Industry News Tuesday (5/13/08)

Clear Channel is set to ramp up its online offerings with a “personalized radio player, lyrics page and widget strategy,” according to Billboard. Also in the works is a possible deal with music discovery site...

Clear Channel Purchase Probable

Sarah Skates – 05/12/2008

Clear Channel purchasers Thomas H. Lee and Bain Capital are nearing an agreement with lenders over the buyout, according to the Wall Street Journal. The six banks tried to back out of financing the deal, but a string of courtroom decisions have ruled in favor of the private equity buyers. The WSJ reports that the two sides are discussing a price of about $36 per share, in return for the banks receiving a higher interest rate.

LongHorn Closing Midtown Location

Sarah Skates – 05/12/2008

The LongHorn Steakhouse near Music Row will shutter its doors on Sat., May 17 after twenty years in business. A manager on duty said that continuing operations at its current Lyle Ave. location is not feasible at this time. He added that news of the closing came on the day of the restaurant’s 20th anniversary. The popular establishment was named Best Lunch Destination to Seal a Deal in the 2003 Music Row reader-voted Best Of Awards. According to the manager, the chain wants to maintain a Nashville presence and is considering a move downtown.

McGraw Hits Package Enters At No. 1

Sarah Skates – 05/09/2008

Tim McGraw’s Greatest Hits-Limited Edition has become his ninth album to debut at No. 1 on SoundScan’s country album chart. The combo pack, available only at Wal-Mart, contains Tim McGraw Reflected: Hits Vol 2 as well as Greatest Hits. Both albums originally debuted at the top of the country albums chart and have sold a combined 7.5 million copies. He has sold a total of 40 million albums worldwide. McGraw kicks off his Live Your Voice Tour today (5/9) in Tampa, Florida.

Pop Hitmaker Visits Music City

05/09/2008

Cristyle, co-writer of Mariah Carey's current hit “Touch My Body” had a productive writing trip to Nashville. Through the collaborative efforts of ASCAP Atlanta's Tremayne Anchrum and Nashville's Dan Keen, Cristyle spent three days writing with ASCAP Nashville songwriters Chris Stapleton, Chris Tompkins and Kyle Jacobs.

Pictured (L-R): Keen, Tompkins, Cristyle, Jacobs and ASCAP's Earle
Simmons.

Industry News Friday (5/8/08)

Memorial services for Eddy Arnold will be held next week. The Country Music Hall of Fame member passed away yesterday (5/8) at age 89. A public viewing in the Country Music Hall of Fame rotunda...

2008 Music Row Award Nominees

Industry Voting Begins May 16

It’s been an intense week at Music Row preparing for today’s announcement and we are excited to share some new developments! Drum roll please, lift the curtain and voila!—the...

Tennessee Association of Broadcasters Celebrates 60 Years

05/08/2008

BMI hosted a reception at their Music Row office for the Tennessee Association of Broadcasters (TAB) in celebration of TAB's 60th anniversary. The event was attended by nearly 100 Tennessee radio and TV broadcasters and more than a dozen songwriters. Leslie Satcher, Tim Nichols and Bob DiPiero performed many of their hit songs, and Lee Thomas Miller closed the show with a hilarious salute to Music Row's “Musica” sculpture. Among dignitaries who addressed the group were FCC Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate and Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen. BMI's Mason Hunter presented TAB President Whit Adamson with a gold record commemorating 60 years of dedicated service to the broadcast industry.

Pictured (L-R): BMI's Tom Annastas, attorney William H. Tate, FCC Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate, Governor Phil Bredesen, TAB Chairman Debbie Turner, BMI's Fred Cannon, songwriter Leslie Satcher, and TAB President Whit Adamson. Photo: John Russell

Lifenotes: Eddy Arnold

Jon Freeman – 05/08/2008

Eddy Arnold

Country Music Hall of Famer Eddy Arnold passed away early this morning (5/8) in Franklin, Tenn. at the age of 89. Known for hits like “Make The World Go Away,” “I’ll Hold You In My Heart (Until I Can Hold You In My Arms),” “I Really Don’t Want To Know” and “You Don’t Know Me,” Arnold reigned over the Billboard country charts for the latter half of the 1940s and continued to chart hits into the 1960s. He reportedly sold 85 million albums to date. Arnold was not only a driving force in the widespread popularity of country music, but a star of television and film as well.

Born in 1915 to a farming family in Chester County, Tenn., Arnold honored his roots by adopting the stage name “Tennessee Plowboy.” After his father passed and the Great Depression set in, Arnold and his family worked as poor sharecroppers and he sang for extra money at various gatherings. In 1940 he joined WSM personality and Grand Ole Opry star Pee Wee King’s Golden West Cowboys, where he gained notoriety on the Opry and toured U.S. military bases. After heading out on his own with his band The Tennessee Plowboys, Arnold acquired a manager in Colonel Tom Parker and recorded Nashville’s first major label session for RCA Records in 1944. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of fame in 1966. Arnold’s wife Sally Gayhart Arnold passed away earlier this year. They are survived by two children, Richard Edward Jr., of Nashville, and Jo Ann Pollard, of Brentwood, Tenn., two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Pictured (L-R): Bill Monroe, Arnold and George Jones. Photo: Alan Mayor

Industry News Thursday (5/8/08)

Warner Music Group has suspended its quarterly dividend in the wake of disappointing financial results—a loss of 25¢ per share for the quarter ending March 31 compared with a loss of 19¢ per share...