Dave Villa Inks Publishing Deal With Warner Chappell, Lewis Park Music Publishing, Edgehill Music Publishing

Dave Villa

Warner Chappell Music Nashville, Lewis Park Music Publishing, and Edgehill Music Publishing have signed a global publishing deal with Dave Villa. The Nashville-based songwriter/producer has worked on projects and sessions for artists across genres including, Dierks Bentley, Fletcher, Josie Dunne, Skizzy Mars, David Archuleta, Rozes, Natalie Imbruglia, Noah Kahan, and Daughtry, among others.

A Belmont University graduate, Villa spent three years studying and working with producer/writer Jamie Kenney. Some of Villa’s songs and productions have aired internationally on major streaming networks including ABC and NBC.

BEXAR’s Chris Ryan Signs With Reservoir

Pictured (L-R): Scott McGhee (1˚ Entertainment Music & Management Group), Greg Gallo (VP Creative, Reservoir), Chris Ryan, John Ozier (EVP Creative, Reservoir), Golnar Khosrowshahi (CEO, Reservoir) Photo credit: Haley Crow/MusicRow

Chris Ryan has signed a worldwide publishing deal with Reservoir. Ryan is part of the country music duo BEXAR, which recently signed with Warner Music Nashville.

The Reservoir deal includes all compositions from Ryan’s catalog, plus future works, including BEXAR’s newly-released single “Again.”

The up-and-coming country duo, pronounced “bear,” gets its name from Ryan’s hometown, Bexar County, Texas. Ryan performs lead vocals/guitar alongside Logan Turner, who rounds out their sound with additional vocal/banjo/guitar. BEXAR self-released their EP, BEXAR, in 2018 and have since amassed over 25 million streams. Their new single “Again,” a collaboration with writer-producer Ross Copperman, has been released on all platforms.

“Chris Ryan is a masterful songwriter and storyteller,” said John Ozier, Reservoir EVP, Creative. “It’s such an exciting time, as BEXAR are working on new music and sharing it with the world and we’re so happy to be on this journey with him.”

“As a songwriter, it’s so important to align with a publisher that has the same sensibilities as you,” added Ryan. “I love my team at Reservoir, John Ozier and [VP Creative] Greg Gallo, and the creative opportunities they provide me with.”

TikTok, NMPA Ink Multi-Year Agreement


The National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) and TikTok have signed a multi-year agreement which accounts for TikTok’s past use of musical works and sets up a forward-looking partnership. This new partnership will give NMPA members the ability to opt-in to a licensing framework that allows them to benefit from their works included on TikTok and is effective retroactively as of May 1, 2020.

Ole Obermann, Global Head of Music at TikTok, said, “TikTok is proud to partner with music publishers and songwriters to enable artist and song discovery, and support revenue opportunities. We’re excited to partner with the NMPA to bring their member companies on to the platform and help hundreds of millions of people discover and enjoy their songs. We look forward to continuing to work with songwriters to help them use TikTok as a powerful and innovative channel to reach a global audience through a unique format of creation and engagement.”

David Israelite, President & CEO of NMPA, said, “We are pleased to find a way forward with TikTok which benefits songwriters and publishers and offers them critical compensation for their work. Music is an important part of apps like TikTok which merge songs with expression and popularize new music while also giving new life to classic songs. This agreement respects the work of creators and gives them a way to be paid for their essential contributions to the platform.”

MV2 Celebrates Fifth Anniversary With Two No. 1 Hits, Eight Charted Singles

Photo: Pictured top row (L-R): Lindsey Parrish, Tony Harrell and Ben Strain. Bottom row (L-R): Nicole Sherrill and Mike Whelan

MV2 Entertainment celebrated its five-year anniversary back in May with a pretty major achievement: eight charted singles to its credit only six months into the year, including a pair of No. 1 country singles.

MV2’s No. 1 tracks include Jon Pardi’s “Heartache Medication” and Luke Bryan’s “One Margarita,” and additional tracks include “Be A Light” by Thomas Rhett, “Got What I Got “ by Jason Aldean,  “Lovin’ On You “ by Luke Combs, “Ain’t Always The Cowboy” by Jon Pardi, “Only Truck In Town” by Tyler Farr, and “I Dare You” by Kelly Clarkson. Luke Bryan has also recorded the MV2 song “Build Me A Daddy,” which he recently performed on The Tonight Show.

“We’ve been incredibly fortunate to have had such great success since the launch of the company in 2015. I credit that success to having the right team and talent in place,” said MV2’s GM Tony Harrell. “James Archer and I were very deliberate in designing a business that embraced the concept of values-based leadership and incorporating that principle into our everyday approach to building this business.”

“When Tony and I began discussing the idea of working together in the music industry by creating a music publishing company, I fully understood that this was a long-game investment,” MV2 President and CEO James Archer said. “We wanted to create a business that reflected our standards and ethics, so we approached the creation of this company with the same values-based leadership philosophy I use with my other businesses.”

Harrell and Archer give much of the credit for the company’s success to its creative team and its roster of writers. “We have an incredible and diverse front line with Mike Whelan, Ben Strain and Nicole Sherrill representing our writers and catalog and Lindsey Parrish keeping our roster connected and promoted through social media,” Harrell added.

The creative team is led by Sr. Creative Director Mike Whelan who credits his song skill to his time working with great writers like Bob McDill, Dean Dillon, Skip Ewing, Tony Martin and others. Along with Whelan, his publishing partner for nearly a decade Ben Strain and Creative Director Nicole Sherrill round out the team. Together, Whelan and Strain have placed more than 30 hit songs and contributed to the development of recording artists Jordan Davis, Travis Denning, Adam Hambrick and others.

MV2 also recently launched an indie label, New Lost City Records, whose first two signings are MV2 songwriter Nora Collins and Oklahoma-based artist Blake Henderson. MV2’s songwriters roster of songwriters includes Josh Thompson, Thomas Archer, Houston Phillips, Nick Donley, David Frasier, Nora Collins, Joe Whelan and Forrest Finn.

Jaren Johnston Extends Deal With Sony/ATV (Exclusive)

Jaren Johnston

Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville has extended its global co-publishing agreement with songwriter/producer Jaren Johnston.

Johnston, a Nashville native, has penned No. 1 singles including “You Gonna Fly” and “Raise ‘Em Up” for Keith Urban, “Beachin'” for Jake Owen, “Don’t It” for Billy Currington, “Meanwhile Back At Mama’s” and “Southern Girl” for Tim McGraw, Drake White’s “Livin’ The Dream,” and Frankie Ballard’s “Sunshine & Whiskey” and “It All Started with a Beer.”

Sony/ATV Nashville CEO Rusty Gaston stated, “If you look up the word ‘cool’ in the dictionary, you find a picture of Jaren Johnston. He may look like an American Rockstar, but his songs bleed with the heart of a Nashville craftsman poet. Our entire team is thrilled to continue championing his songs and future success.”

“This next year will be an interesting one. Despite the challenges our industry is facing with the ongoing pandemic, I am feeling creative, inspired and ready to get to work,” Johnston says. “With the help of Rusty, Dane [Schmidt], and the entire Sony/ATV team, I’m confident this next chapter of my writing career is going to be a big one.”

In addition to his work as the primary writer and lead vocalist for his band The Cadillac Three, which has resulted in songs such as “Crackin’ Cold Ones with the Boys” and “The South,” featuring Florida Georgia Line, Dierks Bentley and Mike Eli, Johnston has been working on new writing projects with Urban, Florida Georgia Line, McGraw, Lee Brice, and Owen. As a producer, he has recently worked on projects for Steven Tyler, Dierks Bentley, Hannah Dasher, Kelleigh Bannen, and more.

Laura Veltz Extends Publishing Deal With Big Machine Music

Laura Veltz. Photo: Darling Juliet

Laura Veltz has signed a long-term extension of her publishing deal with Big Machine Music.

Veltz has achieved numerous milestones during her nearly eight-year tenure with the company, crafting six No. 1 hits: “What If I Never Get Over You” (Lady A), “The Bones“ and “I Could Use A Love Song” (Maren Morris), “Lonely Eyes” (Chris Young), “Drunk Last Night” (Eli Young Band) and “Speechless” (Dan + Shay), which earned her first Grammy Awards nomination for Best Country Song. “The Bones” continues to shatter the record for most consecutive weeks held by a solo female artist at 19 weeks-and-counting atop the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, long after its multi-week reign on both Country and Hot AC radio.

Veltz’s current singles include Kelly Clarkson’s Hot AC hit “I Dare You,” which was translated into five different languages and features artists from across the globe, Morris’ “To Hell and Back,” The Voice winner Danielle Bradbery’s “Never Have I Ever” and an upcoming single from Lava/Republic Recording artist somegirlnamedanna. Her songs have also been recorded by Miranda Lambert, The Highwomen, Reba McEntire, Little Big Town, Dierks Bentley, Ryan Hurd, Brothers Osborne, Carly Pearce, Kane Brown and more.

“Laura is a rarity among rarities in terms of craft, commerciality and caring for her fellow humans,” said BMM General Manager Mike Molinar. “As we have seen multiple times now, her talents are boundless and translate across audiences. We feel privileged that we get to continue supporting her and her music for many years to come.”

She is currently nominated for three 2020 AIMP Nashville Awards including Songwriter of the Year, Song of the Year (“The Bones”) and Publisher’s Pick (“To Hell and Back”).

“Big Machine Music and Mike Molinar were both there for my first hit and I am so lucky to have had them in my corner ever since. I’m grateful and excited to partner up again for the next chapter of my life,” said Veltz.

Mojo Music & Media Inks Catalog Deals With Terry McBride, Mark Miller, Matt McVaney, Jonathan Smith, More

Indie publishing and marketing company Mojo Music & Media has closed a series of publishing catalog acquisitions with artist/writers Terry McBride and Sawyer Brown’s Mark Miller, as well as writer/producers Jonathan Smith, Pat McManus and Matt McVaney, among others. These acquisitions added 80 chart singles, including 14 No. 1 hits and 29 Top 5 hits to Mojo’s catalog of six decades worth of country songs.

McBride began his career fronting McBride & The Ride in the early ’90s, releasing four albums and charting four Top 5 singles, before focusing on songwriting and landing cuts with artists including Garth Brooks, George Strait, Alan Jackson, Hank Williams Jr. and Gretchen Wilson. His most prolific collaboration, with Ronnie Dunn, yielded more than 25 cuts and 13 singles with Brooks & Dunn including such chart-toppers as “Play Something Country,” “Cowgirls Don’t Cry” and “Proud Of The House We Built.” Among McBride’s other hits are Reba McEntire’s “I Keep On Loving You,”  Josh Gracin’s “Stay With Me (Brass Bed),” Casey James’ “Let’s Don’t Call It A Night” and Easton Corbin’s “Are You With Me,” which enjoyed a second life as a No. 1 UK hit after it was remixed by Belgian DJ Lost Frequencies. Mojo has acquired McBride’s complete post-2004 catalog.

Veteran songwriter and producer McManus, a 12-time BMI award winner, has enjoyed cuts with artists ranging from Conway Twitty and BJ Thomas to Carl Graves and The Fifth Dimension. A run of hits in the ’80s, many co-written with Woody Bomar and Bob DiPiero, yielded four No 1 singles and four Top 5 singles, including the Oak Ridge Boys’ “American Made, Charly McClain’s “Sentimental Ol You,” Jim Glaser’s “You’re Getting’ To Me Again” and “If I Could Only Dance With You,” Conway Twitty’s “We Did But Now You Don’t” and Jacky Ward’s “Something On The Radio.” Mojo has acquired a 50% interest in McManus’ back catalog and will partner on futures.

Mojo acquired a co-publishing interest in the catalog of Grammy-nominated writer/producer Smith, a fixture in the contemporary Christian field, who has landed cuts over the last decade with more than 150 of the genre’s top artists including Danny Gokey, We Are Messengers, Tenth Avenue North, Bryan & Katie Torwalt and the J J Weeks Band. The deal includes such CCM hits as Zach Williams’ Platinum debut single “Chain Breaker,” “We Are Messengers’ “Magnify,” Building 429’s “We Won’t Be Shaken,” Tauren Wells’ “Hills And Valleys” and Johnny Diaz’ “Breathe.”

Writer/producer McVaney is best known for his work with Kane Brown, penning and producing viral and radio hit “Used To Love You Sober” and “I Love That I Hate You” from Brown’s Closer EP, as well as “Excuses” and “There Goes My Everything” from Brown’s Chapter 1 EP. McVaney also co-wrote and produced “Thunder In The Rain,” the debut single from Brown’s 2016 Platinum debut, a project which, along with its singles, reached No. 1 simultaneously on all five main Billboard Country charts. Mojo has acquired McVaney’s publishing and producer interests.

Mojo has also signed a worldwide administration deal with Miller, the founder, lead singer and primary songwriter for Sawyer Brown. The deal covers the band’s entire 18-album output, including three No. 1 singles, “Step That Step,” “Some Girls Do” and “Thank God For You” and another nine Top 5’s including “This Time,” “All These Years” and “The Boys And Me.”

In addition, the company acquired an interest in seven hit singles written by Jimmy Yeary including Martina McBride’s Top 5 “I’m Gonna Love You Through It,” Lee Brice’s “I Drive Your Truck,”  Jake Owen’s “Anywhere With You” and David Lee Murphy and Kenny Chesney’s “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright” and, separately, interests in a collection of songs owned by writer and publisher Jeff Tweel including such No. 1’s as Faith Hill’s “Wild One,” John Berry’s “Your Love Amazes Me,” Restless Heart’s “I’ll Still Be Loving You,” Pam Tillis’ “Mi Vida Loca,” Lee Greenwood’s “Dixie Road,” T.G. Sheppard’s “Only One You” and Conway Twitty’s “Desperado Love.”

Said McBride, “I’ve never sold any of my publishing before so parting with some of my favorite songs was tough for me to wrap my head around. Not only did Mojo come to the table with a strong offer, but it was clear they had a real connection and appreciation for me and my songs and that meant a lot to me.”

McManus said, “From my first conversations with Butch, Mark and everyone at Mojo, I loved their energy, experience and creative ideas, but the one key ingredient that set them apart from everyone else is that they feel like a family. My family and I couldn’t be more excited to be partnering on my songs and going on this journey with Team Mojo!”

Mark Fried, Mojo Music Co-Founder and CEO, added, “One of the best things about setting up our headquarters in Nashville has been the opportunity to reconnect with some of the town’s most beloved songwriters and to make solid plans with them to breathe new life into older hits and help inspire some new ones.”

Butch Baker, Mojo Music’s SVP Creative, said, “What an exciting time for all of us here at Mojo to partner with so many amazing and talented friends and represent such an incredible collection of songs. And we’re only getting started.”

BREAKING: Luke Combs Inks Publishing Deal With Universal Music Publishing Group

Luke Combs. Photo courtesy UMPG

Luke Combs has signed an exclusive, global publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group.

A multi-Platinum, CMA, ACM, CMT, Billboard Music Award, and MusicRow Award-winning artist, Combs has seen meteoric success in breaking country music records. Since releasing his debut single, “Hurricane,” in 2016, he has become the only artist to ever hold 16 spots simultaneously on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart and the only artist to have eight consecutive No. 1 singles on the Billboard Country Airplay chart.

Combs also holds the record for having the largest streaming week ever for a country album with 74 million streams of his new album What You See Is What You Get. His triple Platinum debut album, This One’s For You, was the most streamed country album of 2019 and tied the record for longest reign atop Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart, spending 50 non-consecutive weeks in the No. 1 spot.

Combs is known for huge hits such as “Hurricane,” “When It Rains It Pours,” “One Number Away,” “She Got The Best Of Me,” “Beautiful Crazy,” “Beer Never Broke My Heart,” “Even Though I’m Leaving” and “Does To Me” featuring Eric Church. His current single, “Six Feet Apart,” is currently climbing the charts.

Combs said, “I’m really excited to be joining UMPG Nashville and the strong roster of songwriters they have. Universal Music’s success with publishing a lot of great songs over the years cannot be denied, and I’m thankful to now be a part of that.”

Troy Tomlinson, Chairman and CEO of UMPG Nashville, said, “Luke is building his career like so many great artists of the past. He’s writing hit songs that country music fans identify with. They feel like he’s the guy next door, their friend, someone who knows how they feel and sings about their life. He does that with humility and respect for those who came before him. We are beyond grateful to represent him and his songs.”

Cyndi Forman, Senior Vice President of A&R, UMPG Nashville, added, “I quickly became a Luke Combs fan five years ago after hearing what would eventually be his debut album. It was apparent to me that he was not only a great vocalist and entertainer, but someone who is a songwriter at heart. Luke continues to impress me with his ability to connect with music fans across the world. I’m beyond excited to have the UMPG team become a part of his incredible team.”

Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville Signs Karen Kosowski

Karen Kosowski

Sony/ATV Music Publishing Nashville has signed songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Karen Kosowski to a global publishing deal.

Kosowski is a co-writer on Mickey Guyton’s “What Are You Gonna Tell Her?”, as well as the Top 5 Canadian single “Country Thunder” from Washboard Union, the No. 1 Canadian and Australian country single “What A Song Should Do” from Tim Hicks, Ross Ellis’ “Home To Me,” and Brett Kissel’s single “Anthem.”

Sony/ATV Nashville CEO Rusty Gaston stated, “Karen is a studio wizard. Her songs and productions pull the authentic heart out of every project she touches. She has the rare ability to connect and span across genres, and her career is taking off. We are so pleased to welcome Karen to the Sony/ATV family, and we look forward to supporting her incredible talent.”

Karen said, “I’m thrilled to sign with Sony/ATV. Getting to work with Rusty, Mya and the great Sony/ATV creative team is really a dream come true. I’m grateful to them for already making me feel part of the family, and I’m excited about a future filled with many new songs, ideas, and the occasional shared bourbon!”

Kosowski was raised in Winnipeg, Canada and moved to Toronto in the early 2000s, before relocating to Nashville. She has also found success in the pop genre, co-writing the Top 40 single “Somebody To Love Me” (Tryon) and a Top 5 song at AC radio, “It Won’t Be Christmas,” recorded by Emma-Lee. Kosowski was tapped to arrange and produce a modern remake of the 1980s radio hit “Rise Up,” which features an all-star lineup of Canadian country artists including Meghan Patrick, Tebey, Jess Moskaluke, Gord Bamford, and The Washboard Union. Her work has also been featured on numerous television networks and in feature films, including the award-winning thriller The Scarehouse and the action movie entitled 88, starring Christopher Lloyd.

Boz Scaggs Inks With Concord Music Publishing

Boz Scaggs. Photo: Chris Phelps

Legendary singer/songwriter Boz Scaggs has signed a publishing deal with Concord Music Publishing. The new deal, effective immediately, covers Scaggs’ full catalog from 1968 to the present, as well as future works.

The Grammy-winning singer, songwriter and guitarist is renowned for his unique blend of soul, rock, and blues and has been releasing chart-topping music for over five decades, including “Lido Shuffle,” “It’s Over,” “What Can I Say” and the Grammy-winning “Lowdown”from his 1976 album Silk Degrees. The 5x platinum Silk Degrees reached the No. 2 spot on the Billboard 200 and remained on the album charts for 115 weeks. The album also featured “We’re All Alone” which became a worldwide Top 10 hit for Rita Coolidge in 1977. In February 2020, “Lowdown” was sampled by English electronic duo Disclosure on their single, “Expressing What Matters.”

Silk Degrees was preceded by a string of R&B-fused albums such as Moments and Slow Dancer. It was followed by platinum albums Down Two Then Left and Middle Man, the latter of which produced the hit singles “Breakdown Dead Ahead,” “Jo Jo” and “Look What You’ve Done to Me.” Other notable albums from the catalog include Some Change, the Grammy-nominated Come On Home, and Dig. Scaggs’ most recent album, Out of the Blues, released in 2018 on Concord Records, reached No.1 on the Billboard Top Blues Albums chart and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album.

“My colleagues and I here at Concord are beyond thrilled about this opportunity to work with Boz,” says Michael Pizzuto, SVP Creative, Synchronization & A&R at Concord Music Publishing. “His wonderfully cool, unique and influential catalog of hit songs and deeper gems, is something we at Concord value, celebrate and on which we will put a creative focus on.”

“I’ve become familiar with the Concord folks over the last couple of years through my most recent record release, and the more I see, the more I’ve come to respect their people and their work. I see a bright horizon with Concord,” said Scaggs about the new partnership.