Executive Turntable: Moves at Capitol, Verve, Warner, ASCAP & More

A list of moves and shakes across the music business, including Warner Music Group, Sony/ATV, Verve, ASCAP and more!

-- James Steven was promoted to executive VP of communications and marketing at Warner Music Group, rising from his role as senior VP of communications and marketing.

-- Sony/ATV Music Publishing appointed Rick Krim as co-president, U.S., reuniting him with CEO Martin Bandier, under whom he worked for six years at EMI Music Publishing.

-- Courtney Lowery was promoted to VP of publicity at Epic Records. In his new role, Lowery will specialize in the design, strategy and implementation of global media campaigns, saturation of digital, print, TV, social media and new technology. Lowery previously served as Epic's senior directory of publicity.

-- Mite Gitter was appointed VP of A&R at Century Media Records.

-- Capitol Music Group elevated two key executives into new roles: Cheryl Winston as senior national director and Chris Green as national director.

-- ASCAP appointed former Warner Music exec Brian Roberts executive VP and chief operating officer.

-- Music industry vet Adam Wacht founded MRKT Music, a new record label and label services provider. The Orchard will serve as the company's digital distribution partner, while Nile Rodgers' Sumthing Distribution will handle physical releases.

-- Verve Music Group promoted Mike Rittberg to general manager.

-- Los Angeles-based hip-hop and R&B station Real 92.3 named Abdul "DJ A-OH" Hashem assistant program director and on-air personality. Hashem arrives from Miami's 103.5 The Beat, where he served as program director and and on-air personality since October 2013.

Marvin Gaye Family Says Jury Has Been 'Poisoned' By 'Blurred Lines' Trial Testimony

Attorneys for Marvin Gaye's children are seeking relief from what they argue are prejudicial statements from the Robin Thicke side that have already "poisoned, perhaps irreparably" the jury.

The trial explores whether Thicke and Pharrell Williams committed copyright infringement on compositions owned by the Gayes, and while the jury has been lucky enough to be treated to song medleys, deconstruction of a big pop hit, and some discussion about the inner workings of the music industry, there's an issue lurking in the background that potentially clouds the proceedings.

Originally, the Gaye family wanted the jury to hear the original "Got To Give It Up" sound recording to compare with "Blurred Lines." The Gaye family wasn't permitted to offer this because its copyrights pertained to sheet music, and the judge worried about unduly influencing the jury with non-protected elements like Gaye's singing, percussive choices and background vocals. Later before trial, the judge at least agreed to permit the Gaye family to introduce a stripped-down audio version of "Got to Give It Up."

The trial is happening, though Richard Busch, attorney for the Gaye family, is sticking hard to his belief that that the composition is embodied in the sound recording, and the latter stands as good evidence that the composition was lifted by Williams and Thicke in "Blurred Lines." If the Gaye family loses, this issue will undoubtedly be the subject of an appeal.

In the meantime, in the midst of trial, the Gaye family is looking to stop Howard King, attorney for Thicke and Williams, with taking advantage of the situation. The Gayes say that Thicke's side has repeatedly remarked during the proceedings that the Gayes only own the sheet music and that it's Motown Records which owns the sound recordings.

"The Gaye Parties have never claimed ownership of the Motown sound recordings, but the Thicke Parties have committed copyright infringement by copying the musical composition as embodied in those sound recordings," writes Busch in a motion filed on Monday. "The jury simply will not understand that fine distinction unless specifically instructed. It is confusing, wrong, and entirely prejudicial..."

Yes, it's certainly a fine distinction, if one is to be made. The Gaye family points out that they receive payment whenever the compositions, embodied in recordings, are exploited in any way. They also admit that the "Blurred Lines" creators didn't review the sheet music deposited with the Copyright Office. Instead, Thicke and Williams heard Gaye's 1970s songs.

The Thicke camp might wish to create a narrow test for the jury by having them compare musical notes to determine whether an infringement has taken place, but the Gaye family wants to have witnesses talk about how their compositions are embodied in the sound recordings and tells the judge, "The sound recording is, therefore, not irrelevant, as has been continually stated by the Thicke Parties during the trial, and the jury is being confused and will likely believe, unless this matter is clarified, that the Gayes have no rights in the musical composition as embodied in such recording. This will further reinforce the improper remarks by the Thicke Parties noted above, and will continue to prejudice the Gaye Parties. These blurred lines must be sharpened and focused."

If the judge doesn't grant the requested relief and issue a proposed jury instruction, the Gaye family appears to at least be girding an appeal arguing it couldn't get a fair trial.

This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.

[WHATS HOT?] Kevin Hart Is On Track for the Biggest Comedy Tour of All Time

Kevin Hart is an enormously popular comedian, with hit movies, albums and television appearances, a huge fan base and global name recognition. 

Yet it may come as a surprise to learn that his upcoming What Now? tour, which begins April 9 in Texas, is on track to become the highest grossing comedy tour ever reported to Billboard Boxscore, selling more than 600,000 tickets and grossing $35 million to date -- and it's only March.

In New York alone, Hart quickly sold out two shows at Madison Square Garden, along with Barclays Center in Brooklyn and the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. -- a trio of metro-area plays that only the most confident pop or rock stars would even attempt (and he's already booked a fourth area venue in Wantagh, N.Y. for August 28). To top it off, Hart, 35, will wrap the tour at Lincoln Financial Field in his hometown of Philadelphia on Aug. 30 -- making him the first comedian ever to headline a stadium. 

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By every metric -- ticket sales, festival appearances, venue size and the sheer volume of comics doing strong business -- live comedy is at its highest-ever level, pulling in annual revenues of more than $300 million, Billboard estimates. But even by that standard, Hart is in a league of his own.

"The tour is truly remarkable," says Geof Wills, president of Live Nation Comedy (promoter of 60 of the nearly 70 shows on Hart's tour), citing the $70 average ticket price and the multiple shows in arenas -- often two sellouts in one night. While other comics often focus films and television at the expense of full-scale tours, Hart "wants to do the films, the specials and the concerts," says Wills. "Kevin is really going for it all."

Hart, who is booked by Mike Berkowitz at APA, has been touring nationally since 2009, and began adding arenas to his route a few years ago when doubles at performing arts centers and theaters were selling out quickly. On his last tour in 2012, Hart stepped up to arenas in "quite a few markets," Wills says. Numerous film roles, an active social media presence, and the non-polarizing nature of Hart's comedy continue to boost the comic's popularity.

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Still, the "biggest-ever comedy tour" is a relative term. Jeff Dunham owns the Guinness world record for ticket sales, with nearly 2 million for his 2007-2010 Spark of Insanity tour. In 2009, Dane Cook grossed $26,570,000with attendance of 436,000 from 45 shows -- a feat already trounced by Hart projections. (Decades ago, Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy put up big numbers, but abandoned concert tours relatively early.)

And while Wills says What Now? is "without question" the biggest comedy tour he's seen in more than 20 years of concert promotion, he notes that other elite comedians could meet Hart's numbers "if they really wanted to -- they just don't."Dave Chappelle can crush the box office but usually opts for a residency model. He sold out 10 Radio City Music Hall shows -- 60,000 tickets -- in 2014 "in his sleep," Wills says, for a gross of $5 million, according to Boxscore.

Still, Hart's success makes a statement about the overall health of live comedy. Acts such as Louis CK, Daniel Tosh, Amy Schumer, Brian Regan, Hannibal Buress, Patton Oswalt, Bill Burr and Aziz Ansari are "making real waves," Wills says. "And that's just tip-of-the-iceberg-ing it."

An edited version of this article first appeared in the March 14 issue of Billboard.

[The Biz] Songwriter Equity Act Re-Introduced to Congress

As expected, the Songwriter Equity Act has been reintroduced in both houses of Congress today.

The legislation -- introduced by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Congressman Doug Collins (R-Ga.), is aimed at amending two sections, 114 and 115, of the Copyright Act to, hopefully, achieve better rates for songwriters. The legislation was first introduced last year in February, but needed to be reintroduced with the end of the 113th Congressional term.

Section 115 of the law sets conditions by which mechanical royalties are set, but doesn't include not allowing a rate court to consider other royalty rates as evidence. The change would allow courts to adapt a fair rate standards when setting mechanical licensing.

Section 114 of the Copyright Act prohibited rate courts for considering rates paid to recording artist when setting songwriter royalty rates, but the proposed change would allow courts to consider the rates for master recordings when setting songwriter performance rates.

The co-sponsors include Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who joined Hatch on the Senate bill. Congresspersons Hakeem Jeffries (D- N.Y.), Marsha Blackburn(R-Tenn.), Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Tom Rooney (R-Fla.), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Tony Cardenas (D-Calif.), Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) and Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.) are cosponsors of the House version.National Music Publishers Assn. president David Israelite applauded the legislatures for standing up for songwriters. "Three-quarters of a songwriter's income is regulated by the federal government," Israelite said in a statement. "While most property rights are valued in a free market, songwriters have suffered under a system that devalues their work and takes away their most basic property rights. As the recent Copyright Office report on music licensing recommended, if songwriters' royalties must be regulated, they should at least be based on fair market value."

BMI president & CEO Michael O'Neill said in a statement: "Through the Songwriter Equity Act, songwriters will no longer be disadvantaged by the fact that courts cannot legally consider all relevant benchmark deals -- key evidence in determining fair market rates.  Not only is it an important step on the road to fairness for BMI's more than 650,000 songwriters, composers and publishers, but this bill will also help address ongoing concerns about the impact of a rate disparity that values the performances of sound recordings at a level approximately 12 times greater than the actual musical compositions from which they are created."

"The Songwriter Equity Act represents an important first step toward updating an outdated music licensing system that treats songwriters differently than other copyright owners and prevents us from earning a fair market royalty rate when our music is streamed or downloaded online," ASCAP president Paul Williamssaid in a statement. "We look forward to working with policymakers to reform the broader regulatory framework, including ASCAP's outdated consent decree with the DOJ, so that music licensing better reflects the way people listen to music today."

Williams added that the legislators "are vital to ensuring that next generation American songwriters are able to make a living creating the music we all love."

[HIP HOP NEWS] Suge Knight Due Back in Court for Murder Case

Former rap music mogul Marion "Suge" Knight is scheduled to appear in a Los Angeles courtroom for a hearing about evidence in his murder case.

Monday's hearing will be Knight's first court appearance since the Death Row Records co-founder told a judge that he had fired his attorneys and was going blind due to medical issues.

Knight has remained jailed without bail on murder, attempted murder and hit-and-run charges filed after he struck two men with his pickup truck during an altercation in a Compton parking lot in late January. His attorneys are asking a prosecutor to hand over potential evidence in the case.

The 49-year-old has pleaded not guilty.

Knight was taken to the hospital following his last court appearance on March 2, the third time he's sought emergency medical care since being charged with murder.