Big Machine Label Group and Cox Media Group (CMG) have partnered for a revenue sharing deal that includes both broadcast and digital plays. Big Machine and its artists are the first record label to secure a direct licensing deal with Cox Media Group.
Under Big Machine Label Group’s wholly-owned imprints Big Machine Records and The Valory Music Co., artists such as Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts, Reba, Justin Moore, Brantley Gilbert and Thomas Rhett will benefit from this agreement.
“This agreement represents an exciting opportunity for Cox Media Group to work together with Big Machine and their artists,” CMG President Bill Hoffman said. “We believe that partnering directly with a label across our broadcast and digital platforms is mutually beneficial. We will ultimately enhance the opportunities for our fans, listeners, and our respective companies.”
“Bill Hoffman and [CMG’s Executive VP of Radio] Kim Guthrie have done an incredible job with the Cox Media Group by simultaneously building and preserving their great radio station brands while also re-imagining what the future of broadcasting is going to be. Their station apps are among the very best,” Big Machine Label Group President and CEO Scott Borchetta said. “Big Machine understands that a forward move in the digital broadcasting space is a must to get ahead of the many opportunities that a digital dashboard and other digital initiatives are going to bring. We are thrilled to continue to elevate our partnership with this incredible company as the broadcasting sea change continues.”
Cox Media Group owns some of the nation’s top country stations, including KKBQ in Houston, Orlando’s WWKA, San Antonio’s Y100 KCYY, Dayton’s WHKO, Tulsa’s KWEN and Athens’ WNGC.

Hit country songwriter Don Devaney died on Friday, June 6.
His friends and family will gather at Brown’s Diner (2102 Blair Blvd.) to celebrate his life on Saturday, June 14, at 5 p.m.
Devaney hit the top of the charts with 1978’s “Someone Loves You Honey,” sung by Charley Pride and with 1988’s “Cry, Cry, Cry” by Highway 101.
The songwriter also made the country charts with “Ever Lovin’ Woman,” recorded by both Pat Garrett (1981) and Marlow Tackett (1982), as well as with Mary Lou Turner’s version of his “Yours and Mine” (1979).
He wrote the bluegrass standard “Listening to the Rain,” which has been recorded by The Osborne Brothers (1970), Special Consensus (1996), Pam Gadd (1997), Doc & Merle Watson (1998), Ronnie Reno (2002), Monroe Crossing (2003) and others.
Other notable cuts include Johnny Cash’s “Ain’t Gonna Hobo No More” (1982), Rick Trevino’s “Serious Love” (1996) and The Wilburn Brothers’ “Signs Are Everywhere” (1970).
“(Drinking Beer And) Singing a Country Song” (Dick Curless, 1972), “You Keep Right on Loving Me” (Jim Ed Brown, 1972), “Comin’ Home to Kentucky” (Kenny Price, 1972) and “If I Had Yesterday Again” (The Wilburn Brothers, 1968) are also Don Devaney songs.
“Someone Loves You Honey” has been revived by Brenda Lee (1982), Ronnie Dove (1996), reggae artists June Lodge (2000) and Dwight Pinkney (2002) and by Neal McCoy (2013). Devaney’s songs have also been recorded by George Jones, Ray Price, Johnny Russell and Barbara Mandrell, among others.
Don Devaney was 78 years old. He is survived by daughter Heather D. Graffagnino (Chris), brother Gerald Devaney (Barbara), sisters Joy Sullivan (Brian) and Marilyn Smith and by grandsons Joseph and Zachary Graffagnino.
Prior to the gathering at Brown’s Diner, a memorial mass will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday at St. Henry Catholic Church. Harpeth Hills Funeral Home is handling arrangements.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to MusiCares, 1904 Wedgewood Ave., Nashville TN 37212.

The Recording Academy‘s Board of Trustees has approved a number of field and category changes to the Grammy Awards’ process. These changes bring the total number of Grammy categories that will be recognized at the 57th annual Grammy Awards (to be held Feb. 8, 2015) to 83 categories.
“The Academy’s Board of Trustees continues to demonstrate its passionate commitment to keeping The Recording Academy a relevant and responsive organization in our dynamic music community,” said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy. “This year’s changes to our Awards process are thoughtful, inclusive, and reflective of the current musical landscape, and we look forward to implementing them for the upcoming 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards.”
Samples To Be Allowed: The Recording Academy will now allow samples or interpolations of previously written songs in all songwriting categories, including Song of the Year, Best Country Song, Best Rock Song, Best R&B Song, Best Gospel Song, Best Contemporary Christian Music Song, Best American Roots Song, and Best Song Written For Visual Media. Previously, samples or interpolations were allowed in only the songwriting category of Best Rap Song, in recognition of the unique craft of writing rap songs.
American Roots Music: A new category, Best American Roots Performance, has been added in the American Roots Music Field. The new award will encompass all of the sub-genres of the Field (Americana, bluegrass, blues, folk, regional roots music), and recognizes singles/tracks only as well as solo artists/duos/groups/collaborations. This puts the Field in line with the Pop, Rock, Rap, R&B, Country, and Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Fields, all of which have performance categories.
Dance/Electronica: The Dance/Electronica Field and album category has been changed to Dance/Electronic Music Field and Best Dance/Electronic Album.
Gospel/Contemporary Christian: The categories of the Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Field have been restructured as follows.
Previous Category Structure
• Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance
• Best Gospel Song
• Best Contemporary Christian Music Song
• Best Gospel Album
• Best Contemporary Christian Music Album
New Category Structure
• Best Gospel Performance/Song
• Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song
• Best Gospel Album
• Best Contemporary Christian Music Album
• Best Roots Gospel Album
The same number of categories remains in the Field (five), and now both the artist(s) and songwriter(s) of new material will be honored in the Best Gospel Performance/Song and Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song categories. Changes to the Field were made in the interest of clarifying the criteria, representing the current culture and creative DNA of the gospel and Contemporary Christian Music communities, and better reflecting the diversity and authenticity of today’s gospel music industry, including:
• Place the growing and increasingly popular rap and hip-hop music into the contemporary category where the industry and fans feel it belongs
• Provide a category for traditional Southern gospel and other “roots” gospel albums as both a protector of the heritage of this music and an acknowledgement of the growing interest and support of these genres
• Recognize the critical contribution of both songwriters and performers by combining songwriters and artists into the Best Gospel Performance/Song and Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song categories
• Appropriately integrate artists, songwriters, albums and songs along creative and aesthetic lines.
Changes were also made to Classical, Instrumental and Alternative fields. For a full list of changes, visit grammy.com.
The nomination process for the 57th annual Grammy Awards will be open to active Recording Academy Members on the following dates. The first round opens July 1 and closes July 23, 2014. This round is for recordings released between October 1, 2013 and July 31, 2014. The final voting round opens Aug. 13 and closes Aug. 27, 2014. This round is for August and September 2014 releases. The awards eligibility period is for recordings commercially released from Oct. 1, 2013 through Sept. 30, 2014.
Additionally, The Recording Academy Nashville Chapter presents “Grammy Awards 101,” with Bill Freimuth (Sr. VP, Awards) on July 24, 2014 from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Ben’s Studio, located at 30 Music Square West, Ste. 100. The meeting will discuss important upcoming dates and deadlines, an explanation of eligibility for submitted product, how to submit product for Grammy consideration, what’s new for the 57th annual Grammy Awards, and a step-by-step narrative of what each submission goes through once it has been submitted to the awards process. Non-members are welcome. For RSVP information, visit grammy365.com.