{"id":2033371,"date":"2026-07-08T17:25:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T14:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2033371"},"modified":"2026-07-08T17:25:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T14:25:11","slug":"country-music-association-names-brittany-schaffer-as-next-ceo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2033371","title":{"rendered":"Country Music Association Names Brittany Schaffer as Next CEO"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/BSchaffer-Headshot-CMA.jpg?w=1024″]<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\tTrending on Billboard\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tThe Country Music Association has named Brittany Schaffer<\/strong> as its next chief executive officer, succeeding Sarah Trahern<\/strong>, who announced her decision to retire earlier this year following 13 years with the organization.<\/p>\n

\n\tSchaffer will join the CMA on Sept. 8, as part of a strategic transition plan to ensure continuity for CMA\u2019s staff, board and members, and will officially succeed Trahern on Jan. 1, 2027.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tCountry Music Association CEO Sarah Trahern Announces Retirement After 12-Year\u00a0Tenure\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

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    Jessica Nicholson<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n
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    \n\tSchaffer will join CMA following her time serving as dean of the Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business at Belmont University, where she helped lead the initiative for the 90,000-square-foot Curb College on Music Row, and the Center for Mental Health in Entertainment. Prior to her role at Belmont, Schaffer spent over a decade as an entertainment attorney at Loeb & Loeb and later as head of artist and label partnerships, Nashville at Spotify.<\/p>\n

    \n\t\u201cOur search committee set out to find a leader who understands the responsibility of representing this industry, not just the opportunity of it,\u201d said\u00a0Jay Williams<\/strong>, CMA board chairman and WME Nashville partner and co-head, in a statement. \u201cWe met with an exceptional group of candidates, and we believe Brittany\u00a0is exactly the leader to carry this organization into its next era, and to make sure Country Music\u2019s influence continues to expand well beyond Nashville.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \n\t\u201cCountry Music meets people where they are, and it changes lives every day. That starts with songwriters and artists and everyone who carries this music to fans around the world,\u201d\u00a0Schaffer added. \u201cServing them is the honor of a lifetime. Sarah Trahern will leave CMA and this community stronger than she found it. I\u2019m grateful for her mentorship and friendship, and for a transition marked by the same professionalism and intentionality that defined her tenure. Together with CMA\u2019s talented staff and members, we\u2019ll build on that foundation. We\u2019ll reinforce the connectivity within this community, bring renewed energy to our signature events, and find new ways to connect Country Music with fans around the world. And if we get that right, somewhere a song will find somebody who needs to hear it. That\u2019s the heart of this work, and I can\u2019t wait to get started.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \n\t\u201cLeading this organization for 13 years has been the honor of my life, and I have this community to thank for that,\u201d Trahern said. \u201cI\u2019m grateful to our search committee for the time, care and integrity they brought to this process, and I trust the thoughtfulness they poured into it. I wish Brittany every success as she steps into this role, and I look forward to cheering this entire industry on for many years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \"Billboard<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/pro\/cma-names-brittany-schaffer-next-chief-executive-officer\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/BSchaffer-Headshot-CMA.jpg?w=1024″] Trending on Billboard The Country Music Association has named Brittany Schaffer as its next chief executive officer, succeeding Sarah Trahern, who announced her decision to retire earlier this year following 13 years with the organization. Schaffer will join the CMA on Sept. 8, as part of a strategic transition plan to ensure […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-2033371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2033371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2033371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2033371\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2033371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2033371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2033371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}