For Career Transitions · Music, Media & Entertainment
Out, restructured, or ready to leave. Choose your next move well.
Personal advisor and coach to senior leaders in music, media and entertainment. Move on. Move up. Or reshape the role you're in. Whichever, make it the best it can be.
30 minutes to understand your situation and share my initial thoughts.
The Moment
You know which one this is.
Maybe the letter came. Maybe you're still in the building and can feel the edge. Maybe you already decided to go. Maybe you're out already. Either way, you're at the point where the next move matters and the old certainty is gone.
I've been exactly where you are. I left a 19-year run at Sony Music, ending as SVP, and I had to work out who I was on the other side.
The Fork
From here, two paths.
A new chapter in your career. Or building something of your own for the first time. You don't have to know which yet. That's the first thing we work out together.
A real change doesn't happen in a moment. First we get you clear on the right direction. Then we look at what's stopping you - a real block, or just a story you're telling yourself that you can move past. After that, I'm in your corner while you make the moves. Advisory and coaching combined.
I.
Step One
The Compass.
Get clear on the right direction. I read who you are underneath the title, map the real roles and industries you can move into, and we score them against what matters. You leave with a chosen direction and the reasoning.
II.
Step Two
Make the Move.
Picks up exactly where the Compass ends. Six months of active support to land the right role: the plan, the narrative, the interviews and the offer, with you the whole way. You run the search, I advise and keep you on track. The Compass fee credits in full, so nothing is paid twice.
The Approach
The Root Note. Read, define, build.
In music, the root note is the note a chord is built around. Lose it and you can't tell if you're in tune. Nineteen years inside one company quietly detunes the way you judge your own worth. Three reads, in order, put the reference back.
I.
Inward read
Who you are now, and what you actually want. Including whether you want to move at all, or want a different version of where you already are. I listen for the parts of the account that don't ring true, then ask you to justify them. Warmly, without flinching.
II.
Market-reality read
What you bring, who needs it now, and what it's worth today. Most people leave a big company with no calibrated sense of that. This is where I can tell you what a given skill actually pays in this market, so you neither undersell into a sideways step nor over-reach on borrowed confidence.
III.
Fit and readiness
Not "is this a good opportunity". The right question is whether you're the right person in this specific one. A senior role, your own venture, or a deliberate stay and reposition. Every session ends with a named next action and a date.
Ibarra, 2003 People don't find a true self then act. They act their way into knowing, by testing real options.
Lovallo and Kahneman, 2003 Senior people are systematically over-optimistic on big moves. The fix is an outside, experienced view.
Gollwitzer and Sheeran, 2006 A specific when, where and how plan is the most reliable bridge from intention to action.
What You Get
What you walk away holding.
A clear read of who you are underneath the role
The real options in front of you, scored against what matters
A direction chosen with conviction
A step-by-step roadmap from decision to done
A monthly deep session and text support for six months
A former SVP in your corner the whole way
Pricing
One ladder. Three steps.
Small price compared to the cost of the wrong next move.
Step 1 · Free
The State of Play Call
Free
30 minutes, video call
State of play: where you are in the game, what's actually happening, and one clear next move. A dissection of the status quo, plus my initial personal read.
A private read on your situation, right now
One clear next step, and the shape of the path from here
A written 2-pager sent after the call, summarising what I heard, my initial thoughts, and a personalised roadmap of how I'd work with you
You can walk it alone from there, or we walk it together
Get clear on the right direction. I read who you are underneath the title, map the real roles and industries you can move into, and we score them against what matters. You leave with a chosen direction and the reasoning.
6-month engagement. The Compass is month 1. Then 5 more months to land the role.
The Compass is always month 1 of Make the Move. After that, five months of active support to land the role: the plan, the narrative, the interviews and the offer, with me in your corner the whole way. Same room, same person, no restart.
The Compass is included as month 1, then 5 more months of execution to land the role
Month 1: direction set through the Compass
Months 2 to 6: the plan, the narrative and the story that lands
CV, LinkedIn and opening lines that stand up in the room
Interview and negotiation prep, with live coaching before and after
Warm intros into my network where they fit
One 2-hour deep session a month (or 2 x 1-hour, whichever suits), plus text support between
Optional: a 3-month first-90-days extension, to land well in the new role. Available on request.
19 years inside Sony Music, ending as SVP. I built teams, ran the platform partnerships, and held people through digital, streaming and now AI. Then I walked out with a letter and rebuilt.
I'm two years into building my own practice. I won't sell you a finished playbook I don't have. What I bring is the coaching depth to work out what you actually want, the advisory judgement to shape what makes sense around it, and a partner for positioning and go-to-market when you get there. Plus someone who knows the first steps because he's taking them.
UK relationships with Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and YouTube. Music Week Best Sales Team, 2024. GLG and Coleman expert. ICF Level 2. The credentials resolve at the end, they don't lead.
Straight Answers
The questions people actually ask.
Is this therapy?
No. This is advisory and coaching, focused on the decision and the move, not on unpacking the past.
Do I need to know which path?
No. The first month is for working that out.
I'm still employed.
Often the best time. We plan the move while you still have the ground under you.
What does it cost to find out?
A free 30 minutes, and a straight read on where you actually are.
“
“James provided the space for me to own who I am, and who I am is a ruthlessly compassionate and vulnerable leader.”
Sareata Ginda, Course Leader, Music Business MA, University of Westminster
Start with the free 30 minutes.
Free. Thirty minutes. You leave with a straight read on where you are and what the next move looks like, whether or not we work together.
