RECORDS, Sony Music Nashville Announce New Partnership Deal With Matt Stell

Pictured (seated, L-R): Wide Open Music’s Ash Bowers, Matt Stell, RECORDS’ Barry Weiss, Sony Music Nashville’s COO/EVP Ken Robold. Standing (L-R): SMN’s EVP A&R Jim Catino, RECORDS’ Sara Gil, Wide Open Music’s Brendan Rich, Good Company Entertainment’s Jamice Jennings, SMN’s VP Sales & Streaming Caryl Atwood and EVP, Promotion & Artist Development Steve Hodges, Arista Nashville VP Promotion Josh Easler, Good Company Entertainment’s Keith Gale, RECORDS’ David Enriquez, and Matt Stell SMN marketing lead Liz Cost.

RECORDS, a joint venture between Barry Weiss and Sony Music Entertainment, and Sony Music Nashville have announced a new partnership surrounding singer-songwriter Matt Stell. Arista Nashville’s promotion and Sony Music Nashville’s marketing and media teams will become actively involved with promoting Stell’s music.

Arista Nashville will re-ship Stell’s debut single, “Prayed For You,” on May 6, with its official impact date set for May 28, continuing to work alongside Keith Gale and his Good Company Entertainment team. Making his debut Saturday on the Grand Ole Opry stage, Stell performed this song, which he co-penned with Ash Bowers and Allison Veltz. “Prayed For You” has already garnered over 44 million on-demand audio streams and over 374,000 consumption units.

Stell was brought to RECORDS by Ash Bowers and his Wide Open Music management team. Stell, a 6’7″ Arkansas native, played college basketball for Drury University for four years, and was later accepted into Harvard University’s Extension School Pre-Med program. Instead, he followed his passion for music, teaching himself to sing and play guitar. He moved to Nashville in 2014, and inked a publishing deal with Wide Open Music and a record deal with Weiss’ RECORDS/Sony Music Entertainment.