Someone Else Getting A Payday

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BMI toasted the No. 1 success of Luke Bryan’s latest single “Someone Else Calling You Baby” during a feel-good gathering on Monday, March 21 at the company’s Music Row offices.
Written by Bryan and his producer Jeff Stevens, the song is Bryan’s third consecutive No. 1 off his Gold certified album, Doin’ My Thing. It follows the other charttoppers from his sophomore effort “Do I” and “Rain Is A Good Thing.”
“Someone Else Calling You Baby” marks Stevens’ sixth No. 1 as a songwriter.
Bryan released an EP, Spring Break 3…It’s A Shore Thing, on March 1. He will hit the road this summer on Tim McGraw’s Emotional Traffic Tour.

Pictured are (l-r): Capitol Nashville’s Mike Dungan and Shane Allen, Red Light Management’s Kerri Edwards, co-writer and producer Jeff Stevens, Luke Bryan, Bug Music’s Roger Murrah, and BMI’s Clay Bradley.

Photos: Chesney, Carter’s Chord, SXSW

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Kenny Chesney’s Goin’ Coastal Tour, presented by Corona, kicked off last Thursday in West Palm Beach. He also performed recently in Tampa Bay’s Raymond James Stadium to a sold-out crowd of over 50,000. The tour now sets the compass north for upcoming shows in Des Moines, IA (3/24); St. Paul, MN (3/25); and Omaha, NE (3/26).

Kenny Chesney

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Show Dog-Universal Music artists Carter’s Chord performed the national anthem Saturday (3/19) at the NASCAR Nationwide Series at Bristol, broadcast live on ESPN. The group recently released the first single from an upcoming new collection of music. “A Little Less Comfortable” was written by Carter’s Chord members Emily and Joanna Robertson, with songwriter Phillip White.

Pictured (l-r) Joanna, Becky and Emily Robertson

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SESAC’s SXSW showcase in Austin featured performances by Strange Boys, Oberhofer, Superhumanoids and Band Of Heathens. SESAC also hosted a “Green Eggs & Band” Brunch during the music festival and conference. The event brought together SESAC-affiliated bands, such as Nashville-based The Honeymoon Thrillers, with journalists, music supervisors and industry executives for a fun and casual confab.

Pictured (l-r): Nathan Barlowe, Cary Barlowe and Chris Boyle of The Honeymoon Thrillers. Photo: Cara Pastore

Wynn Varble Among CMT Next Superstar Finalists

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Songwriter Wynn Varble is among the top 10 finalists on CMT’S Next Superstar, the competition series set to premiere Friday, April 8 at 9:00 p.m., ET/PT. Varble has written or co-written hits including “Have You Forgotten” (Darryl Worley), “Waitin’ on a Woman” (Brad Paisley) and “I’m A Little More Country Than That” (Easton Corbin), and has earned several ACM and CMA Song of the Year nominations.
Hosted by Thea Andrews, the ten episode series has contestants trying to impress celebrity guests each week through performances and music business related challenges.
Each week, one finalist will be eliminated. Viewers at home will have the final vote to determine who will be crowned CMT’s Next Superstar.
The Top 10 Finalists
Bri Bagwell, 23, Las Cruces, NM
Adrienne Beasley, 22, Wickliffe, KY
Courtney Cole, 24, Mandeville, LA
Danielle Lauderdale, 23, Orange Park, FL
Andrea Person, 29, Kelowna, British Columbia
Steven Clawson, 29, Thomasville, GA
Matt Dame, 37, Batesville, AR
Matt Mason, 25, Fairland, IN
Ben Smith, 29, Gainesville, TX
Wynn Varble, 50, Hampshire, TN

Witherspoon, Pattinson To Present at ACM Awards

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Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson


Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson have been added to the presenters list for the April 3 ACM Awards. Hosted by Reba and Blake Shelton, the show will be broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on CBS.
These Hollywood heavyweights join previously announced presenters Nancy O’Dell and Ryan Seacrest. In addition, performers include Jason Aldean, Toby Keith, Miranda Lambert, Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Alabama, Dierks Bentley, Ronnie Dunn, Sara Evans, Martina McBride, Reba, Blake Shelton, Carrie Underwood and Zac Brown Band with James Taylor.
In more news from the Academy of Country Music, for the second consecutive year, the ACM is partnering with the USO to bring a free, private concert to troops and their families stationed at Nellis Air Force Base outside Las Vegas. The Sat., April 2 concert will feature Luke Bryan, Brett Eldredge, Little Big Town, Blake Shelton, Sunny Sweeney, Montgomery Gentry and Craig Morgan. Storme Warren, host of GAC’s Headline Country, returns to emcee the day.

Rootmetrics Finds Verizon 4G Fastest

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Rootmetrics, a Seattle-based company that compiles data about mobile networks has released a study showing that Verizon’s LTE 4G network delivered faster upload and download speeds in a test conducted inside the Seattle area market. Verizon’s LTE network also had better access. Other 4G networks sampled in the test included T-Mobile, Sprint and AT&T. [Download the complete study here.]
“We used 4G capable smartphones to determine what the coonsumer epxerience looks like with regards to data speeds and data performance,” said Rootmetrics. “Each phone may or may not perform at 4G speeds all of the time and may connect to 3G or even 2G networks at some point depending upon time, location and network congestion.”
With respect to download speeds, Verizon’s LTE  “delivered speeds four times faster than the next fastest networks Sprint’s WiMax and T-Mobile’s HSPA+21 which tied for second place. Verizon was 14.5X faster than AT&T’s HSPA+ service.
Here are a few points from the study’s summary…

  • Verizon’s LTE download speeds were above 10Mbps 88% of the time. T-Mobile’s HSPA+21 download speeds were above 10Mbps 7% of the time and below 5MBps 61% of the time. Sprint’s download speed has higher that 10MBps 13% of the time and AT&T’s never were above 10MBps.
  • Methodology included using unaltered off-the-shelf smartphones equipped with the most up to date Android operating system (2.2). Devices used included HTC Evo (Sprint), HTC Inspire (AT&T), HTC Thunderbolt (Verizon) and Samsung Galaxy S (T-Mobile).
  • Rootmetrics is not endorsing any carrier and cautions that its results are not necessarily indicative of those across all cities nationwide. “Only time will tell,” the report states, “if Verizon can maintain these speeds as more consumers start to use the network.”

Sugarland To Perform On "Idol"

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Sugarland is slated to perform on Fox’s American Idol for Thursday’s (3/24) results show. This will be the Mercury duo’s first appearance on the series. Also set to perform is former Idol contestant and singer/actress Jennifer Hudson. The remaining 11 contestants will compete for the crown by singing the hits of Motown on Wednesday (3/23) night.
Sugarland’s lengthy Incredible Machine Tour will resume in Mid-April with dates scheduled through the end of summer. They are also set to headline the inaugural ACM Fan Jam, a live concert taking place during the 46th Annual ACM Awards on Sunday, April 3. In addition to Sugarland, the ACM Fan Jam will feature performances from New Artist of the Year nominees Eric Church and The Band Perry as well as Randy Houser, Little Big Town, and Steel Magnolia. The winner of the New Artist of the Year award will be announced live from the ACM Fan Jam stage during the Awards telecast and fans can vote their favorite until the show starts April 3. The 46th Annual ACM Awards broadcast takes place at 7 pm CT on CBS.

Ronnie Dunn To Release Solo Debut

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Ronnie Dunn will be releasing his self-titled solo debut album on June 7. The 12 track collection, Ronnie Dunn, was produced soley by Dunn and includes eight songs that he wrote or co-wrote.
Dunn’s first televised performance of the album’s debut single, “Bleed Red” will be on The 46th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, April 3, on CBS. While in Las Vegas for the ACM Awards, Dunn will also headline the free, open-to-the-public concert on Saturday, April 2, as part of ACM Weekend on Fremont Street Experience.

Bidding Continues For Warner Music Group

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Bidding for Warner Music Group continues with today’s (3/22) news that six companies are participating in the second round of the auction, according to the Financial Times.
Publishing giant BMG, in a partnership with private equity group KKR, is interested in buying Warner as a whole. Private investment group Tamares is also interested in the whole company.
An alternate scenario would be splitting Warner’s recorded music division and publishing arm into separate entities for the sale.
Other bidders in the running include: Platinum Equity, Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries, Sony Music, and Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa, which is believed to include Napster whiz kid Sean Parker.
But WMG isn’t the only major label group seeking a proper suitor. Citigroup is busy prepping EMI Music Group for the auction block.

Supreme Court Won't Review Eminem/UMG Royalty Dispute

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The U.S. Supreme Court ruled this afternoon (3/21) that it will not hear the appeal from Universal Music Group in a digital royalty dispute between Eminem’s former production company and the label.
Last year the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Eminem’s former production company, who filed the suit claiming they were underpaid for digital sales. UMG then appealed to the Supreme Court.
The suit claims that the rapper’s music on iTunes was being licensed, not sold, and therefore was subject to a higher royalty percentage rate. According to Eminem’s contract, he is owed a 12% royalty on “records sold” and a 50% rate on licensing agreements. He was paid for iTunes sales under the 12% rate.
The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that iTunes downloads aren’t sales because the label is licensing use of the master recordings to iTunes, which then sells the digital downloads without further involvement from the label. This means he is owed 50% of money made from paid digital downloads.

Urban Lines Up TV Shows, Tour Dates Down Under

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Keith Urban is making the media rounds this week. The star will perform his latest single “Without You” on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Wed., March 23. Then he will visit Ellen for a performance set to air on Mon., March 28.
“Without You” is No. 10 and climbing on MusicRow’s Country Breakout Chart. The hit is from his Gold-certified Capitol Records Nashville release Get Closer.
Following the TV dates in Los Angeles, Urban will head to Las Vegas for the 46th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards. He is set to perform on the awards show where he will vie for Entertainer of the Year, Top Male Vocalist and Vocal Event of the Year for “Blue Sky” with Emily West.
After the ACM Awards, Urban will fly to Australia to debut his Get Closer 2011 World Tour. The outing reaches North America on June 16 when it plays Biloxi, Mississippi.