MusicRow Weekly (News, Charts, More…)

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This week’s edition of The MusicRow Weekly is packed with major industry milestones, executive moves and new signings that continue to shape Nashville’s music business landscape. Click here to see the full edition.

Leading the week’s headlines, the Academy of Country Music announced the winners of the Industry Awards and Studio Recording Awards for the 59th ACM Awards. The recipients will be honored during the 19th ACM Honors on Aug. 19 at The Pinnacle. Among this year’s studio winners, Bryan Sutton earned Acoustic Guitar Player of the Year, Justin Niebank collected his 10th Audio Engineer of the Year trophy and Dann Huff secured his sixth Producer of the Year award. Additional winners included Stuart Duncan, Rob McNelley, Gordon Mote, Jimmie Lee Sloas, Fred Eltringham and Jerry Roe. On the industry side, The Pinnacle was named Club of the Year, while Cheyenne Frontier Days claimed Fair/Rodeo of the Year. Several familiar names also returned to the winner’s circle, including Stagecoach, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Bridgestone Arena, the Ryman Auditorium, Choctaw Grand Theater, Mohegan Sun Arena, Adam Weiser and Ed Warm.

The Grand Ole Opry also delivered one of the week’s biggest moments as Rhett Akins received an invitation to become the newest member of the iconic institution during a surprise presentation on June 28. Dave Fenley also stepped into the famed circle for his official Grand Ole Opry debut.

Across the industry, organizations announced significant staffing updates. The Country Music Association revealed five internal promotions alongside five new hires across its events, marketing, membership, creative, business affairs, accounting, partnerships and analytics teams. Musicians On Call also expanded its staff, welcoming two new employees while promoting eight team members throughout its marketing, development, programs and volunteer divisions, underscoring the nonprofit’s continued growth and impact.

The business side of Music City remained active with several notable company launches and partnership announcements. Blake Duncan and Scott Hendricks unveiled TAYCAN Entertainment, a new independent Nashville-based music publishing and A&R company. Meanwhile, Back Row Publishing officially launched under the leadership of Lindsay Will and Taylor Antle, with Christian Yancey becoming the company’s first signed songwriter.

The signing front remained equally busy as artists, writers and companies continued building new partnerships. Restless Road joined the EMPIRE Nashville roster, while Ashe signed a new record deal with Atlantic Records alongside publishing agreements with Doomsday and Universal Music Publishing Group. Chris Sligh entered into publishing partnerships with Sony Music Publishing and Ace High Music. Nicole Alexis signed with Hardworking Record Company, Carlisle Wright joined Joan of Arc Music for management and Riley Thomas inked a deal with ONErpm Nashville.

In addition, the latest MusicRow CountryBreakout Radio Chart is included. Morgan Wallen remains in the No. 1 spot with “Don’t We.” Explore more chart data here.

The MusicRow Weekly is delivered every Friday, featuring Nashville’s top music industry news, exclusive interviews, song reviews, radio and songwriter charts and more. Sign up for free here.

Madison Hahnen
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