Ethiopia Habtemariam is a name synonymous with success and innovation in the music industry. From her early days as an intern to her current role as Chairman and CEO of Motown Records, she has consistently broken barriers and paved the way for a new era of musicians and executives.
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Early Life and Career Beginnings
Born in Berkeley, California, Ethiopia Habtemariam's journey into the music industry began at the young age of 14. In 1994, she secured an internship at LaFace Records, a label founded by L.A. Reid, the former chairman and CEO of Epic Records. This four-year internship exposed her to the inner workings of the music business and ignited her passion for the industry.
Shortly after her internship, Ethiopia began working with Universal Music Group. At the age of 16, Habtemariam wrote a letter to Sylvia Rhone, expressing her admiration for Rhone being a black woman chairing a major record label. Once Habtemariam herself became a record executive and President of Motown Records, she received a similar fan letter.
During her internship at LaFace, Habtemariam was exposed to numerous examples of women of color in the industry.
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In an interview with Billboard, Habtemariam discussed how, as a black woman, she had to prove herself to those who doubted her: “I heard people say, ‘Oh, she got the job just because she's a black woman and they're just trying to cover their asses,’” she says. “OK, cool. Even if that was the case, it's on me. What am I going to do to make an impact and assure that other people get these kinds of opportunities in the future?
Rising Through the Ranks
In 2011, Habtemariam's career reached a new milestone when she was named the Senior Vice President of Motown Records. In this role, she had the opportunity to work with legendary artists such as Stevie Wonder, Erykah Badu, Ne-Yo, Kem, BJ the Chicago Kid, and Stacey Barthe.
Leadership at Motown Records
Since joining Motown, Habtemariam oversaw the label’s relocation to Los Angeles from New York in 2014 and its subsequent resurgence. Under her leadership, Motown continues its traditions of artist development and forging dynamic partnerships with creative and entrepreneurial entities including Atlanta-based Quality Control Music (QC).
The QC partnership has resulted in global superstars including City Girls, Migos, Lil Baby and Lil Yachty, with QC growing to become one of today’s leading music and entertainment companies.
In January 2020, Ethiopia Habtemariam was elevated to Chairman and CEO of Motown Records, reporting directly to UMG Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge.
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With Habtemariam’s promotion, Motown is separating from parent label Capitol Music Group and becoming its own flagship label for Universal Music Group (UMG). The music exec will report directly to CEO Sir Lucian Grainge.
Habtemariam said, “It’s an incredible honor to represent and define what Motown is today. I’ve always understood the power of music and the responsibility I have, not only to continue to be an advocate for artists and creators, but to forge new paths for entrepreneurs and to lift up our next generation of executives around the world. I’d like to thank Lucian for his constant support and guidance over the years; my Motown team for all they have done and continue to do; the Capitol team for their help in building Motown over these past six years; Clarence Avant who has always taught me about the power of responsibility; and to Mr. Gordy for believing in me.”
As a standalone label, you have expanded support to build on a global strategy for artists in the company overall. From Capitol Music Group, there’s infrastructure that’s in place we will utilize - but my goal is to create a new model of what a major label could be, which is being able to operate in stealth mode, quickly being able to turn things around for our artists, build out strategies, and not having much of a filter in between that. It’s exciting to me.
In no way do we ever want to dismiss the iconic artists or the history that has been created, but I do know the onus is on us to have artists of today that could be as impactful. I was thinking about our music from last year and the fact that Motown now has a catalog that represents Marvin Gaye and What’s Going On - and we also have Lil Baby and “The Bigger Picture.” I think about what that means and where Motown sits in society culture from the ’60s and today.
I’m proud of the fact that we can have artists developing in real-time like Tiana Major9 and support projects like the “Queen & Slim” soundtrack that authentically speaks to Motown.
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Even Mr. Gordy talked about it in the documentary we did together. As the times changed, the music and the label had to change and grow. So then you started seeing the Supremes, and the Commodores and then the Jackson Five. When I was a kid, Motown for me was The Boyz II Men “Motown Philly” era. I remember how huge that was for me.
In making this announcement, Sir Lucian Grainge said, “Motown is such an important voice and, just as when it was founded by Berry Gordy, its impact continues to be felt around the world.
There’s perhaps no one in the music industry more well-positioned for leadership than Ethiopia Habtemariam, who became chairman and CEO of Motown Records last week.
I’m extremely proud, and I’m grateful, but I’m a person who’s always been head-down working. Coming up in the industry, coming up in Atlanta as a young kid, I saw a lot of incredible black women and black executives that I looked up to. I’ve never felt like it wasn’t possible for me to achieve higher levels of success in my career, even though my intention and purpose was never about getting to a certain title or position.
But I also realized that there were a lot of people from my young eyes I felt like should have reached this level in their career because of how impactful they were. It’s interesting that you said it like that. Justice. That kind of feels right for me in many ways. It’s not always the easiest task. I would read the trades every week, and I’d read about executives, and I wanted to be just like them. There used to be so many incredible black female A&Rs and publishers, and it’s coming back - and I’m proud of that, but I want to stop the idea of that being a cycle. I think this makes people hopeful that it won’t just be me now getting to this level.
You’ve headed the label as president for several years already. Motown has gone through many different iterations that have been combined with other companies over time. I want to acknowledge Sir Lucian for having the vision to bring me to Motown and understand that it would take steps to get Motown back to a healthy place where we have new talent and could build a strategy that gets us to a standalone label.
It was really challenging for me coming into Motown in 2014 because it was also a time when our industry was struggling. I remember being in rooms where there was a question about Motown’s value or our genre of music. And so we were purposeful in thinking about how to connect the dots in culture. People talk about wanting to support entrepreneurship a lot, but that really was a key focus for us six years ago. The thinking became, “We’re going to help build our partners and touch youth culture in a different way.” I think my partners at Quality Control would tell you that we’ve been in it together. Motown was new in the Sixties and people were able to see the impact it had - and I feel like that’s what Quality Control has been able to do today.
Motown was a sound, and had iconic artists, but it continued to transcend over time.
Legal Matters
Habtemariam was among the group named in Jones’s 30 million dollar sexual assault lawsuit filed against Diddy in February following the mogul’s settlement with ex-girlfriend Cassie for an undisclosed amount.
“Being falsely accused of criminal conduct is deeply upsetting to me,” said Habtemariam. “I did no wrong. I never saw or participated in any alleged racketeering enterprise, and I never saw, aided or, abetted, or tried to conceal any sex trafficking activity. Jones and his attorney dropped Habtemariam from the lawsuit on March 29.
“I am informed and believe that Mr. Blackburn has falsely represented to various social media sites and other media outlets that I agreed to ‘testify against’ Mr. Combs,” Habtemariam said. “This is completely untrue. I have no personal knowledge of any alleged wrongdoing by Mr.
“My counsel provided a revised declaration that addressed the topics that Mr. Blackburn addressed and corrected his false narrative,” she said. “I am aware that Mr.
OUR GENERATION: MOTOWN (2007 Documentary)
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