Rob Stringer
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Robert Adrian Stringer (born; August 13, 1962) is a British
music industry executive A music executive or record executive is a person within a record label who works in senior management and makes executive decisions over the label's artists. Their role varies greatly but in essence, they can oversee one, or many, aspects of a re ...
. He is the chairman of Sony Music Group and CEO of
Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...
. He is also a
Director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...
of
Luton Town F.C Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1 ...
. Stringer was listed Second on the 2022 ''Billboard'' "Power 100" ranking of persons influential in the music industry.


Early life

Stringer was born and raised in the town of
Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wyco ...
, and attended
Aylesbury Grammar School Aylesbury Grammar School is a grammar school in Aylesbury situated in the English county of Buckinghamshire, which educates approximately 1300 students. Founded in 1598 in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire by Sir Henry Lee, Champion of Queen Elizabeth ...
. He got his first record player at age seven and attended his first concert at age 12 at
Wembley Arena Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-sea ...
where the line up included
The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...
and
The Eagles The Eagles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1971. With five number-one singles and six number-one albums, six Grammy Awards and five American Music Awards, the Eagles were one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s ...
. Growing up in Aylesbury, Stringer had the opportunity to see a number of touring bands. In 1976, at the age of 14, he saw
The Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the wa ...
at one of their earliest shows. He went on to spend his teenage years watching punk bands at the Aylesbury rock venue, Friars, where he got a job during his school holidays. The job afforded him \the opportunity to “sneak in to watch the soundchecks”. He later said that while he "saw the cultural side" of the club, "the business side rubbed off on me too.” After leaving school, Stringer studied sociology at
Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...
in South London. Whilst at university, he spent a year working as a student entertainment manager, booking acts such as
Simply Red Simply Red are a British soul and pop band formed in Manchester in 1985. The lead vocalist of the band is singer and songwriter Mick Hucknall, who, by the time the band initially disbanded in 2010, was the only original member left. Since the ...
.


Career (1985–2017)

During school holidays, Stringer traveled to New York to visit his brother
Howard Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...
, then the president of the
CBS network CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
. He assisted with CBS television coverage at the Republican and Democrat conventions in the 1980 and 1984 elections. In 1985, Stringer joined
CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...
as a graduate trainee. He was named managing director of
Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...
UK in 1992. He stepped down from the role to become chairman of Sony Music UK in 2001. Whilst at Sony, Stringer had a role in signing Welsh rockers the
Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, Blackwood in 1986. The band consists of cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Sean Moore (musician ...
, the first signing of his career. Stringer remained close to the band. He said: "I speak to all of them at least once a week and have done for 15 years. We've had lots of ups and downs." He also worked with artists including
The Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the wa ...
,
Sade Sade may refer to: People * Marquis de Sade (1740–1814), French aristocrat, writer, and libertine * Sade (singer) (born 1959, Helen Folasade Adu), British Nigerian musician and lead singer of the eponymous band * Sade Baderinwa (born 1969), WAB ...
,
George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musici ...
, and
Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...
. Stringer then became Chairman of
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
in the U.S. in 2008. His tenure included the release of '' 25'' by
Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a reco ...
, ''
Lemonade Lemonade is a sweetened lemon-flavored beverage. There are varieties of lemonade found throughout the world. In North America and South Asia, cloudy still lemonade is the most common variety. There it is traditionally a homemade drink using le ...
'' by Beyonce and ''
Blackstar ''Blackstar'' is an American animated science fantasy television series, produced in 1981 by Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott for Filmation. The series was Filmation's second fantasy epic, the first being '' The Freedom Force'', a segment of '' ...
'' by
David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
. Blackstar was Bowie's final album, which Stringer worked with him on personally.


Sony Music Entertainment (2017–present)

After a decade at Columbia Records, Stringer became the CEO of Sony Music succeeding
Doug Morris Doug Morris (born November 23, 1938) is an American record executive. He is the current chairman of 12Tone Music Group. He previously served as chairman and CEO of the Universal Music Group from 1995 to 2011 and Sony Music Entertainment from 20 ...
in April 2017. In his first year as CEO, Stringer oversaw a 12.2% increase in recorded music (up to $4.03 billion). This included an improvement of streaming revenues, which went up 37.3% to $1.8bn, and improvements in physical sales, which increased by just under $10m. In August 2019, Stringer was named as the Chairman of Sony Music Group, in addition to his role of CEO of Sony Music Entertainment. He was reported to have "an artist-friendly reputation, working closely with modern icons including Adele, Beyoncé, Bob Dylan, Harry Styles, and many others". In 2021, Stringer implemented the company's Artists Forward and Songwriters Forward programs to create more earnings opportunities for artists and songwriters. In his role as Chairman he is credited as driving the creation of a $100 million fund to "fight racism around the world".


Honours

Stringer was named Music Visionary of the Year in 2013 by the UJA-Federation of New York's Music and was presented the award by
Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a reco ...
. In 2014, he received the “Strat” Award for Outstanding Lifetime Achievement from
Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...
. Stringer received the 2016 Clive Davis Visionary Award from ''Billboard'' magazine. In 2017, he received the Music Industry Trusts Award, which was presented by close friend
Nicky Wire Nicholas Allen Jones (born 20 January 1969), known as Nicky Wire, is a Welsh musician and songwriter, best known as lyricist, bassist and secondary vocalist of the Welsh alternative rock band, Manic Street Preachers. Prior to the group, Wire s ...
of the Manic Street Preachers. He was appointed
Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(CBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to UK creative industries, social justice and charity. He was awarded the 2022 GRAMMY Salute To Industry Icons award. Stringer appeared at #2 on the ''Billboard'' Power 100 in 2022.


Personal life

Stringer is married, has two children and lives in New York. Whilst he spends about three-quarters of the year in New York, he also makes regular trips to London and Los Angeles. He is a lifelong
Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...
supporter and is currently a director at the club.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stringer, Rob English businesspeople Living people 1962 births People from Aylesbury Sony people British chairpersons of corporations Commanders of the Order of the British Empire