MUMBAI: In what stands as the first in a number of new appointments at Motown Records, Universal Music Group (UMG) has promoted Ethiopia Habtemariam to senior vice president of the storied label.

Moreover, Motown will now make use of Island Def Jam’s award-winning suite of sales, marketing and distribution services. Both announcements were made today by Universal Republic and Island Def Jam Motown chairman & CEO Barry Weiss. Habtemariam will be based in New York City and Los Angeles, and report directly to Weiss.

In this new role, Habtemariam will be a key creative executive for Motown Records.

In addition, Habtemariam has also been promoted to executive vice president/head of urban music for Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG). She previously served as senior vice president/head of urban music for the company.

"Ethiopia represents the new breed of today’s best creative music executives. In the studio at night and in the office during the day, she is artist and song focused. There is no one more relevant and credible in the creative community to help us build upon Motown’s fantastic legacy and move the company into its next groundbreaking era," said Weiss.

"It is an extraordinary opportunity to call Motown home and I am grateful to Barry for giving me the honor and challenge to put a new creative stamp on a label that has such a rich history. I am truly excited to work at the label that cultivated the musicians who have inspired me over the years. Motown artists created the soundtrack to my life, and I can’t wait to develop acts that not only have cross-genre and cross-generational appeal, but can reach worldwide notoriety," added Habtemariam.