Republic has appointed Mary Catherine Kinney as executive vp of artist & label strategy. Based in Nashville, Kinney will support artist and label strategy for the Republic Corp Collective, which includes Republic Records, Island Records, Mercury Records and Def Jam Recordings. Kinney will also lead business strategy for the group’s labels, further reinforcing their Nashville presence.

Prior to her new role at Republic, Kinney was head of artist partnerships at Spotify, having joined the company in 2018. At Spotify, she led the team responsible for artist and manager relationships, as well as genre marketing initiatives. The team’s projects included partnerships with artists including Taylor Swift, Karol G and Zach Bryan, as well as introducing Spotify House at CMA Fest, Spotify’s Billions Club series and Casa Spotify in Puerto Rico.

Prior to her work at Spotify, Kinney’s career included time at Sony Music Nashville and Universal Music Group Nashville.

Republic Corps president/COO Jim Roppo said in a statement, “Mary Catherine is one of the music industry’s most inspiring leaders. She’s widely respected across the business and in Nashville. Her reputation and work ethic have uniquely positioned her to flourish supporting the labels at REPUBLIC. She’s the perfect executive to seamlessly facilitate our expansion in the market.”

Kinney added, “I’m thrilled to join Republic to build with each label team on their unique mission and work with such a phenomenal roster of artists. For over a decade, I’ve called Nashville home and I’m honored for the opportunity to steward Republic vision within this vibrant, ever-growing creative community. I have deeply admired Monte, Avery and Jim as visionaries and esteemed leaders for many years; I thank them for this extraordinary opportunity.”

Republic has spearheaded some of the biggest releases to dominate the Billboard 200 over the past year, among them Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department, Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time (Big Loud/Mercury/Republic), Noah Kahan’s Stick Season (Mercury/Republic), and Post Malone’s F-1 Trillion (Mercury/Republic). Meanwhile, Jelly Roll and BMG recently teamed with Republic to distribute Jelly Roll’s upcoming album, Beautifully Broken, out Oct. 11.