Nashville, TN (March 21, 2018) – Spirit Music Nashville continues its aggressive push to expand its presence in country music with Spirit’s acquisition of Monty Criswell’s Dixey Bar Music catalog, and a worldwide publishing agreement with Criswell and Spirit/Fluid Music Revolution, as announced today by David Renzer, Chairman / CEO, Spirit Music Group; Jon Singer, COO/CFO, Spirit Music Group; Frank Rogers, President, Fluid Music Revolution; and Daniel Hill, President, Spirit Music Nashville. Criswell’s catalog includes multiple Gold-certified and chart-topping songs that have been recorded by some of the biggest names in country music.
“Everyone here at Spirit is a huge fan of Monty’s work,” said David Renzer. “He’s a top level writer and we’re thrilled that he has chosen Spirit/Fluid as the home for both his great catalog as well as his future songwriting.”
“Writers like Monty don’t come around that often and we are honored that Monty has chosen Spirit/Fluid as his partner to create more great music together for years to come!” said Jon Singer.
“Fluid Music Revolution and Spirit Music Nashville are thrilled to be able to partner with Monty Criswell for the next chapter of his already impressive songwriting career,” said Frank Rogers. “Monty is an amazing talent and his passion for songwriting is contagious. This is going to be a fun ride!”
“I’m excited to begin this new chapter in my writing career with the two powerhouse teams of Spirit and Fluid Music Revolution. Their roster, creativity and outside-the-box thinking make for the perfect partnership,” said Monty Criswell.
Monty Criswell has written some of the most popular and successful songs in the last decade of country music. As part of its acquisition of his catalog, Spirit now publishes recent hits including No. 1 Gold-certified single “Five More Minutes” by Scotty McCreery; Top 10 Gold-certified single “Like Jesus Does” by Eric Church; and Top 10 single “Just Fishin’” by Trace Adkins, which was also nominated for a Grammy for Best Country Song.
Songs in Criswell’s catalog have been recorded by artists including George Strait, Darius Rucker, Blake Shelton, Michael Ray, Chris Young, Kenny Chesney, Jake Owen, Josh Turner, Drake White, Joe Nichols, Mark Wills, Craig Morgan, Love and Theft, Justin Moore, Brantley Gilbert, Rodney Adkins, and Mark Chesnutt, among many others.
In 2014, Spirit Music Group acquired Nashville-based independent music publisher, production, and artist management company Cal IV Entertainment. 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 and acquired the publishing rights to number one copyrights and numerous top ten singles including hits like 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 four more 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 2016, Spirit continued its country music expansion with a multi-faceted agreement with Nashville hit producer, songwriter, and publishing executive Frank Rogers (who has won Music Row’s Producer of the Year award three times). Through the agreement, Spirit 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, joining the company roster as a songwriter and bringing new talent to the company.
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, The Naked & Famous, 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.
