UK Music

For music of the United Kingdom, see Music of the United Kingdom.

UK Music

Formation	26 September 2008
Legal status	Association
Purpose	Industry representation
Headquarters	Work.Life, 33 Foley Street, London W1W 7TL
Region served	United Kingdom
Chairman	Tom Watson
CEO (interim)	Tom Kiehl
Staff	10
Website	ukmusic.org

UK Music is a British umbrella organisation which represents the collective interests of the production side of UK's commercial music industry: artists, musicians, songwriters, composers, record labels, artist managers, music publishers, studio producers and music collecting societies.

History

Launched on 26 September 2008,^[1] Feargal Sharkey, former member of The Undertones, became chief executive officer (CEO) and Andy Heath, former chairman of British Music Rights, became chairman.

Sharkey left the organisation in November 2011, with Jo Dipple taking over as acting CEO. UK Music confirmed on 27 January 2012 the appointment of Dipple as the next CEO.^[2]

In January 2017, the organisation announced that Dipple would stand down as its CEO in June 2017.^[3] In April 2017, former Labour Party MP and Shadow Cabinet member Michael Dugher was announced as Dipple's replacement. Dugher took over as CEO of UK Music in May 2017.

In December 2019 Michael Dugher announced he would stepping down as CEO. Deputy CEO Tom Kiehl took over as acting CEO in February 2020. Former Labour Party Deputy Leader Tom Watson took over as chair, replacing Andy Heath, in April 2020.

Jamie Njoku-Goodwin took over as CEO of UK Music in October 2020. He left the organisation in August of 2023 to become Director of Strategy for PM Rishi Sunak, after gaining political prominence during the Covid-19 pandemic as a special adviser to Culture, and then Health Secretary Matt Hancock.^[4][5] He was replaced by current interim CEO Tom Kiehl.^[6]

Sound Rights

In December 2008, UK Music launched Sound Rights, a free online resource for teachers and schools to support music study in schools. This was aimed at supporting the study of "the role of music and musicians in society, the music industry and of artistic and intellectual property rights."^[7] In an interview with ISP Review in January 2009, UK Music Press Officer Adam Webb outlined the organisation's plans for tackling the problems of illegal file sharing over the internet and building working relationships with Internet service providers.^[8]

References

1. "UK Music birth" (Press release). UK Music. September 26, 2008. Archived from the original on December 22, 2008. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
2. Lester, Ahren (27 January 2012). "UK Music confirms Jo Dipple as new Chief Executive". Audio Pro International. Retrieved 2012-01-30.
3. "UK Music chief executive Jo Dipple to stand down" (Press release). UK Music. 2017-01-17. Retrieved 2017-01-20.
4. Statesman, New (2023-09-27). "The New Statesman's right power list". New Statesman. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
5. Geddes, Jennifer (2023-08-30). "UK Music Chief Executive Jamie Njoku-Goodwin Departs After Three Years At Helm To Join Prime Minister Rishi Sunak As Director of Strategy". UK Music. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
6. "Team". UK Music. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
7. "News Item". The Association of Independent Music. 9 December 2008. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
8. Jackson, Mark. "UK Music - Illegal File Sharing Interview". ISPreview UK. Retrieved 2009-02-21.