Char Grant is A&R Director at Def Jam UK. Previously Senior A&R at BMG and prior to that at Modest! Management. In addition, Char co-founded and sits on the executive committee of the Black Music Coalition and created The Debrief alongside Komali Scott-Jones and Afryea Henry Fontaine, which focuses on creating a safe space for women of colour who work in music.

"I first started out as day-to-day manager of Jamie Cullum after a short internship at his management company. I then moved to Quest Management (now known as Maverick) where I was an artist manager of Marina & the Diamonds as well as some other development artists.

An opportunity then came up to become the Producer of BBC Introducing, the new music initiative at the BBC, that gives opportunities to unsigned and under the radar talent. I was desperate to get back into working with new talent again and especially in a role where you could make people’s dreams come true by getting their music on the radio for the first time, or booking them for the BBC Introducing stage at Glastonbury. I worked my way up to Production Manager and then to Editor, which ran the department.

Now I am responsible for the department that finds and signs new talent at Decca. We oversee the process of writing, recording and delivering music to the wider label. Managing the team of A&R’s including the A&R coordination team, as well as leading projects of my own.

From exciting development acts such as Steam Down through to heritage acts such as Dame Shirley Bassey. No day is the same!"

From zoneout.com written by Paul Dougherty

"Ruumi first broke into the music industry at 16 years old with her own show on Newstyle, a community radio station, which she used to champion fresh talent.

Driven by a desire to strengthen the infrastructure to support Birmingham’s music scene, the teenager set up BHX MVMNT, a West Midlands–based music management company and record label specialising in grime and hip-hop. She also managed the rapper Young Smokes.

In December 2017, Ruumi delivered a TEDx talk where she spoke about her career and what it’s like to be the only hijabi in the room and also easy to spot with her trademark sunglasses. She said things are yet to change, but she’s making it work for her.

She is now the A&R manager for Polydor Records."

From buzzed.com written by Ikran Dahir