Nick Gatfield

Nick Gatfield "has been EMI Music’s President of New Music for North America, the UK and Ireland, since July 2008.

"Gatfield was formerly President of Universal Island Records Group, the UK’s most successful domestic repertoire label that has sold over 32 million albums worldwide since 2002, including five million in the US. Artist signings since he became head of the label in 2001 include five times Grammy award winner Amy Winehouse, who sold close to nine million albums on her Back to Black album. Gatfield has also overseen the recording careers of Keane, Mika, The Fratellis, McFly, Busted, Sugababes, The Feeling, Robyn and Sam Sparro.

"From 1993 to 1998, Gatfield worked in Los Angeles for PolyGram, then the world’s leading music group that was merged into Universal in 1998. At PolyGram’s Polydor Records, where he became President, he presided over successful signings such as the platinum-selling Tonic and the Badlees and also reinvigorated the label’s catalogue business. In 1998 he received the Corporate Luminary Award from the American Society of Young Musicians. He was also made responsible for PolyGram’s music publishing operations in the US in 1998.

"Gatfield began his business career at EMI Records in the UK where he worked from 1985 to 1992, first as A&R and in-house producer, helping to sign platinum sellers Climie Fisher and Brother Beyond, and working with major artists such as Duran Duran and Pet Shop Boys. He was promoted to the position of director of A&R in 1987 (making him the youngest director in EMI’s history) with overall A&R responsibility for all of EMI’s labels including Parlophone and EMI. Signings during his tenure as director of A&R included Radiohead, Blur, EMF and Jesus Jones.

"Gatfield played keyboards and sax for Dexy's Midnight Runners from 1982 to 1985, the period that included their UK and US hit Come on Eileen, and toured extensively around the world in support of the Too Rye Ay album."