Blake Shelton Celebrates Two No. 1 Hits With Party At Nashville’s Ole Red

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Back Row, L to R: Warner Chappell’s Alison Junker, SonyATV’s Josh Van Valkenburg, ASCAP’s Beth Brinker, Scott Hendricks, Universal’s Kent Earls, Warner Music’s John Esposito, and BMI’s David Preston. Front Row: BMI Songwriter Brett Warren, BMI songwriter Brad Warren, Blake Shelton, BMI songwriter Aimee Mayo, ASCAP songwriter Chris Lindsey

The Nashville music industry gathered at Blake Shelton‘s Ole Red venue on Tuesday (Sept. 18) to celebrate Shelton’s 24th and 25th No. 1 songs, “Every Time I Hear That Song” and “I’ll Name the Dogs.”

The first song celebrated was “Every Time I Hear That Song,” written by BMI writers Brad Warren, Brett Warren, and Aimee Mayo and ASCAP songwriter Chris Lindsey. Mayo noted it was her first No. 1 song in 17 years.

“I’ll Name the Dogs,” was penned by ASCAP writers Matt Dragstrem and Ben Hayslip with BMI writer Josh Thompson. “Every Time I Hear That Song,” was penned by Chris Lindsey and wife Aimee Mayo, along with brothers Brad and Brett Warren.

Among those celebrating were Warner Music Nashville CEO/president John Esposito, BMI’s David Preston and Leslie Roberts, ASCAP’s Beth Brinker, CMA’s Brandi Simms, alongside publishers Ben Vaughn and Alison Junker (Warner/Chappell), Josh Van Valkenburg (Sony/ATV), Kent Earls (UMPG), Mike Molinar (Big Machine), Seth England (Big Loud), Mark Brown (Round Hill), Craig Wiseman (Big Loud), Rusty Gaston (THiS Music), and MusicRow Magazine’s Sherod Robertson.

Meanwhile producer Scott Hendricks was celebrating his 70th and 71st No. 1 songs.

BMI songwriter Josh Thompson, ASCAP songwriter Matt Dragstrem, Blake Shelton, ASCAP songwriter Ben Hayslip, and Scott Hendricks

Shelton, who earned the CMA’s Entertainer of the Year honor in 2012, and has been named Male Vocalist of the Year five times, and holds six winning seasons as a coach on The Voice, thanked the songwriters for their work.

“I’m a huge country music nerd and all four of these know how I’m fascinated by writers and artists. I tried [writing songs] every now and then…and I love real songwriters,” he said. “So thank you for a great song and for God’s sakes, write me another one whenever you get a chance.”

Of the retro-sounding “I’ll Name The Dogs,” he ventured, “Country music is changing rapidly and I guess that has to be ok. It is ok. But for me, when I heard this song and [Shelton’s girlfriend] Gwen [Stefani] and I listened to yall’s demo a thousand times. It sounded like something Shenandoah would have cut. We might be on borrowed time here to get something this country on radio one more time and have it accepted. It went over pretty good, I guess. Thank you guys for taking a little bit of a step back in time. It sounded like late ‘80s and early ‘90s which is when I started wanting to be a country music singer. Thank you Scott for making a great record and taking my ideas…that’s just a joke. Thank you everyone at Warner for working your asses off.”

BMI Songwriter Brett Warren, BMI songwriter Brad Warren, Blake Shelton, BMI songwriter Aimee Mayo, ASCAP songwriter Chris Lindsey

 

 

 

Whakaio Taahi And Melissa Fuller Ink With Third And Verse Publishing

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(L-R): Shelby Yoder, Songwriter Melissa Fuller, Songwriter, Whakaio Taahi and David Hodges

Whakaio Taahi and Melissa Fuller have signed with Third & Verse Publishing.

As a songwriter Taahi’s credits include penning the end title song for The Amazing Spiderman and three top ten Australian albums.  He is a multi-intrumentalist and the former guitarist and principal writer of the band Tonight Live and currently lives in Nashville as a full-time writer/producer. Taahi has recently been collaborating with artists such as Noah Kahan, ZZ Ward, Emerson Hart and Mat Kearney.

Fuller penned her first song at age 12 and earned her first cut as a sophomore in college.  A record deal immediately followed and Fuller spent most her early career opening for rock and country legends ZZ Top, Diamond Rio and Lonestar. In addition to her own projects, Fuller has released a Christmas Jazz record with her trio The Ellas and a No. 1 EDM album in five countries and has written hundreds of songs.  She has recently worked on projects with LANCO, Rachel Reinert and Mikas Setzer.

“Whakaio Taahi and I have written together for years,” said Third and Verse Founder David Hodges. “His instincts for production and melody are always fresh and exciting. I couldn’t be happier having him on the Third and Verse roster. Melissa Fuller is one of my favorite collaborators in Nashville. Her ability to create original, authentic music with any artist in any genre is remarkable. Shelby and I can’t wait to hear what comes of her being part of the Third and Verse team.”

AEG Names AXS As Official Mobile Ticketing And Resale Partner

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AEG has named AXS as its official North American resale ticketing partner for sports franchises and select venues owned or operated by the organization, eliminating the use of StubHub for the venue owner.

Through the partnership, AXS becomes the official resale ticketing provider for multiple AEG facilities including STAPLES Center (Los Angeles), PlayStation Theater (New York), Target Center (Minneapolis), and Sprint Center (Kansas City), Fiddler’s Green Amphitheater (Denver), The Showbox (Seattle) as well as for the Los Angeles Kings and the LA Galaxy sports franchises, and dozens of other venues around the country. Last month, the LA Kings became the first AEG Sports property to utilize this platform.

Through AXS Mobile ID, a digital ticket technology, and FanSight, a purchase experience that includes both standard and resale tickets on one platform, AEG now offers fans a single source for guaranteed authentic tickets for 30 of its U.S. venues.

“AEG is always looking to deliver the best experience for fans and we needed a partner that both understands the complexities of the ticketing marketplace and has the technology to remove friction from the ticketing process,” said Dan Beckerman, CEO of AEG. “AXS’ patented Mobile ID technology and the FanSight unified marketplace was the obvious solution to streamline the entire experience of buying, selling and managing tickets for fans and our venues.”

“For the better part of a decade we have been a partner to some of the top venues, artists and teams around the world, helping connect fans with live experiences,” said Bryan Perez, CEO of AXS. “Now we further improve the process by making it easier for fans to buy, sell and transfer tickets for thousands of events at AEG operated venues. Our continued investment in technology and a superior consumer experience has put us in a position to expand our partnership with AEG.”

Leah Turner, Scott Stevens, Heath Sanders Join L3 Entertainment

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PIctured (L-R): Heath Sanders, Scott Stevens, Leah Turner

Leah Turner, Scott Stevens and Heath Sanders have all signed with L3 Entertainment for management.

L3’s first female signee, Leah Turner is the daughter of a rodeo champion father and Latina mother and draws from her culture and experience growing up on a ranch in California’s Morongo Valley.

Scott Stevens grew up surrounded by music, with a mother who sang in the church choir, and a father who played guitar with the Talking Heads and Joe Walsh of the Eagles. The Knoxville, Tennessee native describes his sound as a cross between Mick Jagger and Eric Church.

Heath Sanders hails from the oil fields of Arkansas. He was invited to perform on The Bobby Bones Show after his cover video of Chris Stapleton’s “Either Way” went viral.

L3 Entertainment’s management roster also includes Justin Moore and Tyler Rich.

New Spotify Beta Feature Allows Artists To Directly Upload Music For Free

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On Thursday (Sept. 20), Spotify introduced a new feature that allows independent artists to upload music directly to Spotify, without the need for a label or third party. Spotify will allow artists to upload their content for free, with no fees or commissions no matter how frequent you release music.

The new method would effectively allow independent, copyright-owning artists to bypass distributors to put their music on the platform. Previously, artists were required to use distributors, such as CD Baby, TuneCore, AWAL, or others.

The new feature is currently in Beta through Spotify For Artists, and is an invite-only feature for a few hundred US-based independent artists, but aims to allow more artists and teams to upload music in the future. Additionally, Spotify’s listening data will be available directly to the artists by way of their own dashboard.

Artists will see a preview of exactly how things will appear to listeners before hitting submit. After the music goes live, artists will be able to control the metadata with fast edits.

A blog on Spotify.com clarifies:

Just like releasing through any other partner, you’ll get paid when fans stream your music on Spotify. Your recording royalties will hit your bank account automatically each month, and you’ll see a clear report of how much your streams are earning right next to the other insights you already get from Spotify for Artists.

Promotions, Hirings at Keller Turner Andrews & Ghanem

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Pictured (L-R): Dustin Kovacic, Sarah Smith

Keller Turner Andrews & Ghanem, PLLC has announced a round of promotions and hirings. Sarah Smith has been promoted to Sr. Counsel, where she will continue to serve in the Entertainment Practice Group on the transactional side.

Dustin Kovacic has been hired an associate in its Entertainment Practice Group. Dovacic will assist with various transactional and litigation matters for the firm’s clients. He is a 2015 graduate of Vanderbilt Law School, a member of the Tennessee and Nashville Bar Associations, as well as SOLID and Copyright Society of the South.

“Having worked with many of the lawyers at Keller Turner Andrews & Ghanem over the last few years, I am excited to join the team and looking forward to being a part of the firm’s continued success and rapid growth,” Kovacic says.

“We are thrilled to add Dustin to our growing team,” says Jason Turner. “As our clients’ needs expand, so do our resources as a law firm and Dustin fits that need perfectly.”

Attorney T.D. Ruth has exited the company for another venture to be announced at a later time.

All email addresses for the firm have been updated. Turner can be reached at jason@ktaglaw.com, while Dovacic can be reached at dustin@ktaglaw.com.

 

Warner/Chappell Production Music Receives Eight Mark Award Nominations

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Warner/Chappell Production Music and its partner catalogs have been nominated for eight Mark Awards at the 5th Annual 2018 Production Music Conference. The Mark Awards will be held on Sept. 26 in Los Angeles, at the Loews Hollywood’s Hollywood Ballroom.

The Production Music Association, a nonprofit and leading advocate of the production music community with over 670 music publishing members ranging from major labels to independent boutiques, hosts the annual Production Music Conference in Los Angeles, California.

Warner/Chappell Production Music nominations include:

Best Production Music Library Folk Artist:
Jay William Henderson
Library Catalog: Non-Stop Producer Series
Production Library: Warner/Chappell Production Music

Best Production Music Library Hip Hop-Urban Artist:
“Accent”
Library Catalog: VALO Artists
Production Library: Warner/Chappell Production Music

Best Production Music Track – Ambient:
“Introspective & Emotive Adagio”
Composers: Glenn Cartier, Brandon Mancuso
Library Catalog: Fragile Atmospheres
Production Library: CosMind Production Music

Best Production Music Track – Dark/Mysterious/Investigative:
“Massive Dark Forces”
Composer: Jurek Zimmermann
Library Catalog: CosMind Production Music
Production Library: CosMind Production Music

Best Production Music Track – Folk:
“Wild Wind”
Composer: Marcus Bentley
Library Catalog: VALO Artists
Production Library: Warner/Chappell Production Music

Best Production Music Library Country Artist:
Jay William Henderson
Library Catalog: Non-Stop Producer Series
Production Library: Warner/Chappell Production Music

Best Production Music Track – World:
“Waltz Happiness”
Composer: Kim Collins
Library Catalog: 615 Platinum Series
Production Library: Warner/Chappell Production Music

Best Production Music Track – Pop/Rock:
“In My Head”
Composers: Glenn Eddie Meul, Vince Peersman
Library Catalog: Sprint Edge
Production Library: Studio Fontána

Old Dominion Charity Show Welcomes Kenny Chesney, Sam Hunt, Kelsea Ballerini, Michael Ray

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Pictured (L-R): Sam Hunt, Matthew Ramsey. Photo: Mason Allen

Billed “An Evening With Friends,” Old Dominion raised a total of $40K for charity on Tuesday, Sept. 18 at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. Half of the proceeds benefited the Opry Trust Fund and the other half benefited the Ryan Seacrest Foundation.

Surprise guests of the show included Kenny Chesney (“Save It For A Rainy Day,” which was penned by Old Dominion band members Matthew Ramsey and Brad Tursi), Kelsea Ballerini (“Written In The Sand” and “I Hate Love Songs” which was co-written by band member Trevor Rosen), Sam Hunt (“Make You Miss Me,” “Ex To See,” both co-written with Ramsey), and Michael Ray (“The One That Got Away,” which was penned by Ramsey and Rosen).

Picture (L-R): Whit Sellers, Brad Tursi, Matthew Ramsey, SVP of Programming and Artist Relations for Opry Entertainment and General Manager of the Grand Ole Opry Sally Williams, Trevor Rosen, Geoff Sprung. Photo: Mason Allen

Old Dominion with representatives of the Ryan Seacrest Foundation. Pictured (L-R): Jimmy Leach, Whit Sellers, Brad Tursi, Mamie Shephard, Matthew Ramsey, Meredith Seacrest, Trevor Rosen, Katie Klochany, Geoff Sprung. Photo: Mason Allen

Old Dominion also performed 19 additional songs during their 120-minute set, including “Hotel Key,” which is currently No. 3 on the country charts and two brand new unreleased songs: the youthfully, energetic “Make It Sweet” and the sentimental and spiritual “Smooth Sailing.”

“What an unforgettable night,” said Ramsey. “The Nashville community has given so much to us. Our lives have changed in ways we could never have—so we felt like this show at the Ryman was a great way to start giving back. There was so much love and music and history swirling around. We are beyond proud to be able to raise money and help those who need it – along with help from our friends!”

The band will pick back up on the fall leg of their arena tour, Oct. 4 in Knoxville, Tennessee at the Knoxville Coliseum.

HAPPY ENDINGS WORLD TOUR FALL 2018 DATES
Oct. 4 Knoxville, TN Knoxville Coliseum
Oct. 5 Glen Allen, VA Innsbrook After Hours
Oct. 6 Rochester, NY Main Street Armory
Oct. 11 Amarillo, TX Amarillo Civic Center
Oct. 12 Las Cruces, NM Pan American Center
Oct. 13 Albuquerque, NM Balloon Fiesta Park
Oct. 25 Atlantic City, NJ Hard Rock Atlantic City
Oct. 26 University Park, PA Bryce Jordan Center
Oct. 27 Roanoke, VA Berglund Center
Oct. 31 Dublin, IE Whelans
Nov. 1 Belfast, IE Empire Music Hall
Nov. 3 Liverpool, ENG O2 Academy 2
Nov. 4 London, ENG O2 Shepherds Bush Empire
Nov. 5 Bristol, ENG Trinity
Nov. 6 Manchester, ENG Academy 2
Nov. 8 Birmingham, ENG O2 Institute
Nov. 9-10 Glasglow, SCT Queen Maragaret Union
Nov. 29 Estero, FL Germain Arena
Nov. 30 St. Augustine, FL St. Augustine Amphitheatre
Dec. 1 Winston-Salem, NC Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Dec. 6 Toledo, OH Huntington Center
Dec. 7 Huntington , WV Big Sandy Superstore Arena
Dec. 8 Grand Rapids, MI DeltaPlex Arena
Dec. 13 Bismarck, ND Bismarck Event Center
Dec. 14 Fargo, ND Scheels Arena
Dec. 15 Duluth, MN AMSOIL Arena

Pictured (L-R): Matthew Ramsey, Kenny Chesney, Geoff Sprung (back), Trevor Rosen. Photo: Mason Allen

Pictured (L-R): Matthew Ramsey, Kelsea Ballerini. Photo: Mason Allen

Pictured (L-R): Michael Ray, Matthew Ramsey. Photo: Mason Allen

Florida Georgia Line To Perform At Special CMA Songwriters Series Show

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Florida Georgia Line, Corey Crowder, HARDY, and Tree Vibez Music special guests will perform at a special CMA Songwriters Series show at The Novo in Los Angeles Wednesday, Oct. 10. Tickets for the performance go on sale Friday, Sept. 21 at 12 p.m. CT at CMAsongwritersseries.com.

While in Los Angeles, the CMA Foundation, CMA’s philanthropic arm, and U.S. Bank will visit with students at Harmony Project, an organization that provides comprehensive, tuition-free music education and social support and serves 3,500 youth across Los Angeles, Southern California and beyond. More than 90 percent of students in the program, which begins in elementary school, go on to graduate high school and enter college. The CMA Foundation has committed to providing a $50,000 grant to Harmony Project through a five-year partnership. Additionally, U.S. Bank will provide a grant of $25,000 to Harmony Project as part of its Community Possible giving platform and its Places to Play partnership with the CMA Foundation.

CMA Songwriters Series has previously hosted performances in Chicago, Cincinnati and Houston and will visit Seattle later this year.

Drew Southwell’s Electro-Pop Project TROVE Signs Sony Deal

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Trove has signed a global recording contract with Sony Music’s European dance label disco:wax. Disco:wax is home to Martin Garrix, Benny Benassi, Pitbull, Chris Brown, and many others in the pop and electronic world.  

Trove is the electro pop project of writer-producer Drew Southwell, signed with Nashville-based Anacrusis to a publishing deal. Earlier this year, Anacrusis announced signing a global admin deal with Kobalt, with Southwell being the focus of the partnership.

This year, Southwell has had over 20 releases, has collaborated with major artists worldwide, and garnered the attention of David Guetta and Timbaland. 

“We’re thrilled to join forces with Sony disco:wax on this project, and for Trove to have an official home overseas!” says Anacrusis’ Liz Rogers.