Music News 5/24/12

Entrepreneur Christina Rahm Cook and Dan Hodges Music, LLC have entered into a joint publishing agreement and signed songwriter Chad Raymon. Hodges says, “I’ve worked with Chad for some time and Christina has followed his career closely. We are both thrilled with the opportunity to work with him long term.” DHM Administration, a division of Dan Hodges Music, LLC has been assigned worldwide administration rights for the venture. Pictured (L-R): Brittany Spyksma, Christina Cook, Chad Raymon, Dan Hodges, Susan Hodges. Photo: Robbie Quinn

Aderra Media Works, which makes collectible flash drives with exclusive pre-loaded content, is expanding into the country market with a Nashville office. Drives can come with concert footage and recordings, behind-the-scenes video, unreleased tracks, or an entire catalog of albums. They can also be used for regular USB storage, and feature technology that allows for future materials to be updated onto the device. www.AderraMediaWorks.com

• Joe Nichols and Show Dog-Universal have parted ways.

• Warner Music Nashville’s Pickin’ On The Patio returns for the summer tonight (5/24) with a performance by Charlie Worsham. Doors open at 5:00 p.m. and show starts at 5:30 p.m. The series will be held the fourth Thursday of every month, from May to October, on the WMN Patio.

• Black River Entertainment’s Dawn Delvo is working to be the first woman in Nashville to raise $100,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society through her Woman Of The Year campaign. She recently hosted a successful All Access For LLS Celebrity eBay Auction and is collecting donations through June 7 at www.allaccessforlls.com. Email her at dawn@blackriverent.com or find her on Facebook.

• Dwight Yoakam will give the Superstar Keynote Q&A at the 3rd Annual Billboard Country Music Summit, set for June 4-5 at the Cannery Ballroom in Nashville. He joins a growing slate of speakers and panelists, including Luke Bryan and Willie Nelson.

The May installment of ASCAP's popular monthly showcase series at The Bluebird Cafe featured Young Guns Publishing songwriters Cyndi Thomson, Gimm+Icky, Ben Reno, Cassidy Ford, Kimberly Paige and Phoebe Sharp. Young Guns Publishing, a division of Ramblin' Music, was founded in May 2011. Pictured (L-R): ASCAP's Mike Sistad, Jeff Garrison of Gimm+Icky, Ben Reno, Kimberly Paige, Pheobe Sharp, Tripp Weir of Gimm+Icky, Cyndi Thomson, Cassidy Ford and Ramblin' Music President Cliff Downs

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The Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP) Nashville Chapter and Fifth Third Bank will present a panel discussion called “Music In Advertising: What Works – What Doesn’t and How to Get in the Game” Monday, June 11 from 4-6 pm at Cabana.

The panel will convene industry experts to discuss the process of music selection for commercial advertising, strategies for pitching, and rights and fee structures. Participating panelists include Amy Rosen (Grey, New York); John Meililo (Meililo Music, New York); Karen Macmillan (Nettwerk Music Group, Los Angeles/New York/London); Sarah Gavigan (Sarah Gavigan Music, Nashville). These individuals have worked with leading global brands including Amazon, Chevy, Coke, NFL Super Bowl, Nokia, Apple and more. Craig Currier of peermusic will moderate the discussion.

To register for this event or to find out more about AIMP membership, visit aimp.org.

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Performing rights organizations are experiencing a significant decrease in licensing income from radio stations. In January the Radio Music License Committee (RMLC) agreement with ASCAP was approved by the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York, resulting in radio stations paying lower licensing rates to the PRO. A similar agreement was reached with BMI earlier this month and is awaiting court approval.

The separate agreements with the PROs run through December 2016 and are retroactive to January 2010. Also covered in the agreements are licensing rates for new media, Internet websites, smart phones, wireless devices, and HD/Multicasting radio channels.

The ASCAP deal placed licensing fees at 1.7% of individual radio station revenue. The RMLC reports this is about a 30% decrease in cost for most stations. According to the RMLC, the changes appeared on ASCAP’s January 2012 billing statement. For 2012, ASCAP’s revenue will be about $80 million less than what was paid based on 2009 rates. More from ASCAP.

The RMLC is approaching SESAC differently because its licensing rates are not subject to scrutiny by a federal court.

The RMLC represents the commercial radio industry’s 10,000 terrestrial stations. It is structured as a 501(c)(6) non-profit Tennessee corporation based in Nashville. The RMLC’s staff consists of Executive Director William Velez, and Staff Accountant/Data Manager Rebekah Smith. More from the RMLC.

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Blake Bollinger

Nashville’s Parallel Music Publishing has announced the addition of songwriter and producer Blake Bollinger to its growing roster.

Texas native Bollinger has had cuts in multiple genres including Marie Miller (Curb Records) and Lindsey Hager (AVJ Records). He has also produced several acts such as No Other Name (Curb Records), Marie Miller (Curb Records), High Road and independent artists Chad Harris, Drew Davis and Kayla Conn. Recently, he won first place in the International Songwriting Competition with his song “Where the Heart is Found.”

“We’re excited to have Blake on board at Parallel and expect great things to come from our new relationship with him,” said Tim Hunze, managing partner, Parallel Music Publishing.

“Parallel is a great organization who is involved in many aspects of the entertainment business and I’m honored to be joining them,” added Bollinger. “I look forward to writing and producing with such a respected publishing company.”