Dianne Petty

ABC Dot Records, SESAC, CDP Music Group

One of Music Row's leading songwriter champions, C. Dianne Petty started her career in 1969 at ABC Records, working for noted executive Paul Cohen. She handled Top 40 radio promotion for the Southeast and, after Cohen's death in 1970, headed the office through its purchases of the Dunhill and Dot labels. Simultaneously she began to develop the ABC Music Publishing Companies and worked with such writers as Kenny Loggins, Jimmy Buffett, Jim Croce, Rory Bourke, Dennis Lambert, Brian Potter and Peter McCann. Diane was named Vice President of the ABC Music Group in 1977, the first female VP of a major American music publishing company. Two years later she joined SESAC, and was responsible for initiating the move of SESAC's headquarters from New York to Nashville. During her tenure rising to Senior Vice President of the Creative Department- she worked with noted writers like Jerry Gillespie, Stan Webb, Charlie Black, Susan Longacre, Jerry Salley and Karen Taylor-Good. She was an early supporter of singer-songwriter K.T. Oslin, helping her become a signature artist for RCA Records. Oslin went on to claim three Grammy Awards and CMA Song of the Year honors in 1988 for "80s Ladies," the first woman to win in that category. Dianne left SESAC in 1995 to found CDP Music Group. With the development of her own catalog, she is pursuing her longtime love of "helping songwriters make their dreams come true."

Dianne Petty died November 23, 2007