The Academy of Country Music has announced the return and expansion of the 5th Annual ACM Party for a Cause® — in conjunction with the 52nd Academy of Country Music Awards™, Country Music’s Party of the Year®, which will broadcast live for the first time ever from its new venue home at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 2, 2017 at 8 p.m. ET/delayed PT on the CBS Television Network.

This year, ACM Party for a Cause will consist of industry and fan events located at different venues across Las Vegas including a new host hotel, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and several others from Thursday, March 30 – Sunday, April 2, 2017 in Las Vegas.

Each of the festivities will feature performances by artists including Kelsea Ballerini, Billy Currington, Ryan Follese, Lady Antebellum, LoCash, Kip Moore, Jake Owen, Chris Stapleton, Michael Tyler, Clay Walker, Brett Young and others. Festivities will also include interactive ACM fan experiences, which will be announced in the coming weeks. All events will benefit ACM Lifting Lives, the charitable arm of the Academy, which works to lift lives through the power of music.

“Fourteen years ago, when the Academy moved the Awards to Las Vegas, we kicked off a decade of wide-ranging special events for fans including a motorcycle ride through Las Vegas and the surrounding area, a golf tournament at a prestigious club, concerts on Fremont Street, games and a country lifestyle marketplace and loads of live country music performances. That’s how The Week Vegas Goes Country® earned its moniker. This year, we’re going back to our roots with the evolution of ACM Party for a Cause events taking place throughout Las Vegas, all benefiting ACM Lifting Lives and the good work of the many worthy organizations Lifting Lives supports through grants and more,” said Ed Warm, Chairman of ACM Lifting Lives and Co-Chairman of the ACM Events Committee. “It feels good to align all of our auxiliary events surrounding the ACM Awards with a philanthropic purpose the fans have always embraced.”

“ACM fans have demanded more events, more artist engagement, more variety,” said George Couri, Co-Chairman of the ACM Events Committee. “Some of our fans clearly like the more intimate environments compared to the big festivals, so this year we will give them that version celebrating more artists up close and in their faces. From songwriter rounds to fun party nights out, with this schedule there will be plenty for fans to dive into all day every day.”

For a full lineup of ACM Party For A Cause events, visit partyforacause.com

The third year of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center and CMA’s Project Music Accelerator kicked off this week with a new set of tech startups ready to learn from Nashville’s business leaders and industry insiders. The 16-week program will immerse the budding entrepreneurs into Nashville’s $11 billion-plus music industry, introducing them to the local entrepreneurial ecosystem and connecting them to the investment community while helping them grow their startups.

This year’s participants are Event Escrow’s CEO Ben Hodge,(Texas); EyeBuy TV’s CEO Todd Coulter (California); Scripturally Sound’s CEO Kimberly Lannear (Tennessee); and Hi Karl’s CEO Florian Doumenc (New York). With over 120 applications from around the globe, the program welcomes participants from the United States, France, Spain, Australia and Mexico.

Industry veteran Stephen Linn joins the EC team as the program’s Music Entrepreneur in Residence to work hands-on with the participants and to further build the industry connections and curriculum. Eleven leading industry individuals and businesses including artist managers, major labels, artists, publishing, PROs and more are supporting the startups with investment capital.

CMA’s title sponsorship is rejoined this year by LaunchTN, Pinnacle Bank, BMI, Belmont University, Linda & Doug Howard, Rock/Paper/Scissors and the Music Biz Association.

“The Project Music accelerator continues to be supported by virtually every aspect of the music industry,” noted Joe Galante, Project Music co-founder and EC master mentor. “Managers, major labels, artists, publishing, PRO’s, and industry leaders have come together to not only provide funding, but to identify and nurture opportunities to advance the industry through tech innovation.”

For more visit projectmusic.co.

Compass Records Signs Old Salt Union

Compass Records has added Old Salt Union to the roster.

Old Salt Union includes banjo player Ryan Murphey, fiddler player John Brighton, guitarist Rob Kindle, upright bass player Jesse Farrar, and mandolin player Justin Wallace, The band formed in 2012. Old Salt Union recorded their debut album a few months after forming. In 2015 Old Salt Union captured first place at the FreshGrass band contest, winning a $5,000 prize and a day at Compass Sound Studio with producer/label co-founder Alison Brown.

“We’ve been on the road for the past four years in search of a label that handles themselves with the integrity, professionalism, and generosity that Compass Records offers,” the band members said. “After traveling to every corner of this country, we’ve finally come home. Old Salt Union is extremely excited to embark on this new journey to expand the reach of our music. We have total faith that Compass will steer us in the right direction. Onward and Upward!”

“I’ve never seen a string band turn a roots music festival into a rave until I witnessed Old Salt Union live!. This is a band that knows how to please a crowd and they are inventive, spirited players to boot. We are proud to be associated with them and look forward to introducing their music to fans far and wide,” says label co-founder Garry West.

Brown says, “The guys came in with a new song and together we fleshed out an arrangement that borrowed inspiration equally from New Grass Revival and Fleet Foxes. I loved the band’s open-minded approach to recording as well as their enthusiasm for experimenting with new ideas. It was such a great day that it made perfect sense to think about how we could work together on a larger scale.”

 

Cheri Cranford To Exit Streamsound Records/Red Vinyl Music

After a nearly four-year run and following the recent sale of Red Vinyl Music, Cheri Cranford will exit her position as General Manager, Streamsound Music Group, effective Feb. 1. Cranford will continue to manage the building which is currently for sale and will take on special events and projects independently while seeking her next opportunity. Prior to Streamsound Music Group, Cranford worked at Sony Music Entertainment for 25 years in various roles. She can be reached at cheri.cranford@comcast.net, or at 615-473-6837.

 

Crosshair Music Launches

Nashville entrepreneur Garrison Snell has launched online platform Crosshair Music, which aims to connect artists, especially independent artists, directly with playlist curators and other digital curators.

Snell rolled out the web application’s latest version in January. Crosshair currently works with 500 active playlists and tastemakers, representing a combined following of 42 million.

Alternative band Judah and the Lion recently used Crosshair to promote “Take It All Back” securing placement on essential independent playlists that helped propel the song to 9 million Spotify streams. “Take It All Back” eventually became the band’s first No. 1 hit, topping Billboard magazine’s Alternative songs chart in January.

 

The Musicpreneur Storehouse Announces Fundraising Totals for 2016

The Musicpreneur Storehouse, a Nashville nonprofit organization, has doubled their fundraising activities since its 2014 inception. The group has raised $119,000 to date with over half collected last year.

“MPS’s annual program and main fundraising event, Lyrics on the Lake was the driving force behind 2016’s success,” said the non-profit’s Founder, Brinn Black. “We raised a grand total of $65,000 last year! That allowed us to donate $20,000 to The Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals of Central and Southwest Virginia, as well as set aside $20,000 toward our core mission of ensuring that the future stars and leaders of Nashville have the resources to create, build, and sustain lasting careers and growing businesses,” Black added. Lyrics on the Lake is a five-day songwriters festival held in Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia.

The organization hosted over a dozen other philanthropic events during 2016 including 17 fundraising concerts. One of those events was a Stuff-A-Truck Donation Drive to benefit the victims of the West Virginia Flood. The non-profit partnered with Clover Hill High School as well in Chesterfield, VA to fill three 18 wheelers with 15 tons of dog food, 5,400 rolls of paper towels, 17,280 bottles of water and a multitude of cleaning supplies, non-perishable foods, household items, clothing, and more for the cause.