Music News (04/10/24)

Tofer Brown Extends Deal With Concord Music Publishing [Exclusive]

Tofer Brown

Hit songwriter-producer Tofer Brown has extended his partnership with Concord Music Publishing.

Brown is a producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose catalog boasts over 150 recorded songs, including Jon Pardi’s three times-Platinum “Night Shift,” Little Big Town’s double-Platinum single “Wine, Beer, Whiskey” and Lady A’s “Ocean,” as well as over 100 sync placements across TV and film. The multi-genre creator has had songs cut by artists including Walker Hayes, Lauren Daigle, Jason Mraz, Tim McGraw, Keith Urban, Matt Nathanson, Tyler Hubbard, Carly Pearce and many others.

Currently, Brown is on the country charts as a co-writer of “Can’t Break Up Now” by Old Dominion and Megan Moroney, which the two recently performed on the CMT Music Awards. He is also a co-writer and producer on Ruelle’s “War of Hearts” that just crossed 150 million streams on Spotify.

“There’s a lot of great publishers in Nashville, but Concord has always embraced my desire to want to work in multiple genres and different styles,” he tells MusicRow. “They understand sync and pop, and working with global artists. I’ve always appreciated their understanding that there’s more music outside of Nashville, too. As much as they celebrate this town, they know there’s more beyond.”

Young Guns Publishing Extends Deal With Ben Stennis

Pictured (L-R): Laurie Gore (Young Guns Publishing Creative/Admin Assistant), Laura Alexander (Young Guns Publishing SVP, Creative), Ben Stennis, Will Hamrick (Young Guns Publishing CEO) and Jason Turner (Keller Turner Andrews & Ghanem, PLLC). Photo: Mary Craven Photography

Young Guns Publishing has extended its worldwide exclusive publishing deal with award-winning songwriter Ben Stennis.

The writer and producer is a BMI Award winner with his songs recorded and released by artists such as Morgan Wallen, Jason Aldean, Florida Georgia Line, Tim McGraw, Jake Owen, Justin Moore, High Valley, Ronnie Dunn, X Ambassadors and more. Stennis co-wrote Cody Johnson’s Grammy Award-winning multi-week No. 1 “‘Til You Can’t,” which also earned CMA Single of the Year and MusicRow Song of the Year.

He also is a co-writer on new releases including Matt Stell’s “Breakin’ in Boots” and Bailey Zimmerman’s “Holy Smokes.”

“Young Guns Publishing is home to me. I believe in them, and they believe in me,” shares Stennis. “Will Hamrick is about as solid as a human being as you’ll find, and Laura Alexander is an absolute boss. I’m thankful for this crew and feel incredibly blessed to get to do what I love for a living.”

“I have had the pleasure of working with Ben for 10 years now and he never ceases to amaze me on a professional, but most importantly, a personal level” shares Hamrick, Young Guns Publishing CEO. “Ben is someone that our team at YGP looks up to tremendously. Laura and I couldn’t be happier to continue to work with him and see what his future holds.”

BMI Launches New Nashville-Based Affiliate Customer Service Department

Erin Crawford. Photo: Nathan Zucker

BMI has launched a new call center as part of a broader growth plan to enhance its overall affiliate customer service experience. A new phone system is in place with a centralized toll-free number (844-BMI-4255).

BMI’s newly-promoted AVP of Affiliate Customer Service Experience Erin Crawford is spearheading the new Nashville-based customer service department.

Crawford’s promotion was the first step in BMI’s multi-phased initiative to modernize and enhance the customer service experience for affiliates. According to BMI, callers can expect quicker response times and call routing, so inquiries go to the appropriate case specialist, and call monitoring to ensure that quality standards are consistently met.

The call center team is expected to be fully staffed by June. It will include bilingual agents, and will handle initial affiliate inquiries, while multiple case specialists will also be available to address more detailed royalty administration questions. The team is currently available from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. CT, with plans in place for operating hours to expand later this year.

BMI is also working on a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform, building an affiliate self-service portal and deploying a chat function to better handle incoming calls and questions.