About Jimmy Metts
General Manager of Starstruck Music
Jimmy Metts moved from Mississippi to Nashville in the early 80’s after discovering a Music Industry program at Belmont University that would allow him to pursue his passion of music. He graduated from Belmont University in 1985 with a BBA in Music Business.
Jimmy started his first music industry job that same year at Famous Music, a division of Paramount Pictures, and continued there until 1992. While at Famous, he was responsible for signing songwriters, editing songs, producing demos and securing recordings from artist such as Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks, Patty Loveless and Willie Nelson.
In 1992, Jimmy left Famous to open an independent company where he was responsible for recordings by Toby Keith, Patty Loveless and the #1 hit “Gonna Get A Life” by Mark Chesnutt. Curb Records’ newly formed publishing division, Curb Music, was acquired as a client during this time as well. After only a few months he was persuaded to move to Curb Music full time as Creative Director. It was here that Jimmy signed Bobby Tomberlin who would write the #1 hit “One More Day” for Diamond Rio.
In 1997, Jimmy was given the opportunity to lead the Nashville publishing division of Malaco Records, whose main headquarters is in Jackson, Ms. Some of the Malaco songs you may be familiar with include, “Old Time Rock & Roll”, “Mr. Big Stuff”, “You Can Ring My Bell” and “Groove Me”.
While Metts headed up Malaco, the company enjoyed a string of hit recordings that include George Strait’s “I Know She Still Loves Me”, Lee Ann Womack’s “Never Again, Again”, Tim McGraw’s “For A Little While”, John Michael Montgomery’s “Home To You”, Reba McEntire’s “I’m Gonna Take That Mountain”, Trent Tomlinson’s “One Wing In the Fire” and Rascal Flatts’ #1 “Mayberry”. The Nashville division of Malaco Music was co-owned by Nashville Record Label Executive and record producer James Stroud. In 2008 Stroud offered Metts a position at the newly formed Stroudavarious Records where he took on A&R duties as well as starting the publishing division. Artists worked with while at Stroudavarious include legends such as Willie Nelson, George Jones, John Anderson and newer acts Darryl Worley, LoCash Cowboys, Matt Kennon & Blackberry Smoke.
In the summer of 2008, Metts was able to continue his love for producing and engineering by recording Bluegrass artist Brandon Rickman, of The Lonesome River Band, first solo project.
The album, “YOUNG MAN, OLD SOUL” was released summer of 2009 on Rural Rhythm Records and has achieved tremendous chart success and accolades along with three of Rickman’s original songs also gaining attention: “Always Have, Always Will,” “I Bought Her a Dog,” and “Wearin’ Her Knees Out Over Me.”
Chart success for the project includes:
- #1 album for 4 consecutive weeks this year on the Roots Music Bluegrass Report
- 11 months on the Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine’s Top 30 Songs Chart for his original song, “Always Have, Always Will” (#9 last month).
- Yet another Rickman original, “Wearin’ Her Knees Out Over Me” recently won Strictly Country Magazine’s Spirit Song of the Year.
After 2 years with Stroudavarious Records, Jimmy was able to continue his work in the Bluegrass market by starting New Cuts of Bluegrass. New Cuts shipped compilation CDs of new releases/singles from Bluegrass Labels & independent Bluegrass artists to over 500 Bluegrass radio stations.
This was a great introduction for Metts to the Bluegrass community and resulted in 7 charted singles on the Bluegrass Unlimited Top 30 Chart and being invited to attend the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Leadership Bluegrass Class of 2011.
In 2012, Jimmy was approached by Cauley Music Group to head up the publishing company and start Voxhall Records. The first project on the new label was “Grace Notes”, by multiple Grammy winning artist & musician Carl Jackson.
Most recently, in January of 2014, Jimmy moved to Reba McEntire’s Starstruck Writers Group as General Manager and is excited to continue the success the company has had in music publishing.
Sign Up For This Event
$30 per song GSC member
NEW Listen Only Option Available for Members for Only $20
About the Publisher Online Pitch Event
Have you ever thought: “Wow I think I have a really good song. If only I could get a legitimate publisher to listen?”
Through GSC’s affordable Publisher Online Pitch service you can have your song or songs heard by a reputable publisher from wherever in the world you live and without the expensive cost of travel.
One of the most important elements of this service is that you will be connecting with a publisher, creating a relationship with this publisher and learning the pitching process professional songwriters utilize every day.
Here are the details!
- This online music event is open to members of Global Songwriters Connection and non-members.
- Pricing is $30.00 per song pitch for GSC members only.
- Members can take advantage of the “Listen Only” option for only $20 before pitching a song.
- This event is limited to 30 song pitches.
- Once you purchase the POP event you will receive a confirmation that will contain your step by step instructions for logging into the webcast.
- If you purchase a song pitch, you will need to email your song in mp3 format along with your photo (jpg format only) and lyric (Microsoft Word format only) to [email protected] by 11am the day before the event. (Please list your name and where you are from on the top of your lyric. GSC wants the publisher to connect with you.)
- Guitar vocals and keyboard vocals are acceptable. You do not have to have a full song demo for this event.
- The publisher will only listen to the first verse and the chorus of your song.
- The publisher may or may not comment on your song. This event is not intended as a publisher evaluation service; although in most cases, the publisher will offer constructive advice.
- This is a real music publisher online pitch opportunity. The publisher will either PASS on your song OR he may choose to keep your song for further consideration.
- You are encouraged to stay involved in the webinar while all songs are listened to and here is why:
- Out of respect for the other participants.
- Should the music publisher choose to comment on a song, you will learn from what he has to say.
- If a publisher takes a song, you will want to connect with that songwriter and possibly co-write with that writer.
At GSC we always want you to know the real journey of a song from the pen to the publisher. With that in mind we want you to be aware of these facts.
1. Paying to Pitch a Song: GSC wants you to know that professional songwriters do not pay to have their songs heard by a publisher. Professional songwriters have worked years at developing their songwriting craft and earning the respect of the publishing community which earns them the opportunity to have their songs heard.
2. The Demo: GSC wants you to know…If you had a publishing deal and was a staff writer for the featured publisher, this publisher would hear your songs every day in their most simple form of a guitar vocal or keyboard vocal. If you were pitching your songs to a producer, artist, manager etc then you will need fully produced and well produced demo’s for these types of pitches.
3. The Listening Process: GSC wants you to know…Often, when a publisher is listening for songs for a project or artist, they can usually tell if it is a song they would be interested in for that project in less than 30 seconds. Through the POP event the publisher will be listening through the first verse and chorus in its entirety. However, in the future should you pitch a song to a publisher in their office and they turn your song off after only the first half of the first verse, we want you to know that is a normal part of the process.
4. Pitch Ready Songs: The reality is that some of your songs may not be ready for pitching to a publisher. However, there is much to be learned through the pitching process.
5. The Follow Up: If the publisher should take your song for consideration, we will be excited with you and it does happen! Below is the GSC recommended follow up process. Correct follow up is essential for success.
a. If your song is taken by the publisher you will be provided with the publishers contact email address for follow up.
b. If you do not hear from the publisher within 5 to 7 business days of them taking your song. We recommend you email the publisher, thank them for participating in the GSC POP program, thank them for their interest in your song and list the TITLE of the song as a reminder and ask if they should need anything further.
c. If you do not hear from the publisher within three weeks, make a phone call to the publisher office. You will most likely be leaving a message. If so, just leave your name, contact number and that you are following up on your song and list the title.
d. If the publisher does not return your call, do not call again. Simply send a physical thank you card, thanking them for their interest, recognizing that they are a busy industry professional and that you hope to have the opportunity to play them more songs in the future.
At GSC we know it would be disappointing to have your song taken by a publisher and then not hear from them. Unfortunately, this process is part of the song pitching process. Thoughtful and professional follow up is essential to success and is appreciated by busy, overworked publishers. They won’t forget your professionalism. Sometimes you may not hear from the publisher who took your song for months and then out of the blue, when they are ready and working on the project, you get the call. Many times I have kept a member’s song for over a year and then gave them a call for the just right opportunity. Songs will often be pitched over and over again for years before they land on just the right project.
