Michael Bryan Launches Southern Drift
• Michael Bryan, former Global Head of Country Music for Apple Music, announced the formation of his new entertainment venture, Southern Drift. Bryan brings a multi-faceted industry background across streaming, broadcasting, brand-building, and talent representation, including senior roles at an agent at CAA and at iHeartMedia, most recently as SVP of Programming for iHeart Nashville.
Southern Drift’s initial ventures include management for ACM & CMA Award-winning musician & storyteller Charlie Worsham, and the chart-topping podcast God’s Country, hosted by hit songwriters The Brothers Hunt (Reid and Dan Isbell).
Joining Bryan (left) on the company’s executive team will be Taryn Anderson (center) as Chief Operating Officer & General Manager, and Jordon Isbell (right) as Vice President of Marketing and Executive Producer of God’s Country. Anderson previously served as CFO/COO of Sandbox Entertainment and an Account Executive at FBMM, Inc., and Isbell was most recently Sr. Marketing Director at Virgin Music Group, where she oversaw the Nashville roster, following her time as founder of 270 Media & Co.
Bryan remarked, “I’ve spent my career watching how music moves, and it’s never been more fluid. Artists aren’t staying in one lane, and fans aren’t either. What pushed me to start Southern Drift was seeing the gap between how artists are building today and how the industry is still structured. We built Southern Drift to move with it, not control it.”
Looking ahead, Southern Drift will continue to build a diverse slate of artists and creators while expanding its podcast and content footprint, developing new creative partnerships, and developing brand and media opportunities to support its core mission of long-term audience growth and artist development. Expanding on his founding vision, Bryan has launched a new blog, The Drift, kicking off with its inaugural post, “The Music Industry Has a Revision Problem.”
To learn more about Southern Drift, visit southerndrift.com. [Photos by Lance Wilson / RUN CLUB]
