Season 1 · Episode 7
40 years discovering and developing artists - from a self-made fanzine in Birmingham to SVP at RCA/Sony Music to founding Merrystar, his London-based music group with interests in recorded music, publishing and management. The A&R mind behind Girls Aloud, Snow Patrol, Razorlight, The Lighthouse Family and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. One conviction that has never changed: great music is always about emotional connection.
Colin Barlow began his career at 17 when Muff Winwood gave a kid from Birmingham with a self-made A&R fanzine his first job at CBS Records - the same month Wham! and Sade were being signed. He went on to build Wildcard Records at Polydor alongside Lucian Grainge and Paul Adam, signing The Lighthouse Family, China Black and Skee-Lo, before rising to be President of RCA UK - a tenure at the label that produced Girls Aloud (20 consecutive top-ten singles), Snow Patrol, Razorlight and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, as well as UK campaigns for Beyoncé and Pharrell.
He served as Polydor UK joint boss alongside current Universal UK CEO David Joseph. After leaving RCA in December 2016 he founded Merrystar - a London-based group with interests in recorded music, publishing and management - relaunching Merrystar Publishing in conjunction with Universal Music Publishing, forming production company BSW with songwriter Jamie Scott, conducting A&R consultancy for Virgin EMI, signing Allusinlove in conjunction with Christian Tattersfield's Good Soldier Songs, and managing artist Maeve.
He describes his current chapter with characteristic clarity: "I feel more enthused than ever before. I've got the joy again."
Duration: 66 minutes 45 Seconds
Season: 1 · Episode 7
Also available: Audio only on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Acast
The fanzine that started everything
Colin Barlow did not wait for the music industry to find him. Growing up in Birmingham, obsessed with new music and read Record Mirror every week, he created his own A&R fanzine, identifying new talent, writing about the bands he was discovering, and sent it directly to record labels. Nobody else was doing it. He was invited to London. Muff Winwood at CBS Records gave a 17-year-old kid from Birmingham his first job. Within months he had his first hit, Owen Paul's My Favourite Waste of Time, which taught him something he has never forgotten: the power of a great cover version and the importance of trusting your gut. He sneaked into Birmingham Polytechnic on Friday nights at fifteen and sixteen to watch bands like Eurythmics before they became huge. The fanzine was the door he built for himself because no door already existed.
Wildcard, The Lighthouse Family and why emotion always wins
At Polydor, working alongside Lucian Grainge and Paul Adam at Wildcard Records, Colin built a track record of signing artists that connected emotionally rather than fashionably. The Lighthouse Family were never considered cool. They never won a BRIT Award. But sitting in Wembley Arena hearing thousands of people sing Ocean Drive and High gave him the kind of goosebumps that no critical approval can manufacture. China Black. Skee-Lo. Omar. Sasha. His taste was always broad and always instinctive - "Is it good? Do I like it?" - never shaped by what was considered credible in that particular moment. That refusal to chase cool is precisely what produced so many records that connected with mass audiences.
Girls Aloud, Snow Patrol and the RCA years
The career Colin built at RCA UK is one of the most impressive in the history of British A&R. Girls Aloud achieved 20 consecutive top-ten singles - a record that speaks directly to the quality of what was built around them, not just the X Factor platform they came from. Snow Patrol's Run broke them from respected indie act to arena band on the back of a single radio play. Razorlight. Yeah Yeah Yeahs. UK campaigns for Beyoncé and Pharrell. He served as Polydor UK joint boss alongside David Joseph - now Universal UK CEO - during the Noughties before becoming RCA UK President. He left in December 2016 and spent time working out what his next chapter would look like. "I needed to define what I was going to become," he said.
Merrystar and the joy again
Since founding Merrystar, Colin has moved across multiple parts of the industry simultaneously - a deliberate choice that reflects how the modern music business actually works for an experienced independent operator. Merrystar Publishing operates in conjunction with Universal Music Publishing. BSW, his production company formed with songwriter Jamie Scott, operates across recorded music and production. He has done A&R consultancy for Virgin EMI, signed Allusinlove in conjunction with Good Soldier Songs' Christian Tattersfield, and is managing artist Maeve. His view of the current landscape is clear-eyed and optimistic: "So much is changing right now: artists, streaming, independence, ownership, consumption, everything." And his conviction is unchanged: the industry needs to return to trusting instinct, developing artists and allowing great records to grow. "Everyone else has gone a bit beige," he says. "We've got to get back to those old days of stars."
"Everyone else has gone a bit beige. We've got to get back to those old days of stars and people that actually move the dial."
Colin Barlow - founder of Merrystar, former RCA President
"I hope we return to trusting instinct. Taking risks. Developing young executives. Allowing artists to grow."
Colin Barlow - on what the music industry needs to rediscover
"I feel more enthused than ever before. I've got the joy again."
Colin Barlow - on founding Merrystar after leaving RCA
The Blinding Talent Music Industry Podcast is hosted by Mark Adams - founder of Blinding Talent and former Director of Music Programming at Channel 4, where he launched the Official YouTube Chart (2015) and Spotify's first ever Streaming Chart (2016). Each episode is an in-depth conversation with a senior music industry figure - equal parts campfire stories and practical insight.
If this episode resonated, Blinding Talent works with independent artists across the UK and internationally - providing the kind of strategic thinking, industry positioning and digital marketing expertise that Colin describes from 40 years inside the industry.
From 1:1 artist development with Mark Adams to Spotify growth campaigns and Meta advertising, everything we do is built around getting artists closer to the music industry.
Colin Barlow is a veteran music industry A&R executive and founder of Merrystar, a London-based music group with interests in recorded music, publishing and management. He began his career at CBS Records aged 17 after creating a self-made A&R fanzine from Birmingham, built Wildcard Records at Polydor alongside Lucian Grainge and Paul Adam - signing The Lighthouse Family, China Black and Skee-Lo - then served as Polydor UK joint boss alongside David Joseph (now Universal UK CEO) before becoming RCA UK President. At RCA he signed Girls Aloud (20 consecutive top-ten singles), Snow Patrol, Razorlight and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and worked on UK campaigns for Beyoncé and Pharrell. He left RCA in December 2016 and founded Merrystar, with Merrystar Publishing operating in conjunction with Universal Music Publishing, production company BSW formed with Jamie Scott, and an active A&R and management practice.
Merrystar is a London-based music group founded by Colin Barlow after leaving RCA Records in 2016. It has interests in recorded music, publishing and management, working with writers, producers and artists. Merrystar Publishing operates in conjunction with Universal Music Publishing Group. Colin has also formed production company BSW with songwriter Jamie Scott and has done A&R consultancy for Virgin EMI through the Merrystar group.
Colin Barlow's signings across his career include Girls Aloud (20 consecutive top-ten singles), Snow Patrol, Razorlight, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Lighthouse Family, China Black, Skee-Lo and Owen Paul. He also worked on UK campaigns for Beyoncé and Pharrell during his time as RCA UK President, and has more recently signed Allusinlove through Merrystar in conjunction with Good Soldier Songs.
The Blinding Talent Music Industry Podcast is hosted by Mark Adams - founder of Blinding Talent and former Director of Music Programming at Channel 4. Guests include Colin Barlow, Sol Parker, Judd Lander, Jacqui Quaife and many others from across the music industry.
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