned in a steady stream of hits in recent years including Thomas Rhett’s “Make Me Wanna,” Sam Hunt’s “Make You Miss Me,” Kenny Chesney’s “The Boys Of Fall,” Jon Pardi’s “Head Over Boots” and “Heartache On The Dance Floor” and Rodney Atkins “Caught Up In The Country.”

With the deal, Mojo, which has offices in New York and London, opens its Nashville base in Berry Hill with former HoriPro executives Butch Baker (SVP Creative), Carrie Wilkins (VP Administration & Business Affairs) and song pluggers Keithan Melton and Courtney Crist, along with most of their support staff, continuing in their posts. The company has also appointed former HoriPro international executive Nobu Yamamoto to pursue new writer and catalog opportunities in Los Angeles and strengthen its presence in Japan and throughout Asia.

Mojo’s co-founders, Fried (CEO), Shane (CCO) and London-based Wallis (COO), a 30-year veteran of Ernst & Young’s valuation practice, opened doors in late 2017. Over the last year, the team concluded 11 publishing deals building a diverse catalog of hits and gems spanning eras and genres including the standards of Johnny Burke (“Misty,” “What’s New”) and Bernie Wayne (“Blue Velvet,” “Laughing On The Outside”) and the complete works of writer/artist Paul Evans (“Roses Are Red,” “When”), Stuart Weiner’s Wemar Music (“Pledging My Love,” “Castle Rock”), pioneering soul and rap writer/producer Bobby Robinson (“Need Your Lovin,” “Rockin’ It,” “Honey”), pop/folk artist Jud Strunk (“Daisy A Day”), writer/artist/Woodstock co-producer Artie Kornfeld (“The Pied Piper,” “Dead Man’s Curve,” “Rain The Park And Other Things”) and ‘90s soul artist/entrepreneur Joyce Irby (“I’d Still Say Yes,” “Ain’t 2 Proud 2 Beg,” “Motownphilly”).

Fried and Shane, following two decades at Spirit during which they grew it into one of the leading independent publishing companies and compiled one of the strongest sync placement records in the industry, have already landed strategic licenses in a wide range of media including Universal‘s First Man, ABC’s The Goldbergs, CBS’ Young Sheldon, NBC’s This Is Us and Brooklyn-Nine-Nine, AMC’s The Walking Dead, FX‘s Snowfall and commercial campaigns for Mars, Walmart and Ford Motor Company.

In addition to offering a full suite of music publishing services, highlighted by transparent, real-time global royalty tracking and custom song and catalog promotion, Mojo is also a media company and will bring its songwriters and their teams together with writers, directors and distributors to produce a broad range of music-driven, brand-extending projects including books, films, theatricals, tribute albums, pop-up stores and installations, concert events and branded consumer products. The company will also work with clients to expand their digital footprint and drive greater engagement with fans via custom apps, curated playlists, podcasts, branded digital programming and social network initiatives.

According to Mark Fried, Mojo Music Founder and CEO, “I’m thrilled to be launching a new venture with driven, like-minded partners and surrounded by some of the best songs and songwriters on the planet.” He continued, “We aim to build a modern-day Brill Building, not only pitching songs and syncs like our lives depended on it but bringing our writers’ songs and stories to life across traditional and new media.”

Butch Baker, Mojo Music SVP said, “Mojo and HoriPro are a hand-in-glove fit! Anybody who knows us knows we’ve always been about our family of songs and songwriters. With Mojo, we now have the resources to super-serve them here in Nashville and take them beyond our borders into cross-genre co-writes, custom syncs and creative projects with tv, fim and new media producers all over the world.”