[UPDATE] BMG has acquired Nashville’s Broken Bow and associated labels.The deal was for $100 million plus, according to multiple sources, and could signal a round of big acquisitions as streaming drives growing label profits.
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BMG has beaten all three major labels to acquire BBR Music Group (BBRMG) and its associated labels Broken Bow Records, Stoney Creek Records, Wheelhouse Records, Red Bow Records and music publisher Magic Mustang Music for a reported $100 million.
The label group is home to major country artists including Jason Aldean, Trace Adkins, Dustin Lynch, Randy Houser, Thompson Square and more. Aldean alone has had 18 #1 singles and sold 14 million albums.
BMG said this is its “biggest single acquisition in the recordings business” since it got back into the label business in 2008. All BBR’s 50 or so staffers will join BMG.
“Since 2001, I’ve been approached many times by various major labels wanting to purchase us,” said Benny Brown, who founded the company in 1999. “The most important thing to me has always been my artists, my employees, and my songwriters. They have always been my family, and after meeting with BMG, I knew that I’d found the right partners to ensure my family stayed together and to also continue the BBR Music Group legacy. We were one of the very first indie labels to ever break through in Country music. Because of that, we created a different culture within our walls that’s pretty simple – happy people are productive people. That’s always been important to me, and that’s also the way Hartwig and Zach run BMG. I knew they shared my vision and my passion, and that’s what made this the right fit.”