Ben Haggard has long been seen as a promising future talent in country music himself, regularly posting videos online and garnering a significant following. And now he has taken one of the first steps towards launching his own career. Announced this week, Ben Haggard has signed to performing rights organization BMI.
Last week the big issue was YouTube, and the ridiculously small amount of revenue that creators make for their works. This week the big issue is a new Justice Department ruling that has the potential to turn the long-standing methods of writing songs, licensing them for use, and paying the songwriters for their efforts completely upside down.
Who would have thought that Vince Gill would emerge as one of the big winners in country music over the past seven days, culminating in last night’s 48th Annual CMA Awards? But that’s the thing about Vince Gill. His accomplishments sort of creep up on you because he’s so refreshingly understated, honest, and humble.
On February 13, 2002, Waylon Jennings, one of the great country music Outlaws, passed away due to complications from diabetes. Now a Phoenix-based organization along with the Waylon Jennings Estate, have partnered to set up The Waylon Fund to support state-of-the-art investigations into the genetic and genomic origins of diabetes.