Big Loud is a mold-breaking music conglomerate and partnership based in Nashville, Tenn. touting 19 No. 1 U.S. airplay and 25 No. 1 Canadian airplay hits, 100 RIAA certified titles, and over 36 billion global streams, founded and led by Craig Wiseman, Joey Moi, and Seth England.
In 2003, GRAMMY award-winning songwriter Craig Wiseman took a gamble on his own Big Loud Shirt. When his former publishing deal ended, the man behind hits like Brooks & Dunn’s “Believe” and Blake Shelton’s “Boys ‘Round Here,” with over 150 singles and 29 No. 1s throughout his storied career, bought a building on Music Row, and launched his own venture at 1111 16th Ave S. Hitting the ground running as the sole songwriter signed to Big Loud Shirt, Wiseman kicked off his endeavors by shopping around a demo of his latest – a song called “Live Like You Were Dying,” that went on to become one of Tim McGraw’s biggest hits and an ACM, CMA, and GRAMMY Country Song of the Year award winner. Taking it as a good indicator of all the company could be, Wiseman’s expertise, investment, and eye for outstanding talent led him to signing additional writers to the Big Loud Shirt publishing roster, eventually becoming one of the most successful independent music publishers in Nashville.
As Wiseman continued to grow the publishing side of the business, he met an intern whose tenacity and persistence continued to impress. Seth England rose through every job in the building to eventually become VP of A&R at the publishing company, spearheading song plugging efforts and refining his ear for breakout stars. England’s standout A&R instincts, unparalleled work ethic, and big picture mindset would eventually lead him to become a nationally recognized and awarded music executive and CEO of Big Loud. Back in 2008, two years after England and Wiseman’s working relationship began, the pair signed Joey Moi as a songwriter, finding the final piece to their now record-breaking trio.
Originally earning acclaim as a producer and co-writer on some of Nickelback’s viral hits, Moi – then living in Canada – started noticing a shift in rock music. His friend and future Big Loud Records recording artist Dallas Smith had been wanting to make a country record, so in 2008 the pair began setting up co-writes in Nashville. Two of the first people Moi met in town were Wiseman and England, where they immediately began to build a trusted friendship and collective belief about music – it all starts with the song.
Moi moved to Nashville full time, and in 2011, the partners launched Big Loud Management under that belief system, taking more of an artist development approach that cultivates every part of an artist’s musical brand and veers away from standard industry practices, breaking the mold with their first three signings: diamond-certified, history-making country duo Florida Georgia Line, 3x chart-topping platinum singer Chris Lane, and 3x CCMA Entertainer of the Year Dallas Smith.
The all-inclusive model of the management / artist development arm became a fast-moving success story, leading the partners to double down and open Big Loud Records in 2015. An independent record label in the same building as both their independent publishing company and the management division, Big Loud started fostering songs from their infancy, taking the song from the writers rooms on the third floor, to Moi’s state of the art studio in the basement, to the label headquarters on the second floor; a synergistic experiment that quickly caught national attention with some of the best songs, artists, writers, and executives in the industry flocking to be part of the Big Loud story.
Today, the three-part Big Loud system is comprised of burgeoning talent, global superstars, and genre standouts. The Big Loud Records roster includes Morgan Wallen, Lauren Alaina, HARDY, ERNEST, MacKenzie Porter, Hailey Whitters, Larry Fleet, Maggie Rose, Charles Wesley Godwin, Dallas Smith, Griffen Palmer, Shawn Austin, Lily Rose, Stephen Wilson Jr., Jake Worthington, Ashley Cooke, Lauren Watkins, Zandi Holup, Dylan Gossett, Blame My Youth, Jagwar Twin, Letdown., Yam Haus, BIZZY, and mercury.
On the Big Loud Publishing side of the business, their stable of top-tier songwriters includes Wiseman, Joey Moi, Morgan Wallen, Madison Kozak, Ernest Keith Smith, Griffen Palmer, Tiera Kennedy, John Byron, Jacob Durrett, Mark Holman, Mark Trussell, Rocky Block, Jordan Dozzi, Jake Worthington, Grady Block, Lauren Watkins, Ashley Cooke, Blake Coddington, Brock Phillips, Chandler Walters, Cody Lohden, Lars Pruitt, Rafe Tenpenny, and Rhys Rutherford. Presently, Big Loud Publishing writers have penned over 200 singles, earned three GRAMMY awards, and tallied over 80 No. 1 hits to date.
Big Loud Management guides and fosters the careers of Wallen, HARDY, ERNEST, Dallas Smith, MacKenzie Porter, Ashley Cooke, Blame My Youth, Jagwar Twin, Griffen Palmer, Jake Worthington, and Lauren Watkins.
Furthering its growth-minded, innovative approach, Big Loud continues to expand through independent ventures under its label and publishing umbrellas. They are: Songs & Daughters, Big Loud Rock, Big Loud Texas, Severance Records, Back Blocks Music, HARDY’s HiXTAPE, and ERN’s Cadillac Music.
Records was honored as the No. 1 Billboard Hot Country Songs label in 2021, 2022, + 2023, the 2022 + 2023 MusicRow Label Group of the Year, 2023 Country Aircheck Label of the Year and was named Platinum Label at the 2021 + 2023 CRS / Country Aircheck Awards. In 2023 alone, Records earned over 16 billion global on-demand streams and topped 24 Billboard year-end charts – read more here. “I always saw it like this; a place where songs could flourish,” Wiseman shares. “I just hope we keep getting bigger and louder every step of the way.”