Randy Goodman

Mayor Karl Dean has announced that Music City Music Council (MC2) is the new name for the Nashville Music Council. The organization also has restructured to a more streamlined 21-member body to place a greater focus on economic development in the music industry.

The Nashville Music Council was launched in 2009 as a partnership between the Mayor’s Office, the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau to capitalize on Nashville’s identity as Music City. Dean serves as co-chairman, along with Music Row veteran Randy Goodman, who was most recently president of Lyric Street Records in Nashville. Goodman was named co-chairman in July.

Goodman announced the appointment of Honey Hopkins to the newly created, fulltime position of director of the Music City Music Council. Hopkins, who had served as the liaison between the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Music Council, will manage the group’s initiatives and day-to-day operations.

The new Council will include the following members: Co-chairs, Dean and Goodman; Butch Spyridon, president and CEO, Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau; Ralph Schulz, president and CEO, Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce; and Mary Ann McCready, immediate past co-chair.

Mayor Karl Dean

As well, six committee chairs have been named: Ryman Auditorium general manager Sally Williams, chair of the Live Music Committee; Vector Management partner Ken Levitan, chair of the Business Development Committee; Nancy Shapiro of The Recording Academy, chair of the Education Committee; Bohan & Associates partner David Bohan, chair of the Marketing Committee; and Country Music Association CEO Steve Moore, chair of the Association and Trade Organizations Committee. Goodman will chair the Hospitality Committee.

Ten at-large members also will serve on the Council, including five from the music industry and five from the broader Nashville-area business community. The five at-large members representing the music industry are entertainment consultant Joe Galante; Clarence Spalding, president, Spalding Entertainment; Troy Tomlinson, CEO, Nashville Sony/ATV Publishing; David Ingram, chairman and president, Ingram Entertainment Inc.; and Scott Clayton of Creative Artists Agency. Mike Wells, president and CEO, Jackson National Life Insurance Co., and Steve Turner, principal, MarketStreet Enterprises, were named from the Nashville area-business community.