September News

• View Webcasts of Panels – One of the many benefits of membership is our archive of past panels and webinars.  If you missed any of our summer educational webinars, Members can view the videos, as well as all archives, here.  All are welcome to view a sampling of video clips here.  
• The AIMP was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Cindy Badell-Slaughter, President of Heavy Hitters Music.  
• Music Reports, a music right data company,  has been acquired by private equity firm MidOcean Partners.  Read more here.  
• The Digital Music Association (DiMA), a trade body whose membership comprises Amazon, Apple, Pandora, Spotify, and YouTube, released a highly optimistic annual report on August 27th that forecasts strong continued growth in the U.S. music market, despite COVID-19’s derailment of most entertainment sectors in 2020.  Read more here.  
• Synchtank's publishing catch-up: Hipgnosis snaps up a 50% stake in RZA’S catalog, Spirit acquires Kara DioGuardi catalog and more! 
• The Ryman Auditorium will welcome in-person audiences starting this week.  Read more here.  
• The latest episode of VERSED reprises a critical session from ASCAP Experience: Home Edition in July 2020. We invited Congressman Adam Schiff and ASCAP President Paul Williams to discuss what Congress is doing to include music professionals in coronavirus relief efforts. Additional topics include the need for federal guidelines on restarting live performances at music venues and what’s at stake for ASCAP and BMI in the upcoming review of their consent decrees by the Department of Justice. Schiff is one of the fiercest champions of creator rights in Washington - he led the effort in Congress to secure economic relief benefits for freelance and contract workers in the entertainment industry in the wake of coronavirus. Listen here to their impactful conversation to find out how you can help to create positive change for the American music community.
• In early March, classical concerts were postponed and canceled across the country. Since then, though concert halls remain dark, the creation and performance of music have continued, thanks to numerous classical music organizations that have stepped up during these unprecedented times to ensure that classical composers have platforms on which to celebrate new works. The American Composers Orchestra, the Tesla Quartet, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and Cincinnati Pops, the duo HOCKET, and the Library of Congress redirected scarce resources to create innovative programs. Each one commissioned several composers to create works to be presented online. BMI is proud to congratulate these organizations and our composers who were invited to participate.
• SESAC and the Radio Music License Committee (RMLC) are pleased to announce a new license agreement that sets the rates payable by the majority of America’s commercial terrestrial radio stations to publicly perform works in the SESAC repertory, effective Jan. 1 2019 through Dec. 31, 2022. The RMLC represents the vast majority of the nation’s radio stations, and SESAC represents more than 1 million songs and some 30,000 songwriters, composers and music publisher affiliates.  The agreement rolls-forward the rates and terms from the prior license, which themselves were the product of an arbitration the parties conducted. Read more here.  
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Mark Brown / Round Hill Music, Nashville

Mark Brown - SVP & GM, Round Hill Music Nashville

Mark comes to Round Hill Music with an extensive Nashville based career. He has been involved in the music industry as a creative in the both the record label and music publishing areas. Mark started his career at Silverline/Goldline Music where he worked with such songwriters as Steve Earle, Jimbeau Hinson, and Tony Brown. When Silverline/Goldline merged with Lorimar Telepictures, Mark remained with the company as the main creative marketing person in the Nashville operation. During this time he secured many recordings for the company including “A Little Bit In Love” and “Chains” both of which were #1 hits for Patty Loveless.  When Lorimar Telepictures merged with Time-Warner, Mark remained and worked for Warner/ Chappell Music. During his tenure he had the opportunity to work such writers as Gretchen Peters, Gail Davies, Steve Bogard, Lionel Cartwright, Jon Vezner, and Steve Earle as well as securing many notable cuts for the company including “The Chill Of An Early Fall” #1 for George Strait, title cuts on Randy Travis’ “High Lonesome,” Highway 101’s “Paint The Town,” and other top 10’s with Patty Loveless “Jealous Bone,” and new artist Jann Brown “Tell Me Why.”  In 1993, Mark was asked to join the A&R team at Liberty Records.  There he served as the primary creative for song acquisition and worked closely with many artists on the label including John Berry, Billy Dean, Tanya Tucker, and Suzy Bogguss. In 1995, the Liberty Records name changed back to it’s original name, Capitol Records, and Mark was named of V.P. and head of A&R. In this new position, Mark was instrumental in the creative development of the debut projects for both Trace Adkins and Deana Carter, as well as being part of the team that signed Keith Urban. In July 1999, Mark joined Universal Music Publishing Group where he served as Creative Director working with such notable songwriters as Kostas, Rivers Rutherford, Monty Powell, Troy Verges, Stephanie Bentley, Mark D. Sanders, and Gordon Kennedy. In 2002, Mark joined the A&R team at Sony Records. While at Sony, Mark worked on projects for Gretchen Wilson, Montgomery/Gentry, Miranda Lambert, Keith Gattis, Van Zant, and Trent Willmon, as well as many others.  Mark was responsible for picking the Montgomery/ Gentry single, “Hell Yeah,” which sold an estimated 700,000 pieces as well as their #1 hit with “Lucky Man.”  In 2007, Mark re-entered the music publishing world by joining the new music publishing company, Cross?re 3. At Crossfire 3, Mark establish policies and procedures, brought in writer/artist Keith Gattis and a catalog of songs, obtained funding to record a new album, and was the executive producer of Gattis’ Bones album. In 2010, Mark joined Root 49 Music Publishing as the Chief Creative O?cer where he oversaw the song catalogs and careers of songwriters Danny Myrick, Bridgette Tatum, and Odie Blackmon. Mark is a graduate of Vanderbilt University with a double major in Economics and Engineering Science. Before entering the music industry, Mark spent four years as a musician in the Nashville local band scene.

The AIMP would also like to mention how Mark recently brought back the Music Row Build with Habitat for Humanity, a partnership between Habitat for Humanity and Music Row companies to build homes from 2003 until 2012 for people in need. The funding goal of the 2020 Music Row Build is $31,500 to pay for construction materials for the home of future Habitat homeowner Italia Nance. Brown’s goal is to not only revitalize the Music Row Build but to make it an annual event. In addition to raising money to purchase the construction materials for Nance’s home, Music Row Build will need volunteers to work alongside Nance to build her home. “A stable home is the foundation for so much in life. It is empowering for the parents and stabilizing for the children to have a place to call home. That changes communities and better communities change the world,” Brown says.