Tom March has been named President of Geffen Records in the U.S. March, who as Co-President of Polydor Records led the label to become the premiere label in the U.K., will begin his tenure at Geffen Records this July. Geffen Records was relaunched by Interscope Geffen A&M Chairman & CEO John Janick two years ago as a label within Interscope and has quickly gained a reputation as a label which is breaking new artists globally. Geffen’s signing of Olivia Rodrigo became last year’s breakthrough global superstar. The label also announced a global partnership with HYBE, home to BTS, Seventeen and ENHYPEN.
Last week, Geffen had two albums in the Top Ten of the Billboard 200 Albums Chart – Olivia Rodrigo’s multi-platinum debut album SOUR at Number 5 and newcomer Yeat whose 2 Alivë debuted at Number 6.
“In 2020 we re-launched Geffen Records, entering a period of great success by breaking a new global superstar and forming important strategic partnerships along the way, all while reimagining how a modern label should be – nimble with the perfect match of major label resources and entrepreneurial spirit,” said Janick.
“Tom has a proven track record of breaking new artists and shares our commitment to artist development. For the last 6 years he has looked after Interscope’s expansive roster while leading Polydor to become the premiere label in the UK. He is the perfect executive to lead a Geffen team that has already done such an amazing job these last two years.”
March, who recently chaired the Brit Awards 2022, has worked at Universal Music Group for 16 years, spending the last 6 years as Co-President of Polydor Records, which was named Major Label of the Year by MusicWeek for the last 3 years running. Known for breaking artists, recent Polydor signed artists have won the Brit Rising Star Award for 3 of the last 4 years.
During his tenure at Polydor, March worked with such artists as Glass Animals, who currently have a Number One global hit with “Heat Waves,” as well as Olivia Rodrigo, Juice WRLD, Sam Fender, Eminem, Billie Eilish, James Blake, Haim, Ellie Goulding, Rolling Stones, The Who, ABBA, Lady Gaga, Michael Kiwanuka, Florence & the Machine, Lana del Rey, Selena Gomez, and others.
“It’s been an incredible honor and privilege to have had the opportunity to run Polydor with Ben Mortimer and our team and build it into the best record label in the U.K.,” said March. “Over these past six years, I have had the great fortune to work closely with John, [IGA Vice Chairman] Steve Berman and the IGA team on some incredible artists, so when the opportunity came to join them and continue to propel Geffen into the most exciting modern record label in the world, I couldn’t have been more excited.
I would like to thank David Joseph [Chairman & CEO of Universal Music UK] and Sir Lucian Grainge [Chairman & CEO of Universal Music Group] for their help and support in making this happen.”
In addition to Rodrigo, Yeat, Yungblud and others, the Geffen label, via Universal Music Group, is the home of a joint venture with powerhouse HYBE to create a global pop group made up of women from around the world.
In its storied past, Geffen records launched the careers of such iconic artists as Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Guns N’ Roses, Beck, and many others.
After March’s move to Geffen in July, Polydor UK will continue under the leadership of Ben Mortimer who is being promoted to sole President of the label.
