Zach Bryan Gets His … And Then Some
So much for releasing only one more major label album, mostly stepping away from music, or outright retiring altogether, all of which Zach Bryan has flirted with or overtly promised over the last year or two. But really, any music fan with any level of awareness of how this stuff works knows to take these kinds of proclamations with a grain of salt. If Robert Earl Keen can’t stay away at the age of 69, Zach Bryan most certainly can’t at the age of 29.
And if we’re to believe the reporting, Zach Bryan is a 29 year old now worth $350 million more than he was last week. And with the way he’s pulling it in via streaming numbers and touring purses, this probably puts him somewhere close to or past half a billion dollars in net worth. Not bad for a Navy enlistee who got his start recording in an AirBNB with the couch cushions as sound buffers.
Zach Bryan had been pretty adamant that he wanted to move on from the major label world over the last year or so. He loved to complain about the situation, even though compared to many, he had just about as much autonomy as an artist could ask for. Zach signed with Warner in partnership with his own Belting Bronco Records around 2021 or so. It was apparently a four album deal.
In May of 2024, Zach Bryan said on X/Twitter that once he was done with the deal, he wanted to record a covers album of all Jason Isbell songs. This was one of Bryan’s numerous references to moving on from Warner. Then in January, he teased a film to be called Motorbreath, with Matthew McConaughey introducing it on Instagram by saying,
“This is not a film about a band. 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.’”
But it was announced on Monday, May 5th that Zach Bryan had re-upped his deal with Warner Records for at least two more albums. And then also in a separate or perhaps related deal, Zach Bryan has sold his publishing catalog for $350 million dollars.
For context, Bob Dylan sold his publishing catalog for $300 million. Zach’s buddy Bruce Springsteen got a reported $500 million for his.
Who or what exactly Zach Bryan is selling his publishing catalog to is a lot of confusing mumbo jumbo about high rollers in the music business and incestuous inter-agency relationships between people who could buy or sell any of our asses any day of the week, and ultimately are placing the great American catalog of songs in the hands of private equity. Variety has a rundown, but even they are short on details.
What this all means is that Zach Bryan has definitely ascended the mountaintop in music. It remains to be seen where his career and output go from here. 2022’s American Heartbreak has revealed itself as his blockbuster album, beating out the subsequent Warner Records releases, though the album currently just sits at #7 in country, and #37 overall. But clearly those on the giving end of the $350 million feel Bryan still has ample upside potential.
Zach’s been teasing new songs for a while, and don’t be surprised if we get an announcement for a new album soon. Regardless of how you feel about him or his music, it’s clear that Zach Bryan has rewritten all rules and expectations for a non-radio artist in the country space. Though you would love to see some of your favorite independent artist scraping by get a fraction of what Zach Bryan just received, his success opens up the possibility that anyone with the right songs can reach the pinnacle in music.
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May 7, 2025 @ 8:16 am
Trigger, by selling his publishing, what exactly is ZB giving up? Does he lose control of how his music is used (e.g., Ford can use his songs to sell trucks)? What about record sales/streams? Are the incomes from those impacted? Please inform an ignorant person on exactly what this deal means. Thanks.
May 7, 2025 @ 8:25 am
Yes, so publishing is primarily how those songs can be used in the future, mostly in commercials, TV Shows, films, etc. The publishing entity who also purchased the catalog will also probably get significant revenue from streams and sales, though Bryan will probably still get a percentage of that or a royalty. Obviously, the specifics of each deal are unique to that deal. I take this as Zach Bryan cashing out now as opposed to waiting until he’s 70, and for all we know, AI will replace all human audio entertainment. It is unique to see an artist who is so young doing something like this. My guess is Warner wanted to keep him on at all costs, and Zach and his manager Danny Kang squeezed them as best they could.
May 7, 2025 @ 8:57 am
Wow I’ve never seen this move made by such a young artist . Perhaps Springsteen pulled him to the side and said “do it now” because in todays musical landscape unfortunately it might not be a later.
May 7, 2025 @ 9:36 am
A publisher earns revenue from every way the song is used and/or monetized commercially including streams, downloads, phonograph sales (CDs and LPs), public performance, synch licensing (commercials, TV, movies), and covers (performed and/or recorded by other artists) etc. as long as they own that copyright.
These days I think an artist selling their publishing catalogue for a large lump sum of cash implies that they’ve relinquished all rights to the songs and don’t earn royalties going forward. Otherwise, it’s common and not difficult for songwriters to retain ownership of their copyrights albeit while engaged in a license deal with a publisher who takes a cut for their services while paying royalties to the artists on an incremental basis over time. I feel like what Zach Bryan did here is probably a classic one-time buyout – all rights relinquished to the publisher for one big lump sum of cash.
On an economic/financial level, it’s kinda like winning the lottery and having to decide whether you want to be paid monthly over the course of your life or get all that cash immediately. There are risks and benefits to both options.
May 7, 2025 @ 10:10 am
If I was structuring this deal, I would want Zach Bryan to have at least some financial stake/incentive in his catalog moving forward, especially since he’s so young, even if it’s a 2% royalty or something. Otherwise, what is to motivate him to continue making the best music he can and promoting it? Sure, creativity and ego. But we often see how money replaces hunger and drive. Sometimes winning the lottery can be the worst thing for a person.
Also, I don’t think any of us can discount the at least outside possibility that someone got fleeced in this deal, that Warner wanted Zach back, Zach didn’t want to go back, and to make it happen, they got their pants pulled down in the heat of a negotiation. This could be the Luka Dončić / Herschel Walker deal of country music.
May 7, 2025 @ 8:20 am
He should use that money for therapy sessions.
May 7, 2025 @ 8:28 am
Because he hurt the feelings of some dumb internet-famous b****. Yeah no,
May 7, 2025 @ 9:35 am
He’s got way more problems than just Chicken Wing.
May 7, 2025 @ 9:59 am
Like what?
May 7, 2025 @ 10:00 am
No one is telling Taylor Swift to go to therapy for all her failed relationships.
May 7, 2025 @ 6:41 pm
That is different. She’s strong and independent!
Celebrity relationships are mostly shams and marketing.
May 7, 2025 @ 6:40 pm
Her popularity is a sad representation of America’s moral failings.
May 7, 2025 @ 7:58 pm
C’mon.
May 8, 2025 @ 1:07 pm
“Brianna LaPaglia AKA Brianna Chickenfry started her TikTok journey by making videos about partying in college and being hungover. Shortly after she began gaining a following, Brianna dropped out of college, moved to NYC, and got a full-time gig at Barstool Sports. Since then, her brand has continued to grow immensely, hosting college tours, selling merch, and creating an alcohol brand.
So, what makes Brianna Chickenfry different from the rest of the college degenerates, and why has she been able to create and maintain such a loyal community?”
https://medium.com/@oliviaandrews_3634/how-brianna-lapaglia-built-an-online-community-based-around-partying-ebef7300d25f
Even a gushing puff piece admits her origin story. Society becomes what it consumes.
May 7, 2025 @ 8:33 am
Clips I saw from his Stagecoach performance were much tighter than his previous live performances. (His Red Rocks live concert that he released is a sloppy total mess) Hopefully it’s a sign that his next output will be objectively solid.
May 7, 2025 @ 9:24 am
It’s a sloppy mess and also for me the thing that made me get it with him. Like any criticism you may have is correct and also it’s great
May 7, 2025 @ 9:41 am
Music tends to course correct like that with Outlaw Country going against the Nashville sound, Punk Rock against 70’s rock, Grunge against Hair Metal. However at a certain point when an artist is maturing more is expected of them and their output.
May 7, 2025 @ 10:03 am
I’ve seen numerous comments along the lines of, “Well finally he can pay a producer.” Zach Bryan just made $350 million without significant help from a producer. As I’ve said from the beginning, from a conventional standpoint, is his music under-produced? Absolutely. But “Get a producer!” is perhaps the worst advice Zach Bryan could have ever followed.
May 7, 2025 @ 11:27 am
I agree that if he gave up creative control he likely wouldn’t have gotten this level of success. However having absolute begginer mistakes in recordings and live is unforgivable if he wants respect from his artist peers and potential fans – such as coming back to the 1 beat on time. Lyrically he repeats himself by reusing the same tropes and he has used the same chord progression on 90% or more of his songs (4 – 1 – 6m – 5). Again all of this is fine if he wants to appeal directly to his fans and doesn’t care what people outside that group thinks.
May 7, 2025 @ 11:32 am
I mistyped. The 4 – 1 – 5 – 6m chord progression. I’m so tired of and bored with it.
May 7, 2025 @ 8:01 pm
Not sure about what exactly you mean by that chord progression…I’m pretty musically illiterate but I think you’re saying that a lot of his songs sound the same.
To me, it’s a lot of mid-tempo stuff that…well, sounds the same. I like him and respect him, I think he’s got some great lyrics but that’s about it for me. I’ll listen to whatever new stuff he puts out but the amount of output in a short amount of time is a little overwhelming, too.
May 8, 2025 @ 1:40 am
Strait is talking about chords progression using the “Nashville number system” you can find something about it here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashville_Number_System
May 8, 2025 @ 11:19 am
The reason I find the 4 – 1 – 5 – 6m progression boring is because it’s almost always played with the same overall dynamic and feel which causes the song to just sound copy-pasted from another song. Everyone who uses that same repeating progression almost always sounds Mumford and Sons’esque. That progression has an certain energy and builds upward to the 6m chord and just repeats like that to where the chord progression itself is driving the energy and not any other element of the music. I’m struggling to find the exact wording for why I find that particular clique so boring other than to my ears it sounds like Mumford and Son’s early 2010’s acoustic bullshit.
The majority of classic country and a sizable majority of country follows a (1 – 4 – 5 ) or a (1 – 4 – 1 – 5) chord structure. There are exceptions to this but I am trying to not over-explain. However the length of time that each chord is played can vary and the dynamics and everything musical is different in the hundreds of thousands of songs with the 1 – 4 – 5 progressions. The 4 – 1 – 5 – 6M is almost always played in the same way and everyone who uses it in the same repeating pattern always sounds the same.
May 8, 2025 @ 11:31 am
If the song is in the key of G the (4 – 1 – 5 – 6m ) is C – G – D – Em.
That repeating progression for an uptempo song has to be played exactly the same for it to work. Each chord is played the exact length of time as the other chords and it doesn’t allow for any variations. Listen to Condemned by Zach Bryan. It’s almost all of his songs with the exception of his last album but listen to that song. That’s what I mean. It’s this constant rotating pattern to where you can’t hang on any one chord longer than the other otherwise it doesn’t work.
Conversely listen to Makeup and Faded Bluejeans by Merle Haggard and Neon Moon – Brooks and Dunn. I could choose from a million examples but that came to mind. There is a varying difference in time between chord changes. The 4 – 1 – 5 – 6m that ZB always uses as a framework for his songs is why you can take any lyric of his and insert it into another song and it would work because musically he is a one-trick pony.
May 7, 2025 @ 2:08 pm
That stagecoach performance by Bryan had other bands that were performing at Stagecoach up on the stage – the horns, strings – they were all part of other bands and not Zach Bryan’s production. It was a one-off.
Tyler Childers did something similar a few years back at Bonnaroo.
May 7, 2025 @ 2:53 pm
Thanks for the clarification. I wasn’t aware of that.
May 7, 2025 @ 8:44 am
I guess the age old saying is true. One mans junk is another mans treasure.
May 7, 2025 @ 8:53 am
He’s a blowhard. Saying one thing and doing another.
May 7, 2025 @ 1:26 pm
The “independent” ones always do.
No one loves money more than the hippie.
May 7, 2025 @ 8:58 am
Nothing against Zack, but this type of money is ridiculous. What a separation between the haves and have nots. People claim how wacked things are, but entertainment is discretionary spending and I guess this is where society puts it’s money. I am as guilty as the rest.
May 7, 2025 @ 9:00 am
Obviously she doesn’t need the money but literally every major artist selling their catalog puts Taylor Swift’s masters fight/rerecording project in a new light. She’s making a killing on the rerecordings but could possibly make more from the sale of her catalog. “People often greatly underestimate me on how much I’ll inconvenience myself to prove a point…” – Taylor Swift
May 7, 2025 @ 9:05 am
On the other hand, Swift already had “Fuck You” money when she had that pissing contest…I mean, uh, stood up for artists’ rights.
May 8, 2025 @ 5:08 pm
It was a different time and a different climate but this happened 25 years ago to the Dixie chicks. Barbara Streisand did an interview with them and Natalie said she didn’t even have a million dollars in the bank. That’s when their first two albums had went diamond (ten million copies) and sold out tours. Not too long after the label settled with them for a pretty sizable chunk of change.
For context on what I’ve read on others in books/articles for some major label and independent folks regarding royalties.
Garth had paid for his whole album and presented it as a full product so he owned the music rights. He got a 16% royalty back from the label on all sales. New artist at the time was probably a lot when he came out. Then later looked so much smarter.
A lot of the indie folks use thirty tigers as a distribution outlet. It’s a 10% royalty for them and again keep the music rights.
Major label person in a 360 deal only averages $9.22 out of every thousand spent back to them.
May 7, 2025 @ 9:03 am
Get that money, young man.
Pumped to see him next month…and more excited to see Turnpike open, haha
May 9, 2025 @ 10:08 am
I had that line up last year in Minneapolis. Best concert I’ve ever seen in my 55 years of life, and I’ve seen hundreds of shows of all different genres.
May 7, 2025 @ 9:08 am
Great to see so many people enjoying his music.
I’ve tried to but the light on his voice, lyrics and the musicianship on the albums hasn’t come on. I don’t get it but happy for those that do.
May 7, 2025 @ 12:57 pm
I agree, I’ve never understood the massive appeal. I mean some of it’s ok, but it all sounds the same to me.
May 7, 2025 @ 2:46 pm
That’s exactly why he’s been so successful. He’s got the formula down (easy to digest and predictable), which is what is needed to gain large audiences who in the past have just listened to pure commercial pop music. He’s not my cup of tea, but I’m happy for his success….and he’s done a lot to introduce the general public to real music that’s way better than the garbage they would otherwise be listening to.
May 8, 2025 @ 8:30 pm
Zach Bryan and Sierra Farrell….just don’t get the appeal of either. Y’all do y’all, and Zach got his bag, but the payout seems to be far greater than the talent. Are we calling this kind of music pop singer songwriter?
May 7, 2025 @ 9:24 am
Keep in mind publishing is a smaller revenue stream than royalties on the master. I’m sure his deal with Warner on that is highly in his favor.
Also keep in mind if he’s sold his publishing to date, that means publishing on future music goes to ZB. Still plenty of time to make separate pub money on a new catalog since he’s only 29 and still wildly popular.
May 7, 2025 @ 9:43 am
“Keep in mind publishing is a smaller revenue stream than royalties on the master.”
That’s debatable. Publishers earn revenue from a wider range of sources that the master side doesn’t touch – radio play and public performance for example, not to mention any and all covers of the original song (which is critical in this genre, where songs are covered and rerecorded over and over). I’d argue that owning the publishing side is ultimately more valuable than owning the master side.
May 8, 2025 @ 5:47 am
I’d imagine that Warner already owns his masters, or the majority stake in them. Masters are the original recording on the album. Whoever owns the masters controls how those recordings are used and distributed. Usually labels own the majority stake of a master in exchange for an advance that funds the recording, pays for promotion, pressing the CDs/vinyl and distribution, and on and on. Producers are often given a percentage of the masters as well, and that percentage depends, and they are often given an advance as well which is payed back by the artist usually through earning from record sales/streams. I’d say a common scenario would be a label owns 75%-80% of the masters, artist owns 10%-15%, and producers have 5%-10%.
It’s important to know that artist don’t make royalties from the masters until all the expenses are paid back. So, let’s say it cost $100,000 to record the album, do the initial pressing of CDs/vinyl, and the 1st month of promotion. Until those cost are paid back, the artist doesn’t see any money from the sales/streams of that album. Just to keep the math simple, let’s say you sell a CD for $10. The label says it cost $7 to make (which is bullshit but that’s a typical cost labels will put in their contract). That CD makes $3. 80% goes to the label. 10% goes to the producer. That leaves 30 cents that goes to the artist. However, they still owe that $100,000, so that 30 cents goes toward that $100,000. Record labels and producers are paid from day one and their percentages don’t go toward the advance/cost, just the artist.In other words, this it’s going to take a long time for the masters of that album to make the artist any money. Most likely, it never will.
Publishing, on the other hand, is different. In Zach’s case, since he is the one who writes his songs, he owns the publishing…and often it’s split with a publishing company. Publishing companies are who pitches your songs for syncs for TV and movies or if you are a songwriter and not an artist, to other artist. You get paid on your publishing when that song is performed live, played on the radio, synced, or an album sells or that song is steamed. Also, if the song is covered, you get paid from the earning of that new recording. If I were to cover a Beyoncé song and she didn’t write it, she wouldn’t earn anything from that cover, but the songwriter would. This is why Taylor Swift re-recorded her albums…she didn’t have any control over the original masters but owned the publishing, so now with those new versions she has control over how those recordings are used and distribute.
In other words, there are a lot more avenues for making money with publishing, and it’s earning aren’t used toward paying back the albums expenses. So, even if Zach was a million dollars in the red on his album, he’s still get money from his publishing. Which is why it was always told to songwriters never sell or give up your publishing. But, recently, in exchange for huge sums of money, artist have been selling it. Zach probably looked at his earning over the past 5 years, saw how much money each revenue stream (album sales/streams, touring, syncs) was generating, and decided that over the course of his life $350,000,000 was more than he could see those songs ever earning, and sold them.
It only gets more complicated and in a lot of cases predatory on the artist from there.
If you are a fan of music, try not to think too hard about the financial part of it because it’ll make your head spin. If you want to support independent artist like the ones often promoted here, the best way to do so is to go the show and buy the album or merch directly from them. Or, if they have one, support their Patreon on Substack. If you buy digital music from Apple or Amazon, check and see if the album is available on Bandcamp first. They have a higher payout back to the artist (and once a month have a day 100% of the sales goes to the artist!) on top of having higher quality download options.
May 8, 2025 @ 7:10 am
Zach owns his masters. He licenses them to Warner.
May 8, 2025 @ 7:23 am
Hey Sean,
The thing that people need to understand about Zach Bryan is is that there was absolutely nothing conventional about Zach Bryan’s rise. He absolutely did not need a label to front him money for recording and distribution. His first album “DeAnn” was recorded in an AirBNB and went megaviral. I was the first guy who ever interview Zach, and afterwards, I had every single label executive in the world calling my personal phone number, asking how they could get a hold of him. To say there was a bidding war for him is a gross understatement. After he released “Elizabeth,” he was already a millionaire.
“So, let’s say it cost $100,000 to record the album.”
There’s a good chance Zach never spent $10,000 recording an album. There is absolutely nothing conventional to how all of this stuff went down. If Zach didn’t retain ownership of his masters when he signed to Warner, the joke’s on him. I would be blown away if he didn’t keep ownership. And though we don’t know all the details of his deal, it seems publishing and re-upping with Warner were tied together somehow. Without controlling his own masters, I don’t see how he gets to $350 million.
Everything you said here was true, but absolutely none of it applies to Zach Bryan.
May 8, 2025 @ 7:43 am
No offense, but he record American Heartbreak at Electric Lady in New York. He had a session band and had to pay their day rate, on top of paying the engineer/producer/assistsnts, plus flights/hotels/food for everyone…they spent $10,000 a day making that record. And that’s probably a conservative number
May 8, 2025 @ 7:55 am
By the time Zach got to “American Heartbreak,” money was no object. It could have cost $10 million to record. It was an incidental expense, just like offering his ex-girlfriend $20 million to sign an NDA. Zach just signed a $350 million deal. Recouping the expenses from the recording of “American Heartbreak” is the last thing on anyone’s mind.
Your breakdown on all of this stuff is 100% spot on, and I appreciate you taking the time to offer it here. I just feel the need to express emphatically that little or none of this applies to Zach. He’s literally one of the most successful and fastest-rising artists in the history of music. There are artists that have gone bigger faster, but perhaps nobody who started so small and shot to the top. It’s all gravy at this point.
May 7, 2025 @ 9:37 am
He had and is doing incredibly well. Not sure I really understand why he has done so well although I do enjoy some of his music. Good luck to him.
May 7, 2025 @ 11:05 am
So roughly $1 for every song he has recorded and released
May 7, 2025 @ 11:23 am
Finally, an article that lays out the financial windfall this Navy boy fell into. Not a criticism at all, he’s earned every penny of it with hard work and a great deal of risk. But the gambles paid off. Honestly, his story is astonishing and I mean that. I couldn’t be bothered to care about his music, it doesn’t move me at all, but who the heck cares. He has an insoluble fan- base that gets him. He’s got the Midas touch with songwriting that really sells. Stacks and stacks of Franklin’s bundled and wrapped in that vault, and gold bullion too. He’s the wonder kid that resonated with an entire generation. And we’ve watched the rise in real time. Mindblowing.
May 8, 2025 @ 1:47 am
i was about to write the same things, mindblowing!
I mean we’re talking Dylan, Springsteen, legends!! This guy is 29 yrs old! Do you know of any other musician who skyrocketed like this starting from absolutely 0?
May 8, 2025 @ 4:00 am
…it wasn’t exactly “absolutely 0”, daniele. he began posting clips of him singing and strummin’ in 2017. “american heartbreak” dropped in may 2022. that is a five year run-up not dissimilar to career starts of george strait, garth brooks, alan jackson and others that went to nashville at some point trying to make it there at the time and how it was done back then. wallen auditioned at “the voice” in 2014 – add five years to that and you end up pretty much there, when his debut album dropped in 2018. nothing all too unusal in all this, apart from different ways and means. the money? that is just a sign of the times.
May 8, 2025 @ 5:12 am
yes Tom i’m aware of that but no managment, no label, no grassroot fans, the dude wasn’t even a professionist. I guess internet plays a big role in it but still…
May 8, 2025 @ 9:24 am
I think Hudson Westbrook is on the same path here soon, just like Zach Top.
May 8, 2025 @ 7:47 am
“He’s earned every penny” and “the gambles paid off” contradict one another. He obviously hit on something that works, so in that sense he’s earned it. But he definitely got lucky too.
I remember enjoying “Deann” when it came out – pretty good songwriting, decent voice, pedestrian guitar playing and god-awful production, but it all worked well enough for a few listens. I could very easily imagine him having a Charles Wesley Godwin or John Moreland type of career. The way he blew up was shocking to me. I don’t think you can attribute that all to talent or skill or hard work, CWG and Moreland have plenty of all of those things. He was very lucky to have the right sound, the right songs, at the right time. And he had the skills and work ethic to take advantage of it.
May 8, 2025 @ 8:06 am
What in tarnation are you arguing with? The gambles paid off: the dude freaking decided to leave the US Navy career he had, to take the plunge and be a touring musician. That’s a gamble, he had the familiarity and dependability of that career and situation. But he pulled the trigger so to speak and launched a music career. Regardless of the quick jump to fame, you go on the road and gig, it’s a grind, you work constantly dealing with all sorts of things. He didn’t have a major label deal, he was an independent. He used his resources, wrote songs, recorded songs, performed songs, hired musicians, networked with people, forged lucrative business alliances and deals, all without the help of the ” Nashville apparatus” behind him. Gutsy, bold, and he earned every bit of that money making his own music his way. What’s to quibble about my comment? Look, I’m no fan of his music either, but I gotta admit the guy saw something, went all in on it, changed his entire life to make it happen and put in the sweat equity, and he’s reaping mightily. And I’m astonished how it happened, but it did.
May 8, 2025 @ 8:23 am
The gambles paid off. He was lucky. He didn’t get everything just because he “earned every penny.” Lots of people have as good or better talent and have worked at least as hard, but they are not making $350M deals.
May 8, 2025 @ 1:09 pm
As Dale Watson sang, “Blessed or Damned.”
May 7, 2025 @ 2:05 pm
Im hoping on of you can answer my question. I am curious as to how Bryan gets such an obscene amount? Doesnt Warner own his Masters? Big Loud sold a minority of Wallens catalog and he doesn’t own his Masters at all. How can one make so much when they are signed to a label? Not asking for a friend lol but for myself. Truly trying to understand the madness. I mean even Taylor Swift didn’t own her masters and Scooter betrayed her and make a killing from her work. Appreciate the answers and absolute love Trigger!
May 7, 2025 @ 2:26 pm
Hey Heather,
So each deal is structured differently, and as time has gone on, the label terms have gotten better and better for the artists. For someone like Zach Bryan who had already shown massive viral appeal before he ever signed to a label, he can approach signing a deal from a position of strength because the label needs him more than he needs the label. So he can negotiate things like retaining his masters. When he signed with Warner, it was through his own label, Belting Bronco Records. So basically, Zach Bryan owned his own label, it was just distributed through Warner.
When Taylor Swift signed to Big Machine, she was 14, and most other labels were only willing to give her a “development” deal. Also at that time, it was rare that an artist could sign to a label and retain master ownership. Most artists were having to sing “360 deals,” which basically meant labels got a piece of everything, including touring and merch. Label can ask this, because they’re taking a big risk. Taylor Swift became a global superstar, but they also signed Sunny Sweeney and Jack Ingram, and they didn’t.
I don’t know the specific details of Zach’s label deal, or this $350 million publishing deal. But even for Zach Bryan, it seems incredibly high. I don’t think we can completely rule out here that Zach and his management team just worked over the folks on the other side of the table, and made off like bandits. I think we now know the reason they were willing to give Chickenfry $20 million to stay quiet. Because the payday in the offing was so big. Now, I think Warner is factoring in that the public thinks Brianna is just as crazy as Zach.
May 7, 2025 @ 3:43 pm
One more for you Trigger and thanks for the thorough response. Thank you SO Much for your thorough response. I really appreciate it. I followed Hipgnosis for years and knew that they overpaid and over inflated the worth of artists. Those artists however had staying power and 30 year careers. I was correct about Hipgnosis. Primary Wave does much better. In regard to Labels purchasing catalogs, I guess I have just never heard someone paying obscene money when their career has barely started. Not that I will lose sleep over Wallen but I believe he got massively screwed by Big Loud. He has broken records that are unheard of and his catalog quite possibly can be in the Billion range in a decade’s time. Would Wallen be another one with a 360 Deal? And lastly, when you get to Wallens level and a slave to the label, does that mean they get a payout on touring and merchandise too? Does it get negotiated when they achieve a certain status? Just a music woman who needs to know stuff. Thanks again
May 7, 2025 @ 4:59 pm
The problem is that we don’t know the specific details of either of these deals. You could look at it and say, “Morgan Wallen got $200 million, and Zach Bryan got $350 million, so clearly Morgan Wallen got screwed, especially since he’s a bigger artist.” But where Zach Bryan might have sold off 100% of his publishing to cash out now, Morgan Wallen’s deal could be for 70%, so he still has a long-term stake. I’m not saying that’s the case, but it could be. So it might not be an apples to apples comparison.
Zach has constantly flirted with “quitting music,” “going on my last tour,” “not releasing any more major label albums,” where you don’t see any of this kind of rhetoric from Morgan Wallen. My sense is Zach Bryan wants to move on at some point, and might not make an album for 20 years. Morgan Wallen will be a cash cow for decades until he’s doing residencies in Vegas. This different approach to life and career might have factored into how these deals were constructed.
May 8, 2025 @ 7:32 am
Last, last one for Trigger. (for this morning anyway) Thanks again for your responses. Morgan doesn’t own his Masters for the 3 albums that sold for $200 million. So my question is this. Can one get out of 360 deal when they made it that big? Secondly, do the songwriters get a say when catalogs are sold since they will be getting royalties. I am still floored by Zach Bryan considering that was the wealth of Toby Keith with 30 plus year careers. Makes zero financial sense. Possibly it would if CDS were still purchased but zero sense since streaming. THanks Trigg. I am sure I will be back lol
May 8, 2025 @ 8:00 am
I don’t know that Morgan Wallen is on a 360 deal. Again, the specifics of all of these deals is what we often don’t know. But generally speaking, if you do not get favorable terms on your deal when you first sign it, then you’re usually locked in until you turn in the label the amount of albums you owe them. Whether you blow up big or not doesn’t really give you a lot of leverage. That only helps when the deal is done. Look what happened with Taylor Swift. She became the world’s biggest pop star. But she still had a six album deal with Big Machine. And even though I’m big on advocating for artists, I really don’t think she had a right to complain about her situation. She was a nobody, and Scott Borchetta took a big chance on her, and spent a ton investing in her career. It paid off big for everyone involved, including Taylor who’s now worth a billion dollars. Does it suck she didn’t own her masters? Yes. Is she a victim of the major label system? That’s hard to say as a billionaire.
May 8, 2025 @ 8:34 am
Good for him. I’ll check back in on his music in 5-10 years when he’s had time to develop into the professional musician he has so humbly admitted he is not. That admission alone gives me respect for the guy, even if his music doesn’t do much for me. The occasional song is, as the kids say, a banger, but a lot of them are basically stream of consciousness free prose recited to a guitar. That doesn’t appeal to me, so I’m more interested in what he releases when he’s older.
May 8, 2025 @ 11:09 am
Zach Bryan has purchased the former Saint Jean Baptiste Church in Lowell, Mass to transform it into the Jack Kerouac Center.
This where I live. Kinda cool.
May 8, 2025 @ 12:52 pm
That is cool. I’ve read On The Road and Dharma Bums and I wouldn’t have guessed he was a fan.
May 8, 2025 @ 7:44 pm
I live right across the street from Kerouac’s grave. The list of famous people that have been there is pretty crazy. I saw Jimmy page there and Dylan and Ginsberg visited. Everybody has an opinion on Kerouac but it’s cool we share same town. There have been some really cool festivals. Met Ray manzarak from the doors at one of them
May 9, 2025 @ 2:47 pm
Hey trig we gonna talk about the Moreland beef?
May 9, 2025 @ 2:54 pm
I will have something on this probably later this evening.
May 19, 2025 @ 12:14 am
Bryan has sold just under 30 million EAS albums in total. 5 million albums in the US. And he gets $350 million from publishing rights. So false information. Bob Dylan got $400 million from publishing rights and later master tapes for $200 million. Zach Bryan net worth is now $25 million dollars. False information.
May 19, 2025 @ 7:27 am
Yeah,if you’re just trying to Google the numbers here, you’ll lose the full picture. Zach Bryan did just sell his existing catalog. This was part of a new, two-album record deal, and the sale of all future albums he might make. Zach Bryan’s net worth is way north of $25 million, and was before the deal.