John Ozier has joined Ole (stylized as “ole”) as its general manager, creative in Nashville, effective May 6.

Ozier (pictured) will manage the rapid growth and expansion ole is experiencing, according to Robert Ott, Ole chairman and CEO.

Ozier has placed songs recorded by Tim McGraw, Rodney Atkins, Clay Walker, Lee Brice, Ronnie Dunn, Jo Dee Messina and LeAnn Rimes, among others. In 2010, he was responsible for four songs in the top 15 on the country Billboard charts.

Ole bills itself as one of the world's largest independent music publishers. Founded in 2004, the company has operations in Toronto, Nashville, New York and Los Angeles.

Read more here.

Nashville ranked among the nation’s leaders in apartment rent price increases during 2012, according to MPF Research, a market intelligence division of RealPage Inc.

Nashville and New York both saw rents rise 5.1 percent, placing the two cities tied for fifth in the ranking. Nationally and by comparison, rents for new leases in the U.S. apartment sector climbed 3 percent during 2012.

Three executives at iPayment, the transaction processor that last year moved its headquarters to New York from Nashville, are out of a job as a result of alleged and still-unspecified ethical issues. COO Robert Torino, a senior exec since 2001, was fired last Thursday along with technology VP John Hong. Controller Bronson Quon resigned a day later and has agreed to cooperate with an investigation that also has pulled in former marketing exec Nasir Shakouri.

Pat Higdon — who just this past January left Universal Music Publishing Group, Nashville, as its president — has announced plans to relaunch Patrick Joseph Music.

The music industry pro will do so with SONGS Music Publishing, which has offices in London, Los Angeles and New York.

Eric Parker and MusicRow.com have the story here.

Global Trade magazine has ranked Nashville 41st among U.S. cities for international trade based on export volume.

New York City ranks No. 1, while Memphis comes in at 24th.

The reports notes Nashville generated $5.7 billion in export volume for the time period assessed, with the three countries to which the city exports the most goods being Canada, Mexico and Saudi Arabia. Memphis recorded $11.1 in export volume.

Nashville’s main export items include computers, electronic products and transportation equipment.

Read the full story here.

Nashville-based tiremaker Bridgestone Americas Tire is named in a $40 million lawsuit stemming from the deaths of a man and his daughter following a tour bus crash in upstate New York last summer.

An Associated Press story reports the Niagara County (New York) Court lawsuit also names Bedore Tours of North Tonawanda, N.Y., Motor Coach Industries of Schaumburg, Ill., and the bus driver.

See article here.