➽ BUSINESS, BRANDS AND ASSOCIATIONS

Tatum Hauck Allsep FOUNDER/CEO, MUSIC HEALTH ALLIANCE Shelia Shipley Biddy COO/CERTIFIED SENIOR ADVISER,

MUSIC HEALTH ALLIANCE

Celebrating its eighth anniversary in January, the Nashville nonprofit Music Health Alliance surpassed $63 million in health-care cost savings for 15,000 music industry professionals across the nation, says Allsep. As with many nonprofits, MHA faced the challenge of finding alternative funding during the pandemic since its two primary sources of revenue — events and music industry donations — dried up. In addition to receiving a

PPP loan, MHA formed a relationship with Spotify’s COVID-19 Music Relief Program, which matched donations to MHA to support its COVID-19 relief programs and resources. During COVID-19, the alliance also launched two mental health funds in partnership with Music Biz, The Scars Foundation and the CMA Foundation. Separately, Allsep created the Facebook resource Tennessee Vaccine Hunters to help improve information and access regarding vaccines.

Lori Badgett

Diane Pearson

SENIOR VPS/TEAM LEADERS, ENTERTAINMENT DIVISION, NASHVILLE, CITY NATIONAL BANK

In addition to helping clients obtain

PPP loans during the COVID-19 crisis, the bank stepped up its charity and humanitarian activities in 2020, according to Badgett and Pearson. The bank donated $2 million to help colleagues, clients and communities facing the challenges of the pandemic and $360,000 to the Equal Justice Initiative and the NAACP Legal Defense and Education fund, and also invested over $13 million in a wide range of organizations including MusiCares, ACM Lifting Lives and the Music Health Alliance. Pearson adds that CNB is also implementing new programs around diversity, equity and inclusion.

ADVICE FOR ANY ARTIST POSTING ON

SOCIAL MEDIA “Be true to yourself and be authentic. That’s what country music does best: showcase the artist’s true self and identify with their fans.” —Badgett

Julie Boos

OWNER/BUSINESS MANAGER/CHAIRMAN, FBMM

“Relentless” is how Boos describes the challenges of the past year, as the business management firm she leads helped “successfully navigate my clients through a world of no touring, which equates to significant lost revenue, so they can live to fight another day.” Beyond her focus on the finances of her clients, which the firm keeps confidential, Boos says she has spent “a lot of time educating myself, asking questions and mostly listening to what it is to be Black in the country music industry today, and the world at large, and discovering ways I can be a better ally to my friends and colleagues living that reality.”

Jeremy Holley Laura Hutfless CO-FOUNDERS, FLYTEVU

In May, entertainment marketing agency FlyteVu supported Musicians on Call, the nonprofit that brings music to hospital patients, to create an online prom featuring Blanco Brown, Rita

Ora, We the Kings and other artists. It secured a Dolly Parton performance for FlyteVu client Cracker Barrel’s sponsorship of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and also created exclusive branded holiday content with Carrie Underwood, Maddie & Tae and Runaway June. Through its FlyteVu Fund, the company donated $10,000 to Nashville’s National Museum of African American Music, which opened earlier this year.

Andy Moats

DIRECTOR OF MUSIC, SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT, PINNACLE FINANCIAL PARTNERS

Pinnacle has emerged as a leading player in music asset financing, with the bank’s team writing up $500 million in music publishing and record label loans from October through March alone, according to Moats. “What started as a small Nashville-focused effort has grown into a large national and even international entertainment practice,” says Moats, who is also a founder and partner in August’s Music City Grand Prix, a new three-day race and concert series.

I DISCOVER NEW COUNTRY ARTISTS BY “Listening to the songwriting community. If the songwriters are buzzing about an artist, then I know they should be on my radar.”

Kerry O’Neil

PARTNER, O’NEIL HAGAMAN; CO-FOUNDER, BIG YELLOW DOG MUSIC

O’Neil pulls double duty as a founding partner of the entertainment business management firm and as the co-founder, with Carla Wallace, of the publisher, label and artist development company. O’Neil Hagaman helped its clients navigate a pandemic-fueled economic downturn by mining the value of their intellectual property while also helping keep clients ready to tour when markets reopen. Big Yellow Dog successfully upstreamed several of its artists to majorlabel deals, according to O’Neil, while growing its synch and label business.

MY NEW PANDEMIC HABIT THAT I WILL CONTINUE “Taking more time to appreciate all the wonderful people in our community who make life bearable and meaningful.”

Lou Taylor

FOUNDER/CEO, TRI STAR SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT GROUP

Business management clients seeking Taylor’s financial expertise come from the worlds of film, sports and all genres of music — and those from the country music community include Florida Georgia Line, Reba McEntire, Chase Rice, Orville Peck and Parker McCollum. As she and her team helped artists financially weather the pandemic, one of Taylor’s goals has been to help clients create and build new revenue streams outside their current careers — a strategy that proved prescient during the past year.

Sarah Trahern

CEO, COUNTRY MUSIC ASSOCIATION Tiffany Kerns

VP COMMUNITY OUTREACH, COUNTRY MUSIC ASSOCIATION; EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CMA FOUNDATION

Under Trahern and Kerns, the CMA created the Music Industry COVID