What songwriters can do to protect their ideas when submitting demo tapes to publishers Every songwriter has heard the words “sorry, we’re not accepting unsolicited material” from at least a dozen publishers. In fact, in a recent informal survey conducted by Law On the Row, two-thirds of the thirty publishing companies contacted indicated that they […]
It’s been a while since my last blog entry, and I apologize to regular readers of Law on the Row. I’ve been in transition mode, getting settled in to my new offices downtown at 2nd Avenue North. I was also invited by my good friend Mark Volman to teach a course at the Mike Curb […]
I really enjoyed being on The Music Row Show on 1510 WLAC last evening with Scott Southworth. I love their motto, “two guys fumbling their way through the music business, so you don’t have to!” If you didn’t catch the show (you should be able to download the podcasts from their website in a few […]
Barry Beckett, renowned Nashville producer and longtime musician, passed away last evening, further dampening, in conjunction with heavy downpours, the opening day of the 2009 CMA Music Festival. Beckett was a fellow Aquarian, born February 4, 1943 in Birmingham, Alabama. He was a noted keyboardist and musician, perhaps best known as a member of the […]
Once upon a time, there was a shinny new device called the iPhone that tried to climb up the mammoth hill that is the sole domain of the business smartphone. “I think I can, I think I can,” said the iPhone, and it tried and it tried, but alas, it could only make it up […]
For the last several weeks, I have enjoyed being a guest host on Malcolm West’s live radio program, Race Night. It’s a weekly show that airs on WSM 650 AM from 7-9 p.m CST. The show is broadcasted into over 37 states and, as Malcolm quips, two outhouses! It reaches over 150,000 listeners. The show is […]
Rep. John Conyers, Chair of the House Judiciary Committee brought the Performance Rights Act (HR 848) up for markup this morning. HR 848 created no small amount of disagreement among radio broadcasters, minority broadcasters, trade unions and civil rights groups. However, a group of minority artists, including Duke Fakir of the Four Tops, Dionne Farris […]
I was recently contacted by John Dargan, a Florida-based computer programmer who is also the webmaster for a new music-related web site called www.Nurturemusic.biz. The concept of the site is simple, and somewhat unique: it is a “slide show” of publicity photographs of various musicians, artists, bands and related music industry professionals. Dargan finds musicians […]