Nick Gatfield is a British music industry executive, entrepreneur and investor. [1] He is the founder of Twin Music Inc, providing angel investment for music and entrepreneurial talent and is co-founder and/or investor in a number of businesses including interactive video platform, Synchronized. [2] Gatfield was previously chairman & CEO of Sony Music UK [3] [4] and has held President positions at EMI (North America and UK), Island Records UK and Polydor Records/Polygram Music Publishing USA. [5]
Gatfield was born in 1960 in Surrey, England. He attended Churcher's College, the University of Surrey and the Royal Academy of Music.
Gatfield's music career began in 1979 when he replaced Neil Pyzer in a Farnborough / Aldershot jazz funk band called Crosswinds. [6] In 1982 he joined Dexys Midnight Runners, playing saxophone and keyboards in support of the number one album Too Rye Ay and global hit single "Come On Eileen". After recording the follow-up album Don't Stand Me Down , Gatfield joined EMI in 1985 as an A&R manager and in-house producer, before being promoted to head of A&R in 1987 where he oversaw the signings of Radiohead and Blur. [7] In 1992 he moved to Los Angeles to set up a new label within the Polygram Label Group, Atlas Records, which merged into Polydor Records in 1994 under Gatfield. He also added the role of President, Polygram Music Publishing shortly before the company was acquired by Seagram. [8] In 2001, he was hired by Universal Music as President of Universal Island Records UK where he oversaw a complete revamp of the label through signings including Amy Winehouse, Keane, Busted and Sugababes. [7] In 2008, EMI's new management under Terra Firma hired Gatfield as President New Music, North America and UK – artists signed during his leadership include Deadmau5, Swedish House Mafia, Tinie Tempah and Emeli Sandé. [5] In 2011 he was appointed chairman and CEO of Sony Music UK. [3] [9] [10] [11] In 2015 he founded Twin Music Inc, investing in early stage music talent and music entrepreneurs. [2] [12] [13] [14] In October 2015, in partnership with the University of Westminster, Twin Music launched a music entrepreneur award. [15] [16] Also in 2015, Gatfield co-founded and invested in Synchronized, an interactive video platform. He has also invested in a number of tech start ups. [17] In 2016, Gatfield founded Twin Xenomania Ltd. with producer/songwriter and Xenomania founder Brian Higgins. [18]
Gatfield featured in Amy, the 2015 documentary of Amy Winehouse, directed by Asif Kapadia.
Gatfield was awarded International Music Executive of the Year 2013 at Worldwide Radio Summit in Los Angeles. He was awarded Corporate Luminary Award in 1998 by the American Society of Young Musicians.
Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwide success over time, with the success of platinum performers Paula Abdul, Janet Jackson, Devo, Tangerine Dream, Genesis, Phil Collins, OMD, the Human League, Culture Club, Simple Minds, Lenny Kravitz, the Sex Pistols, and Mike Oldfield among others, meaning that by the time it was sold, it was regarded as a major label, alongside other large international independents such as A&M and Island Records.
EMI Group Limited was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its acquisition by Universal Music in 2012, it was the fourth largest business group and record label conglomerate in the music industry, and was one of the "Big Four" record companies. Its labels included EMI Records, Parlophone, Virgin Records, and Capitol Records, which are now referenced under Universal Music due to their acquisition with the exception of Parlophone, as it is now owned by Warner Music.
Universal Music Group N.V. is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its operational headquarters are located in Santa Monica, California. The biggest music company in the world, it is one of the "Big Three" record labels, along with Sony Music and Warner Music Group. Tencent acquired ten percent of Universal Music Group in March 2020 for €3 billion and acquired an additional ten percent stake in January 2021. Pershing Square Holdings later acquired ten percent of UMG prior to its IPO on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange. The company went public on September 21, 2021, at a valuation of €46 billion.
PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a holding for their record companies, and was renamed "PolyGram" in 1972. The name was chosen to reflect the Siemens interest Polydor Records and the Philips interest Phonogram Records. The company traced its origins through Deutsche Grammophon back to the inventor of the flat disc gramophone, Emil Berliner.
Amy Jade Winehouse was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues, reggae and jazz.
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), simply known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Sony Entertainment and managed by the American umbrella division of multinational conglomerate Sony. It is the recording division half of the Sony Music Group, with the other half being the publishing division, Sony Music Publishing.
Sony Music Publishing is the largest music publisher in the world, with over five million songs owned or administered as of end March 2021. US-based, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is itself owned by Sony Entertainment. The company was formed as Sony/ATV in 1995 by the merger of the original incarnation of Sony Music Publishing and ATV Music, which was owned by late entertainer Michael Jackson. Jackson had purchased ATV Music, which included the Lennon–McCartney song catalog, in 1985.
Frank is the debut studio album by English singer and songwriter Amy Winehouse. It was released on 20 October 2003 by Island Records. Production for the album took place during 2002 to 2003 and was handled by Winehouse, Salaam Remi, Commissioner Gordon, Jimmy Hogarth and Matt Rowe. Its title alludes to the nature and tone of Winehouse's lyrics on the album, as well as one of her influences, Frank Sinatra.
Back to Black is the second and final studio album by English singer and songwriter Amy Winehouse, released on 27 October 2006 by Island Records. Winehouse predominantly based the album on her tumultuous relationship with then-ex-boyfriend and future husband Blake Fielder-Civil, who temporarily left her to pursue his previous ex-girlfriend. Their short-lived separation spurred her to create an album that explores themes of guilt, grief, infidelity, heartbreak and trauma in a relationship.
Michael Mark Lynton is a businessman and current chairman of Snap Inc. He previously served as chairman and chief executive of Sony Pictures Entertainment. In 2017, Lynton stepped down as CEO of Sony Entertainment to become Chairman of Snap, makers of the Snapchat mobile app. On February 12, 2019, he was named as chairman of Warner Music Group.
Relentless Records is a British boutique and independent record label currently headed by co-founder Shabs Jobanputra. Originally known for UK garage singles such as Artful Dodger's "Re-Rewind" and B-15 Project's "Girls Like Us", Relentless has also published albums by Joss Stone, KT Tunstall, Union of Knives and Cage the Elephant.
Minos EMI is a record company based in Athens, Greece. The company serves as the Greek record label and offices of the multinational Universal Music Group.
EMI Music Publishing Ltd. is a British multinational music publishing company headquartered in London, owned by parent company Sony Corporation of America.
Nick Raphael is a music industry executive and entrepreneur born in London, England. He is a former President of Capitol Records in the UK.
Sir Lucian Charles Grainge is the chairman and chief executive officer of Universal Music Group. Grainge has worked in the music business for his entire career. Billboard magazine named Grainge as the most powerful person in the music business on four occasions in the 2010s, and the first Executive of the Decade ever.
Martin N. Bandier is an American music industry executive who was the CEO/Chairman of Sony/ATV Music Publishing for 11 years from 2007 until 2019. Prior to that he was the chairman and CEO of EMI Music Publishing Worldwide from 1991 to 2006. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Amy is a 2015 British documentary film directed by Asif Kapadia and produced by James Gay-Rees. The film covers British singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse's life and her struggle with substance abuse, both before and after her career blossomed, and which eventually caused her death. In February 2015, a teaser trailer based on the life of Winehouse debuted at a pre-Grammys event. David Joseph, CEO of Universal Music UK, announced that the documentary titled Amy would be released later that year. He further stated: "About two years ago we decided to make a movie about her—her career and her life. It's a very complicated and tender movie. It tackles lots of things about family and media, fame, addiction, but most importantly, it captures the very heart of what she was about, which is an amazing person and a true musical genius."
An independent record label is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented by trade associations in their country or region, which in turn are represented by the international trade body, the Worldwide Independent Network (WIN).
Darcus Beese OBE is a British music executive and the former president and Chief Executive Officer of Island Records from his appointment in 2018 till his departure on 3 February 2021. During his time at the label, he signed several top musicians including Amy Winehouse and Jessie J. Beese, who has been described by Music Week as "one of the great A&R people of his or any other generation", subsequently joined Warner Music UK as executive vice-president.
Felix Howard is a songwriter, record producer, A&R and publisher.
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