NSAI, NMPA statements about Spotify, Amazon challenge to songwriter royalty increase
As you know by now, the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) recently issued a ruling raising songwriters’ rates for streaming and other mechanical uses by more than 44 percent. Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) and National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) led the fight to achieve this ruling on behalf of song creators.
“You cannot feed a family when you earn hundreds of dollars for millions of streams.” – Bart Herbison, NSAI Executive Director
The rate increase came after a lengthy trial where the NMPA and NSAI faced tech giants Google, Apple, Amazon, Spotify and Pandora. This huge victory for songwriters is now in jeopardy due to the streaming services’ filing.
NSAI’s Bart Herbison
NSAI Executive Director Bart Herbison stated, “It is unfortunate that Amazon and Spotify decided to file an appeal on the CRB’s decision to pay American songwriters higher digital mechanical royalties. Many songwriters have found it difficult to stay in the profession in the era of streaming music. You cannot feed a family when you earn hundreds of dollars for millions of streams.
“Spotify specifically continues to try and depress royalties to songwriters around the globe as illustrated by their recent moves in India. Trying to work together as partners toward a robust future in the digital music era is difficult when any streaming company fails to recognize the value of a songwriter’s contribution to their business.”
Songwriters, artists: sign petition to support MLC to collect streaming royalties. Take action now!
Nashville, TN (February 4, 2019) – The Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), the Songwriters of North America (SONA), National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), today unveiled broad endorsements for their industry-consensus Music Licensing Collective (MLC) submission to the U.S. Copyright Office (USCO).
The submission, which will be filed by March 21st, creates the collective required by the Music Modernization Act (MMA) to license and administer mechanical rights. Additionally, the groups announced the MLC Board and Committee appointments and launched a website for all of the songwriters and artists who support the MLC to sign an official petition: SupporttheMLC.com and a site for music publishers to add their endorsements: SongConnect.org.
“We’ve worked for decades for the benefits the MLC will bring songwriters/composers, including licensing their digital mechanical royalties at no cost since the streaming music companies have agreed to fund the collective.” – Steve Bogard, President, NSAI
Increased royalty payments from streaming services
Personal note: The Music Licensing Collective (MLC) needs your support to ensure its success on your behalf. It will create and maintain a thorough database of music composition copyrights (and the copyrights’ owners), collect mechanical royalties from digital music streaming services, and transmit those royalties to copyright holders based on the ownership claims set forth in the database.
Streaming services will pay mechanical royalties to the MLC based on the number of streams each song has racked up. This a major benefit for both artist and songwriters. The MLC will also set up a blanket mechanical license for streaming of music compositions, replacing the unwieldy Notice of Intention (NOI) that is currently filed when a streaming service cannot track down a copyright owner. This will result in significantly higher royalty payments for copyright holders in the MLC’s master database.*
All you have to do is join. And its free.
“The U.S. Copyright Office will choose who runs the MLC this Summer. The Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), Songwriters of North America (SONA) and the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) helped passed the MUSIC MODERNIZATION ACT, working on the legislation for years. We are asking for your support for the MLC being created by us. We KNOW we can do the best job when it comes to licensing your songs and protecting your royalties because we’ve been doing it for decades.” – quote from the MLC website.
“The Music Modernization Act (MMA) is now law! We have worked on elements of this legislation for 15 years. With the passage of this law, every professional songwriter in America, including myself, who has suffered devastating economic losses in the era of digital music delivery, can now breathe a sigh of relief and be optimistic about the future of our profession. Along with the songs that bear my name, this is my proudest career accomplishment.” – Steve Bogard, writer of 10 #1 songs and President of the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI)
“Now the job of utilizing the tools found in the Music Modernization Act begins,” said NSAI Executive Director Bart Herbison. “NSAI and other songwriter organizations will immediately select songwriter board and committee members for the new Music Licensing Collective (MLC) that commences operation on January 1, 2021. We have two years to build the first-ever songwriter, music publisher run mechanical licensing collective. This will be the first collection agency that pays songwriters 100 cents from every royalty dollar since the digital streaming companies will pay operational costs of the MLC.”
Note: the text of this post is taken from a media release issued on October 11, 2018, by the Nashville Songwriters Association International. For more information, visit the NSAI website.
Higher streaming royalties
Higher streaming royalties resulting from the marketplace rate standards included in the Music Modernization Act will come over time when the next Copyright Royalty Board proceeding occurs in four years or when ASCAP or BMI have rate court proceedings under the terms of the MMA. Agreements reached with streaming companies or court proceedings could result in higher streaming rates.
“It is not too bold to say this is the most important songwriter legislation ever adopted by Congress. When we negotiate our digital rates or go to trial-type proceedings, we expect rates that are much fairer based on what the market should pay,” Bogard added.
44% mechanical license royalty increase
Songwriters WILL see an immediate 44% mechanical royalty increase beginning in January 2019 from the previous Copyright Royalty Board trial where NSAI and the National Music Publishers Assn. represented American songwriters and won the largest mechanical royalty increase in history. The increase will phase in over a five-year period.
Steve Bogard (President, NSAI), Darius Rucker, Bart Herbison (Executive Director, NSAI), Congressman Doug Collins (GA), Lee Thomas Miller (Former President, NSAI) at the Nashville Songwriter Awards
THE MMA in a nutshell:
Changes the standard by which songwriter streaming rates are established replacing an outdated 1909 law that governs songwriter mechanical or sales royalties, changes consent decree regulations from 1941 that govern songwriter performance royalties.
Requires the random selection of judges when performing rights societies ASCAP or BMI go to a rate court proceeding. Presently those judges are appointed for life.
Creates a new Music Licensing Collective governed by songwriters and music publishers to oversee and administer digital mechanical licensing and payments, resolve disputes and administer unclaimed royalties.
Eliminates the disastrous Notice of Intent (NOI) program administered by the U.S. Copyright Office that shifted the digital mechanical licensing burden back to songwriters.
Guarantees streaming royalty payments to artists whose recordings were done before 1972 who now are not required to be paid due to a loophole in the Copyright Act.
Stipulates direct streaming royalty payments to record producers and engineers.
Song downloads are on a steep slide that shows no sign of easing up. Meanwhile, streaming figures just keep rising. So, if you’re an artist or a songwriter, it’s no big deal if streaming is picking up the slack from downloads, right? Uh, not really. Raw figures don’t tell the full story as far as your potential income is concerned.
Photo: Pixabay.com
First the figures from Nielsen Music: During the first half of 2018, song download sales were down 27.4% to 223.1 million from 307.2 million for the first half of 2017. Album downloads also fell 21.7% to 27.5 million units, down from 35.1 for the same period last year.
Meanwhile, streams jumped 41.6% to 403.4 billion, January-June 2018, a gain of 118.6 billion (a half-year record) compared with the first half of 2017. As Digital Music News pointed out in a story posted July 10, 2018, not so long ago, paid downloads were greater than one billion annually. Now, Drake’s album ‘Scorpion’ chalked up more than one billion streams in a single week.
So Drake probably doesn’t need to be too worried about the decline of downloads. But for artists who are not up in the same stratosphere as Drake, this is not good news as revenue from streams is nowhere near that of downloads. And even that isn’t very much. Single track downloads that cost 99c earn the artist around 11c on iTunes, Google Play and Amazon.
‘Fractions of one cent’
When it comes to getting paid for streaming, you receive mere fractions of one cent per stream from the major streaming services. These include Napster, YouTube, Pandora, Apple Music, Tidal, Google Play, Deezer and Spotify. In July 2017, Digital Music News posted a report titled ‘What Streaming Music Services Pay,’ available here. (Note: these figures may have changed since that report was posted.)
See the Digital Music News report for full details, but they note that Napster tops the pay-per-stream list with $0.0167 per stream for unsigned artists. Signed artists received $0.0190. In comparison, Apple Music pays unsigned artists $0.0064 per stream and signed artists $0.0073 per stream.
Meanwhile, YouTube is still the lowest payer and not improving. In 2015, an unsigned artist would earn $1,260.00 after 70,000 plays. In 2017, that artist would need to score 2.4 mullion plays to earn the same amount. However, YouTube should be seen by an artist as a promotional and marketing tool, rather than a revenue stream. (See previous post here at Nashville Music Line: ‘How to build community with YouTube.’) Continue reading “Song downloads plunge, streaming rockets”
The Nashville Songwriter’s Association International (NSAI) held their Spring #1 Party on Monday April 23, 2018, recognizing 75 songwriters (23 songs) for their #1 achievements during the period of August 2017-December 2017.
At the brunch event, sponsored by SunTrust Bank and held at The Listening Room Cafe, the songwriters were presented plaques for topping the Billboard Country or Christian, Airplay, Digital, and Hot Charts and/or Mediabase Country Airplay Chart.
Back row (L-R): Earle Simmons (SunTrust), Dusty Miller (SunTrust), Ashleigh Overly (SunTrust), Jaron Boyer, Ray Fulcher, Adam Hambrick, Brock Berryhill, Tom Douglas, Steve Bogard (NSAI President), David Hodges, Ben Hayslip, Josh Miller, Matt Dragstrem, Tim Timmons, AJ Pruis, Bart Millard Front row (L-R): Lindsay Gum (NSAI Director of Events and Pro Membership), Kelly Archer, Emily Shackelton, Jordan Schmidt, Tebey Ottoh, Bart Herbison (NSAI Executive Director), Zach Crowell, Ashley Gorley, Ben Glover, Matt McGinn, Matthew West
These are the Number One songs and songwriters honored at the event:
Saturday late show wraps a great week at Tin Pan South 2018
Dillon Dixon, Doug Johnson and Danny Wells were joined by The Darlins and Nick Sturms on the final day of this year’s Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival.
L to R: Dillon Dixon, Danny Wells, Jude Toy (The Darlins) Nick Sturms, Erinn Bates (The Darlins) and Doug Johnson. Photo credit: Catrina Engelby
Dillon Dixon – Dillon began his part of the writers’ round with a song he had with his band, High South, called ‘Bootwork.’ He followed that with his Josh Gracin radio hit ‘Invisible.’ Next up: ‘Follow the Smoke,’ a co-write with German songwriter Phil Sunday and U.S. writer Brandon Chase. Dillon has lived in Europe for the past few years to keep his music as his main income. He secured a publishing deal in Austria and has been touring all over Europe in various bands.
Dillon’s final song is one of my all-time favorite songs of his writing career. Dillon told the story of his friend Jimbeau Hinson coming in and helping him through an emotional “pre write” that had nothing to do with the session. After a Dillon got his composure, they finished the song ‘Wishing Others Well.’
Doug Johnson – Doug Johnson kicked off his first song with a tune that he and hit writer Pat Bunch (She is 79 years old) wrote. Doug says, “We wrote a honky tonk song,” and, sure enough, that’s the title: ‘Hony Tonk Song!’ Love the song that he co-wrote with Dave Gibson and Nick Sturms called ‘World Gone Mad.’ The next song, ‘Ain’t Nobody,’ is one that Doug wrote to his beautiful wife Lisa. It was amazing. I wish I could have sung this song to my honey! Doug played the song he co-wrote with Nick Sturms for Nick’s 10-day-old son, Rollin Sterling Sturms. Ready or not, ’Here You Come’ is an amazing song for a first-time dad ormom, even though it was sung through the father’s point of view of his first born.
For Doug’s final round, he dedicated his songs to his co-writer, the award winning songwriter Kim Williams. Doug added, “Who is with angels.” Then he started the mega hit for Randy Travis, ‘Three Wooden Crosses.’ Rumor has it that Chesney passed on this song. Goes to show, a GREAT song will find a GREAT home, and a GREAT artist!
Danny Wells – Danny started out with a song he co-wrote with Jeffrey Steele, ‘I Found You.’ LOVE IT !!!!!! Next pass, he sang the Rascal Flatts song he co-wrote with Gene Nelson, ‘This Everyday Love,’ a top ten hit for the group. “On this next song,” said Danny, “Tony Mullins and I wrote this song on actual paper! It made its way to Craig Morgan. It’s called ‘Little Bit of Life.’”
Danny wrapped his segment with his super mega smash for George Strait, ’Check Yes Or No,’ written with co-writer Dana Hunt Black. He told the story: “The [demo] cassette actually got stuck in the wrong box in the mail room. It was meant for another artist in that building. It ended up in George’s hands. Strait played it for his son, Bubba. Bubba said, ‘Dad, I didn’t want to like but I do!’” That’s the rest of story!
Nick Sturms – Also on stage was Nick Sturms, a talented songwriter and musician, who provided wonderful accompaniments.
The Darlins were up next. They jumped right in with ‘Pistol,’ a single from their ‘Crush’ album. Just wonderful harmonies that seem like they are coming down from heaven. The Darlins are a female duo composed of Erinn Bates from Nashville, (lead vocals/mandolin) and Jude Toy from Portland, Oregon (guitar/vocals). The Darlins’ won Duo of the Year at the 2017 Josie Music Awards.
One of my favorite songs they sang was ‘Knock and The Door Will Be Opened.’ The final song for the Darlins was their single, ‘Blackberry Whiskey,’ that they co-wrote with super instrumentalist Robin Ruddy and released it in 2017. Robin joined them on stage as the surprise guest! Muisic critic and author Robert K. Oermann has said of The Darlins: “This female duo has a sensuous sound on this slow burning track. A resonator guitar weaves through the arrangement as they languidly drawl their desire in harmony. Feverish.” He nailed it !!!
CORRECTION: In a previous post about a Tin Pan South show featuring Anthony Smith, Clint Daniels, Lance Miller and Jamie Paulin, due to an editing error, the final paragraph incorrectly read: ‘All in all, another memorable Tin Pan South night of great music and stories from three masters of the art of songwriting.’ Of course, it should read: ‘All in all, another memorable Tin Pan South night of great music and stories from four masters of the art of songwriting.’ Apologies to all four great writers!
The following is a press release issued by NSAI (Nashville Songwriters Association International) on Saturday, January 27, 2018, concerning the increased percentage of revenue paid to songwriters.
Washington, D.C. – Early this morning the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) released its ruling on mechanical rates for songwriters for 2018 – 2022. This decision is the result of a trial that took place between March and June of 2017 with the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) and the Nashville Songwriters Association (NSAI), representing the interests of music publishers and songwriters against Google, Amazon, Apple, Spotify and Pandora.
‘Largest songwriter rate increase’ in CRB history
The court’s decision includes a significant increase in the overall percentage of revenue paid to songwriters from 10.5% to 15.1% over the next five years – the largest rate increase in CRB history. Additionally, the CRB removed the Total Content Cost (TCC) cap, giving publishers the benefit of a true percentage of what labels are able to negotiate in the free market resulting in significantly higher royalties for songwriters. The CRB also increased the TCC rate resulting in the most balance between record label and publishing rates in the history of mechanical licensing. In addition, the CRB granted a late fee which will dramatically alter the licensing practices of digital music companies.
Click here to read the full release at the NSAI website.
Bart Herbison. Photo: NSAI
“Songwriters desperately need and deserve the rate increases resulting from the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) trial. The CRB was a long and difficult process but songwriters and music publishers together presented a powerful case for higher streaming royalty rates. The Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) thanks our songwriter witnesses Steve Bogard, Lee Thomas Miller and Liz Rose whose testimony was compelling.” – Bart Herbison, NSAI Executive Director
To read an in-depth review of the impact of the court ruling published by Variety magazine, click here.
Why more Brits than ever are on their way to Nashville
Pop quiz: What’s the biggest industry in Music City? No, it’s not music, it’s healthcare. But ‘Healthcare City’ doesn’t sound half as much fun as Music City, and Nashville’s musical heritage accounts for millions of dollars in tourist revenue. Much of that revenue comes from foreign visitors and that revenue is set to increase still further. The reason: direct flights to Nashville from London’s Heathrow Airport.
Two recent news stories – one from each side of the Atlantic – look at Nashville from different perspectives. ‘Boom (Chicka-Boom) Town’ by Chris Parton in the January issue of Nashville Lifestyles magazine interviews nine ‘movers and shakers’ in Nashville’s music industry.
Meanwhile, a story in London’s Sunday Times, dated December 31, 2017, tells British readers why they “should join the hoedown in 2018” by flying to Nashville. The article’s author, Rich Hall, should know what he’s talking about. He is an American performer whose comedy and country music show, Rich Hall’s Hoedown, tours the UK from February to June, often adopting the character of Tennessee country musician Otis Lee Crenshaw.
‘More than one style’ of country music
Rich Hall. Photo: David Donaldson
Hall makes a point of mentioning several venues familiar to Nashville residents but probably less so to overseas visitors. He writes that there’s more than one style of country music. “Station Inn is spectacular for bluegrass,” says Hall. “And at 3rd and Lindsley, every Monday night, a 10-piece band called the Time Jumpers takes the stage, featuring Andy Reiss and Vince Gill (guitars), Paul Franklin (steel) and leader Ranger Doug (playing killer rhythm on an old Stromberg). If you’ve never heard western swing music, prepare for a religious conversion.”
Brits are notorious for being bad tippers, as tipping is less expected in Britain. Mentioning several of Lower Broad’s honky tonks, Rich says, “There’s a bucket at the foot of the stage. That’s for tips. Be generous, you tight-fisted British miserlings.”
Thank you, Rich! Let’s hope your readers make a note of that!
‘Behind the Scenes’ in Music City
Back at Nashville Lifestyles’ Music Issue (subtitled ‘Behind the Scenes of Our Signature industry’), the story notes that: “According to the Nashville Chamber of Commerce’s 2017 Regional Economic Development Guide, the area’s population has now ballooned to more than 1.8 million people and, in 2016, was joined by 13.9 million visitors.” Those visitors made an impact of $5.7 billion on the city.
If you are part of the music industry, yours is one of 56,000 jobs that are maintained as a result of music in Nashville, according to Chamber estimates. The magazine article quotes the Music City Music Council’s report that 8,000 jobs are directly involved in music making, with 190+ recording studios in the city. “Nashville is currently home to 10 times more music activity than either Los Angeles or New York,” reports writer Chris Parton in Nashville Lifestyles.
‘Challenges’ for Nashville’s music creators
Bart Herbison. Photo: NSAI
But some of Nashville’s music creators are facing challenges. “Songwriters and publishers have seen a huge payment disparity in the streaming area versus the artists and record labels,” Bart Herbison, Executive director of Nashville Songwriters Association (NSAI) explained to Parton. “On the performance side, [artists and labels] get 88 cents for every 12 cents we get, and, on the sales-royalty side, it’s seven-to-one or greater. So, we’re trying to fix that.” (A note from Preshias: for more information on the Songwriter Equity Act, see an earlier post at NashvilleMusicLine.com.)
Among the other Nashville music execs interviewed for the Nashville Lifestyles story are Kos Weaver, Executive VP of BMG Nashville, Mike Dungan, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group, Nashville, and Shannan Hatch, Creative Director of SESAC, and several others. All offer professional insight into Nashville’s music industry and where it is heading.
Rob Beckham. Photo: Music Row Magazine
Rob Beckham, partner at WME/IMG points out that in the past, country acts rarely toured abroad. “But now that international audiences can access the music as easily as domestic audiences, we are seeing an increased demand to bring our acts overseas,” he told Parton.
Which brings us back to the article written by Rich Hall for the Sunday Times in London, England. American-born Hall is a comedian who has become popular in Britain and is frequently featured on BBC TV shows.
“Behind Lower Broadway stands the mecca of country music, the Ryman Auditorium, original home of the Grand Ole Opry. Giants walked here. Stand on the center-stage circle and channel the ghosts of Hank Williams, Chet Atkins and Tammy Wynette. The Opry still broadcasts from there on weekends from November to January. Do not, however, confuse this with Opryland, a Disneyfied tourist hellhole on the outskirts of town, designed to separate rubes from the contents of their wallets.” – Rich Hall
In addition to mentioning Nashville’s music venues, Hall recommends Brit visitors sample Nashville hot chicken, country ham, grits, Goo Goo Clusters and hash browns slathered in Cheez Whiz – though not necessarily all on the same plate.
Nashvillians are ‘just genuinely nice’
Hall’s article closes by mentioning that Nashville is exceptional because it is so friendly. In fact, Travel & Leisure magazine named Nashville one of ‘America’s friendliest cities’. Nashvillians, says Hall, are: “Just genuinely nice. So much of America runs together these days. Nashville stands out. After a short time here, you start wondering why the rest of the world can’t be this pleasant.”
British Airways’ new direct flights between London and Nashville are scheduled to begin in May 2018, so expect to hear even more Brit accents at this year’s CMA Music Festival, June 7 – 10. You can reach Rich Hall at offthekerb.co.uk/rich-hall
You can read the entire ‘Boom (Chicka-Boom) Town’ article and more about what’s happening in Music City in the January edition of Nashville Lifestyles, now at newsstands or go to www.nashvillelifestyles.com
Preshias Harris is a music journalist and music career development consultant with the emphasis on new and aspiring artists and songwriters. Her book, ‘The College of Songology: The Singer/Songwriter’s Need to Know Reference Handbook’ is available at www.collegeofsongology.com Follow her blog at www.nashvillemusicline.com
December is often a quiet time around the music industry, but this year there are a number of news items that can affect the lives of songwriters and recording artists. Here are some you might want to check out.
BMI Songwriters Win 100% Licensing Ruling
On December 19, NSAI posted the following news bulletin: Today the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals put the issue of 100% licensing to rest by affirming an earlier ruling by BMI rate court Judge Louis Stanton.
“The Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) is thrilled and relieved that BMI songwriters no longer have to be concerned about the U.S. Department of Justice’s misguided ruling on 100% licensing,” said NSAI President Steve Bogard. “We congratulate BMI CEO Mike O’Neil and his team on this important victory and hope the DOJ now releases ASCAP from their ruling that was delivered in 2016. The time has come to discuss sun-setting or updating the ASCAP and BMI consent decrees so that songwriters can earn fair performance royalty rates from streaming services.”
HAAWK –that tracks revenue for rights holders – buys Royalty Claim and TuneRegistry
From a report at Billboard.com:HAAWK, a rights management and content monetization firm started by Ad-Rev co-founder Ryan Born, has acquired RoyaltyClaim and TuneRegistry. Terms of the deal were not disclosed although Haawk had previously raised $2.5 million in seed venture capital from Rincon Venture Partners.
Prior to this current acquisition, HAAWK bought certain assets from Dart Music, which specialized in cleaning up music rights metadata, among other rights management services. That company filed for bankruptcy last summer and its assets were sold in separate deals to HAAWK and Core Rights LLC this fall. Continue reading the Billboard story here.
Songwriters: Support H.R. 3945, a bill to create a Small Claims Court
An email sent out by The Copyright Alliance urges creators (including songwriters) to support a bill in Congress that would establish a way for individuals to fight infringement of their rights. The text of the email reads:
Join the copyright community in asking your Congressional Representative to cosponsor H.R. 3945, the CASE Act of 2017, a bill that would create a copyright small claims court for creators and small businesses (It’s quick and easy to do!)
For many photographers, illustrators, authors, songwriters and other creators who own copyrighted works, enforcing their rights is not feasible. Litigation is expensive and many creators simply can’t afford it. In effect, the U.S. copyright system currently provides creators with rights but no effective remedies.
“Celebrate, Celebrate, Listen To The Music” was the theme in Music City where Nashville hosts Tin Pan South. It’s the world’s largest songwriter festival and 2017 marked its 25th anniversary! The festival invites more than 300 songwriters and this year they performed over 100 shows for the first time.
Dedicated to the songs and those that write them, Tin Pan South is a yearly event in Music City where fans get a unique, up-close-and-personal experience with the music they love. The music is a five day event, spread out across the city with showcases each night at various venues. Visitors get to enjoy intimate shows from world famous musical acts alongside up-and-coming artists from all across Nashville.
The stories behind the songs
What makes Tin Pan South unique is that the talented artists and songwriters that penned your favorite songs tell the stories behind those songs, and perform them in their original form. Nowhere else in the world can you hear so much original music in one place. With the immense creativity living and working in Music City, Nashville is the natural home to Tin Pan South. The music is inspired here, created here, recorded and performed here. Tin Pan South in Music City is the ultimate musical experience – in its most raw and original form.
Five nights of hit writers and their songs
Monday night was the festival’s kickoff party, hosted by Regions Bank who celebrated their ten year platinum sponsorship of Tin Pan South. Organizers of the 25th Annual Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival showed their deep gratitude to the following Platinum and Gold Corporate Partners: Regions Bank – Presenting Partner, Southwest Airlines – Official Airline Partner, News Channel 5 – Official Broadcast Partner, Jack Daniel’s – Official Club Show Partner, Vident Financial, Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp, ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, Ford and Ole’ music group.
L to R: Casey Beathard, Tucker Beathard, Jonathan Singleton & Luke Cooombs. Photo: Catrina Engelby
Tuesday Night: We hit Whiskey Rhythm, first to watch “A Benefit for SOURCE” with Danielle Bradbery, Jaida Dreyer, Jo Smith and Lari White. What a talented round. Danielle showcased her new co-penned tunes that she has been working on. I cannot wait till she has a new project out. Then we boot scooted over to the Hard Rock Café to catch Father (Casey) and son (Newcomer) Tucker Beathard along with hit songwriter Jonathan Singleton and newcomer Luke Coombs. Continue reading ““Celebrate… Listen To The Music””
When it comes to getting paid for streaming, you receive mere fractions of one cent per stream from the major streaming services. These include Napster, YouTube, Pandora, Apple Music, Tidal, Google Play, Deezer and Spotify. In July 2017, Digital Music News posted a report titled ‘What Streaming Music Services Pay,’ available 
Two recent news stories – one from each side of the Atlantic – look at Nashville from different perspectives. ‘Boom (Chicka-Boom) Town’ by Chris Parton in the January issue of 
“The Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) is thrilled and relieved that BMI songwriters no longer have to be concerned about the U.S. Department of Justice’s misguided ruling on 100% licensing,” said NSAI President Steve Bogard. “We congratulate BMI CEO Mike O’Neil and his team on this important victory and hope the DOJ now releases ASCAP from their ruling that was delivered in 2016. The time has come to discuss sun-setting or updating the ASCAP and BMI consent decrees so that songwriters can earn fair performance royalty rates from streaming services.”
From a report at Billboard.com: 
An email sent out by The Copyright Alliance urges creators (including songwriters) to support a bill in Congress that would establish a way for individuals to fight infringement of their rights. The text of the email reads:
