Nashville, TN (July 14, 2017) – Spirit Music Nashville today announced the appointment of Freeman Wizer to Senior Director of Creative, Spirit Music Nashville as announced today by Daniel Hill, President, Spirit Music Nashville and David Renzer, Chairman/CEO, Spirit Music Group.
“Freeman is a respected and well-liked creative executive in Nashville,” said Daniel Hill. “He brings a great combination of creative expertise, passion, experience, and energy to the Spirit Music Nashville team.
“I’m thrilled to be part of the Spirit Music Nashville team and see great things for Spirit on the horizon. Our company is growing quickly and there’s a tremendous vision for the future. I’m looking forward to complimenting that vision as we move forward”, said Freeman Wizer.
An Arkansas native with over 16 years publishing experience in Nashville, Wizer was previously with the Sea Gayle creative staff under the direction of Nashville hit producer, songwriter, and publishing executive, Frank Rogers (who now has a multi-faceted deal with Spirit Music Group). While at Sea Gayle, Wizer helped to secure cuts by Blake Shelton, Jerrod Niemann, Justin Moore and Toby Keith.
Prior to his work at Sea Gayle, Freeman Wizer worked at Universal Music Publishing Group under David Renzer’s leadership, where he landed a #1 song with Tim McGraw’s “One of Those Nights” and secured cuts by many mainstream artists including Kelly Clarkson, Darius Rucker, Jake Owen, Scotty McCreery, Kellie Pickler, Blake Shelton, and Rodney Atkins amongst others. Wizer joined the company as an intern in 2001 while he earned his BBA and MBA from Belmont University’s Music Business program. Wizer’s undergraduate internships also included stints at MCA Records, Almo-Irving Publishing, and Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI).
In his new role, Freeman will work with one of the hottest rosters in Nashville. In July of 2014, Spirit Music Group announced its acquisition of Cal IV Entertainment — the established and successful Nashville-based independent music publisher, production, and artist management company. The move marked Spirit’s first official presence on Music Row, bringing top writers, artists, and staff into the fold along with 25 number one copyrights and top ten singles.
Through the deal, Spirit became the publisher of an active writer roster including hit-makers Eric Paslay, Jim Collins and Rose Falcon. In addition, Spirit acquired the publishing rights to number one copyrights and numerous top ten singles including such hits as Faith Hill’s “Breathe,” Keith Urban’s “Stupid Boy,” Tim McGraw’s “Watch The Wind Blow By,” and Jason Aldean’s “Big Green Tractor,” as well as an extensive catalog of songs by former Cal IV writers such as Dave Berg (Billboard’s 2007 Country Songwriter of the Year, NSAI’s 2007 Songwriter of the Year, ASCAP’s 2008 Country Songwriter of the Year), Jim McBride, Odie Blackmon, Marla Cannon-Goodman, Trent Tomlinson, Holly Lamar, Georgia Middleman (Blue Sky Riders with Kenny Loggins and Gary Burr) and Ted Russell Kamp (Shooter Jennings), among many others.
Spirit next acquired the StyleSonic catalog, bringing another four No. 1 country hits to its portfolio as well as over fifteen Top 20 country songs spanning the last decade. The StyleSonic catalog includes some of today’s most popular songs in country music recorded by Nashville stars such as Tim McGraw, Dierks Bentley, Taylor Swift, and Martina McBride, to name a few.
In January 2016, Spirit further expanded its footprint in the country music space by striking a multi-faceted agreement with Frank Rogers (who has won Music Row’s Producer of the Year award three times) and acquired Rogers’ interest in copyrights of the respected Nashville publisher Sea Gayle Music which was named ASCAP Country Music Awards Publisher of the Year in 2010 and 2011, and features a catalog of 40 No. 1 hits along with an impressive roster of artists and writers. Rogers also formed a JV with Spirit and is bringing new talent to the company as well as having joined the company roster as a songwriter.
ABOUT SPIRIT MUSIC:
Spirit Music Group, founded in 1995, is one of the world’s leading independent music publishers, owning and/or managing more than 75,000 songs spanning seven decades and every musical genre. The company’s repertoire reflects some of the most beloved songs and songwriters of all time, including hits by Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Elvis Presley, Dion, Aretha Franklin, B.B. King, Santana, The Beach Boys, Barbra Streisand, Gladys Knight, Alice Cooper, Pure Prairie League, Chicago, Crosby, Stills & Nash, The Eagles, Brad Paisley, Chaka Khan, Anita Baker, The Go-Go’s, Madonna, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Mariah Carey, Jay-Z, Ricky Martin, Keith Urban, Usher, Dido, Jewel, Jason Aldean and Mary J. Blige; the complete catalogs of such iconic songwriters and writer/artists as Pete Townshend, Marc Bolan, Boz Scaggs, The Marshall Tucker Band, Toto, Billy Squier, Graham Nash, Joe Walsh, Charles Mingus, Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Henry Mancini, T.Bone Burnett, Rick Nowels, C&C Music Factory; and the breakthrough work of such newer artists as James Bay, John Newman, Chris Stapleton, Sam Hunt, Scissor Sisters, Matt & Kim, Kodaline, Zooey Deschanel, Eric Paslay, and Big Data.
Spirit has earned a strong reputation as an aggressive royalty administrator and a peerless promoter of its songs into film, television and advertising productions as well as a wide range of new media. In recent years, Spirit has helped transform the publisher’s role beyond royalty collection and song promotion to proactive career and legacy partnership by creating and executing marketing plans to revitalize its clients’ songs and expand their brands.
Spirit Music Group is headquartered in New York with offices in London, Los Angeles, Nashville and the Netherlands. Spirit is a portfolio company of Pegasus Capital Advisors, the New York-based private equity fund manager that has been providing creative capital and strategic solutions to growth companies since 1996.
