BREAKING: Capitol Music Group Reorganizes, Taps Candice Watkins As President

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Candice Watkins. Photo: Cedrick Jones

Capitol Music Group is bringing Capitol Christian Music Group (CCMG) and its country division Capitol Records Nashville, under the Capitol Music Group Nashville banner. The move seeks to fortify its commitment to Music City as a key creative and commercial hub for the label group.

Artists that were previously signed to Capitol Records Nashville will remain at the newly-formed Music Corporation of America (MCA) Nashville label.

To serve as President of Capitol Records Nashville, the company has tapped the highly respected industry veteran, Candice Watkins. She will also serve as Executive Vice President of Capitol Christian Music Group.

“This reorganization reflects our commitment to growing our Nashville operations as a core creative hub in Christian, gospel and country music,” says 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 caliber of Candice Watkins to lead our ambitious plans in country music while also bringing her expertise to our gospel and christian music operations.”

Watkins joins CMG from 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.

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. CCMG is the world’s leading faith-based music company and is home to such superstars as Anne Wilson, Josiah Queen, Chris Tomlin and Tasha Cobbs Leonard, to name a few. CCMG also publishes the song catalog of industry icon Kirk Franklin. O’Donnell will continue to report to March.

“This new structure will empower our Nashville executives to better serve the incredible artists on our roster. Candice is a brilliant music marketing executive who has an amazing track record in developing career artists,” says John Janick, Chairman of Interscope Capitol. “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.”

Watkins shares, “It’s a true honor 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 and Brad in boldly championing creatives and visionaries.”

Capitol Music Group Nashville’s office is located in the emerging Wedgewood Houston area of Nashville, featuring 40,000 square feet of office space which includes state-of-the-art recording studios, a live performance space and creative content studios. As Capitol Nashville builds locally, it will have the full support of the Capitol Tower in Los Angeles for all label services.

LB Cantrell
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