Music Biz To Honor UMG Nashville’s Mike Dungan

Mike Dungan

During the 2017 convention, the Music Business Association (Music Biz) will present its Presidential Award for Outstanding Executive Achievement to Mike Dungan, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group Nashville.

The presentation will take place Wednesday, May 17, 2017, during the Music Biz 2017 convention’s Awards Breakfast at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel in Nashville. The Breakfast will be sponsored for the second consecutive year by the CMA.

“Mike’s journey in the music business spans more than four decades,” said James Donio, President of Music Biz. “He has grown to be such an integral industry player, building Capitol Nashville into a major force before developing UMG Nashville into the dominant country powerhouse it is today. Mike unquestionably represents the exceptional vision, leadership and commitment that perfectly exemplifies our Presidential Award recipients.”

Dungan follows an esteemed list of previous honorees, which includes: John Esposito, Dick Clark, Walter Yetnikoff, Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun, Jim Urie, Ted Cohen, Clive Davis, Don Cornelius, Casey Kasem, Sylvia Rhone, John Marmaduke, Bob Higgins, Paul Smith, Scott Borchetta, Akio Morito, Eric Paulson, Henry Droz, and Russ Solomon as well as organizations including the CMA, The Recording Academy (NARAS), and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

“I’m honored to be selected for the Music Biz Presidential Award, and to be counted among those who have been recognized with this award in the past, many of whom are my personal heroes,” said Dungan.  “I have always strived to spread the word about the music that I love, and music that I feel will affect people’s lives. Continuing this on such a grand scale with the spectacular roster we have here at UMG Nashville has been the most rewarding experience of my career. Now, to be recognized in this way by Music Biz is truly humbling.”

Dungan has worked in the music business since he was 16 years old. In 1979, he began his label career as a Pop Promotion Rep for RCA, working in the Cincinnati, Detroit, and Minneapolis markets. In 1987, he took a sales position with RCA and Arista Records parent company, BMG. Two years later, Arista Records hired him as its Director of Marketing for the Midwest. In 1990, Dungan moved to the newly-formed Arista Nashville label to head up Sales and Marketing, later rising to the post of Sr. VP and GM. In 2000, Dungan was named President of EMI Music’s Capitol Records Nashville.

In May of 2012, Dungan moved to the Universal Music Group as Chairman and CEO. Shortly after, Universal purchased EMI, reuniting Dungan with his old roster at Capitol. Now, he oversees UMG Nashville and its four label imprints – Capitol Nashville, EMI Records Nashville, Mercury Nashville, and MCA Nashville – which are home to 35 major artists, including Luke Bryan, Keith Urban, Sam Hunt, Chris Stapleton, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Dierks Bentley, George Strait, Eric Church, Kacey Musgraves, Darius Rucker, Alan Jackson, Shania Twain, Gary Allan, and Vince Gill.