Song Overview and Credits
Saltwater Gospel is a country song recorded by Eli Young Band, a four-member group from Denton, Texas. The track is credited to Ross Copperman, Ashley Gorley, and Shane McAnally as primary songwriters. Eli Young Band consists of Mike Eli, James Young, Chris Thompson, and Jon Jones, and the group operates through its own publishing and recording entities. The song is distributed by Universal Music Group Nashville via Big Machine Records, a label group that also represents other major country acts. For background on the group's label history and structure, see the official Eli Young Band profile on the Universal Music Group Nashville website Universal Music Group Nashville.
Release, Label, and Distribution
Saltwater Gospel was released as part of Eli Young Band's album Dig Your Roots, which was issued through Big Machine Records and distributed by Universal Music Group. The album was produced by Jay Joyce and released in 2016. Big Machine Label Group is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, and operates as a subsidiary of Ithaca Holdings, with oversight from founder Scott Borchetta. The group's catalog is managed by Universal Music Group's Nashville division, which handles physical, digital, and streaming distribution globally. Additional details on Big Machine Label Group's structure are available on its official site Big Machine Label Group.
Streaming Performance and Business Metrics
Saltwater Gospel has accumulated tens of millions of streams on major platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. On Spotify, the track is listed under Eli Young Band's official artist profile and is part of the Dig Your Roots album page. The song's performance is tracked by Luminate, the data provider behind the Billboard charts, which reports streaming and airplay metrics for country music. Eli Young Band's publishing rights are administered by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, which handles licensing and royalty collection for the songwriters. For current Billboard chart methodology and country music rankings, see the official Billboard website Billboard Country Songs.
Streaming Platforms and Data Sources
Spotify reports Saltwater Gospel streams in its public artist dashboard, while Apple Music and Amazon Music provide similar playback data through their respective artist pages. Luminate compiles these streams alongside radio airplay and sales data to generate weekly charts used by the industry. The data is also referenced by SEC filings from major label groups when discussing music catalog valuations and royalty income. For more on Luminate's role in music data, see the Luminate official site Luminate.