BPI CEO to step down in 2023
Florence Lockheart
Thursday, August 4, 2022
Geoff Taylor will move to a commercial role after leading the British Phonographic Industry for 15 years
Record label trade body British Phonographic Industry (BPI) has announced that chief executive officer Geoff Taylor will move on from the role in 2023. This news follows the appointment of saxophonist and TV presenter YolanDa Brown to the role of chair, which was announced earlier this month.
Taylor has spent 25 years working for label associations, during the move to digital as well as the challenges presented by Brexit and the pandemic. He has announced his intention to move on to a more commercial role, after more than 15 years leading the BPI.
Taylor said: ‘It has been a great privilege to lead the BPI during such a transformational period for British music. With a new chair appointed and our 50th anniversary next year, it feels like BPI is opening a new chapter. After much reflection, I have decided that running the BPI for 15 years is enough for any moderately sane individual and that now is the time to use my experience more directly in a commercial environment.’
Taylor started out in the recording industry in 1997 as senior legal adviser to global trade body International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). He became general counsel of BPI in 2003, then of IFPI in 2005. He took the role of CEO of BPI in 2007 and remains a board member of IFPI.
Taylor’s achievements throughout his career include securing industry and UK government support for the extension of copyright term as well as working to reduce online music piracy and overseeing BPI’s acquisition of the Mercury Prize in 2015. He also oversaw the transition of the BRIT Awards to the O2 and produced the awards show each year including during the pandemic.
Tony Harlow, CEO of Warner Music UK, said: ‘Geoff's insightful and forward-thinking leadership benefited the industry as it navigated huge challenges over the last 15 years. His argument that copyright must be respected online helped secure a sustainable and growing music industry in our country’.
The BPI represents independent and major record labels in the UK with the aim of safeguarding the rights of its more than 500 members as well as of the artists, performers and label members of collecting body PPL.