Bon Jovi, The Cars, Dire Straits, The Moody Blues, and Nina Simone will become the newest inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, while Sister Rosetta Tharpe is set to receive the Award for Early Influence. The artists will be honored during the 33^rd Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, presented by Klipsch Audio, on April 14, 2018 at Public Auditorium in Cleveland.

The Rock Hall will host a week of events leading up to the celebration including the unveiling of the 2018 inductee exhibit and Hall of Fame floor. Ticket on-sale dates for the show, which will premiere on HBO and be broadcast on SiriusXM, will be announced later.

Four of this year’s inductees were on the ballot for the first time, including Dire Straits, The Moody Blues, Nina Simone and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. The top five artists selected by the public also comprised a “fans’ ballot” that was tallied along with the other ballots to determine the 2018 Inductees. Four of the top five artists (Bon Jovi, The Moody Blues, Dire Straits and The Cars) from the fan ballot will be inducted as performers in 2018.

To be eligible for induction, an individual artist or band must have released its first commercial recording at least 25 years prior to the year of induction, or no later than 1992. Ballots were sent to an international voting body of more than 1,000 artists, including current living inductees, historians and members of the music industry.

Creative Artists Agency (CAA) today (Dec. 12) announced the promotion of 10 trainees to agent or executive nationwide, including two from the company’s Music department in Nashville. Music City-based Bennett Beckner and Madison Lee were promoted to Agents.

Other Music Department promotions include Joseph Harris and Joe Mott, both elevated to the role of Agent in Los Angeles.

Elsewhere in the organization, Austin Denesuk was promoted to Agent in CAA’s Television department. Denesuk is based in Los Angeles, where she serves in the TV Lit group.

Callie Rivers and Maddy Roth have been named Executives in the CAA Foundation, the agency’s philanthropic arm, and are based in CAA’s Los Angeles office.

Jacksonville-based Beth Enstrom has been promoted to Executive in CAA Golf, and Tee Stumb has been promoted to Agent in CAA Sports Talent Sales department. He will continue to be based in New York.

Erik Telford has been promoted to Agent in the Speakers group, and is based in the agency’s Los Angeles office.

Pictured (L-R): Johnny Cloherty, President; Amanda Remo, Treasurer; Nathan Pyle, Vice President; Elise Anderson, Secretary. Photo: Brenton Giesey

The Society of Leaders in Development (SOLID) announced their board election results for the organization’s upcoming 2018 year. The Executive Board includes the following: President Johnny Cloherty (Artist Management and Digital Promotions Consultant), Vice President Nathan Pyle (The Recording Academy), Treasurer Amanda Remo (Martin, Allbee & Associates) and Secretary Elise Anderson (Nashville Music Media).

Committee Chairs for 2018 are as follows:

Communications Chair: Lindsey Hughes (Made In Network)
Communications Co-Chair: Avery King (Nashville Music Media)
Education Chair: Matt Najdowski (Sony/ATV)
Education Co-Chair: Cait Murphy (KP Entertainment)
Social Chair: Rachel Glidden (Universal Music Group/Fame House)
Social Co-Chair: Max Wiebrecht (Paradigm Talent Agency)
Community Outreach Chair: Collin Trudan (TKO Management)
Community Outreach Co-Chair: Bailey Lathem (City National Bank)
University Outreach Chair: Pete Stormer (Vector Management)
University Outreach Co-Chair: Ammie Sortor (APA)
Music Market Chair: Erin Pettit (Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy)
Music Market Co-Chair: Grayson Flatness (CAA)

“Coming off the heels of our 20th Year Celebration events, SOLID is absolutely on fire,” said incoming president Cloherty. “Going into my third year on SOLID’s board, I have never felt this kind of energy and excitement from the incoming board, members and alumni. If this enthusiasm is any indication of what to expect from SOLID in 2018, it will be our best year to date.”

The SOLID Alumni Board also announced its new president and board members. The board will be led by President Heather Cook (peer Music), and includes the following board members: Amanda Quinton (Quinton Digital), Wes Perry (Live Nation), Eric Griffin (Music City Counsel), and Kelly Gurbisz (Go Big Transportation).

Apple and Shazam confirmed to multiple outlets Monday, Dec. 11, the acquisition of one of iOS’ earliest music discovery apps by the tech giant.

The deal is estimated at $400 million, significantly less than the $1 billion Shazam was valued at during its last funding round. Shazam brought in $54 million in revenue for 2016 and has lately been dabbling in AR technology.

Apple’s full statement from spokesperson Tom Neumayr:

“We are thrilled that Shazam and its talented team will be joining Apple. Since the launch of the App Store, Shazam has consistently ranked as one of the most popular apps for iOS. Today, it’s used by hundreds of millions of people around the world, across multiple platforms. Apple Music and Shazam are a natural fit, sharing a passion for music discovery and delivering great music experiences to our users. We have exciting plans in store, and we look forward to combining with Shazam upon approval of today’s agreement.”

“We are excited to announce that Shazam has entered into an agreement to become part of Apple,” said Shazam’s spokesperson Giovanni Bossio. “Shazam is one of the highest-rated apps in the world and loved by hundreds of millions of users and we can’t imagine a better home for Shazam to enable us to continue innovating and delivering magic for our users.”

The deal should close in the coming weeks pending regulatory approval.