Bailey Zimmerman leads WCM to 1st place

For the second quarter of 2024, Warner Chappell Music (WCM) continued to hold the top spot on BillboardIt ranks No. 1 on the Country Airplay Publishers chart for the third consecutive quarter.

With a market share of 33.53% — half a percentage point higher than the first quarter — WCM's Nashville team has enjoyed major success, including hits like “Where It Ends” by Bailey Zimmerman, who, along with the song's producer Austin Shawn, has been signed to WCM since 2023. Aside from Sony Music Publishing's five consecutive quarters at No. 1 from Q3 2022 to Q3 2023, Warner Chappell has held the title of Nashville's leading country music publisher consistently since Q1 2017.

Sony came in second with an 18.94% market share and 49 songs on the second quarter Country Airplay charts, including hits “Outskirts” by Sam Hunt (No. 3), “Take Her Home” by Kenny Chesney (No. 5), and “World on Fire” and “Bulletproof” by Nate Smith (Nos. 11 and 12). Of the 49 songs Sony had on the chart, 15 were co-written by Ashley Gorley, earning him the honor of top Country Airplay songwriter of the quarter.

Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) rose one spot in the rankings to third place with a 7.69% market share and 23 songs on the Country Airplay charts for the quarter. “Outskirts” by Sam Hunt, “Tucson Too Late” by Jordan Davis (No. 6), “I Had Some Help” by Post Malone and Morgan Wallen (No. 15) and “Cowgirls” by Wallen (No. 16) were among UMPG's top songs for the quarter.

Kobalt rose to No. 4 with a 6.88% market share, up from No. 5 and 5.78% last quarter. The company also controls a portion of Davis' sixth-place track “Tucson Too Late,” as well as 22 other songs on the quarterly chart.

BMG fell from third place in the first quarter to fifth place with a market share of 4.95 percent. The Berlin music company's most successful song this quarter was “Halfway to Hell” by Nashville superstar Jelly Roll, which took fourth place on Country Airplay in the second quarter. BMG was represented in the charts with eleven songs.

Big Machine Music landed at number six with a 4.19% market share, thanks to its share of Tyler Hubbard's “Back Then Right Now” and 11 other songs. Hipgnosis debuted at number seven on the country publishers' chart with a 3.48% market share and four songs, including a share of Zimmerman's “Where It Ends.”

At number 8, St. Music also debuts in the Country Airplay Publisher rankings with two songs, including “We Ride” by Bryan Martin. Concord landed in ninth place with a 2.31% market share, thanks in part to “One Bad Habit” by Tim McGraw.

Anthem completes the top 10 with hits like “Cab in a Solo” by Scotty McCreery. The publisher held the same position in the first quarter, but was able to significantly increase its market share from quarter to quarter, from 1.87% to 2.18%.