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XL Recordings promotes Ahmed and Pawson
By Aly Barchi | Published on Friday 9 May 2014
Cool London independent XL Recordings, part of the Beggars Group, has promoted its one-time A&R Manager, Imran Ahmed, to Head Of A&R. The label has also given Caius Pawson, boss of XL’s Young Turks imprint, the new and improved job title of Young Turks Recordings Founder/Co-Owner. Home to Chairlift, SBTRKT, Sampha and, of course, The xx, Young Turks is also now considered a JV between Pawson and XL.
More on Pawson in a bit, but first it’s back to Imran Ahmed, who joined the XL fam in 2007 following jobs at NME and BBC Radio 1, and has since signed Vampire Weekend, Jungle, and Jai Paul.
Looking back over his time with XL, he says: “It’s been great to be a part of some very special times at XL. I’m looking fwd to building on these foundations and continuing to make XL the most desirable home for new artists around”.
XL MD, Ben Beardsworth adds: “Imran has played a central role in shaping XL’s output over the past few years. He has an extremely insightful view of contemporary culture and the media landscape, combined with the creative empathy to be able to connect closely with artists. We look forward to watching his influence grow yet further in line with this promotion and it’s increased responsibility”.
And now it’s over to yung Caius, who started the label within the XL family in 2006, and now runs Young Turks Music, and also Young Turks Management. He says of his new position: “I truly adore every person I’ve had the privilege of working with at XL and Beggars, so I’m delighted to be getting further into bed with them all. Young Turks has always been a team effort and without everyone at XL and Beggars we would never have got to the point of releasing records. I’d also love to congratulate the people who are Young Turks: Katie O’Neill, Tic Zogson, Simon Guzylack, Andy West and Molly Hawkins. Their tireless and inspirational work got us to this very exciting point”.
Nice. And now to hear more from complimentary XL MD Ben Beardsworth, who says: “We’re extremely proud of what Caius and his Young Turks team have achieved as an imprint, and it is impossible to overstate his contribution to XL overall. He has such a strong entrepreneurial and creative spirit that the sky really is the limit to what he can achieve with this exciting next chapter of Young Turks Recordings, now that it has become a true partnership with XL”.
