NASHVILLE (CelebrityAccess) – Mary Catherine Kinney has been appointed Executive Vice President (EVP) of Artist and Label Strategy at Republic Corps, as announced by Republic Corps President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Jim Roppo on Thursday (October 3).
Based in Nashville, Kinney will oversee artist and label strategy for the Republic Corp Collective, which includes Republic Records, Island Records, Mercury Records, and Def Jam Recordings. She will also lead the business strategy for the group’s labels.
Before joining Republic, Kinney served as Head of Artist Partnerships at Spotify, where she played a key role since joining the company in 2018. During her time at Spotify, she launched and led the team responsible for artist and manager relationships, as well as genre marketing initiatives. These projects included partnerships with Taylor Swift, Karol G, and Zach Bryan, along with the creation of Spotify’s “Billions Club” series, “Casa Spotify” in Puerto Rico, and “Spotify House” at CMA Fest.
Kinney previously held roles at Sony Music Nashville and Universal Music Group Nashville. At Sony Music Nashville, she rose to Publicity Director, working with country stars such as Luke Combs, Kane Brown, and Maren Morris. She began her music career in 2011 at Capitol Records Nashville, later moving to Universal Music Group Nashville, where she worked in marketing and publicity.
Roppo praised Kinney, saying, “Mary Catherine is one of the music industry’s most inspiring leaders. Her reputation and work ethic have uniquely positioned her to flourish supporting the labels at REPUBLIC. She’s the perfect executive to seamlessly facilitate our expansion in the market.”
Kinney added, “I’m thrilled to join REPUBLIC to build with each label team on their unique mission and work with such a phenomenal roster of artists. For over a decade, I’ve called Nashville home, and I’m honored for the opportunity to steward REPUBLIC’s vision within this vibrant, ever-growing creative community. I have deeply admired Monte, Avery, and Jim as visionaries and esteemed leaders for many years; I thank them for this extraordinary opportunity.”
