Universal Music Announces New Structure, Appointments for Nashville Label Group

In the wake of the EU and FTC's approvals of the Universal Music/EMI merger, the integration of the two companies' Nashville operations is coming together under chairman/CEO Mike Dungan. The four imprints within Universal Music Group Nashville are Capitol Records, Mercury Records, MCA Records and EMI Records.

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Among multiple new appointments is Tom Becci, who has been named senior vp and COO for the label group. He previously held that position at Capitol Records Nashville. Other senior appointments are: UMG Nashville senior vp of A&R Brian Wright, who will head up A&R for the family of labels; Cindy Mabe, formerly Capitol Records Nashville senior vp of marketing, who is now senior VP of marketing for UMG Nashville; and UMG Nashville senior vp/head of promotion Royce Risser, will oversee all promotion efforts in the four-imprint structure. All four report to Dungan, as does Becci.

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Each of the four labels has its own radio-promotion team. While there will also be four dedicated marketing teams -- each named from one of the labels -- their assignments will not always be along label lines, but will also be dependent on workload and which artist assignment makes sense, according to company insiders. Other label functions such as sales, production and finance, will operate as shared services across all four imprints.

"The integration of these two great companies presents a rare opportunity to create a Nashville-based music entertainment organization that is well positioned for creative innovation and profitable growth," Dungan said in a statement.

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Other appointments include Capitol senior vp of promotion Steve Hodges assuming responsibility for the Capitol promotion team; Mercury Records vp of promotion Damon Moberly and MCA Records vp of promotion Van Haze will continue in their respective roles; and Jimmy Rector has been appointed vp of EMI Records promotion.

Also, UMG Nashville VP of radio marketing Katie Dean will continue in that role for all four labels; Capitol vp Shane Allen will now become UMG Nashville vp of promotion for all four labels; Lori Christian has been appointed UMG Nashville vp of media marketing; and Dawn Gates has been appointed UMG Nashville vp of digital marketing.

As part of the integration of EMI and Capitol Nashville into Universal Music Group Nashville about 15 staffers were let go, sources say.

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