EMI Music Publishing has promoted Declan Morrell to senior VP East Coast creative. He was the publisher’s U.K. senior VP of A&R who signed songwriters like James Blunt, Take That, Bullet For My Valentine and Busted.
Morrell will be responsible for discovering and developing songwriting and composing talent in rock and pop genres as well as working with EMI’s creative teams around the world to support their roster.
“Early in my career before I landed a record deal, Declan Morrell signed me for publishing, and he never stopped believing in me,” says Blunt. “He was a constant reference point, and A&R’d both ‘Back to Bedlam’ and ‘All The Lost Souls.’ He’s also a great friend.”
Morrell spent the last six years as a senior member of the EMI U.K. A&R team after joining the publisher as senior A&R manager in 2001. He was promoted to senior VP in 2006.
Morrell, now based in New York, reports to executive VP Dan McCarroll who heads up the company’s A&R operations on the East Coast.
The New York A&R team also includes Jake Ottman, who was recently promoted to VP of A&R.
