BMG WELCOMES ITS ARTISTS, SONGWRITERS AND MUSIC CITY TO NEW STATE-OF-THE-ART COMPLEX IN NASHVILLEBMG has officially opened its brand-new, state-of-the-art Nashville complex to its artists, songwriters, and the Music City community. The move brings together BMG’s Nashville recordings operation BBR Music Group (formerly housed at 65 Music Sq. W), BMG’s publishing operation (formerly housed at 29 Music Sq.
E), and BMG’s copyright and royalties operations all under one roof, operating off the same platform, at 1 Music Circle South, Suite 500, Nashville, TN. The move comes 10 years after the new BMG first established a base in Nashville with the acquisition of Crosstown Songs. Considered as a standalone BMG territory, BMG Nashville is now the company’s third biggest worldwide, after Los Angeles and the UK, but ahead of Germany.
The newly developed 36,000 square foot, two-floor, full-service music facility maintains an impressive presence in the heart of Nashville’s historic district on Music Row and now sits alongside BMG’s US hubs in Los Angeles and New York. Designed to provide BMG’s employees, artists, and songwriters a more efficient, modern, comfortable and collaborative environment, the facility combines both indoor/outdoor working space?and sophisticated?interior design elements with significant nods to industrial architectural style. Key design components of the collective floor plan include seven fully equipped/top-of-the-line songwriter/recording rooms, multiple live performance areas, four state-of-the-art A/V meeting spaces and conference rooms, optimized individual listening rooms, as well as a large communal outside area and terrace to be utilized for live events.
BMG launched its successful Nashville-based music publishing operation in 2009. In the years that followed, BMG has developed a diverse roster of acclaimed, hit songwriters including Hillary Lindsey, Margo Price, Carly Pearce, Shy Carter, Russell Dickerson, Scooter Carusoe, Justin Wilson, among many others. Acquired in 2017, BBR Music Group was BMG’s single largest acquisition in the recordings business since its launch in 2008.
BBR Music Group and its associated labels – Broken Bow Records, Wheelhouse Records and Stoney Creek Records – boast a chart-topping artist roster featuring Jason Aldean, Dustin Lynch, Chase Rice, Randy Houser, Billy Ray Cyrus, Lindsey Ell, and Granger Smith alongside up-and-coming developing acts Jimmie Allen, King Calaway, Runaway June, and Blanco Brown, among others. BMG CEO Hartwig Masuch said, “The significant investment we’ve made and continue to make in country music, expresses how important Nashville is to BMG. We will continue to champion our songwriters and artists inside and outside of Nashville and develop opportunities and growth for our artist’s careers both in the US and internationally.” Jon Loba, EVP Recorded Music, Nashville, said, “In the short two-and-a-half years since BBR Music Group became BMG, the development and growth has been absolutely phenomenal.
The goals we set forth are not only being achieved but surpassed. Country music is one of the most dynamic genres in the world and BMG has the team and global platform to deliver not only in the US, but internationally. We’re offering a new route to the worldwide market. “BMG’s Nashville operation has grown from 20 staffers dedicated to publishing to nearly 100 employees evenly split across publishing, recordings, and operations overseeing all aspects of BMG’s business including A&R, Accounting, Administration, Income Tracking, Marketing, Publicity, Radio Promotion, Royalties, and Synch Licensing.
Kos Weaver, EVP BMG Nashville, said, “The new Nashville set-up typifies the BMG approach. It’s a thrill being in an environment where you have writers working on a song in one room, the creative A&R team just outside those doors, an impressive full-service record label just beyond that, and a world-class administrative team all seamlessly integrated in the same office.” In addition to its recordings and publishing operations, BMG’s Nashville facility now serves as the central hub for BMG’s US copyright and royalties team led by Eric Scott, SVP, Rights Administration and Royalty Services, responsible for overseeing publishing royalties, master royalties, mechanical licensing, and copyright administration. Scott said, “Nashville is the operational heart of BMG in the US, serving not just the Nashville operation but LA and New York too.
We are delighted to be united with the frontline recordings and publishing teams in a single space with all the benefits that brings. “The relocation project was overseen by Ulrike Benn, BMG’s Vice President of Operations, North America, who said, “We are incredibly proud of our new complex in Nashville. It’s a new landmark both for BMG and for Nashville.”Design was led by Trent Sullivan at architecture firm Lines, Inc.