Tony Wadsworth has had a lifelong career in the music industry, including stints as Managing Director of the Parlophone label, Chairman & CEO of EMI Music UK and Ireland, and Chairman of the industry's trade association, the BPI.

Biography

Having graduated in Economics at

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick unive ...

in 1977, he spent the next two years playing guitar in a new wave band, before working in a succession of small record labels, culminating in a short period at

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

, followed by his arrival in 1982 at

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...

. He relaunched the legendary

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...

label in the early 1990s, and as the label's managing director achieved notable breakthroughs with

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass ...

, Blur,

Pet Shop Boys The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo ...

and

Foo Fighters Foo Fighters are an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Foo Fighters was initially formed as a one-man project by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Following the success of the eponymous debut album, Grohl (lead vocals, guitar) ...

, as well as worldwide hits with established stars such as

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the " Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before ...

and

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

. In 1998 he was promoted to the role of Chairman & CEO EMI Music UK, leading all of the company's UK labels, including Capitol, EMI, Virgin, Chrysalis and Parlophone, as well as the company's recording studios Olympic, Townhouse and the

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music ...

. This coincided with a period of global success with artists such as

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...

Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University ...

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

Lily Allen Lily Rose Beatrice Allen (born 2 May 1985) is an English singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. Her music career began in 2005 when she made some of her vocal recordings public ...

Norah Jones Norah Jones (born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. She has won several awards for her music and as of 2012, has sold more than 50 million records worldwide. ''Billboard'' named her the ...

Gorillaz Gorillaz are an English virtual band formed in 1998 by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, from London. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: 2-D (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (guit ...

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 dr ...

and

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

, amongst many others. In 2008, after 26 years at EMI and 10 years at the top of the UK company, he stepped down soon after its acquisition by a private equity company. Wadsworth became a Council member of the industry trade association, the BPI, in 1998, and was Chairman of the Brits annual awards show for three years from 2000–2002, during which time he established the Brits independent TV production company Brits TV. From 2007 to 2014, he held the posts of Chairman of the BPI and Chairman of Brit Awards Ltd. Wadsworth continues to serve as a Trustee of the Brit Trust and as a Governor of the Brit School. He also holds the post of Visiting Professor in the music and business schools of the

University of Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick unive ...

. He is also Chairman of Julie's Bicycle, the leading global charity bridging the gap between environmental sustainability and the creative industries. He is a Trustee of the EMI Music Sound Foundation, a charity devoted to improving young people's access to music education and a Trustee of the EMI Archive Trust. He is a non-executive board director of BIMM, the market leader in popular music higher education, and additionally has commercial interests ranging from ethical ticketing to a vinyl record store.

Awards

Wadsworth has an Honorary Doctorate in Music from the University of Gloucestershire. In March 2008, he was awarded the prestigious Music Week Strat award for outstanding contribution to the UK music industry. In 2009 he was awarded the Scott Piering Award by the

Radio Academy The Radio Academy is a registered charity dedicated to "the encouragement, recognition and promotion of excellence in UK broadcasting and audio production". It was formed in 1983 and is run via a board of trustees, with a chair and a deputy chair ...

to recognise outstanding contribution to music radio. In June 2011, he was appointed a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to the UK music industry.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wadsworth, Tony British music industry executives Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Living people Alumni of Newcastle University Year of birth missing (living people)