Maria Forte

Date 14th May

I have worked in the music industry since I started at Virgin Music (Publishers) Ltd. in the late 70s. I began in an administrative capacity and remained there for 14 years, the last 5 years as General Manager, until the sale of Virgin to the EMI Group. I worked with many contemporary bands/writers including The Police, The Human League, Culture Club, Soul II Soul, The Clash, Stereo MCs and The Prodigy. During my tenure there, Virgin Music expanded from a London-based entity to a global multi-territory publishing network. I spent 4 years at EMI Music Publishing, running the copyright department as well as setting up and establishing the sampling department. I continued to work with the Virgin Music catalogue as well as the rich and varied catalogue belonging to EMI. In 1996, I returned to work with Richard Branson and was a co-founder and Director of Commercial Affairs at V2 Music Publishing Ltd. Despite my move away from EMI, I continued to work with The Prodigy at that time, in order to complete the sample clearance work for their multi-platinum-selling album Fat Of The Land. I also worked closely with Liam Howlett on prior albums Experience and Music For The Jilted Generation. At V2 I signed, amongst others, Fluke and Boy George to the music publishing entity.

I left V2 in 2000 to join MusicState as Chief Operating Officer. MusicState offered an online source of pre-cleared commercial music for synchronisation. I defined and oversaw the launch of their website/service, creating a template for it and accompanying systems through which it could operate. Returning to music publishing I subsequently joined Sanctuary Music Publishing as Director of Commercial Business where my role included the acquisition of rights (catalogue or writer), as well as operational responsibilities for the company. I worked with a catalogue that included Bert Jansch, Axl Rose, Wasp and Spiritual Beggars. Maria Forte Music Services Ltd was created in July 2006, working with a wide and varied group of clients across multiple genres and media, including Amnesty International, Iron Maiden & Phantom Music Management, Modest! Management, Radiohead & Warner Chappell, The Really Useful Group, Jazzie B and The Wedding Present.