Spirit Music Group Appoints Frank Rogers As CEO, Spirit Music Nashville
Frank Rogers
Spirit Music Group has appointed Frank Rogers to Chief Executive Officer, Spirit Music Nashville. Rogers will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of Spirit Music Nashville’s creative and operational activities. Daniel Hill will exit the company.
“Frank Rogers is a rare talent—from his ability to produce and write No. 1 hits, to his amazing business acumen,” said Jon Singer, Chairman, Spirit Music Group. “Frank has a vision for Spirit Music Nashville and I have no doubt he will execute on that vision and exceed expectations. We are fortunate to have Frank lead our talented writers and staff in this next chapter. I also want to thank Daniel Hill for all of his years of service and have the utmost respect for him.”
“I am excited to have the opportunity to lead the talented staff and roster at Spirit Music Nashville,” said Rogers. “The entire Spirit Music Group team has been wonderful partners for myself and Fluid Music Revolution. I look forward to continuing to build something special with both the Spirit and Fluid teams.”
“Songwriters and songs are my passion and I am honored and grateful to have worked alongside some of the best at Spirit,” said Hill. “I am proud of the Spirit team and our many accomplishments, and I look forward to even more successes for us all.”
Frank Rogers is a multi-platinum producer and songwriter who has won MusicRow’s Producer of the Year award four times and Billboard’s No. 1 Hot Country Producer Award from 2006 – 2010. His work to date has resulted in thirteen Country Music Association award nominations, including a win for Album of the Year for Time Well Wasted with Brad Paisley. Rogers also has credits with Trace Adkins, Josh Turner, Darius Rucker, Phil Vassar, Darryl Worley, and Scotty McCreery, and has received five Academy of Country Music awards.
Rogers has also co-written several No. 1 songs, including: “I’m Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin’ Song)” by Brad Paisley, “Alright” and “This” by Darius Rucker, “Five More Minutes” and “This Is It” by Scotty McCreery, and “Backroad Song” by Granger Smith.
Rogers moved to Nashville in 1990 and got his Music Business degree from Belmont University, where he met friend and future collaborator Brad Paisley. Rogers then worked for EMI Nashville Production and opened Nashville independent publisher Sea Gayle Music with Paisley and Chris DuBois.
In 2016, Spirit Music Group formed a multi-faceted deal with Rogers and together established Fluid Music Revolution. Through the agreement, Spirit acquired Rogers’ one third interest in certain copyrights of the respected Sea Gayle Music. The deal also leveraged Rogers’ executive abilities and creative talent. Spirit’s venture with Rogers empowered him to bring new artists, producers, and writers to the company. He also joined Spirit’s roster as a songwriter, and the company exclusively administers all of his new compositions worldwide.
In addition to its deal with Rogers, Spirit’s deals in the country music landscape have included a deal with Zach Crowell that included the acquisition of his I Love Pizza Music catalog, which features many No. 1 hits. Spirit also formed a co-publishing venture with Crowell along with Ashley Gorley’s Tape Room Music, that encompasses Crowell’s future compositions. Spirit also made a deal with Grammy-winning Nashville songwriter Josh Osborne to acquire his co-published catalog, which features 500 songs. Spirit Music Nashville and Fluid Music Revolution also completed deals with Justin Adams, Derek George, Jason Lehning, Monty Criswell, Kyle Rife, Erik Belz, Marcus Hummon, Palmer Lee, Mike Fiorentino, Phillip White, and SESAC Songwriter of the Year Cary Barlowe. The company acquired the successful Nashville-based independent music publisher, production, and artist management company, Cal IV Entertainment, which brought top country writers, artists, and staff into the fold along with 25 No. 1 country copyrights and top ten singles. Spirit also acquired the StyleSonic catalog, bringing another four No. 1 country songs to its portfolio as well as over fifteen Top 20 country songs spanning the last decade.
Recent successes by Spirit Music Nashville and Fluid Music Revolution include a publishing interest in ASCAP’s Song of the Year (“Body Like a Back Road” by Sam Hunt, Zach Crowell and Josh Osborne); SESAC’s Song of the Year (“It Don’t Hurt Like It Used To” by Billy Currington); CMA Song of the Year (“Blue Ain’t Your Color” by Keith Urban) and CMA Album of the Year From a Room: Volume 1 by Chris Stapleton); and a publishing interest in ACM nominations for Song of the Year (“Whiskey & You” by Chris Stapleton); Single of the Year (“Broken Halos” by Chris Stapleton and “Drinkin’ Problem” by Midland) and Songwriter of the Year (Josh Osborne).
In January, Spirit Music Group executives Jon Singer and Ross Cameron formed Lyric Capital Group to take ownership of Spirit Music Group and secure a recapitalization of over $350 million. Now wholly-owned by the newly formed Lyric Capital Group, Spirit Music Group remains a strong, independent publisher.
Voting is now underway for the Nashville Songwriters Association International’s ’10 Songs I Wish I’d Written’ awards. The 118-song ballot is comprised of Nashville-associated songs that charted Top 20 in Country and Pop Billboard Airplay charts and Top 10 in Christian and Alternative Billboard Airplay charts during the period of May 1, 2018, and April 30, 2019. To be eligible for this year’s awards, a song must not have been awarded during the previous year’s ceremony.
