STATE OF THE STATE: WARNER MUSIC NASHVILLE

Ben Kline and Cris Lacy continue to shape the evolution of the new WMN, with Cody Johnson leading the charge. Johnson, the very model of a modern country star, has earned big streams and a gold certification with Human: The Double Album (876k in ATD; 4.6b RTD U.S. streams) and is selling tons of tickets.

Bailey Zimmerman, meanwhile, has emerged as one of the most impactful of the new singer-songwriters, hitting 1.6m in ATD with Religiously and scoring double-platinum certifications for “Fall in Love” (2.45m ATD) and “Rock and a Hard Place” (5.5m), with 2.6b RTD streams. The last year has seen continued big activity for WMN’s strong roster, which includes heavy hitters Cole Swindell (triple platinum for “She Had Me at Heads Carolina,” 921k ATD on Stereotype), Dan + Shay (double platinum for their self-titled album, 8x platinum for “Tequila”), Gabby Barrett (7x platinum for “I Hope”), Blake Shelton (8.2b streams), Kenny Chesney (7.8b RTD streams) and Zac Brown Band (gold for “Same Boat” and 6.9b RTD streams). The team also made serious inroads with emerging stars Ian Munsick (gold for “Long Haul” and the Cody Johnson duet “Long Live Cowgirls”) and Morgan Evans (platinum for “Kiss Somebody”; gold for “Day Drunk”). In tandem with Warner Records, meanwhile, team WMN is psyched about new signing The Castellows.

The label’s team has filled out, with SVP A&R Stephanie Wright joining the crew and four key promotions: Kristen Williams ascended to SVP of radio and commercial partnerships and Mike Dupree was upped to SVP, creative director, while Stephanie Davenport and Rohan Kohli moved up to VP spots in the A&R department.

Expect 2024 albums from Zimmerman, Johnson and Chesney as well as the hotly anticipated debut by Avery Anna and what the team calls “a Christmas surprise or two.” We imagine Kline, Lacy and company will find a lot more goodies under their tree by then.