Fresh off an incredibly busy two weeks which included a killer Stagecoach performance in front of over 80,000 people in Indio, California, rumors of a potential collaboration with Creed and a viral Las Vegas house party which was shut down by police, it seems as if Zach Bryan has been on top of the world lately.
Despite his usual transparent nature online regarding everything from his personal life to music taste, there’s been one thing that has been highly speculated: his current record deal.
Bryan has gone on record multiple times noting that he and Warner Records have one final album left on his contract. However, knowing the 28-year-old singer/songwriter’s history of less-than-consistent wording and constant retractions regarding both musical output and touring plans, many were wondering exactly what was going on behind the scenes.
We now know that Bryan and his team were working on a massive deal over the weekend.
As reported by Variety today, the Oklahoman singer/songwriter has renewed his contract with Warner Records and, in doing so, has “sold or is in the process of selling his publishing catalog” in a deal worth a staggering $350 million dollars.
With three studio records, three EPs and two live albums which contain smash hits such as “Something in the Orange,” “I Remember Everything,” “Oklahoma Smokeshow” and “Pink Skies,” Bryan has been nothing short of a monster signing for Warner since inking a deal with them back in 2021.
This deal comes off the heels of Bryan telling social media that his upcoming record, presumably titled, Motorbreath, will be his “one final major label album.” With that being said, however, sources close to Variety say that the new deal consists of at least two albums from the “I Remember Everything” singer.
Coincidentally, this news comes just days after fellow country superstar, Morgan Wallen, and Big Loud Records sold a minority stake in the “Last Night” singer’s catalog to Chord Music Partners for $200 million as a part of strategic investment into the company.
Sources also told Variety that the buyer of Bryan’s publishing catalog is a brand new entity who currently does not own any major artists’ catalogs named the Merrit Group. What is known, however, is that Merrit is owned by Cameron Strang, who previously served as CEO of both Warner Bros. Records and Warner Chappell Music publishing.
As of now, it is unclear on the specifics regarding Bryan’s publishing catalog deal, more specifically, just how much of it Merrit Group currently owns.