Music News (7/3/13)

Steve Moore

The County Music Association (CMA) Board of Directors announced Monday, July 1, that Steve Moore has submitted his resignation as Chief Executive Officer, effective June 30, 2013.

Moore said, “After nearly four years in this position, and given the phenomenal success that the CMA team has achieved, this seemed like an appropriate time to step aside and pursue other corporate and philanthropic opportunities.”

Troy Tomlinson, the Country Music Association Board of Directors Chairman said, “Steve Moore’s dedication and hard work as a CMA Board member, CMA Board leader, and as CEO have taken our organization to new levels of success. He’s been a tremendous asset to CMA due to his high regard in the industry as a resourceful and tenacious advocate for Country Music.”

After serving as Interim CEO, then becoming CEO two and a half years ago, Moore was instrumental in securing the new long-term extension of the television partnership for the annual CMA Awards, the CMA Music Festival special, and the “CMA Country Christmas” special all on the ABC Television Network.

Read more at MusicRow.com.

• • •

Mark Bright.

Producer Mark Bright will be featured in an interview segment at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on Saturday, July 27 at 1:30 p.m. The event is presented in support of The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Carrie Underwood: The Blown Away Tour Exhibition.

Bright has been Carrie Underwood‘s producer throughout her recording career. The program will focus on Bright’s creative partnership with Underwood in addition to his career working with BlackHawk, Sara Evans, Lonestar, Scotty McCreery, Reba McEntire, Jo Dee Messina and Rascal Flatts. Bright produced Underwood’s debut album, Some Hearts, as well as subsequent projects Carnival Ride, Play On and Blown Away. Bright has also overseen the catalogs of songwriters Brett James (“Jesus, Take The Wheel”) and Danny Wells (“Check Yes or No”). The program will be illustrated through photos, film footage and recordings.

Museum admission or membership is required for program admittance. The event will be streamed live at countrymusichalloffame.org.

• • •

Sony/ATV recently signed Jody Stevens to an exclusive publishing agreement. Stevens worked on Luke Bryan’s album Tailgates and Tanlines and forthcoming Crash My Party release, with his dad producer, Jeff Stevens. Bryan and his manager Kerri Edwards were on hand to celebrate the signing. Jody Stevens was formerly a member of duo Fast Ryde.

Pictured (L-R): Sony/ATV’s Terry Wakefield, Luke Bryan, Stevens, KP Entertainment’s Kerri Edwards, Sony/ATV’s Tom Luteran

 • • •

Sony/ATV recently re-signed Michael Carter to an exclusive publishing agreement. Carter co-wrote Craig Campbell‘s single “Outta My Head” as well as multiple Luke Bryan recordings. Additionally, Carter has recent cuts by Chris Young and Thomas Rhett. Bryan and Kerri Edwards joined his longtime band leader, Carter, to celebrate.

Pictured (L-R): Capitol artist Luke Bryan, Sony/ATV’s Terry Wakefield, Carter, KP Entertainment’s Kerri Edwards, Sony/ATV’s Abbey Adams.

• • •

ole has acquired a music publishing catalog comprised of music from Sony Pictures Entertainment’s film and television releases between 1993 and 2012.

The catalog includes compositions from a variety of TV shows such as Wheel of Fortune, Breaking Bad, Dawson’s Creek, The Nanny, Rescue Me, and films including Angels & Demons, The Da Vinci Code, Groundhog Day, Rudy, Jumanji, Legends of the Fall, Moneyball, Mr. Deeds, The Patriot, The Quick and the Dead, Superbad, Step Brothers, Stuart Little, and Hotel Transylvania, among others.

• • •

ASCAP songwriters Jessi Alexander, Brandy Clark, Josh Osborne and Trevor Rosen were the featured writers-in-the-round at The Circle Sessions, held at Joe’s Bar in Chicago on Wednesday, June 26. The Circle Sessions is a semi-monthly acoustic showcase, presented by Joe’s Bar and Black Label Booking, that unites some of Nashville’s most talented country music songwriters to share the stories behind their hit songs and perform them acoustically in an intimate setting. The unique event serves to bring the in-the-round concept to new audiences outside of Music City.

Pictured (L-R): ASCAP’s Evyn Mustoe, Jessi Alexander, Trevor Rosen, Brandy Clark, Josh Osborne, Black Label Booking’s Mike Abramson, Joe’s Bar’s Montse Azmani, Black Label Booking’s Ryan Allen and ASCAP’s Robert Filhart.

• • •

Combustion Music has landed the coveted slot for the new Chevy truck theme song. Replacing the iconic “Like A Rock,”  Combustion’s “Strong” seems poised to follow in both its success and longevity.

Written by Ashley Gorley and Zach Crowell, and produced in-house by Combustion Music’s Chris Farren along with Gorley and Crowell, the project is the result of a month-long effort by Combustion’s staff, as well as their partners at Warner/Chappell. That’s Will Hoge‘s voice you hear performing the tune in the ad campaign.

The advertising campaign introducing the 2014 Silverado kicks off on July 4, but you can check out the spots below.

• • •

The RIAA has updated the rules of its G&P Program. Going forward, sales of digital albums will become eligible for certification on their release date, instead of having to wait 30 days, as was previously required.

Sales of albums in physical format will still become eligible for certification 30 days after the release date. The 30-day rule exists to take into account potential returns of physical product – CDs, cassettes, vinyl, etc.—that could be shipped to brick and mortar retailers and returned.

The Digital Single Award, created in 2004, does not include the 30-day rule because there are very few digital returns.

The RIAA says the re-examination of the digital album sales was prompted by the recent Jay-Z/Samsung promotion, in which the electronics company purchased one million digital copies of the rapper’s Magna Carta Holy Grail to give away to its customers. The deal stimulated industry conversation about the sale’s meaning and implications for the modern music business. Billboard did not count the one million units because they were free and therefore didn’t meet the $3.49 threshold.