QUEEN HONORS
ILEY WITH MBE

Sony U.K. boss Jason Iley has been awarded an MBE for his services to music and charity in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2020.

“Receiving this honor for working in an industry I love so much is a total privilege and beyond any expectation I could have had,” Iley said of his new title. “I am immensely grateful to have worked with some of the most talented artists in the world, and this is truly a career highlight. I’m proud to work in an industry that has such a profound influence on culture and creativity around the world.”

Iley has been Chairman and CEO of Sony Music U.K. and Ireland since 2014, transforming the label and championing a collaborative and inclusive culture. He was Chairman of the BRITs Committee that oversees the BRIT Awards from 2017 to 2019.

He has led the company’s efforts in training executives about managing mental health issues through partnerships with Mind and Young Minds. In 2018, it became the first company in the U.K. to offer additional leave for parents of premature babies, removed single-use plastic from its office and, in 2020, Iley was the first signatory from the entertainment industry to the Valuable 500 campaign for disability inclusion.

Under his leadership, Sony has actively struck JVs and acquired cutting-edge labels such as Ministry of Sound, centralized creative marketing operations, and championed grass roots music venues and diversity programs that focus on recruiting and supporting new talent in the industry.

BPI Chief Exec Geoff Taylor added: “The BPI extends its warmest congratulations to Jason Iley on being awarded an MBE in The Queen’s Birthday Honours for his services to music and charity. Jason is a tireless champion of new British talent drawn from all backgrounds. As former Chair of the BRIT Awards and through his work with The BRIT School, The BRIT Trust and Mind among other charities, he has shown himself to be passionate advocate of music education and mental well-being."

The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of the Queen's official Birthday celebrations during the month of June. The list would have been announced in June but was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other music names on the list include Krept & Konan, Joan Armatrading, Dizzee Rascal and PPL Chairman John Smith. Armatrading has been awarded the highest honour with a CBE for her services to music, charity and equal rights.

Alongside Iley, newly crowned MBEs include Chairman of the fundraising committee for music charity Nordoff Robbins in Scotland, Donald Macleod, songwriter Barry Mason (Tom Jones, Rod Stewart, Elvis Presley), Dizzee Rascal, Blue Horizon label founder and blues producer Mike Vernon, singer Mica Paris, Revolver Music founder Paul Birch and bassist Yolanda Charles.

PPL’s Smith, who is also President of the International Federation of Musicians, has been awarded an OBE for his services to music alongside ELO’s Jeff Lynne.

Casyo Johnson and Karl Wilson, aka hip-hop duo Krept & Konan, have both been awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) for their services to music and the community in their hometown of Croydon, as has rapper Lady Leshurr for services to music and charity.