The star-studded album Breakthrough, music from and inspired by the new motion picture, releases April 5 on Mercury Nashville. The soundtrack features songs by Adam Hambrick, Carrie Underwood, Chrissy Metz, Darius Rucker, Jukebox the Ghost, Lauren Alaina, Maddie & Tae, Mickey Guyton, Phil Wickham, Pigeon John, and Taylor Mosby plus special featured guests Kirk Franklin and Lecrae.

This soundtrack comes just ahead of Twentieth Century Fox’s April 17 release of the feature film, which stars Chrissy Metz, Josh Lucas, Topher Grace, Mike Colter Marcel Ruiz, Sam Trammell, and Dennis Haysbert and is based on the inspirational true story of one mother’s unfaltering love and faith in the face of impossible odds.

Fans who pre-order the album will immediately receive lead actor Chrissy Metz’s “I’m Standing With You,” an original song written for the film by Diane Warren. Additional tracks featured in the movie include the inspirational hit single “Love Wins,” co-written and performed by Carrie Underwood; “Hold On,” co-written and performed by Mickey Guyton; “This is Amazing Grace,” performed by Phil Wickham featuring Lecrae; and more.

Breakthrough [Music From & Inspired By The Motion Picture] Track Listing:
“I’m Standing With You” – Chrissy Metz
Written by Diane Warren

“Hold On” – Mickey Guyton
Written by Mickey Guyton, Karen Kosowski, Victoria Banks

“Love Wins” – Carrie Underwood
Written by Carrie Underwood, David Garcia, Brett James

“Breathe Again” – Lauren Alaina
Written by Felicia Barton, David Hodges, Jason Weiss

“Big Old Shoulders” – Darius Rucker
Written by Allen Shamblin, Tom Douglas

“Colorful” – Jukebox the Ghost
Written by Ben Thornewill, Tommy Siegel, Jesse Kristin, Chris Wallace

“Play it Again” – Pigeon John
Written by Shane Eli Abrahams, Jonathan Pakfar, John Dust

“Looking Out For Me” – Adam Hambrick
Written by Adam Hambrick

“People Need People” – Maddie & Tae
Written by Maddie Marlow, Taylor Dye, Jimmy Robbins

“This is Amazing Grace” – Phil Wickham feat. Lecrae
Written by Phil Wickham, Josh Farro, Jeremy Riddle, Lecrae Moore

“Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)” – Taylor Mosby feat. Kirk Franklin
Written by Matt Crocker, Joel Houston, Salomon Ligthelm

Ticketmaster has teamed with Amazon for a new Alexa skill that allows music fans to discover new concert events and buy event tickets from Ticketmaster.

Fans can order tickets from Ticketmaster’s inventory of live events with Alexa-enabled devices, including Amazon Echo and Echo Dot, using their voice. The service is currently only available to U.S. users, though it will soon expand to other countries.

To start, fans can say “Alexa, open Ticketmaster” or “Alexa, ask Ticketmaster to find events this weekend.” Fans can then search for an artist or team name, city, and date range such as, “find concerts in Los Angeles” or “find Miami Heat tickets”. From there, fans finalize their order details and purchase tickets by linking their Ticketmaster account to Alexa.

“Ticketmaster has the largest ticket inventory in the world, and our team is always looking to leverage it along with our open platform to reach new fans,” said Dan Armstrong, SVP and GM of Distributed Commerce at Ticketmaster. “This new integration with Alexa will offer yet another avenue for fans to access the best live events, allowing them to discover and buy tickets using only their voice. We’re excited to be working with Amazon Alexa and look forward to seeing fans utilizing it to see the artists, teams and events they love the most.”

The move expands on Ticketmaster’s focus on expanding where tickets can be discovered and purchased, by integrating with streaming services, e-commerce sites and global social platforms, including Facebook, Spotify, Groupon, BandsinTown, Samsung, and YouTube.

In February, the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board formally issued the final rates and terms for songwriter mechanical royalties, determining the amount labels and digital services are to pay music publishers. The rates represent a rise of 44 percent to be issued to songwriters. As reported today by Variety, digital service providers Spotify, Google, Pandora and Amazon have each filed a notice of appeal for the ruling.

A joint statement issued from Spotify, Google and Pandora says:

“The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), in a split decision, recently issued the U.S. mechanical statutory rates in a manner that raises serious procedural and substantive concerns. If left to stand, the CRB’s decision harms both music licensees and copyright owners. Accordingly, we are asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to review the decision.”

NMPA President & CEO David Israelite and Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) Executive Director Bart Herbison have issued their own response to the actions of the digital service providers. The NMPA is set to file its own notice of appeal.

“When the Music Modernization Act became law, there was hope it signaled a new day of improved relations between digital music services and songwriters,” said Israelite. “That hope was snuffed out today when Spotify and Amazon decided to sue songwriters in a shameful attempt to cut their payments by nearly one-third.

“The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) spent two years reading thousands of pages of briefs and hearing from dozens of witnesses while both sides spent tens of millions of dollars on attorneys arguing over the worth of songs to the giant technology companies who run streaming services. The CRB’s final determination gave songwriters only their second meaningful rate increase in 110 years. Instead of accepting the CRB’s decision which still values songs less than their fair market value, Spotify and Amazon have declared war on the songwriting community by appealing that decision.

“No amount of insincere and hollow public relations gestures such as throwing parties or buying billboards of congratulations or naming songwriters “geniuses” can hide the fact that these big tech bullies do not respect or value the songwriters who make their businesses possible.

“We thank Apple Music for accepting the CRB decision and continuing its practice of being a friend to songwriters. While Spotify and Amazon surely hope this will play out in a quiet appellate courtroom, every songwriter and every fan of music should stand up and take notice. We will fight with every available resource to protect the CRB’s decision.”

Herbison stated:

“It is unfortunate that Amazon and Spotify decided to file an appeal on the CRB’s decision to pay American songwriters higher digital mechanical royalties. Many songwriters have found it difficult to stay in the profession in the era of streaming music. You cannot feed a family when you earn hundreds of dollars for millions of streams.

“Spotify specifically continues to try and depress royalties to songwriters around the globe as illustrated by their recent moves in India. Trying to work together as partners toward a robust future in the digital music era is difficult when any streaming company fails to recognize the value of a songwriter’s contribution to their business.”

Pictured (L-R): Austen Adams (Dickinson Wright); Shannan Hatch (SESAC); Carla Wallace (Big Yellow Dog Music); Christy McDonald; Lauren Funk (Big Yellow Dog Music); Alex Stefano (Big Yellow Dog Music); Jacee Badeaux (Big Yellow Dog Music)

Big Yellow Dog Music has signed Christy McDonald to a publishing deal.

One of the writers and the featured vocalist behind Grammy winner Robin Schulz’ “Ha Leh Lou Ya,” McDonald’s music has been featured on iTunes’ World Chart, Billboard, Nivea’s global campaign, and more. She is an active participant in the Country Music Hall Of Fame’s “Words & Music” program, working with children to help develop songwriting skills. To start off her new deal, McDonald is currently on a two-week writing trip in Amsterdam and Stockholm collaborating with European EDM/dance DJs, producers, and artists.

“I was blown away when Christy showed me what she had been working on,” said Big Yellow Dog Music’s co-owner and CEO Carla Wallace. “She has an incredible voice!”