Blackburn honored for work in "Congressional Songwriters Caucus"

Congressman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) was honored by The Recording Academy along with musical pioneer Quincy Jones and Sen. Ted Kennedy during this evening's "Grammys on the Hill" event at the Willard Hotel in downtown Washington, DC.

Blackburn, the founder and co-chair of the Congressional Songwriter's Caucus, was recognized with the Grammys on the Hill Award for her work on issues including intellectual property rights protection and changes to the law governing taxation of a songwriter's catalog sales.

According to a press release from Blackburn's office, songwriters were disadvantaged by the tax code before the change, which required them to pay income tax when selling their life’s work. The sale is now considered as a capital gain, classified in line with other intellectual property creations.

Blackburn issued a statement saying that she was "deeply honored" by the "Grammys on the Hill" tribute.

"The creative community is our nation's second largest exporter of goods and services, and Tennessee's 7th district has arguably the world's largest population of songwriters. We must respect their constitutional right to protect their intellectual property, ensure that their work is respected as private property, and to make sure these rights are not violated."

YouTube signs royalties deal with U.K. songwriters

YouTube has reached an agreement with British performing rights organization MCPS-PRS Alliance, to pay for use of songs the organization represents.

Forget pop music, it's all about ringtones

Anytime Rick Carnes is out and hears a song played as someone's ringtone, well, it's like music to his ears.

Carnes, a songwriter for nearly three decades, laughs when he considers that his work is more valuable as a ringtone--just a few seconds of his music--than a full version of one of his songs downloaded from the Web.

"Where's the logic in that?" asks Carnes, president of the Songwriters Guild of America.

Until last October, music publishers were able to pocket 10 percent of the retail price for a song, according to Steve Gordon, a copyright attorney. This meant that for a $2.99 ringtone, the publisher could make 30 cents and typically split half with the songwriter.

But the labels are now threatening to choke off that extra income. Record companies claim songwriters and music publishers charge too much and want prices restricted to a rate of 9.1 cents per song.

The labels argue that they are entitled to the extra money because music publishers pay nothing of the large upfront costs associated with producing master recordings, according to Gordon.

Carnes, 57, who has written songs for Alabama, Reba McEntire and Dean Martin, said that all the songwriters want is to be allowed to negotiate the price of their music.

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CINCINNATI MAN SENTENCED TO TEN MONTHS IN PRISON FOR MUSIC PIRACY

Federal Judge William Haynes sentenced Decharmus Grover to 10 months in jail (U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle TN). Caught selling CDs and DVDs in the parking lot of a Dollar General store in Nashville, the FBI and Nashville police found over 500 hundred copyrighted recordings and films copied onto CDs and DVDs along with copying equipment powered by the car’s battery. Authorities also confiscated nearly $10,000 in cash, which will be paid to the victim industries as restitution.

In a release issued by the U.S. Attorney's office, U.S. Attorney Craig Morford stated that "Violations of intellectual property crimes and copyright laws such as this occupy a high priority with both the Department of Justice and this U.S. Attorney's office in particular, given that so many residents of Middle Tennessee are involved in the recording industry."

Prince's Experiment With Free CDs Raises a Ruckus

The artist Prince caused a huge stir in the music industry a few days ago when 2.9 million copies of his new CD Planet Earth were bundled with Sunday copies of the UK newspaper The Mail. There was a furious backlash from the music industry -- including his own label, Sony BMG -- at this act of heresy of giving music away free. But it will probably pay off for Prince in the long run. To begin with, The Mail paid him a reported $500,000 for this venture.

Prince's overall logic? Well, his last CD sold only 80,000 copies in the UK. As a so-called heritage artist (meaning one who's been around a while and doesn't sell millions of CDs anymore), he figures since his main income derives from selling concert tickets and merchandise, including sales of his previous CDs, it makes sense to try to attract new listeners and expand his fan base. And offering free music may be the best way to do that. And the UK has been way ahead with that. For years, British music magazines such as Mojo and Q have done that with sampler CDs inserted in their magazines, and the Oxford American does that here at home.

If the music industry had gotten out in front of paid music downloads in a timely fashion, the industry wouldn't be in the pickle it now finds itself in. As it is, the only viable solution for the downloading issue came from a music industry outsider -- Apple's Steve Jobs with his iTunes and iPod. As CD sales continue to plummet, there are few options left for the music business...

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Lawmaker says songs will be protected

A group of about 50 local songwriters gathered Saturday with U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Brentwood,TN) to discuss how to wrest back control of their work from those who illegally download music. "The Constitution protects against piracy," Blackburn said.

"It was piracy of the high seas," which is addressed in the Constitution. "Now it's piracy of the high waves," Blackburn said to the crowd assembled at the Music Row headquarters of SESAC, one of three organizations in the U.S. that collect royalty payments on behalf of songwriters and composers.
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Dolly Parton Receives Johnny Mercer Award

This past Thursday evening Dolly Parton received the Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, to which she was inducted in 2001. She says songwriting is the most important part of her career.

"I would always give up everything before I give up the writing, because it's really my way of expressing myself, and it's just a natural thing and the song just took me everywhere I've been so far," she told the AP.

"So it's very important. ... To be honored for it and recognized for it is a great, great compliment."

She estimates she has written over 3,000 songs and says she writes something every day.