Country music singer-songwriter Thomas Rhett has launched Fifty-One/Forty-Nine Records in collaboration with Hybe Americas' Blue Highway Records.
The "artist-led" partnership is built around "long-term ownership, creative independence and artist development". It will serve as the home for Rhett’s recorded music and "the next chapter of his creative and entrepreneurial career".
Blue Highway, which launched earlier this year following the rebrand of Hybe America Nashville, says it is "actively building a new generation of talent for a global, digitally driven music marketplace", with Rhett as a "cornerstone artist"
“Thomas Rhett has always been an artist, a songwriter, a performer who brings the best of what being a progressive country artist is today: someone who is willing to explore how other genres merge with Nashville without losing his roots, without sounding calculated or forced,” shares Blue Highway Records CEO Jake Basden. “His musical fluidity is matched by his sense of lyrics, songs, and what people feel, creating an honest kind of country that finds its way into people’s lives, wherever they are.
"Having watched Thomas Rhett come into his own and then achieve major success, I am honoured to be his partner going forward.”
This allows me the opportunity to own the body of work I’ve spent my entire career creating, while still having an ambitious team and global infrastructure around me
Thomas Rhett, Fifty-One/Forty-Nine Records
The deal will give Nashville-based Rhett the opportunity to own his body of work while providing a team and global infrastructure for his future recordings.
“When we started talking about what the next chapter could look like, I knew I didn’t simply want to make another deal. I wanted to build something that reflected the legacy and shaped the future of my music,” said Rhett. "From my initial conversations with Jake and the leadership team at Blue Highway, it was clear they, too, were thinking differently about what a record company can be for an artist today.
"This allows me the opportunity to own the body of work I’ve spent my entire career creating, while still having an ambitious team and global infrastructure around me for my future recordings. I am incredibly excited about building this next chapter together.”
PHOTO: Blue Highway Records
