Capitol Nashville’s Bobby Young Retiring
• Sending our best wishes to Capitol Records Nashville Vice President of Promotion Bobby Young, who announced his retirement, effective Dec. 16.
Young joined Capitol Records Nashville in 2011 as its Southeast Regional before being upped to VP in 2016. During his time at the label, Young and the Capitol team have successfully landed 76 No. 1 records, spending 101 weeks in the top spot, garnered 98 Top 10 songs, and bolstered the careers of artists including Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Jon Pardi, Darius Rucker, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Little Big Town, and many more.
Young’s storied career spans four decades and includes earlier stints at Republic Nashville, Big Machine Records, Jeff McClusky & Associates, and Mercury Records Nashville, as well as his own indie promotion companies. “I’ve been fortunate to have worked for and alongside so many of Nashville’s music industry legends,” said Young. “I’d like to thank legends Mike Dungan and Royce Risser for believing in me and for trusting me the last seven years to lead this kick-ass promotion team. Working alongside Royce, David Friedman, Donna Hughes, Nick Kaper, Louie Newman and Chris Schuler has been a perfect storm and the pinnacle of my career, and I’m so proud to have represented the biggest names in the format during my stint at Capitol. I’d like to thank everyone at UMG and especially the Capitol promotion team — Megan Youngblood, Mara Sidweber, Ashley Knight, Annie Sandor, Katie Bright, and Megan Kleinschmidt — all rock stars! I’d also like to extend my appreciation to my many friends over the years in Country radio.”
EVP Promotion Royce Risser commented, “We are going to miss Bobby around here. I have had the honor of working with him since the UMG/EMI merger and during that time, learned his long and storied history in radio promotion. The artists and executives he has worked for and alongside are legendary and his impact on their careers is simply not calculable. He is absolutely loved by his co-workers, and to me, that’s the greatest testament to his character. We are excited for him and his family to enjoy some much deserved rest and relaxation. But we will truly miss his presence around UMG. Hopefully, he will come visit us or take us to lunch at Brown’s Diner.” Until Dec. 16, Young can be reached at Bobby.Young@umusic.com.
