Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May. 11, 2009
CMA LAUNCHES “CMA INDUSTRY INSITE,” A MONTHLY ONLINE EDUCATIONAL SERIES FOR ASSOCIATION MEMBERS
First Episode on Publishing to be Posted on CMA’s Member Web Site Monday, May 18
NASHVILLE - As part of CMA's ongoing strategic mission of being a resource for the Country Music industry, the Association is launching "CMA Industry InSite," a monthly online educational series for CMA members.
The first episode on Publishing will be available Monday, May 18, on CMA's member Web site, MyCMAworld.com. Future episodes on topics include Personal Management, Record Labels, Radio, Social Networking, Entertainment Law, and Touring. Each new episode will be posted on the third Monday of the month. CMA members will also be able to submit questions to the panel of experts interviewed for each episode.
"We hope to create a dialogue with our members and provide valuable information for everyone in the industry," said Tammy Genovese, CMA Chief Executive Officer. "With the pressures of doing business in a tight economy, it's easy to forget that this is a very symbiotic business with many overlapping interests. This series is designed to provide information about each segment of our business in a clear, entertaining and informative way."
The series was developed by CMA's Artist Relations Committee, chaired by Kix Brooks of Brooks & Dunn, to lay a foundation for how the various business interests within the industry function.
"Initially, this information was available to new artists on DVD, but the format made the information obsolete very quickly and did not allow us to keep pace with the changing face of the industry," Brooks said. "Housing the series online and archiving the episodes once they are posted enables us to routinely update the material to stay current with changing business trends."
It was also important to the Artist Relations Committee that the project reach beyond the artist community and become a tool that could be easily accessed at any time by CMA's entire membership. Each segment, which is 8-10 minutes long, features specialists from that field. Each month, a new segment will be rolled out to the community with the opportunity to submit questions to the experts with the answers posted online.
Participants in the Publishing episode include: Chris DuBois, Partner, Sea Gayle Music; Rusty Gaston, General Manager/Partner, This Music; Ree Guyer Buchanan, President/Owner Wrensong Publishing/WE Records; Pat Higdon, President, Universal Music Publishing Group; Victoria Shaw, President/Owner AvaRu Music; Troy Tomlinson, President/CEO, Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville.
The series is produced by digital marketing firm Hi-Fi Fusion, whose music industry experience and video production expertise made them an ideal fit for this project.
"As a longtime CMA member, it's an honor to work with the CMA team to create these videos that will help give back to our community," said Todd Cassetty, President of Hi-Fi Fusion. "What's been particularly interesting is that despite my 15 years in this business, I'm finding out how much I didn't know about specific aspects of our industry. So, no matter your tenure on Music Row, I'm certain that anyone can glean new and useful information from these episodes."
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