Executive Team Extends Tenure with Independent Publishing Powerhouse
Pictured (L-R): Vice President Alex Heddle, Creative Coordinator Lizzy Gallatin, General Manager Mike Molinar, Creative Director Michelle Attardi, Sr. Director of Royalties and FinanceGrayson Stephens; not pictured: Catalog Manager Taylor Courtney
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Photo Credit: Alex Ferrari
Photo Credit: Alex Ferrari
NASHVILLE TN (June 8, 2020) – Since launching in 2012, BIG MACHINE MUSIC has become “a major player in Music City” (Billboard). The leading independent music publisher celebrates their eighth anniversary this month with a milestone chart-topper and leadership advancements. General Manager Mike Molinar and Vice President Alex Heddle have extended their tenures with the company while Grayson Stephens rises to Sr. Director of Royalties and Finance.
“What Big Machine Music has become in just eight short years is nothing short of amazing,” said Big Machine Label Group President/CEO Scott Borchetta. “Rising from the spark of an idea and a desire to ‘do it ourselves,’ all the way to an industry-leading powerhouse, Mike Molinar has built a publishing company to be reckoned with every day of the week. A sincere and heartfelt congratulations to Mike, Alex, Grayson and the entire BMM team for a job extremely well done.”
The announcement comes as BMM celebrates their 30th No. 1 with Luke Combs’ “Does To Me” featuring Eric Church and 33 consecutive weeks atop Billboard’s Hot Country Songs Chart – thanks to crossover smashes – Maren Morris’ “The Bones” (Laura Veltz) plus Dan + Shay and Justin Bieber’s “10,000 Hours” (Jessie Jo Dillon). Previous BMM catalog No. 1 singles are “Sleep Without You,” “In Case You Didn’t Know,” “Like I Loved You,” “Mercy,” “Here Tonight” and “Catch” (Young); “Hurricane,” “When It Rains It Pours,” “One Number Away,” “She Got The Best of Me,” “Beautiful Crazy,” “Even Though I’m Leaving” (Combs); “Beer Never Broke My Heart” (Combs, Jonathan Singleton); “Yours If You Want It” and “A Guy Walks Into A Bar” (Singleton); “I’ll Name The Dogs,” “Any Ol’ Barstool” and “Drowns The Whiskey” (Josh Thompson); “The Ones That Didn’t Make It Back Home,” “Til My Last Day” and “Lettin’ The Night Roll” (Justin Moore); “I Could Use A Love Song,” “What If I Never Get Over You” and “Speechless” (Veltz); “Break Up In The End” (Dillon); “Girl In A Country Song” (Maddie & Tae); “Sunrise, Sunburn, Sunset” (Ryan Hurd). These successes have led BMM to be named to Billboard’s Year End Top Ten Hot 100 Publisher Corp and Hot Country Publisher Corp for three consecutive years (2017, 2018, 2019).
Molinar shared, “proud doesn’t begin to express how I feel about our entire team and roster of writers. I’m grateful to Scott Borchetta, Andrew Kautz and Malcolm Mimms for their long-standing faith and guidance as well as the support of Scooter Braun and SB Projects who continue to help open doors to new opportunities. I’m elated that Alex Heddle and Grayson Stephens can be recognized for their significant contributions to the growth of Big Machine Music and support of our songwriters.”
Notable singles for BMM songwriters this year also include Kelly Clarkson’s “I Dare You” (Veltz); Carly Pearce and Lee Brice’s “I Hope You’re Happy Now” (Combs, Singleton); Maddie & Tae’s “Die From A Broken Heart” and Scotty McCreery’s “In Between” (Singleton); Thomas Rhett, Reba McEntire, Hillary Scott, Chris Tomlin and Keith Urban’s “Be A Light” and Luke Bryan’s “One Margarita” (Thompson); Diplo, Morgan Wallen and Julia Michael’s “Heartless” (Hurd); Brett Young’s “Catch” and “Lady.”
Leading BMM since inception, Molinar is a graduate of Leadership Music Class of 2015 and was named a member of the 2012-2013 MTSU Class of Distinguished Alumni. He currently serves as a board member on the National Music Publishers Association, Mechanical Licensing Collective, Music Health Alliance and Country Music Hall of Fame Education Council. Heddle joined the company in 2013 and was vital in signing Dillon and Hurd as well as providing day to day for Maddie & Tae. He currently serves as a Music Row Ambassador for St. Jude Children’s Hospital and a member of the AIMP Nashville Awards committee. A graduate of Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business, Stephens held positions at Sony/ATV prior to accepting a finance position at Big Machine Label Group in 2016 then Big Machine Music in 2017. A Big Brothers Big Sisters mentor, he previously served as a member of the Junior Board and Volunteer Recruitment Committee for BBBS of Middle TN.
Contact Big Machine Music Team Here:
Mike Molinar, General Manager | mike.molinar@bigmachinemusic.com
Alex Heddle, Vice President | alex.heddle@bigmachinemusic.com
Grayson Stephens, Sr. Director of Royalties and Finance |grayson.stephens@bigmachinemusic.com
Michelle Attardi, Creative Director | michelle.attardi@bigmachinemusic.com
Lizzy Gallatin, Creative Coordinator | lizzy.gallatin@bigmachinemusic.com
Taylor Courtney, Catalog Manager | taylor.courtney@bigmachinemusic.com
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ABOUT BIG MACHINE MUSIC: Nashville-based Big Machine Music has been named to Billboard’s Year End Top Ten Hot 100 Publisher Corp and Hot Country Publisher Corp for three consecutive years (2017, 2018, 2019) thanks to global chart-topping successes. Jessie Jo Dillon penned “10,000 Hours” (Dan + Shay and Justin Bieber), the highest streaming first-week hit in Country Music history and a 2020 ACM Awards Song of the Year nominee as well as reigning NSAI Song of the Year “Break Up In The End” (Cole Swindell). Brett Young crafted his 5X PLATINUM-certified 2018 BMI Country Song of the Year “In Case You Didn’t Know” while Luke Combs steered 2019 CMA Awards Song of the Year “Beautiful Crazy” and Josh Thompson garnered a CMA Awards nomination for “Drowns The Whiskey” (Jason Aldean ft. Miranda Lambert). Laura Veltz broke through with GRAMMY®-nominated “Speechless” (Dan + Shay), PLATINUM-certified, multi-genre charts No. 1 “The Bones” (Maren Morris) and “What If I Never Get Over You” (Lady Antebellum). BMM’s current roster also includes Brandy Clark, Eric Paslay, Ryan Hurd, Justin Moore, Maddie & Tae, Tyler Rich, Trent Harmon, Nathan Barlowe, Kenton Bryant, Benjy Davis, Reid Isbell, Callista Clark, Daniel Ross and Lauren Weintraub. Superstar artists across genres such as Christina Aguilera, Reba McEntire, Steven Tyler, Kelly Clarkson, Ariana Grande and Meghan Trainor have recorded BMM tracks while selections have also served as theme songs for major brand campaigns such as General Mills’ Outnumber Hunger, Crown Royal’s Your Hero’s Name Here, 2016 U.S. Women’s Olympic Gymnastics team and National Association for Music Education’s Music In Our Schools Month.