*Motown Records is taking its talents to the U.K. with the launch of a new label spearheaded by label president Ethiopia Habtemariam and EMI Records’ recently-appointed president Rebecca Allen.
Announced today (Sept. 14), Motown Records U.K. will have its own dedicated team and resources, and an appetite for signing local artists, reports Billboard. The first executive appointments are managing director Rob Pascoe and marketing director Afryea Henry-Fontaine, both Universal Music Group veterans, with more recruits to be announced in the coming weeks.
The U.K. move is finally happening after a history of success across the pond dating back more than five decades. According to a statement, the U.K. business will serve as EMI Records’ dedicated home for releases “from Motown’s revitalized U.S. operation alongside a new generation of British Black music.”
The timing “could not be more perfect,” notes Habtemariam, who insists the new team will “sign and develop exciting new British talent,” expand the company’s “platform for Black entrepreneurship” in the U.K. and “guide Motown towards even greater global success.”
Below, Habtemariam talks with music historian Elvis Mitchell in March 2019 interview about Motown, MLK and The Great March on Washington.
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