2026 Impact 50 Honoree: Jay Williams

JAY WILLIAMS
Senior Partner & Co-Head, Nashville
WME

BY THE NUMBER: 40,000+. amount of dates WME’s music division books annually across all genres worldwide, with Nashville serving as a major hub for its country operations.
Activity outside of work that keeps you sane? “Fly fishing…saltwater, freshwater, wherever.”

WME’s office locations include Australia, Chicago, China, London, Miami, New York and Nashville where Jay Williams is Senior Partner and co-head. WME Nashville is a dominant force in country music and represents superstars Luke Combs, Chris Stapleton, Eric Church, Zach Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean and Lainey Wilson among many others. Williams is Chair of the CMA Board and serves on the board of the Music Health Alliance and Habitat for Humanity.

Pollstar: How is your business handling 2026’s uneven economic conditions, including market volatility, inflation and flattening growth in the live business?
We are using all the data and tools we have available to make smarter decisions when choosing markets, venues and taking a hard look at scaling. We need to be honest with ourselves and not chase huge grosses if we’re still growing our audience. It’s about getting people in the building.

What’s your take on “blue dot fever?”
We all knew there was going to be a little bit of a market correction with or without the economy issues. The upside is we should see smarter packaging, more spacing between plays in markets, and more localized on sale plans. We are seeing a lot of these slower selling shows close really strongly, which is a good sign.

What’s ahead and what projects are you especially excited about?
Launching the Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean’s combined show on the “Double Down Tour” off the heels of a sold-out Samford Stadium show in Athens and the Tedeschi Trucks’ Future Soul album and 2026 Tour. We’re seeing big years and a lot of growth from artists like ACM Award winners Avery Anna, Red Clay Strays, Tucker Wetmore and Zach Top.

What words do you live by in your career?
“What would you attempt to do if you knew that you could not fail?” It’s a quote from Robert Schuller that I have sitting on my desk. s