Shabs Jobanputra Promoted to Pres. Virgin UK

EMI Music has promoted Shabs Jobanputra to President of Virgin Records UK.  He has been a successful A&R executive and the co-founder of EMI’s joint venture label Relentless.

Jobanputra co-founded Relentless in 1999 as an independent label, initially focusing on urban music.

In its first few years Relentless had a string of UK number one singles from artists including Daniel Bedingfield and So Solid Crew. Relentless became a joint venture with EMI in 2003 under Jobanputra’s A&R leadership. It has since enjoyed successes with artists including Joss Stone, KT Tunstall and Seth Lakeman and Cage The Elephant.

From the press release:

Nick Gatfield, EMI's president of New Music for North America and the UK/Ireland said: “Shabs has got the drive and ambition to ensure Virgin becomes a leading home for UK talent. His ability to identify and develop artists across all genres makes him the ideal candidate for the role.”

Jobanputra said: “It's a great time to be coming on board as EMI seeks to become the number one music-based company that adds real value to artists and their work.”