Music News (6/28/17)

NSAI’s ‘Songs I Wish I’d Written’ Voting Begins Next Week

Voting for the Nashville Songwriters Association International’s 10 “Songs I Wish I’d Written” awards opened on Monday (June 26).

The 165-song ballot is comprised of Nashville-associated songs that charted in Billboard Airplay Top 20 on the Alternative, Christian, Country, Pop and Rock charts between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2017 and must not have been awarded the previous year. The song that receives the highest number of votes will be NSAI’s 50th Song of the Year.

Voting is open to current Professional Songwriter Members of NSAI and will run through Sunday, July 9.

NSAI will recognize the 10 Songs I Wish I’d Written, NSAI Song of the Year, Songwriter of the Year and Songwriter-Artist of the Year awards at the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala on Sunday October 23, 2017.

For more information on voting or NSAI Professional Membership please contact Shelby Yoder at shelby@nashvillesongwriters.com.

Duo Haley & Michaels Ink Publishing, Label Deals With Sony/ATV

Pictured (L-R): Ryan Michaels, Danny Strick, Shannon Haley, Rick Stone. Photo: Sony/ATV

Country duo Haley & Michaels have signed publishing and label deals with Sony/ATV Music Publishing and New York-based Sony/ATV label imprint Hickory Records, respectively.

Haley & Michaels recently released their music on Spotify, where it was featured on the New Music Friday, New Boots, and Wild Country playlists, accompanying their breakout single “Giving It All (To You).”  The duo has accumulated over 10 million streams on Spotify.

Three Hounds Music Opens Nashville Office

Three Hounds Music, a new independent music publishing and artist development company, has officially opened an office in Nashville, while maintaining an office in Houston, Texas.

Houston-based entrepreneur, musician and music publisher Tom Harrison joined forces with Tyler Bell, an artist/writer manager, publisher and audio engineer, and Bobby Terry, a studio and live musician, songwriter and producer, to form Three Hounds Music.

The Three Hounds family includes songwriters David Tolliver (Tim McGraw, Jerrod Neiman, Brantley Gilbert) of duo Halfway To Hazard, Sarah Beth Terry, Chris Cavanaugh (Kip Moore, Lonestar, Steve Holy) and Kevin Brandt (Montgomery Gentry, Travis Tritt, Randy Travis) in addition to Bobby Terry (Faith Hill, Trace Adkins, Gretchen Wilson) and new Americana duo Fleener.

AIMP Nashville Holds Panel With Pandora

Pictured (L-R): Chris Van Belkom (AIMP Nashville board member – Combustion Music), John Ozier (AIMP Nashville Executive Director – ole), Ree Guyer (AIMP Nashville Treasurer – Wrensong Music), Beville Dunkerley (Pandora), Rachel Whitney (Pandora), Michael McAnally Baum (AIMP Nashville Secretary – SMACKSongs), Dale Bobo (AIMP Nashville board member – Big Deal Music), and Brad Peterson (Regions Bank, event sponsor). [Click photo to enlarge]

The Nashville Chapter of the Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP) held a panel covering “Tips for Best Practices with Pandora” on Tuesday, June 20 at ASCAP’s Nashville offices.

Pandora’s Beville Dunkerly, director of Artist Marketing and Industry Relations, and Rachel Whitney, head of Country Music Programming, were on hand to provide updates on Pandora’s platform and give tips on how to maximize an artist’s imprint on the service.

ASCAP Showcases Feature Hit Writers & Emerging Artists

Pictured (L-R): ASCAP’s Mike Sistad and Beth Brinker, Marc Beeson, Andy Albert, Alyssa Bonagura, and Jimmy Robbins

ASCAP presented several showcases across Nashville during the week of June 19 featuring some of the best of ASCAP’s hit songwriters and emerging artists.

On Monday, June 19, ASCAP AMPED featured breaking songwriter-artists Hunter Phelps and Brandon Ratcliff at The Country.

Tuesday night’s showcase (June 20) at The Bluebird Cafe presented hit songwriters Andy Albert (She’s Got a Way With Words,” “If the Boot Fits”), Marc Beeson (“When She Cries,” “Hometown Girl”), and Jimmy Robbins (“It Goes Like This,” “Think a Little Less”) alongside breakthrough songwriter-artist Alyssa Bonagura, whose duo with Ruby Stewart, The Sisterhood, recently signed with Sony Music Nashville. Stewart joined Bonagura on stage during the round, which benefited Musicians Corner and was hosted by The Conservancy for the Parthenon and Centennial Park Vice President John Tumminello.

Pictured (L-R): Ryan Plappert, Maxfield Camp, Bailey Callahan, ASCAP’s Beth Brinker and Ralph Murphy, and Bonner Black

On Wednesday, June 21, ASCAP presented up-and-coming songwriter Ryan Plappert and songwriter-artists Maxfield Camp, Bailey Callahan, and Bonner Black at its monthly showcase series at The Basement.