Music industry veteran Sir Robin Millar is taking on a new role as creative consultant of Blue Raincoat Music, the company he co-founded with Jeremy Lascelles in 2014.
As part of this transition, Sir Robin will be stepping down as the company’s chairman.
The music producer and entrepreneur, who was knighted in June in the 2023 New Year Honours List, has owned and run businesses centred on the music industry for over 30 years, including the Power Plant, Maison Rouge, and Whitfield Street Studios.
Among the high-profile artists Sir Robin has worked with are Sade, Randy Crawford, Everything But The Girl, Fine Young Cannibals, Big Country, Eric Clapton, Sting, The Grateful Dead, and many others. He also produced the Atlanta Olympic Games Opening Ceremony in 1996.
Launched originally as an artist management company, Blue Raincoat Music diversified into music publishing in 2016. Later that year, it acquired legendary independent record label Chrysalis Records, which added recorded music operations to its portfolio.
Since then, Blue Raincoat Music’s management, publishing and recorded music divisions have operated as Blue Raincoat Artists, Blue Raincoat Music Publishing, and Chrysalis Records.
In August 2019, Sir Robin and Lascelles struck a deal to bring Chrysalis Records and the entire label platform under the Reservoir umbrella. Reservoir also became shareholders in the artist management and music publishing divisions of the business.
Since their union, the companies have relaunched Chrysalis as a frontline label with releases by Laura Marling, Ben Harper, and Emeli Sandé among others, in addition to jointly signing publishing deals for the catalogues of Nick Drake, Mike Chapman, and more.
Sir Robin will remain a director and significant shareholder across Blue Raincoat’s companies. He will also take on a new role as a consultant for the group, advising on creative decisions across the company’s roster, and will oversee mixing and mastering operations company-wide, including for the Chrysalis Records catalogue.
His industry expertise and business acumen have been invaluable additions to our Reservoir group of companies
Golnar Khosrowshahi
Jeremy Lascelles, Blue Raincoat Music co-founder and CEO, said: “Throughout my career I have made some good decisions, and some not so good ones. Undoubtedly one of my best was when I asked Robin if he’d like to help me launch a new music company in 2013. The simple fact is that Blue Raincoat would not be the company it is today without Robin’s involvement. He has been an unbelievable partner, bringing relentless positivity, focus, and ambition to our plans. He has a brilliant business brain, is a fearsome negotiator, and has been an inspiration to me and everyone within the company.
“The good news is that, whilst he is stepping down from his current role, I will still have the benefit of his wisdom and insight across all of our ongoing creative activities. He is a uniquely brilliant talent, and it is my great fortune to have been his business partner for over a decade.”
“It has been a true honour working with Robin the past four years,” added Reservoir founder and CEO Golnar Khosrowshahi. “His industry expertise and business acumen have been invaluable additions to our Reservoir group of companies, and I was personally very fortunate to have him as a mentor and sounding board. We are very grateful to continue collaborating with him and have his creative insights permeate throughout the company.”
Sir Robin Millar said: “The 10-year journey with Jeremy to create a world-beating integrated music company came from Jeremy’s simple proposition of ‘one team across all areas’. The trajectory from Emma Kamen, Jeremy and me in a small flat in West London to a powerful, award-winning global force has been exciting, inspiring and transformative. Our core values of inclusion, fairness and an obsession with championing talent rather than chasing the dollar proved unstoppable.
“With Reservoir sharing our vision and with Alison Wenham bringing her vast knowledge and expertise to the business, I now feel it’s the right time to get back to my creative roots but also to spread what I have learned to other organisations.”
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