May 14, 2021 The MusicRow Weekly Friday, May 14, 2021 ACM Heading Back To Las Vegas SIGN UP HERE (FREE!) For 2022 Awards If you were forwarded this newsletter and would like to receive it, sign up here. THIS WEEK’S HEADLINES ACM Heading Back To Las Vegas For 2022 Awards CMT Music Awards Nominees Harvey Mason Jr. Named President/CEO Of Recording Academy Reservoir Signs Breland To First-Ever Publishing Deal The Academy of Country Music has revealed that it will head back to Las Vegas for its 2022 awards, after having held the last two awards Show Dog Nashville Inks ceremonies in Nashville. Deal With Kimberly Kelly The 57th ACM Awards will take place in Las Vegas on Sunday, April Anderson Benson Appointed 24, 2022. As A Coverholder By Lloyd’s Of London The 2021 awards ceremony, hosted at iconic country music venues including the Ryman Auditorium, Grand Ole Opry and Bluebird Cafe Frank Ray Inks Recording in Nashville, saw Luke Bryan walk away with Entertainer of the Year, Deal With BBR Music Group with other honors handed out to Maren Morris, Thomas Rhett, and more. Warner Chappell Nashville Signs Martin Johnson More details about the 57th ACM Awards will be announced at a later date. MR Carrie Underwood Announces First Las Vegas Residency Luke Bryan Reveals Dates For Las Vegas Shows DISClaimer Singles Reviews And much more… Page 1 of 17 May 14, 2021 The MusicRow Weekly Maren Morris, Miranda Lambert Lead CMT Music Awards Nominees CMT has revealed the nominees for the 2021 CMT Music Awards, country music’s only entirely fan-voted award show. Maren Morris and Miranda Lambert lead the nominations with four each, including Female Video of the Year, Collaborative Video of the Year, and two nominations each for Video of the Year. Artists with three nominations include recently announced show co-hosts Kelsea Ballerini and Kane Brown, alongside Little Big Town and first-time nominee Mickey Guyton. There were 13 first-time nominees, including Guyton, Dylan Scott, Hailey Whitters, HARDY, Lainey Wilson, Margo Price, Nathaniel Rateliff, Niko Moon, Noah Cyrus, Parmalee, Ryan Hurd, Tyler Hubbard and Willie Jones. The first round of nominees for the top honor, Video of the Year, includes 14 acts. The top five nominees for this category, determined from the first round of voting, will be announced on June 1. The top 3 nominees, from the second round of voting, will be announced on June 8. Final voting will be determined via social media and announced as the final category during the live show. The CMT Music Awards air Wednesday, June 9 at 8:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. CT on CMT, with a five channel simulcast across MTV, MTV2, Logo, Paramount Network and TV Land. Each winner is selected by the fans, with voting now open at vote.cmt.com. Click here to read all the nominees for the 2021 CMT Music Awards. Harvey Mason Jr. Named President/CEO Of Recording Academy Harvey Mason jr. has been appointed President/CEO of The Recording Academy, effective June 1. Mason has been serving in the position on an unpaid, interim basis since January 2020. Prior to that, he was Chair of the Academy’s Board, a position he will now relinquish to prevent any conflict of interest with his business, Harvey Mason Media. In a press release, the Academy says that although the Academy’s Board worked with a leading search firm and considered numerous candidates for the position, the committee and the Board as a whole concluded that no candidate matched Mason’s combination of skills and experience. “There is nothing more rewarding than having the trust and respect of your colleagues and peers,” Mason says. “I am honored to have been appointed to continue to lead the Recording Academy on our transformative journey. While I had not initially expected to be in this position, I remain deeply invested in the success of the organization and am motivated to help us achieve our greatest ambitions. I will serve humbly with a steadfast commitment to building a more inclusive, responsive and relevant Academy.” MR Page 3 of 17 May 14, 2021 The MusicRow Weekly Reservoir Signs Breland To First-Ever Publishing Deal Show Dog Nashville Inks Deal With Kimberly Kelly Pictured (L-R, Top-Bottom): Producer and Kelly’s husband Brett Tyler, President/Owner TKO Artist Management TK Kimbrell, Show Dog Nashville Senior VP/Promotion Rick Moxley, Kelly’s Manager Mike Robertson, Co-Founder/ Reservoir has announced the signing of Platinum- Owner Thirty Tigers David Macias, Kimberly Kelly, and Toby selling songwriter and artist Breland to a worldwide Keith. Photo: Eric England. publishing deal. The signing includes his full catalog, including breakout hit “My Truck,” and future works. Show Dog Nashville has signed singer-songwriter The agreement marks Breland’s first-ever publishing Kimberly Kelly, joining a roster that includes Clay deal. Walker, Krystal Keith and label head Toby Keith. After finding success with a number of high-profile “She sings country music with emotion and range,” cuts for YK Osiris and ELHAE, Breland self-released says Keith. “I am big on songwriters and her talent “My Truck” on social media in February 2020. The impressed me. She’s a songwriter that has track exploded, reaching Platinum certification, and something to say.” helped pave the way for his signing a record deal with Bad Realm Records/Atlantic Records. Kelly has released a crowd-funded EP and two independent albums. She has written with Breland has since released his debut self-titled EP in esteemed writers and performers including Lori May of 2020, and followed that up with a two-song McKenna, Terry McBride, Erin Enderlin and Steve compilation titled Rage & Sorrow in honor of Wariner. The Lorena, Texas native aims to build on Juneteenth. He most recently released his newest her regional notoriety with a new album project due single, “Cross Country,” plus a remix with Mickey later this year. Guyton. “I’m thrilled to have a nod from Toby and the Show “I’m a genreless songwriter that wants to blur the Dog team, and for the opportunity to make more lines between cultures with my pen, and I’ve been music! Toby has done things his way, and I feel like looking for a team of people that would know how to I’ve tried my best to do the same,” Kelly says. “I’m take what I’m doing to the next level,” says Breland. looking forward to having this great team behind “I think the Reservoir team embodies that me. I’m grateful David Macias came across my last genrelessness in a really exciting and progressive EP, and believed in it and me enough to introduce way.” me to Toby and the label.” Reservoir EVP of Creative, John Ozier says, Show Dog Nashville was founded in 2005 by Toby “Breland is a signing that really excites us. Not only Keith and will market Kelly’s music in partnership is he creating some great country crossover songs, with Thirty Tigers. MR but he exudes such an inspiring energy that we know he’s going to be fantastic to work with.” MR Page 5 of 17 May 14, 2021 The MusicRow Weekly Anderson Benson Appointed As A Coverholder By Lloyd’s Of London Anderson Benson, a privately-held insurance and risk management firm headquartered in Nashville, has been appointed as a Coverholder by Lloyd’s of London for a worldwide Media Liability E&O (errors and omissions) program. Anderson Benson has been covering songwriting, composing, producing, creating, and distribution; licensed or original music content; all forms of dissemination including online, commercial release, streaming, TV commercials, background music for programs and movies; actions for emotional distress arising from the music content and associated advertising and promotional videos and more since inception. The firm’s coverage is made up of Music, Publishing, Film, and Social Influencing and is tailored for each sector including Anderson Benson’s George Anderson and Brent Daughrity on the songwriters, composers, music catalogues, artists, record floor of Lloyd’s of London labels, music publishers and social influencers. Anderson Benson’s coverage is broad in form but the key component is music copyright, including affirmative cover for royalties forming part of a damages settlement. Now, as an appointed coverholder by Lloyd’s of London, Anderson Benson has expanded its coverage and now has the authority to underwrite, make decisions and issue coverage in-house. “This coverage is critical in today’s environment for a lot of reasons,” says George Anderson, president and co- founder of the firm. “It had not been modernized in years, so this is revolutionary from an insurance and risk management standpoint in that it’s been years since this coverage has been updated. The world changes about every six months now, and this coverage is very nimble in that way. It’s changing on a monthly basis and our coverage very fluid on terms. Social influencers were not even a part of this a year ago, now it’s a very large part of it.” Brent Daughrity, a partner at Anderson Benson, speaks on the value of social media content as intellectual property, and how social influencers can benefit from protection. “It’s no different than a song. It’s original content that is filmed, produced and released. The big thing is protecting them in the event that a suit is brought alleging infringement in some way.” Additionally, Anderson Benson can protect social influencers from regulatory fines—a fee that can be accrued when a social media post does not disclose a paid advertising agreement—as well as NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and future unknown risks.