How UTA Nashville’s Curt Motley & Nick Barnes Are Building Their Artists’ Careers Beyond Music

On Aug. 28, simply over six months upcoming the demise of nation tune megastar Toby Keith at moment 62, NBC celebrated his paintings and his affect on a few of nation tune’s largest stars in a two-hour particular, Toby Keith: American Icon. Eric Church, Tyler Hubbard, Parker McCollum, Jelly Roll, Darius Rucker, Carrie Underwood, Clay Walker and Lainey Wilson have been amongst those that feted Keith, an oilfield worker-turned-musician recognized for his steely decision; burly, commanding tone; and top-flight, continuously funny songwriting that fueled lots of his 20 Disagree. 1s on Billboard’s Nation Airplay chart.

The particular drew 4.7 million audience, was once the Disagree. 1 display in its era slot and was once NBC’s most-watched primetime leisure particular of 2024, in line with the community. And Luminate knowledge presentations a bump within the Oklahoma local’s streams within the weeks following its airing. At the Sept. 14-dated Virtual Music Gross sales chart, streams of “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” totaled 3.4 million; a 344% soar.

Spearheading the particular at the back of the scenes have been UTA’s Curt Motley — Keith’s private agent for about 3 many years — and his worker Nick Barnes. The duo packaged the live performance and labored with Keith’s longtime supervisor, TK Kimbrell; the past due artist’s family members individuals; Common Track Staff Nashville; the label’s newly introduced Sing Me Again House Productions movie/TV section; and Thinkfactory and its CEO, Adam Reed.

“We wanted artists who had connective tissue to Toby, whether they were his friends or had toured with him,” Motley says of the particular’s lineup. “A lot of artists came forward and said, ‘We love Toby, and we sing his songs every night.’ There were also a handful of people on the show who had never actually met Toby but were huge fans. We wanted to honor that legacy through multiple generations of country music.”

Motley, who joined UTA in 2016, additionally reps a roster that incorporates Jamey Johnson and Sawyer Brown.

Barnes, who joined the corporate in 2017, focuses on connecting tune artists to initiatives in TV, movie and branding hour overseeing UTA’s Heartland section, which specializes in family- and faith-based storytelling. The ones purchasers come with movie/TV creators the Erwin Brothers and Dallas Jenkins (The Selected).

UTA’s Nashville workforce has concurrently fostered the luck of a abbreviation of nation newbies that incorporates Megan Moroney (“Tennessee Orange”), Dylan Gossett (“Coal”), Brittney Spencer (“Bigger Than the Song”), Chayce Beckham (“23”), HunterGirl (“Ain’t About You”), Ian Munsick (“Long Live Cowgirls”) and Oliver Anthony (the Billboard Sizzling 100 chart-topper “Rich Men North of Richmond”).

What can untouched artists be informed from the occupation Toby Keith constructed?

CURT MOTLEY: Toby was once fearlessly unapologetic. He had a perceptible for what he sought after to do, and he didn’t waver on that sequence. Whilst you’re excellent at one thing like he was once, you don’t want alternative nation to validate you. It’s a far more difficult highway, however the culmination on the finish of it are such a lot larger.

How does UTA Nashville range from alternative businesses’ nation tune sections?

NICK BARNES: An artist’s occupation must be multihyphenate to have longevity. They must be touching movie, tv and branding. We’re founding previous than ever in artists’ careers to seek out alternatives out of doors of traveling to expand their succeed in. Traditionally, those alternatives have existed for artists that have been smartly into their careers. For example, a quality movie according to a crash track or a theatrical excursion documentary — [intellectual property] that displays nation tune’s manner of occasion. For an extended era, it was once an adverse view. Now this crowd is embraced extra for what it’s. The Heartland section serves because the crossover arm for tune artists right here and is having luck in quality movie, tv, unscripted productions, secure publishing and extra.

TikTok and alternative social media shops have modified the sport for untouched artists. How do you sift thru viral moments to seek out acts that received’t be one-hit wonders?

BARNES: It’s a stability between a intestine feeling founded off our revel in and the information this is introduced and analyzed via our workforce at UTA IQ — a world-class team of knowledge analysts with proprietary gear we now have constructed and proceed to make stronger.

Whilst you imagine signing an artist, do you resolve in the event that they’re a robust are living operate? It’s key to an operate’s longevity.

MOTLEY: You even have to have a look at intake numbers, together with streaming and social expansion pace, as a hallmark for are living viability.

UTA just lately launched a Christian music division that has Brandon Lake, Phil Wickham, Lecrae and Forrest Frank amongst its purchasers. What do you’re feeling is using the growth in that genre?

BARNES: After we advised probably the most artists on our roster concerning the announcement, they mentioned, “That’s like the Avengers of Christian music.” There’s a broader pattern afoot within the religion crowd. Within the aughts, a batch of Christian bands sought after to go over. They have been like, “We are Christian bands but we want to be rock bands. We don’t want to be labeled as [contemporary Christian music].” We’re eye Christian bands and artists now which might be leaning into who they’re, and that’s resonating with the fanatics. When Forrest Frank is printing merch that claims, “I am a child of God,” and he’s promoting them as speedy as they are able to put them at the merch desk, and his presentations are full of children and teenagers which might be on hearth for his tune — I believe that’s the correlation.

What sort of marketplace percentage do you spot Christian tune achieving within the then 5 years, and what are the demographics of the fan bottom?

BARNES: We expect intake will double. Homogeneous to alternative genres, streaming artists that aren’t depending on radio are bringing a more youthful demographic into the marketplace. Streaming has created a multigenerational fan bottom for the style.

Nation tune streaming is surging globally. How does that impact your paintings?

BARNES: After we’re looking at the set of rules tendencies at the [digital service providers], they’re the similar in Dublin as they’re in Nashville. They’re the similar in Australia as they’re in Brazil, that are all burgeoning markets for nation tune. And we’re founding to whisk artists to the U.Okay. first to develop fanatics.

MOTLEY: Oliver [Anthony]’s Out of the Planks excursion began within the U.Okay., and we began Dylan Gossett’s [No Better Time] excursion in the similar subjects. They have been extremely smartly gained.

What else are you doing to develop fan bases in another country?

MOTLEY: Brokers around the globe — particularly in our London place of work — are leaning into nation tune and integrating it into the material of our industry right here. This permits us to get in early with companions in another country and ends up in alternatives that permit competitive first-look excursions. Fresh examples are Megan Moroney, Oliver Anthony and Dylan Gossett.

For a more moderen artist, what are alternative benefits of launching a excursion in another country?

BARNES: One benefit is with the ability to get started a industry over there that you’ll be able to go back to when you want to whisk a crack [from touring stateside]. Within the American markets, oftentimes our purchasers have performed a batch of hard- and soft-ticket excursions and so they wish to let the U.S. cool off a little bit. [If they have played overseas], we’ve already constructed relationships with promoters and feature a bottom of fanatics.

MOTLEY: It’s dear to walk and carry out in another country, however whilst you’re simply founding out, your prices are moving to be a batch much less [because you’re doing smaller-scale shows]. If you happen to wait too lengthy, that chance price is difficult. However whilst you develop that fan bottom from the get-go — we’re going again with Dylan this occasion and enjoying fat rooms, and we simply began in February.

Traveling prices usually have larger considerably. How are artists navigating that?

MOTLEY: Put up-COVID, we had that fat flow the place everybody needed to get out and move see a display. There wasn’t a bus it is advisable to hire; there wasn’t a venue that was once to be had any place. I believe we’re on the tail finish of that now, however the entirety has remained dearer. Simply to hire a bus at the moment is greater than two times as dear because it was once in 2019. It’s nearly not possible for acts that excursion in a window that’s handiest 4 to 5 months a occasion to be have the funds for that, so we’ve were given to fee extra for tickets. The fat, white-hot presentations are in large part unaffected at the moment, however for alternative issues, nation are making alternatives once more. It’s more than likely a little bit cyclical as smartly. I believe we will be able to see it even out. There was a batch of dialogue concerning the mountain climbing costs of live performance tickets.

Do you assume they’ve crash a ceiling?

MOTLEY: Even though the pandemic curve has flattened, because it relates to white-hot stadium-level artists, it does now not seem that we have got crash a ceiling — particularly given the selection of tickets and pricing at the secondary marketplace. However beneath that, artists must be all ears to the marketplace to have the most efficient probability at luck.