NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM PLANS KING HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONThe Museum emphasizes anniversaries of key Civil Rights Movement episodesMemphis, TN, Dec. 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On Monday, January 20, the National Civil Rights Museum will commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with a daylong celebration inspired by the theme "Community Over Chaos," echoing the principles outlined in Dr. King’s seminal work, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? Thanks to the generous sponsorship of FedEx, admission will be free for all visitors, allowing everyone to experience this day of reflection, unity, and inspiration.“King Day is a time to honor Dr. King’s profound legacy and his dream of the Beloved Community,” said Dr. Russell Wigginton, President of the National Civil Rights Museum. “The sight of thousands coming together on our campus reinforces his call for unity in the face of division. None of this would be possible without the community’s support, particularly our presenting sponsor, FedEx, and contributions from Ford Philanthropy and Dexcom.”A Day of Service and CelebrationThe museum will extend its hours, welcoming guests from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm, with a full slate of programs and activities designed to inspire hope and collective action.This year’s celebration will also mark the launch of the museum’s yearlong observance themed Community Over Chaos, highlighting pivotal anniversaries in civil rights history, including:2025 is the 60th anniversary year of the Selma March and the Voting Rights Act of 1965

The museum is continuing its day of service partnerships with its annual blood drive with Vitalant to help with the critical blood shortage. Anyone donating blood will receive additional free admission for up to four people on any day in 2025.

For its food drive benefitting the Mid-South Food Bank, the museum asks guests to bring canned goods and nonperishables to help feed the growing number of hungry families in the Mid-South. “We are excited to restore the vibrancy of King Day that our community cherishes,” said Veda Ajamu, the museum’s Chief Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Community Engagment Officer. “Our partnerships with Vitalant and the Mid-South Food Bank are just a few ways we’re turning Dr. King’s vision into action through service.”KING DAY HIGHLIGHTS:Visitors can tour the museum from 8:00 am–6:00 pm. 

The Memphis-based exhibit, The Southern Heritage Classic: Celebrating 35 Years of an HBCU Memphis Tradition, continues. It features founder Fred Jones' vision of sustaining and expanding the popularity of the annual sports spectacle featuring the role HBCUs in America, their connections to the Civil Rights Movement, the rise of black athleticism, the rich culture uniquely inherent to Memphis.

A full day of activities onsite includes Main Stage performances by several local artists, including vocalist Karen Brown, Gerald Richardson and more. Live entertainment, sponsored by Ford Philanthropy, will be staged outdoors.

The Community & Family Activity Tent will feature area organizations, children’s activities, and entertainment.

At 10:00 am the museum will share an online presentation for virtual audiences to explore Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as a leader of peace and justice with a fresh perspective on his humanity.FedEx’s sponsorship exemplifies the spirit of collective action that Dr. King championed, making this celebration accessible to all. Additional support from Ford Philanthropy and Dexcom, Home Depot, and other community partners underscores the importance of collaboration in advancing Dr. King’s dream of justice and equity. Area restaurants and businesses will provide in-kind donations, and several corporations and organizations have committed volunteers to serve at the museum on King Day. About the National Civil Rights MuseumThe NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM, located at the historic Lorraine Motel where civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, gives a comprehensive overview of the American Civil Rights Movement from slavery to the present. Since the Museum opened in 1991, millions of visitors from around the world have come, including more than 90,000 student visits annually. The Museum is steadfast in its mission to chronicle the American civil rights movement and tell the story of the ongoing struggle for human rights.  It educates and serves as a catalyst to inspire action to create positive social change. A Smithsonian Affiliate and an internationally acclaimed cultural institution, the Museum is recognized as a 2019 National Medal Award recipient by the Institute of Museums and Library Services (IMLS), the top national honor for museums and libraries.  It is a TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Top 5% U.S. Museum, USA Today's Top 10 Best American Iconic Attractions; Top 10 Best Historical Spots in the U.S. by TLC's Family Travel; Must See by the Age of 15 by Budget Travel and Kids; Top 10, American Treasures by USA Today; and Best Memphis Attraction by The Commercial Appeal and the Memphis Business Journal.Connie DysonNational Civil Rights Museum901-527-1225cdyson@civilrightsmuseum.orgFor more information about King Day at the National Civil Rights Museum, visit kingday.org.The event hashtag is #KingDay2025.The post NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM PLANS KING HOLIDAY CELEBRATION first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

How musicians can thrive in 2025: Bruce Houghton on the Music Biz Weekly PodcastBruce Houghton joins Michael Brandvold and Jay Gilbert on a new Music Biz Weekly Podcast to discuss what's ahead for the music industry and how musicians can thrive in 2025. LISTEN & WATCH HERE:
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Netflix will add Music Streaming in 2025 predicts Bobby OwsinskiWe asked a few of our favorite new music industry pros to help us identify trends that will drive the music industry this year and Bobby Owsinski offered a bold. Continue reading
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Major Music Legislation pulled from final Federal Funding BillThree major pieces of music related legislation were pulled from the bill which passed Congress Friday and was signed by President Biden to fund the US government.
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Tip Jar: That Elusive Creative Flow and How to Get ThereBy George Whitty and Ellis Hall, aka WHAT!!!!Ellis and George come to the creative process from two very different angles, but with the same goal in mind: getting the most inspired, unimpeded creative flow going when writing songs, finding a way to get up on the wave rather than slogging away in the trough.  Ellis has composed more than 4,000 songs in his lifetime and describes his process as grabbing hold of any fragment in his mind and taking the right instrument in hand and working to flesh it out from there. “My hands will start to tell me where to go be it on guitar or keyboard, and then just like a magical flow of water, it continues as my brain says OK, let’s go here or go there. Sometimes my brain goes way too fast, especially when it comes to the lyric. I love writing at all, but I particularly love writing the lyric.” George describes himself as a classic case of overly-perfectionistic writer’s block; even by age 30 he’d finished only a handful of songs.  What changed?  He got a gig writing music for As The World Turns, which paid about $60 per minute of music they used on the show.  “Go ahead, spend a year writing Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, you’d never make a dime. Volume was the secret to getting cues placed from the show’s library.” So George learned what he calls the “rule of 80%.” Get the cue to where it’s 80% good, then Keep Moving. Do the next section. Put it away and start the next one. Don’t get hung up or stop because it’s not The Perfect Cue To End All Cues. 80%. “The next day? Inevitably I’d start with fresh ears and get it to 90%. And that was often what I’d turn in. Twenty cues later, with this kind of crass pay-by-the-minute formula, my new 80% was where my previous 90% had been. And understanding my own process that way, I wrote 250 cues for that and two other shows. And finishing so many tracks got me to where I write with a great flow and typically don’t spend much more than a few inspired hours on a piece of music. “Die Living” from our new CD is an example; it pretty much sounded like the final cut after just a couple hours of good flow.” Some points to consider as you work to get the maximum positive flow to your writing:1.Ellis points out that to him, writing on the right Instrument helps him get in the groove.  “From our new CD, ‘Some Days Were Meant For Rain’ was written on guitar, ‘Itch In Your Ear’ started with a bass idea, ‘Soul Street’ I wrote on a keyboard,” he says.2.“Let each tune be what it is” suggests George. “Trying to shoehorn too much into one track starts an internal competition to make this many-headed hydra work. One focussed hydra head is better, the most direct line to a strong finished product. 3.From Ellis: “Flow with it while it’s flowing, but don’t force it. Once you are in that zone where you can’t sleep because of it, write then.” George adds: “Just get something going. You’ll know where it needs to go from there, and the more you write, the more sure your sense of what needs to come next”4.And on that note, “Learn to get things framed but not necessarily finished, so the ideas can keep flowing without you stopping to ‘perfect’ things;  the minute The Perfectionist shows up, half your mind is diverted off of the original inspiration” says George.5.Ellis likes to sit with a guitar or keyboard and get close to figuring the whole tune out before he hits “record.” He writes his lyrics on a Braille typewriter, but has the whole idea mostly composed without engaging any technology first. But George likes to hear a little something to build on, so he sketches into the machine as he goes. “Hearing it back without playing it myself prompts “what comes next,” he says.6.On that note, George advises to “get as fluid as you can using your software to quickly bang in ideas; any ‘mechanical’ impediment diverts resources from your creative side to your logical side.  Something as simple as a key command for “Record/Record Repeat” in Logic lets you execute takes as quickly as possible, so you don’t get bogged down in mechanics.”About Ellis Hall and George Whitty:  Ellis and George together are WHAT!!!!, a pairing of two master musicians, making a great modern Soul CD for the ages.  Ellis’s credits include 4 years singing lead and writing for Tower of Power, performing with The Spinners, Earth, Wind and Fire, Michael McDonald, and the Ray Charles Experience.  George is a multiple Grammy-winning, Emmy-winning composer, producer and player who has worked with Carlos Santana, Celine Dion, Herbie Hancock, Chaka Khan, Grover Washington and Richard Bona. The debut CD of WHAT!!!!, In The World dropped in January, and the first single, “Die Living,” is already reaching millions of listeners weekly on FM and Internet radio and streaming services. Follow them on Instagram at whittyhallartistteam or at whittyhall.com.The post Tip Jar: That Elusive Creative Flow and How to Get There first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Vevo DSCVR Artists To Watch: 2025: Shallipopi, Diss Gacha, TZ da CoronelThe final three Next Big Things to feature on Vevo's DSCVR Artists To Watch 2025 list...
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Jorge Brea: Trends that will shape the Music Business in 2025We begin a year end series today featuring forward thinking execs sharing what they see lies ahead for music and the music business in 2025. First up is Symphonic CEO Jorge Brea.
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AI Detection of Artists: YouTube and CAA partnerYouTube is joining forces with mega-agency CAA to create tools for AI detection of artists that protect their likenesses and identities.
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Universal Music Group and Amazon Music ink new deal, including exclusive content… and with ‘Streaming 2.0’ at its heartUniversal Music Group (UMG) and Amazon Music have jointly announced a renewed worldwide licensing agreement today (December 23). According to a press release, the deal encompasses an “expanded global relationship that will enable further innovation, exclusive content with UMG artists, and advancement of artist-centric principles including increased fraud protection“. The PR claims that the deal … Continued
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AllMusic Loves 2024 ReissuesDeluxe anniversary editions, limited-edition pressings, comprehensive boxed sets, globe-trotting compilations, unearthed demo and live recordings -- all of these and much more fill our editors' personal lists of favorite archival releases from 2024.

DIY & Independent Musician News Last WeekLast week in DIY & independent musician news, our indie readers tuned into topics like a new affordable SoundCloud subscription, Holiday selfcare, starting a band, the importance of metadata, and more...
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Last week’s top Music Business NewsA busy week by any definition and music business news was no exception, with moves to reform concert ticketing in turmoil, UMG buying indie powerhouses Downtown and CD Baby, TikTok's end in the U.S approaching, and more...
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10 Great Musician Websites: Strong Design and Fan EngagementLooking for inspiration to create the perfect website for your music? Check out these 10 great musician websites that set the standard for design, functionality, and fan engagement.
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Staying Sane and Sober during the Holidays [Eric Mackay]The holiday season can be a tough time to navigate sobriety, particularly for those of us who spend time at clubs and concerts. "As someone who has been sober for over three and a half years, and with more than 25 years in the music industry," writes Eric Mackay. "I’ve experienced this struggle firsthand."
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