Author Archive: David M Ross
David M. Ross has been covering Nashville's music industry for over 25 years. dross@musicrow.com
Alexander Joins Black River; Hori Pro Signs Barton
John Alexander joins Black River Music Group as VP Strategic Marketing. Alexander will seek to create strategic partnerships with national brands and their various agencies for the label and its roster plus develop television programming. “We are very excited to have John join our team,” stated Jimmy Nichols, president BRMG. “John’s passion for helping new […]
Category: Featured, Label, Publishing
Digital Summit Strives To Stimulate
Although the terms “actionable” and “ubiquitous” were repeatedly spoken during the day, one attendee really caught my attention saying, “The speakers this year are really lots of the right people, it’s just that the conversations don’t seem to be actionable.”
Category: Featured, Organizations
Gershon Exits WC; Portnow Wants $2M
[updated 4:36] MusicRow’s Crystal Ball previewed the story (9/29) and now comes official statements from Sr. VP Warner Chappell Music, Tracy Gershon and Scott Francis, President, Warner/Chappell Music and Chairman & CEO, Warner/Chappell Music U.S. “I am thankful to Scott Francis for the opportunity to help rebuild and reenergize the Warner Chappell Nashville office.” says Gershon. […]
Category: Featured, Organizations, Publishing, Radio
Performance Royalty Wrangling Spurs FM Research
As part of the debate framing the discussion of a performance royalty for terrestrial radio, airwaves advocate NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) has asked for a government mandate that all cell phones be equipped with an FM radio. The CEA (consumer electronics association) has recently released a study showing that 70% of cell phone and […]
Category: Featured, Organizations, Radio
ZBB This Week’s Top Dog, Next Week Chesney?
Country’s big sales stories are the No. 1, 2 and 3 CDs on this week’s Top 75 Current Country Albums list—Zac Brown Band (153k+), Billy Currington (45k) and Jamey Johnson (30k). ZBB’s last studio album is close to 2.3 million and so this debut’s opening number may seem a bit shy of expectations, but it […]
Category: Artist, Featured, Label, Sales/Marketing
Armiger Celebrates CD Release At SESAC
Katie Armiger celebrated the upcoming Oct. 5 release of her third Cold River Records album, Confessions Of A Nice Girl to a packed house at SESAC (9/29). Armiger performed selected tracks from the new CD with musical help from special guests such as Rebecca Lynn Howard, guitarist Jesse Tucker, Bruce Wallace, Joe West and others. […]
Crystal Ball Signals Publishing Change
The Crystal Ball began flashing this morning, offering only an incomplete message as is its wanton way. The data source from the Shiny Globe seemed to flow from our industry’s publishing sphere, showing an imminent departure. While we are unable to pull the rabbit from our info chapeau, it seems that this 30-year industry veteran […]
Category: Featured, Publishing
The Indie Facts of Life
Last week’s article “Appraising The Strategic Value of Airplay For Indie Artists,” featuring Tom Baldrica, generated a number of heated responses. One person who has been connected with Indie careers and was especially passionate about the challenges outlined in the article had a lot to say, but wished to do so anonymously. We agreed, let’s […]
Colt Ford And Bellamy Brothers Hit Social Media Milestones
Social media has become a staple in the artist development/exposure toolkit, especially for country music. Howard and David Bellamy of the Bellamy Brothers harnessed the power of YouTube to promote the duo’s somewhat controversial “Jalapenos” video which has now garnered over 1 million user views. “I am truly amazed we have had over a million […]
Gold Glitters On Gloriana; Diamond On Kimball
“Wild At Heart,” the debut single from Gloriana has been certified Gold (500,000) by the R.I.A.A. The group was presented with plaques by Emblem President Dean Serletic during the recent Pickin’ On The Patio event (7/23) at Warner’s Nashville headquarters. “Wild at Heart” was written by Stephanie Bentley, Josh Kear and Matt Serletic, and named […]
All For The Hall Sold Out Success
The Country Music Hall of Fame presented its second All For The Hall Los Angeles fundraiser on Sept 23. The sold out event at Club Nokia featured a diverse group of artists ranging from young Taylor Swift to legendary singer-songwriters such as Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, Lionel Richie and Vince Gill. Performances lasted over two […]
Category: Artist, Featured, Organizations
