Martin Mills (born 12 May 1949) is the founder and chairman of the
Beggars Group
Beggars Group is a British record company that owns or distributes several other labels, including 4AD, Rough Trade Records, Matador Records, XL Recordings and Young.
History
The companies’ roots stem from the Beggars Banquet record shops, whi ...
.
Early life
Mills grew up near
Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wyco ...
and comes from an "upper-middle-class English family".
His father was a civil servant and his mother was as a teacher and headmistress. Mills attended
Magdalen College School and
Oriel College, Oxford
Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, ...
, where he studied
Philosophy, politics and economics, graduating in 1970.
After graduating from Oxford, Mills worked for the Office of Population, Census and Surveys, writing reports on abortion law reformation and processing abortion statistics; however, the experience left him wanting "to do something completely different".
After leaving, he found a job at a record store in
Notting Hill
Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Road Ma ...
, where Mills realized his future was in the music industry.
Eventually he opened a record store of his own (Beggars Banquet) and was promoting concerts.
Beggars Group
The record store was opened initially to re-sell records that he and a friend, Nick Austin, had collected for a mobile disco.
[Music Made Me Do It: The Label Founder – Beggar’s Banquet’s Martin Mills
The story of the biggest independent record company in the world, 30 Nov 2019](_blank)
/ref>The disco, and then the company, was named after the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
' album Beggars Banquet
''Beggars Banquet'' is the 7th British and 9th American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 6 December 1968 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom and London Records in the United States. It was the first R ...
.[Radio 4 'Zeitgeisters', 22 June 2013](_blank)
/ref> Martin and Nick had seen an opportunity for a record shop that sold both new and second-hand records. Beggars Banquet soon became a six-store chain in London, arriving shortly before punk broke through; “It turned what we did upside down. We all started being interested in a completely different style of music. The kind of concerts we had been promoting suddenly became completely irrelevant, so we started promoting punk gigs instead. It was an amazing, incredibly exciting sea change."[Center Of The Indie Label Universe, 14 March 2011](_blank)
/ref>
His company is now one of the world's most successful independent groups of record labels. His ability to spot future trends in music has been celebrated by the BBC Radio 4 ''Zeitgeisters'' series, and has included New Romantic, Gary Numan
Gary Anthony James Webb (born 8 March 1958), known professionally as Gary Numan, is an English musician. He entered the music industry as frontman of the new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two albums with the band, he released his d ...
electronic, Goth rock of the 1980s and being ahead of the popular trend for digital downloads. In the radio show he was quoted as saying that ''The whole point f independent music publishingis not giving people what they want but what they are going to want''.
With the company continuing to grow as the industry morphs and throws new challenges, Martin has led the worldwide drive to future-proof the independent sector, working hard to promote its collective interests and helping unite like-minded labels and companies. Having served on the BPI (British Phonographic Industry) Council, the governing body of the record industry, from 1987 to 2000, he quit to become the progenitor of the Association of Independent Music in the UK, and similar bodies in Europe (Impala)[Impala Music Website](_blank)
/ref> and the US (A2IM), and the Worldwide Independent Network. [2018 Impala Music Article on WIN appointing Martin Mills as their first Chair, 27 Feb 2018](_blank)
/ref>
These bodies speak eloquently, effectively and with great authority to ensure a level playing field and the welfare, success and sustainability of independent music makers.
He also led the establishment of Merlin in 2008,[Music Business Worldwide: Merlin Is 5: A Timeline Of Achievement, 6 June 2013](_blank)
the independents’ rights licensing body, which has distributed well over $2 billion to members since launch, and today counts 850 members from 63 countries.
He has remained active in other music industry organisations, through his participation in the government’s Music Industry Forum, the Music Business Forum, being on the board of UK Music, and both as a director of PPL and VPL, the industry’s rights licensing bodies. In addition, he was called by the US Senate to Washington in 2012 to be a witness in the hearing on the proposed purchase of EMI Records by Universal Music.[Billboard: Beggars Group’s Martin Mills On Testifying at Senate Universal-EMI Hearing, 20 June 2012](_blank)
/ref>
He was awarded an MBE in the 2008 New Year Honours list, as well as outstanding contribution awards from Music Week, Billboard, the Radio Academy, the Featured Artists Coalition, IMPALA, Canadian Music Week, The Music Producers’ Guild, A2IM, Billboard, and the 'Pioneer Award' at the AIM Awards.[NME: Martin Mills to receive Pioneer Award at AIM Independent Music Awards 12 June 2014](_blank)
/ref>
As of 2023, the labels that comprise the Beggars Group are 4AD, Matador Records
Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of mainly indie rock, but also punk rock, experimental rock, alternative rock, and electronic acts.
History
Matador was created in 1989 by Chris Lombardi in his New York City apar ...
, Rough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London, England. It was formed in 1976 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove. Having successfully promoted and sold records by punk rock and early post-pu ...
, XL Recordings
XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been ran and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group.
Although only releasing an average of six albu ...
and Young
Young may refer to:
* Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents
* Youth, the time of life when one is young, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood
Music
* The Young, an American roc ...
.
Awards and Accolades
*1998: The Strat award, Music Week
''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future.
History
Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...
[Music Week: History Of The Strat Award, 9 May 2019](_blank)
/ref>
*2008: Honored by The Queen with an MBE
/ref>
*2011: Industry Champion Award at the inaugural Artist & Manager Awards[Record Of The Day: Martin Mills and Everybody's honoured at Artist and Manager Awards, 18 Aug 2011](_blank)
/ref>
*2011: The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
– Inaugural Music Power 100 list[The Guardian: Music Power 100 list, 26 May 2011](_blank)
/ref>
*2011: Impala Outstanding Contribution Award[Impala Honours Martin Mills and Label Love With Outstanding Contribution Awards, 2 Feb 2012](_blank)
/ref>
*2012: Inaugural Lifetime Achievement award by A2IM
The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) is a trade association that represents independent record labels in the United States, founded in 2005. A2IM is headquartered in New York City, with chapters located in Nashville, Chicago, Nort ...
[https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/beggars-groups-martin-mills-to-be-honored-at-a2ims-inaugural-libera-1095307/ Billboard: Beggars Group’s Martin Mills To Be Honored At A2IM’s Inaugural Libera Awards, 30 May 2012]]
*2012: Music Producers Guild Outstanding Contribution to UK Music Award[Audio Media International: Martin Mills honoured by Music Producers Guild, 4 Jan 2012](_blank)
/ref>
*2013: Billboard_(magazine), Billboard - Industry Icon award[Martin Mills Receives Billboard’s Industry Icon Award, 27 Jan 2013](_blank)
/ref>
*2013: Billboard_(magazine), Billboard - Power 100[Billboard: Power 100, 2 Feb 2013](_blank)
/ref>
*2014: The Inaugural Global Impact Award at Canadian Music Week
Canadian Music Week (or CMW) is an industry conference and music festival held over ten days in Toronto and Ontario, Canada.
History
Canadian Music Week began in 1981 and has grown to become one of Canada's largest and most influential media a ...
[Beggars Group Founder Martin Mills to Receive Inaugural CMW Global Impact Award at Canadian Music Week 2014, 8 May 2014](_blank)
/ref>
*2014: Pioneer Award at the AIM Independent Music Awards[PRS For Music: Martin Mills to receive AIM Pioneer Award, 12 June 2014](_blank)
/ref>
*2014: Billboard_(magazine), Billboard - International Power Player[Billboard: International Power Players, 30 Jan 2014](_blank)
/ref>
*2014: Billboard_(magazine), Billboard - Power 100
*2015: Billboard_(magazine), Billboard - Power 100
*2016: Billboard_(magazine), Billboard - Power 100[Billboard: Power 100, 12 Feb 2016](_blank)
/ref>
*2017: Billboard_(magazine), Billboard - Power 100[Billboard: Power 100, 9 Feb 2017](_blank)
/ref>
*2017: Billboard_(magazine), Billboard - Indie Power Player[Billboard: Indie Power Players, 14 Aug 2017](_blank)
/ref>
*2018: Billboard_(magazine), Billboard - Indie Power Player[Billboard: Indie Power Players, 27 Aug 2018](_blank)
/ref>
*2018: Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
International Music Leader[Variety: International Music Leaders, 4 June 2018](_blank)
/ref>
*2019: Billboard_(magazine), Billboard - Power 100[Billboard: Indie Power Players, 7 Feb 2019](_blank)
/ref>
*2019: Billboard_(magazine), Billboard - Indie Power Player[Billboard: Indie Power Players, 17 June 2019](_blank)
/ref>
*2019: Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
- International Music Leader[Variety: International Music Leaders, 30 May 2019](_blank)
/ref>
*2020: Billboard_(magazine), Billboard - Indie Power Player[Billboard: Indie Power Players, 15 June 2020](_blank)
/ref>
*2020: Billboard_(magazine), Billboard - Power 100[Billboard: Indie Power Players, 23 Jan 2020](_blank)
/ref>
*2021: Billboard_(magazine), Billboard - Indie Power Player[Billboard: Indie Power Players, 7 June 2021](_blank)
/ref>
*2022: Billboard_(magazine), Billboard - Indie Power Player[Billboard: Indie Power Players, 6 June 2022](_blank)
/ref>
*2022: Billboard_(magazine), Billboard - Power List [Billboard: Power list, 26 Jan 2022](_blank)
/ref>
*2022: Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
- Variety 500 [Variety: an index of the 500 most influential business leaders shaping the global media industry, 28 Dec 2022](_blank)
/ref>
*2023: Billboard_(magazine), Billboard - Power 100 [Billboard: Power 100 list Jan 2023](_blank)
/ref>
Commentary
In June 2013, Mills was described in a BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
portrait as looking "remarkably unremarkable" but being "like a wise old fisherman watching minnows waiting to catch a really big fish".
References
External links
Martin Mills biography on Music Tank website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mills, Martin
1949 births
Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford
Beggars Group
British music industry executives
Living people