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Parlophone A&R chief to oversee Virgin UK
By CMU Editorial | Published on Thursday 7 April 2011
Following the departure of Virgin Records UK President Shabs Jobanputra at the start of the week, EMI announced yesterday that A&R duties for its Virgin UK division would be handed over to Miles Leonard, who already heads up such things at its Parlophone label.
Leonard will now oversee talent scouting and artist development at the combined division, and also look to “broaden relationships with individual artists, and establish consistent A&R principles across the two complementary but distinct labels”.
He will report to EMI Music UK CEO Andria Vidler, who said these very words yesterday: “Miles is an outstanding A&R executive, and he’s been a key member of my senior management team throughout my time here. His knowledge and ability to build solid and trusted relationships within both the creative community and the company itself will be of real importance to us as we build on our success of the last year. Signing great artists, and nurturing them throughout their careers is at the heart of what EMI has to do, and in Miles we have someone who can really partner with artists to create the best possible outcomes”.
Miles himself said: “I am thrilled to be working again with the Virgin label, having started my career at Virgin 20 years ago. I have always admired Virgin for its innovative and original artists, and the culture of Virgin which has always been artist-led. To be able to continue in my role at Parlophone, as well as taking on the Virgin label is not only a great challenge, but also an exciting one”.
