Parmar brothers join Virgin EMI as co-presidents of A&R

07 May 2019 - Press release

Ben and Daniel Parmar, champions of cutting-edge music and courageous A&R at agenda-setting label PMR, have been appointed co-Presidents of A&R at Virgin EMI.

Ben and Daniel start their new roles with immediate effect, reporting to President Ted Cockle.

Since launching PMR in 2010, Ben and Daniel’s biggest successes have been BRIT and Mercury-nominated debut albums from Jessie Ware and Disclosure which have between them sold more than 5m copies worldwide. A platinum-selling chart-topper in the UK, Disclosure’s 2013 debut album Settle had notable success in the US, topping the Billboard dance/electronic album charts and spinning off a 3m-selling Top 10 single, Latch.

Ben is returning to Universal Music having started his career in A&R at Polydor in 2002. While there he signed Mercury Prize-winning trio Klaxons as well as working on the Grammy-winning debut album from La Roux. After leaving to manage Jai Paul and Julio Bashmore, he launched PMR with his brother Daniel - who moved into music from TV production - initially as a joint venture with Island Records, then run by Ted Cockle with Darcus Beese as co-Presidents.

Alongside their new roles, Ben and Daniel will continue to run PMR under the Virgin EMI umbrella.

Ted Cockle says, “Having been there at the formation of PMR, which came along and reshaped British dance music, I’m delighted to be here again to see it go a stage further. Ben and Daniel are taste dictators who will add further cultural and creative vigour to Virgin EMI.”

Ben and Daniel become co-Presidents of A&R as Virgin EMI cements its position as the UK’s market-leading record label. Enjoying recent chart success with Lewis Capaldi, Queen, Loyle Carner and The Chemical Brothers, it is preparing for new albums from Bastille and Emeli Sandé.

Ben Parmar says, "PMR has been an amazing ride so far, but we're really excited by the prospect of scaling things up as part of a label with the global weight and influence of Virgin EMI. Their legacy and Britishness really sang to us and something feels very right about bringing our entrepreneurial spirit, energy and vision to a bigger, frontline operation."

Daniel adds, “We have always been super ambitious at PMR and the success of Disclosure gave us a taste of how to break an artist globally. We’re looking forward to doing even more of that as part of Virgin EMI, bringing everything we’ve learnt building PMR from the ground up to the absolute powerhouse of Universal.”

PMR’s new roster of artists includes SG Lewis and Amber Mark, both highly tipped for 2019 with hundreds of millions of streams between them.