Parlophone, the frontline Warner Music Group label based in the UK, is going through changes.
The record company is now headed by Mark Mitchell, former GM of Atlantic Records UK.
He took over in January this year, receiving the baton from outgoing long-time Parlophone boss, Miles Leonard.
Mitchell is currently waiting for his fellow Co-President to arrive at Parlophone. MBW understands it will be former Virgin EMI’s SVP of A&R, Nick Burgess, who will arrive later this summer.
Whoever it is, Mitchell thinks a lot of them: the British exec recently told MBW’s quarterly UK magazine – Music Business UK – he believes that his new Co-President is “the best [deal] closer in the business”.
Prior to Burgess’s arrival, however, Mitchell’s been busy.
Warner announced today that Jack Melhuish is joining Parlophone as Director of Marketing, Strategy & Partnerships.
He leaves behind his role as Marketing Director at Universal-owned Polydor, where he recently worked with artists such as The 1975, Lana Del Rey, Haim, Kendrick Lamar, James Blake, Years & Years, Jax Jones, Stefflon Don, Michael Kiwanuka, Elbow and Ramz.
“Jack totally gets the level of disruption, speed and cross channel engagement that’s required nowadays.”
Mark Mitchell, Parlophone
Mitchell and Melhuish (pictured) used to work closely together at Atlantic before Melhuish jumped to Parlophone in 2014.
As Digital Director and Marketing Director at Atlantic Records UK, Melhuish played a key role in the campaigns for artists such as Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, Clean Bandit, Rudimental and Paolo Nutini.
Melhuish isn’t the only major appointment made by Mitchell this year.
The exec has recruited ex-Spotify and BBC Radio 1 exec Rob Khan the other month as Music Streaming Lead at the label.
The role sees Khan creating pitches for artists to present to partners such as Spotify, Apple and YouTube, as well as collaborating with streaming partners to craft successful artist campaigns. In addition, he is providing thought leadership for label and wider Warner Music Group on streaming strategy.
Khan became a Music Editor at Spotify in November 2015, before leaving to set up his own consultancy at the end of last year.
Prior to Spotify, he was a producer at BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra.
Confirming Melhuish’s arrival today, Mitchell said: “During our time together at Atlantic, we broke a number of huge UK artists, so I’m incredibly excited to be back working with Jack. His recent work has continued that success and seen him really develop a truly progressive approach to marketing artists.
“He totally gets the level of disruption, speed and cross channel engagement that’s required nowadays. I’m sure that through highly effective, holistic campaigns, he will have a significant impact on our capability for new and existing artists.”
Jack Melhuish commented: “Parlophone is at a massively exciting stage of its life and this is a fantastic opportunity to work with Mitch again, to be part of a talented and passionate team and to lead the label and its artists into different ways of reaching and engaging audiences.
“Both brands and fans want greater access to artists than ever before. Our focus will be to blend all traditional and non-traditional channels to our advantage and work creatively and flexibly with both established partners and the wealth of new and exciting avenues that are available to our acts.”Music Business Worldwide
