Record biz mourns inspiring leader

Classical recording people have been sharing memories of Bill Holland, former CEO of Universal Classics and Jazz, who died at the end of the year, aged 81.

Bill started out sweeping floors in an Oxford Street record store. He once sold John Lennon a Bob Dylan album. Later, he was president of the Bob Dylan Society.

He spent 27 years at Universal Music, ten of them as head of classics and jazz. He was an empowering boss who encouraged staff at all levels to take initiative. On his watch, Universal signed Andrea Bocelli, Andre Rieu and Katherine Jenkins, but Bill spent most nights at Covent Garden and was committed to the highest standards of performance.

He made business seem like fun.

Dickon Stainer, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music UK, writes: ‘Whenever I think of Bill Holland, a smile comes as easily as the morning sun.

‘As a record man he was blessed with a unique wit, an appreciation of great artistry and an even greater understanding of human nature.

‘Working for Bill was a magical mystery tour none of us will ever forget. He was kind, he was a reader of people, he was a professional belief installer.

‘We loved him and we think of him constantly. All our thoughts are with his wife Rosie and his daughters Katie and Libby.’

Former Decca chief Rebecca Allen has said of him: ‘We had a particularly brilliant boss, Bill Holland. He was this guy with a great imagination who believed in risk-taking. So when he saw an opportunity for something he would say to us, ‘I hope you’re really going after this’. We’d put the figure in front of him and he’d say ‘Double it’. He had the attitude that, if you’re thinking small, it’s not going to work, you’re not doing justice to the opportunity.’

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