Spirit Music Group has appointed veteran music executive Rak Sanghvi as Managing Director of UK/International, Spirit B-Unique in London.
Spirit B-Unique is Spirit Music Group’s newly-established London operation, formed via a deal with B-Unique founders Martin Toher and Mark Lewis, who now serve as Co-Presidents of Spirit B-Unique.
Sanghvi served as Managing Director of Sony/ATV Music Publishing (UK) from 2005 – 2012, where he had operational and budgetary responsibility for all areas of business, including A&R, synchronisation, marketing, business affairs, finance and administration.
While there, his leadership contributed to a growth in UK marketshare from 5.5% (combined albums and singles) when he joined to a Q1 2012 pre-EMI merger peak of 24.4% (albums) and 17.2% (singles).
Sanghvi has also worked with companies including Senbla Publishing Limited, Far South Music Limited, and Westmount Films Limited in a variety of music publishing and consultancy roles.
“Rak is a great addition to our team. We expect he’ll be a key contributor to spirit’s growth.”
David Renzer, Spirit
Artists that Rak Sanghvi has worked with include Ed Sheeran, Rudimental, Naughty Boy, Jessie J, Gary Barlow, Kasabian, Robert Plant, James Morrison, Maverick Sabre, NDubz, The Ting Tings, The Hoosiers, Katie Melua, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Beady Eye, Will Young, Foster The People, The Naked And Famous, Ian Brown, Jamiroquai, Razorlight, Pixie Lott, Alesha Dixon, KT Tunstall, Steve Angello (Swedish House Mafia), Billy Bragg, Gabrielle, Katherine Jenkins, among many others.
“A huge part of Spirit’s success is our people,” said David Renzer, Chairman, Spirit Music Group. “You can’t be the first choice among songwriters and artists without a staff who clients want to work with and who shares their vision.
“To that end, Rak is a great addition to our team. He has great relationships across music’s creative and business communities and we expect he’ll be a key contributor to Spirit’s continued growth and success worldwide.”
“Joining a company like Spirit and being able to get in on the ground level here in the UK with the recent establishment of Spirit B-Unique is an incredibly exciting opportunity,” said Sanghvi.
“Spirit’s string of recent deals shows how committed David, Martin, Mark and the rest of their team is to making an impact in the UK and internationally. I’m thrilled to now be a part of that effort and to be working with such highly skilled and deeply experienced individuals.
“I’m thrilled to be part of spirit’s commitment to make an impact in the UK and internationally.”
Rak Sanghvi, Spirit b-Unique
“We’re here to provide a publishing service which is second to none, on a global basis, and I’m very much looking forward to getting busy,”
“I have been a long term fan of Rak. His leadership at Sony/ATV was exceptional and I am incredibly excited that he is now working with us. Spirit B-Unique is going to be hugely enhanced by Rak’s publishing vision and his commercial cutting edge,” said Mark Lewis.
B-Unique was founded in 2001 by Mark Lewis and Martin Toher, who shaped it into one of the U.K.’s most consistently successful independent label/publishers.
As part of its deal with Spirit, Spirit now works with the full B Unique publishing catalog, which features a number of globally successful artists and songwriters, including James Bay, John Newman, Kodaline, and Jonny Coffer.
The partnership also includes hits such as: “Feel The Love” by Rudimental featuring John Newman; “All I Want” and “The One” by Kodaline; “LA LA LA” by Naughty Boy (via Jonny Coffer); “Heart Skips a Beat” by Olly Murs (via Sam Preston); “Love Me Again” by John Newman; “Hey Baby” by No Doubt (via Rodney Price); “Hold Back The River” and “Let It Go” by James Bay; “Blame” by Calvin Harris featuring John Newman; “The Age of Understatement” by Last Shadow Puppets (via Miles Kane); “Cecilia and the Satellite” by Andrew McMahon (via James Flannigan and Anders Grahn).Music Business Worldwide
