Jim Halsey - Co-creator of the Billboard Song Contest

Jim Halsey Biography

Jim Halsey's career spans over 50 active years as artist manager, agent and impresario, discovering and/or guiding the careers of such illustrious personalities as Roy Clark, The Oak Ridge Boys, Waylon Jennings, The Judds, Reba McEntire, Minnie Pearl, Clint Black, Tammy Wynette, Mel Tillis, Merle Haggard, Dwight Yoakum, The Judds, Lee Greenwood, Hank Thompson and many others. This year, he celebrates 31 years as the personal manager for The Oak Ridge Boys who continue to sellout and perform 160 dates a year. 

Jim Halsey's eclectic tastes have also enabled him to represent such diverse artists as Woody Herman and his Thundering Herd, James Brown, Roy Orbison, Rick Nelson, The Righteous Brothers, Leon Russell, The Glenn Miller Orchestra and others. 

Jim Halsey has organized and presented country music performances all over the world, in many places, for the first time. His 1976 tour, presenting Roy Clark and The Oak Ridge Boys in the Soviet Union won praise both culturally and in diplomatic circles. Roy Clark's successful return tour of the USSR in 1988 was the subject of an award-winning television documentary. The efforts of Jim Halsey have expanded the horizons of country music into Europe and Asia, while maintaining one of the most highly skilled and motivated booking and management companies in the world. The booking agency division of The Jim Halsey Company, Inc., was sold to the William Morris Agency in 1990 where he remained a consultant for several years.

Jim Halsey's focus the past few years has been directed toward education. From 1995-1999 Halsey created and served as director of the award-winning Music and Entertainment Business Program at Oklahoma City University in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Additionally, Halsey is a Visiting Professor at HED Music College in Yehud, Israel. He is currently focused on The Halsey Learning Center of Music & Entertainment Business, a online internet school.

Halsey lectures and teaches extensively at colleges and universities around the world. Halsey's expertise encompasses more than just successful talent management and booking. His business acumen and experience include broadcasting (he has owned several radio stations), owning and running a record label, banking (he has served on the Board of Directors of three banks), ranching, real estate operations, and investments. He is also a successful music publisher. Halsey's forte' is sales and marketing.

His popular seminar series, "How To Make It In The Music Business" is filled with much needed information on the music business/song marketplace. Explained are the important functions of managers, agents, record companies, press and PR, producers, specialized music/entertainment attorneys, music publishers, promoters, performing rights organizations, copyright protection, and other components that make up the "star team." Halsey reveals the best way for the new, hopeful artists to be discovered.

An avid interest in the arts is shared by Jim and his wife, Minisa Crumbo. Together, they have created an extensive collection of American Indian Art. Crumbo is recognized as one of the leading American Indian Artists. She has exhibited her works worldwide.

Halsey has served on the following Boards of Directors: The Country Music Association (CMA), The Academy of Country Music (ACM), National Academy of Arts and Sciences (Austin Chapter), Mercantile Bank and Trust, Tulsa, Citizens National Bank, Independence, KS, Farmers & Merchants Bank, Mound City, KS, Tulsa Philharmonic, Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Philbrook Art Museum, Thomas Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, the U.S. Committee for UNICEF, MEIEA (Music and Entertainment Industry Educators Assoc.) and the Gilcrease Museum of Art.

He is listed in the "Who's Who in the World," "Who's Who in America," "Who's Who in the Entertainment Business," "Who's Who in the Southwest," "Who's Who in Business and Finance," and the "International Directory of Distinguished Leadership."

Jim Halsey was elected in 1984 as President of FIDOF (International Federation of Festival Organizations). Upon completion of eight years of the presidency, he was elected President of Honour. This UNESCO organization has a membership of 360 major music festivals in 187 countries. Mr. Halsey brought a vision of global peace and harmony within the scope of the international festival arena.

Jim Halsey is co-creator of the Billboard Magazine Song Contest which is entering it’s 14^th year, and is co-sponsored by Sonicbids, Disc Makers, Epiphone, Digidesign, Elixir Strings, TAXI, Indie Band Manager and BluBlocker Sunglasses. This annual contest awards cash and merchandise for the best new amateur songs in several categories of music: Pop, Rock, Country, Gospel, Latin, World, Jazz, and R&B/Rap.

In May of 1992, Halsey was honored by Baker University in Baldwin City, Kansas, with the degree of Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa.In June 1997 Jim Halsey received the "Lifetime Achievement Award" from the International Entertainment Buyers Association (IEBA).
In May of 1999 The Cherokee Honor Society presented Jim Halsey with their prestigious "Medal of Honor" during ceremonies at the Cherokee National Capitol in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. In 2000 he was inducted into The Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame and received the “Kansas Impresario Award” from the Kansas Federation of Music Clubs in 2005.

Halsey currently serves on the Boards of Directors for: The National Music Council, International Federation of Festival Organizations (FIDOF/UNESCO), Tulsa Ballet Theater, the Business Circle For Arts Education in Oklahoma, Advisory Council MENC (Music Educators National Conference), Oklahoma Music Hall Of Fame, Advisory Board Oklahoma Jazz Hall Of Fame and the Advisory Board National Institute of Entertainment & Media Law (Southwest University School of Law) in Los Angeles, California.

Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating presented Impresario Jim Halsey with The Governor's Arts Award for Arts and Education for his Music and Entertainment Business Program at Oklahoma City University. Betty Price, Executive Director of The Oklahoma Arts Council assisted in the presentation.

Halsey's award winning music and entertainment business program is unique. As an active manager and impresario, Halsey brings his day to day experience of managing the pop-country superstars, The Oak Ridge Boys, into the internet classroom. Students learn from the day to day experiences and problems arising from the business.

Jim and his wife are constant world travelers by virtue of their respective activities, concerts, lectures, seminars, exhibitions, and festivals around the globe. Unity is the enduring theme of Jim Halsey's contribution to the world through his life and work.

Awards, Achievements & Citations