Photo credit: William Dyer / CC from 4.0
CTM Outlander acquires the publishing catalog of Grammy Award-winning songwriter and producer Shane McAnally.
CTM Outlander has made a significant step on the Nashville music publishing scene by acquiring Grammy Award-winning songwriter and producer Shane McAnally’s publishing catalog and other works by Matt McGinn, Josh Osborne, Matthew Ramsey and Trevor Rosen from SMACKSongs.
The deal also includes elements of McAnally’s royalties from his catalog of more than 200 master recordings as producer and an exclusive four-year co-publishing deal including non-dramatic rights to certain songs included in the 9X Tony. nominated Broadway musical Peeled off.
Under the terms of the new agreement, McAnally publishers SMACKSongs and SMACKBlue – including works by Walker Hayes, Kylie Morgan, Josh Jenkins and many others – will be managed globally by CTM Outlander.
CTM Outlander is a partnership between Dallas-based Outlander Capital, led by Les Ware and Mike McKool, and leading independent music entertainment company CTM, based in the Netherlands, led by industry veteran André de Raaff. Since its launch two years ago, CTM has made significant strides to signal Outlander’s ambition to invest over $1 billion in music publishing and mastering rights. These include acquiring the publishing assets of TEN Music in 2021 and catalogs from Natalie Hemby, Ben Burgess and Michael Tyler in 2022.
With over 50 No. 1 songs and two Academy of Country Music Songwriter of the Year awards, McAnally has firmly established himself among Nashville’s elite. In 2022, he also became the most nominated songwriter in the history of the Country Music Association.
His works include songs written by Kane Brown, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Halsey, Sam Hunt, The Jonas Brothers, Miranda Lambert, John Legend, Old Dominion, Reba, Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, George Strait, Keith Urban and Morgan Wallen, among many more. McAnally’s work as a producer includes artists such as Kelsea Ballerini, Kelly Clarkson, Walker Hayes, Sam Hunt, Kacey Musgraves, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton and Carly Pearce.
“I am extremely excited to begin this new partnership, based on a shared passion for all things music and the global reach of this incredible team,” said McAnally. “André is a visionary and understands the importance of music rights management, as he has shown throughout his career.”
“As I continue to expand my creative work into new areas, André and his team recognize my passion, not only for creating music in the traditional sense, but also for film, television, Broadway and beyond. I am grateful to the CTM Outlander team for working together in managing my catalog copyrights and I look forward to what we can achieve together in the years to come.”
“It is very rare to come across such a talented and gifted songwriter, producer and musical entertainment creator as Shane McAnally,” added André de Raaff, CEO of CTM Outlander. “His accomplishments are countless, from pop to country and from musical theater to TV show development. It is a privilege to oversee a large part of his legacy and to work in the future with him and the rest of the SMACK team on any new projects that lie ahead and which we expect to be more successful than ever.”
“We believe in Nashville’s creative community and are proud to help spread the stories that are a byproduct of an environment that fosters inventiveness,” concludes Mike McKool, director of Outlander Capital. “With CTM Outlander’s integration across multiple disciplines, it’s exciting to see how the integrity of these catalogs is maintained and extended while providing authors with that assurance.”