NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) – Spirit Music Group (SMG), a leading independent music publishing company, has promoted Frank Rogers to Chief Creative Officer (CCO), Spirit Music Group, and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Spirit Music Nashville. Rogers will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of SMG’s global roster and creative activities and continuing to oversee Spirit Music Nashville’s operational activities. Rogers will be based in Music City.
“I’m confident Frank is the right person to lead Spirit Music Group’s global creative team in this next exciting chapter. Frank brings a wealth of experience to our business, both as a multi-platinum songwriter/music producer in his own right and as a highly accomplished music publishing executive with a proven history of delivering hit after hit with our roster. We are thrilled to provide Spirit Music Group’s global roster of artists, songwriters, and producers of every genre with the very best in executive talent and a creative executive at the helm who knows how to build business and careers for our writers. What Frank has accomplished with Spirit Music Nashville is a great example of what a music publishing community firing on all cylinders can accomplish. We look forward to seeing him apply his creative strategy throughout our global offices,” said Jon Singer, Chairman, Spirit Music Group.
“Frank’s experience speaks for itself. He’s a consummate music publishing executive and a true music man who understands every facet of the music publishing business. We are thrilled that Frank has chosen to continue building on his history of success with Spirit Music Group,” said Joe Borrino, Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Spirit Music Group.
Rogers is a multi-platinum producer and songwriter who has produced 44 No. 1 singles, over 80 Top 20 singles, and over 60 RIAA certified multi-platinum/platinum/gold records or singles for artists that include Trace Adkins, Brad Paisley, Darius Rucker, Carrie Underwood, Dolly Parton, Alison Krauss, Scotty McCreery and more.
Rogers has 18 Country Music Association (CMA) Award nominations, complete with one win, and 27 American Country Music (ACM) Award nominations, with five wins. He has produced 17 Grammy-nominated songs and albums, including four winners.
Rogers has co-written numerous No. 1 songs such as: “I’m Gonna Miss Her” (Brad Paisley); “Alright,” and “This” (Darius Rucker); “Five More Minutes,” “This Is It,” “In Between,” “You Time” (Scotty McCreery); and “Backroad Song” (Granger Smith). Many artists have recorded his songs, including Chris Stapleton, Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, Kenny Rogers, Clint Black, Lee Brice, Kid Rock, Matthew West, and more.
SMG formed a multi-faceted deal with Rogers and his company Fluid Music Revolution in 2016, forming the Spirit/Fluid joint venture. Spirit acquired Rogers’ one-third interest in particular copyrights of the respected Sea Gayle Music. The deal also leveraged Rogers’ considerable executive abilities and creative talent. Spirit’s venture with Rogers empowered him to bring new artists, producers, and writers to the company. He also joined Spirit’s roster as a songwriter, and the company exclusively administers all of his new compositions worldwide. In 2019, SMG appointed Rogers CEO of Spirit Music Nashville.
The promotion of Rogers follows a year of growth for the Country Music Nashville team. This includes nine No. 1 singles, ten Top 10 singles, 11 Top 30 songs in 2021, and ACM Single of the Year “I Hope You’re Happy Now” with Carly Pearce and Lee Brice and Album of the Year – Starting Over by Chris Stapleton.
During his time at SMG, Rogers announced the acquisition of Tim McGraw’s No. 1 Grammy-winning hit “Highway Don’t Care” (No. 1 Country Airplay, CMA and ACM “Video of the Year” and American Country Awards Song of the Year and Collaborative Single of the Year) as well as his No. 1 single “Humble and Kind” (Best Country Song Grammy, CMT Video of the Year, CMA Song of the Year, and AMA Favorite Country Song).
SMG has also announced the acquisition of the artist’s portion of the masters for Jason Aldean. The deal includes nine albums, twenty-four No. 1 songs, thirty-four Top 10 songs, and six RIAA-certified Platinum albums. The acquisition also included neighboring rights and SoundExchange royalties. Broken Bow Records (BBR) retains its catalog rights and certain distribution rights. Aldean is an exclusive recording artist with BBR.
Under Rogers’ guidance, Spirit Music Nashville also acquired a portion of the publishing catalog of No. 1 hit songwriters Jonathan Singleton and 4-time Grammy winner David Garcia. Rogers also secured high-profile signings with Joy Williams (4x Grammy winner); Nathan Barlowe (whose songs have been recorded by Taylor Swift, Steven Tyler, and Keith Urban); and many more.
Rogers received his music business degree from Belmont University, where he met a friend and future collaborator, Brad Paisley. Rogers and his wife Jessica recently made a $50,000 scholarship endowment possible at Belmont University’s Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business.
