Music News 4/14/11

Producer Charlie Peacock, Erika Attwater, Jonathan Richards, and Twenty Ten Creative Director, Sam Ashworth. Photo: Allister Ann

Grammy winning producer Charlie Peacock (The Civil Wars, Switchfoot), Sr. VP of A&R for Twenty Ten Music has signed new country band Attwater to an exclusive production and publishing deal.
The band, made up of Erika Attwater and Jonathan Richards, started recording with Peacock in January and the result is described as classic rock a la Fleetwood Mac with bluegrass flavoring. Among the Nashville tunesmiths who have contributed to the project are Luke Laird, Sam Ashworth, Trent Dabbs, and Matthew Perryman Jones. Peacock also recruited A-list session players, and engineers Justin Niebank and Richie Biggs. Attwater first met Peacock by following him on Twitter.

Dale Bobo

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Dale Bobo is exiting his role as Exec. VP of Chrysalis Music following the company’s merger with growing publishing giant BMG, which is now known as BMG Chrysalis.

Bobo first took office at Chrysalis in April 2010. With more than 25 years of experience, the publishing vet’s resume also includes a lengthy term as Sr. VP/GM of Warner/Chappell Nashville. He tells MusicRow, “I can honestly say I enjoyed every single day at Chrysalis. Working with amazing writers like Brett Beavers, Jeff Stevens, Jim McCormick, Victoria Banks, Shelley Skidmore and Danny Orton has been a dream come true. Being a part of an office with Abbe Nameche, Patricia Wittmer and Jersey Ross has been really fun and having the opportunity to work under Chrysalis President Kenny MacPherson has been awesome. For a publishing guy it doesn’t get much better than that.” Contact him at dalebobo@me.com.

MusicRow has also learned that Tim Hunze, Sr. VP of BMG Rights Management has exited the company. Hunze headed the Nashville office of Stage Three Music, and was brought under the BMG Chrysalis umbrella when it acquired Stage Three.

Hunze can be reached at timhunze@gmail.com.

Corporate mergers often lead to consolidation of staff and positions. When Chrysalis acquired S1 Songs in April 2010 it led to the departure of S1 Sr. VP/GM Pat Finch, who was replaced by Bobo. Finch is currently representing hit songwriter Brett Jones’ Big Borassa publishing.

BMG has been on a buying spree for more than a year, and continues to acquire big-name catalogues and publishers. Nashville is feeling the trickle-down effect as staffs are consolidated. The local EverGreen Copyright office, which was purchased by BMG in 2010, recently experienced downsizing. BMG Chrysalis’ Music City operations are being run out of new offices at Cummins Station under the leadership of Executive VP Darrell Franklin.

Richard Blackstone is Chief Creative Officer of BMG Chrysalis US. Based in the US headquarters in New York City, he has strong ties to Nashville. He reports directly to CEO Hartwig Masuch.

Camellia Petty

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BMI has promoted longtime employee Camellia Petty to Vice President, Product & Application Development.

In her new role, Petty is responsible for building the business processes and technical foundations required to meet the future needs of BMI’s songwriters, composers, publishers and licensees.

Since joining BMI in 1995 as Project Manager, she has played a key role in creating innovative programs to accurately distribute royalties to BMI’s songwriters and music publishers. Those programs include new methodology for the precise distribution of royalties from professional sports teams, theme parks, airlines and live performances in concert venues of all sizes.

She reports to Nashville based James King, Senior Vice President, Business Technology. “Camellia’s abilities and experience equip her to thrive in this position,” King said. “She has the knowledge, discipline, and passion required to deliver the next generations of technology for our affiliates and business partners.”

Petty holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Cumberland University (Lebanon, Tennessee) and an Associate of Science degree from Nashville State Technical Institute. Petty is an active member of the Nashville Technology Council, the BMI Foundation and ORACLE Customer Support Council.