Sony Music UK CEO Nick Gatfield quits

Sony Music’s UK Chairman/CEO Nick Gatfield has exited the company.

A spokesperson from Sony who spoke to Music Week said, “It was an amicable decision for Nick to leave the company at this time. We wish him the best in his future endeavours.”

Gatfield joined Sony Music UK in late 2011 after brief President positions with EMI Music in North America and Universal’s Island Record Group (he also once played in the band Dexys Midnight Runners). He replaced Ged Doherty at Sony and reported directly to 75-year-old Sony Music Entertainment CEO and industry godfather Doug Morris.

Music Week are of the understanding a replacement has been decided upon to cover Gatfield’s duties in the interim, however the spokesperson didn’t confirm it.

TMN spoke to Gatfield in May 2012 where he spoke of his 30+ years in the industry, his thoughts on Sony’s culture and of course, what recording hits like Come On Eileen brought to his exec career. Read the full interview here.

In February last year Gatfield told UK business lobbying company CBI he thought Sony Music UK had become too invested in The X Factor to find new talent.

“Every one of our competitors would want the platform that The X Factor deliver […] I think we relied on it too much and took our eye off the ball. We got complacent,” he said.

This year Gatfield was named one of Billboard’s International Power Players 2014, alongside Live Nation’s Australian President/CEO Michael Coppel and Michael Gudinski, head of Mushroom Group.