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Capitol Music Group just announced that Columbia Records President Ashley Newton has been named President of CMG and Executive Vice President of Creative/Special Projects for parent company Universal Music Group. The announcement was made by CMG Chairman & CEO Steve Barnett and UMG Chairman and CEO Lucian Grainge, to whom Newton reports in his respective positions. In his newly-created CMG Presidency, Newton will work closely with Barnett and members of his executive team to set the creative direction of the company and oversee management of its day-to-day operations.  In his UMG role, Newton will work with Grainge and his executive team on a variety of creative endeavors, including music, film and television projects. Newton will be based in Hollywood at CMG’s iconic Capitol Tower. Newton’s arrival at CMG reunites him with Steve Barnett, who, as the former co-Chairman & COO of Columbia Records appointed Newton to the Columbia Presidency in 2010. Barnett said, “Ashley is one of the most artist-friendly, committed and successful creative executives in music, and a fierce proponent for taste and aesthetics. It’s a testament to his great abilities that his successful artist associations span The Spice Girls to Adele to Kings Of Leon to D’Angelo to Daft Punk and Pharrell Williams. His extensive experience, artist and industry relationships and strong interpersonal skills will be of tremendous value to Capitol Music Group, and everyone in the company joins me in welcoming Ashley to the family.” Grainge said, “The revitalization of Capitol is no longer an aspiration, it’s a reality.  And now, as we embark on Capitol’s next phase of growth, we do so with Ashley Newton, a great addition to the company’s stellar management team led by Steve Barnett. With Ashley, we continue our strategy of having our company’s key positions held by executives with incredible creative track records and with deep artist development experience. As one of the industry’s most respected and accomplished executives, I’m looking forward to Ashley’s contributions at Capitol as well as UMG.”