Ronnie Milsap protests outside Capitol Records
by Kerri on Sep.24, 2009, under Country music
Intern Kerri here!
There was some action outside the Capitol Records building today. Actually, it was a full out protest.
Ronnie Milsap, firefighters from around the state, and police gathered outside the record label to protest Capitol pulling Ronnie’s single My First Ride, from radio play and iTunes.
According to the group, Ronnie even went on top of a firetruck and sang the newly “banned” single.
The protesters were asked to leave the property by Capitol security and complied without incident.
So what’s the story behind this song?
Ronnie was approached by Mickey Milam, CEO of BLEVE Music, to record a song for an album that will be sold by firefighters and police officers around the nation, to raise money for the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) and the International Association of Firefighters’ (IAFF) disaster relief fund.
Ronnie decided to get in touch with Trace Adkins and ask him to turn the song into a duet. Trace agreed and the two recorded the song in Nashville.
The song appeared on iTunes and suddenly started getting airtime after it aired on the radio show After MidNite with Blair Garner.
Then, on Sept. 15, BLEVE Music received a legal notice that they were being charged with “unauthorized use and exploitation of Trace Adkin’s performance and name and dilution of the value of Capitol’s valuable property,” and told BLEVE they had to pull the song from the radio.
Milam says they then received an email from iTunes stating that they had five days to prove they owned the rights to the song or it would be pulled from the iTunes store.
In an interview with Milam he says that Trace had obtained permission from his management company, Vector Management, who had got permission from Capitol to record the song. But, we’ve been told, Capitol never game permission to have the song be a radio single.
We also interviewed Milsap who says, “We have no plans of stopping. In fact, all indications are showing we continue to gain airplay on major stations.”
Milsap thinks Capitol pulled the song for money reasons, telling Music City TV, “It’s always about money. If Capitol had a piece of this that we’re doing right now[...]what I want out of this is to make sure the firefighters and police get the money and not Capitol Records.”
Neither Capitol Records or Trace are commenting at this time.
You can listen to the song on BLEVEmusic.com.
7 Comments for this entry
2 Trackbacks / Pingbacks for this entry
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Revolution at the Ryman; George Strait’s Roots; Vince Vaughn Loves Country Music | The 9513
September 25th, 2009 on 11:10 am[...] Milsap and a handful of firefighters and police officers protested outside the offices of Capitol Records yesterday before security asked them to leave. Milsap says the protest isn’t over though, and [...]
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Ronnie Milsap protests outside Capitol Records | Music City TV FS City
September 30th, 2009 on 10:52 am[...] original here: Ronnie Milsap protests outside Capitol Records | Music City TV By admin | category: music city | tags: a-full-out, action-outside, building-today-, [...]
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September 24th, 2009 on 6:55 pm
If radio listeners and country fans want to hear it, PLAY IT!!!!!!!!!!!
September 24th, 2009 on 7:27 pm
These two artists gave of their time to a great cause and the fans should continue to request it. I agree with Mr. Milsap, it’s always about the money in corporate America. SHAME on Capitol Records - I doubt any one of them would put their life on the line for another human being ever much less daily!
September 24th, 2009 on 7:39 pm
PLAY THE SONG, Capitol is only hurting there self. It just shows how gready they are.
September 24th, 2009 on 8:09 pm
Stay classy, Capitol! (ya schmucks!)
September 25th, 2009 on 10:04 am
I WROTE THE SONG! THIS IS BULLSH*T!
September 25th, 2009 on 12:04 pm
C’mon Trace, stand up to your thieving record label!
September 25th, 2009 on 5:54 pm
Greetings,
I am co-writer on the song with Shannon Lawson(who by the way is one of the most awesome talented human beings on earth), and I must concur with his statement……BULLSH*T! Call your local radio station, pass this info on to your friends and family….and let’s all speak up!