By: Isabelle Speerin
Trina Smith-Dort’s love of puzzles isn’t just a hobby. It’s a skill that helps her tackle the demands of Nashville’s competitive music community with ease. As the owner of the all-female independent publishing and record administration firm, Me Gusta Music, she’s always ready for the complex challenges that come with the territory.
Smith-Dort is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) in Nashville, where she studied a Bachelor of Science in Recording Industry in the early 2000s. Widely regarded as one of the top music business schools in the U.S., MTSU is also known as the “GRAMMY-winner factory” due to the abundance of alumni nominations and wins. “I knew early on I wanted to be involved in the music business but didn’t know where I would land because I didn’t know publishing existed,” she said.
Through the program, Smith-Dort interned at several music companies, but it was her time at ASCAP, under the mentorship of the late Connie Bradley and Pat Rolfe, that led to her first publishing job at Create Real Music (now Big Loud). “At first I thought I would be doing creative and then quickly realized I was one of the nerds,” she laughed. She later dipped her toes into copyright administration at Nashville-based Words & Music (now Hipgnosis) and spent six years as the Director of Administrative Services.
Always up for a new challenge, Smith-Dort saw an opportunity to target a niche market in Nashville who desperately needed administrative support. “I noticed that the Texas country and red dirt music genres that I personally enjoy listening to were just not being serviced in Nashville at the time,” she explained.
It was the catalyst she needed to branch out and found her own independent publishing and record administration firm in 2011. “Our focus is sync and our client base are bands putting out their own music,” she explained. “We also work on behalf of music publishers to elevate what they have going on.”
Today, Me Gusta Music has evolved into a successful all-female company that has grown organically to a team of ten based in East Nashville. Her team helps clients collect all royalty income from syncs, mechanical licensing, performance and digital streaming. “As we’ve grown, it’s been very important to me to keep a good team,” she revealed. “I care more about people fitting into our team and we can train them for the actual job.”
Me Gusta Music boasts a diverse publishing and record administration client roster, including Alanis Morrisette, Backstreet Boys, Jonas Group Publishing, Michael Franti, Say She She, The Aces, Luis Resto, Mat Kearney, Nikki Lane, Darrell Scott, Cody Johnson, Caitlin Rose, Bonnie Baker, Kent Blazy, David Nail and Cody Jinks.
Many of her clients are enjoying a new wave of popularity thanks the success of the American neo-Western drama television series, Yellowstone, which features a soundtrack filled with red dirt country songs.
Smith-Dort sets herself apart from competitors by nurturing a personal relationship with her clients grounded in honest and realistic expectations. “It’s not my goal to oversell,” she said. “I’m intentional in what I say we do and what we can do, and I feel like my clients know exactly what they are getting from the relationship.”
She’s proud of the fact Me Gusta Music purposefully works with all types of music genres and isn’t ‘country-only’, like many others based in Nashville. “We’re alt music and we have some mainstream country, but we administer a wide variety of music and I think it makes us a smidge different.”
One of the first things Smith-Dort did when she started her company thirteen years ago was establish an affiliation with CMRRA. “I know firsthand how important it is for us to be able to collect those royalties,” she said. “Having the ability to be a direct client of CMRRA and ensure songs are correctly registered has been invaluable for our clients. Caroline Ives and Marianne Anderson are always there to help us.”.
Smith-Dort also appreciates how CMRRA has continued to update processes to include CWR submission that have made catalog registrations easier and more streamlined. “We love that they are always willing to review and improve the catalog/song transfer process,” she said.
When asked about some of the challenges she faces in administration, Smith-Dort points to the lack of consistency in how information is shared with industry partners. “Our biggest challenge is making sure our songs are registered properly around the world and that we get paid for it because it’s our client’s money,” she said.
She talks about the need to constantly adapt to changing market conditions. “We’re always adjusting, and we have to be nimble and figure out if a model doesn’t work anymore or they don’t make that product anymore or what’s this new thing?” she said.
For those looking for ways to break into the music business, Smith-Dort emphasized the importance of attending a reputable music business school. “I think it’s helpful to learn about different aspects of the business through an academic program,” she said. “We find it really helps fine tune what someone wants to do.”
Internships are also important for future business relationships, especially in Nashville. “It’s a big community but also a small community and so having that leg up on somebody with your foot already in the door is very helpful.”
For creators, she recommends attending music conferences to help frame the full scope of their jobs as a songwriter or artist. “It can be challenging to navigate the royalty ecosystem so conferences can be helpful to grasp some of the general concepts.”
Smith-Dort is Treasurer of the Nashville chapter of the AIMP board and was recognized for her contributions to the music industry with the AIMP Nashville Song Champion of the Year award in 2022. She is the only administrative professional to ever receive the award.
For more about Smith-Dort and Me Gusta Music, visit www.megustamusic.com.
