Winds of Change at EMI

By all accounts, EMI’s Grammy party at the Hollywood “W” Hotel was impressive.  But one there was one significant absentee from the celebration:  Guy Hands, Chief Executive of Terra Firma, the in vestment that purchased EMI in 2007.

EMI is a British company with a 113 year history of making music.  Globally, EMI is home to such well-known acts as Coldplay, Norah Jones, Snoop Dog, The Spice Girls, and even, yes, the Beatles.  EMI’s Nashville-based labels are home to, among others, the Nashville’s successful talent, such as Lady Antebellum, Darius Rucker, and Keith Urban, not to mention old faithfuls such as singer-songwriter, Guy Clark, while the Nashville-based publishing arm of EMI is home to Tom Shapiro, John Paul White and Steve McEwan, to name a few.  And then, there is the Nashville-based Christian side of the business, EMI’s Christian Music Group.   Despite these success stories, in the days following the extravagant Grammy celebration, events transpired which called into question the financial stability, nay, even the very future, of those organizations as separate entities.

The winds of change started blowing way back in 2007, when the struggling entertainment empire was purchased by Hands and his venture capital firm, Terra Firma, for somewhere around 6.5 billion U.S. dollars.   The VC firm had a reputation for turning around troubled companies, including a roadside gas station company, an aircraft-leasing business, Australian cattle ranches, and a natural-gas network.

Some of the $6.5 billion purchase price was funded by the investment group, but the remaining balance, somewhere in the range of 4 billion, was financed by Citigroup.  Citigroup’s agreement to lend out that much money was contingent upon performance level targets.  The current consensus is that, despite over 13 million in sales of the old Beatles catalog, EMI has failed, and will continue to fail, to meet the performance targets, unless Terra Firma comes up with additional $200 million in capital contributions by the end of the summer.  If that doesn’t happen, Citigroup, itself struggling from the weight of bad debt and government scrutiny, could take the keys to the company and then, likely flip it into the waiting arms of Warner Music CEO, Edgar Bronfman, who has long wanted the EMI pro perties, changing the landscape of the music industry.

It is rumored that when Hands first met the EMI executive team, he told them if he didn’t make the deal work, he would lose over $310 million.  So, for obvious reasons, Guy Hands didn’t attend the recent EMI soirée, choosing instead, I imagine, to remain in his lavish estate on the Isle of Guernsey in the English Channel, where taxes are almost non-existence, making it a popular financial center for British venture capitalists.  Regardless of where Hands is now,  however, this entire power struggle will likely play out by the end of the summer. 

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Slightly Off-key “Voice of a Generation”

A little history:

February 22, 1990: Pop sensations Fabrice Morvan and Rob Pilatus, a/k/a Milli Vanilli, who achieved international acclaim as a result of their Arista release, Girl You Know It’s True,  win the Grammy for “Best New Artist.”    Soon, the rumors began to swirl that Morvan and Pilatus were not actually singing on the records as had bee n reported in the press.  So intense were these rumors that on November 12 of that same year, Frank Farian, creator and producer of the Milli Vanilli project, confessed that Morvan and Pilatus did not actually sing on the records.  Four days later, Milli Vanilli’s Grammy was “withdrawn,” and Arista dropped them.  After the details emerged, the controversy spurned over 26 different lawsuits across the country under various consumer protection laws.

Early 1992: New Kids on the Block’s song If You Go Away peaks at #16 on Billboard as an associate producer on one of their earlier albums allege that the band lip-syncs to performances by Maurice Star, and that Star actually sang many of the parts on their albums.   As the story develops, the band cuts short a tour to appear on The Arsenio Hall Show to perform a medley of their hits.  During the subsequent interview, the band admits to using Star’s vocals as a backup track during their live performances, and admit that Star sang harmonies on some of their background vocals.   The band never recovered from the backlash, and their record sales steadily declined from that moment.

November 6, 2009: Hundreds of angry fans in Perth, Australia, walk out of Brittany Spears’ Circus concert when it becomes apparent that she is lip-syncing to her songs.

Fast forward to:

January 31, 2010: Taylor Swift wins four Grammys: Album of the Year and Best Country Album for Fearless, Best Female Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Song for White Horse.  Swift, who is by all accounts an extremely talented songwriter, gave a stunningly weak vocal performance during her duet with Steve Nick’s that drew starkly negatives reviews from professionals and amateur press/bloggers alike.  For example, Bob Lefsetz described her performance as “dreadful” and opined that she may have single-handedly imperiled her career with this one performance.  The general consensus is that her Grammy performance is not an isolated incident.  Truth is, most professionals in Music City are aware of Swift’s inferior vocal talents – almost every conversation about Swift in this city includes one or more references to “auto-tune” technology.

The query then is this: is there a significant difference between a digitally-created rendition of a vocal performance and using a superior vocal performance from an singer who is not marketable to front a more attractive and marketable duo, a/k/a Milli Vanilli or to using a backup track (even of your own vocal as in Spears’ case) to enhance your live performance.  Isn’t the former example simply a modern, technological replacement for the latter?  If so, then the question becomes why is today’s society not as outraged at Taylor Swift as past society was at Milli Vanilli, New Kids and Spears?

In his response to criticism of the Grammy performance, Scott Borchetta, president and CEO of Swift’s record label Big Machine Records, offers this explanation for this discrepancy:

Maybe she’s not the best technical singer, but she is the best emotional singer. Everybody gets up there and is technically perfect people don’t seem to want more of it. There’s not an artist in any other format that people want more of than they want of Taylor. I think (the critics) are missing the whole voice of a generation that is happening right in front of them. Maybe they are jealous or can’t understand that. . . .   No one is perfect on any given day. Maybe in that moment we didn’t have the best night, but in the same breath, maybe we did.

Borcetta gets no argument from almost anyone I know in the industry that perhaps Swift is not the best technical singer.  But I’m not sure the explanation that Swift is the “voice of a generation” does much to address the underlying issue: The Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance went to singer who, even her label head admits, is not the best technical singer!  Swift’s Fearless live performance tour is sold-out!  In her defense, Borchetta goes on to say “If you haven’t seen her live performance, you’re welcome to come out as my guest to a Taylor Swift show and experience the whole thing, because it’s amazing.”  But if the show’s audio is auto-tuned, how does this amazing experience differ from a Brittany Spears’ lip-synced performance, if at all?  Let’s not forget, in their days, the fans also “wanted more” of Milli Vanilli, New Kids on the Block and Brittany Spears.

Someone else once phrased it this way:

“It’s not about being authentic anymore, it’s about being entertaining.” 

Interestingly, this was a quote from Morvan of Milli Vanilli in a USA Today article in 2010.   Morvan goes on to say

“Twenty years later, what we were crucified for you see everywhere.”

He right, is he not?  Let’s be honest.  In America, at least, pop music has almost always produced a certain amount of, shall we call it, “manufactured product” – performers who were either assembled, created or otherwise the entertainment value.  My first disillusionment with this came in the form of The Monkees when I discovered that they were a band “assembled” by Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider as an American “Beatles” alternative, i.e., as a means of capitalizing on the success of the Beatles.  As technologies become more and more sophisticated, this trend toward entertainment value over authenticity is naturally going to increase.  It used to be a little more difficult to go back and “overdub” a particular performance which was out of tune or offbeat, because the engineer had to physically rewind the tape, record the alternative part on a separate recording track, and then sync the new part into the old one.  A bit more time consuming.  Now, we have software which can independently correct not just the pitch, but an isolated note out of a chord which may be out of tune for one reason or another.  It’s a matter of moving the mouse over the note, highlighting it, and correcting it.  Wow!

I suppose the real question, then, is what do we want from our performing artists, whether it be a live performance or a recorded one?  For me, I think I prefer simple honesty.  Or, as Milli Vanilli ironically put it, “authenticity.”  I like to hear performers with technically superior skills performing the music they created.  I do agree with Borchetta that everyone is not perfect, and that many people prefer a live performance that has the feel of being non-technical.  After all, who can forget that off key guitar note at the end of the Allman Brother’s recording of Statesboro Blues (a note which they DO NOT replicate in a live performance), or some of John Bonham’s almost syncopated rhythms on Black Dog?   Those are authentic performances by persons with superior, technical skills. And this is precisely where I think where I differ from Borchetta:  I personally think most people do expect their celebrities to be technically superior, at least with regard to their perceived talents. 

Judging from prior examples such as Milli Vanilli and Brittany Spears, and the audiences’ reaction to those performers, people have an expectation that an artist will be able to actually perform the music that was marketed to them through the media.  In other words, most people expect their performers to be authentic.  Now, maybe Borchetta is correct, that Swift is, in fact, an authentic person who can communicate well through her gift of songwriting – again that’s not the real issue.  The real issue is that Swift is portrayed as more than a songwriter, she is portrayed as the performer with the “Best Female Country Vocal Performance.”   The fact is, Duane Allman, although he might hit an off key note once and awhile, was a technically superior guitarist.  John Bonham, even though that one performance might fade slightly off the beat for a brief moment, was a technically superior drummer.  However, no matter how many tours she sells out and no matter how many millions of CDs she sells, Taylor Swift, while an amazingly-talented songwriter,  will never be a technically superior vocalist.   Not to worry, though, she will most certainly always be the slightly off-key voice of a younger generation of admirers.  Or will she.  Time will tell I suppose.  But lest we put too much stock in past success as an indicator of future fan support, don’t forget, Milli Vanilli’s record was also multi-platinum.

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In Memory of Barry Beckett – 1943-2009

Barry Beckett, renowned Nashville producer and longtime musician, passed away last evening, further dampening, in conjunction with heavy downpours, the opening day of the 2009 CMA Music Festival.

Beckett was a fellow Aquarian, born February 4, 1943 in Birmingham, Alabama.  He was a noted keyboardist and musician, perhaps best known as a member of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section which created the “Muscle Shoals Sound” as part of the recording sessions produced by Rick Hall in the Fame Recording Studio.   

Beckett can be heard on various hits from the famous Stax Records (e.g., the Staple Singers‘ "I’ll Take You There”) as well as playing keyboards on my favorite Paul Simon tune,  the 1973 pop hit "Kodachrome."   As a A&R rep for Warner Nashville in themid 80’s and later as a producer, Beckett touched the careers of many notable artists, including Hank Williams, Jr., John Prine, Mary MacGregor, Alabama, Kenny Chesney, Bob Dylan (“Slow Train Coming”), Neal McCoy,  Glen Frey, Bob Seger, Delbert McClinton, Joan Baez, Dire Straits, Joe Cocker, Lorrie Morgan, Confederate Railroad, Phish.  A partial discography can be found here and here.

He was inducted into the Alabama Musicians’ Hall of Fame in 1995.  Among other things, Barry enjoyed building model railroad track layouts when not producing hit records.  He, and the music he continued to produce, will be severely missed in the Music Row community and well beyond.

Technorati Tags: Barry Beckett,Nashville,Producer,Bob Dylan,Paul Simon,Kodachrome,Kenny Chesney,Confederate Railroad

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Politico’s interview with Corgan following his testimony before Judiciary Committee on HR 848

Link to Politico Interview

As a follow up to my previous post on the subject, the radio widget above should play Politico’s interview with Smashing Pumpkin’s founder and frontman Billy Corgan following his testimony in front of the House Judiciary Committee in support of HR 848, the Performance Rights Act.

Corgan testified on Capitol Hill on behalf of the musicFIRST Coalition yesterday.  Corgan testified that the current sytems is “hurting the music business” because of radio stations’ failure to compensate musicians for performing their music.

My readers know my thoughts on this subject.  While I agree with Corgan’s overall sentiment, I stand by my emphasis yesterday that the legislation as it is written may be drafted in favor of the record labels more so than the performing artists. 

HR 848 should have a provision that provides for direct payment of royalties to the artists who performed on the sound recording and which specifically does NOT rely on the record labels to distribute these royalties “in accordance with the terms of the artist’s contract.”  (See my previous post).  This kind of language contained in the House version of the legislation at Section 6 only assures that the record labels would receive all the performance royalties and that performing artists would have to overcome numerous obstacles to ever see any of the additional income, inevitably leading to more disputes with the record label.   The current artists agreements with record labels simply do not contain provisions addressing payment of these types of royalties and, even if they did, the artists who have unrecouped balances on their ledger sheets would never see a dime. 

My proposal is that the current system for collection and distribution of performance royalties for musical compositions be utilized.  Specifically, why not allow BMI, SESAC and ASCAP to collect and distribute the performance royalties for sound recording copyrights on behalf of member artists, allowing these organizations to pay 50% of the income directly to the artists (the original owners of the sound recordings) and 50% to the record labels (the assignee owners of the sound recordings).  This structure is identical to the distribution of performance royalties for owners of the musical composition copyright.  It’s a systems that has functioned well since the turn of the 20th century and it is a systems that, overall, works fairly well. 

In general, members of the performance rights organizations have fewer royalty disputes with these entities over  than artists do with record labels, since these entities, for the most part, do not function as profit generators.  There is no doubt that this idea has some flaws as well, but in comparing the alternative, it seems to me that this would benefit the artists and musicians much more than giving the money to the record labels.

Technorati Tags: Billy Corgan,Smashing Pumpkins,HR 848,Legislation,Music Industry,Music Law,Entertainment Industry,Entertainment Lawyer

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Randy Owens receives “Artist Humanitarian Award”

Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc. today announced that country legend Randy Owens was the recipient of this year’s Artist Humanitarian Award. 

Together with his cousins Jeff Cook and Teddy Gentry, Owens was the front man for the one of the best selling country acts of all time, Alabama.  The band, which peaked in the 80’s, racked up over thirty No. 1’s on Billboard’s Country Singles Charts, with memorable hits such as “Love in the First Degree,” “Feels So Right,” “Close Enough to Perfect” and “Take Me Down.”  They also sang backup vocals on Lionel Richie’s 1987 single “Deep River Woman,” which peaked at No. 10.  The group has won two Grammy Awards for "Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal", in 1982 for Mountain Music and in 1983 for The Closer You Get.

Owen co-founded Country Cares for St. Jude Kids® in 1989 after meeting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital founder Danny Thomas the year before.  To date, Country Cares has raised more than $345 million to fund research in the fight against childhood cancer.  Earlier this year, more than 800 members of the country music industry gathered at the annual seminar in Memphis to celebrate 20 years of support for the children of St. Jude.  In 2008, Broken Bow Records released the Grammy Award-winner’s debut solo album, One On One, and HarperOne published his memoir, titled "Born Country." 

Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc. leads the music industry in recognizing the humanitarian achievements of country artists.  In 1990, CRB instituted the Artist Humanitarian Award, which was first presented during the CRS-21.  Past honorees include Brad Paisley, Brooks & Dunn, Garth Brooks, Charlie Daniels and Kenny Rogers.  For a complete list of past winners, click here.

Last year’s recipient, Clay Walker, presented Owen with the award Wednesday morning during the award ceremonies in the Convention Center. 

The Radio Humanitarian Awards for 2009 went to 97.3 WGH, Norfolk-Virginia (Large Market), 107.7 WIVK, Knoxville, Tennessee (Medium Market) and 93.3 WFLS, Fredericksburg, Virginia (Small Market).  The CRB Radio Humanitarian Awards are presented to full-time country radio stations for their efforts to improve the quality of life for communities they serve. 

This year’s Tom Rivers Humanitarian Award was given to CBS Minneapolis VP Market Manager Mick Anselmo, Sr.  During his tenure at KEEY-FM, Anselmo organized and created a radiothon which has helped raise more than $12 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.  His partnership with Sharing and Caring Hands of Minneapolis during a run of Garth Brooks concerts in 1998 set a Minneapolis-St. Paul food drive record.  The former Clear Channel radio executive also created Project Northern Lights, an effort that collected calling cards for troops stationed in Baghdad.

The intent of the Tom Rivers Humanitarian Award, given at the discretion of the Country Radio Broadcasters Board of Directors, is to recognize an individual in the Country Radio industry who has displayed a magnanimous spirit of caring and generosity in service to their community.  The award is given when the board feels an individual, through outstanding service, warrants the recognition. 

Congratulations to Randy and the other winners.

Technorati Tags: CRS-40,Country Radio Seminar,Artist Humanitarian Award,Randy Owen,Teddy Gentry,Alabama,Jeff Cook,Country Music Hall of Fame,Country Music,Nashville

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Music Row gears up for CRS

When big events like the Country Radio Seminar occur, Music Row begins to buzz with various activities and talk about the celebrities.  The Country Radio Seminar is an annual convention designed to educate and promote the exchange of ideas in the country music industry.  This year marks the event’s 40th anniversary and it promises to be another great year for attendance.

Among the buzz this year is Gerry House’s induction into the Countr y Music DJ Hall of Fame.  House is without a doubt one of the most well known country radio personalities of all time and has been honored many times during his long career as a spinner of vinyl (and now polycarbonate, or make that digits!).  He began that career in the small Tennessee town of Maryville at WBCR.  In 1975, he stared at WSIX-AM in Nashville then moved over to the FM side in the early ’80s.  In 1985, he moved his show to the granddaddy of Country Music Radio, WSM and then to KLAC in Los Angeles.  Ultimately, as life often does, he came almost full circle returning to WSIX-FM.  In 2008, the Gerry House and the House Foundation morning show on WSIX won “Personality of the Year” awards from the Country Music Association, the Academy of Country Music and Radio & Records.  House also received the National Association of Broadcasters’ Marconi Award and Leadership Music’s Dale Franklin Award. Also an accomplished songwriter, House wrote "The Big One" (George Strait), "Little Rock" (Reba McEntire) and "On The Side Of Angels" (LeAnn Rimes).   House is joined by the induction Cleveland Ohio’s Chuck Collier, a 30-year veteran of country music radio.  On the programming side of the equation, Bob McKay and Moon Mullins are the Country Music Radio Hall of Fame inductees.   Merle Haggard will receive the Career Achievement Award and Shelia Shipley Biddy will be presented the President’s Award.

The Country Music DJ and Radio Hall of Fame events unofficially mark the beginning of CRS each year.  The Hall of Fame Cocktail Party begins at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday evening. The Dinner and Induction Ceremony follows at 6 p.m.   The remainder of scheduled events for CRS are as follows:

Wednesday, March 4

Wednesday’s events kick off at 9 a.m. with the Opening Ceremonies and Award Presentation.  The keynote address, delivered by marketing expert Seth Godin, will follow at 10 a.m. in the Performance Hall, with the Motivational Speaker/Life Coach panel at 11:15 a.m.  This year’s speaker will be former No. 1 country artist-turn motivational coach Sylvia Hutton.

New label Golden Music will sponsor Wednesday’s luncheon, featuring performances by Benton Blount and Williams Riley.  The previously scheduled morning Artist Radio Taping Session (sponsored by SESAC) will now be combined with the afternoon A.R.T.S. panel.  As a result, the afternoon session will be extended by one hour (2:30 p.m. – 4:50 p.m.).

Performers at ASCAP’s KCRS Live! will include artists and songwriters Jimmy Wayne, Kelley Lovelace, Ashley Gorley and Jonathan Singleton.  The popular Music City Jam^TM (7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. in the Performance Hall) will be hosted this year by Tim McGraw and sponsored by the Academy of Country Music. 

Additionally, two educational panels will be featured Wednesday afternoon: "Country Radio As Seen Through The PPM Lens," sponsored by Arbitron, and "Back to the Future: 1969-2049."

Thursday, March 5:

Designated as Music Industry Town Meeting Day, single day registration for Thursday’s activities may be purchased on-site for $265.  The day’s agenda includes the return of the Tech Track and Small Market Track panels.  Tech Track panels include "Spinning a Web" and "40 New Media Ideas."  Small Market panels include "Come Hell or High Water: Disaster Preparedness," "You’re a PD, Now What?" and "Champagne Production on a Beer Budget."  Sixteen panels will be offered in all during the day between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Thursday’s events begin at 9 a.m. with The Country Music Association revealing the results of its 2008 Country Music Consumer Segmentation Study, conducted by Leo Burnett Co. and Starcom MediaVest Group.  Sony Music Nashville’s luncheon (noon – 1:50 p.m.) will feature performances by Miranda Lambert and Jake Owen.  At 4:10 p.m. Bobby Pinson, Pau l Overstreet, Josh Turner and Jamey Johnson will perform during WCRS Live! (sponsored by BMI and Country Aircheck).

Friday, March 6:
Friday is Radio Sales Day.  Single day registration, including entrance to the New Faces of Country Music Show®, is available for $370 on-site.  Friday’s events will kick-off with the Managers’ Breakfast at 8 a.m., followed by CRS-40’s second research study, which will present findings from the Edison Research / CRB National Country P1 Study 2009 at 10 a.m. 

Panels during the day will focus on important topics that affect the Country Radio format, such as consumer habits, promotional and research ideas, voicetracking and tools to increase sales.  Prominent sales panels include "20 Ideas Even a PD Would Love," "PPM!  Selling the Country Format," "What’s NTR Got To Do With It?" "Creative Closing" and "A Car Dealer Tells All About Advertising."  More than a dozen panels will be offered during Friday’s activities.

Friday’s luncheon, sponsored by Capitol Nashville, will feature performances from Darius Rucker and Little Big Town.  Also during lunch, Operation Troop Aid, a non-profit charity organization, will send 500 care packages from CRS-40 to deployed U.S. troops.  Packages will contain phone cards, MP3s, beef jerky, trail mix, hand wipes, hand sanitizer, cookies, candy, granola bars, toiletry items and thank you letters.  At 4:10 p.m., Barbara Mandrell will interview Kix Brooks during the Life of a Legend series.

One of Country Radio Seminar’s most popular events, The New Faces of Country Music Show and Dinner (sponsored by R&R and CMA) starts at 6:30 p.m. with performances from Lady Antebellum, James Otto, Kellie Pickler, Chuck Wicks and The Zac Brown Band.  CRS-40 will then officially close with the unique 40th Anniversary Jam: A Musical Thanks to Radio, to be held at Cadillac Ranch and sponsored by DigitalRodeo.com.  Artists will cover their favorite radio hits from the last 40 years, featuring performances by Emerson Drive, Andy Griggs, Julianne Hough, Jamie O’Neal, James Otto, Blake Shelton, Jimmy Wayne, Chuck Wicks, Mark Wills and Darryl Worley, among others.

A new CRS documentary can be seen during the three-day seminar at the Renaissance and Hilton hotels in downtown Nashville.  The film, produced by Art Vuolo and titled WCRS-TV, chronicles various CRS highlights over the last 21 years.

CRS-40 will be held March 4-6, 2009 at the Nashville Convention Center in Nashville, Tenn. 

About CRB:
Detailed seminar information and a full agenda can be found online at www.CRB.org.  On-site registration is still available for $699 and may be purchased at the Convention Center.  The Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc.®, the event sponsor, is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 1969 to bring radio broadcasters from around the world together with the Country Music Industry to ensure vitality and promote growth in the Country Radio format. 

Technorati Tags: Music Row,Music Industry Events,Nashville,CRS-40,Country Radio Seminar,Country Radio Broadcasters,Julianne Hough,Miranda Lambert,Gerry House,Country Music Hall of Fame,Radio Hall of Fame,DJ Hall of Fame

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ASCAP songwriters to perform at CRS-40’s KCRS Live! showcase

Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc. today announced the lineup for this year’s KCRS Live! event during the radio industry event, CRS-40, scheduled for March 4 – 6, 2009 at the Nashville Convention Center.  The ASCAP-sponsored KCRS Live! event will Wednesday, March 4 from 5-6:20 p.m.

The event almost always features some of Nashville’s top songwriting talent.  ASCAP writers and artists scheduled to perform this year include the following:

Jimmy Wayne – Jimmy Wayne’s "Do You Believe Me Now," the title track from his first new album in five years (Do You Believe Me Now), was worth the wait.  The much anticipated release was a Top 5 debut on the Billboard Country Album chart, while the single went all the way to No. 1.  The follow-up single, "I Will," is headed in the same direction.  His first release was a Top 10 success, garnering a string of hits on the Billboard Country chart, including "Stay Gone," "I Love You This Much," "Paper Angels" and "You Are," all co-written by Wayne.  He is scheduled to perform on the "American Saturday Night" tour with Brad Paisley in the summer and fall of this year.

Kelley Lovelace – Franklin, Tennessee resident and graduate of Belmont University, Kelley Lovelace is no stranger to hit songs, having written several that were recorded by artists such as Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Montgomery Gentry, Jason Aldean, Terri Clark, Joe Nichols, Jason Michael Carroll, Kristy Lee Cook, Tracy Byrd and many others.  Fifteen of those songs turned into Top 20 Billboard hits, and 10 of them reached the No. 1 position.  His credits include "Ticks," "He Didn’t Have to Be," "The World," "Online," (Brad Paisley), "The Impossible," (Joe Nichols) and "I Just Wanna Be Mad" and "Girls Lie Too" (Terri Clark).

Ashley Gorley – Danville, Kentucky native and Belmont University  graduate Ashley Gorley scored his first No. 1 with Carrie Underwood’s 2006 hit "Don’t Forget To Remember Me."  In 2008, Carrie brought him his second No. 1 with "All-American Girl."  His third chart-topper came only a few weeks later with Trace Adkins’ No. 1 smash, "You’re Gonna Miss This." 2009 began with yet another No. 1 hit, the Brad Paisley / Keith Urban duet "Start A Band."  Gorley has already won three ASCAP Awards and been nominated for two Grammys and a CMA Award.  His most recent single is Darius Rucker’s "It Won’t Be Like This For Long."

Jonathan Singleton – Music Row’s "Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year" in 2008, Jonathan Singleton announced his presence in Nashville with the 2007 Gary Allan smash "Watching Airplanes," a song that earned him an ACM nomination for Single of the Year.  The Jackson, Tenn. native is also a performer, recently playing gigs opening for artists like Joe Nichols, Phil Vassar, Carrie Underwood, Jason Michael Carroll, Blake Shelton and Eric Church.  Singleton also wrote the latest Billy Currington single "Don’t," and was featured in a recent "Legends and Lyrics" episode on PBS.

"We look forward to KCRS Live! every year.  It gives ASCAP an opportunity to showcase some of our best songwriter/artists to radio in a more intimate setting," said Connie Bradley, ASCAP Sr. VP.

"For years, KCRS Live! has showcased some of Nashville’s finest songwriters at Country Radio Seminar.  This year looks to be no different, and we are grateful to have ASCAP once again sponsoring this event," added CRB Executive Director Ed Salamon.

More information about the event can be found at www.crb.org.

Technorati Tags: Music Row,Nashville,Music Industry,Radio Broadcasters,Country Music,Songwriters

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My interview appearing on Metacafe.com

The interview that I gave to DigimusicTV.com is becoming viral.  Metacafe has it in three parts:

Barry Shrum Entertainment Attorney Part 1 

Barry Shrum Entertainment Attorney Part 2 

Barry Shrum Entertainment Attorney Part 3 

Technorati Tags: Music Lawyer,Music Attorney,Entertainment Lawyer,Entertainment Attorney,Music Row,Copyright Lawyer,Nashville,Tennessee,Copyright Infringement

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Barbara Mandrell and Kix Brooks slated for CRS-40 Panel

Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc.® has announced the CRS-40 “Life Of A Legend” panel will feature an interview session of country music legend Barbara Mandrell by host Kix Brooks.

The “Life Of A Legend” panel, sponsored by ABC Radio Networks, takes place Friday, March 6, 2009 at 4:10 p.m.  This panel is the climax of the seminar, and is always highly regarded as one of the most engaging and memorable events of CRS week.   Brooks (half of superstar country duo Brooks & Dunn and host of American Country Countdown) will interview Mandrell as she reflects on her legendary career in country music. Mandrell earned her first No. 1 single with 1978’s “Sleeping Single in a Double Bed,” followed by “(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don’t Want to Be Right.”  Mandrell went on to score four more No. 1’s: “Years,” “I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool,” “Till You’re Gone” and “One of a Kind Pair of Fools.”  A member of the Grand Ole Opry, Mandrell also starred in her own television series (“Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters”) and won both the CMA “Entertainer of the Year” and “Female Vocalist of the Year” Awards twice. “Barbara and the CRS grew up together, and it is particularly appropriate to feature her this year at CRS on the convention’s 40th Anniversary, the same year that marks her 40th anniversary with Columbia Records,” says CRB Executive Director Ed Salamon. “Barbara Mandrell is a legend in every sense of the word.  She has won countless awards, entertained millions with her television show and influenced so many of today’s artists.” This is the fourth year for the “Life of a Legend” panel.  Previous years’ lineups included: Gerry House interviewing Kenny Rogers (CRS-37), Eddie Stubbs interviewing Ronnie Milsap (CRS-38} and Norro Wilson and Ronnie Gilley interviewing George Jones (CRS-39}. CRS-40 is scheduled for March 4-6, 2009 at the Nashville Convention Center.  Complete information, including registration, may be obtained by contacting CRB, Inc. at 615.327.4487 or by visiting http://www.crb.org.  Technorati Tags: Barbara Mandrell,Country Radio Broadcasters,CRS-40,Nashville,Entertainment

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Peterson Receives ‘Spirit of Hope’ Award

Country artist Michael Peterson is the recipient of this year’s Bob Hope ‘Spirit of Hope’ Award, thereby recognized for his dedication and continued contributions to the troops of the United States Armed Forces.

The Spirit of Hope award is presented annually to distinguish ed Americans whose patriotism and service to the troops reflects that of Bob Hope.  Commissioned by the USO in November 1997, the award was name after Hope, who at that time was designated as the first and only honorary veteran of the United States Armed Forces for his decades of entertaining troops, both in peacetime and in combat zones.  Hope symbolized the idea that America cared about and supported its troops, and he remains the USO’s “Ambassador of Good Will.”

The award was given to Peterson at a ceremony held at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. in late October.  Other notable winners of the award in the past include the Country Music Association, CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite, the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, and former astronaut John Glenn.

“The men and women in uniform who serve our nation selflessly with honor and integrity are inspiring to be around,” said Peterson upon receiving the award.  “For decades, Bob Hope saluted them with entertainment and encouragement from home.  Because of Mr. Hope’s sacrifice and service, today’s entertainers have the same opportunity.  I am grateful for this recognition and the privilege of being associated with his legacy.”

Peterson completed the U.S. Army sponsored ‘My Real Life – Strong For America Tour’ earlier this year.  In addition to performing, the singer introduced various programs and services at each stop of the tour that empowered students to make great choices and provided civic leaders and businesses with new strategies for contributing to their local communities.  A live concert headlined by Peterson concluded each week’s events.

The former collegiate football star continues his support of the troops with a series of overseas dates during the holidays.  He will also perform for U.S. Army Chief Of Staff General George W. Casey Jr. in my old stomping grounds, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on December 5th at the Union League of Philadelphia, prior to the annual Army-Navy football game.

Peterson first arrived on the country music scene in 1997 with the success of his self-titled debut album, which produced such hits as Drink, Swear, Steal & Lie which reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart (now Hot Country Songs)and From Here To Eternity which made it all the way to number one.  The album was certified gold by the RIAA, and ultimately generated a total of five hit singles on the Billboard charts.  In addition, he was recognized as country music’s top selling new male artist by Billboard and R&R in that same year.   

Peterson, a great ambassador for country music industry, has also contributed his time to other charities such as The Ronald McDonald House, the Special Olympics, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

The USO is a Congressionally chartered, nonprofit organization, that is not a government agency, but rather is funded by many national corporations and other private contributors.  For more information on the USO, call 1-800-876-7469 or visit their Web site, www.uso.org.

Congratulations Michael!

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