Jamie Spinks named Head of A&R at Columbia Records

17 February 2023 - Press release

 

Sony Music Entertainment UK has today announced the promotion of Jamie Spinks to Head of A&R at Columbia Records, with immediate effect. He will report directly to Dipesh Parmar, President of Columbia Records. 

With more than a decade of experience working in A&R, Spinks joined Columbia Records last year and in that short time has signed and developed 22-year-old breakthrough star Venbee, whose hit single Messy In Heaven has spent 20 weeks in the charts, peaked at Number 3 and has 112 million global streams. In his expanded role, Spinks will be responsible for overseeing the direction of the A&R strategy for Columbia Records and signing and developing the next generation of talent for its iconic roster.

Spinks has signed and developed some of the biggest artists in the UK during his celebrated career so far. Prior to Columbia, he spent ten years at Polydor where he signed Jax Jones and worked across eight UK Top 20 singles, including UK Top 3 hit You Don’t Know Me, a collaboration with another of his signings RAYE, whose career he helped develop until he left the label. Spinks also worked on No.1 albums for BRIT Award-winning Celeste and Ellie Goulding, and with Mura Masa on his debut album, helping him to secure A$AP Rocky for his feature on ‘Love$ick’.

In addition to Spinks’ new Head of A&R role, he will also run joint venture label Room Two. The boutique imprint will operate under the Columbia Records banner and serve as a culture hub, signing, nurturing, and developing a new era of artists, while benefitting from the wealth of expertise the wider Columbia team can provide.

Dipesh Parmar, President of Columbia Records said: “Jamie’s the definition of a true A&R who understands how to achieve the best from artists and bring real value to records. I’ve admired Jamie’s work over the years, and we’ve been in close competition for as long as I can remember. I’m delighted about his well-deserved new position and to finally be joining forces and working side by side to take the new Columbia into the future, alongside the brilliant team and incredible roster.”

Jamie Spinks, Head of A&R, Columbia Records said: “I’m incredibly proud to have been offered the opportunity to be Head of A&R at such a prestigious label. It comes with huge responsibility to maintain its legacy as one of the biggest UK record labels, and to emulate the global success of its current established roster, with new artists. I’m hugely grateful for the support of Jason Iley and Dipesh, both of whom I have immense respect for. I’m excited to be working closely with Dipesh after years of admiring his A&R acumen from afar, and leading the Columbia A&R team, which is filled with a mixture of valuable experience and talent.”