2024 Women of Live: Martha Earls

Owner | Neon Coast

When Nashville power manager Martha Earls was starting out, her boss at Warner/Chappell Music Publishing Tim Wipperman used to empower the young intern with the directive, “Just go be great.” She took the advice to heart – and used that advice to forge a path for unlikely (super)stars that defy conventional wisdom.

“I really love working with artists who shape and progress popular culture,” Earls explains. “With Kane Brown, we made history over the summer: he was the first Black artist to headline Fenway Park, and he sold it out! He also just released a collaboration with Latin superstar and regional Mexican artist Carin León — merging these two fanbases is significant.”

Earls helped take Brown from Facebook fame to genre-blurring superstar, who’s capable of making music with everyone from Marshmello to H.E.R., Swae Lee to wife Katelyn Brown, and launching his own publishing and record companies with old friends Restless Road, who released their Last Rodeo album. Also an Earls client, she says, “Restless Road, named Spotify’s Hot Country Artist, were on the road with Tim McGraw and Cole Swindell amidst their headlining dates.”

Whether it’s Dylan Schneider being tapped as an Amazon Artist to Watch or Nightly becoming one of the few American artists to join social media platform Weverse as they grow their fanbase in Southeast Asia, Earls’ eyes are on the future. And that’s a future where live remains a decisive factor. “I think people will continue to attend live events because it creates such a connection and community. We live in an aggressively digital world, so I think that personal, live connection is so important.”

She doubles down on that assessment coming into an election year that is proving to be especially fraught. “People will love going to shows and live events because it’s time away from hearing about the election on the news and social media! … That’s why I’m really excited to be growing all of our artists, crossing cultural boundaries and reaching new fans.”

Citing Stagecoach as her peak 2023 live experience, “even with the 105-degree heat,” she’s leaning into 2024 “to begin anything with the end in mind, understand where you’re going and why you’re going there.”