Halie Hampton is the rarest of all things: a true local. Originally from Ashland City, she was raised in Nashville and is an MTSU Blue Raider who started interning in the promotion department at Sony Nashville while still in college. Under the tutelage of Lesly Simon, Hampton learned the radio business from the secondary markets up—and believes her time as Arista’s Regional Manager of Promotion gave her the diversity to balance her support work for Brooks & Dunn and Rascal Flatts with primary management of “Just Something People Say” writer/singer Rachel Wammack.

How has breaking artists changed?

Despite the challenges that we as an industry are facing breaking female artists specifically, the creative possibilities and ways to get there feel endless. It’s really a matter of what’s the best way for your artist. Even eight years ago, when I started my career, it felt very robotic the way artists were introduced: You went on a 12-14-week radio tour, released a first single at the end and were lucky if you secured a support slot on a decent tour after a slew of free radio shows.

We still operate in some of those ways, but now, with all the other creative options to bring the music to people and build fanbases and engagement between streaming platforms and social media, it’s not only really fun but you can launch a new artist in a lot of ways. Having that flexibility makes a massive difference in getting more artists into the pipeline and to the fans.