• ABOUT
    • Contact
    • The Team
    • FAQ
    • Use & Privacy Policy
  • ADVERTISE
  • ROWFAX
  • JOB LISTINGS
MusicRow.com
  • CALENDARS
    • Album/EP Releases
    • Single/Track Releases
    • Industry Events
  • OBITS
  • CHARTS
    • Radio Chart (Current)
    • Radio Chart (Archives)
    • No. 1 Challenge Coin
    • Songwriter Chart (Current)
    • Songwriter Chart (Archives)
  • REVIEWS
  • MY STORY
  • NEWSLETTER
    • Newsletter (Current)
    • Newsletter (Archives)
    • SIGN UP (FREE!)
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • STORE
  • Click to open the search input field Click to open the search input field Search
  • Menu Menu

Big Machine Label Group Partners With Hard 8 Working Group For New Label Venture

May 23, 2023/by LB Cantrell

Pictured (L-R, back row): Big Machine Label Group’s Mike Rittberg, The Hard Working Record Company’s LJ Stoll, Big Machine Label Group’s Andrew Kautz; (L-R, front row): Hard 8 Working Group’s Dirk Hemsath, Big Machine Label Group’s Scott Borchetta and Hard 8 Working Group’s Rich Egan. Photo: Nick Rau

Big Machine Label Group (BMLG) has partnered with renowned management company Hard 8 Working Group (H8WG) to form a new venture, The Hard Working Record Company.

The new label venture will focus on discovering, developing and publishing pop acts as well as other genres, and will be helmed by BMLG’s President/CEO/Founder Scott Borchetta and H8WG’s Co-Founders Dirk Hemsath and Rich Egan, along with partners David Conway and Mike Bachta.

The venture is a progression of the relationship between BMLG and H8WG, which started when the two entities worked together on Brantley Gilbert and Kidd G. Based in Nashville, the new imprint will fall under the BMLG umbrella. The Hard Working Record Company has brought on LJ Stoll to serve as General Manager and VP of A&R.

“Our continued growth and dominance depend on quality and visionary A&R in all genres,” says Borchetta. “Rich, Dirk and the Hard Working team live for artist discovery and development and they’re bringing in heat from the onset.”

“Rich and I had been toying with the idea of starting a label again, since that’s the world we both came from. We had been working closely with Scott and Big Machine on the artist Kidd G and Scott mentioned he wanted to start a more pop-leaning imprint, and that’s the world we’ve been in heavily for the last few years most recently building pop star Tate McRae,” says Hemsath.

H8WG was founded in 2017 when Hemsath and Egan combined their management companies, The Working Group and Hard 8 Management. Both entities had a huge impact on the careers of artists such as The Working Group’s Billie Eilish, Morgan Wallen and Daughtry and Hard 8’s Jakob Dylan, Mac Miller and Gilbert.

The Hard Working Record Company joins other enterprises Borchetta has recently invested in. He chartered his rock imprint, Big Machine/John Varvatos Records, in 2017, and established a partnership with Blac Noize! to sign and develop hip-hop and R&B acts in 2022.

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
LB Cantrell
LB Cantrell
LB Cantrell is Editor/Director of Operations at MusicRow magazine, where she oversees, manages and executes all company operations. LB oversees all MusicRow-related content, including the publication’s six annual print issues and online news. She is a Georgia native and a graduate of the Recording Industry Management program at Middle Tennessee State University.
LB Cantrell
Latest posts by LB Cantrell (see all)
  • Gavin Adcock Brings The Ruckus To Back-To-Back Sold-Out Shows At The Pinnacle - May 19, 2025
  • Riley Green Tops MusicRow Radio Chart For Third Week - May 16, 2025
  • Outback Presents Names Andrew Farwell President - May 15, 2025
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on X
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share by Mail
https://music-row-website-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/06191838/BTS_1365-scaled.jpg 1707 2560 LB Cantrell https://musicrow.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/MusicRow-header-logo-Mar19B.png LB Cantrell2023-05-23 15:17:032023-05-23 15:17:03Big Machine Label Group Partners With Hard 8 Working Group For New Label Venture

RECENT NEWS

  • Eli Young Band Returns To Their Roots On Latest Project ‘Strange Hours’ May 21, 2025
  • Opry To Celebrate 100th Year With Historic Broadcast Live From London’s Royal Albert Hall May 21, 2025
  • BMI Christian Awards To Honor GMA’s Jackie Patillo With Spotlight Award May 21, 2025
  • Will Linley Inks With Big Machine Music May 21, 2025
  • Whiskey Jam Reveals Thursday Night Ascend Amphitheater Lineup At CMA Fest May 21, 2025
  • Karley Scott Collins Slates Debut Album For September May 21, 2025
  • Graham Barham To Headline Nashville Underplay Tonight May 21, 2025
  • Scott & Sandi Borchetta Donate $5 Million To Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital NICU May 21, 2025
  • Sand In My Boots Wraps 2025 Festival May 20, 2025
  • Weekly Register: Morgan Wallen’s ‘Superman’ Lands At No. 1 May 20, 2025

Like Us on Facebook

Follow Us on Twitter

Tweets by MusicRow
© 2025 Music Row Enterprises, LLC – All rights reserved.
Website hosted by Nashville web design company, All My Web Needs.
  • Link to Facebook
  • Link to X
  • Link to Instagram
Scroll to top