Nine North/Turnpike Music Nashville president Larry Pareigis has announced the promotion of industry veteran Tom Moran, currently VP of Promotion, to Sr. VP, effective immediately.
“As a long-time confidant and superb strategist, I thought this was the perfect time to celebrate my decade of working with Tom (between Sony and Nine North/Turnpike Music), to recognize his achievements with this overdue new title reflecting his importance to this ongoing operation of our company,” Pareigis said.
Moran added, “I appreciate very much the confidence in me that Larry has expressed with this new title. We have some good things happening in this new year and I’m excited to get going!”
Moran joined Nine North Records in July 2008 as VP of Promotion/Marketing, after serving in that same capacity at Show Dog Records and Epic Records. He has also served in a consultant capacity to various Nashville labels. Prior to moving to Nashville in the 1990s, Moran worked in the pop and rock worlds at Warner Bros., Polydor and Columbia Records.
Moran can be reached at tom@ninenorthmail.com.

APA Nashville has signed singer/songwriter Maggie Rose. Rose’s Cut To Impress CD was produced by James Stroud and Blake Chancey, and her new single, “Looking Back Now,” from RPM Entertainment will be released on Jan. 21.
“Maggie is an amazing young woman with a wealth of talent,” Sr. VP of APA Steve Hauser said. “Her songwriting is top-drawer and her live show is remarkable. We are thrilled to have her join our APA family.”

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BMI recently invited Austin-based singer-songwriter Brennen Leigh to the Nashville office to perform a set for Nashville’s industry tastemakers. Leigh has written songs for Country artists Lee Ann Womack, Sunny Sweeney and the Carper Family.

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Vince Gill and steel guitarist Paul Franklin performed the Buck Owens classic “Together Again” Thursday (Jan. 9) on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The song is from their album Bakersfield: Deluxe Edition, which will be available exclusively at Cracker Barrel Old Country Store® locations and crackerbarrel.com beginning Jan. 27. The performance, as well as Gill’s interview with Leno, can be viewed online.

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Kellie Pickler will join forces with Nashville Ballet to perform at the organization’s annual fundraising event, Ballet Ball 2014. On Saturday, March 8, Pickler will sing two songs from her recently released project, The Woman I Am, providing a live soundtrack to original dance performances by Nashville Ballet company dancers, choreographed by Artistic Director and CEO Paul Vasterling.
Tickets for the main Ball are by invitation only; however, arts patrons can purchase tickets to the Ballet Ball’s Late Party, which features cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and a seat at the performance. Late Party tickets are $125 per person and will be available beginning Wednesday, Jan. 15. Tickets can be purchased at bblateparty.com
“I am so honored Nashville Ballet chose me to perform as part of their Ballet Ball this year,” Pickler said. “My passion is music, but last year I discovered how much I love to dance, so to have Nashville Ballet dance to two of my songs is really exciting for me. I cannot wait to see how they choreograph their dances for the Ball.”

The CMA Songwriters Series returns for its 10th season, with the first shows of 2014 being held at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, on Jan. 22 and 23.
The Sundance ASCAP Music Café’s CMA Songwriters Spotlight will feature special guests Brandy Clark, Brett James, Chris Stapleton, and Lee Ann Womack. Two feature performances will be presented, with both shows including Clark, James, Stapleton and Womack. Shows on Jan. 22 and 23 begin at 4 p.m. MT at the Sundance ASCAP Music Cafe.
“We are honored that the CMA Songwriters Spotlight will be a highlight of the Sundance ASCAP Music Café, an official part of the Sundance Film Festival calendar,” CMA Chief Executive Officer Sarah Trahern said. “Nashville’s songwriters are among the most talented storytellers in the world and with the Sundance Film Festival being the world’s premier stage for storytellers, I cannot think of a more appropriate setting to launch the tenth year of this series.”
The CMA Songwriter Series has held more than 75 shows in 13 cities, including Austin, Belfast, Chicago, Dublin, London, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Phoenix, and Washington, D.C. CMA Triple Play Award winner, CMA Board member, and Songwriters Hall of Fame member Bob DiPiero has championed and hosted the series since its launch in 2005 at Joe’s Pub in New York City.
“CMA Songwriters Series has become the premier event to showcase the Nashville songwriting community,” DiPiero said. “We have reached a tipping point, in that fans are starting to understand the role of the songwriter in the success of their favorite artists. We are grateful to all of the artists that have performed on the series through the past 10 years, but it is the songwriter, the ‘invisible star,’ the storytellers and song makers that the CMA Songwriters Series celebrates. We have become musical ambassadors, spreading the hillbilly Gospel.”
On Feb. 11 and 12, the CMA Songwriters Series will return to Joe’s Pub in New York City. Additional shows in 2014 will tentatively include Austin, Chicago, Nashville, and New York with talent and show dates to be announced at a later time.

Beginning this month, SoundExchange will provide monthly royalties to artists, labels and rights owners signed up to receive electronic payments. Previously, SoundExchange sent royalty payments quarterly to its registrants.
“While SoundExchange was already a market-leader with quarterly distributions, moving to monthly payments takes our service to the next level,” SoundExchange President and CEO Michael Huppe said. “By making performance royalties available sooner, we are making it easier for recording artists and record labels to focus on creating the music we all enjoy.”
Initially, monthly royalty payments will be sent to those signed up to receive electronic payments, and have royalties due of at least $250. Artists and labels that do not meet this minimum threshold will continue to be paid on a regular, quarterly schedule under the organization’s existing guidelines. After the initial roll out period, SoundExchange will re-evaluate eligibility qualifications for its monthly payment program.
SoundExchange administers the statutory license for more than 2,000 digital music services that rely on it for the use of sound recordings.