BPI announces election of Fred Jude and Henry Semmence as Independent Label Representatives on BPI Council

The BPI announces the election of Fred Jude, MD Snapper Music, and the re-election of Henry Semmence, MD Absolute Label Services, as Independent Label Representatives to serve on BPI Council¹.

They have both been elected to serve on the BPI’s key management and policy forum, and will join current Independent Representatives Alice Dyson-Jones (MD ONE MEDIA iP Ltd), Iain McNay (Chairman Cherry Red Records), Nick Hartley (COO & CFO PIAS Group) and Pat Carr (CEO Remote Control Agency)², alongside major label representatives.

Voting for the election opened online on 3^rd November and closed on Tuesday 17^th November. All full BPI independent label members were eligible to vote for up to two candidates³. The results were first announced at a BPI Independent member meeting on the 18^th November 2020.

BPI Council also co-opts members from time to time, and BPI is pleased to announce that Ammo Talwar MBE, CEO Punch Records and Chair of the UK Music Diversity Taskforce, and broadcaster, columnist and equalities campaigner, Ayesha Hazarika MBE, have recently joined Alistair Norbury, BMG President, Repertoire & Marketing, as co-opted members.

Ged Doherty, Chairman of BPI, said:

“We congratulate Fred Jude on his election to BPI Council for the first time and look forward to the fresh perspective that he will bring, and we welcome back Henry Semmence, whose experience and counsel is much valued.  We are also delighted to welcome Ayesha Hazarika and Ammo Talwar as co-opted members and the additional insights they can offer. We would like to thank Vanessa Higgins for her time serving on Council before stepping down, not least to our work promoting innovation, and we also thank the broad range of candidates that put their names forward, which made for a strong election.”

Notes

¹ BPI Council is the BPI’s key management and policy forum.  Chaired by BPI Chairman Ged Doherty, and including BPI Chief Executive Geoff Taylor, BPI Chief Operating Officer MJ Olaore and BPI General Counsel Kiaron Whitehead in its composition, it comprises 12 recorded music sector representatives – six drawn from major labels (two each from Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music UK and Warner Music UK) and six from the independent sector.

Independent sector:

Alice Dyson-Jones (One Media IP Ltd); Fred Jude (MD Snapper Music); Henry Semmence (Absolute Label Services); Iain McNay (CEO Cherry Red), Nick Hartley (CEO & CFO); Pat Carr (Remote Control Agency).

Major labels:

Sony Music Entertainment UK – Jason Iley (Chairman & CEO), Jessica Carsen (Senior Vice President, Communications).

Universal UK – David Joseph (Chairman & CEO), Selina Webb (Executive Vice President).

Warner Music UK – Tony Harlow (Chairman & CEO), Jo Bartlett (VP, Corporate Communications).

BPI Council can also co-opt additional members.  These now include Ammo Talwar, CEO Punch Records and Chair of the UK Music Diversity Taskforce, and broadcaster, columnist and equalities campaigner Ayesha Hazarika, who join existing co-opted member Alistair Norbury, BMG President, Repertoire & Marketing for the UK.

² Two of the six places on BPI Council designated for Independent representation became vacant following the automatic retirement by rotation of the two longest-standing members, who were Henry Semmence (Absolute Label Services) and Vanessa Higgins (Regent Street Records). Under BPI’s rules, those retiring by rotation are entitled to re-stand for election.

³ Every BPI full member was sent a voting link directly from Civica Election Services.