BMG has promoted Jon Baker to head its UK Legal & Business Affairs team – responsible for both music publishing and recordings.
As Vice President Legal & Business Affairs UK, Baker (pictured) will take charge of a twelve-strong team, including Berrin Latif (newly promoted to Senior Director) and Directors Adrian Cornes, Stuart Souter and Justin Robson.
Baker joined BMG in 2012 from specialist entertainment law firm Simkins LLP, where he trained and subsequently worked as a music lawyer, predominantly advising artists on commercial music agreements.
While at Simkins he spent six months on secondment to the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games, advising on entertainment law aspects of the Beijing handover.
“Jon Baker is a great commercial lawyer who is also an incredible advocate for the BMG philosophy.”
Alexi Cory-Smith, BMG
As part of BMG’s legal team, he was involved in a string of acquisitions including Infectious Music, Union Square Music, Minder Music, Ram Records and Hornall Brothers, in addition to working on agreements with artists and songwriters including Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Roger Waters, Morrissey and The Prodigy.
Alexi Cory-Smith, BMG UK President Repertoire & Marketing said: “Jon Baker is a great commercial lawyer who is also an incredible advocate for the BMG philosophy. This is a well-deserved and popular promotion.”
Baker said: “For a commercial lawyer and dealmaker in the UK business, there is no better place to be than BMG right now. The combination of ambition and the desire to do things both differently and better really is distinctive. I am delighted to inherit such a great team and look forward to us playing our part in further developing BMG’s success in the UK.”Music Business Worldwide
