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BPI appoint new public affairs muggins
By CMU Editorial | Published on Thursday 30 September 2010
UK record label trade body BPI have a lovely new Director Of Public Affairs to lead all their lobbying activity, pushing for stronger anti-piracy laws and such like. In these days of 4chan attacks, it’s a job that should possibly come with (virtual) danger money.
The new lobbying man is Theo Blackwell, who has previously worked on the agency side of political PR for Mandate Communications and Connect Public Affairs. In his agency life he worked for a number of tech clients, which probably makes him a good hire for the BPI, know the enemy and all that.
Confirming the new appointment, BPI boss Geoff Taylor told CMU: “We are delighted to be welcoming Theo as the BPI’s new Head Of Public Affairs. I have no doubt that his wealth of parliamentary experience and understanding of digital and new media issues will help us to represent our member labels effectively in the political debate going forward”.
Blackwell himself said this: “I am delighted to be taking up my new role of Director of Public Affairs at the BPI. The recording industry contributes significantly to the UK’s creative economy and I will seek to communicate the challenges, needs and advancements of this important sector to government, media and the wider creative industries. I look forward to working closely with the BPI’s member companies and politicians alike to achieve the optimum framework that will see the UK’s world-class music market continue to flourish and grow”.
Blackwell replaces the BPI’s former public affairs man Richard Mollet, who led the record industry’s lobbying efforts on the Digital Economy Act. As previously reported, he’s off to the top job at the Music Publishers Association.
Taylor again: “We are grateful to Richard for his outstanding work over the last few years and we wish him every success in his new role. I am sure we will be working even more closely with the Publishers Association in the coming years”.
