CMA Hosts Inaugural Nashville Music And Brand Forum

Pictured (L-R): Damon Whiteside, CMA Senior VP of Marketing and Strategic Partnerships; Lauren Alaina; John Marks, CMA Board member and Spotify Global Senior Editor/Music Programmer, Country; Maria Molin Ljunggren, CMA Board member and Capitol Music Group AB – Sweden; Frankie Ballard; Bob Shennan, CMA Board member and BBC Director of Music; and Sarah Trahern, CMA Chief Executive Officer. Photo: Anthony D’Angio/CMA

While in the U.K. for the 2016 C2C (Country 2 Country) Festival, the Country Music Association hosted its first-ever Nashville Music and Brand Forum on Friday, March 11 at the Gibson Brand Studio in London.

CMA invited U.K.-based brands, agencies, and music companies to learn about the growth of the genre in the U.K. and share new country music consumer research. Special artist appearances included Lauren Alaina and Frankie Ballard. Board members Maria Molin Ljunggren, John Marks, Milly Olykan, and Bob Shennan were on hand to represent the CMA Board.

Chris Janson, Randy Houser Visit NASH FM 94.7 in NYC

Pictured: Country’s Chris Janson with NASH FM 94.7’S Shila Nathan

Chris Janson stopped by the NASH FM 94.7 studios in New York City to chat with on-air host Shila Nathan. Janson was on Late Night with Seth Meyers on Monday night, where he performed his current single, “Power of Positive Drinking.”

Janson also co-wrote Randy Houser’s current single, “Song Number Seven” from Houser’s new album, Fired Up. Houser performed a private concert for NASH FM 94.7 to raise money for Children’s Specialized Hospital. His album, Fired Up, released March 11.

Randy Houser performs for NASH FM 94.7

Artists Line Up For SXSW Cumulus Media/Westwood One Show

Mo Pitney

Music fans at SXSW got a sweet treat this week, as artists including Mo Pitney, LANco, Haley Georgia, Aurora, Matt Gary, and Breaking Southwest performed for NASH Live in Austin, hosted by Twix and Snickers, for Cumulus Media/Westwood One.

The concert took place at Austin’s Rattle Inn, 610 Nueces Street, where attendees enjoyed an exclusive night of music and Mars candy sampling.

LANco with Tommy Page

Carl Perkins

A special panel discussion and performance to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Carl Perkins’ “Blue Suede Shoes” will be presented by The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on April 9 at 2 p.m. in the museum’s Ford Theater. This celebration of Perkins’ signature song—and his influential career—will take place on what would have been his 84th birthday. Perkins died in 1998.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the creation and first recording of the rockabilly classic “Blue Suede Shoes” by Perkins. In 1956, “Blue Suede Shoes” set sales records for Sam Phillips’ Sun label just weeks after Elvis Presley left Sun for RCA. The recording achieved the rare distinction of climbing the national charts in three genres: pop, country, and R&B. “Blue Suede Shoes” is in the Grammy Hall of Fame, Rolling Stone’s “Greatest Songs of All Time” and the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry.

A panel discussion about Perkins will include his son Stan Perkins (Carl’s longtime drummer), close friend Naomi Judd (of the Judds, for whom Perkins wrote the #1 hit “Let Me Tell You About Love”); David McGee (co-author, with Carl Perkins, of Go, Cat, Go!: The Life and Times of Carl Perkins, the King of Rockabilly); Peter Guralnick (author of Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock ‘n’ Roll), and moderator Dr. Mark Crawford (associate professor of music at Tennessee State University).

Chuck Mead (founding member of BR5-49 and music director for the stage musical Million Dollar Quartet) will perform a brief set with his band.

Presented in support of the museum’s exhibition Flyin’ Saucers Rock & Roll: The Cosmic Genius of Sam Phillips, the program is included with museum admission and free to museum members. The interview and performance will be streamed live at countrymusichalloffame.org/streaming.

NMPA and Spotify have reached an agreement allowing independent and major publishers to claim and receive royalties for certain compositions used on Spotify in the United States where ownership information was previously unknown.

In addition to identifying the rightful recipients of Spotify royalties, the agreement establishes a bonus compensation fund that is a substantial percentage of what is currently being held by Spotify for unmatched royalties, and creates a better path forward for finding the owners of publishing rights who should receive streaming royalties.

For years, the issue of “unmatched works” — the lack of proper ownership information — has made it difficult to pay timely royalties to writers and publishers. Not only does the agreement distribute royalties to writers, it also improves processes for identifying and compensating writers for their work and establishes a better database for future payments.

The deal will allow copyright owners to identify their works and receive the money Spotify has set aside for the past usage of unmatched works. It will allow the entire industry to benefit by filling in the gaps in ownership information, which help to ensure that royalties are promptly paid to their rightful owners in the future. Any royalties associated with works that remain unmatched after each claiming period will be distributed to publishers and songwriters who participate in the settlement, but the agreement will not affect the royalties owed to any publisher or writer who does not choose to participate.

The agreement is a key step in improving transparency in the music community and ensuring that music’s creators receive royalties when their music is used. In addition to allowing copyright owners to identify and receive payment for unmatched works, the agreement enables publishers and Spotify to establish improved practices to identify proper ownership and ensure timely payment of royalties in the future.

National Music Publishers’ Association President and CEO David Israelite praised the agreement, saying, “NMPA’s goal has always been to ensure publishers and songwriters receive the money they deserve. I am thrilled that through this agreement both independent and major publishers and songwriters will be able to get what is owed to them. We must continue to push digital services to properly pay for the musical works that fuel their businesses and after much work together, we have found a way for Spotify to quickly get royalties to the right people. I look forward to all NMPA members being paid what they are owed, and I am excited about the creation of a better process moving forward.”

Spotify Global Head of Communications and Public Policy Jonathan Prince said, “As we have said many times, we have always been committed to paying songwriters and publishers every penny. We appreciate the hard work of everyone at the NMPA to secure this agreement and we look forward to further collaboration with them as we build a comprehensive publishing administration system.”

The agreement:
· Includes payment of bonus compensation.
· Provides the ability to easily identify and properly claim “unmatched” works online.
· Ensures that Spotify will continue working with the NMPA and its members to implement practices that will allow Spotify to match works more accurately and efficiently.
· Where ownership has not been identified or claimed by publishers, there will be a distribution to publishers and songwriters of royalties held by Spotify based on known usage on Spotify’s service.
· Provides a path to direct licensing between Spotify and publishers, with the goal of strengthening business relationships.