Keith Harris

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(born October 1951) is an English music industry consultant and artist manager, who is the former chair of

UK Music UK Music is a British umbrella organisation which represents the collective interests of the production side of UK's commercial music industry: artists, musicians, songwriters, composers, record labels, artist managers, music publishers, studio ...

's Diversity & Equality Taskforce. Harris has worked in the music industry on both sides of the Atlantic for more than four decades as a promotions manager, including for such major companies as

Transatlantic Records Transatlantic Records was a British independent record label. The company was established in 1961, primarily as an importer of American folk, blues and jazz records by many of the artists who influenced the burgeoning British folk and blues boom ...

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

and

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

, and he is one of the most high-profile black executives in the business, with artists he has represented including

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

(with whom he has worked since the 1970s),

Junior Giscombe Norman Washington "Junior" Giscombe (born 6 June 1957) is an English singer-songwriter often known as Junior who was one of the first British R&B artists to be successful in the United States. He is best known for his 1982 hit single, " Mama Us ...

Omar Umar ibn al-Khattab (; ), also spelled Omar, was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () and is regarded as a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muh ...

, and

Lynden David Hall Lynden David Hall (7 May 1974 – 14 February 2006) was an English singer, songwriter, arranger, and record producer who emerged during the late 1990s as part of the neo soul movement. In 1999, he was the first UK performer ever voted "Best Mal ...

. Harris serves in non-executive director and board positions across multiple music charities and companies, while regularly giving talks, seminars and workshops to aiming to change perceptions and help to give young people the tools to enter the industry. Harris was elected

Rector of the University of Dundee The rector of the University of Dundee is elected by the matriculated students of the University of Dundee. From 1967 (when the university gained independence from the University of St. Andrews) to 2010, the rector was automatically a full membe ...

in 2021.

Biography

Born in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

, Harris grew up in

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

, in the north of England. He was "fascinated by the world of pop music since the age of nine or 10", and learned to play the guitar, although by the time he attended

Dundee University The University of Dundee is a public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a university college in 1881 with a donation from the prominent Baxter family of textile manufacturers. The institution was, for most of its ...

he realised that his way into the industry lay not in making the music himself: "Becoming entertainment convenor in Dundee was perfect, as in those days the university circuit was very important for bands. I would regularly book bands like

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * Young Eisner Scholars, in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Appalachia, US * Young Ep ...

Supertramp Supertramp were a British rock band formed in London in 1970. Marked by the individual songwriting of founders Roger Hodgson (vocals, keyboards and guitars) and Rick Davies (vocals and keyboards), the group were distinguished for blending p ...

and

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. The band initially consisted of bass guitarist, lead vocalist and principal songwriter Phil Lynott, drummer Brian Downey, guitarist Eric Bell and organist Eric Wrixon although Wr ...

, who all went on to global success." Harris began working in the record industry in the mid-1970s, first employed by a UK independent label called

, which represented mainly British folk musicians and also distributed the jazz labels

Blue Note Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue no ...

and

Milestone Records Milestone Records is an American jazz record company and label founded in 1966 by Orrin Keepnews and Dick Katz in New York City. The company was bought by Fantasy Records in 1972. Since then, it has produced LP reissues (including items from Ke ...

. He joined

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a British multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company EMI in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succes ...

in 1976 as Head of Promotions, becoming the label's General Manager in 1978. He worked for several of EMI's in-house labels, including

Rocket A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely ...

(working on

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

's 1976 album ''

Blue Moves ''Blue Moves'' is the eleventh studio album by English musician Elton John. It was released on 22 October 1976 through John's own Rocket Record Company (his first for the label), alongside MCA Records in certain countries. John's second double ...

''),

Fantasy Records Fantasy Records is an American independent record label company founded by brothers Max and Sol Stanley Weiss in 1949. The early years of the company were dedicated to issuing recordings by jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, who was also one of its inves ...

Ariola Records Ariola (also known as Ariola Records, Ariola Express, Ariola-Eurodisc and BMG Ariola) is a German record label. In the late 1980s, it was a subsidiary label of the Bertelsmann Music Group, which in turn has become a part of the international ...

, and

EMI International EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

. He then worked for two years at

, becoming General Manager for the label, and during this time worked with artists such as

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. He was the founder and frontman of the pioneering Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he ...

The Commodores Commodores, often billed as The Commodores, are an American funk and Soul music, soul group. The group's most successful period was in the late 1970s and early 1980s when Lionel Richie was the co-lead singer. The members of the group met as m ...

Rick James James Ambrose Johnson Jr. (February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004), better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in his tee ...

The Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959 as the Primettes. A premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful Amer ...

Thelma Houston Thelma Houston ( Jackson; born May 7, 1943) is an American singer and actress. Beginning her recording career in the late 1960s, Houston scored a number-one hit in 1977 with her recording of " Don't Leave Me This Way", which won the Grammy for ...

and

. Leaving Motown in 1978, he moved to Los Angeles, where he was Operations Manager for Stevie Wonder's companies. In 1982, Harris returned to the UK and formed his own management company, managing artists including

Junior Tucker Leslie Tucker, known as Junior Tucker (born 23 September 1966 in Trenchtown, Kingston, Jamaica), is a Jamaican reggae singer, who started his career in secular music but who now sings Christian music. His hits included "Happy" and his own compo ...

, Paul Johnson, and

, while continuing to represent Stevie Wonder, with whom he has worked since 1977. Among other roles in which Harris has served are as Chair of the

Arts Council An arts council is a government or private non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts; mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing arts events. They often operate at arms-length from the government to prevent pol ...

's African and Caribbean Music Circuit, Director of Performer Affairs for PPL (2006–2015), former Chair of the

Music Managers Forum The Music Managers Forum (MMF) is the world's largest professional membership organisation representing music managers. At present, the MMF membership stands at over 950 managers based in the UK with global businesses and a wider network of 270 ...

(MMF), as founding Chair of the European Music Managers Alliance, Chair of MusicTank, and as Chair of the Equality and Diversity Taskforce for the Music Industry. He was Senior Fellow of the

University of Westminster The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Po ...

school of music, film and fashion, lecturing there from 1993. His trusteeships include the Universal Music Sound Foundation (formerly known as EMI Music Foundation), MIDI Music Company, the

British Music Experience The British Music Experience is a permanent exhibition in the Cunard Building on Liverpool's waterfront. It began as an exhibition, taking up more than 20,000 square feet, installed into The O2 Bubble, part of The O2 in Greenwich, Lo ...

, and English Folk Expo. In 2007 Harris received an honorary doctorate from the

and he was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the

2015 Queen's Birthday Honours The 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours were awarded as ...

for services to the music industry. Described by ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine as a "tireless advocate for artists and campaigner for equal opportunity", Harris in June 2020 wrote an open letter on equality and racism, in response to

Blackout Tuesday Blackout Tuesday was a collective action to protest racism and police brutality. The action, originally organized within the music industry in response to the murder of George Floyd, the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, and the killing of Breonna Ta ...

– the collective protest action originally organized within the music industry following the

murder of George Floyd On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black American man, was murdered in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old White police officer. Floyd had been arrested after a store clerk reported that he made a purchase using a c ...

; after discussing the barriers due to prejudice that he himself had faced, Harris stated: "I would like to remind you all that this awareness of racism in the industry should not last for one day, or one week, or one year. This should last forever. I would like to see other young black people in the industry rise to the positions of authority and seniority that their talent merits. We have had many false dawns in terms of equality in the industry, let's make sure that this is not another one." In 2021, Harris was elected

Awards and recognition

(MMF) British Music Roll of Honour. * Honorary doctorate from the

, November 2007. * MMF Music Industry Champion, 2014. *

(OBE), 2015.United Kingdom:

References

External links

"Wide Days 2012 - Everything You Need To Know About the Music Business with Keith Harris"
23 September 2012. YouTube video.
"Introduction: Keith Harris"
''Music & Media'', 19 November 2020. * Andre Paine
"'It can only be negative': Industry veteran Keith Harris on the perils of Brexit"
''MusicWeek'', 16 January 2019.
"Keith Harris OBE: Did Ya Know, 'anything is possible'"
'' The Voice'', 9 June 2021.
"Meet The Rector"
Dundee University Students' Association.
"Q&A with Stevie Wonder's Manager Keith Harris OBE: Music Futures 22"
Point Blan Nysuc Scgool, 13 October 2022. {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Keith 1951 births Alumni of the University of Dundee Black British businesspeople British entertainment industry businesspeople British music industry executives Businesspeople from Newcastle upon Tyne Date of birth missing (living people) English company founders English music managers Living people Officers of the Order of the British Empire Rectors of the University of Dundee