Fast-rising executive Jeff Vaughn has been appointed President of Capitol Records, the flagship label of Capitol Music Group (CMG).
Vaughn (pictured) will report directly to CMG Chairman & CEO Steve Barnett.
Prior to his new role, Vaughn was Vice President of A&R at the Los Angeles-based Artist Partner Group (APG)— an autonomous company affiliated with Warner‘s Atlantic Records — plus Artist Publishing Group. He joined the Mike Caren-led APG at its founding in 2013.
At APG, Vaughn signed and/or worked closely with a range artists including breakout Youngboy Never Broke Again, whose most recent project, AI Youngboy 2, debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200 in October, selling 110,000 equivalent album units. Youngboy’s 2018 debut album Until Death Call My Name, is certified platinum in the States.
Vaughn also signed and developed three-time Grammy nominee Kehlani, whose debut album, SweetSexySavage, is approaching platinum status, while he A&R’d veteran hip-hop star Kevin Gates, whose latest album, I’m Him, debuted at No.4 on the Billboard 200 in September.
Vaughn will assume his new position on January 1, 2020 and will be based in Hollywood at CMG’s iconic Capitol Tower.
“Jeff has forged strong relationships within the artist community and has proven time and time again that he knows how to work with talent to create hit records.”
Steve Barnett, Capitol Music Group
Barnett said: “I’m thrilled that Jeff is joining our team as President of Capitol Records. He has forged strong relationships within the artist community and has proven time and time again that he knows how to work with talent to create hit records that impact our culture in a big way.
“He is a tremendous addition to our CMG team and I know that everyone in the company joins me in welcoming Jeff to the Tower.“
“With Jeff’s strong A&R track record, he has a unique opportunity to build upon Capitol’s reinvigoration that we’ve seen over the past several years.”
Vaughn commented, “I want to thank Steve and Lucian for giving me the opportunity to shape the future of such an iconic label. As an A&R executive, I am driven by an intense devotion to artists and songs that defy expectation and challenge us to think differently. I could not be more excited to champion this perspective in my new role at Capitol.”
“With Jeff’s strong A&R track record, he has a unique opportunity to build upon Capitol’s reinvigoration that we’ve seen over the past several years.”
Sir Lucian Grainge, Universal Music Group
Recently, Vaughn worked with Warner Records to help sign hip-hop act NLE Choppa, widely seen as one of the most competitive U.S signings of 2019.
In addition, Vaughn has been responsible for signing and developing multi-platinum rap artist Lil Skies, plus rap-punk rocker Rico Nasty, and Travis Scott affiliate Don Toliver.
He also played a role in the signing of multi-platinum artist Young Thug, and was credited with co-A&Ring the gold-certified soundtrack to the eighth installment in the Fast and Furious film franchise, The Fate Of The Furious: The Album.
Jeff Vaughn began his career in the mailroom at talent agency UTA.Music Business Worldwide
