Provident Entertainment is proud to announce the promotions of Holly Zabka and Blaine Barcus. Zabka is named Sr. Vice President for Essential Music Publishing and Head of Creative for Provident Label Group. Previously SVP for Publishing, Zabka reports to Terry Hemmings, President/CEO of Provident Entertainment. Former VP of A&R Barcus is promoted to SVP, A&R for PLG, joining the Provident leadership team led by Hemmings and will report to Zabka.
“It’s an immense pleasure to promote Holly and Blaine to their new positions,” says Terry Hemmings. “I have been privileged to work with them both for many years and see their growth and development into the best in the business in their respective roles. Their hard work and dedication to excellence are evident by the achievements of the many artists and writers each of them has signed and developed over the years.”
Hemmings continues, “Holly joined me in starting our publishing company from the ground floor. She brought knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm to the role, as well as the special understanding and care required to work with talented writers throughout a long and successful career. She has shown that she can lead as well as understand the business and manage the various pieces of our company. This role will allow Holly to oversee all of our creative endeavors including publishing and recording as well as new content development. She is deserving of this role in so many ways and I consider her a strong and trusted ally in our company and beyond.
“Blaine has contributed so much to our roster with his ability to develop strong relationships with artists on his roster as well as source songs that can take them to the next level,” Hemmings shares. “He made an immediate contribution when he joined us 16 years ago and has never stopped. His hard work and persistence in the pursuit of excellence have provided for many of our top artists to develop and thrive in the business, as well as making a strong contribution to the success of our company. In overseeing A&R, this role will allow Blaine to contribute his skills to our entire roster as well as develop new A&R talent as we work to grow the department in the coming months. I’m excited for Blaine and I look forward to what’s ahead as he moves into this new position.”
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In 2008, Holly Zabka was the first executive hired to run Essential Music Publishing as Sr. Director and in 2013, she was promoted to VP. Since the inception of the publishing company 13 years ago, Zabka and her EMP team have more than 17,000 copyrights and 70+ No. 1 songs, including “You Say” recorded by Lauren Daigle, which also went No. 1 on the Mainstream Adult Contemporary Top 40 Chart, Zach Williams’ “There Was Jesus,” “Nobody” by Casting Crowns, For King & Country’s “Together,” “Famous For” by Tauren Wells, CAIN’s “Rise Up (Lazarus),” among many others. Through Zabka’s leadership, Provident’s Publishing division has received four GMA Dove Awards for Song of the Year (“You Say,” “Reckless Love,” “By Your Side,” and “Give Me Your Eyes”), was named 2019 and 2020 BMI Publisher of the Year and is a four-time SESAC Publisher of the Year.
Working to build the company from the ground up, under Zabka’s direction EMP has been responsible for signing and partnering with songwriters such as Jason Ingram, Ethan Hulse, Mia Fieldes, Jonathan Smith, Ran Jackson, and Bryan Fowler, to name just a few. They have also signed and represented Provident Label Group artist/songwriters Zach Williams, Mark Hall of Casting Crowns, Matt Maher, Tauren Wells, CAIN, and more. Also under her leadership, EMP developed the Essential Worship imprint and church marketing platform, representing hundreds of worship songs for the church including “Graves Into Gardens,” “Goodness of God,” “Great Are You Lord,” “Reckless Love,” “Tremble,” “Glorious Day,” as well as worship/church platforms Elevation Worship, Vertical Worship, Red Rocks Worship, and others.
With 25 years of leadership experience in the music industry, Blaine Barcus joined Provident Entertainment as Vice President of A&R in 2005. Previously working as an artist manager, tour manager, and musician, during Barcus’ tenure at Provident he’s signed and/or worked directly with artists such as Third Day, Zach Williams, Matt Maher, Building 429, Matthew West, Steven Curtis Chapman, I AM THEY, Rhett Walker, CAIN, and many others. Under his direction, his artist roster has released three RIAA-certified Platinum albums, five RIAA-certified Gold albums, two Platinum singles, and seven Gold singles. Additionally, these recordings have earned five GRAMMY Awards, 16 GRAMMY nominations, and numerous GMA Dove Awards.
Over the course of his A&R career, Blaine has signed seven artists who were GMA Dove Award “New Artist of the Year” nominees, with two winning the award. His roster has also been successful on the radio charts, releasing 25 No. 1 radio hits, with an additional 20 songs making it into the Top 5.
