Gaylord to put Acuff/Rose publishing up for auction.

Janice Brooks · Post by **Janice Brooks** » 9 May 2002 12:49 pm

Is anyone surprised?

By RICHARD LAWSON
Staff Writer

Gaylord Entertainment Co. has decided to sell Acuff-Rose Music
Publishing, country music's first publishing house and home to some of
the genre's most recognizable songs.

''We are actively discussing a potential sale of this wonderful
catalog,'' Colin Reed, the company's chief executive officer, said
during an investors' conference call yesterday morning. The call
coincided with Gaylord's quarterly earnings release.

''We do not have an agreement with anybody,'' Reed said in an afternoon
interview. ''We are not going to protract this process. We are going to
try and get through this process in about a four-week period.''

Reed did not disclose potential suitors because of confidentiality
agreements. But talk on Music Row has put Sony/ATV Music Publishing
Nashville among those seeking to buy the catalog, which includes songs
written by Hank Williams, Roy Orbison, Patsy Cline and hundreds of others.

Indeed, Donna Hilley, Sony/ATV's president and chief executive, has long
expressed a strong desire for her company to own the catalog. Hilley
would not comment yesterday.

But there is the possibility that groups outside Nashville have made a
play for the catalog. Reed said there were 10 to 12 ''interested,
big-time parties.''

The company was founded in 1942 as Acuff-Rose Publications by singer Roy
Acuff and songwriter Fred Rose, future Country Music Hall of Famers. It
was the foundation for a country music industry in Nashville.

Music publishers own the rights to market songs, which they supply to
record companies and their artists. They grant licenses to record
companies and others that use their music, such as movie and advertising
producers. They also collect usage fees, called royalties, for
themselves and their songwriters.

Reed did not put a direct value on Acuff-Rose but said that music
catalogs typically sell for 14 to 16 times the publisher's annual share
of royalties. For Acuff-Rose, the net publisher share is $8 million to
$9 million annually, which works out to $112 million to $144 million.

For Gaylord Entertainment as a whole, the company reported first-quarter
revenues of $104.5 million, a 25% increase over the $83.4 million in the
same period last year. The company had a net loss of $5.7 million.

Occupancy at Nashville's Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center has
dropped to just under 65%. After improvements in customer service, its
bookings for future conventions have been increasing. The company's new
hotel, Gaylord Palms, has an occupancy rate of 71.5% for the quarter. It
opened on Feb. 2 near Orlando, Fla.

Since taking over a year ago, Reed has pared the company and sold assets
to focus it mostly on the hospitality business, with a media component
led by the Grand Ole Opry radio show and three Nashville radio stations.

Gaylord has decided to keep its stake in Missouri-based Bass Pro Shops,
which has a store at the Opry Mills mall in Nashville.

''Business is a firecracker,'' Reed said of the outdoors retailer.

Acuff-Rose's future as a Gaylord property has been in limbo since the
company pitched investment analysts in February, listing non-core assets
it planned to sell. Among them were its stake in the Nashville Predators
and minor league baseball team Oklahoma RedHawks. Acuff-Rose was listed
as a non-core asset, and Gaylord management said then that it was
looking at strategic options for Acuff-Rose.

After reviewing Acuff-Rose, Reed said the catalog's worth would be much
greater to companies that have better distribution capabilities than
Gaylord.

''We've been inundated with inquiries,'' Reed said.

Selling Acuff-Rose would bring in substantial capital that the company
could use to build its hospitality business, he added.

''There are some big old standards in there,'' said Gary Overton,
executive vice president and general manager of EMI Music
Publishing/Nashville, said of Acuff-Rose's catalog.

Among them are Willie Nelson's Crazy, made popular by Patsy Cline; Hank
Williams' I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry; Oh, Pretty Woman and Only the
Lonely, both performed and co-written by Roy Orbison; Bye, Bye Love,
recorded by the Everly Brothers; and Tennessee Waltz, made famous by
Patti Page.

''It truly is one of the few independent catalogs out that still have
standards.''

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Janice "Busgal" Brooks
ICQ 44729047
[This message was edited by Janice Brooks on 09 May 2002 at 04:08 PM.]

Earl Erb · Post by **Earl Erb** » 9 May 2002 1:03 pm

Ah yes,the rape and pilage of Country Music in Nashville. Gaylord is one of the worst plights to hit Nashville in the last 30 years.

Billy Johnson · Post by **Billy Johnson** » 9 May 2002 1:39 pm

If you listen real close, you can hear
Mr. Roy turning over in his grave.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 9 May 2002 5:40 pm

Maybe whoever buys it will actually do something with the old stuff. Gaylord has just been sitting on it.

I can still remember the night Johnny Carson asked Slim Whitman if he actually sold any of those albums that were advertised at 3:00 am on the independent TV stations.

Slim's answer...

"Well, the last one sold over 12 million copies in less than a year!"

Never underestimate the power of advertising.

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 9 May 2002 6:10 pm

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>It truly is one of the few independent catalogs out that still have
standards.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>It's pretty obvious that Gaylord has no standards!

Jason Stillwell · Post by **Jason Stillwell** » 9 May 2002 6:31 pm

Good one, Jim!

Mike Sweeney · Post by **Mike Sweeney** » 9 May 2002 10:33 pm

Billy,
I imagine Mr. Roy is making a whole lot of noise right about now.
Teresa Sweeney

Alvin Blaine · Post by **Alvin Blaine** » 10 May 2002 1:17 am

More than likly it will be one of the big multi media Corporations that buy up all the publishing rights.They use them for TV commercials, sit-coms, and movies.They don't write movies scores anymore, they make movie soundtracks with songs that they own the publishing on so everytime the movie is shown (or soundtrack CD sold)they get the song roylties along with everything else they make$$$$.Then you'll start hearing Hank Williams songs in more movie soundtracks.

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 10 May 2002 5:27 am

I'd like to see it on eBay.

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 10 May 2002 8:01 am

I don't understand how this action would negatively affect country music.

The songs are not going any place. If someone else thinks they can make more money with the catalog than Gaylord it means they think they can get them played more.

Let me know the details of what is bad about this because i would like to understand it.

Bob

John Macy · Post by **John Macy** » 10 May 2002 8:34 am

Good point, Bob. Everyone around here seems to hate Gaylord, so why would it be bad that they sell it? I think Sony/ATV would be at least a better keeper of the catalog. Someone said the catalog would get used more in films etc. That only means more exposure for classic country tunes.

Geoff Brown · Post by **Geoff Brown** » 14 May 2002 6:14 am

Yeah, WSM did survive (round one at least) of the format war. But I doubt it will last too long. Neither culture nor history are the bottom line at Gaylord, unless it translates into revenue. One of the more recent ideas Gaylord Entertainment is kicking around is changing WSM's call letters to....WGAY. That's no joke, folks

[This message was edited by Geoff Brown on 14 May 2002 at 07:17 AM.]

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 14 May 2002 6:44 am

Well, I hope they do some market research on that decision before they finalize it!

Joe Miraglia · Post by **Joe Miraglia** » 14 May 2002 8:09 am

There is always Wheeling, West Virginia and the WWVA Jamboree. West Virginia has always put good traditional country music and still does. Brad Paisley for one. Many Opry stars drive up to Wheeling to perform on the Saturday night show. I tune in quite often as there is always something special to listen to. Many Opry stars started in Wheeling, Wilma Lee Cooper for example and one of our favorite steel players, Jimmy Crawford. Let's not forget Jamboree in the Hills which is a stones throw from Wheeling. If in the forseeable future something happens to the Opry in Nashville, maybe Wheeling is a good alternative. Joe

Mike Weirauch · Post by **Mike Weirauch** » 14 May 2002 8:35 am

Bob Hoffner and John Macy are exactly right! Getting these songs OUT of the clutches of Gayrod Enterprises and into the hands of someone who may just know what real country music is all about. I think it is a great idea.

Carl West · Post by **Carl West** » 14 May 2002 10:59 am

Is Dick Clark connected to Gaylord . . ? They think about the same . . or do they think at all ?

Carl West

Janice Brooks · Post by **Janice Brooks** » 2 Jul 2002 12:35 pm

Sony bought the company yesterday for 157 million.

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Janice "Busgal" Brooks
ICQ 44729047

JB Arnold · Post by **JB Arnold** » 2 Jul 2002 3:17 pm

That's Michael Jackson and Sony....john

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[This message was edited by JB Arnold on 02 July 2002 at 04:18 PM.][This message was edited by JB Arnold on 02 July 2002 at 04:19 PM.][This message was edited by JB Arnold on 02 July 2002 at 04:19 PM.]

John Macy · Post by **John Macy** » 2 Jul 2002 10:03 pm

I thought it was interesting that in the press release Gaylord said they will make more money per year ($40 million) from their new Dallas hotel complex than Acuff Rose brings in a year...