Universal Music Group Nashville is
Universal Music Group's
country music subsidiary. Some of the labels in this group include MCA Nashville Records, Mercury Nashville Records, and Lost Highway Records. UMG Nashville not only handles these imprints, but also manages the country music catalogues of record labels Universal Music and predecessor companies acquired over the years including
ABC Records,
Decca Records,
Dot Records,
DreamWorks Records,
Kapp Records,
MGM Records and
Polydor Records.
MCA Nashville
MCA Nashville started out as the country music division of Decca Records in 1945, founded by
Paul Cohen in New York. In 1947, Cohen hired
Owen Bradley as his assistant working in Nashville. The country music division moved to Nashville in 1955 as much of the country music recording business was locating there. Bradley succeeded Cohen as head of Decca's Nashville division in 1958 and developed Decca into a country music powerhouse. Decca Nashville was renamed MCA Nashville in
1973.
In 1979, MCA Nashville absorbed the country music roster (including
Roy Clark,
Barbara Mandrell and
The Oak Ridge Boys) and back catalogue of ABC Records including the Dot Records catalogue. In the early 1980s, MCA Nashville signed
Reba McEntire (who departed the label in late 2008) and
George Strait, two of the greatest selling artists of all time and the mega stars on the record label.
In the 1990s MCA Nashville briefly...
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