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– DAN KIMPEL dan@dankimpel.com<br />
L.A. Soundcheque Rep.<br />
Find more details at Soundcheque.com.<br />
Music Biz 2015<br />
in Nashville<br />
The Music Business Association<br />
(Music Biz) has announced a preliminary<br />
schedule for its flagship<br />
Music Biz 2015 conference, held<br />
for the first time in Nashville on<br />
May 12-14 at the Sheraton Downtown<br />
Hotel.<br />
Martina McBride and Scott<br />
Borchetta will be honored during<br />
the awards luncheon on May 14.<br />
The Doobie Brothers and Waterloo<br />
Records & Video Owner/President<br />
John T. Kunz will additionally be<br />
honored.<br />
Key retailers, record labels, artists,<br />
managers, startups and more<br />
will be in attendance throughout<br />
the week. This year’s event will<br />
feature the third annual Metadata<br />
Summit, the Music Startup Academy<br />
educational sessions, and the<br />
Entertainment and Technology Law<br />
Program as well as various Special<br />
Interest Town Halls, Genre-Based<br />
Meetups, Breakout Sessions and<br />
Live Music Showcases.<br />
Find out more by going to mu<br />
sicbiz2015.com.<br />
Fifth Harmony Enlists<br />
Hit Songwriters<br />
Former X Factor contestants Fifth<br />
Harmony have released their debut<br />
studio album Reflection via Epic<br />
Records. The track “Like Mariah”<br />
features Tyga, was co-written and<br />
produced by J.R. Rotem and also<br />
co-written by Raja Kumari.<br />
Winners of MTV’s “Artist To<br />
Watch” award at the 2014 VMA’s,<br />
and labeled as the “#1 most<br />
influential X Factor contestant of<br />
all time” by Fox, Fifth Harmony<br />
collaborated with some of music’s<br />
most successful songwriters and<br />
producers. “Like Mariah” is the<br />
first collaboration between Rotem,<br />
Kumari and Fifth Harmony. You<br />
can get additional information at<br />
fifthharmonyoffical.com.<br />
BMI Names<br />
Ann Sweeney<br />
Broadcast Music,<br />
Inc. (BMI) has<br />
announced that<br />
Ann Sweeney<br />
has been named<br />
Senior Vice President<br />
of Global<br />
Policy, effective<br />
immediately. She<br />
reports to Mike<br />
O’Neill, President<br />
and CEO, BMI, and<br />
is based in BMI’s<br />
New York office.<br />
Wockner Tops<br />
at IAMA<br />
Carl Wockner became the first<br />
Australian to ever win the top award<br />
at IAMA (International Acoustic<br />
Music Awards). With his latest<br />
International Acoustic Music Awards<br />
top award win, and a 2014 ARIA<br />
(Grammy equivalent) nomination<br />
for the release of his new album<br />
Crayon Days with producer Michael<br />
Flanders in Nashville, TN, Wockner<br />
has scaled the charts with his first<br />
two single releases receiving high<br />
rotation to national radio in both<br />
Australia and the U.S. More details<br />
at inacoustic.com.<br />
Kobalt Gets the<br />
Big Bucks<br />
Kobalt has announced it has raised<br />
a $60 million Series C funding<br />
round with Google Ventures, MSD<br />
Capital, L.P., the private investment<br />
firm for Michael S. Dell and<br />
his family, which is a current Kobalt<br />
investor, and MSDC Management,<br />
L.P. This financing round adds to<br />
the $66 million already raised by<br />
the company.<br />
The new funding will be used to<br />
develop and scale Kobalt’s suite of<br />
technology solutions that efficiently<br />
collect and report music royalties.<br />
The company's roster includes<br />
Beck, Dr. Luke, Foo Fighters, Kelly<br />
Clarkson, Maroon 5, Max Martin,<br />
Paul McCartney, Pitbull, Ryan<br />
Tedder, Sam Smith, Skrillex and<br />
others. Kobalt offers its clients<br />
a variety of services, including<br />
creative services, synch & brand<br />
partnerships, global licensing management,<br />
neighboring rights, works<br />
and rights distribution, royalty<br />
collection and processing, online<br />
data and royalty statements, record<br />
release management, and digital<br />
marketing and monetization. See<br />
Kobaltmusic.com.<br />
DAN KIMPEL, author of six music industry<br />
books, is an instructor at Musicians<br />
Institute in Hollywood, CA. He lectures at<br />
colleges and conferences worldwide.<br />
Estelle Builds with Empire<br />
Grammy-winning artist Estelle’s song “Conqueror” has skyrocketed after her<br />
special duet version aired during a recent episode of FOX’s Empire. Performed<br />
by Estelle (who guest starred as Delphine, the newest artist to sign with Empire<br />
Entertainment) and Jussie Smollett (who plays Jamal), “Conqueror” is the<br />
highest-charting song from the series to date. Pictured (l-r): Estelle and Smollett.<br />
Elizabeth<br />
Matthews<br />
ASCAP CEO<br />
Elizabeth Matthews<br />
has been named the<br />
new Chief Executive<br />
Officer of ASCAP,<br />
which now represents<br />
more than 520,000<br />
music creators.<br />
Matthews, who has<br />
served as Executive<br />
Vice President and<br />
General Counsel at<br />
ASCAP since 2013,<br />
was a unanimous<br />
choice among the<br />
Board’s 12 writer<br />
and 12 publisher<br />
members.<br />
BMG’s Global Hits<br />
BMG’s Los Angeles offices were the location for a networking party following<br />
the International Writer Services Conference. The event showcased the reach<br />
of BMG’s international writer services, which has translated into chart hits<br />
around the globe. Pictured (l-r): Nigel Rush, manager; Robin Godfrey-Cass,<br />
manager; Thomas Scherer, EVP BMG Global/Writer Services BMG Chrysalis<br />
U.S.; Zach Katz, Chief Creative Officer BMG Chrysalis North America; Sacha<br />
Skarbek, songwriter; and Kate Sweetsur, VP Creative BMG U.K.<br />
April 2015<br />
musicconnection.com<br />
29
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