My Music Row Story: Endurance Music Group’s Mark Ahlberg

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Mark Ahlberg. Photo: Ed Rode

The “My Music Row Story” weekly column features notable members of the Nashville music industry selected by the MusicRow editorial team. These individuals serve in key roles that help advance and promote the success of our industry. This column spotlights the invaluable people that keep the wheels rolling and the music playing.

Mark Ahlberg is Endurance’s Co-President and General Manager and oversees all aspects of catalog management and acquisitions. Since 2019, he has managed the acquisition of over $150 million in catalog, developed an artist brand to distribute unreleased masters with major sync placements, and saw the company’s first three singles certified Gold as a label. Ahlberg also founded publisher and label admin company Amplified Administration in 2010, and brought the Amplified clients with him to Endurance at its inception. He was recently promoted to his current role.

MusicRow: Where did you grow up? What was your childhood like?

I grew up in Brainerd, Minnesota—a small town about two and a half hours north of Minneapolis. My dad was a pastor, so we spent a lot of time at church. There were tons of lakes and long winters, so we were outside whenever we could be. I have three sisters, and being the only boy had its pros and cons, but we were always a close family.

Photo: Courtesy of Ahlberg

How did music come into your life?

I started piano lessons in elementary school. My dad, even though he was a pastor, had been a music major in college, so music was always in the house. We listened to a lot of CCM—Michael W. Smith and Amy Grant—but also Chicago and Carole King. I was especially drawn to CCM. That’s really what led me to Nashville.

Tell me that story.

Somewhere along the line, I decided the music business seemed like a fun fit. I liked music and I liked business—why not combine them? In high school, I worked at a Christian bookstore and was the “music guy”—managing inventory and keeping track of new releases. [Laughs] A friend of my sister’s went to Belmont, and when I looked into it, it just clicked. I set my sights on doing A&R at Gotee Records. That was the plan.

What happened when you got here?

Belmont was great. I interned at Gotee and at Showdown Management, which gave me a look at different parts of the industry. Then the Career Center sent out a blind job posting—an independent publisher needed help with admin work. They were upfront that it was heavy on numbers, but I thought, why not?

I applied, and it turned out to be Big Loud Shirt. Their admin team was Big Loud Bucks. They hired me, and that’s what got everything started. I still remember the interview—Marc Driskill was running things, and I walked in nervous, expecting a formal office vibe. But he was wearing a T-shirt and a Tractor Supply hat, and I thought, “Okay, I can do this.”

Tell me about those first few years.

At Belmont, I’d learned about publishing in theory, but this was hands-on. I wasn’t even that into country music, but I became the royalty guy—reading contracts, processing statements, learning by doing.

Big Loud Bucks handled admin for several indie publishers—Elevation Entertainment, Sea Gayle, Big Tractor, Extreme Writers Group—so I met a lot of people early on. I probably had no business being in those rooms at 21 or 22, but I was the one who knew what everyone’s check was going to be, so I was popular. [Laughs] It was the best crash course in publishing. Marc and Kele Currier led the team and taught me so much.

Photo: Courtesy of Ahlberg

Once you got into it, did you realize you would do publishing admin this long?

Pretty quickly, yeah. Publishing just made sense to me. And being around the creative side helped me fall in love with songs and songwriters. Our office had writers coming in for co-writes upstairs and playing songs downstairs—there was constant creative energy.

I remember hearing Chris Stapleton demos and thinking, “Why doesn’t the world know this guy?” That gave me a deep appreciation for songwriting as a career, not just a stepping stone. So once I got in, I knew I didn’t want to leave. It felt like something I could do for a long time.

How long were you at Big Loud?

About two and a half years. When they started making some organizational changes, I—being a naive 24-year-old—thought, “I think I can do this on my own.”

Their joint venture with Extreme Writers Group was ending, and I had a great relationship with Michael Martin and Jason Houser. I asked Michael, “Is it crazy if I start an admin company?” He said, “No, we want to be your first client.” They had a Jason Aldean single, “Crazy Town,” coming out that summer, and that one commission basically floated me through year one while I built up more clients and figured things out.

Photo: Courtesy of Ahlberg

How did you build on that?

A lot came through referrals—part-time or one-off projects, mostly from people I’d worked with at Big Loud or those in their orbit. I pieced it together and slowly built a client base.

At first, I thought I’d only work with independent publishers and songwriters. But I quickly realized that if you’re working with indies, you’re also working with indie artists and labels—and they often need even more admin help. That led to managing mechanical royalties, project coordination, even some production assistant work. I was young and needed the money, so if someone asked, “Can you do this?” I’d say, “Sure”—whether I actually knew how or not. [Laughs] I figured it out as I went and usually got it right. Trial by fire.

Eventually, I had a steady base. I brought on a few distribution clients who worked with indie artists, so I started handling their royalty processing and payments. That’s when I really got a look at the record side—how money flowed and how much was coming in on those assets. I started seeing artists I’d loved years before making more money than ever. They weren’t on the radio, but they were thriving. That changed how I thought about success in the industry.

How did Endurance enter the picture?

Michael and I had always talked about working together again. At the time, he was at ASCAP, and I wasn’t interested in going that route—I liked being independent. Through him, I started doing admin work for Raven Capital Management. They began buying catalogs around 2015 and brought me in to help on some of those deals. That’s how I met Jeremy Tucker, one of Raven’s founders. He had also met Michael, and over time, they talked about expanding Raven’s music side. By late 2018, Michael told them, “I’m interested, but only if Mark is involved.”

So we agreed to meet. We had dinner at Rolf and Daughters with Jeremy and Josh Green, Raven’s other founder. They laid out the vision for what would become Endurance.

At that point, I had a client preparing to sell a catalog with both masters and publishing. I told them, “If I’m in, this has to be our first deal. Here’s the price.” I figured if they weren’t on board, we weren’t aligned. But they immediately said yes. That early confidence gave me peace. I was giving up a bit of independence, but stepping into something I could never build alone. And that’s held true the past six years.

Photo: Courtesy of Ahlberg

Are you involved in the creative side of things now as well?

Kind of. My role is more general manager, but I work closely with the creative team and occasionally toss in an idea. They humor me. [Laughs] I give feedback on new writers or potential catalogs, so I still get to use that creative part of my brain—but most of my time is still in spreadsheets.

What is a day in the life like for you?

It’s a mix. I usually start by catching up with the team, then spend most of the day managing emails, operations, and finances. Right now, I’m kind of our in-house accountant—processing invoices, reviewing deals, talking to lawyers. There’s always something moving, whether it’s an admin client, a writer agreement or a catalog acquisition.

I also try to check in with the creative team, listen to new songs when I can, and support wherever needed. Lately, I’ve been focused on getting institutional knowledge out of my head and into systems the team can use—so the company doesn’t rely on me being the one who remembers how everything works.

Who have been your mentors along the way?

Marc Driskill and Kele Currier were huge early on, as were Craig Wiseman and the Big Loud team. Being around that creative energy was really formative.

Michael Martin has been my biggest advocate. Even at ASCAP, he was constantly sending people my way. He’s also the reason half the town knows me as “Stryker.” At Big Loud, there were three Marks on staff. I was the only one who spelled it with a K, so KK Wiseman started calling me Stryker—like the strikeout symbol in baseball. It stuck.

I’ve learned a lot from Jeremy Tucker—especially on the investment side. Understanding how buyers think, how deals are structured—it’s stretched me in the best way.

Photo: Courtesy of Ahlberg

What is one of the biggest life lessons you’ve learned in your career?

The biggest thing for me is: it’s not about me.

This work means more when it’s focused on others. If you go into a meeting thinking, “What can I get from this?” it rarely leads to something great. But if you show up ready to help and to learn, it changes the outcome. Curiosity and generosity lead to better relationships, better work, and a better life.

What’s a moment you’ve had recently that would impress your younger self?

There are a couple. One is a project we’ve been working on for a few years. One of our first acquisitions under Raven was the catalog of Thousand Foot Krutch. I was a huge fan of theirs in high school, then lost track of them. Years later, they came back into my life as a client. They’d gone independent, so we acquired both their masters and publishing. One of their albums kept performing well, and we had the idea to re-release it with guest features—mixing new artists into the original recordings. Not full re-records, just something fresh. It took two years to put together.

High-school me would’ve lost his mind. We brought in artists like New Medicine, Adelitas Way and Red—but then, unexpectedly, Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones said yes. One of our team members had a connection and just took a shot. So yeah, last year we put out a track featuring a Rolling Stone. Pretty surreal.

On a different note—less flashy but just as meaningful—we recently released “Heaven Sweet Home,” written by Jake Rose, Chris Tompkins and Sarah Buxton. Scott Hendricks had asked for something in the vein of “Go Rest High on That Mountain,” and they delivered. Blake Shelton cut it quickly, maybe in 2022 or early 2023, but the release took time. It finally came out recently, and while I don’t know if it’ll go to radio, it’s already connecting. It still hits me every time I hear it.

When you’ve heard as many demos as I have, it’s rare to want to keep playing something after it’s out. But with this one—I do. That’s been a big motivator lately.

LB Cantrell
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