Music Row veteran calls CMA Awards "the Oscars" of country
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Jelly Roll, left, with Music Row executive Jon Loba in 2023. Photo: Christopher Polk/Billboard via Getty Images
Music Row veteran Jon Loba still gets excited for the CMA Awards, even after 20-plus years in the business.
What he's saying: "Every morning that I get up and drive towards the Row or drive towards the office in LA, I think how lucky I am to do this," Loba tells Axios. "CMA week is always the culmination of that."
- "It is the Oscars of the country industry."
Why it matters: This year's ceremony, which takes place Wednesday, is especially thrilling, as it serves as a sort of victory lap for BBR Music Group, the independent music label he oversees.
- Two of BBR's biggest stars, Lainey Wilson and Jelly Roll, are up for the top trophy of the night: entertainer of the year. Wilson won that award last year.
The big picture: Loba has become one of Music Row's top power brokers. He rose through the ranks of the industry to lead BBR, which is enjoying an incredible hot streak.
- Thanks to the success of artists like Jason Aldean, Wilson and Jelly Roll, Loba was promoted earlier this year to the head of the massive North America label division for BMG, which is the parent company of BBR Music Group. (BMG acquired BBR in 2017.)
Flashback: Earlier in his career, Loba helped build BBR into an independent powerhouse which competed with Music Row's major labels: Universal, Sony and Warner.
- He left the company for a few years to work for Big Machine, the label run by Scott Borchetta and formerly home to Taylor Swift. Loba returned to a top job at BBR in 2011.
- One of his trademark accomplishments was signing Aldean, one of the top selling country artists in the last two decades, to BBR.
Between the lines: Loba attributes BBR's success to a history of bucking industry formulas and signing artists who pushed boundaries.
- Early in Aldean's career, Loba says, insiders dismissed him as too rock-oriented. But Aldean's sound ultimately dominated the genre.
- Wilson's stone-cold country made her an outlier among more pop-leaning female artists vying for country airplay. But she vaulted to stardom.
- Jelly Roll, whose music includes elements of hip-hop and R&B, has become a new country standard-bearer.
"When you look at icons in music, no matter the genre, they come from the fringes," Loba says. "And from our early days, we have learned how to tell the narrative and fight for those on the fringes, those with a strong identity."
The bottom line: Win or lose, Loba says, Wednesday will be celebratory. But the recognition means a lot.
- "It is one of those pinch yourself moments," he says.
- "If you're really in the music business, you sacrifice so much. You sacrifice free time, you sacrifice family time, and when you grab those trophies, there is some validation there that makes you go, 'OK, it was worth it.'"
How to watch: The awards air at 7pm CST on ABC. The ceremony will be available to stream Thursday on Hulu.