Curb | Word Music Publishing Extends Publishing Deal with Billy Montana
Pictured (L-R, top row): Curb | Word’s Colt Murski; BMI’s Mason Hunter; Curb | Word’s Christy Robinson; (L-R, middle row): Billy Montana; Curb | Word’s Ciara Shortridge; BMI’s Jeff Syracuse; (L-R, bottom row): Curb | Word’s Mike Curb; BMI’s David Preston
Curb | Word Music Publishing has extended its worldwide co-publishing deal with Billy Montana. The singer-songwriter was originally signed to the publishing company in 2000, and the extension continues his relationship with the Curb | Word Music Publishing team, which includes Colt Murski, Ciara Shortridge, and Christy Robinson, into its 21st year.
“Billy Montana has been a very important part of our creative team at Curb for this entire century. He has had major No. 1’s with Garth Brooks, Jo Dee Messina, Tim McGraw, Sara Evans, and Lee Brice. He currently has a major single with Lee Brice, and we are proud to have him as part of our team,” says Curb | Word Music Publishing Chairman, Mike Curb.
Following the recent extension, Montana and Mike Curb were honored with BMI Million-Air certificates, presented by BMI’s David Preston, for Sara Evans’ No. 1 single, “Suds In The Bucket,” (4 million airplays) and Lee Brice’s No. 1 single, “Hard To Love,” (2 million airplays) over a Zoom gathering last week. Based on an average length of three minutes, six million collective plays are the equivalent of 300,000 hours or 34.2 years of continuous airplay.
“We are thrilled to celebrate the accomplishments of Billy Montana and his long standing relationship with BMI and Curb | Word Music Publishing. Billy continues to write hit songs that stand the test of time, as evident by the Million-Air awards we presented him today. We are excited for his re-signing with Curb and look forward to many more hits,” says BMI’s Mason Hunter. “Mike Curb has been a BMI writer for 58 years and he continues to support our industry with his business acumen, vision, and philanthropy. BMI is honored to be associated with Billy and Mike and wish both many more years of success.”
“I’m really thankful to continue to be a part of the Curb | Word and BMI families. For many, and I DO mean many, years, I’ve always been provided with great creative opportunities and environments, and the support from everyone has never wavered. I’m looking forward to making the best music I can, and having fun doing it!” says Montana.
