If you didn’t know Jason Iley, you’d be forgiven for basing your first impressions on his crisp black Prada attire or sharp suits. Yet these are the accoutrements of a music biz success story rooted in less-than-gilded beginnings.
He’s the straight-talking, detail-focused Chairman and CEO of Sony Music UK & Ireland and his rise through the music industry – from Sony Music to Universal to Roc Nation and back to Sony – has been fuelled by a belief in the power of graft, combined with a relentless ambition to be the best.
Iley’s first ‘house’ was a mobile home in Farnborough, Hampshire. His mother, who was 20 when he was born, worked as a doctor’s receptionist; his father was a plumber who later became a bathroom fitter.
The surroundings of Iley’s childhood were gradually elevated thanks to his parents’ commitment to hard work – a principle that rubbed off on him.
“I remember when I left Island Records, my wife had some photos printed [for the leaving do] and one of them was me as a child sitting on a swing, and Darcus Beese said, ‘I can’t believe this: did you grow up on a council estate?’… Yes!” Iley laughs.
“People have this completely different image of me versus the reality of where I came from. We didn’t have much, but we were not shy of hard work.”
At university, Iley studied Modern European Literature, reading Kafka, Sartre, and Camus; his final thesis was on “The Meaning Of Meaning”.
So when we ask him for the No.1 secret behind his rise in the music industry, we’re prepared for a metaphysical answer. Instead, he credits his ascent to something simpler: a bit of ingenuity and a lot of “rolling up my sleeves”.
Over the years, Iley has been involved in a string of multi-platinum records and global superstars while developing friendships with legends like JAY Z and U2. He has much to be proud of, yet he perhaps speaks with the most pride of all about his sister, Tammi, who was the first female publisher of NME. Clearly, music was a big deal for both siblings – something Iley says was passed on from their father.
“While we might not have had a lot in the early days, one of the things that dad always invested in at home and in the car was great sound systems, normally playing Pink Floyd or Bob Dylan over and over,” he recalls. “Dad was the one who’d be telling me to listen to this, listen to that, ‘Lloyd Cole’s Rattlesnakes is an amazing album.’”
At university, Iley’s tastes broadened, partly thanks to one of his favorite albums of the era, Primal Scream’s Screamadelica.
“I would have been in my early twenties when Screamadelica came out, and it pushed me further towards dance and club culture,” he says. “My housemates and I were always going to house clubs and raves. We went to Majorca for a week’s holiday and ended up staying for the whole summer working in the clubs. My mum was livid… we didn’t have mobile phones in those days!”
Iley’s professional start also came at university, selling advertising in the student paper to local businesses, while working on building sites for a bit of extra cash.
From there, he got a job with the magazine Deadline, a comic most famous for hosting Tank Girl – the counter-cultural series created by Jamie Hewlett, who would later go on to form Gorillaz with Damon Albarn. Based in London’s Orinoco recording Studios – where Oasis mixed (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? – Deadline represented the first period in Iley’s life where his creative brain could blend with his commercial nous.
“I’d noticed that every band who came into the recording studio ended up reading Deadline,” he says. “So I said to Tom, the publisher, why don’t we switch it to 30% music editorial and keep 70% of it as a comic? And let’s ask illustrators like Jamie to draw the bands and put them on the cover.”
The plan worked. Deadline cover stars included acts such as Blur and Ride, leading to a bigger readership among music fans, a tranche of advertising from labels, and Iley’s first connections to record companies.
Iley then took a gig at the agency Blue Source, which created award-winning record designs for Stereo MCs, Leftfield, Spiritualized, and many others. As Account Director, he helped take Blue Source from a company flirting with the record industry to one of the biggest music and media design agencies of its time.
In 1994, Epic Records UK hired Iley as a Product Manager, via a job interview with the label’s then-boss, Rob Stringer. Iley’s successes at Epic included Michael Jackson’s History album (1995) and Finley Quaye’s BRIT-winning Maverick a Strike (1997).
“I still believe in the power of great records; I still believe that great records cut through.”
After joining Universal’s Polydor in 1998, Iley impressed that label’s then-boss Lucian Grainge enough to get a crack at working with U2 at Island Records – a landmark career move that would ultimately lead to tenures running Mercury Records, Roc Nation’s record label in the United States and, in 2014, a homecoming to Sony, at the very top of the UK company.
Today, as he prepares to collect his 2024 MITs Award in London next month, Iley is celebrating ten years as Chairman & CEO of Sony Music UK & Ireland.
Over the course of that decade, his biggest achievements have spanned everything from large-scale acquisitions (including Ministry Of Sound), Chairmanship of the BRIT Awards (2017-2019), and working directly with global megastars (Beyoncé, Adele, Harry Styles et al). Oh, and even being recognised by Queen Elizabeth II – with an MBE for his contribution to music and charity in 2020.
Yet as Iley explains in our extensive interview below, his north star has always been – and continues to be – a yearning to break artists around the globe…
You’re now ten years into your reign as boss of Sony Music UK & Ireland, with an array of London-based labels including RCA, Columbia, Ministry of Sound, Epic, Relentless and more. What have been your proudest achievements at Sony in your first 10 years?
Obviously, it’s breaking [UK-signed] artists internationally. Two that come to mind are George Ezra and Rag N Bone Man, who both broke in the first few years after I came back to Sony [in 2014]; we had enormous success with both of them. Another big standout to me has been working the last 10 years with Calvin Harris, who I first worked with when I was at Mercury on We Found Love with Rihanna.
Calvin is phenomenal – he makes hit after hit after hit. Going into Mark Ronson’s studio in Tileyard a few weeks after starting back at Sony and hearing Uptown Funk is a moment I will never forget. And it’s been amazing working with [US-signed] artists like P!nk, Doja Cat, Foo Fighters, SZA and Steve Lacy.
Sony-wise I’m very proud that this company looks different than it did when I got here. Coming from Roc Nation [in NYC] to Sony Music UK, it was a culture shock – a noticeably white and male-dominated place. Today we have people from all different backgrounds across leadership positions. And I don’t know if ‘proud’ is the right word, but I’m extremely passionate about looking after our staff and artists, whether that’s mental health support, parental leave policies, childcare policies, or menopause policies – we’re leading those conversations.
You’ve collaborated with Mind, ensured all your employees are trained in mental health support, and even put in place Sony Music UK’s own Director of Artist & Staff Wellbeing. Why?
It matters. If we’re honest, it’s been a factor in most of our families somewhere along the line. The record industry hasn’t always been well-placed to deal with issues around mental health, and we’ve lost some great talent – both artists and executives – over the years because of it.
This is not a tick-box exercise. When I was a young product manager, we worked with an artist who I now know had undiagnosed bipolar disorder; no one knew how to handle it. When I got here, for the first time in my career, I was a CEO and had the ability to really do something about it, so we made it a priority.
There’s a lot of talk in the UK industry these days that it’s gotten much harder to break a domestic act around the world (though I note I’m saying that as Myles Smith has hundreds of millions of streams on Spotify). What’s your view?
There are several factors that have changed the business in recent years, whether that’s TikTok, the globalization of streaming, the pandemic, or the fact that so many tracks are uploaded to platforms every day. All of that has had an impact. But to me, I always go back to A&R: I still believe in the power of great records and I still believe that great records cut through.
The fact is, every artist releasing music these days is competing with Adele, Harry Styles, SZA, Miley Cyrus etc. on a global basis. Your music needs to be that good, otherwise you haven’t got a chance. UK A&R execs should stop complaining how difficult it is to break artists globally and spend more time in the studio making better records!
Right now I’m actually starting to feel more optimistic than I have in some time [about new UK artists on the global stage]: you’ve seen Myles Smith, Artemas and Good Neighbours all having global hits to different degrees this year, and Central Cee flying the flag as well for the past few years.
One other thing that’s rarely talked about in music today is patience. If you go back to the times of Bruce Springsteen, Elton John or U2, you’ll find that they didn’t break on their first record; sometimes it took as long as the third or fourth record for artists in that era to break. I think in many cases we’re heading back that way now. Steve Lacy was around for a number of years before he broke through; Sabrina Carpenter has been signed for a number of years; Chappell Roan is on her second record with a second record label. Even in this fast-paced TikTok era, we can learn lessons from the ‘old days’ in terms of allowing artists time to grow and develop an audience.
Let’s go back to the start of your time at Sony, at Epic Records UK in 1994, when Rob Stringer was your boss – just as he is today. What were your thoughts about Rob back then?
Even then, Rob always wanted people to think campaigns through properly – “creatively and beautifully” – and that’s something he really ingrained in me. I’ve always valued attention to detail, and even 30 years ago, Rob was exactly like that: everything had to be considered.
He’d always go to see artists at regional shows, and would tell us to do the same, and he never left those gigs early. I remember someone recently saying that Rob was always the last person at the gig, but first in the office the next day. That was true then and it still is today! Only today he does it on a global level.
There’s no executive in the music industry who has a relationship with artists like Rob; it’s quite phenomenal. The whole team’s mentality at Epic was that we could rule the world, and it was Rob who really made you believe that and he still does that today.
He’s a great boss, incredibly motivating, who gives complete autonomy to his leaders. Rob has been the constant in my whole career. He’s been a friend and an ally and has always supported me. In highs and lows he has always been there for me throughout the past 30 years.
Funnily enough the person that ultimately poached you from Epic – run by Rob Stringer – was the then-boss of Polydor… Lucian Grainge. What lessons did you learn from him during your 15 years at Universal?
Lucian has always surrounded himself by great people and that’s something I have carried with me: you’re only as good as the team around you. By listening to Lucian, whether he’s talking to you, or a lawyer, or a manager, you’ll learn a huge amount. So I learnt to listen. Lucian was very inspirational, incredibly smart, fantastic with artists and he was great to me. He taught me an awful lot.
I’ve been really fortunate throughout my career; I’ve had some incredible mentors. Starting with Rob, then Lucian, then JAY Z, then Doug [Morris], and now back to Rob.
After Polydor you jumped to Island Records UK, where you spent five years. What are your memories of that time?
When Lucian was made Deputy Chairman of UMG he wanted someone he trusted to look after U2’s campaign for All That You Can’t Leave Behind. At that point in my career, Island was the label I loved most. As soon as Lucian said, Island Records, I thought, I’m in!
That was the beginning of Island for the next five years and – second to running Sony Music UK – the best time of my life in music. I walked in there to work a U2 record that went on to sell 12 million copies around the world. A record that started a twelve-year working relationship and a 20-year-plus friendship.
During my Island years, Darcus [Beese] signed the Sugababes and Amy Winehouse, Ferdy [Unger-Hamilton] signed Keane, Paul [Adam] signed Busted, then Louis [Bloom] signed McFly. PJ Harvey delivered Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea, Mary J Blige delivered No More Drama – two incredible albums. The roster was completely diverse and very successful.
You forged a personal relationship with U2 during that period that’s lasted to this day.
Much of that is simply because I worked really, really hard on their campaigns.
At the start of that relationship, my learnings from Rob came into play, and I would fly all over the world to see U2 on tour. I spent a lot of time hanging around backstage and the more they saw me, the more I began to earn their trust. It was just a ‘hello’ the first time but after four, five, six cities, they began to ask me questions and listen to my opinions. As the trust grew, they took notice and we would debate all elements of their campaigns – they liked that I had an opinion and that I wasn’t afraid to give it.
“Listening to people is so important. I’m not a believer in ‘shouting the loudest gets you heard’.”
Having those kinds of conversations with the band taught me a lot, and it’s something I’ve carried with me throughout my career.
Listening to people is so important. I’m not a believer in ‘shouting the loudest gets you heard’. It’s absolutely essential to me that I have honest conversations with my executives. I always want people to voice their opinions, tell me if they think I’m wrong and fight for what they believe. Nobody can know everything, and I certainly don’t claim to.
That closeness led to you taking U2 from Island to Mercury after you joined the latter company as President…
That’s an interesting thing, the ‘took’ part of that statement. Paul McGuinness called me in 2006 to say that U2 were releasing a new album and Lucian had told him that despite the fact I was working at Mercury, I would still work U2’s music. I flippantly said, ‘Of course I’m happy to work your music, but I’m not going to work a U2 album on Island Records!’
Paul said, ‘Let me come back to you. I have a call with the band.’ I thought, ‘Shit!’
Half an hour later Paul called me back and said, ‘I’ve discussed it with the band and we’re moving to Mercury.’
I said, ‘Well, you’ll have to talk to Lucian, but I assume what you mean is we’re just going to move this [new] record.’ To which he replied ‘Oh no, we’re moving lock, stock and barrel.’ I thought, ‘I’m really in big trouble now!’
There was no cajoling, manipulation or a long-term plan. It happened one afternoon, all within an hour, as has been the case with many pivotal music moments.
What are your standout memories of running Mercury?
When I started, we had Elton John, who was always so supportive and who I love to this day; he plays his albums louder than anyone I know in the studio! Other than that, we had Texas, but everything else needed to be built up from ground zero. Over that period, we signed Amy MacDonald, Chase & Status, Nero, Jake Bugg, and Arcade Fire – the first act that I signed. We changed the whole culture and perception of Mercury, and it ended up being a very cool, relevant, and successful label. On top of that, we had an incredible US roster that came through us.
Including JAY Z and Roc Nation…
Jay and I became label Presidents at exactly the same time! Him at Island Def Jam, me at Mercury. We had an immediate connection, we got on really well and we quickly became very good friends.
Jay signed Rihanna [to Def Jam in the US], and during that time [with Mercury as her UK label] we sold 13 million singles and six million albums – plus Mariah delivered the incredible We Belong Together album and The Killers were the biggest band in the world. Mercury also worked every Kanye [Def Jam] record which meant I was able to work with two of the most successful hip-hop artists of our lifetime.
I got to see Jay and Kanye work together on Watch The Throne – I was lucky enough to be in The Mercer Hotel when Jay recorded his lyrics for No Church in The Wild. Even when Jay put out The Blueprint 3 on Warner, we would still discuss the strategy for his records. We just trusted each other, even into conversations about whether he should or shouldn’t play Glastonbury.
Talk us through your exit from Mercury.
My whole career, to that point, had been about developing and progressing. Then in [2013] Universal decided to restructure, having just bought EMI.
It’s a weird thing: you’ve woken up pretty much every day of your working life and things, on balance, have gone well. And then one day you’re told you’re no longer needed. It was a real shock, but, at the same time, if I look at my career from a young age, whether I was working on building sites or in hospitals during the holidays to earn some money, I’ve always been quite resilient…or as my dad would say “a grafter”.
The first manager to call me was Scott Rodger. The second was Jay Brown, who said, ‘Leave your phone open for a minute because Jay’s going to call you.’ Then Jay rang, and he said ‘Don’t worry. You’re going to be fine.’ And it was.
How long did it take for you to go from ‘that guy who used to run Mercury’ to ‘the guy who’s just been handpicked by JAY Z to run his record company’?
I flew over to New York within 72 hours. I just booked a flight and went to his office. Within 15 minutes he said, ‘You should come and be the President of Roc Nation Records. Come and run the label!’ That’s just one of those things with JAY Z, he’s like, ‘If we’re doing the deal, let’s do the deal.’
Three months later, my boys had a new school, my family had a new apartment and I had a visa with a new job working for Roc Nation.
What was the Roc Nation experience like? What big lessons did you learn in that nine months?
If I’m really honest I thought that I’d still be there now. I put my boys into an American school rather than a British Institute School and had totally committed to America and Roc Nation. I took a back-to-school mentality and quickly realised that for this to work, I had to network and meet as many people as possible. I was competing with executives who had 20 years of relationships in the USA and I had to catch up. I spent my days in meetings or on planes flying all over America to broaden my network and learn.
JAY Z, Jay Brown and Ty Ty introduced me to as many people as possible. At that point Roc Nation had acts signed to both Universal and Sony, so I could sit there with Monte [Lipman]’s team and ask: ‘How does urban radio work? How does Hot AC work?’ I did the same with Columbia at Sony, and Steve Bartels [then Def Jam boss]. Steve in particular put his arm around me during that period of my life, for which I’m truly grateful – nothing was too much for him.
Was JAY Z a tough boss?
JAY Z is one of the smartest artists, entrepreneurs, and executives I’ve ever met. One of the great things about Jay is that he has the confidence to say no. That gut instinct is essential in this business.
If you put 20 ideas to him, he knows precisely which one to go with. Roc Nation was hard work and a lot of learning, but I was really well supported, and I loved my time there.
How did it go letting JAY Z know you were leaving for Sony?
I went to see Jay at Beyoncé’s office and I remember him looking at my face, probably seeing the stress, and Jay saying, ‘Okay – this doesn’t look like it’s going to be a fun conversation!’ Beyoncé was there and after offering me a drink of water, she then suggested a beer! I was just honest with Jay. I told him the Sony Music UK Chairmanship opportunity had come up and that it was something I’d always wanted to do. I asked him for his support and he gave it, in a way that only Jay could.
Since 2014 you’ve been Sony through and through. What makes Sony different to other major record companies?
Our collaborative nature. You see that globally in the way that [Sony Music UK] is working with Pete [Edge] in the US on Myles Smith right now, as well as the way we’re working with Ron [Perry] on Central Cee [who is co-signed by Columbia US and the UK operation]. It doesn’t matter to any of us if the streams and the success happen in the US, in the UK, or anywhere around the world. All that matters is that it happens somewhere!
That collaborative nature can also be seen within the UK company: we have internal A&R meetings when Rob is over, where we collectively share ideas to get the best results for our artists across all of the labels. For the Presidents at this company it’s about ‘us’ not about ‘me’.
“For the label Presidents at this company it’s about ‘us’ not about ‘me’.”
At the end of the day, an artist will always prefer one label over another; if they choose Columbia over RCA, I want our [label heads] to be cool about it and still have a drink together afterwards. I’ve seen when labels in the same building can be so competitive with one another, they end up looking back and thinking: ‘God, did I sign that for the right reason, or did I sign it because I was caught up competing against the guys down the hall?’ That’s not the culture here.
Last question: One of Sony Music UK’s biggest hits during your tenure has the tagline, “I’m only human, after all.” But are you at all concerned that, if AI-made music explodes, there’s a danger that we’re going to see a disconnect between human-made music and audiences?
I mean, over the past couple of months I’ve seen Doja Cat, TEMS, P!nk, Adele, Paloma Faith, Arcade Fire, and SZA performing live. Going to those sold-out shows, seeing 60,000 people at Hyde Park passionately singing every word to every SZA track… I think that answers your question! I don’t think there’s any danger of AI replacing that connection.
We’ll support and embrace AI so long as it doesn’t damage the copyrights of our artists. But as for the idea that it could ever ‘replace’ that special human connection between real artists and real audiences, a connection that is at the heart of everything we do in this business… I’m not worried at all.
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