From the No. 4 debut of Addison Rae‘s first album on the Billboard 200 to recently minted hits for country singer-songwriter Megan Moroney, Columbia Records has been racking up wins for several rising stars as of late.
For starters, Rae’s Addison — preceded by Billboard Hot 100-charting tracks including “Diet Pepsi” and “Fame Is a Gun” — launched with 48,500 equivalent album units the week ending June 12, making good on the former TikToker’s pop-star ambitions. The chart debut coincided with the announcement of Rae’s first-ever headline world tour, which kicks off Aug. 26 in Dublin before taking her across Europe and, in the fall, North America.
Moroney, another star-in-the-making under the Columbia umbrella, has seen her own run of wins lately. The singer-songwriter, who released her latest single “6 Months Later” earlier this month, has scored two top 10s on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart: her breakthrough hit “Tennessee Orange” and, in April, “Am I Okay?”, the title track off her 2024 album of the same name that debuted at No. 9 on the all-genre Billboard 200 and No. 3 on Top Country Albums. She’s also charted five songs on the Hot 100, including “Tennessee Orange,” which is her highest-charting song on the tally so far at No. 30.
Also bubbling up on the Columbia roster are emerging artists Malcolm Todd and Ty Myers. The former’s “Chest Pain (I Love)” became his first Hot 100-charting song — debuting at No. 68 on the tally — when the track became a viral trend on TikTok after it was continually teased on the platform leading up to release. Todd has also enjoyed chart success with “Bleed” with Omar Apollo, which charted on Billboard‘s Hot Alternative Songs and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs charts ahead of the release of his self-titled debut album on April 4.
Lastly, Myers — a country singer who is jointly signed to RECORDS Nashville — enjoyed an under-the-radar success with his single “Ends of the Earth” (off his debut album The Select), which was certified gold by the RIAA in April. The 17-year-old singer-songwriter was named Billboard‘s Country Rookie of the Month in January.
One commonality among all of these successes is Columbia Records senior vp of A&R Julian Swirsky, earning him the title of Billboard‘s Executive of the Week. Below, Swirsky discusses Rae’s decision to play smaller venues as opposed to arenas despite her burgeoning stardom, Moroney’s gift for connecting with music fans across genres and the common themes that tie all of these recent Columbia successes together.
Last week, Addison Rae’s album debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200. What key decision did you make to help make that happen?
The most important decision we made was to fully trust Addison’s vision. From day one, she had a clear sense of what she wanted her world to be visually, sonically and emotionally. When [Columbia Records chairman/CEO] Ron [Perry] and I met with her over two years ago, she walked into the Columbia office with a binder full of photos, references, colors — a complete universe. She didn’t have a single song recorded yet, but it was obvious she was going to make something special. Our role was to support and build on that vision as a team and give her the time and space to build it properly.
How are you planning to keep up the momentum for the Addison album moving forward?
There’s a few incredibly exciting things that I can’t talk about yet, but tour is going to be a massive driver. When Addison announced her headline run, the presale queues were gigantic. There were multiple cities worldwide that had over 100,000+ fans waiting online trying to get tickets. That kind of demand speaks volumes.
It’s impressive how she has chosen to approach that moment. Rather than immediately scaling to arenas (which she easily could’ve), she made the conscious decision to start with more intimate rooms where the focus is on connection. You saw it with her album release that our touring team spearheaded at The Box in New York and London — those weren’t just performances, they were fully curated events that brought her world to life.
Speaking of momentum, Megan Moroney has also been seeing a lot of success recently. “Am I OK?” was her second top 10 hit on the Country Airplay chart and the song also peaked at No. 34 on the all-genre Hot 100. Given that she’s signed to Columbia, is part of the strategy around Megan positioning her as a star that transcends the country genre?
The beauty of Megan is that we don’t need to position her — she’s doing that all on her own. She’s a country artist at her core, but the way she writes and presents herself connects far beyond any individual genre. She writes every song herself — which is increasingly rare — and there’s a depth to her storytelling that cuts across all audiences. Just this week, she had the No. 1 Top Debut Song in the U.S. on Spotify with “6 Months Later.” It happened because the music, the voice, the world she’s building is undeniable. People are drawn to what’s real, and with Megan, nothing is manufactured. The entire Columbia team went to her two sold-out shows at Radio City a few months ago — and we all looked at each other in awe at how far she’s come in the three years since we’ve been working with her. Also…“Am I Okay?” was her second #1 on the Country Airplay charts thanks to our Sony Music Nashville partners.
Malcolm Todd scored his first Hot 100 entry in April with “Chest Pain (I Love),” which went viral on TikTok. That coincided with the release of his debut album. What are you doing to position him for success beyond “Chest Pain”?
The success of “Chest Pain” was a huge moment that couldn’t have happened without the work of the Columbia digital team.
What’s even more impressive to me than any chart position is the foundation he’s built. Before his debut album even dropped, he had already completed two headline tours, supported Omar Apollo, and sold out a third — over 60,000 tickets — entirely off the strength of the music and the genuine connection he’s built with his audience. That included three nights at The Wiltern and two at Terminal 5, which speaks volumes about what he’s created.
Malcolm is focused on building fan relationships one by one and staying true to who he is. The job of everyone around him is to continue to help create the groundwork for a very long career. He is going to go the distance.
Ty Myers is another young Columbia artist who’s been seeing some success lately, specifically with his single “Ends of the Earth,” which was recently certified gold by the RIAA. He’s signed to both Columbia and RECORDS Nashville. How are the two labels working together to push his career forward?
It’s crazy that we signed Ty with Records Nashville just last year and his debut album is already approaching gold. There’s a shared energy around Ty that’s rare — everyone on both sides is aligned, communicating constantly and genuinely invested in his success. [RECORDS founder] Barry [Weiss], Ron and I are texting daily, sharing updates, listening to new demos that Ty sends us, and for what feels like a weekly occurrence now, alerting each other each time he has a new song hit the Apple or Spotify charts.
Ty has this unique ability to bridge genres in a way that feels completely natural, and that’s something we all recognize and want to nurture.
In terms of Columbia’s approach to artist development, what would you say is a common theme in all of these success stories?
Over the past few years, we’ve signed and developed what I believe are some of the most compelling and promising new acts in music today. It all comes down to trust. That’s the principle that guides everything we do. When you fully trust the artist and each other as a team, you create the conditions for real magic to happen.
Jen Mallory and Joe Gallo help lead our incredibly dedicated team with a deep commitment to our artists and help set the tone for everything we do.
This philosophy starts at the top. Ron has built a culture that genuinely champions artistry, hard work, songwriting and musicality, and it shows in the roster we have built and reflected in their numbers. We’re taking bold swings on artists that are the next superstars in the making. They’re bold, genre-defying, and culturally relevant, each with a clear, authentic vision and creative instincts we deeply trust. They’ve chosen to partner with what I believe is the most committed artist development team in the business.
