Luke Combs, Ray Fulcher Among NMPA Top Gold & Platinum Songwriters For 1st Quarter Of 2023

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Luke Combs, Ray Fulcher

The National Music Publishers’ Association Gold & Platinum Program has announced the top songwriters for the first quarter of 2023, including the top artist-songwriter and top non-performing songwriter for the period.

Luke Combs was the top artist-songwriter overall with 26 certifications, including the 9X Platinum “Beautiful Crazy,” the 8X Platinum “Hurricane” and the 4X Platinum “Forever After All,” all published by Big Machine. He is now published by Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG).

The top non-performing songwriter was Ray Fulcher, who scored 12 certifications for songs including “When It Rains It Pours,” “Does to Me” and “Reasons,” published by Sony Music Publishing. He is published by UMPG and River House/Sony Music Publishing.

“Man, kind of speechless to be honest,” says Combs. “All of the credit goes to my fans. They buy and stream the songs and albums, so none of this happens without them. This is honestly an award that should have their names on it. Huge thank you to them and everyone else who made this happen.”

“Pretty unreal to be included in this group, much less to be at the top for any period of time,” says Fulcher. “Thanks to country music fans and supporters for listening to these songs and believing in the music.  I’m going to keep writing songs from the heart, and hopefully, y’all keep listening. Thanks!”

NMPA President & CEO, David Israelite, says, “The first quarter of this year was a big moment for country music. Fueled by the success of Luke and Ray, we saw the growth of country dominate the Gold & Platinum certifications. Huge congratulations to Luke Combs for consistently creating timeless music, and to Ray for working with him on such enduring, massive songs.”

During January, February and March, 1,736 Gold, Platinum and Multi-Platinum certifications were awarded. Click here to see the full list of songwriters and publishers honored this quarter.

Lorie Hollabaugh
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