Deal Sees Acquisition of 3x GRAMMY Award Winner Shane McAnally’s Catalog of Over
150 Songs, Including McAnally’s Writer’s Share Plus an Exclusive 4-Year
Go-Forward Co-Publishing Deal, Inclusive of Non-Dramatic Rights to Certain Music
Featured in Tony-Nominated Broadway Musical Shucked
Acquisition Also Includes Works by Josh Osborne, Matt McGinn Alongside
Old Dominion’s Matthew Ramsey and Trevor Rosen.
Strategic Move Also Sees Global Admin Deal for SMACKSongs & SMACKBlue Publishing
L to R ID: Thomas Deelder, Creative Director, CTM Publishing; Les Ware, CEO, Outlander Capital; Shane McAnally; Mike McKool, President, Outlander Capital; André de Raaff, CEO, CTM Outlander; Robert Carlton, President, SMACK; Jeff Chown, COO, Outlander Capital; Jason Turner, Counsel, McAnally & SMACK | Photo courtesy of Emilio Madrid
A major move in the Nashville music publishing scene, CTM Outlander has acquired the publishing catalog of GRAMMY Award-winning songwriter and producer Shane McAnally alongside other works of SMACKSongs’ Matt McGinn, Josh Osborne, Matthew Ramsey and Trevor Rosen.
The deal also includes certain elements of McAnally’s royalties from his catalog of 200+ master recordings as a producer, plus an exclusive 4-year go-forward co-publishing deal, inclusive of non-dramatic rights to certain songs featured in the 9x Tony-nominated Broadway musical Shucked.
As a part of the new agreement, McAnally’s publishing companies SMACKSongs and SMACKBlue - including works by Walker Hayes, Kylie Morgan, Josh Jenkins and others - will now be administered on a global basis by CTM Outlander.
CTM Outlander is a partnership between the innovative and disruptive Dallas, Texas-based Outlander Capital, led by Les Ware and Mike McKool and the Dutch-based leading independent music entertainment company CTM, led by industry veteran André de Raaff.
Since launching two years ago, CTM Outlander has signalled its ambition to invest over a billion U.S. dollars in acquiring music publishing and master rights with notable moves, including the acquisition of TEN Music’s publishing assets in 2021 and the catalogs of Natalie Hemby, Ben Burgess and Michael Tyler in 2022.
McAnally is among Nashville’s elite, with over 50 No. 1 songs and two Songwriter of the Year awards by the Academy of Country Music to his credit. In 2022, he also became the most nominated songwriter in Country Music Association history. His cuts include songs recorded by Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Halsey, Sam Hunt, the Jonas Brothers, Miranda Lambert, John Legend, Old Dominion, Reba, Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, George Strait, Keith Urban and Morgan Wallen, among many others.
As a producer, McAnally’s work includes superstars Kelsea Ballerini, Kelly Clarkson, Walker Hayes, Sam Hunt, Kacey Musgraves, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton and Carly Pearce.
“I am very excited to start this new partnership built on a mutual passion for all things music, along with the global reach of this incredible team” shares McAnally. “Andre is a visionary and understands the importance of managing music rights, as he has shown over the course of his career. As I continue to expand my creative work to new areas, Andre and his team recognize the passion I have, not just for creating music in the traditional sense, but also in areas of film, TV, Broadway and beyond. I am thankful to the CTM Outlander team for partnering with me to manage my catalog copyrights and am eager to see what we are able to accomplish together over the next several years.”
SMACKSongs President Robert Carlton adds, “SMACK is thrilled to be working with CTM Outlander for all of its administration needs. Their passion for music, combined with their independent and innovative spirit makes them a great match. I am excited to see what we can accomplish together in this next chapter!”
“It is very rare to come across such a talented and gifted songwriter, producer and creator of music entertainment like Shane McAnally,” adds CTM Outlander CEO André de Raaff. “His successes are countless, from pop to country and from musical theatre to developing TV shows. It is a privilege to look after a great part of his legacy and to work with him and the rest of the SMACK team in the future on all the new projects ahead, which period we expect to become more successful than ever!”
“We believe in Nashville’s creative community and are proud to help amplify the stories that are a biproduct of an environment that cultivates ingenuity,” shares Outlander Capital Principal, Mike McKool. “With CTM Outlander’s integration across multiple disciplines, it’s exciting to see the integrity of these catalogs preserved and amplified while also providing this security to the writers.”
This is the latest move by CTM Outlander to solidify their commitment to the Nashville creative community with McAnally joining the previously acquired catalogs from Natalie Hemby (Lady Gaga, Miranda Lambert, Alicia Keys), Ben Burgess (Morgan Wallen, Tyler Rich, Dierks Bentley, Diplo) and Michael Tyler (Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley, Blake Shelton). Notably, Hemby helped pen “I’ll Never Love Again,” sung by Lada Gaga in the smash hit movie A Star Is Born, and Burgess co-wrote three songs on Wallen’s 2021 album Dangerous: The Double Album (Big Loud/Mercury/Republic Records) – which has notched historical chart status as Billboard’s longest running Top 10 album in history for a solo artist (with 123 total weeks spent in the Top 10, eclipsing Adele’s 21 and Bruce Springsteen’s Born In The USA). Burgess also co-wrote the No. 1 and 7x Platinum hit single “Whiskey Glasses” for Wallen.
McAnally, SMACKSongs, SMACKBlue and SMACK Productions were represented in the sale by Jason Turner, Sarah Smith, Dustin Kovacic and Matthew Jafari of Keller Turner Andrews & Ghanem, PLLC.
About Outlander:
Outlander Capital is a Dallas-based company focusing on Rights Management including music and patent royalty streams and Intellectual Property Development, as well as leading brands and properties to innovate using blockchain technology. Outlander Capital is led by Les Ware and Mike McKool. Les is also co-founder and chairman of Marconi, a multi-platform patent management firm that manages the licensing of tens of thousands of patents globally for dozens of Fortune 500 companies and other major IP holders around the world. Mike is also founder of McKool Smith Law Firm and earned a reputation as one of the country’s most prominent trial lawyers and IP litigators, and has vast experience representing musicians, composers and producers throughout his career.
About CTM:
CTM is one of the strongest independent entertainment firms of the world, with its headquarters in The Netherlands and foreign offices in Los Angeles, London, Miami and Brussels. CTM’s activities are leading in music publishing, representing world famous writers and catalogs. Next to that, CTM is active as a record label and management firm for local top artists and actors and is successful as a TV and Film producer. CTM is owned by André de Raaff (former owner and founder of Imagem) and Jitze de Raaff.