Spirit Music Nashville today announced key appointments in its Administration and Creative teams. Brian Bradford has been promoted to General Manager/Vice President of Administration, Spirit Music Nashville. Kara Jackson has been promoted to Senior Creative Director. Both report to Frank Rogers, Chief Executive Officer, Spirit MusicNashville.
Frank Rogers commented: “I am thrilled to announce the promotions of both Brian Bradford and Kara Jackson. Brian has been a cornerstone of Spirit Music Nashville since its inception and I am excited to watch him continue to grow and flourish in his new role. Kara has developed into a true creative rockstar and I could not be more proud and excited to watch her take the next step in her career. With Brian and Kara, the future is bright for Spirit Music Nashville and all of our songwriters.”
Brian Bradford commented: “It’s an honor to take on this new role under Frank’s leadership. We have an exceptional team at Spirit that is full of experience and talent, and I am looking forward to continuing the culture and tradition of success for our amazing songwriters.”
Kara Jackson commented: “I am so excited to continue this journey with Frank Rogers, my Spirit Music Nashville team, and our amazing songwriters. Thank you to everyone who has believed in me and trusted me with their business and their art. I look forward to elevating the success and careers of our songwriters in this next step.”
Brian Bradford is a graduate of Belmont University and a veteran music publishing administrator with over 25 years of experience in copyright management and administration, music licensing, royalty accounting and client services. Brian has been with the Spirit Music Nashville catalog since he began working for Cal IV Entertainment in 1998. Spirit Music Group acquired Cal IV in 2014. Bradford was previously Vice President of Administration and Operations. Prior to Cal IV, Bradford developed his administration skills at Murrah Rich Baierle International serving several distinguished Nashville music industry clients.
Kara Jackson joined the Spirit Music Nashville team in 2019 as Creative Director, focusing on writer development, song-plugging, and pitching Spirit Music Nashville’s catalog for creative opportunities. In her new role, Jackson’s responsibilities for the company include developing and implementing creative strategy for Spirit Music Nasvhille’s all-star roster of songwriters and producers. Jackson works closely with Spirit Music Nashville writers Dave Cohen, David Garcia, Bobby Hamrick, Andrew Jannakos, Tim Montana, and Jonathan Singleton.
The promotions follow a banner year by the Spirit Music Nashville team—over the past year, 70% of Spirit Music Nashville’s current writer roster has had at least one charted single. This includes nine #1 singles, ten Top 10 singles, and 11 Top 30 songs in 2021 as well as ACM Single of the Year “I Hope You’re Happy Now” – Carly Pearce and Lee Brice (via Jonathan Singleton) and Album of the Year Starting Over by Chris Stapleton. The company also publishes Music Row’s Song of the Year, “Hell of a View” – Eric Church (via Monty Criswell). The company received four CMA nominations for Single of the Year, Song of the Year, Album of the Year, and Musical Event of the Year and took home six ASCAP Country awards. Spirit Music Nashville/Spirit Fluid writer Frank Ray earned the title of being most added song on country radio by a new artist (by impact day) driven by his single “Country Looks Good On You” (the song was also produced by Spirit MusicNashville CEO, Frank Rogers who is a multi-platinum producer/songwriter in his own right with 43 #1 hits, 75+ Top 20 songs and multiple RIAA certified multi-Platinum/Platinum/Gold records to his list of production/songwriting credits). The company also has a publishing interest in the top two country songs of the decade and top two country albums of the decade with “Meant To Be” and “Body Like A Backroad” and Traveller/Chris Stapleton and Montevallo/Sam Hunt.
