In a pair of blockbuster deals totaling $350 million, Zach Bryan has re-upped with Warner Records and, separately, either has sold or is in the process of selling his publishing catalog, sources tell Variety.
Bryan’s team had long been negotiating with Warner, but the recorded-music deal, which sources say is for at least two albums, was just concluded Sunday night. While it was clear that Warner was determined to keep him — despite Bryan’s social media post in January about releasing “one final major label album” — the company faced stiff competition from Universal.
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Sources say the buyer of the publishing catalog is a new entity, apparently called the Merrit Group, that is helmed by Cameron Strang, who was previously CEO of both Warner Bros. Records and Warner Chappell Music publishing. Further details about the company and the deal are unclear, although Gary Gersh, formerly a top executive at AEG Presents and Geffen and Capitol Records, is said to be a partner. Strang left Warner Chappell in 2015 and the label two years later, and has largely kept a low profile in the music industry since then. He had launched the Americana-leaning indie label New West in 1998 and Southside Independent Publishing in 2004, the latter of which was acquired by Warner Chappell in 2010, shortly before he took over that company.
Reps for Bryan, Strang, Warner and Bryan’s attorney David Jacobs declined or did not respond to Variety’s requests for comment. News of Bryan re-upping with Warner was first reported by the Hollywood Reporter.
Bryan, one of the biggest recording artists in the world, has been Warner Records’ top performer for nearly three years, beginning with the success of his 2022 breakthrough album, “American Heartbreak.” He signed with Warner, in partnership with his own Belting Bronco label, shortly after he was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy in 2021, having released his first two albums independently while he was still in the service. Since then he has risen rapidly to a stadium-level artist, with three multiplatinum studio albums that spawned hit singles like “Something in the Orange,” “Pink Skies” and the Kacey Musgraves duet “I Remember Everything.” He also has released a pair of live albums.
This summer, Bryan will headline AEG’s massive Hyde Park BST festival in London, and just a few weeks later will perform at the 107,000-capacity Michigan Stadium.
Bryan teased an upcoming film in the same post as the “final” major label album via a voice note from actor Matthew McConaughey. In a clip posted to Instagram, Bryan enlists McConaughey to announce the film “Motorbreath,” which he suggests will document Bryan and his friends recording his final album for Warner Records. “This is not a film about a band,” says McConaughey.
“This is a film about a boy from Oklahoma, a boy who joined the Navy with a love of writing. That writing connected with people — a lot of people. This film is about a group of best friends taking a two-week motorcycle ride across America while recording one final major label album. Oh, and the title of the film, you ask? ‘Motorbreath.’”
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