Music News (10/14/26)

MusicRow Magazine Releases 2026 Publisher Print Issue

MusicRow Magazine, Nashville’s leading music industry publication, has released its 2026 Publisher Issue print edition, with MCA’s Luke Bryan gracing its cover.

During his career, Bryan has amassed 27.2 billion global streams, 12 million global album sales, and more than 48 million track sales worldwide. He has 132 million in total RIAA certification units, including 19.5 million in album certifications and 112.5 million in single certifications. Bryan was honored with the SoundExchange Hall of Fame Award in recognition of his standing as one of the most-streamed artists in the organization’s 20-year history. He has garnered 32 No. 1 singles, 17 of which he co-wrote, and he’s accumulated 58 total weeks at No. 1 during his career. He has sold 20 million concert tickets throughout his career.

Bryan has co-hosted the ACM Awards five times and the CMA Awards four times, and has won more than 50 major music awards, including five Entertainer of the Year awards. Additional honors include six CMT Artist of the Year recognitions, NSAI Artist/Songwriter of the Year, the first-ever recipient of the ACM Album of the Decade Award for Crash My Party, seven CMT Music Awards, five Billboard Music Awards, and four American Music Awards—as well as being named Billboard’s Top Country Artist of the 2010s, the Most Heard Artist of the Decade by Country Aircheck, and Artist Humanitarian Recipient by the Country Radio Broadcasters, and receiving the ACM Lifting Lives Award for his devotion to improving lives through the power of music.

The 2026 Publisher Issue is a highly-anticipated annual resource that includes the updated Publisher Directory, a listing of Nashville’s top publishing companies, as well as organizations available for songwriters. It also contains exclusive features that spotlight the songwriting and publishing segment of the Nashville music industry.

“As I reflect on this year’s Publisher Print Issue and our music publishing community, Dolly’s catalog is a reminder of what a songwriter creates,” says Sherod Robertson, Owner/Publisher of MusicRow Magazine. “Like her, songwriters write songs sturdy enough to outlast trends, outlast lifetimes and keep finding new audiences generations later. That’s the same work happening every day in our business, with songwriters, publishers and executives whose creativity and dedication form the foundation of this industry.”

Back again in the 2026 Publisher Issue is the State of the Union roundtable, this time featuring Little Louder Music’s Arturo Buenahora, Warner Chappell Music Nashville’s Austen Adams, UMPG Nashville’s Chandler Thurston, Back Blocks Music’s Kirby Mathews and Sony Music Publishing Nashville’s Tom Luteran.

Also, in this issue is a tribute to the late Dolly Parton, who died on Aug. 25 in Nashville.

Elsewhere, leaders at Big Machine Music, Hybe, Me Gusta Music and Round Hill Music share insights into the world of sync licensing. Nate Lowery talks about carrying the legacy of Brett James through the future of Cornman Music. Additionally, multi-platinum producer, songwriter, publisher and music executive Frank Rogers shares his My Music Row Story.

MusicRow’s 2026 Publisher Issue also highlights the work and careers of some of the most in-demand songwriters, including Warner Chappell’s Amy Allen, Concord’s Chris LaCorte, UMPG Nashville’s Jacob Davis, Sony Music Publishing’s Trannie Anderson and Boom Music Group’s (admin. Warner Chappell) Zach John King.

Single copies of MusicRow’s 2026 Publisher Issue are available for purchase at musicrow.com for $50, and are included with yearly MusicRow subscriptions.

 

BMI To Honor Jeffrey Steele With BMI Icon Award

BMI will honor Jeffrey Steele by naming him a BMI Icon during the upcoming 74th annual BMI Country Awards.

“Jeffrey Steele is a titan of modern storytelling whose catalog has shaped the sound of country music over the last three decades,” shares BMI’s Nashville VP of Creative, Clay Bradley. “When you hear one of his anthems that has become the soundtrack to millions of lives, you can feel the emotion behind every lyric. As a two-time BMI Country Songwriter of the Year and an intentional mentor to the next generation of creators, Steele has earned a permanent place among the greats.”

Since Steele’s affiliation with BMI in 1981, the multi-Platinum songwriter, singer and producer has earned more than 60 chart-topping hits and received more than 34 BMI Country and Pop Awards for his extensive catalog that includes iconic songs like Tim McGraw’s “The Cowboy in Me” along with Rascal Flatts’ “What Hurts the Most,” “My Wish,” and “These Days” as well as Keith Urban’s “Raise ‘Em Up” featuring Eric Church, Zac Brown Band’s “Knee Deep,” Van Zant’s “Help Somebody,” Montgomery Gentry’s “Something to Be Proud Of” and “My Town.” The seven-time Grammy nominee has been inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and was honored by the Country Music Hall of Fame as a “Poet and Prophet.”

During the invitation-only event in November, BMI will also reveal the Country Songwriter of the Year, Country Song of the Year and Country Publisher of the Year, while celebrating the top songwriters and music publishers behind this past year’s 50 most-performed songs in country music.

Songwriter Rory Bourke Passes

Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Rory Bourke has died at age 84.

Bourke is noted for co-writing such country standards as Charlie Rich’s “The Most Beautiful Girl,” George Strait’s “You Look So Good in Love” and Anne Murray’s “A Little Good News.” Between 1972 and 2015, there were 61 charted versions of his songs, 42 of which became top-20 successes. Also among those songs were 29 top-10 hits and 10 No. 1 smashes.

Rory Michael Bourke was born in Cleveland, Ohio. As a youngster, he was fascinated by movie musicals, which led him to imagine a career in the music industry. Following college, he headed for Nashville in 1964.

He entered the country-music business as a promotion executive at Mercury Records on Music Row. But he yearned to become part of Nashville’s songwriting community. He met Eddie Rabbitt (1941-1998), who was also an aspiring songwriter at the time. They co-wrote “Patch It Up,” which Elvis Presley recorded in 1970 and “Captured,” which later became a 1974 Terry Stafford single.

Bourke quit his dependable job and decided to plunge into songwriting full-time. He was determined to succeed, no matter what. “There was no Plan B,” he recalled. Publishers Don Gant and Henry Hurt encouraged him, and the latter signed him to Chappell Music as a staff songwriter in 1971. The following year, Mel Tillis sang Bourke’s co-written “Neon Rose,” and it became the fledgling songwriter’s first top-10 success.

Bourke teamed up with songwriter Norro Wilson and producer Billy Sherrill to craft “The Most Beautiful Girl,’ which became a No. 1 smash for Charlie Rich in 1973. The ballad sold a million; topped the pop, country and easy-listening charts; and became an international hit on German, Irish, French, Canadian, Dutch, Belgian, Australian, and Norwegian charts.

Although chiefly known as a songwriting collaborator, Bourke wrote solo songs that became chart entries for Bobby Borchers, Johnny Carver, Ronnie Prophet, Kim Charles and Lynn Anderson during his early songwriting years.

Teaming with others, he was responsible for top-10 hits by Billy “Crash” Craddock, Mickey Gilley, and Cristy Lane during the 1970s.

Rory Bourke’s most successful and prolific songwriting collaborator was fellow Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame member Charlie Black (1949-2021). In 1979, the new team had a No. 1 hit when Anne Murray recorded their “Shadows In the Moonlight.”

The Black/Bourke partnership continued to find success in the 1980s. Sometimes as a songwriting duo and sometimes with added collaborators, they provided Murray with “Lucky Me” (1980), “Blessed Are the Believers” (1981), “Another Sleepless Night” (1982), and “A Little Good News” (1983). The last named won the CMA Single of the Year and earned Murray a country-vocal Grammy Award. Bourke and Black were also credited on “I Know a Heartache When I See One” (Jennifer Warnes, 1979) and “Do You Love As Good As You Look” (The Bellamy Brothers, 1981).

Rory Bourke was noted for mentoring up-and-coming tunesmiths. When singer-songwriter K.T. Oslin (1942-2020) arrived on the Nashville scene, Bourke collaborated with her on “Round the Clock Lovin’” (Gail Davies, 1982) and “Lonely But Only for You” (Sissy Spacek, 1983), as well as on Oslin’s own singles “Two Hearts” (1990) and the chart-topping “Come Next Monday” (1990).

Mike Reid was another of Bourke’s frequent collaborators. They co-wrote Ronnie Milsap’s No. 1 hit “Where Do the Nights Go” (1987), Tanya Tucker’s “It’s Only Over for You” (1987), Don Williams’s “I Wouldn’t Be a Man” (1987), Gene Watson’s “Back in the Fire” (1989), and Lorrie Morgan’s “He Talks to Me” (1990).

Working with a variety of other cowriters during the 1980s, Bourke’s credits also included such major hits as “You Look So Good In Love” (George Strait, 1983), “Baby I Lied” (Deborah Allen, 1983), “Let’s Stop Talkin’ About It” (Janie Fricke, 1984), and “Too Good to Stop Now” (Mickey Gilley, 1984).

In recognition of his outstanding song catalog, Rory Michael Bourke was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1989.

His songwriting success continued into the 1990s. Bourke’s co-written hits in the decade included “I Couldn’t See You Leaving” (Conway Twitty, 1991), “Tender Moment” (Lee Roy Parnell, 1993), “Little Red Rodeo” (Collin Raye, 1997), and “Bye-Bye” (Jo Dee Messina, 1998).

Rory Bourke and Phil Vassar co-wrote “Carlene” (2000), which became Bourke’s last top-10 songwriting hit to date. In 2010, Josh Turner revived Bourke’s co-written “I Wouldn’t Be a Man.” In 2014, The Voice TV-competition winner Craig Wayne Boyd revived “You Look So Good In Love.” Others who have recorded his cowritten songs include Gary Stewart, Jeanne Pruett, Con Hunley, Louise Mandrell, Johnny Rodriguez, Crystal Gayle, Tommy Overstreet, and Shelby Lynne, among others.

During his hit-studded career, Bourke was named ASCAP’s Country Songwriter of the Year in 1975, 1979, and 1983. He earned 11 BMI Awards and 45 ASCAP performance awards.

Rory Michael Bourke passed away on Saturday, Oct. 10. Funeral arrangements have not been announced.

 

Matt McKinney Inks With Back Row Publishing

Matt McKinney has signed with Back Row Publishing.

Born and raised in Augusta, Georgia, McKinney has earned cuts with Tim McGraw, Ella Langley, Jordan Davis, Jon Pardi, Elle King, ERNEST, Trey Lewis and Lukas Nelson.

“I’m excited for the future,” says McKinney. “Also, very thankful for the opportunity to continue my career with Taylor, Lindsay, and Mike playing a large role creatively.”

“I can speak for the entire Back Row team, that we are proud to have Matt on board,” adds Taylor Antle, Director A&R, Back Row Publishing. “Not only is Matt an incredible songwriter with authentic versatility, but his incredible work ethic and great attitude is second to none.

Category: Music News