Industry Ink: ASCAP, Sound Emporium, Big Yellow Dog Music, Spotify Canada

Songwriter-Artist Robert Lee Castleman Joins ASCAP

Pictured (L-R): ASCAP’s Robert Filhart, RL Castleman, and ASCAP’s Beth Brinker and Mike Sistad

Singer-songwriter Robert Lee Castleman recently joined ASCAP. As a songwriter, Castleman won a Grammy Award for Best Country Song for writing “The Lucky One,” performed by Alison Krauss & Union Station. He was nominated again in 2007 for writing Alan Jackson’s “Like Red on a Rose.” Other notable cuts include “The Firefly’s Song,” “Maybe I Should Stay Here,” “Nobody Said That It Would Be Easy” and “Where Do I Go From Here (A Trucker’s Song),” all recorded by Alan Jackson, as well as Alison Krauss & Union Station’s “Doesn’t Have to Be This Way,” “Forget About It,” “Gravity,” “Let Me Touch You for Awhile,” “Paper Airplane” and “Restless.”

ASCAP Creative Director Robert Filhart remarked, “No one writes a song like RL Castleman! I was fortunate enough to have Alison Krauss introduce us a while back and we became immediate friends. We are so excited that he has chosen to join ASCAP and we’re looking forward to hearing more amazing music from him.”

Sound Emporium’s Juanita Copeland Named Industry Expert For TV Show

Juanita Copeland, President/COO/General Manager of the Iconic Sound Emporium Recording studio, has worn many hats in her career, but now she can add “industry expert” to the list. In Spring of 2018, Copeland was approached by the producers of the TV show The Small Business Revolution – Main Street to be their industry expert for a recording studio makeover they were doing for Lighthouse Sounds in Alton, Illinois.

The transformation will be showcased in an eight-part original online series, featuring Deluxe’s Amanda Brinkman, TV personality, Ty Pennington and a group of business experts including Copeland & Chief Engineer, Mike Stankiewicz from Sound Emporium Studios.

Viewers can tune in Oct. 4 on Hulu, YouTube or smallbusinessrevolution.com.

Big Yellow Dog Music Celebrates 20th Anniversary With Dog Adoption Drive

Big Yellow Dog Music celebrates its 20th anniversary with “20 Dogs for 20 Years,” a dog adoption drive. Founders Kerry O’Neil and Carla Wallace have set a goal of finding new forever homes for 20 dogs (one for each year the company has been in business) at the drive, held in partnership with the Nashville Humane Association.

“20 Dogs for 20 Years” is open to the public and takes place Saturday, Sept. 29, from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. in the parking lot behind the Big Yellow Dog Music offices at 1313 16th Ave. S. Nearly all the dogs will be on site for the event. Big Yellow Dog Music will cover all adoption fees, and attendees will be able to take many of the dogs home with them on a first-come, first-served basis. The adoption drive will include live music by Big Yellow Dog Music artist-writers, and a bonus of free hot dogs.

“In 20 years, we have placed some hits, and we’re excited to see if we can now place some dogs!” says Wallace.

The 20th year has been fruitful for Big Yellow Dog Music, which has had three No. 1’s so far this year and recently signed an exclusive label partnership deal with Atlantic Records for its fast rising artist/writer Brynn Elliott.

 

Spotify Celebrates “Retailer Of The Year” Honor

Pictured (L-R): Laura Ohls, Nathan Wiszniak, Brittany Schaffer, Rosa Asciolla, Anne Stirk, Mary Catherine Kinney

Spotify Canada was named “Retailer of the Year” at the Canadian Country Music Awards recently. Members of Spotify’s staff were on hand to celebrate the honor.