Nick Gatfield, who has just stepped down as president of Island Records U.K., has joined EMI Music as president of A&R Labels, North America and UK. All the company’s label heads in North America and the UK will report to Gatfield.
He will take over those responsibilities from Roger Ames, who will remain at the company in a non-operational capacity, sources suggest. EMI declined to comment.
Gatfield, a one-time member of 1980s U.K. hit-maker Dexy’s Midnight Runners, had been with Island Records U.K. since December 2001, and before that was consultant and head of A&R at Universal/Island in the U.K. Prior to that, Gatfield was president of PolyGram Publishing and Polydor Records U.S.
Ames had been leading EMI North America since April 2007 and assumed the role of head of A&R for U.K. and Ireland when EMI Music UK and Ireland CEO Tony Wadsworth left the company in January of this year. Ames has been a key architect in the remaking of EMI, which has been under discussion since Guy Hands’ Terra Firma acquired the chain last year.
In January, details of the restructuring were announced, including the layoff of 2,000 employees and the breaking down of label walls into three groups: an A&R group; a global music services group comprised of operations, sales and marketing; and a support services group comprised of finance, human resources and other back office functions. The restructuring is expected to be implemented by June.
