STATE OF THE STATE: BIG MACHINE LABEL GROUP
The House Borchetta Built at Big Machine enjoyed another enviable year in 2023, buoyed by a rock’n’roll rebrand from one of the most legendary country artists of all time, hits from its ever-growing roster of young talent and partnerships bearing fruit across multiple genres.
If you’d thought Dolly Parton had already done it all, one listen to her star-packed, 30-song Rockstar album, co-released with her Butterfly Records imprint, would quickly demonstrate the error of your ways. Both surviving Beatles covering “Let It Be” with assists from Mick Fleetwood and Peter Frampton? Check. Lizzo playing flute on a cover of “Stairway to Heaven” and the reclusive Steve Perry emerging for a rare spin on a Journey classic? They’re here too. No wonder Rockstar became the highest-charting solo studio LP of Dolly’s career, while also hitting #1 on both the Country and Rock tallies. What a way to make a living!
Tim McGraw didn’t have that kind of guest list on his own 2023 album Standing Room Only, but that didn’t deter it from becoming one of Big Machine’s biggest releases of the year (the title track also scored him an astonishing 60th top 10 at country radio).
Meanwhile, Carly Pearce crossed nine-figure streams with “What He Didn’t Do,” keeping its parent album, 29: Written in Stone, on the front burner two years after its release. Pearce also landed in the Country Top 20 with her Grammy-nominated Chris Stapleton collaboration “We Don’t Fight Anymore”—the perfect setup to her impending fourth studio album, due later this year.
Thomas Rhett racked up his 21st #1 with “Angels (Don’t Always Have Wings)” and another Top 10 hit with the Morgan Wallen-featuring “Mamaw’s House,” both from his aptly named collection 20 Number Ones. Rhett will also have a new album out in 2024; his six prior full-lengths have debuted no lower than #2. No wonder he was BMLG’s most streamed artist of last year.
Beyond new projects from Brian Kelley, Midland and Daughtry, Borchetta and team are on-boarding fresh signings such as Mae Estes, Chase McDaniel, LECADE, Greylan James, Dylan Matthew and Lillian Hepler, many of whom have strong pre-existing fanbases fueled by streaming.
Indie-pop breakout Matthew was the first signing to BMLG’s new imprint with Hard 8 Working Group, dubbed Hard Working Record Company, and enjoyed substantial streaming numbers for his latest EP, no rain, no flowers. Elsewhere, Smoky Mountains, the debut LP from Valory-signed Conner Smith, is off to a hot start thanks to streaming monsters “Take It Slow” and “Creek Will Rise.”
BMLG itself has also enjoyed internal growth, with former EVP of label operations Mike Rittberg having been promoted to COO and former Big Machine Records GM Clay Hunnicutt taking over Rittberg’s former duties. Their deep institutional knowledge is already helping the company move more quickly and efficiently—which has to be music to the ears of racing fanatic Borchetta.
