Widely respected music executive Cindy Mabe has exited her role as CEO of Universal Music Group Nashville.
The news was first reported by Country Aircheck.
Mabe was appointed Chair and CEO of Universal Music Group Nashville (UMGN) in April, 2023.
The exec succeeded Mike Dungan, who announced his intention to retire from his position at UMGN after more than a decade there and a total of four decades in the music industry.
UMG noted at the time of Mabe’s promotion to the Chief Exec role that she had “blazed a trail throughout her career”, and became Nashville’s highest-ranking woman label executive in 2014, when she was appointed as UMGN President.
Mabe’s promotion saw her become the first woman to serve as Chair and CEO of a Nashville-based major label group.
Mabe has worked with country music stars including Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Jordan Davis, Mickey Guyton, Sam Hunt, Alan Jackson, Parker McCollum, Reba McEntire, Kacey Musgraves, Jon Pardi, Chris Stapleton, George Strait, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Brothers Osborne and Little Big Town, among others.
Mabe joined UMGN in 2012 as Senior Vice President, Marketing, responsible for leading marketing across Capitol Records Nashville, EMI Records Nashville, MCA Nashville, and Mercury Nashville and UMG’s expanded suite of country labels following its acquisition of EMI.
Prior to that, Mabe spent five years at Capitol Records Nashville, where she held the position of SVP, Marketing.
She began her music career as promotions coordinator at RCA Nashville, before shifting to sales and then artist marketing and Development, during which time she worked with artists including Clint Black, Martina McBride, and Alabama.
She later served as Senior Director, Marketing and Artist Development at Arista Records Nashville from 1999-2007 working with the likes of Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Brooks & Dunn, and Diamond Rio before joining Capitol Records Nashville in 2007.
Other C-suite changes at the major record companies in Nashville included Taylor Lindsey’s recent promotion to Chairman and CEO at Sony Music Nashville, effective January 2025.
Lindsey succeeded Randy Goodman, who, as announced in September, will retire at the end of 2024 after more than 35 years in the music industry.
Also, in April last year, John “Espo” Esposito exited Warner Music Nashville after 14 years as the company’s leader. He was succeeded by Ben Kline and Cris Lacy.
In September, Warner Music Group veteran Gregg Nadel, who most recently served as President of Elektra Entertainment, was appointed Co-Chair & Co-President of Warner Music Nashville. He will work alongside Cris Lacy, who has been co-head of WMN for the past two years and marks her 20th anniversary with the company next year. Nadel succeeded Ben Kline, who has decided to step down after a decade with the company
Also in September, Universal Music Group Nashville appointed Robert Kilduff as Chief Financial Officer.Music Business Worldwide