EMI MUSIC UK and IRELAND

Who are we?

EMI Music is part of The EMI Group, one of the largest and oldest music companies in the world, dating back to 1897. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange. The EMI Group is represented in 50 countries. The group demerged from Thorn Electronics in 1996 and is now purely focused on music (recording & publishing).

What do we do?

EMI Music is the UK and Irish operating company for EMI Group plcís business and has many achievements to boast about; in April 2002, we were awarded the prestigious Queenís Award for Enterprise:International Trade. The award recognises a companyís sustained outstanding achievement in international trade and it is the third time that EMI has received the honour, having previously won in 1978 and 1994; sister division EMI Music Publishing won the award in 1995. In both 2004 and 2005 EMI made The Timesí Top 100 Best Companies to work for in the UK. Both of these years, Chairman and CEO Tony Wadsworth appeared in the Top 10 for Leadership.

The company revenue comes from two principal sources: the sale of recorded music on CD, tape, DVD and in the digital domain, and the licensing of its repertoire to EMI affiliates worldwide. The latter forms the vast majority of its overseas earnings from 50 countries worldwide.

In 2002 the company finalised a restructure which saw Virgin Records, originally bought from Richard Branson in 1992, fully integrated into the UK company. 2005 saw the creation of Angel Music Group, a newly formed group of labels to home the world famous EMI Classics, the pop-focussed Innocent, Charisma, and Angel Records, which covers Adult Contemporary/MOR and Mainstream. Run by Tony Wadsworth, Chairman & CEO of EMI Music UK & Ireland, the company continues to achieve chart success with all genres of music.

The labels - how many?

The company is comprised of Angel Music Group, EMI Records, Parlophone and Virgin Records ñ one catalogue division and numerous imprints and associated labels. These include EMI Classics, Blue Note jazz label, Charisma, Heavenly Records, Relentless and dance label Positiva. We are also proud of our affiliation with independent label Mute. Each label maintains an individual musical and creative strategy and ensures that EMI represents many of the best-known recording artists in the world.

Other departments that generate revenue are:

EMI Gold, EMI Catalogue and EMI Liberty

EMI Gold and EMI Catalogue are responsible for budget and mid-price product ranges as well as full exploitation of our rich back catalogue. Artists who feature on our catalogue include Hot Chocolate, Blondie, The Beach Boys, David Bowie, Deep Purple, Duran Duran and Frank Sinatra. EMI Liberty was launched in 2000 to enable Catalogue and Gold to bring a number of new artists and projects on board - their first signing was Jane Horrocks, probably best known for her starring role in ëLittle Voiceí. It is also responsible for Europop artist and million-single selling, DJ Otzi.

Commercial Marketing

The Commercial Marketing function plays a vital role in generating further profit from our recorded music. The department is involved in many diverse areas of business, from sourcing and negotiating synchronisation deals ie. TV ad soundbeds and film soundtracks, to sponsorship and endorsement of our artists with particular commercial products.

What's it like to work here?

EMI Music is an exciting and dynamic company to work for. Everyone here has an appreciation for music, whatever their personal taste may be. The office environment is informal, as is the dress code, basically anything goes! Overall, the company culture is fast-paced and ambitious. Employees in the support functions must be comfortable working within a creative/artistic environment and have a ëhands on approachí. The decisions taken here are business driven and there is certainly a work-hard ethos. We expect our employees to be professional and focused whatever their role. For a company that is embedded in pop culture and breaking new trends it has a stable workforce with an annual Long Service celebration for those who have been with the company for 10, 20, 30 and sometimes even 40 years!

Where are we based?

EMI Music UK has consolidated its presence in West London after Virgin Records, Angel Music Group and EMI Classics relocated to new premises, Crown House, in the summer of 2005, in order to be physically closer to Brook Green.There are over 500 people based between Brook Green and Crown House where the creative departments of A&R, Marketing, Press and Promotions work closely with the support functions of New Media, Sales, Finance, IT, Legal, Human Resources and Communications to create and market the current and future successes of the worldwide music industry.

Other relevant functions are:

Our distribution site is based in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. EMI Distribution is an award winning division, hailed as the premier distribution site of all the music companies.

FURTHER INFORMATION
www.emimusicpub.com
www.emigroup.com

For further information on the music industry in general, contact the BPI (British Phonographic Industry Ltd) which is the official record companiesí trade association. The BPI represents the majority of the record companies in this country and has an extensive range of reference material available for students on a wide variety of issues and roles related to the music industry.

You can contact them at:

BPI, Riverside Building,
County Hall,
Westminster Bridge Road,
London SE1 7JA
Orhttp://www.bpi.co.uk.

Also, check out: www.pro-music.org