Fifty-four new members have been selected to participate in the twenty-first annual class of Leadership Music. The annual program is designed to create a forum for established music community leaders to identify and explore issues currently affecting the music industry.
“The selection committee, composed of more than 50 Leadership Music alumni from all areas of the industry, has chosen an outstanding group of leaders from hundreds of candidates for the Class of 2010,” explained Ken Robold, immediate Past President of the Board of Directors and chair of the selection committee, and Executive Vice President of UMG Nashville.
Members of the Class of 2010 are: John Allen, Vice President, Bug Music Publishing; Sherrill Blackman, Owner, The SDB Music Group; Diane Blagman, Senior Director of Government Affairs, Greenberg Traurig (Washington D.C.); Niko Bolas, Producer/Engineer; Daniel Bowen, Vice President of Strategic Marketing & Communications, CMA; Jim Bradfield, CEO, Bradfield Stage Lighting; Carey Nelson Burch, Consultant/Manager/Producer for TV/Film, My Own Shingle; Gary Burr, President, Gary Burr Productions; Christina Calio, Director Music Relationships & Strategy, Microsoft (Seattle); Shawn Camp, Songwriter/Artist, Big Yellow Dog Music; Cameo Carlson, SVP, Digital Business Development, UMRG (NYC/Nashville); Michael Carpenter, General Sales Manager, Clear Channel Communications; Gary Churgin, President & CEO, The Harry Fox Agency (NYC); Gil Cunningham, President & Owner, Neste Event Marketing; Craig Currier, Sr. Director of Advertising Markets/Executive Producer, peercommercialmusic (a division of peermusic); Ansel Davis, Managing Member, Ansel L. Davis & Associates, PLLC; Mayor Karl Dean, Mayor, Metro Nashville Government; Bob Doyle, Owner, Major Bob Music; Trey Dunaway, Director of Taxes & Royalties, Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy, Inc.; John Esposito, President & CEO, WEA, Inc. (NYC); Rory Feek, Artist/Writer, Joey & Rory; Tim Fink, Associate VP Writer/Publisher Relations, SESAC; Mitch Glazier, Executive VP, Government & Industry Relations, RIAA (Washington D.C.); Mike Grimes, Co-Owner, Grimey’s/The Basement; Mary Hilliard Harrington, President/Owner, The Greenroom; Ben Howard, SVP Marketing & Sales, Provident Label Group; Craig Krampf, Secretary/Treasurer, AFM; Jason Lehning, President, Jason Lehning; Lee Levine, Grant Writer, Clarinetist, ALIAS Chamber Ensemble; Kent Marcus, Owner, KMM, PC; Ralph Mastrangelo, Sr. Director of Touring, Clair Audio; Barry Mazor, Freelance Journalist, Author; Kim McCollum, Owner, Words & Music; Jason McCoy, President, Airstrip Music/Road Hammers; Pat McGrew, Vice President, Morgan Keegan; Rasheed Muhammad, First Vice President, SunTrust Wealth Management (Atlanta); Denise Nichols, Vice President, Spalding Entertainment; Kathleen O’Brien, President & CEO, TN Performing Arts Center; Vance Powell, Chief Engineer, Blackbird Studio; Melissa Preisler, VP Finance, The Disney Music Group; Steven Schnur, Worldwide Executive of Music & Music Marketing, Electronic Arts (Playa Vista, CA); John Shomby, Director of Programming & Operations, Max Media of Hampton Roads (Virginia Beach, VA); Cheryl Slay, Assistant Professor of Music, Belmont University; Jennie Smythe, Owner, Girlilla Marketing; Dave Steunebrink, Owner, Showdown Management; Jeff Stoltz, Sr. Director Sales & Analysis, UMG Nashville; Bonnie Sugarman, Senior Vice President, APA, Inc.; Beka Tischker, VP A&R/Publishing, Razor & Tie (NYC); Deborah Varallo, Varallo Public Relations; Wes Vause, Sr. Director, Media, Sony Music Nashville; Storme Warren, Partner, Surfing Moose Productions; Lane Wilson, Agent, Senior VP, William Morris Agency; Tommy Womack, Singer/Songwriter; and Rolff Zwiep, Manager, Blackbird Audio Rentals.
Twitterific: MusicRow Debuts Chart, Twitter Stops Fake Accounts
/by Sarah SkatesMusicRow has a new Twitter chart, ranking the Country music artists with the most followers. Click here to check it out.
Leadership Music Names Class of 2010
/by Sarah Skates“The selection committee, composed of more than 50 Leadership Music alumni from all areas of the industry, has chosen an outstanding group of leaders from hundreds of candidates for the Class of 2010,” explained Ken Robold, immediate Past President of the Board of Directors and chair of the selection committee, and Executive Vice President of UMG Nashville.
Members of the Class of 2010 are: John Allen, Vice President, Bug Music Publishing; Sherrill Blackman, Owner, The SDB Music Group; Diane Blagman, Senior Director of Government Affairs, Greenberg Traurig (Washington D.C.); Niko Bolas, Producer/Engineer; Daniel Bowen, Vice President of Strategic Marketing & Communications, CMA; Jim Bradfield, CEO, Bradfield Stage Lighting; Carey Nelson Burch, Consultant/Manager/Producer for TV/Film, My Own Shingle; Gary Burr, President, Gary Burr Productions; Christina Calio, Director Music Relationships & Strategy, Microsoft (Seattle); Shawn Camp, Songwriter/Artist, Big Yellow Dog Music; Cameo Carlson, SVP, Digital Business Development, UMRG (NYC/Nashville); Michael Carpenter, General Sales Manager, Clear Channel Communications; Gary Churgin, President & CEO, The Harry Fox Agency (NYC); Gil Cunningham, President & Owner, Neste Event Marketing; Craig Currier, Sr. Director of Advertising Markets/Executive Producer, peercommercialmusic (a division of peermusic); Ansel Davis, Managing Member, Ansel L. Davis & Associates, PLLC; Mayor Karl Dean, Mayor, Metro Nashville Government; Bob Doyle, Owner, Major Bob Music; Trey Dunaway, Director of Taxes & Royalties, Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy, Inc.; John Esposito, President & CEO, WEA, Inc. (NYC); Rory Feek, Artist/Writer, Joey & Rory; Tim Fink, Associate VP Writer/Publisher Relations, SESAC; Mitch Glazier, Executive VP, Government & Industry Relations, RIAA (Washington D.C.); Mike Grimes, Co-Owner, Grimey’s/The Basement; Mary Hilliard Harrington, President/Owner, The Greenroom; Ben Howard, SVP Marketing & Sales, Provident Label Group; Craig Krampf, Secretary/Treasurer, AFM; Jason Lehning, President, Jason Lehning; Lee Levine, Grant Writer, Clarinetist, ALIAS Chamber Ensemble; Kent Marcus, Owner, KMM, PC; Ralph Mastrangelo, Sr. Director of Touring, Clair Audio; Barry Mazor, Freelance Journalist, Author; Kim McCollum, Owner, Words & Music; Jason McCoy, President, Airstrip Music/Road Hammers; Pat McGrew, Vice President, Morgan Keegan; Rasheed Muhammad, First Vice President, SunTrust Wealth Management (Atlanta); Denise Nichols, Vice President, Spalding Entertainment; Kathleen O’Brien, President & CEO, TN Performing Arts Center; Vance Powell, Chief Engineer, Blackbird Studio; Melissa Preisler, VP Finance, The Disney Music Group; Steven Schnur, Worldwide Executive of Music & Music Marketing, Electronic Arts (Playa Vista, CA); John Shomby, Director of Programming & Operations, Max Media of Hampton Roads (Virginia Beach, VA); Cheryl Slay, Assistant Professor of Music, Belmont University; Jennie Smythe, Owner, Girlilla Marketing; Dave Steunebrink, Owner, Showdown Management; Jeff Stoltz, Sr. Director Sales & Analysis, UMG Nashville; Bonnie Sugarman, Senior Vice President, APA, Inc.; Beka Tischker, VP A&R/Publishing, Razor & Tie (NYC); Deborah Varallo, Varallo Public Relations; Wes Vause, Sr. Director, Media, Sony Music Nashville; Storme Warren, Partner, Surfing Moose Productions; Lane Wilson, Agent, Senior VP, William Morris Agency; Tommy Womack, Singer/Songwriter; and Rolff Zwiep, Manager, Blackbird Audio Rentals.
Trailer Choir Gets MusicRow Ready For The Weekend
/by Sarah SkatesTV Time Pays Off
/by Sarah SkatesDolly Parton is set to perform on Sunday night’s Tony Awards on CBS, where she is nominated for Best Original Score for 9 to 5: The Musical. Joining her on the show will be the cast of the musical.
Julianne Hough will host the 2009 CMT Music Awards Video of the Year Special, premiering Saturday, June 13 at 1 PM/CT. Voting is going on now at CMT.com and the final four nominees in the Video of the Year category will be announced at the beginning of the live awards show so fans can vote online and via text on Verizon phones throughout the broadcast.
Dateline: On Tour With Taylor Swift, originally broadcast May 31 on NBC, is being re-broadcast Sunday, June 7, in the network’s All Night time period. The program’s original air time was disrupted in several markets due to NBC’s live telecast of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup.
Cox Promotes Garth Book
/by Sarah Skates(L-R): Terry Stevens, Allen Reynolds, Patsi Bale Cox, Joe Mansfield and Virginia Team. Photo: Alan Mayor
Patsi Bale Cox sold out of copies of her new book, The Garth Factor: The Career Behind Country’s Big Boom, at her Davis Kidd booksigning last night. The former Capitol Records staffer, who spent 16 years handling Brooks’ publicity, chronicles his career, the huge popularity surge of country music, boardroom drama, and more in the new book. She details his life from humble beginnings in Oklahoma to becoming the bestselling solo artist of all time with nearly 130 million records sold.
Shane Allen Joins Capitol As VP Promotion
/by Sarah Skates“I’m extremely excited to be returning to Capitol Nashville in this capacity, and am especially grateful to Mike Dungan and Steve Hodges for giving me the opportunity,” said Allen. “I can’t say enough about the people, artist roster and incredible culture inside those halls on West End. I’m also very grateful to Greg Hill and all of my friends at GHM/Red Light Management for teaching me so much.”
Before his time at Capitol Records Nashville, Allen worked as the National Director, West and Southwest Promotion for Universal South Records. Before that Allen held several positions at MCA and Mercury Nashville in the Promotions department. Allen first got his start at San Diego’s KSON radio station.
Universal Republic, Big Machine Launch Republic Nashville
/by Sarah SkatesJimmy Harnen, Scott Borchetta
Big Machine Records and Universal Republic have combined resources to form the new label Republic Nashville, which will be run by President Jimmy Harnen and headquartered on Music Row.
Republic Nashville’s inaugural roster will include honky tonkin’ singer/songwriter Sunny Sweeney and new country duo Fast Ryde, among other artists. A major staff announcement regarding the new label will be forthcoming.
Big Machine and Universal Republic—headed by Scott Borchetta and Monte Lipman, respectively—first worked together in 2007 to promote country superstar Taylor Swift.
Previously, Harnen was Senior Vice President of Promotion for Capitol Records, Nashville. From 2000 to 2003 he was Co-National Director of Promotion for DreamWorks Records in Nashville, working closely with Borchetta, who was a DreamWorks executive at the time. Harnen can be reached at Jimmy.Harnen@republicnashville.com and at 615-324-7777.
S1 Songs Makes Significant Acquisition
/by Sarah Skates(L-R): Jody Williams, BMI; Brett Beavers; Don Rollins; Chip Petree, Attorney/Copyright Exchange; Pat Finch, Sr. VP/GM S1 Songs Nashville; Shaye Smith; Abbe Nameche, VP Creative, S1 Songs Nashville
S1 Songs has acquired the song catalogs, plus future works, of Brett Beavers, Shaye Smith and Don Rollins, and also purchased an interest in the smash hit singles “Whiskey Lullaby” recorded by Brad Paisley and “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” recorded by Alan Jackson. The Nashville office of S1 is headed by Sr. VP/GM Pat Finch. Global CEO of S1 Songs, Steve McMellon says the publisher plans to continue acquiring “good quality Nashville copyrights.”
As a producer/writer, Beavers has garnered multiple hit singles for Dierks Bentley, including “What Was I Thinkin’,” “Lot Of Leavin’ Left To Do,” “Come A Little Closer,” “Every Mile A Memory,” and “Feel That Fire” in addition to producing Bentley’s first five Capitol albums. Beavers has also written singles for Lee Ann Womack, Brooks & Dunn, Eric Church and more.
Shaye Smith is a Grammy nominated songwriter with several No. 1 hits in the U.S. and overseas. Her hits include “Songs About Me” (Trace Adkins), “That’s Why I’m Here” (Kenny Chesney), “How Far” (Martina McBride), “There Is No Arizona” and “Somebody’s Hero” (Jamie O’Neal), “One Boy, One Girl” (Collin Raye), “Single White Female” (Chely Wright), “Complicated” (Carolyn Dawn Johnson) and “I Should Be Sleeping” (Emerson Drive). Her songs have appeared on more than 25 million albums sold.
In 2003 Don Rollins wrote “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” with frequent collaborator Jim “Moose” Brown. The song went on to be a multi-week No. 1 for Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett and win the Grammy Award for Best Country Song. In 2006, Rollins scored two cuts on Reba’s Platinum Duets album. Other artists who have recorded his songs include Neal McCoy, Randy Travis, Ronnie Millsap, and Ricky Skaggs.
Lifenotes: Danny Petraitis (Updated)
/by Sarah Skates––––––––––––––
Much loved member of the music community Danny Petraitis died peacefully last night, June 3, around 7:45 PM in his room at Lakeshore Wedgewood assisted living community. He had an extensive fight with brain cancer and is survived by his children Dylan, Carson, Sadie, and Jed. An obituary with arrangements and details about a memorial fund is expected tomorrow.
According to a post on his Caring Bridge site, “Dan’s wishes were to have his body be cremated and his ashes spread at the Jetty at Long Branch New Jersey. There will be no viewing. As of right now tentative plans are to have a church service possibly Sunday afternoon at Benton Chapel on the Vanderbilt campus with a pot-luck/visitation/celebration/guitar pull afterwards at the A-frame of St. Augustine’s Chapel just a short distance away.”
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/dannypetraitis/
Sony Onboard With eMusic
/by Sarah SkatesBack catalog from Sony Music Entertainment will soon be available on popular download site eMusic. This is the first major label to partner with the retailer known largely for indie music. eMusic boasts about 400,000 subscribers who can download a set number of MP3s each month in exchange for a monthly fee.
Following the agreement with Sony, eMusic has raised its monthly prices and cut the number of downloads for some plans. eMusic says that many of the independent labels it works with had also been asking it to increase prices.
Sony considers songs more than two years old “back catalog.”