(CelebrityAccess) – Blue Raincoat Music/Chrysalis Records has appointed James Meadows as Senior Vice President of Marketing. Meadows joined the company from his previous stint at BMG as Head of Marketing and will report to COO Alison Wenham and CEO Jeremy Lascelles.
Meadows said, “I’m over the moon with this new role, and I feel privileged to be a part of the next chapter of Chrysalis Records, ensuring it rightly remains at the forefront of the modern music industry and one of the UK’s most respected, creative, artist-friendly labels. I’d like to say a huge thanks to Jeremy and Alison for their support and trust they’ve shown in me. I’m pleased to say there’s a raft of exciting new signings and releases already lined up for 2023 to get stuck into with the team, so it’s full steam ahead.”
Meadows began at Warner Music Group (WMG) as an intern (Rhino Records) before moving to Brotherhood Media. He then joined Universal Music Group (UMG) and worked his way up to Marketing Manager, where he oversaw a variety of artists.
Throughout his career, Meadows and his team have worked on campaigns for The Rolling Stones, Fatboy Slim, Kylie Minogue, and Mick Fleetwood, among others.
In addition to the appointment of Meadows, the company also announced Rachel Forde and Aaron Skates will take on the positions of campaign marketing manager and catalog marketing manager, respectively.
Forde joined Blue Raincoat Music/Chrysalis Records following a four-year run at WMG, where she worked latterly at Parlophone Records. She’s worked on catalog projects for Kate Bush, David Bowie and Led Zeppelin before joining the marketing team for campaigns including The Snuts No.1 album, the launch of Pink Pantheress’ first single and debut album, and Coldplay’s No.1 LP – Music of the Spheres.
Forde is currently overseeing the campaigns for Chrysalis Records releases that include Emeli Sande’s fourth studio album, Let’s Say For Instance, and the recent, Grammy-nominated Ben Harper release Bloodline Maintenance.
“I’m incredibly excited and ready to step into this role and make it my own,” she said. “To be representing and working with such a special label, with artists like Emeli Sande, Laura Marling and Ben Harper as well as new artists like Elanor Moss, is an incredible honour.”
Skates is based in London and will report to Dermot James, SVP, Chrysalis catalog. Skates spent three years at distributor State51, where he worked with multiple independent distribution clients and frontline artists in marketing, A&R and production roles. He now coordinates marketing activities for the company’s catalog release schedule, while driving engagement on releases and provides new strategies to expand the Chrysalis audience.
Skates said: “I’ve joined an incredibly welcoming and exciting team here at Blue Raincoat music/Chrysalis Records and I’m really looking forward to getting started!”
