WASHINGTON, D.C. –The National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) Gold & Platinum Program today announced the top songwriters for the first quarter of 2023 including the top artist-songwriter and top non-performing songwriter for the period. During January, February and March, 1,736 Gold, Platinum and Multi-Platinum certifications were awarded.
Luke Combs was the top artist-songwriter overall with 26 certifications including the 9X Multi-Platinum Beautiful Crazy, the 8X Multi-Platinum Hurricane and the 4X Multi-Platinum Forever After All, all published by Big Machine. He is now published by Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG).
The top non-performing songwriter was Ray Fulcher who scored 12 certifications for songs including When It Rains It Pours, Does to Me and Reasons, which are published by Sony Music Publishing. He is published by UMPG and River House/Sony Music Publishing.
Luke Combs said, “Man, kind of speechless to be honest. All of the credit goes to my fans. They buy and stream the songs and albums, so none of this happens without them. This is honestly an award that should have their names on it. Huge thank you to them and everyone else who made this happen.”
Ray Fulcher added, “Pretty unreal to be included in this group, much less to be at the top for any period of time. Thanks to country music fans and supporters for listening to these songs and believing in the music. I’m going to keep writing songs from the heart, and hopefully, y’all keep listening. Thanks!”
NMPA President & CEO David Israelite congratulated the honorees saying, “The first quarter of this year was a big moment for country music. Fueled by the success of Luke and Ray, we saw the growth of country dominate the Gold & Platinum certifications. Huge congratulations to Luke Combs for consistently creating timeless music, and to Ray for working with him on such enduring, massive songs.”
About the NMPA G&P Program:
NMPA’s Gold & Platinum Program, in partnership with RIAA’s Gold & Platinum Program, identifies and honors the songwriters behind today’s biggest hits. NMPA confirms songwriters with their music publishers to ensure all appropriate songwriters are recognized for their contribution to an RIAA certified single. Certifications count both sales and on-demand streams towards gold (500K), platinum (1M) and multi-platinum (2M+) thresholds. Thousands of songwriters have been certified since NMPA’s program began in 2007. For more information and to view our Gold & Platinum database, visit www.nmpa.org/gold-platinum-program/.
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