Music News 1/10/13

Private-equity firm Rizvi Traverse Management, LLC has closed a deal to buy a majority stake in performance rights organization SESAC, Inc. for approximately $600 million, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. The purchase will give Rizvi 75-percent ownership the Nashville-based PRO, which has been on the block for months and received interest from various private-equity firms, the Journal said.

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LeAnn Phelan and Michael Martin

ASCAP adds Nashville music industry veteran Kele Currier as Director of Strategic Services. Currier’s appointment coincides with the elevation of Michael Martin and LeAnn Phelan to oversee ASCAP’s Nashville operations and lead the creative team of Mike Sistad, Ryan Beuschel, Robert Filhart, Evyn Mustoe and Anna Maki. Although Martin and Phelan have been working in this capacity for some time, this is the first official announcement of their expanded leadership roles.

Kele Currier

Currier’s 19 years of industry experience includes copyright administration, licensing, and royalty collections for catalog acquisitions and administration clients. She joined Toronto-based ole as Director of Administration in 2010 and established the company’s first Nashville-based administration presence. Prior to joining ole, the Belmont graduate was recruited by ASCAP hit songwriter Craig Wiseman to help start his publishing administration company, Big Loud Bucks. Currier is a board member of the Copyright Society of the South, and a member of SOURCE, and the CMA.

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Photo (L-R): Mike Sistad (ASCAP Senior Creative Director), Barry Stock, Adam Gontier, Craig Wiseman, Neil Sanderson, Brad Walst and Seth England (Big Loud Shirt). Photo: ASCAP

Songwriter Craig Wiseman celebrated his 20th No. 1 hit with Canadian rock band Three Days Grace‘s single, “Chalk Outline.” Wiseman, along with family and friends, gathered at the band’s recent show at Nashville’s Exit/In to commemorate his achievement.

Wiseman won a Grammy for Best Country Song in 2005 for Tim McGraw‘s No. 1 hit “Live Like You Were Dying.” He also earned the Country Music Association’s Song of the Year trophy for the same song in 2004. In 2009, Wiseman received the Nashville Songwriters Association’s highest honor, Songwriter of the Decade. Wiseman has had over 100 singles thus far in his career and more than 300 cuts.

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Stevie Erickson

Pat Higdon, President of Patrick Joseph Music, has added Stevie Erickson as Creative Manager. This is the first hire for the company since it re-launched in 2012. Erickson will be responsible for artist/writer development for the company’s roster, which includes Matraca Berg, George Teren and Melissa Peirce. She will also continue working the heritage catalogs, including songs from Gary Harrison, Tim Mensy, Troy Verges and Carolyn Dawn Johnson, among others.

Erickson’s business career began at EMI Music Publishing, where she worked her way from the tape room to the position of Creative Manager. She later worked for ole Songs, Inc.