Jason Ellis promoted to Managing Director of Positiva Records

18 October 2018 - Press release

2018 marks the 25th anniversary year of Positiva Records and at the helm of the iconic dance label for so much of its life has been Jason Ellis.
Having joined the EMI sales team in 1995, Jason moved to London as A&R manager for Positiva in 1999. The following two years were among the label’s most successful when, whilst under the leadership of Kevin Robinson, they had huge success together with the likes of Fragma, Vengaboys, Alice Deejay and Spiller & Sophie Ellis-Bextor.
Taking over from Kevin in 2001, Jason steered the label through a difficult period for dance music and the industry in general as file sharing and piracy devastated the singles market before iTunes restored a period of stability.  Big hits from The Shapeshifters, Room 5, The Ones , Deep Dish and Axwell amongst others helped maintain Positiva’s position as one of the most important UK dance labels
After moving into the Virgin label in 2009, Jason was at the forefront of the EDM explosion, playing a key role in breaking David Guetta in the UK, A&R'ing deadmau5 through the most successful phase of his career and signing one of the defining acts of that era, Swedish House Mafia.  
Since joining Universal in 2012, Jason ensured that Positiva became the UK home for Avicii and enjoyed continued commercial success with the likes of Armin van Buuren, David Zowie and Martin Garrix.  More recently, Jason has added Martin Solveig into the mix and one of the UK’s biggest global success stories in recent times, Jonas Blue.
Jason’s promotion coincides with Positiva celebrating their third UK top 5 single of the summer (courtesy of Marshmello & Bastille). He continues in his role as A&R Director for Virgin EMI Records, with a roster that includes Duke Dumont, Gorgon City, Sub Focus and Wilkinson.  The ‘Positiva 25’ album is released on October 5th digitally, and as a deluxe 6-CD box set. A Jonas Blue album is expected before the end of the year.
Ted Cockle says, “Even though the parent company has evolved through several guises, Jason has at all times remained focused on identifying the very best records, and alongside the teams that he nurtures so well, has helped deliver hits consistently across the years. It therefore gives me great pleasure to announce the career elevation of Jason into the new position of Managing Director of Positiva, whilst continuing in his role as A&R Director, Virgin Records ensuring that global dance floors will be superbly sonically furnished for quite some time to come!”
Jason adds, “2018 has been a great year for Positiva, with three huge hits over the summer and a wide reaching anniversary campaign that has given us the opportunity to remind everyone of the contribution the label has made to dance music culture over the last 25 years. I’m proud to have helped keep Positiva on the frontline for so long, with thanks to Ted Cockle, everyone at Virgin EMI and Universal who have enable us to regularly keep breaking dance tracks and artists worldwide. Here’s to the next 25.”