Warner Music Nashville has appointed Stephanie Wright as senior vp of A&R, reporting to label co-chair/co-president Cris Lacy. Wright joined the company as a consultant in October.
Wright has spent more than 23 years in A&R at Universal Music Group in Nashville, beginning as an assistant at Capitol Records and rising through the ranks to senior vp. During her time at UMG, Wright signed and worked with artists including Sam Hunt, Kacey Musgraves, Jordan Davis and Parker McCollum. Wright has also been instrumental in albums including Lee Ann Womack‘s Call Me Crazy, Musgraves’ Same Trailer Different Park and Hunt’s Montevallo.
Wright joining Warner Music Nashville follows other recent moves at the label. Earlier this week, it was announced that producer and label exec Scott Hendricks will exit his longtime post at the label next month. In October, it was also revealed that Shane Tarleton had exited his role as executive vp of artist development after a 13-year run at the label.
“Ben and I have known and respected Stephanie for many years — quite often we’ve been on the other side of her at another label, actively battling it out to sign an artist,” Lacy said in a statement. “She is a fierce competitor, a tenacious team leader and has an innate sense for exceptional music and artists. Most importantly, she is recognized in the music community as a passionate advocate for developing songwriters, producers and artists, many of whom she helped achieve their first career milestone. Her reputation and long-standing relationships will strengthen our incredible A&R team exponentially.”
“Joining WMN, in a way, feels like a homecoming,” Wright added. “Over the course of my 23 years in A&R, I’ve known Cris [Lacy] as a friend, passionate label competitor and overall industry leader. Likewise, I’ve known Ben [Kline] my entire career, starting when we worked together for Mercury Nashville. When the opportunity to join Cris, Ben and the WMN team arose, the decision was easy. The rest of the world is learning how exceptional our artists and songwriters are; something we’ve always known! Country music now touches every corner of the globe, creating new fans and influencing new artists everywhere. Great talent knows no boundary and I’m grateful, and excited, to be in this new home that puts the artist’s story first.”
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