Universal Music Publishing Group has signed Brandi Carlile, and Tim and Phil Hanseroth to an exclusive, global admin agreement.

Following the release of her 2018 album By The Way, I Forgive You, Carlile earned five Grammy Awards. The 10-song album was penned by Carlile and her long-time collaborators/bandmates Tim and Phil Hanseroth. The song “The Joke” earned Best American Roots Song and Best American Roots Performance, and earned nominations for Song of the Year and Record of the Year.

Carlile said, “I can’t wait to work with Universal Music Publishing. I’ve been a Jody Gerson fangirl for years and I have great respect for the impact she’s made on women in music and leadership. I recently met the entire Universal Music team and was inspired to take my songwriting into uncharted territories knowing it’s in such capable hands. I have no words for how excited Tim, Phil and I are… but I’d damn well better get to writing some!”

Carlile also won Best Country Album at the 2020 Grammy Awards for her work coproducing Tanya Tucker’s acclaimed 2019 album While I’m Livin’. Carlile and the Hanseroth twins co-wrote seven of the album’s ten tracks including “Bring My Flowers Now,” which won Best Country Song. The song was also nominated for Song of the Year, making for the trio’s second consecutive nomination in the all-genre category.

UMPG Chairman and CEO Jody Gerson said, “I’ve been a personal fan of Brandi Carlile’s for a long time. She is one of the best songwriters and storytellers of our generation. My first meeting with Brandi, Tim and Phil was unforgettable, one of the best ‘first dates’ I’ve ever been on. I knew immediately that I wanted to work closely with them to bring their collective talents to an entirely new level. Along with my UMPG global team, we look forward to supporting their creative journeys and beautiful songs that are destined to last a lifetime.”

Troy Tomlinson, Chairman and CEO of UMPG Nashville, said: “Brandi, Tim and Phil have the natural ability to put into words the emotions we all feel, but find difficult to articulate. Their writing and Brandi’s music and voice are intimate and raw. Their talents will stand the test of time, and we are beyond honored to represent them.”

Last year, Carlile founded The Highwomen with Natalie Hemby, Maren Morris and Amanda Shires. Carlile also produced albums for The Secret Sisters and has collaborated with numerous artists including Dolly Parton, Sam Smith, Elton John, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Gary Clark Jr., Sheryl Crow, Willie Nelson, John Prine, Yola, Dave Matthews and more.
At the 61st Grammy Awards, Carlile was the most-nominated woman, earning six nominations including nods for Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

Carilile and the Hanseroth twins are also humanitarians and activists, co-founding the Looking Out Foundation, an organization which amplifies the impact of music by empowering those without a voice. Looking Out has varied initiatives including campaigns focused on Children in Conflict/War Child, The If Project, Fund Racial Justice, Fight The Fear, Looking Out For The Hungry and more. To date, the organization has raised over $1 million benefiting children whose families, communities and schools have been torn apart by war through their 2017 Cover Stories project and, overall, over $2 million to grassroots causes.

A coalition of arts and entertainment unions and organizations have spoken out in support of the Mixed Earner Unemployment Assistance Act of 2020. The bill was introduced by U.S. Representatives Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Judy Chu (D-CA) to remedy some of the unintended flaws in previous COVID-19 relief bills.

The Author’s Guild, Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO, Future of Music Coalition, the Recording Academy, RIAA, SAG-AFTRA, and Songwriters of North America are among the organizations who have shown support.

Unfortunately, American workers who have mixed income, (income they report as W-2 and 1099 or other self-employment income) are being penalized simply because they earned some income as a W-2 employee. If a mixed-earner such as an entrepreneur, seasonal worker, gig worker, or local musician, singer, actor, writer, photographer, or other creator makes enough income as a W-2-employee to qualify for any amount of traditional state unemployment benefits, only their W-2 income is considered in determining a weekly base benefit amount. As a result, these taxpayers are losing thousands, sometimes tens of thousands, of dollars in vital benefits that could cover the cost of rent or food during a global pandemic.

Many creators work project to project in multiple jobs and various capacities and as a result, creators often find themselves working as employees such as under a union contract and receiving W-2 wages and as independent contractors (or otherwise self-employed) in the same year.

This new legislation grants states the option to transition eligible Mixed Earners from their state unemployment program into the federal PUA program, which will ensure equitable benefits for the recipient going forward. Under this legislation, a mixed earner who earned at least $7,250 from self-employment in 2019 could amend their application to qualify for the PUA program where all income will be aggregated to calculate a new weekly base benefit amount based on actual income.

“For many workers, the relief provided by the CARES Act is making a crucial difference in helping make ends meet during this unprecedented period of disruption. Yet due to the nature of independent work, particularly in industries like entertainment, many workers are currently excluded from Pandemic Unemployment Assistance because they earn a living through a mix of self-employment and traditional W-2 jobs,” said Rep. Schiff. “Our bill will ensure that mixed earners are no longer excluded from this critical assistance because of the nature of their employment and income.”

“The pandemic has exposed that our nation’s unemployment system is not designed for all workers, like music creators, leaving so many vulnerable and without assistance,” said Harvey Mason Jr., Chair and Interim President/CEO of the Recording Academy. “The Mixed Earner Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Act is a critical solution that will help so many in our community receive the fair benefits that they deserve. The Recording Academy thanks Representatives Adam Schiff and Judy Chu for their tireless efforts to ensure that all workers have equitable access to unemployment benefits as our creative community faces the long-term effects of this unprecedented crisis.”

Black River Entertainment has expanded its Marketing department with the hiring of Taylor Kelly as Creative Manager and Spencer Clarke as Production Engineer. Both report to VP, Marketing Tanya Schrage.

Schrage shared, “Now more than ever we’re adapting to meet the changing needs of our industry. Adding Spencer and Taylor to the team reinforces the commitment to support our artists with meaningful content.”

A Kentucky native, Kelly joins Black River after six years at Red Light Management. During that time, Kelly built and managed the creative department working with artist teams on creative direction, which include Chris Stapleton, Gabby Barrett, Alabama Shakes, Jon Pardi, Sugarland, Bobby Bones, Lindsay Ell, and more.

“Taylor’s breadth of experience coupled with an instantly evident creative energy make her a perfect fit for BRE. I can’t wait to see the magic she’ll make in this role!” Schrage said.

Clarke has been part of Black River Entertainment in another capacity since 2016, after moving to Nashville from North Carolina. He spent the past four years working as a contract Assistant Engineer at Sound Stage Studios. Through this role, Clarke spent an increasing amount of time working with the marketing department on video sessions and now joins the marketing department full-time as Production Engineer. In this role, he will handle the logistics of all in-house artist performances (streams, video capture, etc.) and coordinate with talent and management, studio staff, and A&R teams.

“Spencer has proven time and again his willingness to step up and tackle any project and deliver with excellence,” Schrage said. “He hits it out of the park every time, and he has earned this permanent place among the production team.”

Kelly can be reached at tkelly@blackriverent.com, while Clarke can be reached at sclarke@blackriverent.com.

Luke Combs continues to rule the country albums chart this week, beating out a string of new releases. What You See Is What You Get tops the chart with 21.9K in total consumption, according to Nielsen Soundscan.

Morgan Wallen‘s If I Know Me is at No. 2 with 21.5K, followed by Combs’ This One’s For You at No. 3 with 19K. Sam Hunt‘s Southside lands at No. 4 with 15K. Brett Eldredge‘s Sunday Drive debuted at No. 5 with 14K in total consumption.

There were several more album debuts this week, including Margo Price‘s That’s How Rumors Get Started, which landed at No. 17 with 7.3K. Jimmie Allen‘s Bettie James debuted at No. 26 with 6.3K, while Ray Wylie Hubbard‘s Co-Starring… debuted at No. 67 with 3.9K in total consumption.

While the Top 5 on the country albums chart is a boys’ club this week, Gabby Barrett and Maren Morris top the Country Songs On-Demand Streaming Chart (their albums also sit at No. 7 and No. 8 on the country albums chart, respectively).

Barrett’s “I Hope” earned 8.4 million streams this week to top the chart, while Morris’ “The Bones” is at No. 2 with 7.9 million streams. Hunt’s “Hard To Forget” is at No. 3 with 7.8 million streams, followed by Luke Bryan‘s “One Margarita” with 7.3 million streams. Rounding out the Top 5 is Wallen’s “Chasin’ You” with 7.2 million streams.