Independent Country label Big Machine Label Group and Entercom Communications have announced an agreement "to align their business interests and accelerate growth and innovation in digital radio to the benefit of music fans and radio listeners everywhere. Through this mutually beneficial arrangement, Big Machine will become the first record company to directly participate, along with its artists, in Entercom’s terrestrial broadcast radio revenues."

"This agreement represents a bold step forward to align our interests with those of Big Machine and their artists. While the deal comes with some significant costs and risks, we believe that by working with the labels and the artist community to establish a new business model, we will ultimately enhance the opportunities for all parties concerned," said Entercom President/CEO David Field. "I also want to acknowledge Scott Borchetta, Bob Pittman and John Hogan for their vision and leadership in blazing the trail that made this deal possible."

"As great and leading visionaries in the broadcast world continue to look into the future, they are seeing where listeners are going in regards to how radio is being used now and where and how it will be used in the very near future.  Among the many choices in the audio entertainment landscape, radio is now portable again thanks to smartphones and soon-to-be ubiquitous Internet streaming in the car," said Borchetta, President/CEO of the Big Machine Label Group. "David Field and his cutting edge team at Entercom Communications completely understand this vision. I'm honored that they have joined us as partners in growing digital radio as well as compensating the artists that provide great musical content for their terrestrial stations. They have chosen to lead and everyone in the artist and creative community applauds their bold leadership role."

Field's acknowledgement of Clear Channel executives Pittman and Hogan is of course a nod to Big Machine's similar music licensing deal announced in June. The Big Machine-CC deal pays out sound-recording performance royalties to the label directly, as well as a percentage of its broadcast music ad revenue, for both terrestrial and Internet radio.

Big Machine's roster includes Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw and Rascal Flatts, as well as Valory Music Co. artists such as Reba McEntire.