Raoul Chatterjee elected Chairman of ERA

18 September 2014 - Press release

Hut Group and Proper Music join ERA board

Raoul Chatterjee, SVP Music at 7digital Group plc has been elected Chairman of the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA), the UK organisation which represents retailers and digital services streaming and selling music, video and games.

He is the first Chairman of ERA from a digital service and succeeds Lancashire independent retailer Paul Quirk who has headed the organisation for the past six years.

He said, “I am honoured to have been elected by my peers to chair ERA at this crucial point for entertainment retailing. ERA’s members have transformed the entertainment market over the past decade to the benefit of both content owners and consumers. It is vital that we work together with our suppliers, our fellow trade associations and with legislators to ensure the healthy business environment we need to continue this work.”

Chatterjee paid tribute to his predecessor, saying, “Paul Quirk has been an exceptional Chairman of ERA, a doughty fighter for the interests of retailers and has guided ERA as it has transformed itself into a diverse campaigning organisation representing both physical and digital retailers and digital services. In particular he deserves praise for embracing Record Store Day and helping turn it into the most successful new music promotion for at least 20 years.”

As well as its traditional strength representing independent, specialist and supermarket retailers, ERA now represents virtually every significant internet and digital retailer including Amazon, 7digital, Blinkbox, Spotify, Deezer and Google Play. 

Paul Quirk said, “ERA’s role has never been more central to the future of entertainment than it is today. ERA’s members are innovators, investing heavily in new business models and helping music, video and games companies transition to a new world. It has been an absolute pleasure to have chaired the organisation and I am confident Raoul will be an excellent successor.”

As SVP Music at 7digital Group plc, Raoul Chatterjee is responsible for the fast-growing company’s commercial relationships with the music industry. 7digital offers over 28 million tracks via its localised music stores and global B2B platform with clients such as HMV, Guvera and the BBC.

Previously he ran the commercial division of Warner Music UK, where he was responsible for all commercial relationships with retailers and digital services and enjoyed an outstanding run of success with multi-million selling albums from artists such as Ed Sheeran, Paolo Nutini, Plan B  and Michael Bublé.

His career in music retailing began at specialist indie vinyl store Fat Cat Records in Covent Garden, London and later at Virgin Retail’s flagship Oxford Street store.

He joined Warner Music in 1994 and as Business Development Manager was responsible for developing the first partnerships with innovative online CD retailers and pioneered Warner’s early digital business development strategy.

In 2002 he moved to Ministry of Sound to become Sales Director, dealing directly with all major retail accounts and delivering million-selling Number 1 singles such as Call On Me by Eric Prydz and numerous chart-topping compilation albums generating sales of over 18 million. He was responsible for developing the group’s digital business firstly with key partners such as iTunes and then via taking responsibility for its own digital channels including websites, mobile apps and online radio and TV business. 

Raoul currently serves as Chairman of the Digital Board of ERA and is also one of the ERA representatives on the board of the Official Charts Company. 

Hut Group and Proper Music join ERA board

Chatterjee’s election was due to be  announced today at ERA’s Annual General Meeting in London along with the news that Rudy Osorio, Head of Visual at HMV, has been re-elected Deputy Chairman and Chris O’Reilly of Presto Classical has been re-elected Treasurer.

In elections to the ERA board five seats were vacated by rotation, including Sanjay Kooper (Asda), Charlotte Knight (Game) and Michael Mulligan (Tesco) who were re-elected. Markus Bhatia (The Hut) and Drew Hill (Proper Music) join the board for the first time.

Markus Bhatia has been in the Entertainment industry for over 20 years working previously for Our Price and subsequently Virgin Retail and Zavvi. He currently heads the entertainment buying teams at the Hut Group. 

Drew Hill is Managing Director of Proper Music Distribution Ltd. Since joining Proper as General Manager in 2007 from the Walt Disney Company, Drew also held the position of Commercial Director before moving to Group Managing Director in 2012, running the group's distribution, label, publishing and retail companies.

ERA Director General Kim Bayley said, “We are delighted that the ERA board continues to reflect entertainment retailing in all its rich diversity. I am particularly pleased to welcome Raoul as our new Chairman, who brings a wealth of experience to the role and look forward to working with him over the coming year.”