The 2015 International CES will attract leaders of some of the world’s biggest brands for the event running Jan. 6-9, 2015 in Las Vegas. CES will feature more than 3,500 exhibitors unveiling consumer technology products and services, as well as numerous top-level keynote speakers.
Bob Pittman, chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia Inc., will give a headline address with Ryan Seacrest at CES’s C Space at ARIA on Wednesday, Jan. 7. C Space is the official destination for the marketing, advertising, content and creative communities at the event.
More CES keynoters will include CBS Corp. president and CEO, Leslie Moonves; Ford Motor Co. president and CEO Mark Fields; Samsung Electronics’ president and CEO, Boo-Keun Yoon; chairman of the board of management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Dr. Dieter Zetsche; and Intel CEO, Brian Krzanich.
Elsewhere, top executives from Condé Nast, Fox Networks Group, Google, McDonald’s, and The Walt Disney Co. will join the Brand Matters keynote for a panel discussion. Leaders from Electrolux, General Motors, Philips and Qualcomm will take part in a discussion regarding How Mobile is Fundamentally Changing Our World.
For entertainment professionals who need help navigating the large event, CES offers the specialized Entertainment Matters program.
Additionally, the hit TV program Shark Tank will host an open call for entrepreneurs who wish to appear on the show.

The purchase of the historic RCA Studio A complex was officially completed on Dec. 23 with the partnership of two additional preservationists, Mike Curb and Chuck Elcan, with previously announced Aubrey Preston.
Under the umbrella of the newly formed Studio A Preservation Partners, the $5.6 million purchase from Bravo Development offers each a one-third interest in the property. The building was previously subject of a controversial demolition plan that included condos and a restaurant. The new buyers plan to continue running the property as a working recording studio with Ben Folds, who has leased and operated Studio A since 2002. Limited access for education and special events will also be offered.
“We’re proud to be part of preserving RCA Studio A for the next generation of musicians, songwriters, recording artists, and producers,” said Preston, a Leiper’s Fork real estate entrepreneur. “It’s essential that we protect the infrastructure and heritage that anchors Nashville’s creative economy, and Mike and Chuck are perfect partners for this project. As a team, we’re looking forward to working with the preservation community to ensure Studio A’s long-term protection and share its incredible story.”
Curb has pioneered the preservation of Nashville’s most famous recording studios including Music Row’s RCA Studio B, the historic Quonset Hut, Columbia Studio A, and the Columbia/Sony Building. The histories of the Quonset Hut and RCA Studios A and B are inextricably linked. In the mid-1950s, brothers Owen Bradley and Harold Bradley opened the Quonset Hut studio – laying the foundation for what became Music Row. Not long afterward, Chet Atkins helped found the studio that later would become known as RCA Studio B. By the mid- ’60s, Atkins and the Bradley brothers determined that Music Row needed a larger modern studio, and joined forces to convince RCA to build the facility that became known as the Studio A complex.
“Studio A is at center stage in Music Row’s history and I’m pleased to be able to help save it,” Curb said. “The creative, entrepreneurial work that began nearly 50 years ago, when our industry’s pioneers had the vision to create Studio A, now will continue on into the future.”
“Whether we’re talking about the recording studios where our music was made or the supper tables where Music City’s recording artists wrote some of their best-selling songs, Nashville is blessed with cultural assets,” said Elcan, a real estate and healthcare entrepreneur behind the Loveless Cafe. “I’m honored to be involved with Mike and Aubrey in preserving Studio A, which really is a unique piece of our musical history.”
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Opened in 1965, Studio A became a Music Row landmark that helped propel the “Nashville Sound” to international prominence and has served as a go-to recording destination for countless music legends for nearly five decades. Famed names patronizing the studio have included Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Charley Pride, Tony Bennett, The Beach Boys, The Monkees and George Strait as well as newer artists like Hunter Hayes, Kacey Musgraves, Sara Bareilles, and Kesha. Although it was contested that Elvis Presley recorded there, representatives indicate to documents citing the contrary.
Curb, Elcan, and Preston decided to jointly buy Studio A on the heels of intense advocacy efforts led by Folds, his management team of Sharon Corbitt-House and Mike Kopp, and songwriter-producer Trey Bruce. The “Save Studio A” campaign garnered global attention. Internationally acclaimed artists including Dave Grohl, Paul McCartney, Justin Timberlake, and Keith Urban weighed in with support.
“Trey and our team felt compelled to get involved and raise awareness about the urgent need to save Studio A,” Folds said. “I heard from hundreds of thousands of music fans around the world – along with organizations like the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, The Recording Academy, and the American Federation of Musicians – who flooded our inboxes and social platforms with comments in support of the movement. We’re grateful that Mike, Chuck, and Aubrey stepped forward to provide their collective support.”
Folds added: “This is what it looks like when an entire community comes together to protect our music heritage and culture, and advance our future. This is Nashville at its very best.”

Country entertainer Little Jimmy Dickens was admitted to a Nashville area hospital on Christmas Day, and is in critical care due to an undisclosed illness.
Dickens turned 94 on Dec. 19.
Cards and well wishes can be sent to him at the Grand Ole Opry at the following address:
Jimmy Dickens
c/o Grand Ole Opry House
2804 Opryland Drive
Nashville, TN 37214
Dickens has been a member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1948, and became a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1983. His hits include “Country Boy,” “Out Behind The Barn,” “May The Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose” and others.

Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) students with aspirations of becoming chart-topping songwriters are receiving stellar mentorship thanks to Grammy-nominated songwriter Odie Blackmon, Assistant Professor of the school’s Commercial Songwriting Concentration. He is the author of songs including Lee Ann Womack’s “I May Hate Myself In The Morning” (2004 ACM Song of the Year) and George Strait’s “She’ll Leave You With A Smile.”
Blackmon, a 1995 MTSU alumnus of the Recording Industry program, says he was largely given a “blank slate” to create his vision for progressing the work of the Commercial Songwriting Concentration. “The songwriting concentration had been two classes: commercial songwriting and advanced songwriting, as well as some music business or audio courses. I have a vision based on what I wish I could have done when I was a student.”
The program currently has approximately 30 commercial songwriting majors, and Blackmon has worked with close to 60 students in the past semester.
In his first months overseeing the program, Blackmon instituted three additional classes: Piano for Songwriters, Guitar For Songwriters, and Genres & Style. Blackmon also teaches a class on the music of country legend George Jones, and courses in commercial songwriting. Genre & Style is taught by rock and Americana producer R.S. Field. “He will go to top artists in the most popular genres, and look at it though the lens of songwriting and production,” says Blackmon of his colleague.
Also in the works will be an advanced lyric writing class and a jingle writing class. Blackmon has revamped an Advanced Songwriting course into weekly, three-hour blocks, allowing students more time for in-class co-writing. “In this setting we can lecture, share songs and then split off into rooms to co-write. I can pop in and out of the different sessions to give suggestions and guidance.” Guest lecturers have included R.L. Castleman, Bobby Taylor, and Woody Bomar.
Blackmon emphasizes that though MTSU is in close proximity to the country music capital, Nashville, the university’s songwriting courses aren’t country music-centric. “In class, I try to borrow from different genres, but mostly pop because it is so commercial,” Blackmon says. “We listen to and study writers like Eminem. I think he’s one of the best lyricists out there right now. I try to teach in a way that students can use the principles within their own style and voice.”
He hopes to soon hold the advanced songwriting course in the Music Row vicinity, so it will be more convenient for hit songwriters from various genres to stop by and offer advice.
“At a time when trying to break in as a songwriter is increasingly difficult, we’re trying to give our students every opportunity to succeed,” says Ken Paulson, Dean of Mass Communication at MTSU. “That includes hands-on instruction from top professionals, an increasingly rich curriculum and the chance for students to showcase their talents.”
“I’ve always been interested in songwriting education,” Blackmon says. While considering the new role at MTSU, the Arkansas native says the notion of working with Paulson, as well as esteemed journalist and Chairman of MTSU’s Department of Recording Industry Beverly Keel, sealed the deal. “I’ve read Beverly’s work and really admire it. I’ve watched Ken’s PBS specials on the First Amendment. [Paulson has served as president and CEO of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University and at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.]. They are both rock stars to me.”
“Odie Blackmon has ushered in an exciting new chapter of our songwriting concentration and I am thrilled with everything that is happening,” Keel says. “We are adding classes, bringing new faculty members to campus and inviting talented songwriters from many genres to speak to our students.”

Outside The Classroom
Aspiring songwriters receive mentorship far beyond the classroom walls. Blackmon has already initiated seven songwriting internships. “One pro writer is having an intern catalog older songs, and is also writing with the student,” Blackmon says. “Another student happens to be ProTools savvy and already doing editing work for two vocalists from The Voice, in addition to writing. Even a student who is helping a writer just by typing lyrics will learn a great deal about form, structure, and song revision.”
Blackmon recently welcomed MTSU alumnus and EMI Records Nashville artist-songwriter Eric Paslay to headline the MTSU Songwriters Series, along with songwriter Dylan Altman. The performance at Nashville’s The Listening Room raised nearly $4,000 for MTSU’s songwriting program, and showcased the talents of student songwriters including Kyle Crownover, Nick Carpenter and Collin Baxter. A second event is in the works for spring 2015.
Blackmon hopes to add to MTSU’s line of hit songwriters and artists that have claimed spots on the country radio’s Top 40. In 2014, those students have included Brett Eldredge, Sam Hunt, Paslay, Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott, and Chris Young. That’s in addition to former students turned industry stalwarts, including Grammy winner Luke Laird and multi-platinum producer Michael Knox.
“Cal IV’s Daniel Hill and Billy Lynn discovered Eric Paslay because he was their intern,” Blackmon says. “I would think of that as a best-case scenario for an internship. Publishers get a lot out of the internships as well. Young people are excited, passionate, and they have their fingers on the pulse of what is going on musically.”
Though many of Blackmon’s plans for the program are still in their infancy, he’s already seen promising results from his work. He is confident that the program is developing students into young creative professionals primed to become the industry’s next crop of hit songwriters. “They are some of our best songwriters in our program right now,” he says of the students who opened for Paslay and Altman. “I would expect them all to have deals in the next year or so.”