Tag: Warner

Ben Vaughn, the president-CEO of one of Nashville’s top publishing companies, Warner Chappell Nashville, died Thursday morning at age 49. No cause of death was immediately given.

A memo sent to staffers from Warner Chappell Music co-chairs Guy Moot and Carianne Marshall, obtained by Variety, reads as follows:

“To everyone at WMG, It is with broken hearts that we share the unthinkable news that Ben Vaughn, President & CEO of Warner Chappell Nashville, passed away this morning. Our deepest condolences are with his family and many friends.

“Ben has led our Nashville team since 2012, and we know that many of you around the world got to know him over the years. Anyone who had the pleasure of working with him will be as shocked and saddened as we are. First and foremost, Ben was an extraordinary human being. He met everyone with enthusiasm, warmth, and generosity. His smile was huge, and his sense of humor was infectious.

“He was always a passionate advocate of songwriters and a topflight music publisher. The Nashville community has lost one of its greatest champions, and he will be profoundly missed by so many across our company and the entire industry. We are planning to visit the Nashville team very soon and thank you all for helping support them through this awful tragedy.

“With love, Guy & Carianne”

Vaughn rose through the ranks at a relatively early age, becoming one of the youngest executives in Nashville to head a major publishing company when he became EVP and GM of EMI Music Publishing., being named as one of the 40 Under 40, and finding success in signing then-unknowns like country star Thomas Rhett to their publishing deals.

Vaughn joined Warner Chappell in 2012 and was named president in 2017 before being upped to president-CEO in 2019.

“I think the big lesson for myself and that I always tell people in the publishing world, like, just make sure you’re busting your ass for songwriters,” Vaughn said in a 2021 interview with podcaster Zak Kuhn. “If you are doing that and you’re doing it intelligently and you’re doing it with the right motives, things can work out. Because people notice who the people are that are working and who the people are that are not working.”

Vaughn grew up in a blue-collar family in the small town of Sullivan, Kentucky. As a high school student, he began working part-time at a local radio station, WMSK. He moved to Nashville to attend college at Belmont University, where for a student assignment he interviewed a songwriter signed to Warner Chappell, and got an internship within two weeks of moving to town. He eventually landed a job at a partner company of Warner Chappell’s, Big Tractor Music.

After six years at Big Tractor, he was approached for a job at EMI, and served in the creative department for seven years before being elevated to run the company when he was 34. “I was the youngest person to do that, which was nuts,” he told MusicRow. “The executives at EMI gave me a lot of trust and I worked really hard to earn that. It was a great experience to be at that company. We helped a lot of songwriters break through that have gone on to become some of the biggest writers and artists in the format.”

After EMI was split up in a merger and the publishing side ended up with Sony, he took a short break before being hired back at Warner Chappell, which “has really been one of the best things I’ve ever gotten to do in my life,” he said. “I got to go back to a company where I started as an intern. How cool is that? 

Vaughn was preceded in death by his wife, Carlee Ann Vaughn, who died in August 22 after a 15-year battle with brain cancer. They had been married since 1998.