Island Records president Darcus Beese has hailed 2016 as a great year for the company, having been revealed as the winner of the all new MUSEXPO Europe European Executive of the Year Award.
2016 has been something of a landmark year so far for Island. The company recently enjoyed a 19-week stay at the top of the singles charts with tracks from Mike Posner and Drake, with the latter’s One Dance falling one week short of Bryan Adam’s record-breaking 16-week stint with (Everything I Do) I Do It For You. Posner’s I Took A Pill In Ibiza racked up sales of 1,232,407, while One Dance’s 15-week run at the top resulted in sales of 1,506,641.
It has also registered a run of four No.1 albums from PJ Harvey, Drake, Ariana Grande and Catfish And The Bottlemen. Drake’s Views is by far the biggest seller of the four with sales of 278,908, while Catfish And The Bottlemen’s The Ride has sales of 85,207. Meanwhile, Grande’s Dangerous Woman has registered sales of 56,212, with Harvey’s The Hope Six Demolition Project has notching up sales of 26,510.
What’s more, the company made a huge splash at the 2016 BRIT Awards, registering 10 nominations across nine different artists.
Now, Beese has been unveiled as the inaugural recipient of the MUSEXPO Europe European Executive of the Year Award. The award celebrates the work of an industry executive who has helped set new standards in artistic and commercial achievement across Europe over the past 12 months.
Commenting on his award success, Beese said: “MUSEXPO European Executive Of The Year… Wow… I don’t know what to say. I’ve been in music and Island Records for pretty much all my adult life and I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be. Every day is an honour and a privilege to come in and run this amazing label full of incredible artists and the absolute best staff. It’s always been about the music, the artists and the people in the company and I believe we are the best. So while I am the recipient of this award, it really does belong to everyone at Island, all the artists and all the people who work here because they love music and want to be a part of it.
“It’s been a great year for us, a year where we have dominated the singles chart including an unbroken 19 week run at no. 1 with Mike Posner and Drake and a run of four No.1 albums from PJ Harvey, Drake, Ariana Grande and Catfish And The Bottlemen. 2015 was the label’s most successful single year since it was founded by Chrisn [Blackwell] in 1962 and the challenge is to build on that. With all the tumultuous changes in the music business, particularly in the last couple of years, this is such an exciting time and we are ready for the challenge. We started 2016 with an incredible haul of 10 BRIT nominations, across nine different artists, the most nominations for a single label. A couple of weeks later the Amy film won the Oscar for best documentary and this amazing recognition, together with the above success, gives us further incentive to sign, develop and break the best artists and to do it in our own unique way.”
The award will be presented at a gala dinner that brings MUSEXPO Europe to a close on Tuesday, September 20.
The conference takes place from September 18-20 at the Millennium Hotel in Mayfair, London and features an array of top music business executives.
“Every day is an honour and a privilege to come in and run this amazing label full of incredible artists and the absolute best staff,” he said. “It’s always been about the music, the artists and the people in the company and I believe we are the best. So while I am the recipient of this award, it really does belong to everyone at Island, all the artists and all the people who work here because they love music and want to be a part of it.”
Other industry leaders speaking at the event include UK Music chief executive Jo Dipple, Sony/ATV MD UK and president, European Creative, Guy Moot, Disturbing London general manager Damaris Rex-Taylor, BBC Radio 2, 6 Music and Asian Network controller Bob Shennan, Glassnote founder and president Daniel Glass and MPA Group of Companies CEO Jane Dyball, plus a whole host more.
You can view the full schedule of events here.
For more details, to buy dinner tickets and to register for MUSEXPO Europe, go to www.musexpo.net.
