Scott Foster Siman (born July 22, 1954) is a leading American
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
entertainment executive based in
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
.
He oversaw the rise of country music superstar
Tim McGraw
Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer and actor. He has released 17 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, five for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those albums have reached number one on ...
and the launch of Dancing With the Stars celebrity
Julianne Hough, among others.
Career
Attorney
Siman was previously an entertainment attorney with Benson & Siman, whose clients included
Alan Jackson
Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American country music singer-songwriter. He is known for performing a style widely regarded as "neotraditional country", as well as writing many of his own songs. Jackson has recorded 21 studi ...
(Country Music Hall of Fame Member),
Brooks & Dunn
Brooks & Dunn are an American country music duo consisting of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, both of whom are vocalists and songwriters. The duo was founded in 1988 through the suggestion of songwriter and record producer, Tim DuBois. Before thei ...
(Country Music Hall of Fame Member),
Charlie Daniels
Charles Edward Daniels (October 28, 1936 – July 6, 2020) was an American singer, musician, and songwriter. His music fused rock, country, blues and jazz, and was a pioneering contribution to Southern rock and progressive country. He was ...
,
Deanna Carter,
John Berry,
Chris LeDoux
Christopher Lee LeDoux (October 2, 1948 – March 9, 2005) was an American country music singer-songwriter, bronze sculptor, and hall of fame rodeo champion. During his career, LeDoux recorded 36 albums (many self-released), which have sold mor ...
,
James Stroud
James Stroud is an American musician and record producer who works in Pop music, pop, Rock music, rock, R&B, soul, disco, and country music. He played with the Malaco Rhythm Section for Malaco Records. In the 1990s, he was the president of Giant ...
,
Paul Worley
Paul Worley (born February 16, 1950 in Nashville) is an American record producer and session guitarist, known primarily for his work in country music. Formerly a vice president at Sony BMG, he later joined the staff of Warner Bros. Records' Nashv ...
and
Chips Moman
Lincoln Wayne "Chips" Moman (June 12, 1937 – June 13, 2016) was an American record producer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is known for working in R&B, pop music and country music, operating American Sound Studios and producing hit albums li ...
. He worked with such diverse artists as
Judson Spence
Judson Spence (born 29 April 1965, Pascagoula, Mississippi) is an American pop music singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist based in Nashville, Tennessee. He originally gained fame when he released his eponymously titled debut solo effort on A ...
,
Ben Folds
Benjamin Scott Folds (born September 12, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. After playing in several small independent bands throughout the late 80s and into the early 90s, Folds came to prominence as the f ...
,
Will Owsley,
Millard Powers and Jody Spence; as well as numerous executives and music publishers.
Senior Vice President Sony
Siman later served as senior vice president of
Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...
-Nashville, where he signed
the Dixie Chicks
The Chicks (formerly the Dixie Chicks) are an American country music band from Dallas, Texas. The band consists of Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar, bass guitar) and sisters Martie Maguire (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar) and Emily Stra ...
to their initial deal as well as writers Marcus Hummon
One of These Days (Marcus Hummon song) and David Vincent Williams ("I'm Movin' On"). He would later serve as attorney for the Dixie Chicks. While at Sony, he was appointed to the
Academy of Country Music
The Academy of Country Music (ACM) was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Among the founders were Eddie Miller (songwriter), Eddie Miller, Tommy Wiggins, and Mickey and Chris ...
board of directors and would go on to serve as president and chairman of the board. Additionally, he served on the Country Music Association board where he spearheaded the board decision to establish CMA Music Fest after the board had voted to end Fan Fair.
RPM Management
He managed country music star Tim McGraw where his guidance lead McGraw to be named Artist of the Decade securing more airplay than any artist in any format and the most played song of the Decade, all formats with
Something Like That. Other management highlights include #1 singles with Jessica Andrews (
Who I Am) and Carolyn Dawn Johnson
Single White Female
''Single White Female'' is a 1992 American psychological erotic thriller film produced and directed by Barbet Schroeder from a screenplay by Don Roos. It is based on the 1990 novel '' SWF Seeks Same'' by John Lutz. The film stars Bridget Fo ...
, and he guided two-time ''
Dancing with the Stars
''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...
'' champion and actress Julianne Hough to a #1 country album and two ACM Awards in 2009. He worked with the youngest artist to ever reach #1 on Billboard Top Country Album charts,
Billy Gilman.
While Siman was president and chairman of the board of the
Academy of Country Music Awards
The Academy of Country Music Awards, also known as the ACM Awards, were first held in 1966, honoring the industry's accomplishments during the previous year. It was the first country music awards program held by a major organization. The academy ...
(1996–2000) where he was instrumental in the repositioning of the association within the country music industry. He is former board member of the Country Music Foundation, and a participant in Leadership Music and Leadership Nashville. Siman served on the Nashville Cystic Fibrosis Foundation board and was a recipient of the Heart of Country award from the national organization.
RPM Music Group
As a co-owner of RPM Music Group, he has helped develop a publishing catalog that owns the rights to such hit songs as the Grammy winning "
It's Five O'Clock Somewhere
"It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" is a song performed by Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett, and written by Jim "Moose" Brown and Don Rollins. It was released in June 2003 as the lead single from Jackson's 2003 compilation album '' Greatest Hits Volume ...
" (
Alan Jackson
Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American country music singer-songwriter. He is known for performing a style widely regarded as "neotraditional country", as well as writing many of his own songs. Jackson has recorded 21 studi ...
), "The Power" (
Cher
Cher ( ; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Goddess of Pop", she is known for her Androgyny, androgynous contralto voice, Music an ...
and
Amy Grant
Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She began her music career in contemporary Christian music (CCM) before crossing over to pop music in the mid-1980s. Grant has been referred to as "Honorific ...
; ACM Song of the Year "
I'm Movin' On" (
Rascal Flatts
Rascal Flatts is an American Country music, country music band formed in 1999 in Nashville, Tennessee. The band consists of Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background voc ...
), "
Leave the Pieces" (
The Wreckers
The Wreckers were an American country music duo formed in 2005 by Michelle Branch and Jessica Harp, both of whom had solo recordings before the duo's foundation. In 2006, the duo released its debut album '' Stand Still, Look Pretty'', which pr ...
), "
What Kinda Gone" (
Chris Cagle
Christopher Norris Cagle (born November 10, 1968) is an American country music artist. He was first known for writing songs for David Kersh before signing to Virgin Records Nashville in 2000. Cagle made his debut on ''Billboard (magazine), Bill ...
), "
Anything Goes
''Anything Goes'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, revised considerably by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madc ...
" (
Randy Houser
Shawn Randolph Houser (born December 18, 1975) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Houser has racked up over half a dozen hits and over 1 billion streams. His How Country Feels album topped the country radio charts with the title ...
),
Montgomery Gentry
Montgomery Gentry is an American country music duo/solo act founded by singers Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry, both Kentucky natives. They began performing together in the 1990s as part of two different bands with Montgomery's brother, John ...
singles "
One in Every Crowd" "
Long Line of Losers" and "
Oughta Be a Song About That", "Let There Be Cowgirls" (Chris Cagle), "I Ain't Your Mama" (Maggie Rose),
Better" (Maggie Rose), "Wake Up Loving You" (Craig Morgan), "Say You Do" (Dierks Bentley) and has songs featured on four number 1 country albums in 2014 from the Band Perry ("Chainsaw") Luke Bryan ("Goodbye Girl", Dierks Bentley ("Say You Do") and Scotty McCreery ("Blue Jean Baby"). Other significant cuts include "Ex to See" and the #1 single "
Make You Miss Me" on the multiplatinum
Sam Hunt
Sam Lowry Hunt (born December 8, 1984) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Born in Cedartown, Georgia, Hunt played American football, football in his high school and college years and once attempted to pursue a professional sport ...
debut album; "
Save it for a Rainy Day," Kenny Chesney (a 3-week #1 single); and "
Break Up With Him
"Break Up with Him" is a song written and recorded by American country music group Old Dominion. Originally released as the second single off their self-titled EP on ReeSmack in January 2015, the band later signed with RCA Nashville in February ...
,"
Old Dominion (band)
Old Dominion is an American country music band formed in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville. The band consists of Matthew Ramsey (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Trevor Rosen (rhythm guitar, keyboards), Whit Sellers (drums), Geoff Sprung (bass guitar ...
(a 2-week #1 single).
RPM Entertainment
RPME's first release was vocal phenom
Maggie Rose. Her first single,
I Ain't Your Mama was #1 Most Added on the Mediabase country singles chart the first week of its release. RPME also signed Australian duo Kaylens Rain (their US debut single, Outta Here was released to country radio on October 15, 2012). They then represented Dack Janiels/
Chase Rice
Chase Rice (born September 19, 1985) is an American country music singer, songwriter and reality television personality. He first came to prominence in 2010 while he was a contestant on ''Survivor: Nicaragua'', where he was the runner-up to Jud ...
at country radio. His debut single
Ready Set Roll was a top 5 hit at country radio. Siman left RPM Entertainment in 2014 to head up EMCo.
EMCo
Since 2014, Siman serves as President of EM.Co which oversees the operations for Tim McGraw. Major successes include a performance by McGraw on the 2015 Oscars; a
Clio Award
The Clio Awards, also simply known as The Clios, is an annual award program that recognizes innovation and creative excellence in advertising, design, and communication, as judged by an international panel of advertising professionals. The awar ...
for an integrated campaign for
Humble and Kind helping propel the song to such honors as a Grammy for Best Country Song, CMA Song of the Year, NSAI Song of the Year and Favorite Country Song AMA's. Billboard Magazine named Siman one of their 2018 Power Players for his work with McGraw and helping oversee the launch of his
Soul2Soul World Tour with Faith Hill, garnering them the Legends of Live award and Billboard's No. 1 country music tour for 2017. He was named to the Billboard list again in 2019. McGraw headlined the VIP Tailgate Pregame at
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...
53 in 2019, and released two books which reached #2 on the New York Times Bestseller lists. McGraw headlined the
College Football Championship game in his home state of Louisiana in 2020. EMCo helped oversee the launch of McGraw's fitness brand, TRUMAV, with the establishment of the first fitness center in Nashville, Tennessee.
Nielson Broadcast Data System named Tim McGraw the artist with the biggest radio audience for all genres, all artists, for the 2010s.
Personal life
Siman is the son of country music pioneer
Si Siman, who was also in the talent and music publishing business and was an executive with Crossroads TV Productions, which created the first popular country music program on network television, ''
Ozark Jubilee
''Ozark Jubilee'' is a 1950s American television program that featured country music's top stars of the day. It was produced in Springfield, Missouri. The weekly live stage show premiered on ABC-TV on January 22, 1955, was renamed ''Country Mu ...
''. His middle name is in honor of
Ralph Foster, Crossroads TV's president and his father's mentor when he was born in
Springfield, Missouri
Springfield is the List of cities in Missouri, third most populous city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County, Missouri, Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...
. Si Siman is credited with securing record deals for Chet Atkins, Porter Wagoner and Brenda Lee, among others. He also is responsible for securing multiple recordings of "Satisfied Mind," all of which were in the top 10 at country radio at the same time.
He is a graduate of
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...
. and the
University of Missouri School of Law
The University of Missouri School of Law (Mizzou Law or MU Law) is the law school of the University of Missouri. It is located on the university's main campus in Columbia, forty minutes from the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City. The s ...
. While at Vanderbilt he joined the Gamma chapter of
Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as ''DKE'' or ''Deke'', is one of the oldest Fraternities and sororities, fraternities in the United States, with fifty-six active chapters and five active Colony (fraternity or sorority), colonies across No ...
fraternity, where he was chapter president. He is a former Old Natchez CC club champion and qualified for the Tennessee State Mid Am and the Tennessee Four Ball and Senior Four Ball Championships multiple times.
Siman is married to Teresa Siman and has three daughters, Rosie Siman Yakob, Lillian Keil and Marion Siman.
In 2014, Siman was elected to the Springfield, Missouri Public Schools Hall of Fame.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Siman, Scott
1954 births
Living people
People from Springfield, Missouri
University of Missouri School of Law alumni
Vanderbilt University alumni
Talent managers
American music industry executives