CMA Elects New Board of Directors

The Country Music Association announced Wednesday (Dec. 7) the new Board of Directors. The appointments are effective on Jan. 1, 2017.

John Esposito completes his term as Chairman of the CMA Board and current CMA Board President Sally Williams, Vice President and General Manager of Ryman Auditorium, assumes that post. CMA President-Elect Bill Simmons, Partner at The Fitzgerald Hartley Company, will become President. Jody Williams, Vice President of Writer-Publisher Relations at BMI, has been named President-Elect. Kurt Johnson, Senior Vice President of Programming for Townsquare Media, has been named Secretary/Treasurer of the CMA Board.

“It has been my great honor to serve as Chairman of the CMA Board,” said Esposito. “It has been an especially great thrill to have served on this historic 50th Anniversary of the CMA Awards. Working with this Board and the great people who serve on it has been a major highlight of my career. I look forward to continuing to remain very active with CMA in other capacities. The Board is in great hands with Sally Williams as the incoming Chairman. She will further the mission of this organization.”

“2016 was a monumental year for CMA. We celebrated a half century of Country Music with a brilliant 50th Anniversary Awards broadcast and the groundbreaking ‘Forever Country’ song and video. Hats off to John Esposito, Sarah Trahern, and the entire CMA staff for exceeding all expectations,” said Williams. “The stage certainly is set for Country Music to enjoy growth not only domestically but also internationally. I’m excited about collaborating with Bill Simmons, Jody Williams, and the rest of the Board as we continue to work toward that vital goal.”

Following is a list of 2017 CMA Directors and Directors at Large:

Directors By Membership Category
Carryover Directors, who are serving the second year of a two-year term are listed below along with newly-elected Directors (indicated in bold).

Advertising/Public Relations/Media
Lon Helton, Country Aircheck
Brian Philips, CMT

Affiliated
Steve Buchanan, Opry Entertainment
Bill Mayne, Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc.

Artist
Kix Brooks
Karen Fairchild, Little Big Town

Composer
Bob DiPiero, Love Monkey Music
Shane McAnally, SMACKSongs, LLC

Entertainment Services
Frank Bumstead, Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy, Inc.
Dwight Wiles, Wiles + Taylor & Co., PC

International
Maria Molin Ljunggren, Capitol Music Group Sweden, Stockholm, Sweden
Milly Olykan, AEG Europe/The O2 London, London, United Kingdom

Marketing/Digital
John Marks, Spotify
Sally Seitz, iTunes

Music Publisher/Performing Rights Organization
Michael Martin, ASCAP
Jody Williams, BMI           

Musician
Jimmie Lee Sloas
Biff Watson, Biff-Bangs Productions, Inc.

Personal Manager
Ann Edelblute, The HQ
Marion Kraft, ShopKeeper Management

Producer/Engineer/Studio
Luke Laird, Creative Nation Music

Radio
Charlie Morgan, Emmis Communications, New York, N.Y.

Record Company
John Esposito, Warner Music Nashville
Randy Goodman, Sony Music Nashville

Talent Agent
Rob Beckham, William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, LLC

Talent Buyer/Promoter
Allen Anders, AEG Live, West Palm Beach, Fla.
Tony Conway, Conway Entertainment Group            

Touring Personnel
Terry Calonge, Richards & Southern
Everett Lybolt, Sound Image 

Venue
Sally Williams, Ryman Auditorium

Lifetime Directors
J. William Denny, Denny Properties
Ralph Peer II, peermusic

Ex-Officio Members
Jim Free, The Smith-Free Group, LLC, Washington, D.C.
Butch Spyridon, Nashville Convention & Visitors Corporation
Kyle Young, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Directors at Large:
Marcie Allen, MAC Presents, LLC, New York, N.Y.
Jim Beavers
Steve Blatter, Sirius XM Satellite Radio, New York, N.Y.
Scott Borchetta, Big Machine Label Group
Becky Brenner, Albright & O’Malley & Brenner Country Radio Specialists, Seattle, Wash.
Chris DuBois, Sea Gayle Music
Mike Dungan, Universal Music Group Nashville
Kerri Edwards, KP Entertainment
Brett Eldredge
Ted Ellis, Harbour Media Partners, Ontario, Canada
Joe Galante, Galante Entertainment Organization
Jeff Garrison, Cox Media Group, San Antonio, Texas
John Hamlin, Switched On Entertainment
Ed Hardy, Hardy Media and Entertainment Group
Clint Higham, Morris Higham Management
Mary Hilliard Harrington, Red Light Management
John Huie, Creative Artists Agency
Clay Hunnicutt, Big Loud Records
Brett James, Cornman Music
Kurt Johnson, Townsquare Media, Dallas, Texas
Vivien Lewit, YouTube/Google, New York, N.Y.
Jon Loba, BBR Music Group
Deb McDermott, Media General
Ebie McFarland, Essential Broadcast Media
Mike McVay, Cumulus Media, Atlanta
Jim Ed Norman, The Curb Group
Brian O’Connell, Live Nation Nashville
Jason Owen, Sandbox Entertainment
Rod Phillips, iHeartMedia
Rob Potts, Rob Potts Entertainment Edge, Five Dock, Australia
David Ross, BossRoss Media
Darius Rucker
Stacey Schiltz, SchlitzLAW
Scott Scovill, Moo TV, CenterStaging, and Moo Creative Media
Bob Shennan, BBC, London, United Kingdom
Bill Simmons, The Fitzgerald Hartley Company
Jennie Smythe, Girlilla Marketing
Clarence Spalding, Maverick
Jeff Stevens, Jeff Stevens Music
Troy Tomlinson, Sony/ATV Music Publishing
Ben Vaughn, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Troy Vollhoffer, Premier Global Production Company, Inc.
Tim Westergren, Pandora, Oakland, Calif.
Chris Young