Miles Copeland III

Miles Axe Copeland III (born May 2, 1944) is an American music and entertainment executive and former manager of The Police. Copeland later managed Sting's musical and acting career. In 1979, Copeland founded the I.R.S. Records label, producing R.E.M., The Bangles, Berlin, The Cramps, Dead Kennedys, The Alarm, The Go-Go's, and others.

For his father, see Miles Copeland, Jr. For the Home and Away character, see Miles Copeland (Home and Away).

Background

Copeland was born in London, England, to Miles Axe Copeland, Jr., a CIA officer from Birmingham, Alabama, United States, and Lorraine Adie, a Scot who worked in British intelligence. The family lived throughout the Middle East, in particular Syria, Egypt, and Lebanon. At an early age, Copeland and his brothers were fluent in Arabic.

Copeland attended Birmingham-Southern College in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1962. He graduated with a degree in history and political science. From 1966 to 1969, Copeland attended the American University of Beirut, earning a degree in economics. This was also where he promoted his first concert. After college, he moved to London, met two progressive rock musicians at a club, and helped them form Wishbone Ash.[1]

BTM and Illegal Records

In 1974, Copeland founded the management agency and record label BTM (British Talent Management) and signed a number of progressive rock acts such as Squeeze, Renaissance and Curved Air. In the summer of 1975, he organized a multi-band tour of European music festivals, named Star-Trucking, which featured several BTM bands as well as Soft Machine, the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Lou Reed. However, Reed's failure to appear at any of the shows and other logistical issues resulted in significant losses for Star-Trucking, and ultimately to the failure of BTM.[2] In 1976, BTM closed down.

BTM's end coincided with the beginning of the UK's Punk/New Wave movement and led Copeland to co-found Illegal Records, Deptford Fun City Records, New Bristol Records,[3] and to sign the Cortinas, Chelsea, and the Models to Step Forward Records[4] in 1977.

The Police

In 1978, Copeland became manager of his brother Stewart's band, The Police. Copeland shepherded the group to become one of the biggest bands of the 1980s, peaking with a concert for 70,000 people at Shea Stadium[5] and the number one single for 1983, "Every Breath You Take".[6] He continued to manage Sting through seven solo albums. Copeland was not, however, included in the reunion era of The Police, leading to a 2007 interview in which Copeland lamented that money was the issue.[7]

I.R.S. Records

The success of The Police and the novel methods used to popularize them enabled Copeland to found I.R.S. Records through a deal with A&M Records. Copeland's I.R.S. label had hits with the Buzzcocks, R.E.M., The Cramps, Fine Young Cannibals, The Bangles and many others, including a number one album with his label's group The Go-Go's.

Copeland International Arts

Copeland owns and operates CIA (Copeland International Arts), which includes the Bellydance Superstars, Celtic Crossroads, Otros Aires, Zohar, and Beats Antique. Much of the CIA catalog initially included Middle Eastern, world music, Irish, tango, flamenco, and Polynesian styles. The label later signed mainstream artists.[8]

Personal life

Another of Copeland's brothers, Ian Copeland, was a booking agent who described much of the New Wave adventures of Miles, Stewart and himself in his book Wild Thing.[9]

gollark: There is a private sector *and* a public sector.
gollark: No, I mean we have a mixed economy now.
gollark: What?
gollark: Given the existence of the public sector.
gollark: We have that now, no?

See also

References
  1. "UM Entertainment Management". www.business.umt.edu. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
  2. Sutcliffe, Phil & Fielder, Hugh (1981). L'Historia Bandido. London and New York: Proteus Books. ISBN 0-906071-66-6. Pages 15–16.
  3. "The Pigs - Early UK Punk Rock band". Punk77.co.uk. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
  4. "Record Label Discographies for rare and collectable vinyl records". Vinylnet.co.uk. Archived from the original on March 22, 2012. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
  5. "Rock: Police Perform for 70,000 at Shea Stadium". The New York Times. August 20, 1983. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  6. "Every Breath You Take by The Police". Songfacts. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  7. "Where's The Police Chief?". The Guardian. September 2, 2007. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  8. Aaron Stipkovich. "Recording Company: Copeland International Arts". Performingartsinternational.com. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
  9. "Wild Thing by Ian Copeland". Amazon. October 20, 1995. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
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