- Hit songwriter Dallas Wilson has signed with The Core Entertainment for management, paired with a new publishing deal at Warner Chappell Music Nashville.
- Co-CEOs Simon Tikhman and Kevin "Chief" Zaruk lead the signing.
- Wilson previously held his first publishing deal with Riser House Entertainment, signed back in 2017.
- The move adds Wilson to a Core Entertainment roster that just welcomed Florida Georgia Line for management.
Nashville songwriter Dallas Wilson has signed with The Core Entertainment for management, with a companion publishing deal at Warner Chappell Music Nashville rounding out the pairing. Co-CEOs Simon Tikhman and Kevin “Chief” Zaruk will lead his representation.
Wilson has penned four No. 1 country radio hits, including Dylan Scott’s “Can’t Have Mine” and “Nobody,” plus Lainey Wilson’s Grammy-nominated “Somewhere Over Laredo.”
He co-wrote five songs on Wilson’s Grammy-winning Bell Bottom Country, including “Heart Like a Truck,” 2023’s NSAI Song of the Year. Most recently, he co-wrote Lainey Wilson’s John Mayer collaboration, “Phone, Keys, Wallet,” and holds cuts with Teddy Swims, Mitchell Tenpenny, ERNEST, Kameron Marlowe, Larry Fleet, Alana Springsteen, Pitbull, and T-Pain.
Wilson’s career took off after he inked his first publishing deal with Riser House Entertainment in 2017, a partnership that produced his early breakthrough cuts ahead of this new chapter with The Core and Warner Chappell.
The signing keeps The Core Entertainment’s momentum rolling in 2026. The Nashville management powerhouse just added Florida Georgia Line to a roster that already includes Dan + Shay, Bailey Zimmerman, Nate Smith, and Cameron Whitcomb.
This is part of a broader wave of Nashville management shakeups in 2026, from Tucker Wetmore’s move to Sandbox Entertainment to Carlisle Wright signing with Joan of Arc Music.
Takeaways
This is a strategic expansion for The Core Entertainment, not just another artist add. Landing a four-time No. 1 hitmaker like Dallas Wilson gives the company real credibility on the songwriter and publishing side of the business, not just the artist-roster side.
For Wilson, bundling management with a major publisher in one motion is efficient, and it puts fresh infrastructure behind a catalog that’s already shaping some of country music’s biggest current hits.
Could bundling management and publishing into a single deal become the new norm for top Nashville songwriters? Will The Core’s country-heavy roster start pulling double duty as both a management shop and a songwriter pipeline?
