Steve Markland

SVP A&R, Downtown Music Publishing, Nashville

Highlight Reel

—Several new hires and promotions in the Nashville office.

Hires: Matt Turner as Senior Director A&R Nash-ville, Garrett Stephenson as Office Coordinator, Caylan Hays as Sync Licensing Assistant and Kyle Coker as Copyright Assistant. Promotions: Natalie Osborne to Director of A&R Nashville, Katie Roth to Creative Coordinator.

—Top 10 Country radio hits by Downtown writers include Kelly Archer’s “Sleep Without You” (performed by Brett Young), her 2017 #1 ”Somebody Else Will” (Justin Moore), “For Her” (Chris Lane), and “Summer” (Cassadee Pope), alongside Marc Beeson’s chart-topping “Hometown Girl” (Josh Turner) and “She’s Got a Way With Words” (Blake Shelton); the latter was written with Andy Albert, who co-penned “If The Boot Fits” by Granger Smith as well as the pop hit “All On You” by Nick Fradiani.

—Recent signings include John Prine and Major Bob Music.

—New initiative Songwriters Without Borders launched to connect Downtown’s global writers across continents and genres. Downtown’s Nashville writers on first trip in March were Kelly Archer, who had her first two country #1s in 2017 with “Sleep Without You” and “Somebody Else Will”; Jillian Jacqueline, whose single “Reasons” recently debuted on the country airplay charts; and Fancy, who has collaborated with Meghan Trainor and Ariana Grande.

What has been the most surprising development in the sector, from your perspective?
Nashville is exploding on so many fronts. It’s such a thriving, creative environment, home to every genre of music. At Downtown, we’re fortunate to represent many of the groundbreaking writers/artists leading the evolution of Nashville’s music scene, including Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson, and the original trailblazing legend, John Prine, who have been recognized across a gamut of accolades from Grammys to radio popularity for sharing unique perspectives through their songs and storytelling.