Capitol Music Group has unveiled an expanded Nashville operation.
Capitol Christian Music Group (CCMG) and country division Capitol Records Nashville will now come under the Capitol Music Group Nashville banner.
“As Capitol Nashville builds locally, it will have the full support of the Capitol Tower in Los Angeles for all label services,” said a statement.
The company has appointed industry veteran Candice Watkins to serve as president of Capitol Records Nashville. Additionally, Watkins will serve as executive vice president of Capitol Christian Music Group.
Watkins was previously in a leadership role at Big Loud Records, where she most recently served as senior vice president of marketing, overseeing the label’s marketing, digital, creative, PR and streaming departments.
During her tenure at Big Loud she worked closely with artists such as Morgan Wallen, Hardy, Hailey Whitters, Stephen Wilson Jr., Lauren Alaina, Ernest, Kashus Culpepper, and others.
Prior to joining Big Loud, Watkins worked in marketing and artist development at Universal Music Group Nashville, and held positions at Red Light Management, Mozes Inc, Borman Entertainment and Cross Point Church. She serves on the boards of CMA and ACM.
“This reorganisation reflects our commitment to growing our Nashville operations as a core creative hub in Christian, gospel and country music,” said Capitol Music Group CEO Tom March. “We’re looking forward to signing and developing the next generation of country artists on Capitol Records Nashville and are thrilled to have an executive of the calibre of Candice Watkins to lead our ambitious plans in country music while also bringing her expertise to our gospel and Christian music operations.”
Capitol Christian Music Group, which includes Motown Gospel and Tamla and distribution operations, will continue to be led by its longtime president Brad O’Donnell in Nashville. O’Donnell will continue to report to Tom March.
“This new structure will empower our Nashville executives to better serve the incredible artists on our roster,” said John Janick, chairman of Interscope Capitol. “Candice is a brilliant music marketing executive who has an amazing track record in developing career artists. Having her lead our country music business in Nashville and also add her extensive artist development expertise to our CCMG team is going to be great for our artists and for the entire executive team.”
Candice Watkins said: “It’s a true honour to step into the role of President of Capitol Records Nashville and EVP of Capitol Christian. These labels have a rich legacy in partnering with some of the most brilliant artists of our industry and I look forward to contributing to its continued success and cultural impact. Excited to collaborate with John, Tom, Lillia [Parsa] and Brad in boldly championing creatives and visionaries.”
Artists that were previously signed to Capitol Records Nashville will remain at the newly formed label, which is part of UMG’s Music Corporation of America (MCA) Nashville.
Photo by Cedrick Jones
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