Meet Sarah Kirk of Tower Music Group

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Kirk.

Sarah, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
All my life I have loved music, I love listening and I love playing. I also love business and the nuts and bolts side of things. So after graduating high school I attended college and entered my chosen career path of finance. After working for some time with a global conglomerate in accounting, I was introduced to a small independent record label. I was fascinated by the energy and at that point, I became interested in the fusion of that creativity and business.

I knew I wanted to become a part of it. After careful consideration, I decided where exactly in the entertainment industry I could work with both the creative and the business side of things, which lead to my own independent label Tower Music Group.

After many sleepless nights, and twenty-hour work days, (with one 32-hour day thrown in there) I have brought Tower to Music Row in Nashville Tennessee. Where it has not only a physical presence but a roster of incredibly talented songwriters and artists who are currently (AS OF 09/27/22) on the national Country Breakout Charts.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
No road worth taking is ever a smooth ride. There have been challenges to overcome and like any industry, those challenges can be more daunting for women. Something I have also had to deal with is being taken seriously at my age. I have had to really prove myself. Sometimes many times over. Rejection is a hard thing to deal with. Just like artists on the creative side, when you are told “no” so many times it is easy to believe what you are trying to achieve is impossible.

A Nashville veteran once told me that 99% of all independent labels usually fold within the first year. But I am thankful to my colleagues and my artist that Tower has overcome that statistic. I am also thankful to have also received encouragement and sound advice from friends I have met in the business and peers alike. I am truly proud of all my people.

We’ve been impressed with Tower Music Group, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Tower Music Group is a record label. We specialize in many things! Artist development, locating and developing aspiring new talent. We have in-house Artist Management and also a Production arm. One of the highlights of the company so far has been the acquisition of Cedar Hill Music, a publishing company with an extensive multi-genre catalog of songs. I am very proud to be building an artist-friendly label, with respect to our artist creativity and individuality.

There are a lot of artists who get put into a box creatively and something I wanted to do with Tower is make sure my artists have as much creative freedom as possible. I want the label/artist relationship to be as comprehensive and transparent as possible. The tower is also taking steps toward sustainability. We are limiting our production of physical plastic products and embracing a very digital-based market and distribution strategy.

We have signed an exclusive distribution deal with CDX Record Nashville and The Orchard, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony. We also sponsor monthly songwriter nights on the row to foster creativity and co-writing opportunities for both aspiring and accomplished songwriters.

How do you define success?
Success is starting at the ground floor, having an idea, and making that idea a reality. Bringing on artists and watching them create, record, release, and chart their music.

For me personally, success meant seeing the Tower sign go up for the first time. Being located at the center of Nashville’s vibrant music industry in the historic SESAC building at Music Square East.

Contact Info:

• Website: Towernashville.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/towermusicgroup/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TowerMusicGroup/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/towermusicgroup?lang=en

Image Credits
Chuck Arlund, Sarah Kirk, and Bryan David Kirk