HYBE AMERICA’s Nashville operation has undergone a dramatic overhaul.
Big Machine Label Group is no more, after the company rebranded its country, Americana, and roots rock division as Blue Highway Records.
To lead Blue Highway, HYBE recruited veteran music and entertainment executive Jake Basden as CEO.
Basden arrives with a career spanning both the management and label worlds.
Most recently, as President of Sandbox Management, he worked with superstars like Kacey Musgraves, Brandi Carlile, Kate Hudson, Kelsea Ballerini, Baby Nova, and Little Big Town.
Before that, he served as Senior Vice President of Communications at BMLG, where he worked with Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw, Sheryl Crow and Steven Tyler.
Now returning to the rebranded iteration of BMLG, Basden tells MBW that HYBE AMERICA’s Blue Highway as CEO “felt like the right opportunity at the right time”.
“My experience in management exposed me to how labels operate across the marketplace and gave me clarity around what artists truly need from a partner.”
Jake Basden, Blue Highway Records
He added: “My experience in management exposed me to how labels operate across the marketplace and gave me clarity around what artists truly need from a partner. That perspective is what inspired me to step into this role.
“I bring a manager’s mentality to the position. I understand how artists think, what they worry about, and how business decisions affect them long term. Leading a label from that vantage point felt meaningful.”
Basden’s appointment is the latest in a string of senior hires at HYBE AMERICA under Chairman and CEO Isaac Lee, who succeeded Scooter Braun as the company’s top executive last July.
Lee had been leading HYBE Latin America as Chairman since November 2023, and took on a wider Americas leadership role with oversight of HYBE AMERICA and its business units, including BMLG in Nashville and QC Media Holdings in Atlanta, as well as remaining as Chairman of HYBE’s Latin American operations in Mexico, Miami, and Medellin.
Commenting on HYBE AMERICA’s latest senior exec hire to lead the company’s flagship Nashville division Blue Highway, Lee said in a statement this week that “Jake’s long history of devoted service to artists, his time with our company and his deep roots in Nashville, along with his fresh and modern take on what will make the label successful in the digital age made him the ideal candidate for this role”.
The launch of Blue Highway followed the departure of BMLG CEO Scott Borchetta in early February. Borchetta founded Big Machine Records in 2005 and continued as CEO of BMLG after 2021, when HYBE AMERICA’s parent company, South Korea-headquartered HYBE, acquired Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings. (BMLG was acquired by Ithaca Holdings in 2019).
Borchetta has taken the Big Machine Records brand with him for his future ventures, with HYBE AMERICA retaining the BMLG assets, the distribution deal, the publishing company Big Machine Music, plus a roster of “marquee” talent.
Those artists now sit under Blue Highway Records, including Thomas Rhett, Carly Pearce, Brett Young, Midland, Justin Moore, Preston Cooper, Jackson Dean, Mae Estes, and others.
“We are starting with a diverse roster of passionate creators,” Basden said earlier this week. “Each is singular in who they are, but also how they write and realize their sound.
“From Thomas Rhett, a superstar who’s still filled with unmet potential to Jackson Dean, a songwriter with raw charisma and a gritty sound, Blue Highway is a place where being yourself invites originality and inspires listeners to find their own path.”
MBW caught up with Basden for an exclusive interview about how he plans to position Blue Highway in Nashville’s competitive label landscape, what an “artist-first” company looks like, and where he sees country music heading next…
WHAT’S AT THE TOP OF YOUR TO-DO LIST AS YOU TAKE OVER THE LEADERSHIP ROLE AT BLUE HIGHWAY?
Meet with every artist. Meet every team member. Understand what’s working and where we need alignment.
ISAAC LEE SAID HYBE America WANTED SOMEONE for the role WHO ‘THOUGHT OF ARTISTS FIRST.’ WHAT DOES AN ARTIST-FIRST MUSIC COMPANY LOOK LIKE DAY TO DAY?
When we talk about being artist-first, we mean how we show up every day. It is about clarity and consistency, and about making decisions that genuinely serve the artist even when the short-term pressure pushes in another direction.
“When artists feel informed and understood, they tend to do their best work, and the business benefits from that.”
It is less a slogan and more a standard of behavior. When artists feel informed and understood, they tend to do their best work, and the business benefits from that.
HOW DO YOU WANT BLUE HIGHWAY TO BE PERCEIVED DIFFERENTLY FROM HOW BMLG WAS PERCEIVED UNDER ITS PREVIOUS LEADERSHIP?
There is real history behind this label, and I respect that. What matters to me now is being thoughtful about who we bring into the roster and how we execute around them.
“I want Blue Highway to be known for taste and for doing what we say we are going to do.”
I want Blue Highway to be known for taste and for doing what we say we are going to do.
HOW SOON DO YOU EXPECT TO MAKE NEW SIGNINGS, AND WHAT’S THE PROFILE OF ARTIST YOU’RE LOOKING FOR?
We will not rush new signings because the goal is not volume but conviction. We are looking for artists with undeniable craft and a clear point of view, artists who are committed to building careers rather than chasing moments.
We already have very special artists on the roster, and our immediate focus is investing in them.
WHAT ARE YOUR PREDICTIONS FOR THE COUNTRY, AMERICANA, AND ROOTS ROCK GENRES’ POSITIONING IN THE US AND GLOBALLY?
Country and roots music are no longer confined to region. What used to feel local now travels globally. In a time when so much culture feels fast and disposable, there is renewed value in music that feels rooted.
“What used to feel local now travels globally.”
The artists who will lead the next era will not abandon tradition, but they also will not be limited by it.
IF YOU COULD CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT THE MUSIC BUSINESS, WHAT WOULD IT BE AND WHY?
I would slow it down. The pace of the industry can push everyone toward short-term thinking. I would encourage more long-term development and more patience around building artists. The careers that endure are rarely built overnight.
“The pace of the industry can push everyone toward short-term thinking. I would encourage more long-term development and more patience around building artists.”
When you give artists time to grow into who they are, the results are stronger and more sustainable.Music Business Worldwide