Polydor Records has announced its new management team, with Tom March and Ben Mortimer appointed co-presidents of the Universal frontline label.
Mortimer steps up after four years as Polydor A&R director, where his signings included one of last year’s biggest UK breakouts, Years & Years. March arrives from a successful stint at Virgin EMI, where he has been general manager since 2013.
The pair have been friends since meeting in the late ‘90s when Mortimer was a music journalist and March was a PR, and worked together at Island in the ‘00s, collaborating on the global success of Florence + The Machine.
Universal Music UK chairman/CEO David Joseph, himself a former Polydor boss, said in a statement: “Universal Music has built its success on promoting from within and in Ben and Tom we have two exceptionally creative executives with a shared ability to truly realise their artists’ vision. They have already proved they are a great team and I know their drive and energy will take Polydor into another world-beating era.”
The pair replace Ferdy Unger-Hamilton, who is understood to be on his way to Sony Music as part of a JV.
For the only interview with March, Mortimer and Joseph, see this week’s Music Week, available now. Music Week subscribers can read the full story here.