The online struggle between internet music provider Pandora and several industry organizations—including the NMPA, ASCAP and others—continues. We’ve compiled the latest posts and responses between Pandora, the NMPA, Pink Floyd and songwriter David Lowery.
• Pink Floyd wrote a scathing op-ed piece in USA Today, stating, “The open letter to Pandora that we signed last year said, ‘Lets work this out as partners’ and that’s what we should do. But tricking artists into signing a confusing petition without explaining what they are really being asked to support only poisons the well.”
• Songwriter David Lowery, best known as the lead singer for 1990s band Cracker, says that Pandora played his song more than 1 million times and gave the songwriter only $16.89 in royalties.
• Pandora responded to the Pink Floyd op-ed with a statement to Radio Ink, saying, “We have enormous respect for the members of Pink Floyd, and their amazing artistic contributions. We also respect the genuineness of their opinion. Unfortunately, they have been given badly misleading information – the result of a well-orchestrated campaign by the RIAA and their lobbying arm to mislead and agitate artists.” Pandora CEO Tim Westergren also posted a blog on Pandora’s website yesterday, clarifying Pandora’s stance, saying, “While we have generally tried to steer clear of debating this issue in the media, the volume of misinformation has reached a level where I feel it’s important to set the record straight – not only for Pandora, but also for the artists themselves as they consider what, if any role, to play in shaping the policy around royalties in the coming months and years. There is a window of opportunity here to create a healthy and sustainable music ecosystem, but that won’t happen if the discussion is dominated and controlled by entrenched incumbents.”
• David Israelite, CEO of the National Music Publishers Association, released a response statement to Westergren’s blog, saying, “Put simply, Pandora has gone to war against creators of music.”
 

Highway South Records artist and Detroit native David Shelby visited the MusicRow offices on Wednesday (June 26).
Shelby picked up trumpet and accordion playing at a young age and eventually studied Jazz and Contemporary Media in college. After college, he played lead trumpet in various groups, including performances with Phil Collins and Stevie Wonder. He was first exposed to country music through a Garth Brooks concert. “You could tell Garth really cared about the crowd and entertaining,” says Shelby.
Shelby performed songs from his EP, including “Kick A Little Dirt Around” and “Moonshine.” On Aug. 8, Shelby will perform a showcase at Nashville’s 12th & Porter.
For more information, visit davidshelbymusic.com.
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Leadership Music’s annual Digital Summit returns this fall with a new title, new direction, and a renewed focus on educating and connecting music industry and digital marketing leaders. The nine-year-old conference is being renamed and rebranded as the Leadership Music Summit, a move that will allow for the theme of the event to address and incorporate the hot-button issues of the moment from year-to-year. Slated for Tuesday, Sept. 10 at Nashville’s Marathon Music Works, the 2013 summit is subtitled “Digital Solutions Powered by the Entrepreneurial Spirit.” Co-chairs for this year’s event are Leadership Music alumni Heather McBee (“America’s Morning Show,” Cumulus Media) and Cameo Carlson (Borman Entertainment).
“Our goal with this year’s event is to introduce members of the music community to the growing number of digital marketing and platform opportunities that are being developed by entrepreneurs,” says McBee. The 2013 event is targeted to attendees and participants ranging from college students to movers-and-shakers of the entrepreneurial community across the Southeast to a variety of music industry leaders and decision-makers, including artist managers, record label staff and executives, attorneys, business managers and members of the media, marketing and publicity communities.
Planned panel topics include “Bringing Content to Fruition” and “Marketing & Engagement.” An anticipated highlight is “The Dream Projects,” a competition where content “owners” (i.e. record labels, managers, publishers, artists) can pre-submit a need that would benefit from digital ideas and initiatives. Three “finalists” will be chosen from the pool of submissions; each will be provided a 10-minute presentation opportunity at the Summit. A panel of judges will choose a “winner,” and assist that content owner in connecting with potential digital solution providers. An inverse opportunity will also be provided to digital start-ups – three “finalists” will be selected from a field of pre-submitted initiatives, each will be allowed to present their idea of a dream project and connections will be made with music industry entities who can utilize the “winning” concept. In addition to receiving a cash prize, the winning projects will be included in the feature news in MusicRow.