Ben Vaughn is President & CEO of Warner/Chappell Nashville.
He has held the role since 2019.
Throughout his publishing career, Vaughn has worked with artists including Thomas Rhett, Devin Dawson, Dan + Shay, Midland, Cale Dodds, LANco, Brandon Lay, Josh Phillips, Riley Green, Michael Ray, Gone West, Seth Ennis, A Thousand Horses, Morgan Evans, and Carlton Anderson.
Ben Vaughn: Career so far
Prior to his work at the majors, Ben Vaughn ran an independent music publishing company from the age of 20. He joined EMI as VP, A&R in 2002.
In 2009, Vaughn became the youngest executive to head a major publisher in Nashville, as EVP & GM at EMI Music Publishing.
In 2017, Ben Vaughn was named President of Warner/Chappell Nashville, six years after moving to the company after a decade at EMI. In this role, he headed Warner/Chappell’s entire Nashville operation – including all creative and commercial activities across A&R, administration, business development, finance, and human resources.
Vaughn was promoted again in 2019 to the position of President & CEO of Warner/Chappell Nashville.
Vaughn serves on the board of CMA and Belmont University’s Music Industry Advisory Board, and is a member of NMPA and a former Chairman of the ACM board.
Ben Vaughn: Personal philosophy
In 2018, Ben Vaughn became the first music publisher to become the Chairman of the Academy of County Music in its 52-year history.
Speaking to MBW, he acknowledged the long-term view that working in publishing needs.
Publishing is a business where you might not see the fruits of your efforts today for a year or two or longer, so you can’t think short-term. We focus a lot on making sure we do the small things correctly.
ben vaughn on publishing
Music Business Worldwide