Anthem Entertainment adds to Nashville catalog with strategic purchase of Creative Nation and Luke Laird copyrights

For immediate release

NASHVILLE, TN (January 29, 2024) – Having built two of the most credible careers in the music business together as a husband-and-wife duo through their entertainment company Creative Nation, Beth and Luke Laird have announced their sale of certain copyrights in the Creative Nation and Luke Laird song catalogs to Anthem Entertainment, one of the world’s leading independent music companies. Under its new leadership, Anthem Entertainment continues to lean into the country music space with this strategic purchase. 

Beth Mason Laird, at the helm of Creative Nation Music for 11 years now, has built one of the best cross-genre, “tastemaker” publishing catalogs in recent history.  The catalog has 20 #1 songs and over 60 radio singles. The Creative Nation catalog includes recent back-to-back country and pop #1s with Sam Hunt’s “Hard To Forget” and Harry Styles’ smash hit “Watermelon Sugar.”  This unique catalog also includes cuts across multiple genres including #1 hit “Adore You” by Harry Styles, and other releases by Lady Gaga, Sam Smith, Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, Little Big Town, The Highwomen, Tim McGraw, Sara Bareilles, Jon Pardi, Sam Hunt, Luke Combs, Jordan Davis, Morgan Wallen, Kacey Musgraves, Maren Morris, Thomas Rhett, and more. Parmalee’s single “Girl In Mine” reached #1 on the US Country Radio Chart.

Creative Nation was founded in 2011 and includes songwriters like Kassi Ashton, Barry Dean, Lori McKenna, Steve Moakler, Travis Wood and Ben West. Through publishing, management, artist development and records, Creative Nation fosters and supports artists to bring unique visions to life.

The other half of the duo, Luke Laird, is a Hartstown, Pennsylvania native who fell in love with songwriting at the age of 17 when he set foot in Nashville’s Bluebird Café while on vacation with his parents. Listening to Tony Arata sing “The Dance” was a memory that Laird says he will never forget, and from that moment on, Laird was “enthralled with the idea of being a real songwriter.” Fast-forward to today and Laird is a three-time Grammy nominated songwriter, was named BMI’s Country Songwriter of the Year in 2023 and ACM’s Songwriter of the Year in 2015. Laird has also amassed 24 #1 songs and won 6 CMA triple-play awards (with each one recognizing 3 #1 singles in a one-year span).  

“Luke and I have worked hard to sign quality people and songwriters and continue to commit to that. We are excited to announce that Anthem Music Publishing purchased Creative Nation’s exploited songs from the past 11 years. I’m grateful to Jason Klein, Sal Fazzari, Andrew Jamal, Adrian Battiston, and Gilles Godard, and everyone at Anthem who worked with our team (Derek Crownover, Megan Pekar, John Rolfe, Chris King and Kella Farris) for making this such a smooth and transparent process. It’s great to know our past copyrights are being taken care of by a great publisher and we are excited to continue building Creative Nation.”– Beth Laird

“Over the years I have been fortunate to have songs recorded by so many incredible artists. I’m grateful that a company as renowned as Anthem sees the value in these songs, and I’m excited my exploited copyrights have been sold to Anthem alongside the Creative Nation songs”. – Luke Laird

“I have watched Luke and Beth build a world class catalog over the last decade with iconic copyrights and amazing diversity from country to global pop hits. It is an honor and a privilege to now represent this impressive legacy body of work” said Gilles Godard, President, Anthem Music Publishing Nashville. 

The Creative Nation and Laird catalog purchase marks a pivotal moment for Anthem Entertainment, who, under recent leadership changes, have put a heavy focus on strategically expanding its publishing footprint. This acquisition not only enhances Anthem’s presence in Nashville and the country music space but also reinforces its catalog growth strategy across multiple genres. Anthem’s recent key successes include #1 placements from The Weeknd and Ariana Grande’s collaboration “Die For You,” co-written by Martin “Doc” McKinney, which claimed the top spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, as well as Jordan Davis’ “What My World Spins Around,” which hit #1 on Billboard’s US Country Airplay chart. The company also charted four songs in the top 30 on the Country Music Chart with “Wild as Her” by Corey Kent, co-written by Kelly Archer, which reached #1, “Next Thing You Know,” by Jordan Davis, “How It Oughta Be” by rising star Shane Profitt which peaked at #16, and “You, Me, And Whiskey” by chart-topper Justin Moore co-written by Cole Taylor. Anthem also took home four ASCAP Pop Awards honoring their achievement for most performed songs of 2022, a list that includes “Buy Dirt” by Jordan Davis, “Til You Can’t” by Cody Johnson co-written by Matt Rogers, “Chasing After You” by Ryan Hurd ft. Maren Morris, co-written by Jerry Flowers and “Die For You,” as well as two BMI Awards for “Wild As Her” by Corey Kent and “7500 OBO” by Tim McGraw co-written by Jenn Schott. The company inked publishing deals with multi-platinum country music songwriters Jamie Paulin and Joey Hyde and expanded long-standing publishing deals with multi-platinum artist and songwriters Jordan Davis and Chris Jason and multi-award-winning producer and songwriter Timbaland, which includes a catalog of hits in the pop and urban space from renowned artists like Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z, Britney Spears, Beyonce, Rihanna, Justin Bieber and 50 Cent.

Derek Crownover, Megan Pekar and John Rolfe of Loeb and Loeb handled the transaction on behalf of Creative Nation and Luke Laird.

Loeb & Loeb is a premier law firm focused on helping organizations and individuals innovate, grow and evolve in a changing world. Our market-leading practice and industry teams deliver practical insight and strategic solutions in complex deals, high-profile disputes, cutting-edge regulatory issues and other matters critical to our clients’ success. The firm has approximately 450 lawyers across eight offices in the United States and Asia. www.loeb.com

Anthem Entertainment is one of the world’s leading independent music companies. Comprised of award-winning organizations, Anthem Entertainment is home to Anthem Music Publishing, Anthem Records, and a production music division that encompasses Jingle Punks, 5 Alarm Music and Cavendish Music. Headquartered in Toronto, with operations in Nashville, New York, Los Angeles, and London, Anthem supports and invests in the careers and works of songwriters and artists, and the creation of exceptional music for recording artists and audio-visual productions. Anthem’s unique approach combines the resources, power, and reach of a major with the agility, entrepreneurism, and soul of an independent. Anthem’s subsidiary businesses include Compact Media, the leading film and television audio-visual secondary rights management company based in London. www.anthementertainment.com

Anthem Entertainment in Canada, please contact: 

Red Umbrella PR: 
Charlotte Thompson
Charlotte@RedUmbrellaPR.com

For Anthem Entertainment in the U.S., please contact: 

42West: 
Greg Cortez 
Greg.Cortez@42West.Net 

Scott Feinstein 
Scott.Feinstein@42West.Net 

Stephanie Durning 
Stephanie.Durning@42West.Net