031 MTSU, ASCAP JOIN FORCES TO CREATE ‘PARTNERS IN CRAFT’

FOR RELEASE: Aug. 24, 2006
EDITORIAL CONTACTS: Dr. Tom Hutchinson, MTSU, 615-513-6278
Michelle Goble, ASCAP, 615-742-5000


New commercial songwriting program to match industry veterans, students

(MURFREESBORO)—Middle Tennessee State University’s Department of Recording Industry has joined forces with the Nashville office of ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) to create a new commercial songwriting program called “Partners in Craft.”
The program begins this fall at MTSU and will match veteran industry songwriting and publishing mentors with exceptional student songwriters.
Representatives from ASCAP and MTSU’s Recording Industry program will celebrate the new songwriting program with a press conference and reception in the lobby of the ASCAP building at 2 Music Square West in Nashville on Thursday, Aug. 24, at 10 a.m. The press conference will feature performances by MTSU songwriters The Karg Boys, and many professional mentors and MTSU recording industry alumni will be in attendance.
In the past, talented songwriters would pass through the Recording Industry program and set their own agendas for their career paths. The program provides opportunities and specialized courses tailored to students’ career goals.
Partners in Craft grew out of a long-standing relationship between ASCAP and the Department of Recording Industry.
“ASCAP has sent mentors to RIM since the early days of our program to talk about performance rights and help with songwriting and publishing classes,” said MTSU Assistant Professor Hal Newman, who teaches in the new program. “From providing seminars to serving in an advisory capacity, ASCAP is a strong and capable partner.”
“Many of our recent graduates have secured publishing deals and several have had hit songs on the country charts,” said Dr. Tom Hutchison, coordinator of the department’s music business program.
Among the MTSU graduates who have found success in songwriting are Erin Enderlin (“Monday Morning Church” recorded by Alan Jackson), and Adam Dorsey (“Old Green Tackle Box” recorded by Craig Morgan).
“With all the success we’ve had with our alumni songwriters, it was time to formalize our efforts so we can provide this specialized program to more up-and-coming writers,” Hutchison added.
ASCAP Vice Presidents Ralph Murphy and John Briggs worked with Newman and Hutchison to develop the program.
“Education is number one at ASCAP,” said Murphy. “Mentors who work with MTSU students have reported that the students are consistently super-talented.”


ASCAP will continue to provide mentors to guide Partners in Craft students through the songwriting process. Past mentors have included songwriters Fred Knobloch ("If My Heart Had Wings", recorded by Faith Hill), Bonnie Baker ("Ordinary Life," Chad Brock), Mark Irwin ("Here in the Real World,” Alan Jackson), Lowell Alexander ("The Song is Alive," Point of Grace), Mark Beeson ("When She Cries," Restless Heart), Casey Kelly ("The Cowboy Rides Away," George Strait), Walt Aldridge ("Some Things Never Change," Tim McGraw)
ASCAP also hosts a yearly showcase called “Hot on the Row” at Dan McGuinness Pub and each December, they feature MTSU student songwriters. Music industry publishers attend the event to hear—and potentially sign—the best student songwriters. This successful annual event will expand under the Partners in Craft program.
“In Nashville, it’s all about the song,” said Hutchison. “We hope that many of those songs will now begin with the Partners in Craft program.”
About MTSU’s Recording Industry Program
One of the largest communications programs in the nation, the MTSU College of Mass Communication (www.mtsu.edu/~masscomm) offers degree concentrations in 14 major areas—ranging from journalism to digital media and media management to recording industry management—and is accredited by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
The Department of Recording Industry is one of the largest and best equipped in the country. Undergraduate recording industry students choose between two concentrations: music business or production and technology. The department now also offers a unique graduate program in recording arts and technologies.
About ASCAP
Established in 1914, ASCAP (www.ascap.com) is the first and leading Performing Rights Organization in the U.S., representing the world's largest repertory which totals over 8 million copyrighted musical works of every style and genre from more than 250,000 composer, lyricist and music publisher members. Additionally, ASCAP represents the works in the repertories of 70 affiliated foreign performing rights organizations created by many thousand affiliated international members. ASCAP is committed to protecting the rights of its members by licensing and collecting royalties for the public performance of their copyrighted works, and then distributing these fees to the Society's members based on performances. Unlike the other American Performing Rights Organizations, ASCAP's Board of Directors is made up solely of writers and publishers, elected by the membership every two years.

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