[Updated]: DMG Nashville has entered into a partnership with in2une Music, to continue promoting Lucy Hale‘s debut single, “You Sound Good To Me,” as well as future releases from her debut album.
“We are beyond excited to be in the Lucy Hale business,” in2une Nashville president Dale Connone says. “We look forward to our alliance with DMG Nashville and breaking ‘You Sound Good To Me’ at Country radio.”
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Bigger Picture Group has closed its doors, MusicRow has confirmed.
Bigger Picture’s roster included artist ventures with Craig Campbell, Ryan Kinder, Blackjack Billy, Rachel Bradshaw, Smithfield, Chelsea Bain and Chris Janson. Lucy Hale was signed to a joint venture with DMG Nashville/Bigger Picture.
Craig Campbell was the company’s biggest success story. He sold one million tracks combined from his 2011 self-titled debut album and current album Never Regret. His autobiographical single, “Family Man” was a top 15 hit, followed by fan-favorite “Fish.” His latest hit, “Keep Them Kisses Comin,’” is the follow-up single to smash “Outta My Head.”
Bigger Picture artists on MusicRow’s Country Breakout Chart today (May 8) include Campbell at No. 11 with “Keep Them Kisses Comin,'” and Chelsea Bain at No. 80 with “Cowboy in a Cadillac.”
Producer Keith Stegall was an original founder of Bigger Picture but was no longer involved with the company.
Michael Powers served as President of Bigger Picture Group, overseeing all aspects of the operation, including radio promotion, artist management, marketing, and sales. He previously served as President of Bigger Picture Artist Ventures, a division within the Bigger Picture Group.
Alan Kates was a partner in Bigger Picture Group, and also acts as President of Songs of Bigger Picture, and EVP of Business Development for BPG. He also manages producer Stegall.
Bob Cahill was Exec. VP/GM and oversaw operations, artist management, marketing and sales initiatives. Prior to Bigger Picture, his career includes time at EMI Records, Live Nation Artists, V2 Records and Rhino Records.
David Robkin is CEO and oversees finance and strategic direction for the company. He joined Bigger Picture three years ago.
Exiting staffers include Jay Bradley, Matt Corbin, Liz Cost (reach her at 617-650-0986), Jay Cruze (reach him here), Chris DeCarlo, Brad Helton, Jody Mazer, Allen Mitchell, Michael Powers, Joe Putnam, Matt Rovey, Kimmie Trosdahl and Shea Windley.
Jan Perry Rodgers has exited her post as Office Manager & Executive Assistant. She can be reached at janpr@comcast.net.
Weekly Chart Report (5/9/14)
/by Jessica NicholsonApple Close To Acquiring Beats Electronics For $3.2 Billion
/by Sherod RobertsonIf the deal closes, this would be Apple’s largest acquisition and would position the company in the music streaming subscription arena competing with rivals such as Spotify.
Beats Electronics produces audio products and equipment and is headquartered in Santa Monica, Calif. The company was founded by rapper and hip-hop producer Andre “Dr. Dre” Young and Interscope-Geffen-A&M Records chairman Jimmy Iovine.
Beats Music‘s streaming service launched January 2014. The service was spun out of Beats Electronics, receiving a $60 million investment to bring the product to market. The core of the streaming service was formed by Beats’ $14 million acquisition of digital music company MOG in 2012.
LifeNotes: Butch Carr
/by Jessica NicholsonCarr died April 18 at age 62.
Carr has been an engineer and songwriter in Nashville more nearly 40 years. His most recent engineering credits include work for Kenny Chesney (Life On A Rock), Willie Nelson (To All The Girls…), Sammy Kershaw (All In The Same Boat), Tracy Lawrence (Headlights, Taillights and Radios), among many others.
Ken Robold Exits Southern Ground Artists
/by Jessica NicholsonKen Robold
Industry veteran Ken Robold has exited his post as president of Southern Ground Artists. He is currently pursuing new opportunities.
He was named president of Zac Brown’s Southern Ground Artists in 2013, overseeing the record label, publishing and studio divisions. Robold previously served as Exec. VP and GM of Universal Music Group Nashville. The role was the culmination of a nearly 22-year career at PolyGram Records/Universal Music Group.
He is also Chairman of the ACM Board of Directors.
The SGA roster included artists The Wood Brothers, The AJ Ghent Band, Blackberry Smoke, and Levi Lowrey. Southern Ground Artists launched in 2011.
He can be reached here.
19th Annual Key West Songwriter's Festival Launches
/by Jessica NicholsonBMI‘s 19th annual Key West Songwriter’s Festival kicked off with an opening concert from headliner Anders Osborne on Sunset Pier at the Ocean Key Resort. The evening continued with performances from some of music’s biggest songwriters including Natalie Hemby, Wendell Mobley, Dean Dillon, Dylan Altman, Tony Joe White and more. The event, which runs through May 11, will feature more than 50 showcases and concerts at venues throughout the island.
Pictured (L-R): BMI Executive Director of Writer/Publisher Relations Mark Mason, Anders Osborne, Key West Mayor Craig Cates, Key West Songwriter’s Festival founder Charlie Bauer, and BMI Vice President of Writer/Publisher Relations Jody Williams. Photo: Erika Goldring
[Updated]: Bigger Picture Group Closes
/by Sarah Skates[Updated]: DMG Nashville has entered into a partnership with in2une Music, to continue promoting Lucy Hale‘s debut single, “You Sound Good To Me,” as well as future releases from her debut album.
“We are beyond excited to be in the Lucy Hale business,” in2une Nashville president Dale Connone says. “We look forward to our alliance with DMG Nashville and breaking ‘You Sound Good To Me’ at Country radio.”
• • •
Bigger Picture Group has closed its doors, MusicRow has confirmed.
Bigger Picture’s roster included artist ventures with Craig Campbell, Ryan Kinder, Blackjack Billy, Rachel Bradshaw, Smithfield, Chelsea Bain and Chris Janson. Lucy Hale was signed to a joint venture with DMG Nashville/Bigger Picture.
Craig Campbell was the company’s biggest success story. He sold one million tracks combined from his 2011 self-titled debut album and current album Never Regret. His autobiographical single, “Family Man” was a top 15 hit, followed by fan-favorite “Fish.” His latest hit, “Keep Them Kisses Comin,’” is the follow-up single to smash “Outta My Head.”
Bigger Picture artists on MusicRow’s Country Breakout Chart today (May 8) include Campbell at No. 11 with “Keep Them Kisses Comin,'” and Chelsea Bain at No. 80 with “Cowboy in a Cadillac.”
Producer Keith Stegall was an original founder of Bigger Picture but was no longer involved with the company.
Michael Powers served as President of Bigger Picture Group, overseeing all aspects of the operation, including radio promotion, artist management, marketing, and sales. He previously served as President of Bigger Picture Artist Ventures, a division within the Bigger Picture Group.
Alan Kates was a partner in Bigger Picture Group, and also acts as President of Songs of Bigger Picture, and EVP of Business Development for BPG. He also manages producer Stegall.
Bob Cahill was Exec. VP/GM and oversaw operations, artist management, marketing and sales initiatives. Prior to Bigger Picture, his career includes time at EMI Records, Live Nation Artists, V2 Records and Rhino Records.
David Robkin is CEO and oversees finance and strategic direction for the company. He joined Bigger Picture three years ago.
Exiting staffers include Jay Bradley, Matt Corbin, Liz Cost (reach her at 617-650-0986), Jay Cruze (reach him here), Chris DeCarlo, Brad Helton, Jody Mazer, Allen Mitchell, Michael Powers, Joe Putnam, Matt Rovey, Kimmie Trosdahl and Shea Windley.
Jan Perry Rodgers has exited her post as Office Manager & Executive Assistant. She can be reached at janpr@comcast.net.
ASCAP Urges Politicians to "Stand With Songwriters" On Capitol Hill
/by Jessica NicholsonPictured (L-R): ASCAP Publisher Board member Leeds Levy, songwriter Josh Kear, Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), ASCAP Writer Board member Dan Foliart and ASCAP CEO John LoFrumento.
Award-winning songwriters and composers from different music genres spent Wednesday, May 7 meeting with elected officials to insist on music licensing reform as part of the inaugural American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers (ASCAP) “Stand with Songwriters” Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill.
ASCAP President and Chairman Paul Williams, ASCAP Vice Chairman Jimmy Webb (“Wichita Lineman”), Josh Kear (“Need You Now”), Carly Simon (“You’re So Vain”), Randy Newman (“You’ve Got a Friend in Me”), Alan and Marilyn Bergman (“The Way We Were”), Jon Batiste (“Creative”), Narada Michael Walden (“Freeway of Love”), and Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart (“Crazy on You”) came to D.C. to perform at a Tuesday, May 6 “We Write the Songs” concert at the Library of Congress, sponsored by The ASCAP Foundation.
During the concert, they discussed the challenges facing songwriters in today’s digital music marketplace and urged policymakers to support updates to federal laws that regulate how songwriters license their works. Joined by ASCAP Board members, including Valerie Simpson (“Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”), most of the performing songwriters remained in D.C. today to continue the mission.
Frist Center Highlights Photography By Marty Stuart
/by Sarah SkatesPortrait of Johnny Cash taken in September 2003 by Marty Stuart.
The Frist Center for the Visual Arts will present American Ballads: The Photographs of Marty Stuart from May 9-November 2, 2014 in the Conte Community Arts Gallery, which is free to the public.
American Ballads is composed of more than 60 photographs from three bodies of work: “The Masters” of country music; the “Blue Line Hotshots” he has met on his travels on America’s back roads; and the Lakota people of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and others in the South Dakota “Badlands.”
In his introduction to the publication that accompanies the exhibition, Stuart writes “…I often found myself in the company of Bill Monroe, Roy Acuff, Porter Wagoner, Merle Travis, Grandpa Jones, Ernest Tubb, and Stringbean. They always welcomed me, treated me like family, and gave me reasons to believe I was a part of the tribe. Whether at a concert, the Opry, a recording studio, a truck stop, or poker game, any time any one of these people were present I viewed it as history in motion. However, other than the fans, I seldom saw anyone present with a camera to capture the proceedings.”
Stuart and his mother Hilda Stuart will discuss photography at a free event at the Frist on Wednesday, June 4 at 12:00 p.m.
Artist Updates (5/8/14)
/by Jessica NicholsonZac Brown
Zac Brown and wife Shelly welcomed their fifth child and first son, Alexander Frost Brown, on Monday, May 5.
Alexander weighed 11 pounds, 7 ounces, and measured 22.5 inches long.
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Shania Twain
Shania Twain has become the Global Ambassador for cat conservation organization Panthera‘s newly launched leopard conservation initiative Project Pardus.
Project Pardus highlights the leopard’s (“pardus” in latin) perilous state and aims to halt leopard killings.
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Hosted by Ed Helms, the SuperJam also features the Lonesome Trio, Sarah Jarosz, Lake Street Dive, The Black Lillies, Shovels & Rope,The Lone Bellow, Robert Ellis, Della Mae, Bryan Sutton, and Dave Johnston of Yonder Mountain String Band.
Bonnaroo will take place June 12-15 in Manchester, Tenn.
Black River Entertainment's Lubitz Exiting
/by Jessica NicholsonBill Lubitz
Black River Entertainment‘s West Coast regional Bill Lubitz is leaving to pursue another opportunity. Lubitz took on the role in 2011.
Lubitz also shared duties as Director of National Promotion with Mike Wilson. Wilson continues in that role.
Black River VP/Promotion Bill Macky is currently searching for a replacement. Resumes can be sent to macky@blackriverent.com.