| Miles Leonard | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | President of Parlophone & Virgin A&R Labels |
Miles Leonard is a British music industry executive and is currently president of Parlophone and Virgin A&R labels at EMI Music UK. He has previously worked for Roadrunner Records and been credited as signing and breaking artists including Gorillaz, Coldplay, Tinie Tempah, The Verve and for reviving the career of Kylie Minogue.[1]
Leonard started his career in the music industry as an A&R scout at Virgin Records in 1991. Within his first year at Virgin he signed the band The Verve. He then worked for Roadrunner Records before joining Parlophone in 1996.[1]
When Kylie Minogue signed to Parlophone in 1999, Leonard played a major role in reviving a career that lost direction and had reached a relatively low ebb in the UK while the artist was signed to Deconstruction Records. According to Leonard: "There was something there that hadn't been achieved by her last label, and I didn't think it really had anything to do with her. She was still very strong vocally, and still definitely a star. I believed in her as an artist and I knew that with the right project, the right songwriters, the right producers, the right team, she would still have a fanbase out there." Minogue's first single with Parlophone, "Spinning Around", saw the artist achieve her first UK #1 in ten years and heralded the start of a major career revival.
On April 23, 2008 Leonard was confirmed as the president of Parlophone.[2] On April 6, 2011, EMI Music UK announced that it had appointed Leonard to the newly-created position of "President of Parlophone & Virgin A&R Labels", where he will lead both Virgin and Parlophone’s music discovery and development teams in the UK.[3]