Janine Appleton Ebach

Mike Curb has announced the formation of Curb | Word Music Publishing. This entity will combine the music publishing enterprises Curb Music Publishing, Word Music Publishing and Wordcountry into one powerhouse company.

Janine Appleton Ebach, who is currently the Head of Wordcounty, will be elevated to the position of Vice President of Curb | Word Music Publishing. She will report to Josh Bailey, SVP A&R & Publishing for Curb | Word Entertainment and Jim Ed Norman, CEO, Recorded Music and Publishing for Curb | Word Entertainment.

“We are very fortunate to have Janine leading this team. She’s achieved tremendous success with Wordcountry and I’m confident that success will continue on as we further unite the Curb and Word teams,” comments Mike Curb, Chairman of Curb | Word Entertainment.

“The success of Wordcountry speaks directly to Janine’s remarkable leadership ability. Her keen creative sense and her strong artist relations skills make her a perfect fit for Curb | Word combined venture. The same creative spirit that led to her phenomenal success with Wordcountry will no doubt inform her new role with Curb | Word Music Publishing,” comments Jim Ed Norman.

A native of Missouri, Appleton joined Word Music Publishing in 2013, after spending 7+ years at THIS Music Publishing as Creative Director. In September of 2017, she was instrumental in the creation of Word’s extraordinarily successful Country division, Wordcountry.

Since its inception and under Appleton’s direction, Wordcountry has had cuts in multiple genres, along with three No. 1 Country Singles, most recently the Gold-certified song “Singles You Up” (Jordan Davis); Platinum-certified “Sleep Without You” (Brett Young) and “Heartache On The Dance Floor” (John Pardi).

Wordcountry also has current singles on the charts by Trent Harmon & Danielle Bradbery and several others due in the coming months.

“I’m extremely humbled and excited to expand my current role from Head of Wordcountry to VP of Curb | Word Music Publishing. I’m honored to lead and combine these great publishing companies into one joint force. There are many talented writers and artists on both rosters that I will now have the privilege to represent, and I look forward to celebrating many successes as a unit in this new season for Curb | Word Publishing,” comments Appleton.

Reporting to Appleton will be Colt Murski, Senior Creative Director and Nina Jenkins, Creative Manager.

Appleton earned a Music Business degree from the Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business at Belmont University. She is a current nominee for the 2018 AIMP ‘Song Champion of the Year’ and is an active member of the W.O. Smith School Board.

Pictured (Front row, L-R): Ben Vaughn (WC), busbee, T.D. Ruth (Keller Turner Ruth Andrews & Ghanem). (Back row, L-R): all WC – Steve Butler, Travis Carter, Alicia Pruitt, Jessi Vaughn, Alison Junker, Will Overton, Katie Jelen (synch), BJ Hill, Ryan Beuschel

busbee has signed a worldwide publishing agreement with Warner/Chappell Music. The writer and producer known for his genre-bending talents has collaborated with a broad range of artists, including Shakira, Usher, Lady Antebellum, Jon Bellion, Blake Shelton, Timbaland, 5 Seconds of Summer, Keith Urban, and Jason Aldean, among others. He was previously signed to BMG.

“busbee is a visionary whose experimental approach to songwriting will fit in perfectly at Warner/Chappell, ” said Jon Platt, CEO of Warner/Chappell Music. “With the support of Katy Wolaver, Ben Vaughn, and our entire global team I’m confident that he will push boundaries and deliver global hits across a mix of genres.”

In 2017, busbee received a BMI Song of the Year award for co-writing Florida Georgia Line’s No. 1 hit, “H.O.L.Y.” He also co-produced Grammy-winning artist Maren Morris’ breakthrough album, Hero, and co-wrote her first two hit singles, “My Church” and “80s Mercedes.” busbee also co-wrote Carrie Underwood’s “The Fighter” with Keith Urban which he won an ACM Award for last month, and produced Lady Antebellum’s 2017 Grammy-nominated album, Heart Break, co-writing six songs, including the hit single, “You Look Good.” Additionally, busbee produced and contributed to songs on the breakout albums from emerging country stars Lauren Alaina (Road Less Traveled) and Carly Pearce (Every Little Thing), having written Pearce’s breakout single of the same name, which made her the only female to debut at No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart in 2017.

He also co-wrote and co-produced Rachel Platten’s “Collide”; co-wrote and produced P!nk’s “Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken” and co-produced Gwen Stefani’s recent holiday album, You Make It Feel Like Christmas, co-writing all six of the original songs. Other notable busbee hits include “Try” by P!nk, “Dark Side” by Kelly Clarkson, and numerous other top ten singles. His recent collaborations include Jon Bellion, Justin Tranter, James Arthur, Lady Antebellum, Missio, and Maren Morris for her forthcoming project.

“Warner/Chappell feels like home. From my early meetings with the creative teams in L.A. and Nashville to my interactions with executives at every level, I can confidently say it is not only the best fit for me as a creative but it’s also the best place to grow my business,” said busbee. Adding, “They have the reach, wisdom and integrity to elevate careers within all viable markets – it’s no surprise they continue to be the premier publisher in the world, year after year. I’m honored to be partnering with Warner/Chappell.”