Ethiopia Habtemariam, currently chairwoman and CEO of Motown Records, will be stepping down from her position in order to pursue new endeavors, she and the company stated in a joint announcement Tuesday.“It has been the greatest honor to work with some of the most incredible artists, songwriters and partners in the world,” she said in a statement. “I have always had a clear vision for the talent that I’ve had the privilege to work with, which has led Motown to global...
Ethiopia
Habtemariam
Chairman / CEO
The latest plateau in Habtemariam’s impressive career happened in March, when she was named chairman and CEO of Motown after serving as the label’s president since 2014. This move follows her stints as president of urban music & co-head of creative at Universal Music Publishing Group and EVP of Capitol Music Group, but while Motown has been a subsidiary of other Universal labels for the last several years, this reorganization finds her presiding over a standalone label. The new structure allows Habtemariam to better leverage the partnerships Motown built with Quality Control Music (Migos, Lil Baby, City Girls and Lil Yachty), Blacksmith Records (Ted When, Vince Staples) and Since the 80s (Asiahn, Njomza) while serving the needs of longtime label stars like Erykah Badu and Kem.