The Deals: APA Nashville Signs ’90s Country Stars Doug Stone & Terry McBride, Exactuals Acquires Backlash
A list of notable music industry deals from the past two weeks, including APA Nashville's signing of country singer-songwriters Doug Stone and Terry McBride and Exactuals' acquisition of Backlash…
Country singer-songwriters Doug Stone and Terry McBride have signed with APA Nashville, the agency’s partner and co-head of worldwide concerts Steve Lassiter announced Feb. 6.
Stone has released a total of ten albums and is slated to release a new one, Mama’s Songbook, later this year. He has racked up a total of nine Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, three of which peaked at No. 1 on the chart.
McBride formerly fronted the country super group McBride & The Ride and wrote a total of 13 singles for Brooks & Dunn, including their Billboard Hot Country Songs No. 1 hit “Play Something Country.” He has also written songs for Garth Brooks?, Jon Pardi and Easton Corbin, among others. As an artist, he recently completed a new album, Rebels & Angels.
In a statement, Lassiter said both Stone and McBride “played a major role in the fantastic resurgence” of the country music genre in the 1990s. “We look forward to their continuing to make waves today,” he added.
The entertainment-focused payment processing firm Exactuals has acquired Backlash Solutions, a digital music company that helps labels, distributors and publishers manage their data and more effectively calculate royalties, it was announced Feb. 4. The acquisition will help provide an integrated end-to-end solution for Exactuals clients.
As part of the deal, Backlash president and CEO Joe DeCanio and his team will establish a New York City office for their new parent company. There, they will introduce and oversee a cloud-based system that will provide Backlash’s clients with a new method for calculating royalties and generating statements. Additionally, they will also work to streamline the process of submitting royalty payment data from any royalty system into PaymentHub, Exactual’s flagship product.
Founded in 2011 by CEO Mike Hurst, Exactuals was acquired by City National Bank in August 2018. It introduced the rights-tracking service R.AI in May 2018.
Louisiana-formed alternative rock band The Revelries has signed a development deal with EDGEOUT Records, the label revealed Tuesday (Feb. 18). The group — which consists of Beau Bailey, Logan Maggio, Jack Gonsoulin and John Lewis — is managed by Red Light Management and has a number of tour dates booked this spring.
“EDGEOUT Records is committed to discovering the next generation of rock artists,” said label chairman Tony Guanci in a statement. “We expect great things from the band.” EDGEOUT’s releases are distributed via Universal Music Group/UMe.
EDGEOUT co-founder and head of artist development/A&R Cheryl Benson-Guanci notes that The Revelries will be the first band with access to The Studio, a label initiative that offers artists resources to focus on their direction, songs, performance, personal wellness, artwork/logos and more while also teaching them the business aspects of the modern-day music industry.
Formed in the fall of 2016, The Revelries co-founders and former LSU classmates Bailey and Lewis gained a following while playing around Baton Rouge and ultimately began touring other areas of the Southeast U.S. Their music is described as “their version of high-energy, U.K. style Pop-Rock,” with influences including U2, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Kings of Leon and John Mayer. The group is preparing to record new music and is expected to release the results this summer.
Big Machine Label Group imprint The Valory Music Co. has signed country singer-songwriter Abbey Cone, the company announced Tuesday (Feb. 18).
Cone was recently named to CMT’s Next Women of Country 2020 class and has already collaborated with songwriters including Shane McAnally, Nicolle Gallyon and Laura Veltz. She is represented by Borman Entertainment and Missi Gallimore’s T.R.U.T.H. Management and agents Lenore Kinder and Mike Betterton at Paradigm.
“I’m always searching for uniqueness, individuality, vision, and a special star quality,” said Big Machine president and CEO Scott Borchetta in a statement. “In Abbey, we’ve found all of these attributes and more. From the first note of her music, I was IN. The songwriting, the voice, her incredible vision… this is a WOW. I’m so excited that Abbey chose Valory and the BMLG as her home. This is going to be a helluva ride.”
Country singer-songwriter Alexis Wilkins has signed with WME and artist management company the AMG, it was announced Feb. 6.
“It is rare to find a 21-year-old with such an established sense of who she is and what she wants to say,” said the AMG manager Kristy Reeves in a statement. “Alexis is fiercely dedicated to remaining true to her country roots and telling stories that speak to life, love, pain and everything in between.”
Wilkins is debuting new music via all digital outlets on Friday, March 6.
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