MusicRow Magazine, Nashville’s leading music industry publication, proudly recognized six Nashville music industry executives during its 13th annual Rising Women on the Row honors this morning (March 3) at the JW Marriott. City National Bank served as Presenting Sponsor.

This year’s honorees included Courtney Allen, Jackie Augustus, Sara Knabe, Victoria Mason, Sophia Sansone and Elisa Vazzana, each recognized for their impact and leadership within the Nashville music business.

Ebie McFarland, Publicist/Owner of Essential Broadcast Media, served as this year’s featured speaker. She shared insights from her two-decade long career guiding some of country music’s most enduring careers.

Since its inception in 2012, MusicRow’s annual Rising Women on the Row event has honored more than 60 women, continuing its tradition of recognizing and uplifting the next generation of industry leaders.

About MusicRow’s 2026 Rising Women On The Row:

Courtney Allen – Senior Director, A&R – Concord Music Publishing

Courtney Allen joined Concord’s Nashville team in October 2021 as Director, A&R and was promoted to Senior Director in 2023. Allen serves as an A&R for Concord’s publishing roster that has grown and expanded immensely in the Nashville and country market. She is committed to rounding out Concord’s Nashville roster with top-notch talent and continues to be a force in developing high-level signings across the company including breakout artist Russell Dickerson and top country music songwriter/producer Corey Crowder as well as rising stars like Grace Tyler, Cole Goodwin, Clayton Mullen, Lauren Hungate and more. Additionally, Allen serves an integral role in liaising with Hang Your Hat, a Concord creative venture founded by two-time ACM Songwriter of the Year, Hillary Lindsey including notable signings such as Chris LaCorte. Prior to Concord, Allen served as Creative Director at BMG, where she worked with their roster of songwriters and developed new talent. Prior to her time at BMG, she was the Creative Director of publishing at Starstruck Entertainment, where she worked with developing artists on the management roster. Allen is active in the country music and Nashville scene both for music and philanthropically. She works with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital raising money with their annual “This T Shirt Saves Lives” campaign, encouraging the music community’s involvement. She was also a part of the 2023 class of CMA Women’s Leadership Academy, and was named Song Champion of the Year at the 2025 AIMP Nashville Country Awards.

Jackie Augustus – Lead, Country & Folk, Artist Partnerships – Spotify

Jackie Augustus is a seasoned music industry executive who currently leads Country & Folk Artist Partnerships at Spotify. In this role, she oversees global strategy for both genres, building trusted relationships with artists, managers and key industry collaborators. Based in Nashville, Augustus serves as a core creative and cultural advisor across Spotify’s cross-functional teams, shaping innovative campaigns and genre-defining moments that extend well beyond traditional release cycles. Augustus began her career at Scooter Braun’s SB Projects, where she rose to become Head of Digital Marketing and led global digital strategy for more than 23 artists, including Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande. Augustus’ unique career trajectory began in 2009 when she launched the Justin Bieber fan account @BieberArmy on Twitter, rapidly gaining worldwide recognition from millions of fans and eventually catching the attention of Braun and Bieber. She then began collaborating with Braun on communicating Bieber updates to his fans, and in 2012 Braun recruited her to join the SB Projects team in Los Angeles, where she lived for six years. Augustus also spent time as a Strategic Partner Manager on Meta’s Music Partnerships team, where she developed large-scale immersive experiences, launched a content funding program for emerging artists, and onboarded global superstars to Reels. Augustus was named a 2025 Variety Nashville Power of Women honoree, a 2022 and 2025 Billboard Country Power Player, and the recipient of multiple Webby and Clio Awards.

Sara Knabe – SVP of A&R – Big Loud Records

An industry veteran and song champion, Big Loud Records SVP, A&R Sara Knabe plays an integral role leading both the Records and Big Loud Publishing A&R teams. With a meticulous ear and collaborative mindset, she brings a unique perspective to the forward-thinking teams, providing invaluable insights on talent discovery and placements after over 20 years in the music industry. Credited with signing country supernova Lainey Wilson and representing the catalogs of genre-shaping songwriters like Hillary Lindsey and Lori McKenna, she continues to sign and shepherd red-hot risers like 2025 Grammy Artist To Watch Kashus Culpepper. Prior to joining the Big Loud staff in the spring of 2023, Knabe founded her own venture, Cake Maker Music, a publishing, artist development and A&R consultancy whose name alludes to the idiom about having your cake and eating it too—more literally for Knabe, mutually inclusive motherhood and career. Before Cake Maker, she spent over a decade at BMG, starting in 2011 as Senior Director of Creative in the company’s publishing sector and later upped to VP, before transitioning to the label side as VP of A&R at BBR Music Group in 2017. Prior stops for the Belmont University alum include Bug Music, Windswept Holdings, LLC and Harlan Howard Songs. Knabe also currently serves on the boards for the AMCs and CMAs.

Victoria Mason – SVP, Marketing – Warner Records Nashville

Warner Records Nashville’s Senior Vice President of Marketing, Victoria Mason, continues to lead Nashville’s charge in optimizing audience, fan development and fan engagement in country music. She joined the Warner Music ranks in 2011 after a three-year tenure working with audience and data giant Nielsen and became the driving force behind Warner Music Nashville’s implementation of analytics for the next six years. In 2017, Mason was promoted to VP, Research & Analytics, where she increased the label’s focus on broader industry and genre-level trends, as well as deepening her oversight of ROI and marketing spend analysis. WRN expanded Mason’s duties in October 2019 into artist development, while also leading in-house analytics, and overseeing the day-to-day functions of the digital and strategic partnerships teams. She then moved from VP, Strategic Marketing to SVP Marketing & Analytics, where she merged and rebranded the Artist Development team into the comprehensive Marketing department, which encompasses Artist Marketing, Digital Marketing, Analytics, Brand Partnerships, and Industry + Fan Events, all reporting to Mason. Mason is a current member of the Leadership Music Board of Directors (2022-2026) and has been named a Billboard Country Power Player, Nashville Briefing Power Player and a Billboard Woman In Music.

Sophia Sansone – Managing Partner, Artist Manager, Make Wake Artists

In less than a decade, Sophia Sansone has risen from an assistant role to become one of Nashville’s most respected young executives, now serving as a Managing Partner at Make Wake Artists. Since joining the company in 2017 as assistant to founder Chris Kappy, Sansone has distinguished herself through sharp strategic instincts, deep artist advocacy, and an exceptional understanding of long-term career building. A key member of Luke Combs’ management team during a period of historic growth, Sansone has played an integral role in helping guide one of the most successful careers in modern country music. She also manages Nicole Combs, serving as a trusted advisor across brand, business, and philanthropic initiatives. A graduate of Vanderbilt University, Sansone credits much of her leadership style to growing up as one of ten siblings, an unconventional training ground that shaped her collaborative mindset, adaptability and decisiveness. Her impact has been consistently recognized by the industry. She was named to Nashville Briefing’s 30 Under 30 in 2021 and went on to earn repeated honors including Billboard Women in Music (2023, 2024, 2025), MusicRow’s Next Big Thing (N.B.T.) (2023), Variety’s Hitmakers (2023, 2024), Billboard’s Country Power Players (2023, 2024, 2025) and Billboard’s 40 Under 40 (2024).

Elisa Vazzana – Agent – UTA

Elisa Vazzana is a Music Agent at leading global talent, entertainment, sports, and advisory company United Talent Agency. Based in Nashville, she represents a diverse roster of artists including Megan Moroney, Chayce Beckham and Buffalo Traffic Jam. Leading with integrity, strategic clarity, and an artist-first philosophy, Vazzana has played a central role in building Moroney’s career and was among the first to recognize her exceptional talent. Under her guidance, Moroney has emerged as one of modern country music’s most in-demand artists, driven by sustained growth and increased demand. Moroney’s first arena headline run, “The Cloud 9 Tour,” sold more than 450,000 tickets at the on-sale, an impressive follow up to her 2025 50-date “AM I OKAY?” tour, which sold over 365,000 tickets in under 15 minutes—together ranking among the most in-demand tours across all genres. Vazzana began her career at CAA in 2008. In 2012, she was promoted to the trainee program in Los Angeles. In 2013, her sharp attention to detail and tenacity led her to being promoted to agent. After her nearly 14-year tenure at CAA, she became the Head of Fairs and Festivals at UTA in 2021. Elsewhere, Vazzana is on the Board of Directors at International Entertainment Buyers Association (IEBA).