Ethiopia Habtemariam says she’s ready to use her newfound autonomy [as chairman/CEO of Motown Records] to fully execute the vision she had for Motown when she arrived. She has spent the last several months staffing up, and, she says, “creating a blueprint” for the label’s future as a global force in recorded music. (Billboard magazine)
Billboard
Motown’s Ethiopia Habtemariam Is Ready to Fully Execute Her Vision: ‘Stay Tuned
When Ethiopia Habtemariam was appointed chairman/CEO of Motown Records in March, she became the third woman — and only the second one of color — ever to hold the title at a major label. Her ground-breaking appointment also signaled a full-circle moment for Motown: It is once again a stand-alone label, with Habtemariam reporting directly to Universal Music Group (UMG) chairman/ CEO Lucian Grainge. (Previously, she reported to Capitol Music Group chairman/CEO Steve Barnett, who retired at the end of 2020.)
Founded by Berry Gordy in 1959, Motown achieved unprecedented mainstream success through standard-bearers such as Smokey Robinson, The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and The Temptations. Over the years, its roster evolved to include The Jackson 5, Lionel Richie, The Commodores, Rick James, Boyz II Men, Erykah Badu and India.Arie.
Since overseeing Motown’s move from New York to Los Angeles as the label’s president in 2014, Habtemariam, 41, has led entrepreneurial ventures such as the label’s 2015 alliance with Atlanta-based Quality Control, which has yielded hits by Lil Baby, Lil Yachty, Migos, City Girls and Layton Greene. Motown is also home to Blacksmith Recordings (Ted When, Vince Staples) and Since the 1980s (Asiahn, Njomza) as well as Erykah Badu, Kem, Tiana Major9 and Nigerian star Tiwa Savage.
During Habtemariam’s almost seven years at the label, Motown has logged 28 top 40 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 from Lil Baby, Migos, Ne-Yo and others, as well as 28 top 40 albums on the Billboard 200, including projects from Erykah Badu, Kem, Lil Yachty, City Girls and Migos.
Motown’s market share has risen, too, growing from 0.4% in 2017 to 0.59% in 2020 to 0.85% so far this year, thanks to the success of Lil Baby’s My Turn. The Grammy Award-nominated rapper’s second album closed out 2020 as the most popular album of the year in the United States, with 2.63 million equivalent album units, according to MRC Data.
What’s significant about the label’s market-share growth in 2020 and 2021 is that it is largely attributable to recent releases. In the past, catalog has driven Motown’s performance, while current market share — essentially the performance of music released in the 18 months prior to the measurement period — averaged 0.14% from 2015 to 2019, according to Billboardcalculations based on MRC data. In 2020, however, Motown more than doubled that number to 0.32%, and as of mid-April 2021, its current market share was just shy of 1%.
Before joining Motown, Habtemariam began pushing against the glass ceiling in music publishing. She took her first full-time job in the industry in 2001 at Edmonds Publishing, where she worked as a creative manager. She moved to Universal Music Publishing Group in 2003, where she signed Justin Bieber, J. Cole and Chris Brown, and rose to president of urban music and co-head of creative.
She kept her publishing gig when she took on the additional challenge of relaunching Motown, initially as senior vp of the label, in 2011. She continued doing double duty after she was promoted to label president in 2014 and departed UMPG in 2016.
Habtemariam says she’s ready to use her newfound autonomy to fully execute the vision she had for Motown when she arrived. She has spent the last several months staffing up, and, she says, “creating a blueprint” for the label’s future as a global force in recorded music. Last September, Motown opened its first U.K. branch, headed by managing director Rob Pascoe, and in February revived its Black Forum label by reissuing Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1971 Grammy-winning album for best spoken word, Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam. On the music side, Motown’s 2021 release slate includes Migos’ long-awaited Culture IIIalbum as well as projects by two new signees, singer Bree Runway and hip-hop artist Elhae.
Moving forward, Habtemariam says Motown’s approach to A&R will be “signing talent that we think can be the next generation of superstars.” She adds that the label is looking for “career artists. It’s not just about one song or a couple of tracks here and there. There is so much music out there that you must find talent that you believe will cut through.”
How has your job changed now that you are chairman/CEO and reporting to Lucian Grainge?
When I was first approached about Motown, my vision was to return it to operating like a full-fledged stand-alone label and to honor the legacy of the talent that was on the label in the 1960s through the early 2000s. Lucian agreed with me, but at the time we were a team of just four people attempting to accomplish a very ambitious goal. We were part of Island Def Jam, and it wasn’t the right structure, focus and support.
What’s the size of your staff now, and do you still share services with Capitol Music Group and UMG?
I have a team of about 25. Everything is Los Angeles-based, aside from the U.K. office, and an A&R person in Atlanta. And we do share some services through Universal and are still using Capitol’s radio promotions team.
You’ve come a long way.
I now have autonomy and authority over our budgets, how we are developing our artists and building out the Motown team. I’m also thinking more holistically about global strategy for the company.
What is your vision for the Motown of today? You have a very diverse lineup of artists.
It’s about signing talent that we think can be the next generation of superstars — people we think will be career artists. It’s not just about one song or a couple of tracks here and there. And they can be at different stages in their careers. We now have a roster of talent, like Lil Baby with Quality Control, that we want to grow in a certain direction, and we want to build up the next new artists in the same way. There are a few signings that we’re working on now that are exciting, from established acts to artists in the early phases of their careers, like a Tiana Major9. There is so much music out there that you must find talent that you believe will cut through. And then you have to work alongside them to build out their vision, their brand, the story they want to tell and then make great records to support that.
—
Related:
UPDATE: Motown Promotes Ethiopia Habtemariam to Chair & CEO
Join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook.
