UMGN’s Cindy Mabe has helped Lady Antebellum and other acts hit new career highs; now she’s planning to finish what she started with Carrie Underwood.
THE STAR MAKER
Cindy Mabe, 44
President, Universal Music Group Nashville
“It was the most gratifying moment of the past year,” says Mabe of her reaction to UMG Nashville signing Carrie Underwood to Capitol Records Nashville in late March — a surprise deal following the country superstar’s decision not to renew with Sony Nashville after a fruitful 12-year run that culminated in the release of her 2015 album, Storyteller. (The LP has sold over 1 million albums and yielded four top 10 singles on the Country Airplay chart.) One reason for Underwood’s move, according to industry sources: the opportunity to work again with Mabe, who was at Sony Nashville when the 2005 American Idol winner released her first album, Some Hearts, and was involved in rolling out the record, which went on to sell 7.5 million copies. With Underwood back on the same team, Mabe says, “We are working with Carrie on a lot of goals, including making her a global star.”
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Lady A Returns to the A-List
Almost three years since its last album, 747, Lady Antebellum reached No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart for the fifth time, with Heart Break, on July 1. “They released one of the best albums of their career,” says Mabe of the new LP. “I’m continuously blown away by how this band and their music connect.”
‘Driven by the Music’
“Cindy has a dynamic way of powerfully [fusing] music and commerce. She is driven by the music, and believes that it must tell a story and be authentic to who you are for it to last,” says Lady A’s Hillary Scott. “In that regard, she has encouraged and challenged us over the course of our career.”
New Kids on the Nashville Block
Mabe says she is particularly proud of three acts that broke new ground in 2016 and 2017: “Brothers Osborne, Lauren Alaina and Jon Pardi have all upped their game.” Brothers Osborne won both Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association duo of the year honors. Alaina, an American Idol alumna, scored her first Country Airplay No. 1 with “Road Less Traveled.” And Pardi scored Country Airplay chart-toppers with the first two singles off his California Sunrise LP, “Head Over Boots” and “Dirt on My Boots”; his most recent, “Heartache on the Dance Floor,” is No. 14 on the Aug. 5 chart.
This article originally appeared in the August 5 issue of Billboard.