Jason Iley

Mercury Records 2005 - 2013

In May 2005, Iley was appointed Managing Director of Mercury Records, and left his role at Island.^[4] The following year, Iley was promoted to President, and worked with established artists such as Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney, U2, and Rihanna, as well as emerging acts like Chase & Status and Jake Bugg.^[5]

U2, who previously had a long-standing association with Island Records, followed Iley to Mercury Records in October 2006.^[6] The Independent described their move to the label, stating "Their closest ally ... Jason Iley, was appointed managing director of Mercury Records last year, and the band have now followed him there."^[7] A similar report posted on Virgin.net cited, "U2 are keen to continue working with Jason Iley, who switched from Island to Mercury to become their President earlier this year."

President of Roc Nation

In June 2013, Roc Nation Records, founded by Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and home to artists such as J. Cole, Rita Ora and Jay Electronica, announced Jason Iley would become its President, based out of New York.^[8]

Chairman & CEO Sony Music UK and Ireland

Sony Music CEO Doug Morris announced that Iley would become Chairman and CEO of Sony Music UK & Ireland in April 2014.^[9]

In this role, Iley brought independent label Black Butter Records into operating as a standalone imprint under the Sony Music UK banner^[10] and appointed British A&R, DJ, music-maker and BBC broadcaster DJ Semtex as Director of Artist Development, who returned to the company after 14 years.^[11]

2014 saw Sony’s best singles success for 33 years, with 11 Number 1 singles.^[12] Sony Music artists won a total of five individual awards at The BRITs 2015. This was Sony's best in nearly 20 years, with the company picking up more awards than any other record label.^[13]

In 2015, Iley negotiated a deal between Insanity Records whose first signing was Craig David who went on to achieve his first number one album in sixteen years. ^[14]

Robbie Williams departed from Universal in 2016 and signed with Sony Music to record his 11th album.^[15] Jason commented that the agreement was "a once in a lifetime signing with the biggest male solo artist of our generation."^[16] After the release of his studio album The Heavy Entertainment Show in November he became the record holder for most UK number one albums by a British solo artist. ^[17] Illey was also responsible for Arcade Fire moving their entire catalogue to Sony Music.

In 2016, Iley appointed Ferdy Unger-Hamilton as the new President of Columbia Records in the UK, David Dollimore would be the President of RCA UK and Ministry of Sound Recordings,^[18] and Dipesh Parmar was promoted to MD of Ministry of Sound.

The BRIT Awards 2017 saw Iley's Sony Music equal their most successful year of awards nominations with 23 ^[19] and dominate on the night winning 9 out of 13 awards.^[20] Rag’n’Bone Man won the coveted BRITs Critics’ Choice Award and went on to take home honours for the Breakthrough category at the BRIT awards show in February - the first artist to win in both categories.^[21]. Iley commented that it was a "momentous and historic night" for Sony Music artists .^[27]

Industry trade magazine 'Music Week' credited Illey's acquisitions and exec changes for Sony ending 2017 with its highest market share ever. Paloma Faith publicly praised Jason for the changes he made at Sony Music since becoming Chairman and labelled him “by far my favourite human to have encountered”.^[22]

Under Illey's lead, Sony Music partnered with mental health charity MIND and signed an initiative which aimed to increase awareness and understanding of mental health.^[23] During Mental Health Awareness Week in 2018 it was announced that Sony Music UK would offer their employees ‘Premium Days’ - two days, in addition to holiday, for personal development. This campaign was backed by Sony Music artists.^[24] In a Music Week interview, he added "It's okay to talk about these issues".^[25] He publicly supported The BRITs when they chose Mind as their 2018 charity partner, commenting, “Mind do wonderful life-saving and life-enhancing work in the field of mental health, so I’m delighted that The BRITs can make a contribution to their vital campaign in schools. In a Music Week interview he added, "it's okay to talk about these issues".

Iley also stated Sony Music's commitment to support the Music Venue Trust's campaign in protecting small UK venues. We recognise the vital role that grassroots music venues play in that journey, providing an essential platform for artists to be able to take their first steps and develop their audiences.

BBC News announced that under Iley's direction Sony Music UK would offer extra maternity leave to employees who have babies born prematurely. He said of the policy “We appreciate that it can be an extremely difficult and worrying time for those who experience premature labour and family is of the upmost importance.”^[26]

In 2018, Jason announced that he had hired Cassandra Gracey as president of 4th Floor Creative Group, a new department at Sony Music UK that brought together the label’s creative disciplines. Iley said: “I’ve always wanted to work with Cassandra, who is a highly respected, dynamic executive.”^[27]

Jason Iley was listed on Billboard’s 2018 International Power Players List for the second consecutive year ^[28] and appeared on the Evening Standard's annual "London's Most Influential People" list, in October 2017, for the fourth consecutive year. ^[29]

Ministry of Sound Acquisition

Under Iley’s tenure, in August 2016 Sony Music acquired Ministry of Sound Recordings, home to London Grammar, DJ Fresh and Sigala, bringing the label - including its artists, back catalogue and compilations - under the Sony Music umbrella.

He commented on the acquisition: “Ministry of Sound is one of the greatest brands in music. I’m delighted to welcome one of the most innovative, smart and pioneering labels to the Sony Music family. David and Dipesh’s track record, alongside one of the best curation teams in the business, speaks for itself and the label will be another hugely exciting addition to Sony Music UK’s vision for the future.”^[30][31][32]

BRITs

In 2016, it was announced that Jason Iley would become Chairman of the BRITs Committee (2017-2019). He would be responsible for the look, feel and creative element of the BRIT Awards. In his first year Iley was responsible for a shake up of the BRITs Voting Academy, stating the BRITs had “a responsibility to be truly reflective of what is happening in music".

He approached fated British architect Zaha Hadid to create the 2017 BRIT award statue before she passed. Iley cited her ‘innovative and original’ work as the reason for pursuing the collaboration.^[33]

In his second year as Chairman, the BRIT award 2018 was designed by Sir Anish Kapoor.^[34] Jack Whitehall made his debut as BRITs host,^[35] with Jason describing him as “a truly natural performer who brings enormous enthusiasm, charisma, fun and passion to all his work”.^[36] The show featured an impressive line-up of artists, including Ed Sheeran, Justin Timberlake Stormzy, Dua Lipa, Sam Smith, Foo Fighters, Rita Ora and Rag’n’Bone Man, who won Critics’ Choice and Breakthrough the previous year.^[37] Plus, Gary Barlow and Liam Gallagher, who paid tribute to victims of the Manchester terror attack.

The Telegraph labelled Jack Whitehall as “the best Brits host in years” ^[38]

Iley was widely praised for playing an essential part in shaking up the event, and its voting academy in the past two years.^[39] Subsequently, after the 2018 award show, The Independent published a headline that read “Brit Awards 2018: Finally paying attention to British music”.^[40]

Under the direction of Iley, The BRITs 2018 partnered with mental health charity, Mind who received £200,000 as a contribution towards their pilot Whole School Approach to mental health programme.

Following the announcement of the donation the charity was presented with a cheque by George Ezra. Jason said of the donation, “The difference that these charities make towards people lives is immeasurable and addressing this subject within schools is vital to a progressive and optimistic future”.^[41]